Rules Committee advances several board and advisory appointments, including Bicycle Advisory Committee nominee

The San Francisco County Rules Committee on Thursday advanced several appointments to city advisory bodies and authorities, moving nominees forward with recommendation after brief presentations and public comment.

Richard Tillis, introduced to the committee as the nominee for the Bicycle Advisory Committee, told the panel he is a ‘‘regular bicyclist’’ and a professional traffic engineer and transportation planner who helped lead the city’s first bike plan about a decade ago. "I'm very interested in bicycling," Tillis said, adding he uses Muni and his bike for most trips and has worked on bike lanes at the Presidio and Golden Gate Park. With no public comment, the committee moved his nomination forward with a recommendation.

The committee also confirmed or advanced nominations related to Treasure Island and other boards. Owen Stevens, nominated to the Treasure Island Development Authority board of directors, described himself as a six-year Treasure Island resident and "community builder" who would advocate for island residents. Claudine Chang, reappointed to the same authority, summarized five years on the board and said commissioners had recently presented a business plan developed after extensive public review. Members of the public, including Jim Salinas of the Carpenters Union and community leader Steven Louie, spoke in support of Chang’s reappointment.

Short procedural motions advanced a nomination to the Peninsula Corridor Study Joint Powers Board (naming Supervisor Sophie Maxwell) and a nomination to the Urban Counties Caucus (naming Supervisor Chris Daly). The committee also filled a vacancy on the Shelter Monitoring Committee after an applicant who identified herself as Liz Olson introduced herself as a formerly homeless resident and an employee at St. Anthony’s Foundation.

The committee generally handled the appointments as recommendations to be reported forward to the Board of Supervisors; formal confirmation or final votes were not recorded in the Rule Committee transcript beyond the committee’s recommendation motions.

What’s next: most of the nominations will be forwarded to the Board of Supervisors or the relevant appointing bodies for final action. The committee continued one item (the Graffiti Advisory Board appointment) for two weeks after the nominee was not present.