San Francisco Rules Committee Meeting - June 1, 2026: Entertainment Zones, Hospitality Zone, Police Commission Appointments, and Public Comment Rules
San Francisco Rules Committee Meeting - June 1, 2026
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Rules Committee met on June 1, 2026, at 6:00 PM (UTC) to consider four agenda items: three entertainment zones in District 3, a downtown hospitality zone under Senate Bill 395, three police commission appointments/reappointments, and a motion to amend board rules to comply with new state remote public comment requirements. All items except the public comment rules motion were approved and sent to the full Board of Supervisors for the June 9, 2026 meeting.
Discussion Items
Item 1: Ordinance Creating North Beach Entertainment Zone Supervisor Sauter presented an amended package of three entertainment zones (ferry building, Belden Place, and North Beach), removing the Embarcadero Plaza zone for further engagement. The amendment also adjusted allowable outdoor consumption hours to start at 11 a.m. instead of noon. Public comment included support from:
- Claude Mbeau (Downtown SF Partnership): cited Front Street's Oktoberfest event with attendance of 10,000+ and sales increases of up to 1,500% for participating bars.
- Scott Lansettle (Port of San Francisco): expressed support and noted coordination with Hudson Pacific.
- Stuart Watts (North Beach Business Association): stated North Beach has been an entertainment district since 1849 and emphasized safety planning.
- Lillian Chester (Hudson Pacific Properties): noted over 300 events and activations at the ferry building and looked forward to the entertainment zone. No opposition was voiced. The committee unanimously accepted the amendment and forwarded the ordinance to the full board with a positive recommendation.
Item 2: Ordinance Creating Downtown Hospitality Zone Ben Van Houten (OEWD) presented a duplicate of legislation previously heard, with an amendment to reduce the number of non-transferable restaurant liquor licenses from 15 to 12. The zone is bounded by 5th, Folsom, Market, 2nd, and other streets. Supervisor Sauter expressed support for monitoring implementation, noting existing business concerns. Public comment included:
- Brian Sheheat (FutureBars, representing downtown food and beverage operators): thanked committee for reducing licenses but requested only 6 licenses in the first year (instead of 10) to review impact on existing businesses. He stated there are 40 full liquor licenses parked at ABC indicating oversupply and that "the pie is only so big." Chair Walton emphasized supporting existing businesses while revitalizing downtown. The committee unanimously accepted the amendment and forwarded the motion with a positive recommendation.
Items 3–5: Police Commission Appointments and Reappointments These items were heard together.
- Item 3: Reappointment of Kevin Michael Benedicto (term ending April 30, 2030). Commissioner Benedicto highlighted achievements: streamlining body-worn camera policy, completing DOJ collaborative reforms, passing pretext stop policy that reduced racial disparities while crime decreased, and clearing discipline backlog. He received broad support from public speakers including retired officers (Arlene Drummer, Sylvia Harper, Yolanda Williams), Paul Chignell (POA legal defense administrator), Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA, citing language access policy improvements), and Commissioner Scott herself. No opposition.
- Item 4: Appointment of Lawrence Lowe (to replace David Albert Angel who withdrew). Lawrence Lowe described his legal, nonprofit, and governance experience, emphasizing conflict resolution, policy, and partnership. Public speakers included Dale Manami (co-founder Asian Law Caucus), Celia Lee (partner at Gold Fireman Littman), Corinne Ruiz Hester (former head of Hamlin School), Buck G. (former Cisco VP), Jesus Lara (resident), Chris Silvan (CAA), and others all supporting his calm, fair, and collaborative approach. No opposition.
- Item 5: Reappointment of Matty Scott. Commissioner Scott spoke of her 30 years of advocacy since losing her son to gun violence, focusing on bridging gaps between law enforcement and community, increasing recruitment, and maintaining accountability. Public speakers included retired officers and CAA supporting her reappointment. Supervisor Chan added her support, noting Scott's personal tragedy and perspective on crime victims. All three appointments were approved by the committee with motions to forward to the full board with positive recommendation as committee reports.
Item 6: Motion to Amend Board Rules on Remote Public Comment (SB 707) Clerk Angela Calvio presented a motion to comply with SB 707 (effective July 1, 2026) requiring remote public comment at full board meetings, along with a disruption policy and codification of unlimited public comment at committee meetings. Discussion included concerns from President Mandelman and Chair Walton about remote comment from non-residents and potential disruptions. Chair Walton asked about consequences of non-compliance; Deputy City Attorney Brad Russie cited risk of Brown Act lawsuits. Supervisor Sherrill inquired about requiring advance sign-up or identifying information. The committee voted unanimously to continue the matter to the call of the chair to allow further exploration of options.
Key Outcomes
- Item 1: Unanimously passed (amendment accepted; ordinance sent to full board with positive recommendation).
- Item 2: Unanimously passed (amendment to reduce licenses from 15 to 12 accepted; motion sent to full board with positive recommendation).
- Item 3: Unanimously approved reappointment of Kevin Michael Benedicto (motion to forward as committee report).
- Item 4: Unanimously approved appointment of Lawrence Lowe (motion to strike "rejecting" and forward as committee report).
- Item 5: Unanimously approved reappointment of Matty Scott (motion to strike "rejecting" and forward as committee report).
- Item 6: Unanimously continued to call of the chair (motion to allow further review of remote public comment rules).
Meeting Transcript
Good morning, everybody, and welcome to the June 1st, 2026 Rules Committee meeting. I am your chair, Supervisor Shimon Walton. I'm joined by Vice Chair Steven Sherrow, soon to be joined by President Rafael Mandelman, and we have Supervisor Sauter who is here with us this morning as well. Our clerk is Victor Young, and I want to thank Jamie Eschevery with SFGov TV for making sure that this meeting is publicized and available to the public. Mr. Clerk, do we have any announcements? Uh 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 UNG at sfgov.org. If you submit public comment via email, it will be included as part of the file. You may also send your written comments via U.S. mail to our office in City Hall. One Dr. Carlton be good lit place, room 244. San Francisco, California, 94102. Please make sure to silence all cell phones on electronic devices. Items acted upon today are expected to appear on the Board of Supervisors' agenda of June 9th, unless otherwise stated. That completes my initial announcements. Thank you so much. Would you please call item number one? Item number one is ordinance mending the administrative code to create the North Beach Entertainment Zone. On Powell's between Columbus Avenue and Vallejo Streets, Union Street between Powell Street and Grant Avenue, Grant Street between Powell Street and Grant Avenue, Columbus Avenue, between Union Street and Williams Saroyan Place, Williams Haronian Place, and Jack Carroque Alley, Stockton Street between Filbert and Vallejo Streets, Villail Streets between Stockton Streets and Grant Avenue. Grant Avenue between Columbus Avenue and Filbert Street, Broadway between Columbus Avenue and Kearney. Jasper Place between Union and Green Street, Ferry Building Entertainment Zone. This area is bounded by the east side of the Embarcadel on the west. Ferry Building on the South. Thank you so much, Mr. Clerk. Supervisor Sauder. Thank you, Chair Walton. Uh Supervisor Sherrill. Thanks for uh letting me join this morning uh to speak on item number one. This is a package of new entertainment zones for district three. Uh there's a lot of excitement in these neighborhoods uh for this legislation. And these new entertainment zones are the result of partnerships with uh respective entities in each neighborhood, including the North Beach Business Association, the Downtown SF Partnership, Hudson Pacific Properties, Port of San Francisco, and various small businesses as well. Um, before you, you have one amendment which I'm asking for your support on, which is a uh non-substantive amendment striking out the embarcadero plaza entertainment zone for this package. Uh, we hope to allow more time for engagement on the proposed boundaries in particular for that one. So uh this will bring it down to three new entertainment zones in district three instead of four, uh leaving now the ferry building, Belden Place, Downtown, and North Beach. Uh the legislation also adjusts the hours of allowable outdoor consumption during an entertainment zone event to start at 11 a.m. instead of noon, uh, which brings it better in line with typical hours of street fairs and festivals intended in these spaces. Um, I want to thank Ben Van Houten and OEWD for their work on this uh package. Um I think we're all seeing the promise uh in the impact of entertainment zones, and I'm excited for uh these three, and I hope that uh you'll support them, colleagues, and uh move this forward with this particular amendment. Thank you. Thank you, Supervisor Souter. Vice Chair Sherrow. Uh thank you, Chair Walton. Um, I'd like to move to accept the amendments as pro as uh submitted by Supervisor Sauter striking embarkadero plaza um from the entertainment zone. Thank you, and we will of course vote on those after public comment.
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