Committee recommends Mayor's reappointment of Kimberly Brandon to Port Commission after questioning about former nonprofit board

The Rules Committee voted to forward Mayor's nomination of Kimberly Brandon for reappointment to the Port Commission (term through 05/01/2025) to the full Board with a positive recommendation.

Kimberly Brandon, introduced by the clerk as an incumbent long-serving commissioner, presented a 25-year record at the Port and outlined priorities for the next term: recovery, resilience and racial equity. Brandon said COVID-19 had sharply reduced port revenues (she said revenues fell "nearly 50%" and projected losses of "$60,000,000 this year, $80,000,000 over the next 2 years, and $100,000,000 over the next 5 years," against a pre-pandemic budget she described as about $110,000,000) and described measures the Port took to support tenants, including rent relief and emergency loan programs.

Chair Aaron Peskin asked Brandon about her past board service on the Lefty O'Doul Foundation for Kids and about reporting and oversight related to that organization's donations, referencing a February 2020 article that reported some donations allegedly were used for a party rather than the foundation's stated purpose. Brandon responded that she had been recruited to the foundation board, that meetings were infrequent and financial statements she saw indicated modest balances; she said she had not known of any misuse and told the committee, "we were all duped." She added she had contacted the board chair after reading the article and described the situation as having "bamboozled" the board.

Public comment included multiple callers—business owners, community leaders and Port colleagues—who urged approval of Brandon's reappointment, praising her leadership on waterfront projects, equity work and her support for small businesses and tenants.

Chair Peskin moved to send the nomination to the full Board with a positive recommendation, amending the title to remove the word "reject" in the motion language. Roll call recorded Supervisor Stephanie, Supervisor Chan and Chair Peskin voting "aye," and the motion passed without objection.

Next steps: the nomination will be considered by the full Board of Supervisors.