Seven Appointed to Revive San Francisco's Transparency Watchdog

The San Francisco Rules Committee moved to rebuild the city's paralyzed Sunshine Ordinance Task Force, naming seven members to the government transparency body that has been unable to process complaints for months after mass vacancies. The committee also advanced a tenant attorney to the Planning Commission, quadrupled the City Attorney's settlement authority, and fixed a drafting error that would have stripped experienced members from the Rent Board.

• Seven members appointed to restore the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force after vacancies left the transparency watchdog unable to function, sparking accusations of a political "purge"
• Tenant attorney Malia Chavez advances to the Planning Commission, bringing 20 years of housing and land use experience from the Mission District
• City Attorney gains authority to settle claims up to $100,000 without Board approval — a threshold unchanged for 40 years
• Rent Board members exempted from accidental term limits imposed by a Prop E drafting error
• BART budget director Christopher Simi reappointed to the Sanitation and Streets Commission

The longest and most contested item of the morning was filling nine seats on the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force, the citizen body that investigates government transparency complaints. The task force had been gutted after an ordinance eliminating holdover provisions took effect, leaving it without enough members to operate and creating a growing backlog of unresolved complaints.