Sf Supervisor Factions Make Nice, Ok Ballot Measures

Perhaps chagrined by the acerbic public display of animosity at last week’s board meeting, San Francisco’s supervisors played nice on Tuesday, and announced they had reached agreements on several proposed ballot measures that were in jeopardy because the progressive and moderate blocs were too mad at each other to compromise. There was a little nudging along the way, as board President London Breed started the meeting by admonishing her colleagues that they were prohibited from acting in a manner “unworthy or unbecoming” of a supervisor. While hard feelings linger privately, the supervisors were able to reach consensus on several proposed November ballot measures, including requiring the city to take responsibility for street trees to establishing an office of public advocate. Key to the goodwill was a last-minute deal on the measure that sparked last week’s meltdown — Supervisor Malia Cohen’s proposal to create a Department of Police Accountability, which would have the authority to audit Police Department policies. Last week, the progressives refused to put it on the ballot as a stand-alone measure and, over Cohen’s objections, folded it into Supervisor David Campos’ proposed ballot measure to create a public advocate office, which Cohen and the other moderates oppose. Cohen angrily accused the progressives of playing politics with the lives of black and brown people simply out of political retribution because, over their objections, she had sought to amend the public advocate proposal to require elected officials to sit out one term — four years — before running for the office. On Tuesday, Campos proposed allowing Cohen’s measure to go on the ballot by itself, with the caveat that the public advocate would appoint the department’s director. The moderates and progressives also reached an agreement on a measure to return tree maintenance to the city — it’s now the responsibility of property owners. [...] none of those proposals won out.