Gene Mullin, the longtime state assemblyman and former South San Francisco mayor, has died three years after he was diagnosed with cancer, his family announced Monday.
Mullin, 83, served in the state assembly from 2002-2008 and spent seven years on the South San Francisco city council, including two one-year stints as mayor. His life of public service dates back to the 1960s, when he began teaching and coaching at South San Francisco High School for three decades.
Gene Mullin’s son, Kevin Mullin, wrote a brief statement on Twitter confirming his father’s death.
“He was a husband, father, grandfather, teacher, coach, City Councilmember, Mayor, and State Assemblymember,” Kevin Mullin wrote. “We’re grateful for the many messages of support.”
As an assemblyman, Gene Mullin championed legislation focused on children’s safety and education; he wrote or sponsored legislation to bolster school funding with the state Mega Millions Lotto, to force charter schools to obey the same open meeting rules as public schools, and to reduce urinal flushes from a gallon to a half-gallon. All three bills were vetoed by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
In 2006, he co-sponsored AB 2977, which imposed extra safety regulations for swimming pools. In 2008, he introduced a successful bill that required school districts to give 30 days notice before entering into a risky loan financing scheme that had bankrupted multiple California school districts.
Throughout his political career, Mullin — a former government teacher — pushed the idea of a change to the California Constitution that would allow 17-year-olds to vote in primary or special elections if they were scheduled to turn 18 by the general election, arguing it would help increase young people’s interest in the political process. The idea failed to garner majority support but similar proposals continued long after Mullin’s time at the assembly was over.
Gene Mullin was preceded in death by his wife Terri. His son, Kevin Mullin, is currently the Speaker Pro Tempore of the state assembly.