
Arthur Christ "Art" Agnos (born 1 September 1938) was Mayor of San Francisco from 8 January 1988 to 7 January 1992, succeeding Dianne Feinstein and preceding Frank Jordan.
Biography[]
Art Agnos was born on 1 September 1938 in Springfield, Massachusetts to a Greek immigrant family, and he attended Bates College and Florida State University before moving to San Francisco in 1966 to become a social worker. On 13 December 1973, he was nearly killed by a Nation of Islam gunman during the "Zebra murders", in which 15 white men were killed and 8 were wounded in a series of racist attacks. In 1976, he was elected to the California State Assembly after defeating Harvey Milk in the Democratic primaries, and he authored model welfare reform, increased funding for job training, education, and child care, and the state response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In 1987, he won 70% of the vote during the mayoral elections after Dianne Feinstein completed her last term as mayor, and he served one term in office. His decision to tear down a freeway after a horrible earthquake was controversial, as it deprived the people of Chinatown, San Francisco of much-needed customers, and the rise of homelessness led to him being defeated. Agnos would remain a liberal activist for years to come, advocating more housing in the city and blocking the redevelopment of a flower market.