Michela Alioto-Pier

Michela Alioto-Pier (born April 29, 1968) is an American politician who served as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from 2004 to 2011. A Democrat, she represented District 2, encompassing the Marina and Pacific Heights neighborhoods. She previously served as a member of the San Francisco Port Commission. She was appointed to the Board of Supervisors by Gavin Newsom after he was elected mayor, in 2003. Newsom himself was initially appointed to this seat by former mayor Willie Brown.

Michela Alioto-Pier
Member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
In office
January 8, 2004 – January 8, 2011
Preceded byGavin Newsom
Succeeded byMark Farrell
ConstituencyDistrict 2
Personal details
Born (1968-04-29) April 29, 1968
San Francisco, California, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Tom Pier
ChildrenNicholas, Giovanna, and Valentina
ResidenceSan Francisco, California
St. Helena, California
Alma materUniversity of California, Los Angeles
OccupationPublic servant

Alioto-Pier's paternal grandfather was former San Francisco mayor Joseph Alioto and her maternal grandfather was Michael J. Driscoll, Sr., a former San Francisco port commissioner and former San Francisco supervisor. She is the niece of Angela Alioto, former president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. She is the most recent member of the Alioto family to hold an elected political office in San Francisco.

Early life

In 1981, at age thirteen, Alioto-Pier was paralyzed from the waist down when she fell from a ski lift in the Lake Tahoe area.[1] At age seventeen, she was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the advisory board of the President's National Council on Disability.[2] Alioto-Pier later received a degree in anthropology from UCLA.

Early political career

After working as an aide to Vice President Al Gore, Alioto-Pier made her first run for public office at 28 in 1996 against Republican Congressman Frank Riggs in California's 1st congressional district, which included Napa, Mendocino, and Humboldt counties, stretching along the coast up to the Oregon border. She won the Democratic nomination, but lost the general election. She is credited with mounting a strong campaign despite the loss.[3] At the time, she ran under the name Michela Alioto.

Shortly after losing that election, Alioto-Pier announced that she would try again in 1998 but withdrew from the race in deference to fellow Democrat (and eventual winner) Mike Thompson. Instead, she ran for the office of California Secretary of State and won the Democratic nomination but ultimately lost against Republican incumbent Bill Jones. She again ran for Secretary of State in 2002, but lost the Democratic nomination to fellow San Franciscan Kevin Shelley, whose father preceded Alioto-Pier's grandfather as that city's mayor.

San Francisco Board of Supervisors

In January 2004, Alioto-Pier was appointed by Mayor Gavin Newsom, to his old seat in District 2 on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Although even numbered districts were not slated for an election until 2006, an off-year election was held for District 2 because she was an appointed supervisor. Alioto-Pier ran for the seat in the November 2004 election and won, and in 2006 she ran for reelection and easily won the seat.

As a Supervisor, Alioto-Pier was committed to the preservation of St. Brigid's Church, which was once slated for demolition. Another top priority for Alioto-Pier was earthquake preparedness, especially important for her district which was hit hard by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.[4] Alioto-Pier explained: "As the district representative for a community that was really hit in Loma Prieta, It is my responsibility to make sure if something like that happens again that we know what we're doing.[5]

In May 2004 she introduced a payroll tax exemption for biotech companies in efforts to create a biotech cluster in San Francisco which was later passed by the full Board of Supervisors.[6] As of 2019 San Francisco had over 250 biomedical companies.[7]

As a San Francisco moderate, Alioto-Pier was attacked by San Francisco progressives for having a poor attendance record and mediocre constituent relations.[8] One significant source of the criticism was over Alioto-Pier's attendance record while she was giving birth to her third child, which was a first for an elected official in San Francisco. Alioto-Pier responded by passing a family leave policy for elected officials in San Francisco.[9]

In 2007 it was announced that St. Luke's, a hospital serving under-privileged communities would be closed to acute and sub-acute patients and serve as an outpatient facility only. In January of 2008 it was announced that Alioto-Pier would lead a panel of stakeholders to save St. Luke's. "Maintaining and rebuilding St. Luke's and developing it into a first-class hospital for the Mission District and the Southeast section of San Francisco is my primary objective."[10] In response to the recommendations of the panel, in September of 2008 CPMC announced a reversal of their decision, stating that St. Luke's would be re-built to continue serving the communities that depend upon it. [11]

On July 20, 2009, San Francisco Chronicle political columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross broke the story of Alioto-Pier's announcement for state insurance commissioner.

Alioto-Pier, the granddaughter of former Mayor Joe Alioto and a protégée of former Vice President Al Gore, calls it "the most personal venture I've ever undertaken." Having been in a wheelchair since a skiing accident at age 13, she says, "I've easily had more personal experience with insurance companies than any of the other candidates."[12]

Alioto-Pier subsequently left the race for Insurance Commissioner due to a leg injury.[13]


Re-election challenge in 2010

On June 3, 2010, Alioto-Pier submitted papers to register as a candidate for re-election to District Two of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. San Francisco Department of Elections Director John Arntz issued a letter that same day in which he announced she was ineligible to run for re-election for District Two supervisor due to a 2008 ruling regarding term limits issued by City Attorney Dennis Herrera. Arntz wrote, "Accordingly, the Department of Elections cannot list you as a candidate for this office on the November 2, 2010 ballot or any other election materials for that election." She would have served on the Board of Supervisors for seven years when her term expired in January 2011. Supervisors are limited to serving two four-year terms.

The municipal ordinance providing for term limits was a matter of debate. Some claimed that the ordinance states that any person who has served more than one-and-a-half four-year terms in office (six years) shall be deemed to have effectively served for two full terms and thus be ineligible to seek re-election.[14]

Others claimed that the law is more nuanced and that one must be appointed to serve more than two years for it to count as a full term. Alioto-Pier was appointed to serve one year, ran for a two-year term, and then ran again for a four-year term. According to this view, the question is whether or not the year she served as an appointed supervisor and the truncated two years she served can be combined and rounded up to count as a four-year term.[15]

Alioto-Pier challenged the ruling from the Department of Elections in Superior Court and won. In response, City Attorney Dennis Herrera, appealed that decision and overturned her victory, forcing her out of the 2010 election for District 2 Supervisor.[16]

Candidate for Mayor in 2011

On February 7, 2011, Alioto-Pier filed as a candidate for mayor of San Francisco.[17] In the November election she placed ninth in a field of 16 candidates.[18]

References
  1. "The son of former San Francisco mayor Joseph L..." UPI Archives. July 29, 1981. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  2. Knight, Heather (September 19, 2011). "Michela Alioto-Pier: S.F. politics in her genes". SF Gate. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  3. Gordon, Rachel; Hetter, Katia (January 20, 2004). "S.F. mayor appoints an Alioto / New supervisor from longtime political family". SF Gate. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  4. "The Chronicle Recommends: Re-elect Alioto-Pier". SF Gate. October 26, 2006. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  5. Noyes, Dan (September 21, 2005). "Conroy Answers Critics, Will Not Step Down". ABC 7 News.
  6. Herel, Suzanne (August 11, 2004). "Board passes 10-year tax break for biotech". SF Gate. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  7. Haskell, Chris (October 24, 2019). "San Francisco's Mission Bay life science sector: pivoting with the times". Stat News. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  8. Kirshenbaum, Daniela (November 17, 2006). "The Mystery Supervisor". Fog City Journal. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  9. Goodyear, Charlie (April 13, 2006). "Supervisor Alioto-Pier gives birth -- a first for city". SF Gate. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  10. Rauber, Chris (January 23, 2008). "Sutter, medical center and SF city officials agree to study St. Luke's". Sacramento Business Journal. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  11. "St Luke's Hospital spared from demolition". ABC 7 News. September 25, 2008. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  12. Matier, Phillip (July 20, 2009). "Alioto-Pier to run for insurance commissioner". SF Gate.
  13. "Michela Alioto-Pier drops out of state insurance commissioner race". San Francisco Examiner. January 28, 2010.
  14. Gordon, Rachel (June 4, 2010) "Alioto-Pier set to fight for her S.F. supe seat", San Francisco Chronicle; accessed March 13, 2017.
  15. Griffin, Melissa (April 15, 2010) "Not that I understand why anyone would want the job of a SF Supervisor...", The Sweet Melissa; accessed March 13, 2017.
  16. Arntz v. Superior Court, 114 3d 561 (Cal. Rptr. 2010).
  17. Sabatini, Joshua (February 7, 2011). "Michela Alioto-Pier enters race for San Francisco mayor". San Francisco Examiner. Archived 2011-06-17 at the Wayback Machine
  18. San Francisco Department of Elections. "November 8, 2011 Consolidated Municipal Election - Mayor". Retrieved November 10, 2020.
Political offices
Preceded by
Gavin Newsom		 Member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
District 2
2004-2011		 Succeeded by
Mark Farrell
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