former san francisco mayor willie brown told us this morning that mayor lee died of a heart attack. employees at a safeway store says that the mayor collapsed in the store last night. ed lee became san francisco s 43rd mayor. the first asian-american mayor in san francisco when he was appointed in 2011 by the board of supervisors when gavin newsome resigned to become lieutenant governor. ed lee won election in 2011 and reelected in 2015. the mayor s office released a statement saying, quote, it is with profound sadness and terrible grief that we confirm that mayor edwin lee passed away on tuesday, december 12th, at 1:11 a.m. at zuckerberg san francisco general hospital. his family, friends and colleagues were at his side. our thoughts and prayers are with his wife anita, his two daughters, brianna and tania and his family. the board of supervisors president london breed is now the acting mayor of san francisco. london breed was sworn in early this morning. she was elected to
man. i m drawn to the kind of leader that s nice and ed lee was nice. he was a mayor who led with compassion, who was an incredibly kind person. ed lee always had an open door for any of us. we could call him at any time. reporter: the mayor came from humble beginnings. he grew up in public housing. his father a veteran, mother a se se seamstress. he never forgot who he was and where he came from. he was quiet and low key. reporter: his priorities were housing, homelessness, jobs and minimum wage. he had many political battles in his three decades of public service. opponents may have disagreed with him on policy, but everyone agrees that our mayor was a good man with a good heart. reporter: the flags here at city hall are at half staff. that s where they will be for the next 30 days. i go back on a personal note with mayor ed leew way back during the days he was an activist with the asian law caucus. he campaigned for a lot of things that he believed were g
who did more than lead san francisco. ed lee is being remembered as a mayor, family man and friend. the unexpected death of ed lee has left the bay area stunned. it has. the impact has spread far beyond san francisco and we re going to share some of those stories with you tonight. we have coverage showing what a difference this man made. let s begin now with vick lee who is live at city hall. you spent a lot of years covering the mayor. reporter: people are dropping off flowers here at the steps of city hall as you can see. there s a bigger memorial of flowers on the second floor at the mayor s office. the reaction here today as you can imagine is a lot of crying and hugging. lots of people walking around simply shocked and saddened. mayor ed lee passed away early this morning. reporter: the board of supervisors president now acting mayor made the announcement this morning. this after meetings with the mayor s staff and department heads before her news conference.
but to everyone we met and everywhere we went, mayor lee was like beyonce with a mustache. ed lee had the qualities of a person whom, if you did an interview of all of the ones that i just spoke about, he would be the only one that would be rated appropriately by the head hunters as to who ought to be mayor. all the rest of us would be considered okay. i think if there s any legacy of ed, it s a reminder that life is short. and our wisdom is way too limited to win fleeting victories at other people s expenses. ed s life was about fry triumph together. he knew that a measure of his success or any public figure s success was not the honors received but the difference that he made in the lives of regular people in our community. nothing was too small or too big for him, from stuffing envelopes to speaking on stage, my dad was happy to do it all. often until late hours in the night. just think of this. head of the human rights commission, purchaser of the city, head of
and i m carolyn tyler. today hundreds of people packed city hall for a public memorial from the governor and u.s. senators to everyday ordinary residents whose lives were touched by ed lee. we have live team coverage from city hall. first, let s head outside to abc 7 news reporter alyssa harrington. elisa? reporter: flowers cover the steps of city hall tonight. mourners are stopping by to leave flowers, candles and letters for ed lee. i spoke to gavin newsom just a few minutes ago. he said you want to live like your eulogy and mayor lee did. he is being remembered for being kind, his humility, his deep love for san francisco. ed lee was a real person. he was a person that communicated integrity. a love of life. in china, san francisco s first chinese american mayor, he was like a superstar. an icon. but to everyone we met and everywhere we went, mayor lee was like beyonce with a mustache. ed lee had the qualities of a person whom, if you did an interview of all of