Good morning.

This meeting will come to order.

Welcome to the October 11, 2022 special meeting of the Government Audit and Oversight Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

I'm Supervisor Dean Preston, Chair of the Committee, joined by Vice Chair Connie Chan and Supervisor Hillary Roan and our committee clerk today is Stephanie Caprera.

And we want to thank the team at SFGov TV for staffing our meeting today.

Madam Clerk, do you have any announcements?

Thank you.

The Board of Supervisors and its committees are now convening hybrid meetings that allow in-person attendance and public comment while still providing remote access and public comment via telephone.

The board recognizes that equitable public access is essential, and we'll be taking public comment as follows.

First, public comment will be taken on each item on this agenda.

Those attending in person will be allowed to speak first, and then we will take those who are waiting on the telephone line.

For those watching either Channel 26, 28, 78, or 99, and SFgov TV.org, the public comment call in number is streaming across the screen.

This number is 415-655-0001.

Again, 415-655-0001.

Then enter the meeting ID 2483 746 1550, then pound, and then pound again.

When connected, you will hear the meeting discussions, but you will be muted and in listening mode only.

When your item of interest comes up and the public comment is called, those joining us in person should line up to speak, and those on the telephone should dial star three to also be added to the speaker line.

If you are on your telephone, please remember to turn down your TV and all listening devices you may be using.

As already indicated, we will be taking public comment from those attending in person first, then we will go to our public comment telephone line.

Alternatively, you may submit public comment in writing in either of the following ways.

Email them to myself, the commit the government audit and oversight clerk at Stephanie.cs and Charles A BS and Bay, R E R A at SFgov.org.

If you submit public comment via email, it will be forwarded to the supervisors and also included as part of the official file.

You may also send your written comments via U.S.

Postal Service to our office in City Hall, one Dr.

Carlton B.

Goodlit Place, Room 244, San Francisco, California, 94102.

Finally, items acted upon today are expected to appear on the Board of Supervisors Agenda of October 18th, unless otherwise stated.

And that concludes.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

And before we get to our first and only agenda item, I'd like to make a motion to excuse Supervisor Mandelman, uh, who is unable to join us today.

Can you call the roll, please?

On the motion to excuse Member Mandelman, Vice Chair Chan.

Aye.

Member Ronan.

Aye.

Chair Preston.

Aye.

Preston I'm three eyes.

Thank you.

The motion passes, and I want to thank uh Supervisor Ronan uh for serving on the committee today.

Very much appreciate uh your time and participation here today.

Uh Madam Clerk, please call item one.

Item number one is a hearing on the mayor's policy practice to request or require appointees, nominees to sign undated resignation letters and any use or threatened use of such letters and requesting the mayor's office to report.

Members of the public who wish to provide public comment on this item should call 415-655-0001, meeting ID 2483-746-1550, then pound and then pound again.

If you haven't already done so, please dial star three to line up to speak.

The system will indicate that you have raised your hand.

Please wait until the system indicates that you have been unmuted, and you may begin your comments when we go to public comment.

Thank you, Madam Clerk, and um I have some uh opening remarks and then then we will hear uh from uh the mayor's office.

Um and uh and I should start by thanking again thanking Supervisor Ronan for not just being here but also for co-sponsoring uh the the hearing today.

Um and colleagues what's that?

Oh uh colleagues at uh let's just start I I want to thank uh the uh and and recognize the the courage of uh police commissioner Max Carter Overstone and also the uh reporting of veteran journalist Michael Barber Barba and thanks to uh them.

Uh we learned that the mayor has been having her uh nominees to important commissions in San Francisco sign undated resignation letters, uh letters that the mayor's office uh holds while commissioners are serving the city.

This practice uh that was kept secret for years is fundamentally inconsistent uh with city law and specifically our city charter.

Uh while the charter gives the uh the mayor the power to appoint certain charter commissioners, once they're appointed, they're protected from unilateral removal by the mayor.

Uh commissioners on bodies like our our planning commission, uh police commission, uh, the MTA and others, once they're appointed, uh these commissioners do not, I repeat, they do not sit at the pleasure of the mayor, nor do they work for the mayor.

Commissioners who are supposed to be providing oversight to the mayor's departments are expected to uh exercise independent judgment once they are appointed.

And the charter lays out very specifically the process for removal of commissioners, which generally requires for most charter commissions a finding of official misconduct uh and approval of the Board of Supervisors uh for and ethics commission for removal.

Um, requiring an appointee or nominee uh to provide an undated resignation letter at the time of appointment undermines charter protections for commissioners against at-will removal removal by the appointing authority, here the mayor, uh and the practice really calls into question and creates appearance of lack of uh independence of commissioners and and raises significant concerns about the level of control that the mayor has over commissioners.

The issue, as I mentioned, came to light when Commissioner Max uh Carter Overstone revealed that when seeking mayoral reappointment uh to the police commission, he was required to sign an undated less uh letter of resignation as a condition of his reappointment on April 26th, uh Commissioner Carter Overstone returned the requested signed letter of resignation uh on May 3rd, uh Carter Overstone was reappointed to the police commission for a second term.