Rules Committee sends Art Torres to full Board with split recommendation

The San Francisco Rules Committee voted to forward Mayor Lee's nomination of Art Torres to the Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) Board of Directors to the full Board of Supervisors after testimony from Torres and public comment.

Torres, introduced to the committee as the mayor's nominee, framed priorities including a commitment to Vision Zero, operator continuing education and attention to vehicle and capacity needs as the city's population density increases. He said he had experience working with Caltrans and with a state Senate transportation committee, a role he said was not listed on the resume provided to the committee.

Supervisors questioned Torres about transit-specific expertise and the MTA budget. Torres said he had reviewed revenue sources and organizational divisions but had not yet had time for a detailed budget review; he emphasized listening to supervisors, staff and community stakeholders before advocating changes.

Public comment backed Torres' independence and urged broad consultation. The committee moved to send a positive recommendation to the full Board and took a roll-call vote. The clerk recorded Supervisor Feuer as voting "no," recorded a supervisor's "aye," and announced, "We have 2 ayes with 1 no." The transcript frames the vote as "On the motion as stated by Chair Safaie," but does not contain a complete roll-call list. The clerk also said items acted upon will appear on the May 2 Board agenda unless otherwise stated.

The nomination will now proceed to the full Board of Supervisors for final confirmation.