Board rejects Mayor Breed’s final picks for S.F. commissions

The Board of Supervisors in a 5-4 vote today rejected Mayor London Breed’s nominations to two city commissions. The vote seemed to say: Leave it to the next mayor. 

“I think it is the obligation of this board to put our foot down and reject these, and let a new mayor nominate whoever he chooses,” said Board president Aaron Peskin. “I would rather give the new mayor a clean slate.” 

Breed had nominated former California Public Utilities Commission administrative law judge Joanna Gubman to the Board of Appeals, transit planner and Apple transportation product manager Sara Barz to the Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors, and attorney James Byrne to fill the Police Commission seat vacated by Debra Walker — who Breed recently appointed to the Arts Commission.

The Board of Supervisors Rules Committee rejected all three nominations last week. Peskin said today that the committee made those rejections so as “not to ram through a number of last-minute appointments to very high profile commissions that have terms of four years.” 

Just before today’s Board of Supervisors meeting, an email reviewed by Mission Local shows Breed withdrew her nomination of Byrne — a former police commissioner — to the Police Commission.

In a final show of power against Breed, supervisors Peskin, Dean Preston, Ahsha Safaí, Hillary Ronen, and Shamann Walton voted down the mayor’s remaining two nominations. District 2 has no sitting supervisor and awaits Breed’s appointment, and Supervisor Connie Chan was absent.

Supervisor Myrna Melgar made a motion to continue the issue until the new year, at which point Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie could choose whether to keep or withdraw the nominations, but that motion was rejected by the same five supervisors. Melgar’s motion received support from supervisors Matt Dorsey, Joel Engardio, and Rafael Mandelman.

Melgar said the nominees were technically qualified for their roles and willing to serve on the two boards. 

“I think by putting [these nominees] forward for the ability of this mayor to either withdraw the nomination or not,” Melgar said, “is giving the new mayor a clean slate — and giving him a little bit of a heads up that these are really good nominations.”