House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is praising former San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee as « a true gentleman of great warmth, positivity and kindness. ».
The Latest on the death of San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee (all times local):
7:10 a.m.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is praising former San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee as « a true gentleman of great warmth, positivity and kindness. »
Pelosi, a former House Speaker and San Francisco Democrat, says Lee’s priority was always people and communities. She called him an effective and pragmatic man who led the economic expansion of San Francisco. She called him her friend.
Pelosi said he « never had an unkind word for anyone, and no one ever had an unkind word for him. » She expressed condolences to Lee’s wife, Anita, and two daughters.
Lee died Tuesday at 1 a.m. at a hospital after collapsing at his neighborhood Safeway store.
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6:45 a.m.
Former Mayor Willie Brown says his friend Ed Lee will be remembered as the man who stepped up to bring Silicon Valley to San Francisco.
Lee was a low-key mustachioed mayor better known as city bureaucrat than a flashy politician.
Brown and the late power broker Rose Pak talked Lee into filling out the rest of Gavin Newsom’s term when he was elected state lieutenant governor in 2010. Brown said Lee was uncomfortable in the office but as he saw the deep fractions of the city, he thought he could be the healer San Francisco needed to bridge its factions.
Brown says Lee was motivated at all times by a deep love of the city.
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4:30 a.m.
The San Francisco Chronical is reporting that Mayor Edwin Lee has died. He was 65.
The newspaper is citing a statement by the mayor’s office that states that Lee passed away Tuesday just after 1 a.m. at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.
The statement says family, friends and colleagues were at Lee’s side.
Lee was not known to be ill. No other details have been released.
