Rafael Mandelman was elected Wednesday by his colleagues as president of the Board of Supervisors, one of San Francisco’s most powerful roles, with influence over the budget and legislative changes.
The unanimous vote ended weeks of speculation over who would be the next president. Supervisor Myrna Melgar previously expressed interest in the position but chose not to run.
“I feel good. I’ll take it,” Mandelman told The Standard after the vote. “I’m happy to have my colleagues’ support. We got a lot of work to do, and it’s nice to have the whole board coming together.”
The Board of Supervisors, the legislative branch of city government, has 11 members elected from districts across San Francisco. The current board has five new members and is considered slightly more politically moderate than the last one. Working with Mayor Daniel Lurie, who was inaugurated Wednesday, the officials are tasked with resolving a roughly $876 million budget deficit in the coming months.
Mandelman will serve as president for two years. He promised to play a more cooperative role with the new mayor, saying Lurie’s success is San Francisco’s success.
“I think everybody wants to work with Daniel Lurie,” he said. “Everyone wants Daniel Lurie to be successful.”
After the vote, Lurie showed up at the board meeting to congratulate Mandelman and set a friendly tone.
“We are not going to agree on everything, we know this, and that’s OK,” Lurie said. “I want to commit to you, as your mayor, working alongside the board president, that we are going to have honest, open, and transparent conversations.”
The board presidency comes with outsize influence in the lawmaking process, such as the ability to fast-track or slow down proposals. The president also controls committee assignments, setting the stage for key policy debates in the coming year.
Mandelman, who was elected in 2018 to represent the Castro, is the longest-serving supervisor on the board. An attorney, he previously served on the City College Board of Trustees.
Before Wednesday’s vote, Stephen Sherrill, Jackie Fielder, Danny Sauter, Bilal Mahmood, and Chyanne Chen were sworn in as supervisors.