October 5, 2010 Statement offered at Board of Supervisors,
City Operations and Neighborhood Services Committee hearing on Resolution
by Supervisor Bevan Dufty to Name Castro Pedestrian Plaza, the “Jane Warner Plaza”

My name is Michelle Hadley-Ourlian. I want to extend my gratitude to Supervisor Bevan Dufty and his staff for putting this motion forward. I would also like to express my appreciation to the committee members for hearing this issue today.

It has been my honor to have called Officer Jane Warner my friend for almost 20 years. I meet her only a few months after she came to CA. It was a time of transition in both of our lives and we had many conversations about what the future may hold. I can assure all of you that having a Plaza in heart of the Castro named after her, never came up as a possibility.

But if Jane were here, I think she would ask us to step away from our emotion and really answer the question of what makes any person worthy of such an honor?

I have given this question a lot of thought. I have reached the conclusion that one of the important reasons to name any public location after someone is so that person is never forgotten -- not only by people who knew the honoree, but also for younger generations to come so that people who have never met the person being honored, can hear her story. The story will provide a shining example to inspire the best in the future generation by teaching them about those that came before.

So I have asked myself: Did Officer Jane lead a life we want future generations to aspire to live?

Before she came to the Castro she had an amazing career in law enforcement. In Hawaii she worked as an undercover drug officer, and she risked her life multiple times. She worked as a patrol officer responding to emergency calls. She worked a walking tourist beat in Honolulu. She worked undercover to solve sex crimes. As a Hawaii sheriff she protected judges and witness.

But of all the work she did in law enforcement, she felt her work in the Castro was her life’s calling. It allowed her to use her experience in service to the community she loved.

She fought hard her whole life for equal rights, standing up to sexual discrimination. She was passionately committed to community policing. She cared about animals, the homeless, drug addicts and alcoholics. She believed when we help the weakest of our community to grow stronger, then we all benefit. She loved all the different colors of the gay community. She was a strong leader and a great example of how to be a caring, productive member of a community you love.

So I have asked myself, did she set a good example? Did she live a life we want future generations to aspire to live? I think she did.