Police commission nominees rejected

San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors rejected two of Mayor Mark Farrell’s nominations to the Police Commission Tuesday, leaving the Police Department’s policy-setting body without enough sitting members to hold a meeting.

The 6-5 vote rejecting the reappointment of Joe Marshall and Sonia Melara comes at a crucial juncture, one in which the commission is hammering out the Police Department’s policies surrounding the use of Tasers and implementing the 272 reform recommendations handed down by the U.S. Department of Justice after a series of police shootings.

Supervisors Sandra Lee Fewer, Malia Cohen, Norman Yee, Aaron Peskin, Hillary Ronen and Jane Kim voted against Marshall and Melara, both of whom were appointed by former Mayor Ed Lee and approved by the board’s Rules Committee.

“With all due respect to Ms. Melara and Mr. Marshall, and with respect to the Rules Committee, I strongly feel that approval of mayoral appointments only three weeks before voters cast their votes for the next mayor of San Francisco is premature,” Fewer said.

Without a quorum, the commission cannot oversee police disciplinary hearings or discipline officers in cases of police misconduct. The commission, which now has just three sitting members, would also be prohibited from leading the search for a replacement for Police Chief Bill Scott, who is reportedly a finalist in Los Angeles’ search for its next chief.

Marshall and Melara were seen by some as being too close to the San Francisco Police Officers Association, the police union. Neither signed onto a ballot argument opposing Proposition H, a measure on the June ballot that would give the union authority to set policy over the use of Tasers, neutering the commission’s authority. Farrell is a longtime union ally.

“I’m embarrassed for the Board of Supervisors,” Farrell said. “These nominees included Joe Marshall, an African American leader and longtime anti-violence pioneer in San Francisco, and Sonia Melara, a Latino woman and an advocate of police reform. Both are incredibly well-regarded in the community, and politicizing their appointments is outrageous.”

There are also two vacant seats on the commission that the Board of Supervisors must fill. Chelsea Boilard, a legislative aide to Fewer, said the board intends to fill those seats by June, giving the commission enough members for a quorum.

Julius Turman, who was

“I strongly feel that approval of mayoral appointments only three weeks before voters cast their votes for the next mayor of San Francisco is premature.” Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer

found dead on Sunday, stepped down from the commission on May 4, saying he was “burnt out.” Bill Hing did not seek reappointment when his term ended on April 30.

In other business:

The board unanimously passed legislation ushering in campaign finance reforms aimed at providing more transparency in political contributions.

The ordinance, which was sponsored by Peskin, will help voters follow the business entities that donate more than $10,000 in a single election cycle by requiring them to disclose their principal officers, who can conceal themselves behind obscurely named ventures.

Among other provisions, the measure requires the disclosure of any political payments over $5,000 to ballot measures and independent expenditure committees made at the request of an elected official.

The board also unanimously approved a measure by Ronen establishing a policy for defining and establishing cultural districts.

The districts reflect unique heritages because of their concentration of cultural and historic assets and businesses, according to the legislation. They’re also defined by specific geographical boundaries, “areas where communities that have been marginalized sought refuge to establish themselves in the city,” Ronen said.

San Francisco has five cultural districts, and two more are being considered.