San Francisco Rules Committee Regular Meeting - June 9, 2025
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San Francisco Rules Committee Regular Meeting - June 9, 2025
The San Francisco Rules Committee, chaired by Supervisor Shimon Walton and joined by Vice Chair Supervisor Cheryl and Board President Rafael Mandelman, met on Monday, June 9, 2025, at 18:15 UTC. The committee considered seven agenda items: two mayoral appointments, three ordinances, and two commission appointments. All votes were unanimous, with Member Mandelman absent for the first two items. Items acted upon are expected to appear on the Board of Supervisors agenda of June 17, 2025.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Item 2 (Homicide Reward Fund): Paulette Brown, mother of Aubrey Albertasa Jr. (murdered in 2006, unsolved), spoke in strong support of the ordinance. She described her son's death from 30 rounds and urged the committee to approve the reforms, stating no rewards had been paid in a decade and that many families are "suffering in silence."
- Item 3 (Entertainment Zones): Richard Johnson, representing the coalition HV Safe, spoke in opposition to inclusion of Hayes Valley in the entertainment zone ordinance. He accused the legislation of being introduced in an "unethical and exclusionary manner," alleging that residents (over 9,000) were not notified, no community meeting was held, and that Supervisor Bilal had not convened a follow-up meeting after a March session with the Hayes Valley Small Business Association.
Discussion Items
- Item 1 – Mayoral Appointment, Historic Preservation Commission: Gayle Tsern Strang presented her qualifications as an architect with over 32 years in San Francisco, including work on adaptive reuse projects (Strand Theater, SOM projects) and personal experience restoring a Richard Neutra home. She answered a question about how her background would advance commission work. No public comment. Motion to approve passed unanimously (Walton and Cheryl aye; Mandelman absent).
- Item 2 – Administrative Code: Homicide Reward Fund: A representative from Supervisor Matt Dorsey's office presented the ordinance to reform the reward fund established in 2016 but never paid a reward. Changes include allowing rewards when charges are filed (not just convictions), enabling anonymous tipsters, removing blanket criminal record bans, and barring rewards for false information. The legislation was inspired by Paulette Brown's advocacy and aligns with a unanimous Police Commission resolution. Motion to approve passed unanimously (Walton and Cheryl aye; Mandelman absent).
- Item 3 – Administrative Code: Entertainment Zones: The ordinance creates entertainment zones on Valencia Street, Pier 39, Folsom Street, Ellis Street, Yosemite Avenue, and Hayes Valley, plus a downtown activation location on Yerba Buena Lane. Chair Walton expressed 100% support, noting the zones span multiple supervisorial districts. After public comment, motion to approve with positive recommendation passed unanimously (Walton, Cheryl, Mandelman aye).
- Item 4 – Airport Surveillance Technology Policy: Guy Clark, IT appliance manager for the airport, presented a second amendment to the pre-security camera policy. Changes add mobile cameras for remote areas and traffic flow surveys (used once or twice yearly), and five new cameras for an integrated operations center. The four authorized use cases remain unchanged. No public comment. Motion to approve passed unanimously.
- Item 5 – Neighborhood Beautification Fund: Robin Takayama, of the City Administrator’s Office, presented updates to the Community Challenge Grants program (formerly Neighborhood Beautification Grant, voter-passed in 1990). Changes: limit eligible applicants to 501(c)(3) nonprofits, remove financial match requirement, and remove unnecessary preferences. Two funding cycles have been paused during this process. President Mandelman and Supervisor Cheryl asked to be added as co-sponsors. Chair Walton expressed excitement. Motion to approve passed unanimously.
- Item 6 – Appointment, Children and Families First Commission: No candidate was present. Motion to continue the item passed unanimously.
- Item 7 – Appointment, In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority: Candidate Luana McAlpine (IHSS provider for 15–16 years) testified about her commitment to clients, especially elders who want to stay at home. She emphasized listening to and advocating for consumers. No other candidates were present. Motion to appoint McAlpine for seat four (term ending March 1, 2028) passed unanimously; seat nine was continued to a future meeting.
Key Outcomes
- Item 1: Approved (Walton and Cheryl aye; Mandelman absent). Nomination sent to full board with recommendation.
- Item 2: Approved unanimously (Walton and Cheryl aye; Mandelman absent).
- Item 3: Approved unanimously (Walton, Cheryl, Mandelman aye) with positive recommendation.
- Item 4: Approved unanimously.
- Item 5: Approved unanimously. Co-sponsors added: President Mandelman, Supervisor Cheryl, Chair Walton.
- Item 6: Continued to a future meeting (unanimous).
- Item 7: Luana McAlpine appointed to seat four; seat nine continued. Approved unanimously (Walton, Cheryl, Mandelman aye).
All motions carried without objection. Meeting adjourned after completing the agenda.
Meeting Transcript
All right, good morning, everybody, and welcome to our June 9th, 2025 Rules Committee meeting. I am your Chair Supervisor Shimon Walton, joined by Vice Chair Supervisor Cheryl. We will soon be joined by our board president and also a member of this committee, Rafael Mandelman. This morning our clerk is Victor Young, and I wanted to thank Kalina Mendoza from SFGov TV for broadcasting this meeting and making sure it is available to the public. Mr. Clerk, do you have any announcements this morning? 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 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 also be included as part of the file. You may also send written comment via U.S. mail to our office at City Hall 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlit Place, room 244, San Francisco, California 94102. Please make sure to silence all cell phones and electronic devices. Documents being included as part of the file should be submitted to the clerk. Items acted upon today are expected to appear on the Board of Supervisors Agenda of June 17th, 2025, unless otherwise stated. That completes my initial announcements. Thank you. Would you please call item number one? Item number one is a motion to approving rejecting the mayor's nomination of Gail Stern. Gail Stern Strain for appointment to the Historic Preservation Commission term ending December 31st, 2028. Thank you, and I believe Gail is here this morning. If you would please come up to the microphone and take up to about two minutes just to tell us about why you want to serve, your qualifications, etc. Thank you. My name is Gail Chen Strang. Um, and I would like to express my interest in uh to be of public service to the communities of San Francisco in the capacity of confirmed for on the Historic Preservation Commission. I've lived and worked in San Francisco for over 32 years. My husband and I chose to raise a family here, and our two grown children now too also live and work in San Francisco, and they're fourth generation San Franciscans. I'm an architect. And um currently I work in the Federal Judiciary, overseeing the portfolio of the Ninth Circuit courtrooms and judicial spaces in matters of facility and security design. Prior to this, I was an associate principal and a senior project manager for the San Francisco office of Skidmore Owings and Merrill, an architecture firm, um, where I was a leader in the sectors of higher education and uh multifamily residential design. Uh those many of my projects touched on preservation, but uh to highlight my projects ranged from um uh you know the recently completed renovation in addition to a student center um in the historic core of UC Berkeley campus. Um, and also uh it ranges also to the 512 unit 42-story uh multifamily residential tower uh here in San Francisco, otherwise known as 500 Folsom, located at Folsom and First. Of my work, some of the most meaningful include preservation, because those are the projects that honor the legacy of historic resources and exemplified adaptive reuse, successful adaptive reuse and redevelopment that helped to perpetuate meaningful use and sustainability. While at SOM, I worked uh with the San Francisco Art Institute at that time in existence to develop a master plan for its Chestnut Street campus. My team developed strategic interventions to integrate seismic upgrades and critical accessibility within the historic Italian eight hillside uh design by Arthur Brown and with its 1950s Corbusian edition by Pafford uh Keating Clay. In 2015, ACT opened the renovated Strand Theater on Marcus Street. I was the project manager, the architectural project manager, and I saw day-to-day to its transformation that led to that opening, whether it had to do with entitlements with a medicated NEGDEC for the structurally and programmatically required alterations, um, supporting its tax credit and um uh financing and the development of technical details uh for the compliance to the U.S. Secretary of Interior standards for historic preservation. It's a design that transforms the boarded up Vaudeville movie theater into a 285 seat uh spoken word theater uh that opens its lobby to Marcus Street like an urban living room, uh activating the street and bringing the arts. Finally, I wanted to also mention that I served on the Board of Trustees uh for a children's day school, a preschool through eighth grade program direct located directly across from the Mission Dolores Church. And as the vice chair for that, um I and my fellow trustees balance the school's growth needs with the institution's fiduciary and ident its very identity of being cited within the Mission Dolores neighborhood historic district on lands that were part of the Mexican land grant to the church and a recognized archaeological site. So I'll just kind of close with that. That's a lot of my history. Um, but um balancing preservation and growth is personal for me. Um, as the homeowner and uh the Bristol Restoration Architect for Historically Significant Residence designed by the modernist Richard Neutra. I would bring a keen appreciation for both the value of what great care and preservation rigor contributes to our city's history while allowing these treasures to be genuinely livable.
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