Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Appointments topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Rules Committee forwards Alfred Sims’ nomination as County Veterans Service Officer amid process dispute
Summary
The Rules Committee recommended Alfred Sims’ confirmation as San Francisco County veteran service officer to the full Board after presentations and public comment. Victor Oliveri, chair of the Veterans Affairs Commission, asked to postpone, saying the commission was not consulted; supervisors said the commission is not required to weigh in and approved the nomination.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Rules Committee on Sept. 14 voted to forward Alfred Sims’ nomination as County Veterans Service Officer to the full Board with a positive recommendation after a lengthy presentation and public comment that included both support and objection.
Supervisor Stephanie introduced the nomination and praised Sims’ background, telling the committee that the Human Services Agency conducted a public recruitment, vetted qualified candidates and recommended Sims. Sims, who served as a VA transition patient advocate and worked across Northern California on housing and veteran services, told supervisors he has led process-improvement efforts such as a virtual office for veterans and sought to expand outreach and decentralize services to meet veterans where they are.
The appointment drew public comment from Victor Oliveri, president of the Veterans Affairs Commission, who said the Commission — a 17-member advisory body to the mayor and Board of Supervisors — had not been consulted about the appointment and asked the committee to postpone the nomination so the Commission could review Sims’ qualifications. "We were not made aware of this appointment coming before the rules committee today," Oliveri said, adding that "this probably violates all sorts of very good laws."
Sims responded that he had attempted to contact Commission members, that his resume had been forwarded, and that he was willing to coordinate directly with the Commission going forward. Other supervisors said they were satisfied the Human Services Agency had followed an appropriate hiring process and stressed the vacancy’s length and the need to fill the position. Supervisor Stephanie moved to forward the nomination; a unanimous roll-call vote (Stephanie, Marr and Ronan voting aye) recommended Sims to the full Board.
The committee’s action was a procedural confirmation to move the nomination to the full Board; supervisors also discussed whether the Veterans Affairs Commission should formally weigh in on CVSO hiring in future processes.
