SAN FRANCISCO _ Edwin Mah Lee, the 43rd mayor of the city and county of San Francisco, died at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, according to reports.
San Francisco Board of Supervisors President London Breed immediately becomes acting mayor, according to city charter rules.
A statement issued by the city early Tuesday read as follows: "It is with profound sadness and terrible grief that we confirm that Mayor Edwin M. Lee passed away on Tuesday, December 12 at 1:11 a.m. at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. 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.
"In accordance with the City Charter, Board of Supervisors President London Breed became Acting Mayor of San Francisco, effective immediately."
Lee, a Seattle native who worked as a private-sector attorney before turning to public service, was the city's first Asian-American mayor, assuming office to fill the remainder of then-Mayor Gavin Newsom's term.
"I will work with each and every one of you to see that constituents are well-served, that the doors of diversity and opportunity are open," he told supervisors, staff and family members gathered in January 2011 before a crowd of hundreds at the City Hall rotunda. Lee won election in his own right in November 2011, as well as re-election in 2015.
Breed, 43, who grew up in San Francisco public housing half a mile from City Hall and rose to represent the city's Fifth District, becomes the city's second woman, second African-American and first African-American woman to become mayor.
