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Rules Committee recommends Quentin Kopp for Ethics Commission after contentious public comment
Summary
After more than an hour of divided public testimony, the Rules Committee voted to forward Judge Quentin Kopp’s reappointment to the Ethics Commission with a positive recommendation. Supporters cited experience; opponents, including Common Cause, pointed to his past opposition to public campaign financing.
The Rules Committee on Feb. 22, 2017 recommended that the Board of Supervisors reappoint Judge Quentin Kopp to the San Francisco Ethics Commission despite vocal opposition from several good-government groups and advocates of public campaign financing.
Clerk records show Item 7 was to fill the unexpired portion of a six‑year term ending Feb. 1, 2023. Kopp, who outlined a decades‑long public‑service résumé as a former supervisor, state legislator and judge, said he would follow the rule of law in carrying out the commission’s duties. "Public financing should be enforced like any other law," Kopp said when asked about his view of public campaign finance.
Kathleen Thurmond, the other applicant, described nonprofit and private‑sector experience and said she would bring impartiality and a commitment to transparency to the commission.
Public comment was lengthy and sharply divided. Supporters — including former grand jurors, the First Amendment Coalition, friends-of‑ethics groups and neighborhood advocates — praised Kopp’s experience and recent work reducing backlogs at the commission. Opponents such as Common Cause and California Common Cause urged the committee not to reappoint Kopp, arguing his prior opposition to San Francisco’s public campaign financing measures and subsequent legal actions were inconsistent with the central mission of the Ethics Commission.
Committee members debated whether institutional experience outweighed policy disagreements. Supervisor Yee said Kopp brings a perspective and experience that the commission lacks; others stressed the commission’s core duty to defend public financing. In the end, Supervisor Yee moved to recommend Kopp’s reappointment; the motion was seconded and, with no objection recorded, the committee forwarded the nomination to the full Board of Supervisors with a positive recommendation.
Next steps: the matter was placed on the Board of Supervisors agenda for final action.
