Michela Alioto-Pier

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Michela Alioto-Pier

Michela Alioto-Pier (b. 1968) is a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. She represents 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.

Alioto-Pier is the granddaughter of former San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto, and former San Francisco Port Commissioner and former SF Supervisor Michael J. Driscoll, Sr., and the niece of Angela Alioto, former President of the SF Board of Supervisors. She is currently the only member of the Alioto family who holds an elected political office in San Francisco

Alioto-Pier was paralyzed from the waist down in a ski-lift accident in 1981, when she was 13. Now married to attorney Thomas Pier and with three children, she uses a self-powered wheelchair and drives a Jeep equipped with a hand brake and accelerator.

When she was 17, President Ronald Reagan appointed her to the President's National Council on Disabilities Advisory Board. She also served as a delegate to the U.S.-Japan Summit Conference on Disabilities. She later received a degree in anthropology from UCLA.

After working as an aide to Vice President Al Gore, Alioto-Pier made her first run for public office at age 28 in 1996 against Republican Congressman Frank Riggs in California's 1st Congressional District. The District includes Napa, Mendocino, and Humboldt counties, stretching along the coast up to the Oregon border. Moving to the district shortly before the filing deadline, Alioto-Pier's unfamiliarity with the district proved to be a liability for her campaign, as she mispronounced the names of towns in the district in a candidate's debate. 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 unsuccessfully ran for the office of California Secretary of State against incumbent Bill Jones. She again ran for Secretary of State in 2002, but lost the Democratic nomination to fellow San Franciscan Kevin Shelley.

After being appointed in early 2004 by Mayor Gavin Newsom to his old seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Alioto-Pier was elected in her own right that November.

Alioto-Pier has an apartment in the district she represents; Pacific Heights in San Francisco, but also keeps a residence in St. Helena, CA. She has been criticized in the press for having a poor attendance record at the Board of Supervisors, as well as mediocre constituent relations.[1]

Alioto-Pier remains committed to the preservation of St. Brigid's Church, which was once slated for demolition. Another top priority for Alioto-Pier is earthquake preparedness, especially important for her district, hit hard by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.[2] Alioto-Pier explains:

"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." .[3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Kirshenbaum, Daniella (November 17, 2006) "The Mystery Supervisor." Fog City Journal.
  2. ^ San Francisco Chronicle Editorial (October 26, 2006) "The Chronicle Recommends: Re-elect Alioto-Pier." San Francisco Chronicle.
  3. ^ Noyes, Dan. (September 21, 2005) "Conroy Answers Critics, Will Not Step Down." ABC 7 News.

[edit] External links

Political offices
Preceded by
Gavin Newsom		 Member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
District 2
January 8, 2004 – present		 Incumbent
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San Francisco Board of Supervisors