Rules Committee appoints two members to Ballot Simplification Committee

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Rules Committee on Jan. 24 approved forwarding two appointments to the Ballot Simplification Committee, moving Scott Patterson and Betty Packard to the full board for final placement.

Patterson, who described himself as a long-time faculty member in broadcast and electronic communication arts at San Francisco State University, told the committee he holds three communication degrees including a doctorate from Ohio State University and has worked at major stations such as WGBH in Boston. He said he was prepared to “donate that effort” and understood the committee’s heavy workload.

Betty Packard, who told the committee she has chaired the ballot committee for 15 years and served on it for 21, described the group’s iterative process for drafting and revising initiative summaries and emphasized the near-term, intensive work the committee must complete ahead of each election.

After public comment praising the committee’s detailed work, a committee member moved to appoint Patterson to Seat 1 and Packard to Seat 2 and forward the recommendation to the full Board of Supervisors. The motion carried "without objection".

The appointees will appear on the Board of Supervisors agenda; the committee’s clerk said items acted upon would be listed on the Jan. 30 board agenda unless otherwise stated.