Susan Leal, the outgoing general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, is still recovering from a brain hemorrhage she suffered in December, the result of being struck by a car while she was walking in the crosswalk in front of City Hall.
The impact from the accident threw Leal about 30 feet, and she landed on her head. She was rushed to San Francisco General Hospital and emerged largely unscathed.
The accident did leave Leal without a sense of smell – which her doctors expect should return within months – and a limited ability to work each day.
Leal, one of the highest ranking lesbians in city government, returned to the office in early February but has limited her working day to only four hours.
"I have had a very positive recovery. Now I can walk pretty well. I am in pretty good shape in terms of moving around," she told the Bay Area Reporter last week. "I don't have to walk with a cane. It's going to be more about if I work more than a few hours, I am tired or stressed out and get bad headaches."
To this day Leal, a former supervisor and mayoral candidate who lost to Gavin Newsom in 2003 and then endorsed him, remembers very little of the accident.
"I remember the sound of my head hitting the ground and the feeling of my head hitting the ground," said Leal. "When I first woke up, I thought I was dreaming but then I saw the black top."
She had nothing but praise for the paramedics who helped her that day and hospital staff. A neurologist at the University of California San Francisco's medical facilities is currently treating her.
"The first few weeks were really tough. I could go out usually with somebody else but I would get really bad vertigo," said Leal.
As for the driver of the car, the woman has yet to speak directly to Leal. Leal said she has been in touch with the woman's insurance company, and at this point, has not given much thought about any legal claims.
"I am seeing how my recovery goes. I do have some significant medical bills," said Leal. "I had a couple CAT Scans and MRIs. My focus, though, is on my recovery."
Now that the PUC board has officially terminated her contract – the board voted in closed session Wednesday, February 20 to fire Leal without cause – Leal expects her last day to be in mid-March.
Her firing came at the insistence of Newsom, who initially asked Leal to resign late last year. Leal refused, and as part of the contract she negotiated with the city when Newsom appointed her to the PUC post in 2004, she will receive $400,000 for being pushed out of the job.
She said to this day she has never been given a reason for the mayor's decision, other than it had nothing to do with her performance.
"For the last month and half I kept thinking, what is it? I realized it was just a bad use or a waste of my emotions to worry about that," said Leal. "For me, I am trying to do as much as I can to make sure we have things in place as we go through this transition. The people here have worked really, really hard. The one thing I want to make sure is that things are really moving in the right direction up until the last day I can be here."
Newsom has tapped openly gay city Controller Ed Harrington to replace Leal. She called Harrington "a very high quality person" and said she is hopeful he will see to fruition the many PUC projects she moved forward, from building a new headquarters with green technology to upgrading the city's water and sewer systems.
"I believe and am hopeful he will be supportive of much of the good work we are doing here," said Leal. "From what I understand, he is supportive of the work we are doing."
As for her own future, Leal said her first priority is making a full recovery and then she will weigh her options. She has fielded several consulting offers and would like to continue working on sustainability and renewable energy issues.
"The first order of business is just to make sure I am one hundred percent physically. Then I will calmly look at the different things that are out there and where can I be the most value," said Leal.
At this point, Leal would not rule out running for public office again.
"I love working for the city and serving in a public capacity. I can't rule that out as a possibility in the future," she said.
Gay commissioner news
Last week Nicky Calma, better known as Tita Aida, joined the city's Commission on the Status of Women. Calma is a health education program supervisor at the Asian and Pacific Islander Wellness Center. As Aida, she is a host of countless LGBT and AIDS benefits and events.
Health commissioners this month elected Jim Illig , one of two openly gay men on the oversight body, as their president. And out lesbian Debra Walker lost her bid Wednesday to remain president of the city's Building Inspections Commission.
Walker, a past president of the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, also welcomed Rafael Mandelman as a new member of the commission at its meeting Wednesday, February 20. Mandelman, who was appointed by Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, is the current Milk Club president.
Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http://www.ebar.com Monday mornings around 10 a.m. for Political Notes, the notebook's online companion. This week's column is about a gay Republican running for Congress in Arizona.
Got a tip on LGBT politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 861-5019 or e-mail [email protected].