From 1977 to 1979, and starting again in 2000, supervisors were elected from eleven single-member districts. Prior to 1977 and from 1980 to 1998, members were elected at-large, all running on one ballot, with the top vote-getters winning office. In 1980, elections shifted from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years, and because of the shift from district to at-large elections, all seats were up for election, with some members winning four-year terms and some winning two-year terms. Similar cases of supervisors elected to truncated terms happened in 1977 and 2000, when elections shifted to district elections.
Several members were initially appointed by the mayor. San Francisco's city charter gives the mayor the power to fill any vacancies[1] and to suspend members in limited circumstances;[2] the latter case has happened only once, when Mayor Gavin Newsom suspended Ed Jew due to allegations of lying about his residency and extortion.[3] A few members were elected to the board, but appointed to their seat by the mayor during the weeks between the election and the beginning of their term. This has generally been done when supervisors were elected to the state legislature, since the terms of state legislators begin earlier than those of supervisors. The most recent example occurred in 2008, when David Campos was elected to the District 9 seat held by Tom Ammiano. In the same election, Ammiano was elected to the California State Assembly and resigned his seat a month early to take his new office. Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed Campos to the seat on December 4, 2008, a month before he would otherwise have taken office.[4]
The president of the Board of Supervisors presides over all board meetings and appoints members to board committees, among other duties. Board presidents are elected by their colleagues at the beginning of every odd-numbered year, or when a vacancy arises in the office.[5] From 1983 to 2001, the city charter specified that the president would be the highest vote-getter in the previous election, taking the power of electing the board president away from the supervisors themselves, except in the case of a vacancy in the post.[6][7]
Board members
No official list of supervisors in office prior to 1906 exists as the 1906 San Francisco earthquake destroyed all Board of Supervisors records. However, the names of San Francisco supervisors are recorded in many documents and newspapers from the time.
The San Francisco Common Council was the predecessor of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. The Common Council was made up of the Board of Aldermen and the Board of Assistant Aldermen, each composed of one member elected from each of the city's eight wards. The first elections to these posts took place on May 1, 1850 (the same day as the vote on the city charter), and the Common Council took office on May 6, 1850.[8] The Common Council had authority only within the city limits, which stretched west to Divisadero and Castro streets and south to 20th Street.[9]
The seventh and last Common Council served until July 1856, when under the Consolidation Act that unified city and county government in San Francisco, the Common Council was replaced by the first Board of Supervisors.[8]
Four-member board (July–November 1856)
The first Board of Supervisors served only from July 8 to November 15, 1856, and consisted of one justice of the peace for each of the city's four districts. These four men chose George J. Whelan as the city's mayor and president of the board.
18 members elected at-large, serving two-year terms (1900–1911)
Article II, Chapter I, Section 2 of the revised charter, ratified by voters on May 26, 1898, specified that "[t]he Board of Supervisors shall consist of eighteen members all of whom shall hold office for two years and be elected from the City and County at large." Former mayors of the city were allowed non-voting seats on the board.[13] In 1912, supervisors' terms were extended to four years.[14]
Board elections moved to staggered four-year terms from 1912
A A.B. Maguire resigned some time before June 27, 1900, and died shortly afterwards.
B Samuel Braunhart was appointed June 27, 1900 to replace A.B Maguire.
C John E.A. Helms died some time before July 26, 1900, while returning from a trip to investigate the possibility of using Lake Tahoe as a water supply for the city.
D Colonel Victor Donglain Duboce, a veteran of the Spanish–American War died some time before August 15, 1900.
E Henry J. Stafford was appointed November 1, 1900 to replace John E.A. Helms.
F Horace Wilson was appointed November 1, 1900 to replace Victor D. Duboce.
G L.J. Dwyer died some time before February 8, 1902.
H Robert J. Loughery was appointed February 8, 1902 to replace L.J. Dwyer.
L James L. Gallagher was appointed February 11, 1905 to replace Thomas F. Finn. On June 17, 1907, Gallagher was appointed acting mayor by the board of supervisors, to serve in place of Eugene E. Schmitz, who had been arrested on felony charges of extortion. Schmitz protested his removal, but Gallagher continued to serve until the board elected Charles Boxton to fill Schmitz's unexpired term on July 9, 1907.
M A.M. Wilson and G.F. Duffey resigned their positions prior to January 17, 1907; Wilson took up the position of state railroad commissioner; Duffey became director of the city's department of public works.[23]
N J.J. O'Neill and O.A. Tveitmoe were appointed by Mayor Eugene E. Schmitz on January 17, 1907, to succeed A.M. Wilson and G.F. Duffey, who had resigned.
O On March 18, 1907, as part of the San Francisco graft trials, 16 of the 18 supervisors confessed before a grand jury to receiving money from corrupt political boss Abe Ruef. In exchange for their testimony, "they were promised complete immunity and would not be forced to resign their offices."
P Following the conviction of Mayor Eugene E. Schmitz for extortion, the board declared the office of the mayor vacant on July 9, 1907. Charles Boxton resigned his position as supervisor the same day and was elected by the board to fill Schmitz's unexpired term. However, testimony in Schmitz's corruption trial soon revealed that Boxton had taken bribes, so he actually served only seven days as mayor, resigning on July 16, 1907, to be replaced by Edward R. Taylor, dean of Hastings College of the Law. On July 29, 1907, Taylor appointed James P. Booth, who had served as a supervisor from 1900 to 1905, to serve Boxton's unexpired term as supervisor.
Q On July 29, 1907, two weeks after Edward R. Taylor's appointment as mayor, he conducted a wholesale purge of supervisors connected with the graft scandal. Taylor obtained the resignations of 14 supervisors and appointed replacements for all their seats plus the open seat created by the resignation of Charles Boxton. These 15 appointments were protested by supervisors O.A. Tveitmoe and J.J. O'Neill, who had not resigned, on the grounds that Taylor's claim to the mayor's office had not been legally established. On August 26, 1907, P.M. McGushin resigned and Taylor replaced him with former supervisor A. Comte, Jr.
R Lippmann Sachs and W.G. Stafford were both elected in November 1907 to continue as supervisors. However, both resigned before May 28, 1908.
S George A. Connolly and A.A. D'Ancona were appointed as supervisors on May 28, 1908, to replace W.G. Stafford and Lippmann Sachs, respectively.
T William W. Sanderson was appointed June 1, 1909 to replace A.H. Giannini, who had resigned. Attilio Henry Giannini was the brother of A.P. Giannini, founder of the Bank of America. W.W. Sanderson was a grocery executive with Hooper & Jennings. He served as a supervisor during the period of Abe Ruef's corruption, and gave evidence about the graft schemes.
U W.E. Balcom was appointed June 7, 1909 to replace L.P. Rixford, who had resigned.
V John I. Nolan was appointed March 6, 1911 to replace John P. McLaughlin, who had resigned.
18 members elected at-large, serving staggered four-year terms (1912–1931)
From January 8, 1912, the term of office of San Francisco supervisors was extended to four years, with nine members elected every two years. The nine supervisors with the highest vote counts at the 1911 election received four-year terms, and the other nine received two-year initial terms putting them up for re-election in 1913.[14]
Board reduced from 18 members to 15 for the period 1932–1933
A Four members elected to four-year seats in 1912 served on the previous board: Paul Bancroft, James Emmet Hayden, Oscar Hocks and Charles Albert Murdock.
B A.H. Giannini was appointed January 8, 1912 to replace J.B. Bocarde who was elected in November 1911 but died before his term started.
C John C. Kortick was appointed March 9, 1914 to replace George E. Gallagher who resigned January 8, 1914.
D Edward I. "Eddie" Wolfe collapsed and died while speaking at a luncheon on January 26, 1922. The next day Mayor James Rolph appointed Jesse C. Colman to the vacant seat.
E The November 6, 1917 election used a preferential system for the supervisor race, apparently using the Bucklin voting system. Voters cast ballots for first, second and third choices for nine supervisor positions, choosing among 49 candidates. The total votes cast were divided by the nine seats to calculate a majority threshold. Ralph McLeran got most votes and was elected based on first preference votes only; Charles Nelson was elected based on first and second preference votes; the other seven successful candidates required first, second and third preference votes.
F Margaret Mary Morgan was the first woman elected as a San Francisco supervisor. She placed seventh of 22 candidates for the nine seats at stake in the November 8, 1921 election.
G Milton Marks, Sr. was the father of Milton Marks, Jr. who became the state assembly member and later state senator representing San Francisco. Milton Marks, Sr. did not stand for re-election in November 1929.
H A.J. Rossi was sworn in as mayor of San Francisco on January 7, 1931, to fill the vacancy left by the swearing in of James Rolph as governor of California the previous day. Rossi had been chosen for the post on January 5 by a 14–2 vote of the Board of Supervisors. At the same time Dr. Joseph M. Toner took up a position as director of institutions for California. On January 20, Rossi's appointees Samuel T. Breyer and Thomas P. Garrity were sworn in to fill the two open supervisor seats.
The new city charter adopted by voters in November 1931 reduced the Board of Supervisors' membership in two stages from 18 members to 11. The first stage was that the nine members whose terms expired at the end of 1931 were replaced by six new members elected in November 1931. This reduced the board to 15 members for the period 1932–1933. Then, at the 1933 election, only five supervisors were elected, reducing the board to 11 members. The 1931 charter also removed administrative responsibility from the board and restricted it to a legislative role, and it created a new position of President of the Board of Supervisors. Previously, the mayor had served as president of the board.
This graphical timeline depicts the composition of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors since district elections were resumed in November 2000, along with the mayor in office at each point. Each color corresponds to one of the city's 11 districts, with a paler shade indicating periods when the officeholder was appointed rather than elected.
Elected 1969, 1973, and 1977. Served as acting mayor upon the assassination of Mayor George Moscone in 1978. Elected mayor by the Board of Supervisors one week later.
Appointed 1978 by Mayor Dianne Feinstein to succeed Feinstein on the Board of Supervisors. Elected 1980 and 1984. Resigned 1986 to accept appointment by Feinstein as city attorney.
Appointed 1981 by Mayor Dianne Feinstein to succeed Supervisor Ella Hill Hutch. Elected 1984, 1988, and 1992. Resigned 1996 to become administrative officer of the Public Transition Development Corporation.
Appointed 1998 by Mayor Willie Brown to succeed Supervisor Susan Leal. Elected 1998 and 2000. Resigned 2002 after election to the California State Assembly.
Elected 2002. Appointed post-election 2002 by Mayor Willie Brown to succeed Supervisor Leland Yee. Resigned 2006 after election to the California State Assembly.
Appointed 2004 by Mayor Gavin Newsom to succeed Newsom on the Board of Supervisors. Elected 2004 and 2006. Ruled ineligible by the San Francisco Department of Elections, citing an opinion by City Attorney Dennis Herrera, to seek re-election in 2010. Alioto-Pier filed lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court asserting that, under the term limits law, she was eligible to seek re-election in 2010, and if re-elected, would be termed out as of the 2014 election instead. A Superior Court judge ruled in her favor,[39] but the California Court of Appeal overturned that ruling, thereby removing her from the 2010 ballot for District 2 supervisor. Alioto-Pier appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court of California[40] which declined to hear the case.[41]
Elected 2006. Appointed post-election 2006 by Mayor Gavin Newsom to succeed Supervisor Fiona Ma. Suspended by Mayor Newsom on September 25, 2007, pending the outcome of a formal process to remove him from the board. A separate civil suit was initiated by the city to remove him as well. Resigned on January 11, 2008, prior to the completion of the removal process and the civil lawsuit, and agreed not to seek public office for five years.[42]
Appointed 2007 by Mayor Gavin Newsom to succeed Supervisor Ed Jew, after his suspension, pending final action by the Board of Supervisors on the question of whether to remove Jew from office. Jew resigned from office 2008, prior to the completion of the removal process, ending Chu's interim term. Under the charter, the seat became vacant[43] upon Jew's resignation and remained vacant for about five and a half hours until a new appointment was made.[43] Appointed 2008 by Mayor Newsom to succeed Supervisor Ed Jew, after his resignation. Elected 2008 to serve out the remainder of Jew's term, which expired January 2011.[43][44][45] Elected 2010. Resigned 2013 to accept appointment by Mayor Ed Lee as assessor-recorder.
Elected 2012 and 2016. As board president, served as acting mayor from the death of Mayor Ed Lee in December 2017 until the board's appointment of Mark Farrell as mayor in January 2018. Resigned 2018 after election as mayor.
Appointed 2018 by Mayor Mark Farrell to succeed Farrell on the Board of Supervisors. Elected 2018 and 2022. Resigned 2024 after election to the California State Assembly.
Current members shaded in yellow. Members who served as president of the Board of Supervisors during part of their tenure on the board are denoted with an asterisk (*).
Nonpartisanship
Supervisors are elected on non-partisan ballots, but all current members of the Board of Supervisors are registered Democrats. Supervisor Jane Kim was previously a member of the Green Party, but switched her registration to Democratic before running for supervisor.[47]
^"Proposition L"(PDF). San Francisco Voter Information Pamphlet: Primary Election, June 8, 1982. San Francisco: San Francisco Registrar of Voters Office. pp. 50–52. Retrieved July 30, 2009.
^"Proposition G"(PDF). San Francisco Voter Information Pamphlet: Consolidated Presidential General Election, November 5, 1996. San Francisco: San Francisco Department of Elections. pp. 153–164. Retrieved July 30, 2009.
^Hartman, Chester W. and Carnochan, Sarah, "City for Sale: The Transformation of San Francisco" University of California Press (2002), p. 239, ISBN0-520-08605-8
