Rules Committee sends Golden Gate Bridge nomination to full board after heated exchanges; recommends David Chu for BCDC

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Rules Committee on a regularly scheduled meeting considered multiple regional board appointments and took mixed action on the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District nomination after a contentious hearing.

Chair Chris Daley opened the first item announcing a motion to appoint “Mikaela Adeoto Pier” to the Golden Gate Bridge board but committee members and public commenters told the panel the nominee had withdrawn. Supervisors debated a substitute nomination for Supervisor David Campos and whether Campos should be recused from the vote. The committee carried a motion to recuse Campos for the substitution vote but the substitution failed on a roll call (Supervisor Chu voted aye; Chair Daly voted no). After further debate the committee voted to remove the originally named nominee from the item and to forward the matter to the full Board without a single recommended name so the full Board can decide which of its 11 members to appoint.

The meeting turned sharply personal when Chair Daley displayed a campaign mailer addressed to his home and confronted applicant Larry Mazzola Jr., a labor-endorsed candidate for a bridge district seat. Daley described the mailer as part of “the nastiest political race” he had seen and said he would not support the applicant; Mazzola denied sending the mailer and defended his record. The exchange produced a prolonged back-and-forth in which Daley said the mailer had been sent to his wife and household and Mazzola and several labor leaders urged the committee to appoint a labor representative to maintain the board’s traditional labor seat.

Separately, on Item 2 the committee considered nominations to the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC). After discussion about seniority rules and whether the committee could effectively waive board practices, the committee moved to recommend President David Chu for appointment to BCDC and the motion passed following a roll call.

Committee members and applicants also debated the Bridge District’s priorities — including Doyle Drive financing, a planned retrofit of the main span, suicide-deterrent barriers and the district’s reliance on toll revenues — while applicants described different emphases: labor representatives stressed workers’ interests and construction jobs; transit advocates urged diversification of funding and stronger transit planning.

The committee agreed to send several appointment items to the full Board for final action; for the Golden Gate Bridge nomination it forwarded the item without a single recommendation so the full Board can decide at its meeting.