Gerardo Compos Sandoval (born 1962) is a judge of the Superior Court of California in and for the County of San Francisco. He was formerly a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. A practicing attorney, he defeated Superior Court judge Thomas J. Mellon, Jr. in a runoff election held in November 2008 after coming in first, but not obtaining a majority of votes cast in the June 2008 primary election. Sandoval, a Democrat, represented the 11th district of San Francisco, which encompasses the Excelsior neighborhood. In 2005, he ran for San Francisco County assessor, but lost to appointed incumbent Phil Ting. Sandoval was first elected to the Board of Supervisors in December 2000, and was re-elected in November 2004. In March 2000 he was elected to the San Francisco Democratic Central Committee. Early life Sandoval's mother was a garment worker and homemaker. His father was a gardener and union organizer. Except for his oldest brother, who is developmentally disabled, all of Gerardo's siblings graduated from college. He was in the first Head Start class in 1966 and considers himself a product of Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society". He is fully bilingual in Spanish and has traveled extensively in Latin America, Asia and Europe. Sandoval is married to the former Amy Harrington, and they have two daughters. Sandoval attended Loyola High School in Los Angeles before graduating from the University of California, Berkeley in 1987. In 1989 he received his Master's degree in City and Regional Planning from UC Berkeley, with a specialization in real estate and housing development. He wrote his master's thesis on using tax credits to build affordable housing. Sandoval received his Juris Doctor from Columbia University Law School. Sandoval is the first in his family to receive an advanced degree. Career Sandoval worked as an assistant to San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos from 1990 to 1992, where he was responsible for budget and finance issues. He worked as a trial attorney and Deputy Public Defender in the San Francisco Public Defender's Office for five years. He was formerly an associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, the largest law firm in the United States. Sandoval also completed a three-year term on San Francisco's Public Transportation Commission, an agency with over $350 million in expenditures and 3500 employees. As Supervisor, Sandoval passed a consular identification ordinance in San Francisco. The ordinance requires that City employees