A Heartbeat in the Bay Area

By Billy Kaktis

The minute I was introduced to Bill, I knew this was the man to mentor me. Bill passed away, probably quietly, in July. When I was hired at San Francisco Muni, I was with Bill for over ten years. Bill, always a UCal guy, would vault into San Francisco from the East Bay early in the morning, always on public transit. San Francisco is a “transit first” city, that’s our philosophy. The Construction Department at Muni had at its’ core an assemblage of managers, engineers, architects, technical experts and clerical. Under Bill’s lead, Tuesday mornings are reserved, gathering the minds of those people who promote their efforts to keep transit flowing. For example, Bill would say “Tell us about reversing electrical current flow, Billy. How will that allow the trains to run more efficiently?” It’s hardly concrete. steel and mechanical power. Bill always instilled the human element as a primary factor for problem solving. How do we get a man across town at seven a.m. on time, and safely, so he can earn his living? Perhaps the refinement he loved made the effort click. There’s always time for the symphony, drama and esoteric travel to smooth the brainwaves out. Then it’s back to the boards and conference rooms. “This is your project budget”, Billy, he would say. Remember, you get 5 percent to arrive at a solution, the rest is for building the works. Don’t make it any more difficult than you have to. We’ve got a library full of books, communication tools and equipment. Which one of the boys and girls do you want for your team?” If you got sent to the bowels of the City, it was for good reason. Bill knew he could count on you for gathering the facts. Some said it was an “old boy’s network” that kept us flowing in difficult times. I didn’t agree with this concept until I realized I was one of the “old boys.” It was the inside track for survival, and Bill steered the boat. “We’ve got the Giants, the 49ers, the Marathon and the Pride Parade coming up soon. Some are all at once. Are you ready for the challenge Billy? We’ve got the Mayor, Security, Traffic Control and Operations for help. The protestors will block Market St. all day today”. And with Bill’s guidance, I always believed we could make it all work. Maybe we could go home this weekend. It will be quite a Celebration of Life later in August. You will never, ever be forgotten, Bill. The Bay Area needs more heat beats like you.

In August 1949 I was born into the arms of two of the best parents, my father Gabriel Antonio who left his country of El Salvador to the US in 1941 and enlisted in the Army. While he served his time he never stopped writing beautiful poems and letters to my mother Yolanda Maria Schlesinger who joined him here in 1948. In fact, my father had hoped that one of his children would become a writer. With his GI loan and newly-acquired citizenship he was interested in a new subdivision named Shoreview in San Mateo. They bought our newly built home in 1950 when I was a year old and my mother was expecting my sister Linda, followed by my brother Alfredo, sister Sylvia and brother Marco. All five of us Aguirre children couldn’t ask for a better childhood. My parents took us camping every year for not just a few days but two weeks at a time in beautiful parks. When I was about to turn 15 my parents took us to El Salvador, which is over a 6000-mile round trip, in our 1958 Oldsmobile Sedan. Two years later my parents drove us through the Pacific Northwest. My father took us on long vacations because it seemed Bethlehem Steel Co. was always on strike. We all went to San Mateo High School and College of San Mateo. I am grateful for my 2 years at CSM because I was involved in a new multi-cultural program or commonly known as the CRP where I finally became so proud of my culture after all the bullying and other children’s comments of Latinos through my early school days made me ashamed of who I was. I then became an activist as did many college students in the late 60s and early 70s. In 1969 I started dating Carlo Costa (now known as Carlos). It’s funny; we both went to San Mateo High but didn’t know each other. He will always be an important and loved person in my life although we never married. I thought we were too young and immature when the best gift we could bring to the world was born in 1971. Our daughter Regina Justine, who later gave us two beautiful granddaughters, is part of my life of which I am most proud. I always loved secretarial work and held various positions, but in 1979 I was an office manager for a real estate appraisal company. My boss noticed I was catching on to appraising real fast, so he told me I could start doing appraisals if I pass the course at CSM. I did and became a full-time appraiser in 1980. Because of harassment as well as other office politics I decided to work on my