Rules Committee advances Dina Aslanian Williams nomination to Homelessness Oversight Commission after heated public comment

The Rules Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted July 17 to forward Mayor London Breed’s nominee, Dina Aslanian Williams, to the full Board as a committee report after extended testimony and competing public comments.

Dina Aslanian Williams, who was nominated for the seat reserved for someone with participation in merchants, small-business or neighborhood associations, said she would bring a community-based perspective and a focus on accountability. “I will do my best to work with the rest of this very important commission, and help about help to bring about the success everyone is concerned about,” she said during her remarks.

Supporters, including neighborhood leaders and callers, described Williams as a connector with fundraising experience for local programs. Jack Shea, identifying himself as a West Side resident, said Williams had “displayed a very strong will while leading neighborhood associations” and urged supervisors to approve her. Other callers, including community volunteers and council representatives, said her Welcome Home Project fundraising and neighborhood outreach were assets.

Opponents raised questions about Williams’s ties to the real estate industry and her lack of direct experience delivering homelessness services. One in-person speaker, Jordan, said Williams’s background with the San Francisco Association of Realtors created a conflict of interest and criticized the speed of the nomination, saying in part, “I strenuously oppose Dina Aslanian Williams for the Homelessness Oversight Commission” and alleging prior positions that concern tenant advocates. Sarah Short of HomeRise told the committee she was “concerned about how quickly it’s being pushed through” and that the nominee appeared to lack experience with the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH).

Committee members framed the seat as intended to bring neighborhood and merchant perspectives rather than to require prior homelessness-service experience. Supervisor Asha Safaie said the board intentionally set aside a seat for someone from merchants or neighborhood groups to bring a fresh perspective and to improve neighborhood outreach. “We wanted to ensure that the trans community would have a voice,” he said, adding that the committee sought balance across expertise and lived experience on the oversight body.

Williams described the Welcome Home Project (a local nonprofit effort to supply basic household items to people who move into permanent housing) and said she sees data and improved communications as central to showing the public the city’s work and outcomes. She also told supervisors she would engage faith-based and neighborhood networks for targeted outreach in parts of the city such as the Bayview.

After hearing multiple callers both for and against the nomination, the committee voted to remove recurring language rejecting the nomination from the motions and forwarded the appointment to the full Board as a committee report with a positive recommendation. The motion passed without recorded objection.

Next steps: The nomination will be considered by the full Board of Supervisors at a later meeting; the committee did not take a final confirmation vote.