Susan Leal is an American water utility consultant and the co-author of the book Running Out of Water. Formerly, she was the General Manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, San Francisco Treasurer, and a San Francisco Supervisor.
Early life and education
Leal was born the youngest of three on October 11, 1949 to Mexican immigrant parents in San Francisco. She grew up in Eureka Valley. Leal graduated from Presentation High School in 1967; the Catholic prep school was founded in 1915 by the Sisters of the Presentation, and it closed in 1991.. Leal attended University of California, Berkeley, where she received a bachelor's degree in economics in 1971 and a Juris Doctor in 1975. San Francisco Supervisor Bevan Dufty was a classmate of hers at Cal.
Leal was appointed to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in June 1993 by mayor Frank Jordan. She was re-elected the following year to a four-year term. While serving on the Board, she chaired its Finance Committee. From 1997 to 2004, Leal served as Treasurer of San Francisco, the City and County's banker and chief investment officer, winning re-election in 2001. Her duties as Treasurer also included managing all tax and revenue collection for San Francisco as well as managing billions of dollars in short-term revenue. She introduced the first socially responsibleinvestment portfolio among California’s 58 counties. Her socially-responsible portfolio’s return on investments surpassed the other 57 other California counties during her tenure. She helped increase tax collection rates, including a 91% increase in delinquent revenue collection, representing tens of millions in additional revenue. Leal spearheaded the city's e-commerce initiative, which was named one of the top e-government projects nationwide and helped launched the nation's first audio ATM for the visually impaired. Leal was a candidate in the 2003 San Francisco mayoral election. She lost in the general election and endorsed Gavin Newsom, who later won, in the runoff election.
In 2004, Leal was appointed General Manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, the county's utilities agency, by mayor Gavin Newsom, though she had no experience in the utilities field prior to this appointment. During her term, Leal implemented SFGreasecycle — a biodiesel fuel program that collects waste oil and grease to run San Francisco's fleet of vehicles and keep it out of the city's sewer system. She upgraded the Bay Area's seismically unsafe water system and initiated a program to update San Francisco's wastewater system. The Commission installed tanks of bluegills at the Millbraewater treatment plant to measure water safety and detect nonbiological threats in the water supply, as mandated by anti-terrorism federal law. It was also in talks to pay $58 million dollars to build a new power plant in Hunters Point, San Francisco to supplement the Hunters Point Power Plant. The Commission's governing board voted unanimously to fire Leal in February 2008. Although the board did not cite an official reason, commissioner Dick Sklar has expressed disappointment in Leal's handling of the power plant negotiations. She was succeeded by City Controller Ed Harrington. Following her departure, the Board of Supervisors declared April 2008 "Susan Leal Month" for her service to the city.
