City Hall Digest: New BOE Slides Backwards, Peskin Doles Out Committee Assignments, and Dorsey Tries to Solve SFPD’s Problems

City Hall Digest is TogetherSF Action’s weekly dispatch from San Francisco’s City Hall, broken into bite-sized pieces—because understanding local government is your fundamental right.

In a Blow to District Outcomes, First Board of Education Meeting Lasts Four Hours with a Focus on Politics

Last week, the Board of Education elected Kevine Boggess as its new president and debated whether to recognize Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha as official school holidays in a meeting that exceeded four hours in length and ended at 11pm—its first of the year.

The president of the BOE is primarily responsible for guiding board discussions and prioritizing issues. Jenny Lam, the previous president, focused on education and student performance during her year-long tenure. Despite wide support from parents for Lam, the board elected Boggess in a 4-3 vote, with commissioners Matt Alexander, Alida Fisher and Mark Sanchez supporting Boggess and Lisa Weissman-Ward and Lainie Motamedi supporting Lam. Weissman-Ward was elected Vice President. 

The board also discussed whether the district should grant students time off for the Muslim holidays Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. This discussion lasted an hour and a half and did not yield a decision. This was not the first time the topic has been a subject of discussion for the board or SFUSD parents.

Sources present at the meeting said that Boggess struggled to manage the meeting. Weissman-Ward stepped in at key points to try to steer the discussion. The board has decided to spend regular meetings discussing housekeeping and logistics and created separate workshop sessions to discuss student outcomes. Still, the board did not use this four-hour meeting to address the gaping budget shortfall or declining enrollment.

This type of mismanagement and focus on virtue signaling is exactly the type of behavior that led parents to recall three members of the board last year. It’s devastating to see this board regress after so much progress was made toward improving student outcomes post-recall.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on the board and updating you throughout the coming year.

Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin Doles Out Committee Assignments  

Last week, newly elected BOS President Aaron Peskin assigned supervisors to the various committees that process legislative proposals, effectively shaping the course of how the city tackles its issues over the next two years. 

District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan will chair the Budget and Finance Committee, with District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman serving as vice chair. This is a big win for Chan, as the budget committee has the power to stall or advance legislation with financial implications for the city. Did this prime committee assignment have anything to do with the game of musical chairs that led to Peskin’s election to president of the board earlier this month?

District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey will chair the Rules Committee. This position holds power over commission appointments and legislation proposing ballot measures. 

Finally, District 2 Supervisor Catherine Stefani will remain chair of the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee, with newly-elected District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio sitting as her vice chair. Public Safety and Neighborhood Services has dominion over legislation ranging from public safety (i.e., fire and police) to traffic and parking control. 

New Legislation by Dorsey Would Work to Address Police Staffing Problems

New legislation by District Six Supervisor Matt Dorsey would begin to address SFPD’s issues with high attrition rates, recruitment and retention, and future staffing losses due to retirement by upping bonuses and transferring other California officers to San Francisco. If passed, the resolution would encourage the Police Commission to match the highest recruitment bonuses offered to new and transferring officers by other comparable departments in northern California. Higher recruitment bonuses could make San Francisco more of a destination for prospective officers than quieter and higher-paying Bay Area suburbs. 

The department has been lagging on two key performance indicators: staffing levels and response time to 911 calls. Each of the city’s 10 stations is facing a shortage of around 30 officers, leading to slow response times and reduced coverage. Response time for high-priority 911 calls involving imminent danger to human life has increased from 7.6 minutes to 9.1 minutes since 2019—well above the goal, which is 8 minutes. 

If San Francisco is to tackle its most pressing public safety problems, it needs a healthy workforce to do it.