Supervisors Suspend Sheriff Oversight Commissioner, Send Misconduct Charges to Ethics
Board of Supervisors • San FranciscoSeptember 29, 2026
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San Francisco's Board of Supervisors used a rarely invoked Charter power Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, to suspend William Palmer from the Sheriff's Department Oversight Board over Inspector General findings of official misconduct. The final vote was unanimous after a late-meeting do-over. The board also advanced a $0 settlement ending the airline industry's lawsuit against the airport worker health ordinance, and it paused a plan to scrap campaign disclosures in pension board races after retiree advocates objected.
- 1 big thing: Palmer suspended, 11-0, with official misconduct charges sent to the Ethics Commission
- $0 settlement advances to end Airlines for America's challenge to the Healthy Airport Ordinance
- Pension board disclosure rollback delayed one week after Protect Our Benefits pushback
- New proposals: Port flood projects fast-track, locking torch lighter ban and a school safety hearing
- Sister of man who died in supportive housing demands public incident data
A Rare Charter Move Against an Oversight Appointee
Why it matters: The action targets a civilian member of the body created to watch the Sheriff's Department. It tests whether the city will police its own overseers.
Where things stand: The Rules Committee forwarded the motion on Sept. 28. It does four things: suspends Palmer, approves official misconduct charges under Charter Section 15.105, sends those charges to the Ethics Commission and directs the City Attorney to serve them.
Supervisor Stephen Sherrill, District 2, led the effort. He called it an unusual situation that the board did not take lightly, but a straightforward matter.
"We have clear evidence from the Inspector General's office that multiple instances of official misconduct happened," said Sherrill, Supervisor, District 2. "It is therefore our duty to suspend Mr. Palmer from the board while an ethics investigation goes forward."
Board President Rafael Mandelman thanked Sherrill's office for its leadership. No supervisor spoke against the motion, and no public commenter addressed it.
The procedural wrinkle: The first roll call passed with Supervisor Chyanne Chen, District 11, recorded absent (For: 10, Against: 0, Absent: 1). At the end of the meeting, Chen asked to redo it.
"I would like to rescind my vote on item number 43," said Chen, Supervisor, District 11.
The board approved the rescission without objection and called the roll again.
Decisions and stakeholder impacts: The final vote was For: 11, Against: 0, Absent: 0. The outcome signals that the board will act on Inspector General findings against its own oversight appointees. It also puts on record a unanimous, full-board position rather than a 10-member one. Palmer is off the oversight board while the case proceeds.
What's next: The Ethics Commission takes up the charges, and the City Attorney serves them on Palmer.
City Moves to Settle Airline Suit by Rewriting Worker Health Rules
The basics: The Healthy Airport Ordinance requires companies with contracts at San Francisco International Airport to spend a minimum amount on health care for certain airport workers. Airlines for America, the industry's trade group, sued the city. The group argued that federal law preempts the ordinance and that the ordinance violates the Constitution. Federal preemption is the principle that federal law overrides conflicting local rules.
Where things stand: Two linked ordinances passed first reading, each on an 11-0 vote.
- Item 25 changes contractors' minimum health care spending obligations. The changes take effect Jan. 1, 2027, or on the ordinance's effective date, whichever is later.
- Item 26 settles the lawsuit for $0 plus nonmonetary terms. The airlines will dismiss the suit only if the city enacts specified amendments to the ordinance. Each side pays its own costs.
Why it matters: The city avoids a payout and a federal court fight over its authority to set labor standards at the airport. The price is a change to the health care benefits that contractors owe workers. The settlement makes the rewrite a condition of the airlines walking away.
Decisions and stakeholder impacts: Airport workers covered by the ordinance and the contractors who employ them face new spending rules. No one described the specific changes on the board floor, and no supervisor or member of the public spoke. Labor groups and contractors will want to read the ordinance text closely before final passage. Airlines drop their constitutional challenge only once the amendments become law.
What's next: Both ordinances return for a second and final vote.
Retirees Win a Pause on Pension Board Disclosure Rollback
Why it matters: The Retirement Board, the Health Service Board and the Retiree Healthcare Trust Fund Board oversee benefits for city employees and retirees. Retiree advocates say those benefits cover tens of thousands of people. The proposal would remove the disclosure rules that apply to people seeking those trustee seats.
Where things stand: Item 33 would end two requirements. Candidates for the three boards would no longer file statements of intention. Third parties making independent expenditures in those races would no longer have to disclose them. Related training, audit and enforcement provisions would also end. The Government Audit and Oversight Committee sent the ordinance to the full board without a recommendation, which is often a sign of unsettled support.
Board President Rafael Mandelman asked for a one-week continuance. Supervisor Chyanne Chen moved it, and Supervisor Shamann Walton, District 10, seconded. The motion passed without objection.
The other side: Three members of the retiree group Protect Our Benefits addressed the item during public comment.
"We are extremely confused about the attempts to streamline election of representatives to the Retirement Board and the Health Services Board," said Theresa Palmer, vice president, Protect Our Benefits. She said she could not trace a related file number, 261018, and she asked for a meeting.
Fred Sanchez, president, Protect Our Benefits, thanked Mandelman for the delay and called it progress. "Let's make government work better, more transparent," Sanchez said.
Herbert Weiner, member, Protect Our Benefits, urged the board to screen trustee candidates thoroughly. "I don't want to have things streamlined at the expense of retirees," Weiner said.
Decisions and stakeholder impacts: The pause gives retirees, an organized and attentive constituency, time to press for answers. No supervisor explained the rationale for the repeal on the floor.
What's next: Item 33 returns in one week. Retirees and public-sector unions have a short window to weigh in.
New Legislation: Seawall Speed, Torch Lighters, School Streets
Several introductions preview fights and fixes headed to committee.
Port fast-track: Supervisor Matt Dorsey, District 6, working with the Port, introduced an ordinance to exempt publicly funded resilience projects in Port jurisdiction from Administrative Code Chapter 29. That law requires certain large city-funded capital projects to complete a fiscal feasibility analysis before they proceed through California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review. Dorsey said the exempted projects already undergo extensive study through the Embarcadero Seawall Multi-Hazard Risk Assessment and a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers feasibility study. They are also partly funded by the 2018 Proposition A seawall bond. Chapter 29 can add six to nine months per project.
"The Port's preliminary analysis estimates that each year of delay could add between $31 million and $110 million in present value costs, in part because construction costs can rise faster than general inflation," said Dorsey, Supervisor, District 6.
Lighter ban: Board President Rafael Mandelman introduced a Fire Code amendment banning sales of locking butane torch lighters with plastic parts. These lighters lock into a continuous flame, and they are increasingly used for drug use on the street. If a user becomes incapacitated, the flame stays lit. Fire Department data shows 31 incidents from 2020 to 2025, with about $3.2M in losses.
"Those incidents went from 3 in 2020 to 21 in 2025, a sevenfold increase," said Mandelman, Board President.
Mandelman said the ban is narrow. Unlocked lighters and the locked models most commonly used in commercial settings would remain legal. He developed the ordinance with Fire Chief Dean Crispin, Fire Marshal Chad Law and the Golden Gate Restaurant Association. Co-sponsors are Dorsey, Wong, Sauter and Sherrill.
Schools: Supervisor Jackie Fielder, District 9, called for a hearing with city departments and the San Francisco Unified School District on conditions outside Marshall Elementary. Bryant and Flynn elementary schools face similar problems.
"A week ago, a first-grade student picked up a used syringe they were able to reach just outside the fence to show their friends," said Fielder, Supervisor, District 9.
Fielder also described a beer bottle thrown onto the playground, stolen lunchboxes and unauthorized people entering the schoolyard. She contrasted those conditions with districts that have pristine streets.
Sunshine watchdog: Fielder also introduced an ordinance for the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force, which hears public records disputes. It would extend members' terms from two to four years, lift the 60-day cap on holdover service and allow the board to remove members only for official misconduct. She said the task force had to go dark this year. Supervisors Melgar and Walton are co-sponsors.
Also introduced: Supervisor Myrna Melgar, District 7, proposed a Twin Peaks biodiversity region. Chen introduced a resolution opposing proposed 2030 Census changes that would exclude noncitizens and eliminate race, ethnicity and sexual orientation data. She also sent the Planning Department a letter of inquiry on shadow impacts to public spaces not protected by Proposition K.
What's next: The ordinances go to committee, and Fielder's hearing will be scheduled.
A Sister's Plea on Supportive Housing Deaths
The board adopted its responses to five 2025–26 Civil Grand Jury reports 11-0 without discussion. The reports covered Glen Canyon wildfire risk, jails, the outdoor public warning system, the emergency warning system, and homelessness services data and oversight.
In public comment, Aisha McCain said her brother, Eric McCain, is named in the homelessness report.
"Eric was the 4th decomposed body found in just one Home Rise building," said McCain, public commenter.
McCain said the building was required to conduct 72-hour wellness checks. She pushed back on the board's position on critical incident reports (CIRs), the internal records supportive housing providers file after serious events. "That's why I'm deeply disappointed in the board's response on CIRs," she said. She asked supervisors to protect residents' privacy while letting the public see patterns in the data.
McCain said only Supervisor Matt Dorsey's office had responded to her.
Why it matters: Advocates say pattern data from these reports could help prevent future deaths in city-funded housing.
- Potrero Power Station: An amended development agreement with California Barrel Company LLC and zoning changes raising height limits passed first reading, 11-0.
- Police gifts: SFPD accepted $3M from the San Francisco Police Community Foundation for Real-Time Investigation Center technology. It also accepted about $772,000 from a California Highway Patrol (CHP) grant for impaired-driving programs and about $104,000 for officer wellness.
- Housing and financing: The board approved a $16M amended loan for 35 low-income family units at 3300–3308 Mission St. It also annexed new areas to Treasure Island's financing district after landowners approved the measure unanimously.
- Contracts: Supervisors approved a $45M SFO curbside management contract with SP Plus LLC. They also added $7.6M to a citywide industrial supplies contract, bringing the total to $17.1M.
- Settlements and services: The City Attorney's settlement authority rose from $25,000 to $100,000 on final passage. An Office of Food Security Coordination passed first reading.
Item 33 returns in one week. The Healthy Airport, Potrero and food security ordinances come back for final votes. The board adjourned in memory of Michael Acevedo and Lucius Charles Conrad.