topic of the male role vacancy and the potential succession. we are entrusted with a very serious responsibility with regards to this vacancy. it is unprecedented. the board of supervisors has the responsibility for selecting the mayor. the city charter is silent with regard to the details of how it actually happens. it is our responsibility to set up a fair, transparent, and collaborative process. the motion that i have offered is to start the process. it is quite simple. it would ask the clerk to prepare the process for us that we will be presented with to review and approve as early as next week. it is that simple, and i ask for your support for that motion.

i understand that supervisor avalos will allow us to have comments today. that is something i very much support. we need to work together to think about how we can engage in this very important and serious responsibility to carry this out, and i asked you for your support. supervisor mirkarimi: we do have outside and a guest consul, it is best that we introduce them so that the people want to know who these folks are. please use the microphone. >> we were appointed to serve as the city attorney during this

process because of the conflict of interest. with me is james williams. we will be here throughout the process to answer questions that you have. supervisor mirkarimi: supervisor avalos, the floor is yours. supervisor avalos: we all know that the vacancy that is going to happen is inevitable, and whether it is physics or politics, and nature -- politics, nature abbhors a vacuum. at best, we can have a collegial process around the appointment of an interim mayor starting january 3. we can't make that determination

until there is an actual vacancy, but it is our responsibility to make sure that we can have a 60 mayor to replace mayor -- a succeeding mayor to replace gavin newsom. the people of san francisco are expecting us to make good decisions, to make a decision made in the sunshine. this is the democratic process we are involved in. we have cameras, people taking photographs, the public. we can avoid the kind of tragedy that shakespeare wrote about in the plays of julius caesar and macbeth, and we have a process that we can guarantee we will be

supporting one another in making the best decision we can. i think if we are going to make this an extraordinary vote, we should have the best of our ability to make that vote. the board chambers provide the process to have that collaborative transparent place to have discussion and have the vote. i am also concerned about the transition. we need to make sure that we have an early selection for who is going to be the inter- american that we can hand over the reins of government to that person in working out the initiatives of our department. especially the looming budget deficit. i don't envy anyone because it

is so horrible, even after we have had to close huge deficits. we need to have someone that is going to bring out the best of working cooperatively across the city hall to make that happen. i think it is important to start the process early. that alleviates a lot of destruction that will happen to city hall and the government of that city. and the concern people have about what is happening in this room. we need to do more than make sure there is a note left on what is going to happen with the future of this city. i have an amendment to the motion that i had originally made last week, as to decide

whether we were going to hear nominations and make an appointment to the and from office of the mayor. i am now making a change because i believe it is better if we are able to have the process where we hear from the public and later herear the way we can go through the nomination process. i will read it to you. the motion of the supervisors convene as a committee has a whole to take and put in discuss the process by which the board of supervisors may exercise this exclusive jurisdiction under the charter to appoint its excessive mayor to the city and county of

san francisco. and discuss the process by which the board of supervisors exercise the jurisdiction to appoint a successor as mayor. this motion i would like to have your support would also involve opening of public comment. if we decide, we will also have public comment to decide to discuss the process. supervisor mirkarimi: supervisor avalos has made a motion. is there a second? supervisor avalos, did you make an amending motion? supervisor avalos: i like to

make a motion to accept this motion, my motion is on the calendar. supervisor mirkarimi: seconded by supervisor david chiu. can we take that without -- president chiu. any discussion? items 54 and 55w e were called togather. -- together. if you are not listed to speak, please take your name off. supervisor daly: i think it is fair to say that the issue of transition is the most important issue for the most important

single issue that i have been faced with as a supervisor here in the board chambers over the last decade. to our board president to our board clerk, i hope that in subsequent board meetings, we can prioritize this discussion so that it appears on our calendars so that we can provide a higher level of certainty for members of the public that wish to engage in this process. i would like to welcome those people that are still here, finally, the first real input. and what really is the ultimate insider deal, an internal

discussion of leadership or in this case, the appointment to a vacancy. colleagues, we cannot forget that the first rule of order of this board of supervisors, rule 1.1 states that the policy of the city and county of san francisco and of the board of supervisors is to encourage public testimony before legislative action is taken by the board. it is our first rule of water here in the board chambers. public participation. and i am probably as guilty as anyone of the 11 of us who are fortunate enough to be here right now on the board of supervisors because the truth of

the matter is that conversation about a world transition has been happening and sometimes it is just a pull of the shirt sleeve kind of way. but they have been happening behind closed doors for the better part of this past year. in the last two weeks, these conversations have been tightening and they have reached almost a frenzied level. to the point where we could have circular conversations about process without including the public whose process that should belong. we have these circular conversations with each other about process. it is time to hear from the public. or to let the sun shine in. a little bit of a history

lesson, and i am not the foremost expert on the history of city hall. but a little bit of research, i found the board of supervisors has only faced this decision five other times. while the circumstances of those vacancies vary, each of those five times, in the meeting following the vacancy, a successor mayor was appointed. they adjourned the board meeting to the next week at which point the appointment was effective. only one time since 1875 the board of supervisors appoint

what some out there are calling a caretaker. each other time with the exception of the one-week term of the mayor that was implicated in the scandal who was removed, every other time, the success of mayor ran at the next election. i think this history helps shed light on the question of whether this board should be taking up this appointment and i think this appointment is a very clear and resounding yes. the also helps to inform whether we should take this they -- [unintelligible] once out of five times since

california joined the union a caretaker mayor was appointed. should we favor a caretaker mayor? probably not. that is what history indicates. after toying with the idea of delaying the swearing in so that the is 99% certain that sworn in as lieutenant governor, that means there will be a vacancy or at least 99% sure. . let's forget for a moment about the point made by the budget chairman. about nine weeks typically to

prepare for transition and take office. we are now within seven weeks of january 3. in terms of giving the next mayor a bit of a heads up, some time to sit down with the staff and take a look at the numbers, certainly many of the names are people that already have know- how. it is a very important job and a very big job. i think it would go along way from a policy perspective. forget about the issue of experience. with 11 of us sitting here, 59 years of cumulative experience on the sand and it is board of supervisors.

59 years. on january 8, at 12:00 noon, we will lose that experience. 24 years of cumulative experience left on the board of supervisors. that is a 60% decrease. forgetting that, let's go to the opinion of our people legal counsel. if you take a look, there are a couple of points i want to extract. i believe this is word for word. the legislative process could begin immediately after the result of the november 2 election.

the board may follow its current board rules for making appointments. if you look back at the previous times the board has done this, they have done this with existing rules. this is basically the same charter because the 32 chartered did not change the process for appointing a vacancy. the board does have the option of using a committee for purposes of appointing a successor mayor. these are three points straight from legal opinion. this is the process that supervisor avalos and supervisor campos move forward to instigate this conversation.

it is true that we were not really in a position to get to 6 votes for a selection horn appointment of a successor mayor today. but colleagues, i hope that we can have the conversation about qualities that we are looking for and potential applicants. the be some process points about how to deal with multiple candidates. i think there are issues for us to discuss. i would hope that today, perhaps next week, we can take a look at the quality and attributes in candidates that we are looking forward to. i like the suggestion coming out this morning about possibly interviewing people. i think we should do as much of

this as possible with all of the members and the public here with folks watching so they can follow every step. i hope that we come back from thanksgiving recess and we can actually get down to making selections. i hope that it does not take any longer than that. this is a significant job. you know what the city is saying. in terms of the budget crisis supervisor avalos talked about, this vacuum of leadership is a problem. we should act sooner rather than

later. we need to hear from the public and we need to make the best decision possible. supervisor mirkarimi: supervisor campos. supervisor campos: i know that a lot will be said about this issue and i wanted to take a brief moment to explain why i signed on as a co-sponsor of the motion that supervisor alioto- pier: - -- supervisor avalos introduced. i know that this is something a lot of people are talking about. from my perspective, it does not have the right focus. there hasn't been a discussion about whether it needs to be the old board or the new board.

. as we began this process, my hope is that the focus is not on individuals and the focus is not on the players, but the focus begins with the process. i think the process will ultimately determine the ability of any person if the person is elected to be able to do the job. my hope is that today, we're not here to talk about or focus on individuals. but we are talking about creating a process. i think the process is one that should be as transparent as possible. one that maximizes public input

, and one that gives the public a trust, and sense of trust in what this body is doing. with respect to the new board or the old board as legal counsel indicated, the board has the legal authority to act. the sooner we make a decision, the better it is. the better it is not only for the individual that is selected in terms of putting together a transition team and putting together plans for that transition, but the better it is for the city in terms of creating and providing some certainty, some clarity, and for making sure that the business of the board continues. if it is the case that a vote is taken and whether it is this board or the next board that cannot come to an agreement, at

least we will know that. it provides some sense of clarity of where we are or where we are not. it is that reason that i am supporting the motion that supervisor avalos has introduced. we have an obligation to see if we can come to a resolution sooner rather than later. supervisor mirkarimi: supervisor maxwell, then we will go to public comemnt. -- comment. supervisor maxwell: there is a relief that i feel as my colleagues think that it should be open and that the public should be a part of this process. after all, that is what we do. some people complain about our process, but at the end of the day, they can tune in and see it. i want to thank my colleagues

for realizing the importance of having a process. i want to thank supervisor chiu for that. supervisor mirkarimi: to further that process, we move to public comment. for those that would like to speak to this very unique process, please line up one after the other. this is items 54 and 55. public comment on whether or not to have a committee and to remind that the motion has been minimized to talk about just creating a process for picking the next mayor. >> i am allowed to talk about

why i believe the mayor should be of a certain character? >> you are talking about creating a process for interim mayor. gos>> i want to talk about whats character should be. when the mayor committed adultery not too long ago, he admitted that he let the people down and think it is important that whoever we pick have the moral character to refrain from that and other evil activities. even top rulers in israel were required to not only read the bible every day, but even hand copy their own bible so that they would be proud and think

that they were somebody special. i think it is important that we remember that. even during the trials after an fbi special agent had murdered his wife, he said i don't want to forget your sworn before god. in other words, she a knowledge that we believe in god, we believe that he is here when he is the true ruler. his thoughts and his ways.

the rules must be just. president chiu: i want to emphasize what the previous president just said. the commons shall be limited to the motions that are in front of you. >> this is a very serious situation. i will speak out. who is in control right here in san francisco? i am about as serious as three heart attacks. i am glad that our supervisors have come up with some kind of solution for those that have been negotiating behind closed doors. a few have been proctor and yourself to become mayor in some of you haven't even been here a year or two. we have to bring this process

back to the community, and i am speaking for the people right now. we want to know who is in control of san francisco. the mayor acted like he didn't care. he was out the door. now we have the board of supervisors, they will pick the next mayor. we have redevelopment that i might have to sue to make a settlement. we have the human rights commission. it isn't a history or mystery. just look around. blacks are leaving this town. where is willy brown? blacks are lreavin g -- leaving this town.

i want to know. blacks are leaving this town. who is in control? thank you very much. president chiu: the public comment at this time has to be focused on either the motion directing the board of supervisors to promote the process for nominating a successor or to the amended motion that the board convened today to take public input and discuss the process by which the board may exercise its jurisdiction. if we pass his motion, we will sit in another committee for additional public comment on this item. >> i want to commend the supervisors that have come forward.