John Upton/The Bay Citizen

Mayor Ed Lee speaks with Aboriginal Blackmen United leader James Richards at the local hiring victory party Wednesday

Some of San Francisco's highest-profile political and community leaders, including Mayor Edwin M. Lee, attended a victory party thrown Wednesday evening in the city's Mission District to celebrate the recent adoption of the nation's most stringent local hiring law.

The contentious law requires city contractors to hire at least 25 percent of their construction workforce from within city limits this year, rising to 50 percent by 2016.

The law is opposed by San Mateo leaders, including Assemblyman Jerry Hill, who say it will cut their residents out of desperately needed jobs.

But an extraordinary turnout at Wednesday's victory party, hosted by Laborers International Union Local 261 in its Mission District headquarters, showed that deep support exists for the legislation within the city's political and administrative leadership.

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The victory party was attended by about 200 people, including the mayor; supervisors John Avalos, David Campos and Ross Mirkarimi; City Attorney Dennis Herrera; San Francisco Public Utilities Commission General Manager Ed Harrington; Department of Public Works Director Ed Reiskin; CityBuild Director Guillermo Rodriguez; Aboriginal Blackmen United members including leader James Richards; Brightline Defense Project Executive Director Joshua Arce; Chinese for Affirmative Action Executive Director Vincent Pan; City College trustees John Rizzo and Chris Jackson; and Southeast Jobs Coalition representative James Bryant.

Board of Supervisors President David Chiu and Supervisor Jane Kim also turned up, although they were late and missed the festivities and speeches.