Supervisor Shamann Walton was elected president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Friday in a unanimous vote that elevated him to the top of the city’s most powerful political body and put him second in line to the mayor.
Walton represents District 10, the southeastern edge of San Francisco, which includes neighborhoods like the Bayview-Hunters Point, Potrero Hill and Dogpatch. Now, he will also lead the 11-member board through an extremely uncertain and tumultuous time in San Francisco.
He will be the first Black man to serve as president of the board, a post that he will hold for a two-year term.
The Board of Supervisors is instrumental in crafting policy and budget decisions that influence how the city weathers the pandemic, which has ravaged small businesses, pushed more people toward poverty and caused a massive budget deficit that will likely force layoffs and service cuts later this year.
Walton will also take charge of the board as City Hall is enmeshed in a public corruption scandal that is still unfolding and widening to involve new people and allegations.
“I am truly humbled, elated and heartened, to serve as the San Francisco Board of Supervisors first Black male president,” Walton said in a statement. “I want to thank my colleagues for entrusting me with the opportunity to unify everyone during this major pandemic.”
Walton’s day-to-day role as board president will largely be administrative and only grants him a little more power than his colleagues. The board presidency is often seen as a stepping stone to higher office. He will join a list of notable former board presidents, including Mayor London Breed, Gov. Gavin Newsom, Assemblymember David Chiu and Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
The District 10 Supervisor was heavily praised by his colleagues Friday. His close ally, Supervisor Hillary Ronen, said he is a “natural born leader” and Supervisor Rafael Mandelman said he has a “backbone of steel.”
Walton will take over from Supervisor Norman Yee, who termed out of office this week. Yee was a calm and steady leader, who stayed out of the spotlight and away from controversy — even when board meetings devolved into heated, hours-long debates late into the night.
Breed endorsed Walton for supervisor in 2018. He has since become part of a tight progressive faction on the board that often spars with the mayor over issues, most recently about the city’s homeless hotel program and $13.1 billion budget. That dynamic may be exacerbated under Walton’s board presidency.
“If there is anytime to put aside our difference in the name of accomplishing something greater, this is that time,” Breed said at Friday’s meeting. “Let’s stop pointing fingers, because the people of San Francisco are not interested in that. They are interested in results.”
Supervisor Aaron Peskin said he wanted to address the “elephant in the room” and urged his colleagues to put aside the “political divisions and camps” that exist within the board and between the mayor. Peskin was also seriously considered by his colleagues for the job of board president.
“There will be time for those fights, but the work in this coming year in an economic recession and COVID and climate change ... is way too important,” he said. “Now is the time for true, honest, intellectually honest collaboration.”
Earlier in the meeting, two new members of the board, Myrna Melgar and Connie Chan, were sworn into office.
Walton’s first big task will be to appoint his colleagues to committees, which could have implications on how legislation is amended before it hits the full board.
Walton spent the first few years of his life in public housing in Bayview and Potrero Hill, before moving to Vallejo with his mother at 11. He moved back to the Bayview in 2014. Before joining the board, he was the president of the San Francisco Board of Education and the executive director of Young Community Developers, a nonprofit that provides job training and develops affordable housing.
The election for board president is sometimes a contentious decision among the 11 supervisors, as they balance their own political alliances, personal differences and public perception as they cast their votes. Yee was elected in 2019 after a dramatic few weeks in City Hall, as the supervisors spent weeks fighting over who should be in charge.
In comparison to previous elections, this year’s vote for board president was tame.
“We are at a pivotal time when a unified voice has never been more important,” Walton said in a statement. “Peaceful transitions should be the norm and we will be the example as a City and quite frankly for the country.”
Trisha Thadani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani
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S.F. Board of Supervisors unanimously elects new president - San Francisco Chronicle
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