Agnos, Art, 1938-

Biography of Art Agnos

Art Agnos, 1938-, is a former politician and government administrator.

Agnos was born Arthur Christ Agnos on Sept. 1, 1938 in Springfield, Massachusetts. Described as gregarious by some, abrasive by others, he is best known for his political work as California assemblyman, 1976-1988, and as San Francisco mayor, 1988-1992.

He earned a Master of Social Work degree and worked in the south during the segregation era before moving to San Francisco in 1966 to work for the public housing agency. He was an aide to California State Assemblyman Leo McCarthy from 1968 to 1976, becoming Chief of Staff in 1974. He survived a shooting in 1973 during a wave of attacks that became known as the Zebra murders. He would look back on this with "an appreciation for life." He was elected to the Assembly in 1976 in a hard-fought battle against Harvey Milk. Endorsed by Willie L. Brown, Phillip and John Burton, and George Moscone, Agnos won the seat by 4,000 votes. During his six terms representing District 16, the assemblyman served as the chair of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee and of the Health and Welfare Subcommittee of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee. Agnos also served as vice chair of the Joint Committee on Refugee Resettlement and Immigration. He authored over 90 bills including work-for-welfare legislation and landmark Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) bills.

Agnos was elected San Francisco's 39th mayor in 1987 with 70 percent of the vote in the runoff against Supervisor John Molinari. Facing budget problems and homelessness, he immediately set to work to produce a balanced budget. He created the Beyond Shelter plan, the city’s first comprehensive approach to homelessness. A 1989 downtown baseball stadium measure that he supported narrowly lost; he called this his biggest disappointment. He was credited with strong leadership in handling the recovery from the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. Against significant opposition, he led efforts to demolish the quake-damaged Embarcadero Freeway. Leaving office, he said his proudest moment was the way San Franciscans responded following the earthquake.

He became the city's first mayor to ride in the Gay Freedom Day parade, in 1988. Agnos signed domestic partner legislation in June 1989 which was narrowly repealed by voters that fall. The same year, he established the Family Policy Task Force to study the inclusion of extended family members and partners of gays and lesbians as dependents on the city health plan. As a result, the city adopted domestic partner benefits in 1991. He was defeated in his re-election bid by former Police Chief Frank Jordan, 52 to 48 percent.

After leaving City Hall, Agnos worked as Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In 2007, he was appointed receiver of the San Francisco Housing Authority. In a [1993?] television interview, he said:

"I liked being mayor best of all because you have unparalleled power to pick up the phone on any issue you wanted to get into, and I love to get into issues, and I love to gather people around me who had what I call 'Peace Corps hearts and linebacker eyes,' who wanted to get into issues and fight 'em. It was an extraordinary kind of time." (Interview with Evan White, Bay TV Live, [1993?]).

Biography of Larry Bush

Larry Bush, 1946-, is a journalist and former political aide and government administrator.

Bush was the Washington D.C. correspondent for The Advocate. He published several articles in both gay and straight publications, conducted interviews, gave speeches, and published the Bush Report, which was concerned with gay political and cultural issues. He was also the Washington liaison for the National Gay Task Force.

Bush served as a legislative aide to and speech writer for Art Agnos, both on the assemblyman's and mayor's staffs. He continued to work with Agnos at HUD and edited CitiReport, a San Francisco political newsletter.

From the guide to the Art Agnos papers, 1977-2002, 1984-1991, (San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library)