San Francisco Rules Committee Regular Meeting – March 10, 2025
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San Francisco Rules Committee Regular Meeting – March 10, 2025
The Rules Committee, chaired by Supervisor Walton and joined by Vice Chair Sherrill and President Mandelman, met on March 10, 2025, at 6:15 PM (UTC) to consider five items: a proposed ordinance amendment, four appointment hearings, and a continuation. Public comment was heard on each item. The committee voted to continue one item and approved the mayoral appointments for the Sugary Drinks Distributor Tax Advisory Committee, Veterans Affairs Commission, Municipal Transportation Agency Board, and Police Commission.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Item 1 (Administrative Code – Personal Safety Redactions): Laura Thomas, Senior Director of HIV and Harm Reduction Policy at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and a District 10 resident, expressed full support for the ordinance, noting that her organization is involved in a lawsuit against current administration executive orders and appreciates the potential protection for staff and board members.
- Item 2 (Sugary Drinks Distributor Tax Advisory Committee Appointments): Nineteen applicants applied for seven seats. Public comment was not offered; the committee heard two-minute statements from each applicant present.
- Item 3 (Veterans Affairs Commission Appointment): Three applicants (Chester Cow Williams withdrew via written statement due to medical emergency; Joshua Wagner and Barkley Sanders spoke). John Risenweber, a Vietnam combat-disabled veteran and current commissioner, spoke in strong support of incumbent Nicholas Rusinoff, praising his work with the Veterans Court and community outreach. John Gibson, a Marine Corps veteran, spoke in support of Barkley Sanders, citing his work with homeless veterans.
- Item 4 (MTA Board Appointment – Alfonso G. Felder): No public comment was offered. President Mandelman and Supervisor Sherrill praised Mr. Felder’s qualifications and service.
- Item 5 (Police Commission Appointment – Mattie Scott): Multiple speakers—including Carrie Barnes (Moms Demand Action), Nancy Tung (SF Democratic Party chair), Lawrence Lee (Advancement for Asian Americans), Michael Siracusa, Dr. John Ma (general surgeon), Christine Pelosi, Carletta Jackson Lane (executive director), Dorothy Ceruda (college professor), a Stop Crime Action representative, and a mother who lost her son to homicide—spoke in favor of Ms. Scott’s appointment, citing her decades of gun violence prevention work, community advocacy, and ability to bridge police and community. No opposition was expressed.
Discussion Items
- Item 1 (Administrative Code – Redacting Personal Safety Info): President Mandelman moved to continue the item for two weeks to allow further discussion with the domestic violence community. The motion passed unanimously.
- Item 2 (Sugary Drinks Distributor Tax Advisory Committee): The committee heard statements from 19 applicants (including incumbents, youth, health professionals, and community advocates). Chair Walton noted the difficulty of selecting from many qualified candidates. The committee voted to appoint Chester Cow Williams (Seat 1), Gabriela Castellanos Rumbo (Seat 2), continue Seat 3 to next week, reappoint Abigail Cabrera (Seat 4), Jamie Schmidt (Seat 5), and Laura Urban (Seat 16). The motion passed.
- Item 3 (Veterans Affairs Commission): After hearing from two of the three applicants (Joshua Wagner and Barkley Sanders) and public comment, Chair Walton moved to appoint incumbent Nicholas Rusinoff (Seat 9), citing strong recommendations from colleagues and the Veterans Affairs Office. The motion passed.
- Item 4 (MTA Board of Directors – Alfonso G. Felder): Mr. Felder described his lifelong San Francisco connection, experience as a Muni rider, and work on the ballpark and Mission Rock transportation plans. When asked about MTA’s fiscal cliff, he emphasized listening to constituents and MTA staff, evaluating options, and making tough choices consistent with city values. Supervisor Sherrill moved to amend the motion to approve (removing “rejecting”). The motion passed.
- Item 5 (Police Commission – Mattie Scott): Ms. Scott shared her personal story of losing her son to gun violence in 1996 and her 50 years of violence prevention and community policing work. She emphasized accountability for both police and community, prevention, and engagement. Supervisor Sherrill moved to amend the motion to approve. The motion passed.
Key Outcomes
- Item 1: Continued to March 24, 2025, Rules Committee meeting unanimously.
- Item 2: Appointments approved: Chester Cow Williams (Seat 1), Gabriela Castellanos Rumbo (Seat 2), Abigail Cabrera (Seat 4), Jamie Schmidt (Seat 5), Laura Urban (Seat 16); Seat 3 continued. Motion passed unanimously.
- Item 3: Nicholas Rusinoff appointed to Seat 9 of the Veterans Affairs Commission. Motion passed unanimously.
- Item 4: Alfonso G. Felder approved for appointment to the Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors (term ending March 1, 2027). Motion passed unanimously.
- Item 5: Mattie Scott approved for appointment to the Police Commission (term ending April 30, 2026). Motion passed unanimously.
Meeting Transcript
All right. Good morning, everybody, and welcome to the March 10th, 2025 Rules Committee meeting. I am Supervisor Walton, Chair of the Committee, joined by Vice Chair, Supervisor Sherrill, and President Mandelman. Our clerk is Victor Young, and I would like to thank Jaime Eshevery from SFGov TV for broadcasting this meeting for us this morning. Mr. Clerk, do we have any announcements? Yes. Public comment will be taken on each item on this agenda when your item of interest comes up and public comment is called, please 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 also be included as part of the file. You may also send your written comments via U.S. mail to our office in City Hall when Dr. Carlton be good that 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 the clerk. Items acted upon today should appear on the Board of Supervisors' agenda of March 18th, 2025. That completes my initial announcements. Thank you so much, Mr. Clerk. Would you please call item number one? Item number one is the ordinance amending the administrative code to permit for reasons that may compromise personal safety redactions of information otherwise required in the annual economic statement of city-funded organizations. Thank you so much. Supervisor Meldeman. Thank you, Chair Walton. I want to begin by thanking uh the Office of the City Administrator and uh queer organizations that um worked with us on uh on this legislation. We have heard some interests slash concerns from the DV community um and want to have some time to talk with them about addressing um those. And so I'm gonna um make a motion that we continue this item for two weeks. Um but I think we do have public comment, which you know would be fine to hear any time, I think. Thank you so much. Mr. Clerk, would you please call for public comment? Yes, members of the public wish to speak on this item should line up speak at this time. Each speaker will be allowed two minutes. Uh thank you for taking public comment. Sounds like I will be back uh again. Um so thank you, uh Supervisors. Um I'm Laura Thomas, I'm the Senior Director of HIV and Harm Reduction Policy at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and a resident of District 10. Um and I just wanted to say thank you for uh proposing this ordinance. Uh sounds like there's a little bit more work to do, but um as an organization that is uh determined to stand in our values and stand up for our uh clients, staff, volunteers. Um our board made the decision to move forward with a lawsuit against the executive orders of the current administration, and we understand that that is necessary, and we also appreciate the uh potential protection uh that this ordinance may provide to our staff and board members in particular. So um we are very much in support of this, and thank you for um putting forward this ordinance. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any additional members of the public who would like to make comment on this matter? There are no additional speakers. Thank you. Seeing no additional speakers, public comment is now closed. Mr.
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