Historic day at City Hall
Throng stands in line to greet new occupant of Room 200
As soon as her inauguration on the steps of San Francisco City Hall was over Wednesday, London Breed walked back into the building and straight to Room 200.
The mayor’s office was finally hers.
In her first act as mayor, Breed welcomed the public into her new office for a quick meet-and-greet. A stream of supporters waited in a line that snaked from Room 200, down a long hallway and small flight of stairs, up another and around a corner. From the back, it looked like it would take hours to get in.
But that didn’t deter people like 52-year-old Andrew Spence, who for a short time, was the last person in line. Spence isn’t even a San
“The politics of ‘no’ has plagued our city for far too long . ... I plan to change the politics of ‘no’ to the politics of ‘yes.’ Yes, we will build more housing.” Mayor London Breed
Francisco voter — he lives in Berkeley. But he still took some time off work on Wednesday to watch the inauguration in person, as it happened.
“I’m here for the history,” he said, his eyes gleaming.
Among the crowd were hundreds of supporters, along with the mayor’s family and friends. Also in line was former Supervisor Angela Alioto, who ran against Breed in the June 5 special election to fill the term of the late Mayor Ed Lee. Although Alioto said the campaign “got ugly at times,” she said she wanted to greet Breed and show her support.
“It was a beautiful ceremony,” Alioto said. “But now it’s time to get to work.”
Previous mayors have also opened their office to the public once they are inaugurated. It can be a test of endurance lasting several hours. Former Mayor Art Agnos recently recalled the meet-and-greet session after his 1988 swearing-in: “I was greeting so many people for so many hours that my jaw and the muscles around my face were sore at the end of the day from smiling and saying hello.”
His advice to Breed? Wear comfortable shoes. Breed opted for heels.
After standing in line for an hour, San Francisco residents Brenda Jackson and Ann Tatum were exhausted themselves. But when they finally made it in, they said Breed was upbeat and greeted them like old friends. Those few moments with the new mayor — and the picture they took with her to prove it — was well worth the wait, they said.
“It was quite exciting,” Jackson said. “It’s about time a woman who grew up in public housing” is mayor.
But Spence, who was at the very back of the line, wasn’t so lucky.
He quickly went to the bathroom after standing there for 30 minutes and came back to find the line was cut off — only about an hour and a half after the meet-and-greet began. So instead, he stood on the other side of the building, where he had a direct view of the mayor’s office, hoping to at least grab a picture of Breed.
Although he would have liked to meet her in person, he said that wasn’t the point of the day.
The point, he said, is that Breed is the one standing in that office.