Supes vow to block Breed’s board nominee
Mayor London Breed’s nominee for a key San Francisco commission does not have the support to be approved for the position after a majority of the Board of Supervisors said they won’t vote for him because of revelations about improper charges to taxpayers when he was a White House appointee.
Six supervisors confirmed to The Chronicle that they will not support Vikrum Aiyer for the homelessness commission, which will oversee the city’s $600 million Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH).
Breed’s nomination last week of Aiyer caused a stir when a 2018 report from the Office of the Inspector General surfaced detailing his practice of filing improper expenses when he served in the Obama administration.
According to the report, Aiyer put other officials’ names and fictitious identities on receipts for nearly $4,000 worth of impermissible taxicab rides. Investigators also found that he used taxpayer dollars for more than $15,000 worth of personal expenses, and he erroneously claimed on a resume that he had a master’s degree that he did not have at the time.
Aiyer, who works for a climate technology company, previously told The Chronicle that his malfeasance was “a grave mistake” and that he paid the money back after the report came to light. He said it was “both a teachable moment and also a moment I don’t take lightly.”
Still, as of Tuesday, six of the 11 supervisors — Connie Chan, Dean Preston, Aaron Peskin, Myrna Melgar, Ahsha Safaí and Catherine Stefani — told The Chronicle they plan to vote against his nomination. That means Aiyer does not have the six required votes to move forward. Aiyer was expected to go through a routine public hearing at the Board of Supervisors in March and hoped to speak to many of the members personally before they made their decision.
Jeff Cretan, a spokesperson for Breed, said in a statement that all proposed commissioners “deserve the opportunity to have a substantive policy discussion about their qualifications with members of the Board of Supervisors.”
“Community members who asked for and support these candidates also deserve to have their voices heard,” he added. “When we ask our residents to step up to serve as volunteers on Commissions, they should know that they will be respected enough to be heard about why they want to serve this city and to answer any questions about their background.”
Safaí, who initially proposed the creation of the commission, said he spoke to Aiyer on Monday and urged him to withdraw his nomination. Aiyer could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
“We campaigned on accountability, oversight and good governance,” Safaí said. “We need to start this commission off on a good foot, and we don’t need drama before this commission begins. And unfortunately this has created some unnecessary drama.”
Voters backed the creation of the homelessness oversight commission, with the hopes of adding another layer of oversight and accountability to HSH. Breed nominates four commissioners, who must be approved by the Board of Supervisors. The supervisors appoint three members.
Breed’s other three nominees are Katie Albright, a senior adviser for nonprofit Safe & Sound, an organization focused on preventing child abuse; Jonathan Butler, a research faculty member in the Department of Family and Community Medicine and the Center for the Study of Adversity and Cardiovascular Disease at UCSF; and Sharky Laguana, an entrepreneur and musician.
Aiyer has support from community members in the Tenderloin and SoMa, as well as a long resume that includes high-level positions at the American Civil Liberties Union and the technology company Postmates. He is currently head of global public policy and external affairs at Heirloom, a carbon capture company.
According to the 2018 inspector general report, Aiyer improperly billed the federal government on at least 130 occasions from 2014 to 2016 for a taxi service to shuttle him about 10 miles from his home in Washington, D.C., to his office. At the time he was chief of staff for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
The report also detailed how, from 2012 to 2016, Aiyer made more than $15,000 in impermissible personal charges that included expenses at local bars, clubs, coffee shops, restaurants, grocery stores, dry cleaners and at least one liquor store. His card was revoked in 2013. Aiyer told investigators at the time “how deeply apologetic I am for the air of irresponsibility I demonstrated.”
But even after his card was reactivated, Aiyer continued to run up such expenses, according to the report.
The other five members of the Board of Supervisors either could not be reached Tuesday or said they were waiting to speak to Aiyer before making a decision. Supervisor Shamann Walton has repeatedly declined to comment. Only one supervisor, Matt Dorsey, said he would support Aiyer.
“For me it’s a principle of my life, my faith and politics that no one is beyond redemption, and I had a good talk with Vikrum about his past and hopes for our city’s future,” Dorsey said Friday evening. “He has my full confidence to serve on the homelessness commission.”