Rules Committee backs Delan Chan nomination to Planning Commission

The Rules Committee on May 11 voted to recommend Delan Chan to the San Francisco Planning Commission and approved an amendment removing language that would have rejected the nomination.

Clerk read Item 2: President of the Board Norman Yee’s nomination of the nominee to serve on the Planning Commission for a term ending July 1, 2022. President Yee spoke in support of the nominee’s planning background and commitment to diversifying commission membership. The nominee (appearing in parts of the transcript with varying spellings) described her work with the Chinatown Community Development Center on land-use and transportation projects, her community engagement experience working with monolingual Chinese-speaking seniors and youth, and her academic work teaching urban studies at Stanford.

Supervisors asked about housing affordability and regional transit-oriented development. The nominee emphasized relying on available data, using housing–jobs fit analysis to match housing types to residents’ needs, and protecting communities of concern from displacement in transit-oriented planning.

Public testimony included numerous endorsements from former students, neighborhood coalitions and community groups citing mentorship, community engagement, and equity-focused leadership. Supervisor Gordon Marr moved to delete the word “rejecting” from the legislation and to recommend the nomination to the full Board with a positive recommendation. The committee voted by roll call (Supervisors Stephanie, Marr and Ronan each voted aye) and the matter will go to the Board of Supervisors as a committee report.