Office of City Administrator

Edwin M. Lee was sworn in as City Administrator of the City and County of San Francisco on June 22, 2005.  Mr. Lee comes to this position with a long, established reputation in City government, having served in various capacities under four mayors.

In 1989, Mayor Art Agnos first appointed Mr. Lee to the position of Investigator for the City’s first Whistle Blower Ordinance.  Mayor Agnos later appointed him Deputy Director of Employee Relations.  From 1991 until 1996, Mr. Lee served as Executive Director of the Human Rights Commission.

In 1996, Mayor Willie Brown named Mr. Lee Director of City Purchasing.   As Purchaser, Mr. Lee succeeded in modernizing the office by streamlining the Purchasing Code and facilitating the City’s ability to access state-of-the-art computer technology.  He also directed the first Minority/Women-Owned Businesses Enterprise program.

In 2000, Mr. Lee was appointed Director of the Department of Public Works.  In addition to overseeing major capital public works projects, e.g., the redesign of United Nations Plaza, Harding Park Golf Clubhouse, Hayes Green/Octavia Boulevard, he focused the department’s efforts on maintenance and upkeep of the City’s streets and public spaces.  He established new standards and goals for recycling; he created public/private partnerships for neighborhood beautification; he intensified the department’s attempts to improve overall cleanliness of the City; and he reinstituted the undergrounding of utility conduit throughout the City.

Prior to his employment with the City and County of San Francisco, Mr. Lee was the Managing Attorney for the San Francisco Asian Law Caucus, for which he worked from 1979 to 1989.

Edwin Lee was born in Seattle, Washington.  He graduated Summa Cum Laude from Bowdoin College in 1974 and from Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, in 1978.  He is married and the father of two grown daughters.