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Rules Committee advances Julius Terman to full board for Police Commission seat after extended public debate
Summary
After nearly three hours of candidate presentations and a lengthy public-comment period, the Rules Committee voted 2-1 to forward Julius Terman's nomination to the full Board of Supervisors for the Police Commission vacancy; the hearing featured detailed exchanges on warrantless SRO searches, backlog in misconduct cases and Sanctuary City policy.
The Rules Committee voted to forward Julius Terman's nomination for the San Francisco Police Commission to the full Board of Supervisors after an extended hearing that included four candidates and more than an hour of public testimony.
The committee considered four applicants for a single Police Commission seat. David Wagner, who leads accountability advocacy through his legal work, urged aggressive action to reduce the backlog of misconduct cases and better training to avoid costly settlements; he also voiced strong support for the city's Sanctuary City policy. Julius Terman, a labor and employment attorney and former federal prosecutor, emphasized building trust between communities and officers, strengthening Commission oversight and implementing reform-minded policy. Philip Hogan highlighted decades of law-enforcement and neighborhood experience and stressed training and neighborhood outreach. Vanessa Jackson framed her candidacy around community advocacy and street-level violence prevention.
Public comment was unusually large. Dozens of speakers and organizational representatives offered endorsements and concerns: prominent supporters of Terman included former supervisors and leaders from the legal and LGBT communities; Wagner drew endorsements from tenant advocates, the National Lawyers Guild, Harvey Milk Club affiliates and immigrant-rights advocates. Public commenters repeatedly raised the issue of warrantless searches in SROs tied to master-key access, language access for police services, and the perceived backlog in disciplinary processing.
Committee debate culminated in a roll-call vote. Supervisors Sean Ellsburn and Mark Farrell voted to forward Terman; Chair Supervisor Jane Kim voted no. Clerk roll call recorded two ayes and one no, and the chair announced the motion moved forward.
The hearing included contested factual claims used to argue for policy changes. For example, Wagner said the city paid $11.5 million in police-misconduct lawsuit payouts last year, with nearly $10 million from two cases, as part of his argument for improved training and discipline processes. Candidates offered differing views on tasers and on how the Police Commission should balance de-escalation models such as the Memphis crisis model with officer safety needs.
The committee's recommendation now goes to the full board for confirmation. Chair Kim and other supervisors noted the quality and diversity of applicants and thanked all candidates and the large cohort of public commenters for participating in the deliberations.
The full Board of Supervisors will consider the committee's recommendation at its next meeting on June 14.
