Leon Williams

Leon Lawson Williams (July 21, 1922 – March 1, 2025) was an American politician. He served as a member of the San Diego City Council starting from 1969 to 1982. He also was elected as a member of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors for three terms from 1982 to 1994, chairing the board in 1985 and 1990. He was the first Black person elected to these positions. Dubbed "Mr. San Diego" by the San Diego Rotary Club, he has been described as having left one of "the most significant legacies in San Diego's history", prioritizing civil rights and equitable development in San Diego.

Life and career Williams was born on July 21, 1922 in Oklahoma, the oldest of 15 children. His family, amid the Dust Bowl, moved to Bakersfield, California. He would later move to the San Diego area in 1941 as he served in the Army Corp of Engineers at North Island Naval Air Station. He encountered racism upon arriving in San Diego, having recounted a racist incident when he had attempted to check into the Hotel Pickwick and was told that they "didn't serve [his] kind".

Williams served in World War II in a segregated Army unit. While at San Diego State, he participated in sit-in protests in order to end segregation in San Diego.

Political career San Diego City councilman: 1969–1982 Downtown San Diego, part of the council district that Williams represented. Williams played a major part in the redevelopment of downtown. Williams, with the support of a multiethnic community group, was appointed to the San Diego City Council in 1969 after Tom Hom resigned following his win to a seat in the California State Assembly. He was the first Black person to serve on the council. He represented the 4th district, which at that time included Downtown San Diego, as well as Southeast San Diego and the San Ysidro neighborhood. Due to the low wages of city council members at the time, he worked part-time as a teacher, as well as at a yogurt shop near San Diego State's campus that he later sold. He would continue to face racism, including an incident where a police officer approached his car, with his gun drawn, as he was reviewing city council documents near Balboa Park. He would also be responsible for the creation of emergency call boxes along San Diego highways, as well as the Office of Public Defenders and local Hate Crimes Registry.

Williams would be succeeded by his chief of staff and close friend William Jones, who he had previously mentored. His district, at the time, encompassed much of the city of San Diego.

During his 1986 reelection campaign, he asserted that, as a result of his presence on the Board, there were improvements in the county government, and that the Board became "a more unified body and much less prone to factionalism than it was in the past." He advocated for changes to state and federal laws that he said denied San Diego of "its fair share of tax dollars." He also rebuffed calls by fellow supervisor Paul Eckert for a conservative challenger for Williams' seat.

Death

Williams died from cardiac arrest at Scripps Mercy Hospital, on March 1, 2025, at the age of 102. He was survived by four siblings and his ten children.

In 2017, the block of E Street where Williams lived was renamed "Leon Williams Drive" in his honor. San Diego State holds a collection of records pertaining to his work and legacy in their archives section.