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Rules committee recommends Ed Harrington and Tim Paulson for Public Utilities Commission
Summary
The San Francisco Rules Committee voted 3-0 on Sept. 21, 2020 to recommend the mayor's nominations of Ed Harrington and Tim Paulson to the Public Utilities Commission, advancing both to the full Board with a positive recommendation.
The San Francisco Rules Committee on Sept. 21 voted unanimously to recommend two mayoral nominees to the Public Utilities Commission: former PUC general manager Ed Harrington and incumbent commissioner Tim Paulson.
Ed Harrington told the committee he has long experience at the PUC, saying, "I have a long history with the Public Utilities Commission," and outlined three priorities if confirmed: stronger environmental stewardship of PUC-managed lands and waterways, steps to address environmental-justice impacts in neighborhoods such as Bayview Hunters Point, and measures to ensure ratepayer fairness and long-range financial planning. Harrington raised the technical and financial complexity of questions that city officials face about finding a path to public power and cautioned about rate impacts.
Supervisors asked Harrington about potential conflicts if the board included multiple former general managers. Harrington said he would not "step over" an on-duty general manager and emphasized the value of long-range institutional knowledge for a utility whose projects span decades.
Several supervisors also asked both nominees about an ongoing federal corruption investigation that has touched city departments and extended to the PUC. Harrington acknowledged wider problems in government and described steps he said he has taken in past roles to strengthen audits, controls and staff training. Tim Paulson, who said he had been briefed by the city attorney about an "expansion" of the probe, told the committee he had not seen evidence personally but would take oversight responsibilities "very seriously." The committee did not make findings about the investigation at the hearing.
During public comment, Larry Mazzola Jr., business manager of Plumbers Union Local 38, called to support Tim Paulson and urged the committee to reappoint him, saying Paulson brings labor representation and experience to the commission.
The committee amended the motions to remove language referring to "rejecting" nominations, then voted on the positive recommendations. Supervisors Catherine Stephanie, Gordon Marr and Hillary Ronan voted "aye," and the motion passed without objection. The committee forwarded the recommendations to the full Board for final action.
