Just wanted to let you know that it was a great pleasure to attend the
inauguration yesterday, Saturday the eighth of January, at San
Francisco's ornate beaux arts City Hall.

Ross is the only newly elected member of the board of supervisors, two
others were elected for the first time after being appointed by the
Mayor. There  were a number of  local elected officials present, and
Willie Brown, true to form, came  in late. They elected Aaron Peskin
president unanimously, which is quite a difference from the election of
Matt Gonzalez last time that took three votes over four hours. Then
each member of the eleven member body got a chance to speak. Chris Daly
yielded the floor and I wish a few others had, two were especially
long-winded, but it was obviously emotional for them to be among the
select few who get to sit up there as representatives of their
districts.

Like a few others, Ross too was on the verge of tears, he said he had
freshman jitters and was working on his statement at three am the night
before. He introduced his family and read his four page speech, but
really hit his stride when he left the text and spoke from the heart.
He thanked a lot of people, including the Green Party and extolled the
virtues of IRV in creating a better electoral environment.

He said that he was proud to represent district five, the hippest
district in San Francisco. I enjoyed seeing some old friends at his
celebration in his new office, and when I left I couldn't help but
notice that his was the best attended and loudest party in the
building, half the crowd had to hang out in the hall.

I met Ross first when he and Regina were running the nuclear free zone
campaign in 1990 and I had just joined the San Francisco Green CoC. I'm
glad to see he's emerged from working behind the scenes and is out
front now.



Hank Chapot
hchapot (circle a thing) igc (period) org