Arthur Christ Agnos
| Art Agnos | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 39th Mayor of San Francisco | |
|
In office January 8, 1988 – January 8, 1992 |
|
| Preceded by | Dianne Feinstein |
| Succeeded by | Frank Jordan |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Arthouros Agnos September 1, 1938 Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Sherry Hankins |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater |
Bates College Florida State University |
Arthur Christ Agnos (born Arthouros Agnos; September 1, 1938) is an American politician. He served as the 39th mayor of San Francisco, California from 1988 to 1992, and as the Regional Head of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development from 1993 to 2001.
Agnos was born Arthouros Agnos in Springfield, Massachusetts, to Greek immigrants. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bates College and a Master of Social Work from Florida State University. He moved to San Francisco in 1966 and went to work at the San Francisco Housing Authority as a social worker with senior populations.
On December 13, 1973, Agnos, who was then a member of the California Commission on Aging, was attending a meeting in the largely black public housing project in the San Francisco neighborhood of Potrero Hill, in order to discuss building a publicly funded health clinic in the area. After the meeting concluded, he was shot twice at point blank range; Agnos being one of two victims shot that day in a series of attacks known as the Zebra murders. It was perhaps the first case of urban terrorism in the United States, with random shootings in San Francisco resulting in 16 murders, and eight to ten wounded in waves of attacks throughout 1973 and 1974. The attack were perpetrated by the members of an offshoot of the Nation of Islam, in which so-called "points" were earned by killing a white person. Agnos nearly died in the shooting.
Agnos was asked by California State Assemblyman Leo McCarthy to join his staff in January 1968. McCarthy was elected Speaker of the Assembly in 1974 and Agnos became his Chief of Staff. During this period, Agnos helped obtain the first-ever California state funding for community-based mental-health services serving the lesbian and gay community, helped pass nursing-home reform, and worked for preservation of farm land.
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