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Rules Committee appoints new Reentry Council members after extensive public testimony
Summary
The Rules Committee advanced appointments to four Reentry Council seats — Jose Bernal, Angela Coleman, James Loudon (listed in motion as "Lowden"), and Kimberly Courtney — after lengthy testimony from applicants and community groups urging focus on housing, employment and opposition to privatized reentry services.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Rules Committee on Oct. 25 advanced appointments to four seats on the city—s Reentry Council following more than an hour of applicant remarks and public endorsements.
The committee moved to appoint Jose Bernal to seat 1, reappoint Kimberly Courtney to seat 4, and to appoint Angela Coleman to seat 2 and James Loudon to seat 3 (the final motion recorded the name "Lowden" in discussion). The motions were moved, seconded and carried without objection and will be forwarded as a committee report to the full Board of Supervisors for confirmation.
The applicants and dozens of endorsers highlighted lived experience and programmatic results. Joseph Calderon, Ernest Kirkwood, Marvin Mutch, James Loudon, Jose Bernal and others described work with peer-navigation networks, reentry fairs, reentry-focused education and direct placement into housing and treatment. Supporters from 5 Keys Charter School, Hospitality House, Glide and City College urged appointments of individuals with on-the-ground reentry experience.
Speakers repeatedly raised housing and employment as top priorities for the council. Joseph Calderon (Transitions Clinic Network) emphasized aligning reentry services with public-health supports and increasing jobs that allow formerly incarcerated residents to pay rent. Ernest Kirkwood urged an implementable housing policy and an interactive online resource manual to replace or supplement hard-copy resource guides. Several witnesses, including Jose Bernal and Joe Wilson (Hospitality House), criticized privatized reentry services and named GeoCare as a for-profit provider receiving taxpayer funds.
Committee members acknowledged the difficulty of choosing among highly qualified candidates and said they weighed incumbency, diversity and continuity of service. Chair remarks noted commitments to gender and racial representation, and several supervisors stressed honoring previously communicated appointment terms when applicable.
The committee closed public comment and advanced the appointments as a committee report to the full Board. The report will appear on the Board of Supervisors agenda for final consideration on the scheduled date noted by the clerk.
The meeting record shows that the committee handled the appointments by voice vote and without an individual roll-call tally; the committee did not return individual vote tallies in the Rules Committee session.
