Rules Committee backs ordinance to prohibit undated resignation letters for appointees

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Rules Committee voted Jan. 30 to send to the full board an ordinance that would bar appointing authorities from requiring undated resignation letters from candidates for city boards, commissions and other bodies.

Supervisor Dean Preston, who sponsored the ordinance, said he introduced it after revelations that the mayor's office had requested undated resignation letters from several commissioners. Preston cited Police Commissioner Max Carter Overstone's whistleblowing and a City Attorney memo as the basis for proposing a formal city policy that would make seeking such letters a prohibited practice. "There is no reason we should be leaving the decision whether to resign up to the whims of any appointing authority," Preston said.

Preston told the committee the ordinance does not prevent an appointing authority from asking for a resignation; rather, it prevents requiring an undated letter to be held as leverage. He said the measure is intended to protect the independence of commissioners and to uphold the removal procedures spelled out in the City Charter.

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman said he would not support the ordinance, arguing that the resignation letters that had been requested appeared ineffectual and that different types of commissions (quasi-judicial, disciplinary, policymaking) may warrant different relationships between executives and appointees. "I am not terribly offended that the mayor's office and other mayors have sought some way of ensuring a mechanism to remove appointees," Mandelman said.

Public comment was almost uniformly in favor. Wesley Saver, identified as a senior policy manager, told the committee that undated resignation letters can "constrain independent decision making" and urged a yes vote. Several community members, including Michael Rupe and Brent Turner of the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club's anti-corruption caucus, described the practice as corrosive to public trust; Turner alleged there were "20 or more victims" of the practice. Caller Wesley Saver said a Port Commissioner had called the practice "horseshit." David Pilpel suggested technical clarifications to harmonize the ordinance with administrative-code recordkeeping and vacancy-posting rules.

Clerk Victor Young called the roll on the committee's recommendation to send the ordinance to the full Board with a positive recommendation. Supervisors Connie Chan and Aaron Peskin voted aye; Vice Chair Rafael Mandelman voted no. The motion passed with Mandelman recorded in dissent.

The ordinance, as read to the committee, would amend the Administrative Code to establish a city policy against seeking preemptive resignation letters and clarify that the decision to resign rests with the appointee. The committee's positive recommendation means the ordinance will be scheduled for the Board of Supervisors' consideration at a future meeting.

What happens next: The ordinance will be considered by the full Board of Supervisors; any changes there will be reflected in subsequent hearings and in the official file.