Port Commission Gains Small Business Voice, Labor Veteran as Waterfront Decisions Loom

The San Francisco Rules Committee moved swiftly through a compact agenda Monday, seating two new Port Commissioners who will help steer decisions on the city's aging seawall and billions in waterfront assets, while advancing a new entertainment zone for Chestnut Street merchants in the Marina.

• Café owner Rich Lee and former ILWU president William Adams win Port Commission seats as the panel prepares for major seawall and waterfront investment decisions

• Chestnut Street Entertainment Zone clears committee with citywide code cleanup, building on the model that drew 30,000 to the Fillmore Jazz Festival

• Vanessa Hartigan's Port Commission appointment delayed after nominee fails to appear; item continued to the call of the chair

• Tenderloin restaurateur Azalina Eusope reappointed to Sanitation and Streets Commission through 2030

Why it matters: The Port Commission oversees San Francisco's entire seven-mile waterfront — including a seawall more than 100 years old, Fisherman's Wharf renovation, the Ferry Building, the Giants development project, Pier 27 cruise operations, and more than 500 commercial leases. Two of the three nominees seated Monday flagged the underinvested southern waterfront as a priority, signaling a potential shift in how the commission allocates resources.