Good morning and welcome to our November 17th Rules Committee meeting.

I am your Chair Supervisor Shimon Walton, joined by Vice Chair Stephen Sherrill, soon

to be joined by President Mandelman, and we also would like to welcome Supervisor Mahmood

as our guest this morning.

Our clerk today is Victor Young, and I want to thank Jamie Escheverry with SFGovTV for making sure that this meeting is publicized and available for the public.

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 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.yong at sfgov.org

if you submit public comment via email it will be included as part of the file

you may also send written comments to us via u.s mail to our office in city hall

1 dr carleton b goodlit place room 244 san francisco california 94102

please make sure to silence all cell phones and electronic devices

items acted upon today are expected to appear on the board of supervisors agenda of december 2nd

2025 unless otherwise stated thank you so much would you please call item number one item number

one is the ordinance amending the administrative code to create the film more entertainment zone

on film more streets between sutter and mccallister streets and a feral street between steiner and

film more street and affirming the planning department's determination under the california

Environmental Quality Act. There is a request that this matter be sent out as a committee report.

Thank you so much, Supervisor Mahmoud. Thank you, Chair Walton. Colleagues, I'm asking for your vote

in support of the Fillmore Entertainment Zone and to move this to the full board with a positive

recommendation as a committee report. Last week, the planning department, the mayor's office,

and my office convened the second community gathering in the Fillmore for the creation

of a community action plan for the neighborhood.

What we've heard in this process, though,

is that the city has not been there

when the community has needed it.

We have not devoted enough resources

or the right resources to help the neighborhood thrive.

And while this process to create this plan

will take several months,

I know that there are things we can do along the way

to show that this time, things will be different.

One of the ways we want to show progress

is by supporting local businesses on Fillmore Street.

We've heard loud and clear from community leaders

about the need for creative ways to support nightlife

and entertainment options in the Fillmore.

The heart and soul of what makes Fillmore the Harlem of the West

is still embedded in the neighborhood's spirit,

and it's a responsibility to foster that spirit's growth.

The Entertainment Zone legislation will allow

alcohol-serving establishments on the Fillmore Corridor

to sell drinks to go during specified events.

The focus at the start will be around larger events like the annual Juneteenth celebration,

but the business community will explore other events to activate the corridor.

These events will help businesses like Mini Bell Soul Movement and Shiba Jazz Lounge

better connect with events going on in the neighborhood

and to create an entertainment ecosystem that will help revitalize the corridor.

As with all entertainment zones, the Office of Economic and Workforce Development

will work with neighbors, businesses, and community members on a management plan

to ensure the events are safe and enjoyable for the whole neighborhood.

Our office is also partnering with OEWD to explore to support Entertainment Zone events

as part of a larger strategy to help new businesses open

and existing businesses stay open and thriving on Fillmore Street.

I want to thank Dr. Amos Brown for his advocacy on this legislation,

as well as Majed Crawford and Erica Scott for their leadership that they've shown

on the Entertainment Zone so far and the work they'll continue to put in

to make this successful.

Thanks to Ben Van Houten and Kelly Varian

from OEWD's nightlife team for assisting with this process,

and Larry McClendon, also from OEWD,

for his work supporting businesses on Fillmore

and coordinating future support for Entertainment Zone events.

I also want to thank drafting attorney Vicki Wong,

Captain McCormick from Northern Station,

and my legislative aide, Raynal Cooper,

for their assistance as well.

And thanks also to Supervisors Walton and Mandelman

for co-sponsoring.

Happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you so much, Supervisor Mahmood.

Supervisor Cheryl.

Supervisor Mahmood, thank you for bringing this forward.

Mr. Clerk, can you add me as a co-sponsor to this as well, please?

I also just want to note that, you know, we share Fillmore Street in our districts,

and the Fillmore Street Merchant Association has spoken to me as well about this several times,

and I just want to thank Supervisor Mahmood for being incredibly thoughtful,

for working with the community on this entertainment zones are a great way for

to give small businesses the flexibility to let's call it unleash their

creativity and really help our neighborhoods thrive so supervisor

Mahmoud thank you for for bringing this forward thank you so much supervisor

Cheryl and mr. clerk I don't see any other comments so let's go to public

comment on this item yes members the public who wish to speak on this item

to line him to speak at this time.

Each speaker will be allowed two minutes.

There'll be a soft chime when you have 30 seconds left

and a louder chime when your time has expired.

Thank you.

You may proceed.

Good morning, supervisors.

I'm one of those in the Fillmore that's

been fighting for the Fillmore over half of my life.

And I agree with this, but I ask that we make an amendment

to include over to Webster Street

to protect our Gene Settle Plaza.

You know, we used to have entertainment over there,

but we're having issues with the co-owner now,

with the owner, son, Cedal, the American Realty, right?

We have a lot of issues in our neighborhood, of course.

You know, this is a step in the right place,

but we have a lot more issues.

I've been having entertainment from O'Farrell to Fillmore

to Steiner since 2016.

I just went for Iscot for another hearing

I seem to have so many issues with this

Entertainment

From the different neighbors that just moved in

From Iscot board itself

So this will help me in the next hearing

And even when I brought this to their attention

The chair didn't agree with

What I was saying with there's going to be more entertainment

There's going to be more stuff in the neighborhood

So the neighbors and stuff might be offended on this one

but there's more coming. So this will help me in the next ISCOT hearing

and hopefully the supervisor will back me in the next hearing to get this permit for

Fillmore Fridays to get back together again.

I shut it down in 2016 with the help of the supervisor learning to breathe

and then I started doing Sundays under Dean Preston so hopefully

under Bilal we can get the Friday nights going again.

Thank you. Are there

and then you hear some speakers if you don't mind lining up at this time.

Hi, my name is Majid Crawford.

I'm the Executive Director of the New Community Leadership Foundation

and I want to thank Supervisor Walton and Supervisor Bamoud

for sponsoring this initiative and also Supervisor Cheryl

for adding your name to this important initiative.

um our organization we were we were honored to be able to establish the Fillmore Collaborative

in 2020 right as COVID hit and this was a a a very united coalition of

businesses non-profits and community residents and since then they've been able to bring in

millions of dollars into the corridor I'm also honored to be the fiscal sponsor for Honey Art

Studios that currently have a business development grant where she's

establishing the Fillmore Merch, Lower Fillmore Merchants Association, where

they meet twice a month to talk about issues to the neighborhood. And so I bring

all this up because the businesses that we've been meeting with quite frequently

are very excited about this entertainment zone. Many of the

restaurants, we have a bar, believe that this could have a tremendous impact on

on the neighborhood. So I just really thank you all for

pushing this forward and looking forward to the

passage of this initiative in the future. Also,

Reverend Brown would have been here, but he has an eye doctor. He said I could call him on my

cell phone, but I was like, no, let's not do that. But thank you very much.

Are there any additional speakers

on this matter? There are no additional public commenters.

Thank you, C&O. The speaker's public comment is now closed.

One, I want to thank Supervisor Mahmoud for bringing this forward.

As we know, the Fillmore has a long history of not only providing entertainment here in San Francisco

and being a mecca for black entertainment, but of course being the place where all the diaspora of the black community started from here in San Francisco.

So anything we can do to not only revive the small business opportunities there, but to, of course, provide a step forward to address the gentrification, all the things that are happening.

Of course, I'm 100 percent with that and supportive of that.

And so thank you, Supervisor Mahmoud.

I don't know if you have anything else you wanted to share.

If not, I will make a motion to move this item forward to the full board with a positive recommendation as a committee report.

yes on that motion vice chair Cheryl Cheryl I remember Mandelman I

Mandelman I chair Walton I Walton I that motion passes without objection thank

you motion carries thank you supervisor mr. clerk would you please call item

number two item number two is a motion confirming rejecting their controllers

appointment of Alexandra Shepard as the inspector general for in a definite term

pursuant to Charter Section 3.105J.

Thank you, and I believe we do have Alexandra Shepard present this morning

and would love to hear, of course, why you're here, why you want to serve,

and let's let the public know.

Good morning.

Good morning.

I'm incredibly honored to be appointed to the Inspector General position

and to be considered by the Board of Supervisors for confirmation.

I have over 25 years of investigative experience as an attorney,

including almost 20 years as a prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice here in San Francisco.

And because I'm still with the DOJ, I'm required to add that I'm speaking today in my personal capacity only.

As a federal prosecutor, I've worked closely with federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute cases involving a variety of crimes, including fraud, public corruption, money laundering, bid rigging, price fixing, and obstruction of justice.

and I also served for two years as Deputy Chief and Acting Chief of the Narcotics Trafficking Unit in the U.S. Attorney's Office.

I was also part of the team which brought public corruption charges against a number of San Francisco City officials and contractors in the last few years.

Prior to my time at the Justice Department, I spent six years in private practice, conducting internal investigations of companies involving bid rigging and price fixing.

I hope and believe that this experience has prepared me to hit the ground running on day one as Inspector General, if I'm confirmed.

And as a longtime San Francisco resident, I am also deeply invested in the future of the city.

Turning to the position, Proposition C gave the Inspector General a mandate to address public corruption and public integrity in San Francisco

by detecting, investigating, and preventing waste, fraud, and abuse.

If I'm confirmed, I'll work closely with accountability partners in the city, including the DA's office, the city attorney's office, and the ethics commission to achieve those goals.

And more specifically, I think the inspector general can best serve the city by focusing on impact investigations.

specifically on investigations which have the potential to return a significant amount of money to the city

or which have an outsized potential to deter other people from engaging in the same kind of conduct.

And if confirmed by the Board of Supervisors, I'll be guided by the same principles which guide me as a prosecutor.

honesty, integrity, fairness, and accountability, and a focus on facts and law.

Thank you very much for the honor of being considered for this position,

and I'm happy to answer any questions that you have this morning.

Thank you so much. I do have a couple of questions, but before that, I know we have

Comptroller Wagner here. I don't know if you had anything you wanted to share or anything you wanted to say.

Thank you so much, Chair Walton.

I'll just briefly say we put a lot of energy into designing this position and the recruitment

process.

I'm really excited to have Alex Shepard as our appointee and here for your consideration.

I think her qualifications speak for themselves, but I would also just add that one of the

things that we really focused on here is trying to find the right person who will be a partner

in our larger public integrity ecosystem in the city and somebody who will approach this

with the sense of fairness objectivity following the facts and i really think we have a person in

Alex Shepard who meets those criteria and will be a great first inspector general to establish this

role in government and set it on the right track. So thank you very much for your consideration.

Thank you so much Mr. Controller.

Ms. Shepard and thank you I know you met with members from my office so thank you for

taking the time to do that. I do have just a few questions. The first one is

because I know you touched on this a little bit,

what types of issues would your office address?

Picture, of course, waste, fraud, abuse.

But more specifically, I think we're looking at really a variety of issues.

As I mentioned, I think the sort of guiding principles should be impact.

So things which could return a lot of money

and things which might really deter people in the future.

So by way of example, in terms of things which might have the potential to return a lot of money to the city,

I think of something I've spent a long time doing, which is bid rigging.

The city obviously lets just an enormous number of contracts worth a lot of money.

And we've certainly found over time that bid rigging is just endemic to municipal contracting.

So that's just one example.

and in terms of outsized deterrence,

one kind of potential example is

if there are people in a department

which has previously been under scrutiny

for engaging in certain kind of behavior,

there are people in that department

who are still engaging in that kind of behavior.

That's, you know, conducting an investigation,

passing that on to the appropriate accountability partner,

say the DA or the city attorney for follow-up,

is likely to garner a lot of attention, as it should,

And the hope would be that other people in that same department or other city departments might get the message that they also could face consequences and they would stop.

So those are two big picture examples.

I'm happy to provide more if you think that would be helpful.

No, I think I'm pretty clear on that.

Thank you.

And how would you decide if something rises to the level of investigation?

One of the first things that we'll need to work on is coming up with criteria for an

investigation that might be appropriate for the Inspector General.

I can say now that, by way of example, the whistleblower hotline here in the city receives

a large number of complaints every year.

Last year, close to 700.

And the whistleblower team in the controller's office divides those complaints into three categories determined by, for example, their complexity.

And I think the IG's office would take a look at items in the first or second category, ones which might be more complex than the audit team has kind of the capacity for,

or ones which might achieve those two goals I just talked about,

shorthanded as money and deterrence.

So that's one way.

And I think we'll also want to be in constant communication

with partners in the DA's office, city attorney, ethics commission,

to think through what's an investigation that would be appropriate

for the inspector general alone to be later potentially handed off to one of them

and what's the kind of investigation that might be better served

by partnering up with, say, a DA's office investigator.

So at the moment, I can't entirely answer your question,

but that is going to be one of our very first things to decide.

And I guess my last one, just more on something specific,

would issues like departmental overtime abuse be something

that you would bring under investigation?

Could be.

Certainly, I have been aware of that potential issue, and it may well be that that is something that we could look into.

It may ultimately be something appropriate for another department, but I am aware of it.

Thank you.

Supervisor Cheryl.

Thank you, Chair Walton.

Your question has actually brought up a question.

You talked about ROI, and it's easy to look at ROI from a dollars point of view.

How do you balance ROI on a dollars and cents point of view, but also on a public trust point of view?

Public trust is going to be an important part of our consideration in initiating investigations.

So perhaps a third category really would be things that might not return a lot of money,

and maybe they don't have an outsized deterrent effect,

but would otherwise be important for the citizens of San Francisco to feel like things are being addressed.

So I think it gets kind of wrapped into everything because it's true that after the last few years,

public trust in San Francisco city government might, or certain aspects of it, may have ebbed a bit.

And so we'll want to proceed with a lot of integrity in our investigations as one way to bring that trust back.

Thank you. And then one other question, one last question.

You talked about kind of catching some of the wrongdoing after it has happened.

One of the things that we've seen over the past few years is there were early indications that there may or may not be wrongdoing that we flagged and then later on kind of exploded into bigger issues.

How do you think about catching these small issues when they're small before they become big?

That's a great point.

One of the things that the IG's office has a mandate to do under Prop C

is to be proactive, to initiate investigations where we might have a kernel,

even if we don't have the whole picture.

So one of the capabilities that the controller's office has

is just access to an enormous data set.

And one of the things that we'll be able to do is run kind of data analytics

to see if there are patterns of wrongdoing in some way or another.

And I'll just use an example that I don't mean to necessarily be something we'll look at, but let's say travel expenses.

And running those will give us a picture of what a situation might be in a particular department.

And we can start an investigation that way.

So there's no limits, really, other than kind of the guidelines that we develop on bringing up investigations early.

And so actually for that reason, I hope that the members of the Board of Supervisors and their staff and members of the public too will bring concerns like that to the inspector general's office early so that we can catch things before they end up costing the city a lot in terms of resources or maybe reputation.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Vice Chair Sherrill.

Seeing no other questions or no one else on the roster, thank you so much.

We will call for public comment, Mr. Clerk.

Thank you.

Yes, members of the public who wish to speak on this item should line up to speak at this time.

Each speaker will be allowed two minutes.

Are there any members of the public who would like to comment on this matter?

There are no speakers.

Thank you.

Public comment is now closed.

Supervisor Mandelman.

Thank you, Chair Walton.

I would like to move that we confirm the controller's appointment of Alexandra Shepard as inspector general

and that we forward that motion to the full board as a committee report for consideration on November 18, 2025.

Yes. May we amend the motion to delete rejecting throughout the motion,

and then the recommendation will be recommended as amended as a committee report.

That sounds right.

On that motion, Vice Chair Sherrill.

Sherrill, aye.

Member Madelman.

Aye.

Madelman, aye.

Chair Walton.

Aye.

Walton, aye.

That motion passes without objection.

Thank you.

Motion carries.

Mr. Clerk, please call item number three.

Item number three is a hearing to consider appointing two members term ending September 4,

2028 to the Assessment Appeals Board number one. Thank you. So for items three, four, and five,

I know we have a few folks who are here for more than one item. So I am going to call up

individuals as the order they appear. If you speak on three or four, you don't necessarily

have to speak again. We'll have heard from you and know why you want to serve so we can make

that easier for everyone.

But we will go in order of how folks appear,

so I'm going to call Franco Sorelli first.

Good morning, supervisors, members of the Rules Committee.

My name is Franco Sorelli.

I'm a longtime San Franciscan.

I've had plenty of years of giving back to the community.

That's a result of me benefiting so much from our community.

I immigrated to the U.S. when I was very young with my family.

I grew up in the Excelsior District.

I attended San Francisco Public Schools K-12

and became the first member of my family to attend college.

I've gotten to work for terrific organizations,

including the National Basketball Association and Microsoft.

I am an independent financial professional.

I have years of teaching real estate at City College of San Francisco.

Those classes included real estate economics, real estate finance,

real estate practice, real estate principles.

My credentials include an MBA in finance

from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

I have a CPA license, active CPA license.

I have a CFP certification, and I'm also a real estate broker.

And the real estate broker came in very handy because it qualified me to teach those multiple real estate classes at City College.

I want to be part of the Assessment Appeals Board because I feel I could contribute,

given how enthusiastic I am for giving back to the community.

It is a role that will rely on my technical, analytical, financial, real estate experience,

certifications, know-how, background.

I think I can make a difference.

Just last week, there was an article in the local news about a backlog of assessments.

And in my application for the role, I highlighted my willingness to serve on either Board 1, Board 2, or Board 3

because I want to make sure that I'm able to join the Assessment Appeals Board and make a difference,

help the workflow, keep those values of neutrality and quasi-judicial responsibilities.

And I feel I'm qualified to contribute in those ways,

but I also feel being so involved in the community,

I can relate to the people that come before the Assessment Appeals Board,

help them feel comfortable, confident,

and understand where they're coming from in their appeal for their property assessments.

So I look forward to enthusiastically having the opportunity to serve and continue my service in the city of San Francisco.

I'm involved in a number of organizations, and in the past I used to co-chair the Quality Teacher and Education Act Oversight Committee.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Jeffrey Jonathan Morris.

Morning, gentlemen.

I come before you to be reappointed to assessment appeal board number one seat.

Number one that I have occupied for over a decade.

And I'll just give you a few brief examples of my experience and all of the

different property types that we see come before board one could be a gentleman

in Pacific Heights that owns a hundred thousand dollar sailboat that has a slip

in one of the marinas occupied by wreck and park.

and he doesn't quite understand the concept of possessory interest of public space.

The assessor's office explains it to him, and that it can be assessed and taxed.

So we spend an hour on that for an assessment and a tax of less than $1,000 a year.

At the under end of the spectrum, we could have one of the largest hotel real estate investment trusts

in the country that has a couple of billion dollars of hotels,

and they come before us with their high-powered attorney, appraiser, and financial consultant

to tell us why a hotel they paid $275 million for X years before

couldn't possibly be worth more than $200 million,

due in part to the pandemic and also a concept that the entire business entity

contains what are called intangible assets that is not real property,

cannot be assessed and be taxed.

Many years ago, I chaired the hearing, you may recall, on the leaning tower of Millennium,

one of the first luxury high-rise condos downtown, started leaning to the northwest.

We had 460 condo owners that couldn't do anything, couldn't buy, sell, finance,

all of the lawsuits that resulted.

And so the applicants and their representatives, one law firm had 70 of the condo owners,

and the assessor's office.

Everybody acknowledged there had been a diminution in value.

And so we had to figure out formulas to do that,

and we did it, but it took a couple of years.

About three years ago, when we started resuming hearings at City Hall,

we had a representative of Westfield Mall and the assessor's office

come before us and explain why the parcel on the west side,

they're in agreement the assessed value should be reduced to $100 million

because Nordstrom had just announced it was not going to renew its lease,

and that was the beginning of the end of Westfield Mall.

So these are just examples of what I've participated in,

working with a number of the law firms and appraisal firms

that come before the assessor's office representing downtown property interests.

I understand how they work.

I've seen over the dozen or more years the representatives of the assessor's office

that come before us, going back to when my friend Phil Ting was the assessor

who inherited a dysfunctional assessor's office and had to rebuild it,

along with the continuing assessors.

And I've seen the competency of the city's appraisers in terms of their hiring,

work experience, education, and training improved dramatically over the last decade

such that they are able to present written reports that are very consistent based on property type

and explain and defend their values.

And that's also included the city attorneys that represent the assessor's office,

most prominently Carol Ruart, and when he wasn't running for supervisor, Mo Jamil.

and also the Assessment Appeal Board.

We have our own attorney,

and the city attorney's office hired a new attorney

to work on assessment appeals early this year,

and I helped bring that individual up to speed

on how the board operates

and how we go about reviewing assessments.

So I've had enormous experience.

I still enjoy what I do.

I still think I'm pretty good at it,

and I would like to be reappointed.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Morris.

Nicholas Gottman.

Morning, supervisors.

That's a bit of a, that was a typo.

It's actually Goldman, although my ego loves that.

My apologies, Mr. Goldman.

I'm an estate planning attorney here in San Francisco.

Before I went to law school, I was in real estate and mortgage.

I did purchases and sales of both commercial and residential, which gave me a background in appraisal of properties.

I think that the biggest thing my law school experience taught me was fairness

and that we have to see both sides of every question.

We see that a lot here in the Assessment Appeals Board.

Often the taxpayer has a very good claim.

Often the assessor has a very good claim.

And it's our job to suss that out.

I started on the Assessment Appeals Board in January on Board 2,

and now they have asked me to join Board 1.

And I told them I'd be honored to serve on Board 1.

What I'm learning from the old timers is just invaluable.

There is a huge amount of institutional knowledge on that board,

and I'm very interested to learn all of it.

If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them.

Thank you so much.

Seeing no questions or comments from colleagues,

Mr. Clerk, will you go to public comment on item number one?

Yes, members of the public wish to speak on this item.

Should I end up to speak at this time?

Each speaker will be allowed two minutes.

This is regarding Assessment Appeals Board number one.

Are there any members of the public who would like to comment on this?

There are no speakers.

Thank you.

Seeing no speakers, public comment is now closed.

And Mr. Clerk, I would like to make a motion to reappoint Jeffrey Morris to seat one

and to appoint Nicholas Goldman to seat two.

I believe that would be seat four.

Four.

I'm sorry.

Seat four.

My apologies.

Seat four.

Yes, on the motion to appoint Mr. Morris to seat one and Mr. Goldman to seat four.

On that motion, Vice Chair Sherrill.

Aye.

Sherrill, aye.

Member Madelman.

Aye.

Madelman, aye.

Chair Walton.

Aye.

Walton, aye.

That motion passes without objection.

Thank you.

Motion carries.

Congratulations.

Mr. Clerk, please call item number four.

Item number four is a hearing consider appointing three members term ending September 4th,

2028 to the System Appeals Board number two.

Thank you.

And I know we have heard from Mr. Cirelli, so I will call up again in order that names

appear.

John Lee.

Good morning, Supervisor Cheryl, Supervisor Walton, President Mandelman.

My name is John Lee.

I met mostly on several different occasions in the past.

A little bit of background, I'm a local guy.

I graduated from Lowell High School, went to Berkeley, graduated with an MBA in real

estate and finance from UCLA.

I've been selling real estate as a real estate broker since 1988.

I served the real estate community by, you know, I write a monthly column in D1 and D4,

Sunset in the Richmond District, been doing that since 1990.

So I'm well-versed in real estate.

I've been with the Assessment Appeals Board since 2013,

so I'm up for my fourth term reappointment.

Many times I'm chairing board number two,

and it's been a little challenging of late because we have so many cases.

When I first started, we had maybe like 3,000 to 5,000 cases a year.

We're over 10,000 cases a year now.

So our workload has been pretty heavy.

and I think one of my skills goes in how to run the hearings efficiently,

be sure to give the public their day at the court, let's say,

because some of them, they don't have very good presentation skills,

but yet they need to be heard,

and we need to be sympathetic to what they have to say

because the reason they appear before our board

is because they have a disagreement with the assessor's office.

Assessors have all these computers data to go with,

and their presentations are usually right on point.

But we do have to give everybody the time of the day and a fair hearing.

And so that's kind of what I do best.

I would say a couple of weeks ago I had ten cases we had to hear in a matter of three hours.

And thank you for the staff and everybody.

We got it done.

And I told staff, you're trying to kill us, but that's what we've been up to lately.

So I'm asking you for reappointment of number two.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Mr. Lee.

I believe Jose Edmondson-Sabral is not present this morning.

One moment.

Are you Jose?

No, OK.

Mervyn Conlon?

You want me to say something about Jose?

Oh, my apologies.

Yeah, you're here to speak for him in what capacity?

My name is Alistair Gibson.

Good morning, Chair Walton, Vice Chair Sheryl and President Medelman.

Jose.

What is your role?

I'm the Administrator for the Assessment Appeal Board.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Jose couldn't be here today and wanted to be put back on calendar on another day.

He recently had an Achilles surgery.

He thought he would be able to make it to this meeting this morning,

but the doctor said that he should probably not be putting any weight on his foot.

He tore his Achilles tendon, and he's recovering from it,

and he's hopeful that he will be able to come before this committee once in a few weeks or so

when he's able to walk in, his doctor permits it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Mervyn Conlon.

Thank you.

It's an honor to appear before the supervisors.

I have been with the Assessment and Appeal Board for a number of years, over 10 years

and in that time I can emphasize some of the points already made

that we see an enormous variety of real estate owners

from very simple single family dwellings and ordinary people

to huge corporations with their large holdings in the city.

So being equitable with this wide variety

is a real challenge and one that I enjoy.

I try to be as even as possible,

but it was also mentioned that the presentations made by the public

oftentimes, short of those presented by assessment officers

and appraisers, who I must add, are extremely well trained.

In fact, I had an appraisal office

which I closed a couple of years ago,

but I had it for a number of years.

And I hope on that score that you've

been able to read some of the material

that I left for your office this morning.

And I used to get many people asking to become appraisers.

At first, I trained them myself, but I

began recommending that they talk to the Assessment Appeal

Office because of the training they would receive there.

That leads again to that initial concern

that I had, that it takes some skill

to balance relatively ordinary people

with well-trained individuals who really know what they're doing.

And I hope that I have learned enough

to do that with accomplishment.

So again, I want to thank you all, Cheryl Walton and Mandelman,

for the privilege of appearing before you.

And I am ready, willing, and able to help the board

with all their work.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Conlon.

Susan Elizabeth Miller.

Good morning.

I'm Elizabeth Miller.

I go by Betsy more regularly, but I am seeking reappointment for the Assessment Appeals

Board number two.

I've been on the board for almost three years now, and I've learned a lot from all my colleagues

from how to run a meeting to all the different varieties of real estate that we need to assess.

prior to working on the board I have been an attorney since 2008 when I graduated from USF

and as an attorney I litigate mostly well that's all I do now and right currently I represent

homeowners but in the past I've represented tenants doing landlord tenant work in real

estate matters as well and all sorts of other things and I would say what I tried to do on

board is just make the best decision based upon the facts and evidence that's presented.

And one of the things that, you know, regularly litigating and deposing people is how to ask

good questions.

Because each time you go into a case, it's a brand new building.

Maybe you've seen it before, but the market has changed or something has changed.

And what I found is that it's important to really ask good questions and make sure that

assessor and the homeowners are heard and I think I echo what some of the

others were saying here that one of the most important things is being fair,

being fair to the assessor but also in the city because because collecting

taxes is important but also to the homeowners and business owners because

their rights are important to uphold and you want to make sure that they feel

like they're paying what they should be paying and a part of that is making sure

that they feel heard in those meetings.

And one of the reasons why I was drawn to doing this

is because I've always thought it was important

to give back to the community.

My mom was like a local politician growing up,

and she instilled that in me.

And it really is an honor and a privilege

to be appointed, to have been appointed,

to serve in this aspect for San Francisco.

Because without everybody, such as yourselves,

and everybody sitting in this room,

the city wouldn't function.

and I'm just proud to be a part of that.

And if you have any questions.

Thank you so much, Ms. Miller.

Thank you.

And seeing no one on the roster, Mr. Clerk, let's go to public comment on this item.

Yes, members of the public who wish to speak on this item should line up to speak at this time.

Each speaker will be allowed two minutes.

Are there any members of the public who would like to speak on this matter?

There are no speakers.

Thank you, seeing no speakers.

Public comment is now closed.

And I do just want to reiterate thank yous for anyone who is willing to step up.

Obviously, in some cases, we have more applicants than we do have seats,

but we do appreciate everyone's willingness to serve.

And if for some reason you are not chosen today, there will be more opportunities,

and I hope you continue to want to find ways to serve the city.

With that, I see no reason not to continue to work with the folks who have been serving,

and so I'd like to move to reappoint John Lee for seat 2,

reappoint Mervyn Conlon for seat 3,

and reappoint Susan Miller for seat 4.

Yes.

On that motion, Vice Chair Sherrill.

Sherrill, aye.

Member Madelman.

Aye.

Madelman, aye.

Chair Walton.

Aye.

Walton, aye.

that motion passes without objection thank you motion carries mr clerk please call item number

five item number five is a hearing considered appointing two members terms ending september

7 2026 one member term ending september 6 2027 and four members terms ending september 4 2028

to assessment appeals board number three thank you so much and do we have james reynolds

i will be brief i have uh 25 years as a residential res real estate appraiser and i've been on the

board as a hearing officer for 10 years thank you thank you so much mr. Reynolds

and we've already heard from mr. Cirelli I do believe that Christine Nelson is

not here this morning

good morning once again chair Walton the members of the committee also gives an

administrator for the assessment appeals board.

Kristi Nelson informed us that she was unable to attend

late Friday.

She had to be out of town.

It was something that was late, and we were notified

pretty late.

Unfortunately, I'm here to speak on her behalf.

Member Nelson was on the assessment appeals board

number one.

She served on seat four in a consistent rotation,

and she had informed me that she wanted a smaller role as an alternate member

and at a smaller capacity of what the Assessment Peoples Board did.

Seat one through four are regular members on each board,

and they're always in a consistent rotation.

She just didn't have enough time for that,

and she's asking to be appointed to board number three as an alternate member.

I do appreciate your consideration in appointing her to that board.

Unfortunately, she's unable to attend today,

but I'm hopeful that the committee here today can appoint her to a seat

as an alternate member on board number three.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And seeing no one on the roster, Mr. Clerk,

let's go to public comment for item number five.

Yes, members of the public who wish to speak on this item should line up to speak at this

time.

Each speaker will be allowed two minutes.

Are there any members of the public who wish to comment on this matter?

There are no speakers from the public at this time.

Thank you.

Seeing no speakers, public comment is now closed.

President Mendelman.

Thank you, Chair Walton.

I want to start just by thanking everybody who is willing to step up and do this job for the city.

It's very important, especially at a time like right now when we're getting flooded with appeals.

So I know that's a lot of work for you all, but thanks to everyone for stepping forward.

Glad to see my constituent Franco Cirelli here.

And I also, I do know Christy Nelson from her community involvement in my district.

Given that she is recommended for this alternate position by staff, I'm comfortable moving forward with her today.

But I want to thank everybody for being willing to step up.

Thank you, President Mendelman.

And with that, I would like to move that we forward Franco Cirelli for seat one, James

Reynolds for seat four, and Christine Nelson for seat six.

Yes, on that motion, Vice Chair Sherrill.

Sherrill, aye.

Member Mandelman.

Mandelman, aye.

Chair Walton.

Aye.

Walton, aye.

That motion passes without objection.

Thank you.

Motion carries without objection.

Mr. Clerk, do we have any more business this morning?

Just before I get to that part, just for my own peace of mind, I just wanted to restate that the action on item two was to recommend as amended as a committee report.

Correct.

Yes, thank you.

I just wasn't absolutely sure what I said.

Yes, that completes the agenda for today.

Thank you so much.

We are adjourned.

Thank you.

Thank you.