Lawyers tabbed for police commission
After a marathon meeting Wednesday, the Board of Supervisors Rules Committee selected two attorneys — John Hamasaki and Cindy Elias — to serve on the San Francisco Police Commission, the policymaking body for the city’s Police Department.
The committee spent more than seven hours interviewing 11 applicants for the two open seats on the commission that the supervisors get to choose. The full board will vote on the committee’s picks at its June 5 meeting.
Hamasaki is a criminal defense attorney. Elias previously worked in the San Francisco public defender’s office and is currently a Bureau of Field Enforcement attorney for the state Labor Commissioner’s office.
Led by Supervisor Malia Cohen, the committee quizzed the candidates on their knowledge of the workings of the Police Commission, their prior public service experience, their approaches to criminal justice and whether they could withstand the sometimes withering public scrutiny that comes with making what can be unpopular but important decisions about the Police Department.
Many candidates stressed the need to increase police accountability and forge more productive relationships between police officers and communities — particularly communities of color, whose faith in public safety officials has been shaken in recent years
by a string of fatal police shootings.
The committee’s selections come at a pivotal time for the Police Department and for the commission itself. Following the resignations of Bill Ong Hing and Julius Turman in April and May, respectively, the commission does not have enough members to hold a meeting.
Without a quorum, the commission can’t perform its usual functions, like overseeing police disciplinary hearings. 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 reportedly is a finalist in Los Angeles’ search for its next chief.
Last week, the Board of Supervisors voted 6-5 to reject the two nominations submitted by Mayor Mark Farrell. Farrell’s reappointments to the board, Joe Marshall and Sonia Melara, were seen by some, including Cohen, as lacking the strong vision and leadership skills needed to help steer the Police Department at such a critical juncture.
Farrell criticized the board for leaving the commission without a quorum and re-submitted his nominations for Marshall and Melara to the Rules Committee, which had approved their nominations prior to the full board’s vote.