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Rules committee picks six members for Mental Health SF implementation working group
Summary
After hearing from 23 applicants and dozens of public commenters, the Rules Committee on Sept. 21 recommended six members to the Mental Health SF Implementation Working Group, a board-created body to guide a new, city-funded overhaul of behavioral health services.
The San Francisco Rules Committee voted unanimously on Sept. 21 to recommend six appointees to the Mental Health SF Implementation Working Group, a body created to implement a recently passed local law aimed at reworking the city's behavioral-health system.
Chair Supervisor Hillary Ronan opened the hearing by saying she and Supervisor Matt Haney authored the measure, calling Mental Health SF "the vision of a new, and hopefully innovative approach to serving people that need health care for mental illness and substance use." The committee heard short presentations from 23 applicants representing clinicians, peer workers, housing providers, labor and lived-experience advocates.
Those recommended by the committee were Amy Wong (seat 1), Philip Jones (seat 3, with a residency waiver), Steve Fields (seat 6, with a residency waiver), Andrea Salinas (seat 7), Monique Lasara (seat 8) and Sarah Short (seat 11). Ronan said those recommendations reflect a mix of board-and-care knowledge, peer and lived experience, statewide policy expertise and supportive-housing practice. The clerk recorded the motion and the committee voted, with Supervisors Catherine Stephanie, Gordon Marr and Hillary Ronan each voting "aye."
During the presentations, candidates emphasized coordination across services, cultural competency, harm reduction and peer recovery. Amy Wong described two decades as a mental-health treatment specialist and work running a city board-and-care facility; Philip Jones and Peter Murphy spoke of lived experience and peer recovery roles; Andrea Salinas noted UCSF citywide case-management capacity; Monique Lasara highlighted culturally focused programs for African American residents; and Sarah Short emphasized the role of permanent supportive housing in treatment.
Public callers and organizational representatives also urged appointments that would center lived experience and tenant voices. Supervisor Catherine Stephanie said the committee should include voices from both harm-reduction and abstinence-based recovery approaches so the working group represents a range of recovery paths.
Ronan noted the mayor and city attorney will appoint additional seats to the working group and encouraged applicants who were not selected to participate in public meetings of the group once it convenes. The committee’s recommendations will be forwarded to the Board and shared with the mayor and city attorney as the implementation process proceeds.
