Supervisors suspend sheriff oversight commissioner and advance Potrero Power Station plan

The Board of Supervisors voted to suspend Commissioner William Palmer from the board that oversees the sheriff's department and to approve charges of official misconduct against him. The motion from the rules committee passed 10-0 with one member absent. After the public comment period later in the meeting, the board rescinded that vote and took it again with all members present. The second vote was 11-0.

The motion suspends the commissioner, approves the charges under the city charter, and directs the clerk to transmit the motion and the charges to the Ethics Commission and the city attorney, who serve them. One supervisor said the step was not taken lightly, cited evidence from the inspector general's office of multiple instances of misconduct, and urged colleagues to support it. No supervisor spoke against the motion.

The vote was the sharpest action the board took. The rest of the day was largely uncontested. The board advanced two ordinances for the Potrero Power Station project, passed a pair of airport labor measures, and heard about a dozen residents during public comment.

The Potrero items came over from the land use and transportation committee in a package. The first ordinance approves an amended and restated development agreement with California Barrel Company LLC for the Potrero Power Station Mixed-Use Development Project. The changes cover the project's housing, transportation and phasing plans. The ordinance also affirms that certain code waivers apply to the project and waives public works code provisions to the extent they conflict with the agreement, with required findings.

The companion ordinance amends the Planning Code and the zoning map for the Potrero Power Station Special Use District. It raises height limits and changes rules for land use, parking, rooftop appurtenances and building design. The committee had recommended the zoning ordinance as amended, and both items reached the full board with that recommendation. Both passed on first reading with no discussion and no objection, in a single vote covering the two ordinances.

On airport rules, the board passed on first reading an ordinance revising health care expenditure requirements for certain employers at the airport. The ordinance changes the obligations of covered employers to provide minimum health care expenditure hours to certain airport workers, beginning the later of January 1, 2027 or the date the ordinance takes effect.

With that ordinance, the board approved a settlement of the Airlines for America lawsuit over the airport health care rules. The ordinance authorizes settlement at no monetary cost, with each party paying its own costs and the lawsuit dismissed once specified amendments to the health care ordinance are enacted. The two items were heard together and neither drew discussion from supervisors.

Public comment was the one part of the meeting that drew objections from speakers, and about a dozen people addressed the board in person and by phone. A family member of a resident who died in supportive housing criticized the board's response to a civil grand jury report on critical incident reporting and demanded that the city release the underlying data, saying it would expose patterns.

Other speakers called for charges to be dropped against participants in a transgender march and for civilian traffic management to replace police. Speakers also raised confusion among retirees over legislation changing how representatives are elected to the retirement and health service boards, an unresolved police misconduct complaint, and allegations of corruption and life-safety hazards at a residential hotel. Remote callers warned about risks from artificial intelligence development in the city and about the vetting of retirement board members. When comment closed, the board went back and re-took its vote on the misconduct charges.

Supervisors then used the introduction period to announce new legislation, with no votes taken. One ordinance would amend the Fire Code to prohibit the sale of locked butane lighters with plastic components; the supervisor who introduced it cited a rise in butane-related fire incidents and property losses.

Other introductions included a resolution designating a Twin Peaks bioregion and park strategy, a resolution urging the U.S. Census Bureau to drop proposed 2030 changes that would exclude non-citizens and end the collection of race, ethnicity and sexual orientation data, and a letter of inquiry asking the Planning Department for data and mitigation options on the shading of public spaces by new development.

Two in-memoriam tributes were read, one for a gallery owner and community figure and one for a longtime donor to arts and HIV/AIDS organizations. The meeting adjourned in the latter's memory.