Peskin looks to dust off old rule
Commissioners would be out if running for post
Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown had a policy of kicking political candidates off city commissions the moment they entered a race.
Brown, now a Chronicle columnist, recoiled at the idea that anyone would run a campaign and hold a lowlevel government position at the same time. His successors, Gavin Newsom and Ed Lee, also made a practice of asking their appointees to leave once they pulled candidate’s papers.
But because the rule was never written down, it wasn’t really enforced — and eventually, candidates ignored the tradition.
As a result, several people who are currently running for office serve on commissions, and a debate is brewing in City Hall over whether they should be allowed to keep their seats. Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who wants to
resurrect and cement Brown’s policy, will formally ask the city attorney to draft a measure.
The legislation Peskin is contemplating would force city and regional commissioners out once they decide to run for office.
Among the people this law would affect are two competitors to succeed Supervisor Mark Farrell in District Two: Nick Josefowitz, who serves on the regional Metropolitan Transportation Commission, and Kat Anderson, a Recreation and Park commissioner who also works for the Pacific Media Workers Guild, which represents some Chronicle employees.
They’re in good company. Theodore Ellington, a contender to represent District 10 next year, serves on the Human Rights Commission. City College Board candidate Victor Olivieri is a Veterans Affairs commissioner, and his opponent, Angeles Roy, is an immigrant rights commissioner.
“I would not have permitted it,” said Brown, who argued that commission posts create the appearance of a conflict of interest for candidates. Brown expressed particular concern about highprofile appointees — on, say, the planning or the police commission — who might vote on projects involving people who had backed their opponents.
Brown’s policy led the former mayor to eject friend and foe alike. His appointee, Dennis Herrera, stepped down from the Police Commission because he had filed papers to run for city attorney.
“Once Brown issued that edict, everyone adhered to it,” said Peskin, who has sparred with Brown on other things, but adamantly agrees with this rule. “In most instances, people just resigned.”
District Eight candidate Rafael Mandelman was among those voluntary departures. He quit his appointed position at the Board of Appeals — which gives final review on the approval or denial of permits, licenses and other city decisions — when he ran for supervisor against Scott Wiener in 2010.
“I think there was an expectation that I should leave,” said Mandelman, who is currently running for the same district office against appointed Supervisor Jeff Sheehy.
Ellington, the human rights commissioner, said he will step down as soon as a replacement is found.
Olivieri, by contrast, said he could not imagine a political situation that would compel him to leave the Veterans Affairs Commission.
“I’m honored to serve on the commission and proud to be able to advise the mayor and Board of Supervisors on a wide variety of issues that affect the veterans in our community,” he said.
Peter Keane, who chairs the city’s Ethics Commission, said he would support Peskin’s policy, but that it should be applied with discretion. Certain commissions are fairly innocuous, he said, while others present an obvious conflict.
“If you have someone running for office who serves on the Arts Commission, that’s really different from being on the Planning Commission, which awards development contracts,” Keane said.