The State - News from Feb. 25, 1985

Richard Hongisto likes to think of San Francisco as the “cultured, humanitarian” city that opened its arms to the beat generation, hippies, flower children and gays--not to nuclear warships. Hongisto persuaded a majority of his colleagues on the Board of Supervisors to approve a resolution telling the Navy they didn’t want the refurbished battleship Missouri based in San Francisco Bay. The resolution, which passed 6 to 5, went against the wishes of Mayor Dianne Feinstein, who wants very much to see the Missouri tied up near Candlestick Park. “I believe we have a good chance. I also believe a substantial majority of the people here favor it,” Feinstein said. The mayor said opponents are trying to fight the issue of war and peace on a local level where it cannot be decided. Until the resolution was passed, San Francisco was believed to be favored as home port for the Missouri and the five or six escort ships that will go with the battleship when it is ready for active service again in a year or so.