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Rebecca Prozan’s Back in City Hall
It’s So Nice To See You Back Where You
Belong!
by Ken Ludden for the San
Francisco Spectrum
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Supervisor Bevan Dufty. and Rebecca Prozan are
a great team in City Hall.
photo by Missy |
When Rebecca Prozan worked as the LGBT Liaison for Mayor Willie
Brown, it seemed like there wasn’t anything she couldn’t
accomplish for a queer constituent. But more remarkable was her
perpetual good humor. Certainly any fly on the wall of a city government
office will tell you that many days are far from calm, cool and
collected. But somehow, Prozan kept her cool.
Then, suddenly, she disappeared and was replaced by a steady flow
of liaisons that had their work cut out for them to live up to her
legacy. Well, a law degree and management of Kamala Harris’
campaign for District Attorney later, Prozan is back as Legislative
Aid to Supervisor Bevin Dufty.
While Prozan is an effective player in getting things done in the
city, working through the legislative process is new for her, and
a little disorienting at first. “It’s weird to be back
in City Hall,” she says. “For the first couple of weeks
I was kind of doing time travel—when you spent five years
doing a job for a particular politician. Working for Bevin it was
kind of like coming home but in an entirely different arena. I obviously
had a big jump start on a number of different fonts. Bevin’s
main goal is to solve constituent issues and is all about the neighborhood.
Because of my work I knew who to call to get a stop sign in a particular
intersection or get a stop sign. Because of my political experience
I knew the players who put forth legislation and had a keen sense
of the legislative players per se, but what I didn’t know
was the procedure of how to get legislation done. How to get the
resolutions and ordinances through the board, how the committees
are run, how legislation gets through the city.”
Prozan is a survivor and can adapt easily, even when the situation
is very different. For example, when working for the Mayor, she
was one of hundreds of people on Brown’s staff. Now she is
part of a staff of two people. As a result, she gets a much closer
view of her boss, and has a greater understanding of everything
that is happening. “I love working with Bevin,” she
says happily. “I’ve really seen how he has grown and
matured in his role. As one of his campaign co-chairs I was able
to watch him evolve as a candidate and watch him become his own
person on the campaign trail and I’ve seen him evolve that
much more.”
Her current job is a ‘mixed bag’ as she puts it. From
her experience in City Hall under Brown, and having graduated with
a law degree, she understands the legislative process and has grown
into knowing how to get things through. But that’s not her
job. “I’m good at getting red tape through,” she
says, “and am aware of where [Dufty] should spend his time
so he’s dealing with the issues he should be dealing with.”
She speaks of watching Supervisor Dufty mature as a candidate and
as a legislator, but she herself has matured as well. And with maturity
comes a different appreciation for her situation. “When I
was 23 and working in the mayor’s office it was like everything
was candy,” she recalls in contrast to her current point of
view. “Now I’m more mature and am able to deal more
with the myriad of issues we deal with on a day to day basis.”
She is particularly interested in transportation and land use,
and has a soft spot for dealing with issues like the museum of the
African Diaspora. When asked about it, she beams. “I got a
resolution pass about Resolve to Stop the Violence Project (RSVP)
which was my baby. They actually won the Harvard Innovation in Government
Award and we actually did a resolution commending them for that.”
As for the future, she is open to running for office if the timing’s
right, but is content to serve San Francisco for now. In the mean
time she has her eyes on the Presidential race, hoping for a shake-up
from Pennsylvania Avenue down. “I think the election is anyone’s
game,” she says. “We do it to make the elected officials
to talk to neighborhood folk’s school board who knows what’s
going to go on there. It’s anyone’s game at this point.”
But meanwhile, back at home, she has much respect for Mayor Newsom
and his courage in dealing with the crimes in Bay View and Gay marriage.
“I think Mayor Newsom is doing a phenomenal job. I think people
underestimated how well he was going to do. I think his heart is
in the right place. Some things are going to be a lot more difficult
than Gavin first realized.”
One reason things can be difficult is the strong progressive movement
in San Francisco. While they don’t have the numbers to change
the balance in City Hall widely, they are a constant presence. “I
think the progressive movement brings important issues to the fray,”
she says, “that is, there’s always room for improvement
for other ideas for other proposals for other thoughts about how
we could best craft public policy in San Francisco. They keep me
on my toes, because that’s really what it is. It is a palpable
persistent influence in City Hall, for me it is.”
As for her old boss? She is the best thing a person can be, loyal.
“I think a lot more people miss him than people originally
thought,” she says. “I think you could say that equally
with the people who liked him and who didn’t. I remain a Brown
loyalist, so obviously I’m biased. I have many friends who
are not and I think they agree that he is missed.”
At the end of the day, Miss Rebecca Prozan is back in City Hall
and that is very good news for San Franciscans. “The joy that
I’ve gotten from coming back is overwhelming. San Francisco,
we really are our own conclave.”
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