Leslie Katz (politician)

Leslie Rachel Katz (born 1961[1]) is an American attorney and former politician. She was a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, president of the City College of San Francisco board of trustees and president of the Port of San Francisco commission.

Career

Katz was elected San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee in 1988, and to the City College of San Francisco board of trustees in 1994.[1] In 1996, Mayor Willie Brown appointed her to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to fill the remainder of the term of Willie B. Kennedy who had retired from the board to join the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) board of directors.[2] Katz was subsequently elected for a full four-year term.[3] Katz described her position as "one of the few open lesbian elected officials in the country" a "daunting responsibility", and was initially known as the "Lesbian Supervisor."[1]

In 2000, the election of supervisors was changed from at-large (i.e., citywide) elections to district elections and Katz chose not to run for re-election. In 2011 Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed Katz as a commissioner for the Port of San Francisco.

Equal Benefits Ordinance

During her tenure as a city supervisor, Katz co-authored the Equal Benefits Ordinance (EBO), which requires organizations that do business with the city to provide the same benefits (such as healthcare, retirement plans and paid time off) to employees' registered domestic partners as those provided to employees' spouses.[1][4] The ordinance was opposed by the local branch of the Catholic church, whose charitable arm had contracts with the city. Katz, along with co-sponsors Susan Leal and Tom Ammiano, were able to obtain the support of the local Catholic archbishop by modifying the ordinance to allow employees to direct the benefits to any member of the employee's household, thus overcoming the church's objection to supporting same-sex couples.[4] United Airlines, Federal Express and the Air Transport Association sued to block implementation of the ordinance, but the United States district court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the new law.[5][6] Many companies chose to apply the ordinance to all employees, not just those working in San Francisco. Thus, the EBO, although controversial at the time, became a model for similar legislation enacted by states and municipalities throughout the USA.[4][5][7][8]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Schlittler, Ron. "Leslie Katz, California, 1988 · Out and Elected in the USA: 1974-2004". OutHistory.
  2. ^ King, John (May 28, 1996). "A Political Veteran at 34, Katz Steps Into Spotlight". SFGATE.
  3. ^ "Former Supervisors". San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
  4. ^ a b c Laird, Cynthia (July 12, 2023). "Appointment of former SF supervisor Leal made history 30 years ago". Bay Area Reporter.
  5. ^ a b Jacobs, Ken (2009). "San Francisco Values: The New Social Compact". In Eaton, Adrienne E. (ed.). 61st Annual Meeting of the Labor and Employment Relations Association. ISBN 978-1-61738-383-0.
  6. ^ Foreman, Todd (1999). "Nondiscrimination Ordinance 101: San Francisco;s Nondiscrimination in City Contracts and Benefits Ordinance: A New Approach to Winning Domestic Partnership Benefits". University of Pennsylvania Journal of Business Law. 2: 319–344.
  7. ^ Laird, Cynthia (June 7, 2017). "SF marks 20 years of equal benefits". Bay Area Reporter.
  8. ^ "Resolution commending and honoring Leslie Katz for her distinguished service as Supervisor of the City and County of San Francisco". San Francisco Board of Supervisors. January 2, 2001.
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