Ross Mirkarimi

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Ross Mirkarimi
Ross Mirkarimi

Ross Mirkarimi (b. 1961) is a member of the Board of Supervisors of San Francisco, California. He was elected in 2004 to represent the city's fifth district, which encompasses the Haight-Ashbury, parts of Hayes Valley, Western Addition, Alamo Square and a portion of the Inner Sunset neighborhoods. Mirkarimi co-founded the California chapter of the Green Party, and is associated with progressive causes and politics.

[edit] Biography

Mirkarimi's ethnic and cultural background is Iranian and Russian Jewish-American. He was born in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in Rhode Island. He has a Bachelor's degree in political science from St. Louis University, a Master's degree in international economics and affairs from Golden Gate University, and a Master of Science degree in environmental science from the University of San Francisco. He has lived in San Francisco since 1984.

Besides co-founding California's Green Party in 1990, Mirkarimi coordinated Ralph Nader's 2000 presidential campaign in California. He also managed local campaigns in San Francisco, including the 2001 campaign for public power, the March 2002 campaign to elect Harry Britt to the State Assembly, the November 2002 campaign to re-elect Supervisor Chris Daly, and the 2003 campaign to elect Matt Gonzalez mayor of San Francisco.

Mirkarimi has been involved in these civic and community service activities: Director for SF Nuclear Freeze Zone Coalition; union negotiator for DAI Association union; member of the IFPTE Local 2; member of the Harvey Milk Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender Democratic Club; member of the Iranian-American Chamber of Commerce; environmental analyst for the Harvard Study Team (Iraq) Bayview Hunters Point, California Base Closures; and member of the National Organization for Women (NOW).

[edit] Supervisor

As Supervisor, Mirkarimi sponsored legislation to require police foot patrols in high-crime neighborhoods. The Board of Supervisors approved this measure, but Mayor Gavin Newsom, citing objections by Police Chief Heather Fong, vetoed it. However, by a 9-2 vote, the Board overrode the veto; this was the first time that the Board of Supervisors had overridden a Newsom veto.[1]

In March 2007, Mirkarimi introduced legislation that prohibits certain chain stores (mainly supermarkets and drugstores) from providing customers with non-biodegradable plastic bags, making San Francisco the first city to regulate such bags. Mirkarimi said, "Instead of waiting for the federal government to do something about this country's oil dependence, environmental degradation or contribution to global warming, local governments can step up and do their part. The plastic bag ban is one small part of that." Many supermarkets opposed such legislation. The bill passed 10-1 and became an ordinance.

As a supervisor, Mirkarimi has made a name for himself by spearheading efforts to promote medical marijuana clubs in San Francisco. On April 20, 2006, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws honored Mirkarimi with its Rufus King Award for outstanding leadership in the reform of marijuana laws. [2] In a speech accepting the award, he said:

That particular logic (of being in favor of medicinal marijuana but not wanting dispensaries in the neighborhood in which you live), as complex as it is, was emblematic of what certainly concerned me, that we continue to drive back in the shadows the very idea of what we're all congregated here for, and that is to mainstream the issue so that marijuana should not be criminalized and medical cannabis should not be criminalized and that we should do everything we can to build that kind of resiliency, to shore up even in the face of adversity, that while there's any attempt at pushback or blowback from our efforts to try to proliferate Prop 215 states throughout all fifty states of the United States, that we should not shrink at all with that ever particular kind of adversity once again.

And he added emphatically:

Politicians, local, state, or federal, who are not for the decriminalization of marijuana, and certainly not for the legalization of the use of medical cannabis, should not be in elected office at all.

Mirkarimi was instrumental in the effort to extend San Francisco's ban on smoking tobacco at bus shelters to the city's public golf courses. Not extending the law to golf courses, Mirkarimi declared, "has this undertone of elitism." [3]

In February 2008 Mirkarimi announced his support for changing the name of a portion of Eddy Street to Marcus Garvey Way. The section of Eddy under consideration, from Van Ness Avenue west to Divisadero Street, runs through the heart of the Western Addition, the Fillmore District, and the largest concentration of public-housing projects in the city. The purported rationale for this plan is to increase pride among the area's large African-American population. Supporters hope that by renaming a street in honor of a well-known and influential figure of African descent San Francisco's African-American residents will choose to stay in the city. (Because of the high cost of living, itself the result of gentrification brought on by the dot-com and housing bubbles, African-Americans now comprise fewer than 10 percent of San Francisco's total population.)

[edit] External links

Political offices
Preceded by
Matt Gonzalez		 Member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
District 5
2005 – present		 Incumbent
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San Francisco Board of Supervisors