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Rules Committee recommends three nominees for Sunshine Ordinance Task Force
Summary
The Rules Committee recommended Dean Schmidt (attorney), Lila LaHood (journalist) and Jennifer Wong (software engineer/observer-corp leader) to the full Board for appointment to the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force. Multiple journalism and transparency organizations called in support during public comment.
The Rules Committee on Sept. 14 recommended three candidates to fill vacancies on the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force, forwarding the names to the full Board with a positive recommendation after presentations from each nominee and sustained public support.
Dean Schmidt, applying for the attorney seat, described years of courtroom work, First Amendment expertise and an interest in using legal skills to improve Task Force hearings and city attorney consultations. Journalist Lila LaHood, publisher of the San Francisco Public Press and current Task Force member, outlined her prior term (since 2018), her work on compliance and amendments and her interest in defending public access under the Sunshine Ordinance, the California Public Records Act and the Brown Act. Jennifer Wong, a software engineer and co-leader of the League of Women Voters’ Observer Corps, said she would focus on modernizing the ordinance and improving public access through technology.
Public commenters included Bruce Wolf (Sunshine Task Force chair), the Society of Professional Journalists-NorCal, the League of Women Voters and other local journalists and civic advocates, all urging appointment to restore a full Task Force and praising the nominees’ respective expertise. Supervisor Marr moved to appoint the three nominees; a unanimous roll-call vote by the committee recommended the appointments to the full Board.
The committee’s action fills volunteer oversight seats that oversee enforcement and amendments to the Sunshine Ordinance and aims to restore capacity for the Task Force’s oversight work.
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