by KELLY WALDRON FEBRUARY 25, 2025 (MissionLocal.org)
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The Board of Supervisors have once again conceded to the new mayor: In a 9-2 vote, the board voted to remove outspoken reformist Max Carter-Oberstone from the police commission. In a highly unusual move earlier this month, Mayor Daniel Lurie submitted a motion to remove Carter-Oberstone from the police commission before his term’s end next year.
The vote followed an animated hearing and more than an hour of public comment, during which residents and advocates overwhelmingly pleaded to the board to reject the motion.
In an eight-minute-long speech, Carter-Oberstone criticized what he described as a “power grab” from Lurie. “He would prefer commissioners who follow orders and do as they’re told,” Carter-Oberstone said, in reference to the mayor.
First appointed to the police commission by former Mayor London Breed in 2021, Carter-Oberstone infamously found himself at odds with Breed, deviating from her wishes at time.
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Publicly, Lurie did not give a reason regarding why he sought to oust Carter-Oberstone; nor is he required to do so. In his initial request to remove Carter-Oberstone from the police commission, Lurie wrote that he would seek a new commissioner who would “work collaboratively to make our city safer.” Privately, however, Lurie accused Carter-Oberstone of disrespecting his staffers.
Lurie, during the campaign, also said he would remove Chief Bill Scott, which he can do unilaterally. A new police chief, however, must be chosen by the mayor from a list drawn up by the police commission. Carter-Oberstone, unlike a more predictable Lurie-picked commissioner, could have been an impediment to the new mayor getting a new chief.
The police commission is an independent body responsible for supervising the police department, a fact that Amy Bunn, one member of the public, noted during public comment: “The commission is meant to be an independent body, not an accessory to the mayor,” Bunn said.
District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar and District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder were the only supervisors who objected to removing Carter-Oberstone.
“I do not believe in removing commissioners or supervisors before their term is up when there has been no malfeasance or illegal conduct,” said Melgar. “Mayor Lurie’s reasons that Commissioner Carter-Oberstone’s manner has been needlessly confrontational and difficult to work with do not rise to my standard for removal.”
Before the vote, District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey emphasized that removing the commissioner is within the mayor’s authority.
“In my view, Mayor Lurie has earned, by virtue of this election, the right to make an appointment of his choosing exactly as the City Charter intends for mayoral appointees to this commission,” said Dorsey. “I’ve seen no rationale in this hearing to dissent on the rule.”
“It is absolutely the right of the mayor to put forward this motion,” Fielder countered. “It’s also our right to reject that.”
Fielder endorsed Carter-Oberstone’s work on the commission and pointed to the need for independent oversight, in particular following a recent police chase in the Mission that resulted in six people being injured. “His removal is going to lend toward not just an unaccountable and less effective police force, but also a chilling effect on any oversight whatsoever that will ultimately put members of the public in danger,” said Fielder.
“Dismantling independent oversight agencies in the name of government efficiency is certainly in vogue these days. I’m sure many in Washington would applaud Daniel Lurie’s coarse political desire for more executive power, but I know that San Francisco stands for something different, and I imagine many of you do, too,” said Carter-Oberstone.
Indeed, many did. More than 50 people rose to the podium in support of Carter-Oberstone during more than 90 minutes of public comment, and only a handful advocated for the motion to remove him.
“He’s not afraid to speak truth to power. He’s not afraid to whistle when he knows something is wrong and something is unjust,” said former police commissioner Angela Chan, who now works at the Public Defender’s Office. “With Black and brown lives on the line for the most vulnerable to police misconduct, we need more serious, smart and caring commissioners like Carter-Oberstone.”
The 9-2 vote was the latest sign of amity between the new mayor and the new Board of Supervisors, or at least a sign that officials are keeping their powder dry as they head into a difficult budget season this summer. In January, Lurie’s fentanyl ordinance passed 10-1, even though supervisors were voting to strip themselves of oversight over some city contracts dealing with drugs and homelessness.
The board on Tuesday also unanimously approved the mayor’s nomination of a new police commissioner: W.E. Wilson Leung, a former federal prosecutor, to fill another opening on the body.
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KELLY WALDRON
Kelly is Irish and French and grew up in Dublin and Luxembourg. She studied Geography at McGill University and worked at a remote sensing company in Montreal, making maps and analyzing methane data, before turning to journalism. She recently graduated from the Data Journalism program at Columbia Journalism School.More by Kelly Waldron
