police chief who promised to put the city "back on track" and who was strongly supported by the firefighters and others opposed to Agnos's policy initiatives. Agnos' liberalism also ran counter to other conservative interests. As mayor, Agnos and his family became the first to ride in the Lesbian Gay Freedom Day Parade, appointed minorities, lesbians and gays to high city posts, and ended the city's opposition to a court-ordered consent decree to hire and promote minorities and women in the fire department which a federal judge opined was "out of control" due to racism when Agnos took office. Agnos ended a police department policy seen as permitting spying on local political organizations and ended the Department's Tactical Squad that critics blamed for abusing citizens. Agnos also strengthened civilian oversight of the Police Department. Agnos is best known for leading the city through the recovery of the Loma Prieta earthquake, the worst since 1906, and the decision to tear down the Embarcadero Freeway (SR 480), a double-decker freeway along the city's Embarcadero that was a wall between the waterfront and the city. His decision was strongly opposed by the Chamber of Commerce and the Chinatown community, who found the freeway a convenience for business purposes, and nearly 25,000 signatures were collected to put a measure on the ballot to repeal the decision to tear down the freeway. Once Agnos obtained federal funding, that opposition melted away. A 6–5 vote at the city's Board of Supervisors paved the way to tear down the freeway, which led to the start of a decades-long effort to open up the San Francisco waterfront into what is widely considered one of the best outcomes from the earthquake. However, Agnos's 1991 opponent used the decision to play to Chinatown's sentiments and indicated he opposed tearing down the freeway. In 1991, Chinatown played a significant role in his failure to win re-election. Agnos lost in a 51.5%–48.5% election by a few thousand votes, almost the same as the Chinatown vote. In recent years, Agnos's decision has been looked to by city leaders and elected officials in Seattle and Toronto, Canada, where Agnos' Embarcadero result is considered a potential model for replacing elevated freeways in urban areas. Under Agnos, the waterfront transit system gained an uninterrupted streetcar line with historic trolley cars running from Fisherman's Wharf in the north to Mission Bay in the south. Agnos added to