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Board approves Shruti Gandhi for Retirement Board seat after candidates' hearing; she pledges aggressive divestment plan
Summary
After a Rules Committee hearing and discussion at the full board, the Board of Supervisors amended the motion and voted to confirm Shruti Gandhi to the city's Retirement Board. Gandhi told supervisors she supports an aggressive divestment timeline and aims for a clear plan within a year and full divestment within five years.
The Board of Supervisors voted to confirm Shruti (Shruti) Gandhi to a mayoral appointment on the San Francisco Retirement Board after members of the Rules Committee and the full board questioned her approach to fossil-fuel divestment and oversight.
Supervisor Peskin — who led the Rules Committee interview and framed the matter in the context of prior unanimous board resolutions urging aggressive divestment of city pension assets from fossil fuels — described his expectation that any Retirement Board appointee would be willing to champion a divestment plan. Gandhi told the board she was committed to “an aggressive divestment schedule from fossil fuels,” said she would seek a clear plan within one year, and described full divestment as reasonable within five years.
Supervisor Safaie supported Gandhi’s nomination and emphasized the importance of pairing divestment with reinvestments that create jobs and social-impact benefits, citing examples such as the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust. Supervisor Preston asked the mayor’s office to explain how the board’s prior unanimous resolution influenced the mayor’s selection. Sophia Kittler from the mayor’s office said the mayor considered the resolution among several stakeholder inputs and selected a candidate who shared the values and had board experience and consensus-building skills.
Supervisor Peskin moved an amendment deleting text that had provided the board the option to reject the nomination; the amendment was adopted unanimously. The nomination, as amended, was then approved unanimously (11 ayes). Gandhi said she would work with advocates, retirement-board staff, and commissioners to pursue rapid reporting and divestment steps and to reinvest funds in ways aligned with San Francisco’s social priorities.
