San Francisco Rules Committee Meeting - January 8, 2024: Ceasefire Resolution and Other Items
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San Francisco Rules Committee Meeting - January 8, 2024
The Rules Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors met on Monday, January 8, 2024, at 6:15 PM UTC, chaired by Supervisor Matt Dorsey. The meeting featured a crowded agenda of five items, including routine appointments and a high-profile resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The committee unanimously approved the first four items and, after extensive public comment, voted 2-1 to send the ceasefire resolution to the full Board of Supervisors without recommendation.
Consent Calendar
- Item 1: Appointment of Ankita Kumar to the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force (seat 4, term ending April 27, 2025) – recommended unanimously to the full board.
- Item 2: Ordinance amending the Administrative Code to reduce the Behavioral Health Commission from 17 to 12 seats, with a floating requirement for a child or youth advocate – amended and sent to the full board unanimously.
- Item 3: Ordinance amending the Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code to update Form 700 filing requirements for the General Services Agency under the City Administrator – sent to the full board with a positive recommendation unanimously.
- Item 4: Ordinance approving a modified surveillance technology policy for the City Administrator’s Office regarding security camera systems – sent to the full board with a positive recommendation unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Public comment on Item 5 (ceasefire resolution) lasted approximately 5.5 hours, with over 100 speakers. The overwhelming majority of speakers urged the committee to pass the resolution as originally introduced by Supervisor Dean Preston, without amendments. Many speakers identified as Jewish, Palestinian, healthcare workers, educators, union members, and residents of various districts. They expressed support for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, humanitarian aid, and the release of all hostages. Some speakers opposed the resolution or supported amendments, citing the need to explicitly condemn Hamas’s October 7th attack, call for the removal of Hamas, and include a two-state solution. Several speakers criticized Chair Dorsey’s proposed amendments as one-sided, divisive, and racist. Representatives from the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) and others urged a more balanced resolution. Many speakers noted that the death toll in Gaza had exceeded 22,000, including over 9,000 children, and that the entire population of 2.3 million had been displaced or faced starvation.
Discussion Items
- Item 5 – Resolution Calling for Ceasefire in Gaza: Supervisor Dean Preston, the author, presented the resolution and described amendments he circulated, which updated casualty figures, added condemnation of both Hamas’s October 7th attack and Israel’s attacks, and called for a lasting peace and accountability for war crimes. Chair Dorsey introduced his own amendments, which included detailed condemnation of Hamas’s sexual violence, a call for Hamas to surrender, support for a two-state solution, and updated figures. Supervisor Ahsha Safai suggested that the resolution be sent to the full board for further amendments, noting that the conversation had shifted from whether to hold a ceasefire to what the final language should be. Supervisor Shamann Walton emphasized the need to condemn all hate, return hostages, and allow humanitarian aid. After debate, the committee voted on Dorsey’s amendments: Walton and Safai voted no, Dorsey voted yes, so the amendments failed. The committee then voted 2-1 (Dorsey dissenting) to send the resolution to the full Board of Supervisors without recommendation as a committee report.
Key Outcomes
- Items 1-4: All passed unanimously and sent to the full board with positive recommendations.
- Item 5 (Ceasefire Resolution): Chair Dorsey’s amendments were rejected by a vote of 2-1 (Walton and Safai no, Dorsey yes). The resolution was then forwarded to the full Board of Supervisors without recommendation by a vote of 2-1 (Walton and Safai yes, Dorsey no). The matter will appear on the January 23, 2024, board agenda, and no additional public comment will be accepted at the January 9th meeting.
Meeting Transcript
This meeting will come to order. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Monday, January 8th, 2024 meeting of the Rules Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. This is the first board meeting of 2024, and I want to wish everyone a happy new year and welcome everybody back from Winter Recess. I'm Supervisor Matt Dorsey, chair of this committee. And I am joined by Vice Chair Shimon Walton, and we are going to be joined shortly by um committee member Asha Safai. Together, we would like to express our gratitude to our clerk today, as always, Mr. Victor Young. Thanks also to the team at SFGov TV for facilitating and broadcasting today's meeting, in particular our producer today, Mr. James Kawana. We have a crowded agenda today with five items, including a uh high profile resolution that we have been asked to fast track and for everyone's information. Um given the board's um end of year calendar, the holiday recess and public noticing requirements. Uh that this meeting is the earliest possible committee hearing that we were able to have the um ceasefire resolution heard and fast-tracked. So we're honoring that request by getting it uh going. But given that there were four matters already underway that we were working on here at rules. We will be taking those first. I trust that they're not going to take up a lot of time, um, but I appreciate everybody's patience. Um, given the heightened public interest in today's meeting, I will be limiting public comment on all items to to one minute. And customarily, I would just add also that to um refrain from uh expressions of applause or um noise. Um usually there's a sort of using your hands, a jazz hands kind of thing that is customarily employed to express um support. And with that, Mr. Clerk, do you have any announcements? Yes. Um public comment will be taken on each item on this agenda. When your item of interest comes up and public comment is called, please line up to speak on your right. 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 included in the file. You may also send written comment via US mail to our office at City Hall 1, Dr. Carlton B. Goodlift place, room 244, San Francisco, California, 94102. Please make sure to silence all cell phones and electronic devices. Documents to be included as part of the file should be submitted to myself as the clerk. Items acted upon today are expected to appear on the Board of Supervisors' agenda on January 23rd, 2024, unless otherwise stated. That completes my initial announcements. Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Would you please call item number one? Item number one is a hearing to consider appointing one member term ending April 27th, 2025 to the Sunshine Ordnance Task Force. Thank you, Mr. Clerk. I want to thank the Society of Professional Journalists who have graciously uh taken on the responsibility of nominating members to the Sunshine Task Force since the dissolution of the prior appointing authority, which was uh New California Media. Uh, they have nominated Ankita Kumar. Uh, with our crowded agenda today, I'm gonna ask this nominee to uh keep your remarks short, but I would welcome you to this uh to the uh podium, uh, Ms. Kumar. Um the floor is yours, and welcome to the rules committee. Thank you so much. Um I'm Anketa Kumar. Uh I'm a journalist based in the city. I actually live on the intersection of Annes and Mission, so less than yet ten minutes by drive. Um I have um I became a journalist uh several years ago because my grandparents uh were refugees, and there I always felt that the story was not told to the world.
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