San Francisco Rules Committee Meeting on Homelessness Oversight Commission Appointments - March 13, 2023
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San Francisco Rules Committee Meeting on Homelessness Oversight Commission Appointments - March 13, 2023
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Rules Committee, chaired by Supervisor Matt Dorsey and joined by Vice Chair Shaman Walton and Committee Member Asha Safai, convened on Monday, March 13, 2023, at 10:15 AM to advance implementation of Proposition C, a charter amendment approved by over 67% of voters in November 2022. The measure established a Homelessness Oversight Commission to oversee the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH), which has grown from a $100 million to a nearly $700 million department. The committee considered an ordinance to extend health insurance eligibility to commission members, confirmed three mayoral appointees, and selected three board appointees from a large pool of candidates.
Consent Calendar
- No items were on the consent calendar.
Public Comments & Testimony
- David Pilpel supported the health insurance ordinance for commission members but urged broader efforts to diversify board and commission membership through increased compensation and stipends.
- Dale Seymour, chair of the Local Homeless Coordinating Board, emphasized the need for commissioners with deep street-level experience and warned against political appointments.
- Me Alden (UCSF) supported the nomination of Dr. Jonathan Butler, highlighting his work at UCSF, the NAACP, and the African American Faith-Based Coalition.
- Jordan (PSH tenant) passionately opposed the commission as a "majority mayor commission" but demanded that appointees prioritize accountability; she criticized faith-based organizations for alleged homophobia and transphobia and called for tenant voices.
- Francisco De Costa criticized the city’s approach to homelessness and alleged corruption.
- Francisco Herrera (Latino Task Force) sought to comment on board appointments but was redirected to the correct agenda item.
- Multiple speakers during the board appointment hearing supported Tracy Mixon, Joaquin Guerrero, Jason Albertson, Kristen Evans, Bevan Dufty, and others. Speakers highlighted lived experience, advocacy, and the need for Black, trans, and community representation.
- Jordan (again) opposed any appointee with ties to the Central City SRO Collaborative due to conflicts of interest.
Discussion Items
Item 1: Administrative Code Amendment – Health Service System Eligibility
Supervisor Safai introduced an ordinance to make members of the Homelessness Oversight Commission and the Refuse Rate Board eligible for health insurance through the San Francisco Health Service System. President Peskin requested an amendment to remove the Refuse Rate Board from the ordinance, arguing that the ratepayer representative should not receive city health benefits. The committee unanimously approved the amendment and then voted to send the amended ordinance to the full board with a positive recommendation.
Items 2-4: Mayoral Appointments to the Homelessness Oversight Commission
The committee heard from three mayoral nominees:
- Sharky Laguana (seat for someone with lived homelessness experience): Shared his personal story of homelessness as a youth, his recovery from a terminal diagnosis, and his experience on the Small Business Commission. He emphasized data-driven decision-making, simplifying metrics, and incremental progress.
- Dr. Jonathan Butler (seat for someone with advocacy/service experience): Executive Director of the San Francisco African American Faith Based Coalition, NAACP leader, and UCSF medical sociologist. He stressed the importance of faith-based organizations, qualitative data, and addressing the overrepresentation of African Americans (38-40% of homeless population, ~6% of city population).
- Katie Albright (seat for mental health expertise): Former CEO of Safe & Sound, former deputy city attorney, and former commissioner. She focused on mental health services, prevention, trauma-informed systems, and cross-departmental collaboration.
All three answered questions about accountability and racial equity. Supervisor Walton asked each how the commission could hold HSH accountable for disparities, particularly in the Southeast sector. The committee voted unanimously to approve all three appointments.
Item 6: Board Appointments to the Homelessness Oversight Commission (Seats 5, 6, 7)
The committee heard from numerous applicants for three board-appointed seats:
- Seat 5 (lived homelessness experience): Applicants included Joaquin Guerrero (trans leader, opened first trans navigation center), Robert Paul McCloskey, Annis Johnson (substance use counselor), Masood Samerier (merchant, Castro homelessness project), Tracy Mixon (formerly homeless mother, advocate), and Gregory Johnson (formerly homeless, community organizer).
- Seat 6 (service/advocacy experience): Applicants included Andrea Salinas (clinical social worker, 25 years of service), Kristen Evans (small business owner, co-proponent of 2018 homelessness funding measure), Gay Grunfeld (lawyer, disability rights), Jason Albertson (34 years of homeless services, former HSH employee), Neil Sims (HomeRise board, LGBTQ senior housing), and Bevan Dufty (former BART director, former city homelessness director, started first navigation center).
- Seat 7 (experience with homeless families/youth): Several applicants also applied for seat 6.
Committee members asked each applicant about using data for accountability and addressing racial disproportionality. After public comment, Chair Dorsey expressed support for Joaquin Guerrero, Tracy Mixon, and Bevan Dufty. Supervisor Safai moved to recommend Joaquin Guerrero (seat 5), Kristen Evans (seat 6), and Bevan Dufty (seat 7). The motion passed 2-1, with Chair Dorsey dissenting.
Item 5: Withdrawn Mayoral Nomination – Vikrum Aiyer
Item 5 was a motion to confirm Vikrum Aiyer's appointment, but he had withdrawn his nomination. The committee voted unanimously to table the item.
Key Outcomes
- Item 1 (Ordinance): Amended to remove the Refuse Rate Board; passed unanimously and sent to full board as a committee report.
- Items 2-4 (Mayoral Appointments): Sharky Laguana, Dr. Jonathan Butler, and Katie Albright approved unanimously and forwarded to the full board.
- Item 6 (Board Appointments): By a 2-1 vote, the committee recommended Joaquin Guerrero (seat 5), Kristen Evans (seat 6), and Bevan Dufty (seat 7) to the full board for confirmation.
- Item 5 (Withdrawn Nomination): Tabled unanimously.
- The committee emphasized that all applicants not selected are encouraged to continue serving on other oversight bodies, such as the Local Homeless Coordinating Board.
Meeting Transcript
The meeting will come to order. Yes, we're ready now. Thank you. We are ready. Okay. The meeting will come to order. Uh good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Monday, March 13th, 2023 meeting of the Rules Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. I'm Supervisor Matt Dorsey, Chair of this committee. I am joined today by my colleagues, Vice Chair Shaman Walton and Committee Member Asha Safai. On behalf of my colleagues, I want to express our gratitude to the committee clerk, uh, Mr. Victor Young. Uh, thanks also to the entire team at SFGov TV for staffing today's meeting and especially uh Jason Goldhammer. Mr. Clerk, do you have any announcements? Yes, the Board of Supervisors and its committee 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 recognized the equitable public access is essential and will be taking public comment as follows. First public comment will be taking 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 the channel 26, 28, 78, or 99 and sfgovtv.org. The public comment call-in number is streaming across the screen. The number is 415-655-0001. Then enter the meeting ID of 2489-884-3434, then press pound and pound again. When connected, you'll hear the meeting discussions while you'll be muted and in listening mode only. When your item of interest comes up and public comment is called, those joining us in person should line up to speak, and those on the telephone should dial star three to be added to the speaker line. If you're on the telephone, please remember to turn down your TV and other listening devices. As already indicated, we will take public comment from those intending in person first, then we will go to our public comment call telephone line. Alternatively, you may submit public comment in writing in either of the following ways. Email them to myself, the rules committee clerk at VICTOR.yo N G at SFgov.org. If you submit public comment via email, it will be forwarded to the supervisors and also include as part of the file. You may also send written comments via U.S. mail to our office at City Hall. One Dr. Carleton B. Goodlit Place, Room 244, San Francisco, California, 94102. Regarding today's agenda, I'd like to note that item number five, uh that the applicant uh Victrum Ier has withdrawn their nomination. Thank you so much, Mr. Clerk. Um colleagues, before getting underway today, I just wanted to share a few uh prefatory thoughts. Um everything on our agenda today is related to proposition C, which San Francisco voters overwhelmingly supported this past election. It was a charter amendment uh to in part establish a homelessness oversight commission to oversee San Francisco's Department of Homelessness and Support of Housing and in part to require periodic audits of uh services uh for people experiencing homelessness by the city controller. I want to express my gratitude to uh my colleague, Supervisor Saf Ae, for his leadership on this, uh not just for his tireless work uh to engage with stakeholders to draft and get the charter amendment on the ballot, but all the work that followed and that we're continuing today to do the work of implementing this commission. Um today we'll be making some initial decisions about those seeking to serve on this commission. And shortly we'll hear from a multitude of uh highly qualified candidates. And while we can only pick uh three board appointees, I hope that those who are not selected uh will continue to pursue public service roles on uh other HSH oversight bodies or another way as uh we have a lot of talent here, and it would be a shame to um not empower people's time and talent to serve our city. And with that, uh Mr. Clerk, would you please call item number one? Yes, item number one is the ordinance of any of the administrative code to provide that members of the homelessness oversight committee and refuse rate board are eligible for health insurance coverage through San Francisco Health Service System. It it has been requested that this item be referred out as a committee report. Great. Thank you, Mr.
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