A San Francisco supervisors panel Monday delayed voting on a gay mayoral nomination to the oversight body for the city's transportation agency in order for Chinatown leaders to weigh in on the pick. The high-profile commission is currently without Chinese representation on it.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors has also been without an LGBTQ member since last fall. Mike Chen, who serves on and is a former chair of the SFMTA Citizens' Advisory Council, would provide leadership from both communities.
The Board of Supervisors' Rules Committee at its July 22 meeting took up Chen's nomination by Mayor London Breed to succeed Lydia So, whom Breed in the spring named to fill a vacancy on the city's planning commission. No one spoke against Chen being seated on the SFMTA board, nor did the agenda packet include any letters in opposition.
Nonetheless, due to "radio silence" from Chinatown transit advocates on Chen's nomination, Board President Aaron Peskin asked that the committee postpone voting on the matter in order to allow them to weigh in. In particular, Peskin wanted Chen to speak with the Chinatown Transportation Research and Improvement Project, known as Chinatown TRIP.
"I would like them to weigh in on this," said Peskin, who as the District 3 supervisor represents the historic Chinese neighborhood in downtown San Francisco.
The Chinatown Community Development Center, which maintains the Chinatown Park and Ride program and provides technical assistance to Chinatown TRIP, did not immediately respond to the Bay Area Reporter's request for comment Monday regarding Chen's nomination.
At the hearing, Chen acknowledged that he has not been connected to any Chinatown groups. While raised in a household that spoke Korean and Mandarin, Chen said his language skills are limited, noting "my Cantonese is limited to ordering dim sum."
And he said his connections are more to Asian groups not solely focused on Chinatown, such as the GLBTQ+ Asian Pacific Alliance. He also serves on the board of the Edwin M. Lee Asian Pacific Democratic Club.
"I have a lot of work to do to build trust with people in Chinatown," said Chen. "I hope that my track record shows I am someone who is a strong listener and will be an advocate. I am willing to be somebody who spends a lot of time to build those relationships."
District 11 Supervisor Ahsha Safaí, serving as rules chair, and District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton, its vice chair, voted with Peskin to delay Chen's nomination. It could be taken up by the committee next Monday, July 29, and heard by the full board at its July 30 meeting ahead of its summer recess. Otherwise, it will be heard in September.
After the hearing Chen told the B.A.R. he will be trying to address the issues raised by the supervisors. It remains to be seen if that can be done ahead of next week.
"I take the supervisors' concerns very seriously and I am working to address those concerns," he said, "and show that beyond my subject matter expertise, I am able to be a bridge to diverse communities."
A spokesperson for Breed has yet to respond to the B.A.R.'s request for comment.
In a post on X last Thursday, Breed had written that "Mike brings a deep understanding of our transit challenges & opportunities. I am confident he will work with @SFMTA_Muni to continue to build a safe, efficient & sustainable transit system that serves our neighborhood & helps drive our economy."
Peskin was filling in as the third rules committee member due to the resignation last week of its former chair, District 9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen. She stepped down because of a fight with Peskin over his pushing forward a pair of local ballot measures regarding compensation for police officers and firefighters that she had raised fiscal concerns about in committee hearings she held. The supervisors are set to approve them at special meetings Tuesday morning.
Peskin and Safaí are both running against Breed in this year's mayoral race. During Monday's hearing, they both voiced frustration with the SFMTA, arguing it is lacking when it comes to having proper outreach to the public on its projects, such as ensuring there are Chinese speakers on staff who can converse with non-English speakers in Chinatown or other neighborhoods.
In the case of Chinatown, the community recently voiced anger over a bike lane project it was unaware was in the works. Peskin said he was also taken by surprise about it.
Peskin called the bike lane incident an "affront and insult" to the Chinatown community. He added that he "honestly" didn't know "how it evolved that way."
Safaí pointed to how the SFMTA handled the installation of the bike lane in the middle of Valencia Street as another recent example of miscommunication between the transit agency and a neighborhood. The pilot project has been divisive from the start, and the transit agency is now in talks with area merchants, residents, and bike advocates on replacing it with a bike lane on the side of the roadway.
Chen was asked by both supervisors about improving outreach by the SFMTA.
"I hear many complaints about outreach," Chen said in his capacity as a member of the agency's community advisory panel. "I agree with you the agency can do a lot more on outreach."
Should he be confirmed, Chen pledged it would be a priority for him.
"The process doesn't seem to be working," he acknowledged.
Chen, 33, is a data engineer at Coda Project Inc. He and his boyfriend live in a one-car household in Lower Pacific Heights along the Van Ness corridor.
A member of the SFMTA Citizens' Advisory Council since January 2020, Chen highlighted his role as a transit advocate during his successful campaign for a seat on the Democratic County Central Committee on the March 5 primary ballot. He then was elevated to the role of director of internal operations for the governing body of the San Francisco Democratic Party.
The DCCC members are set to vote on supporting Chen's SFMTA board nomination at their July 24 meeting, as the B.A.R.'s online Political Notes column reported.
The Rules Committee members can choose to support seating Chen on the SFMTA board, vote to reject his nomination, or move it forward to the full board without a recommendation. He needs at least six votes from the 11 supervisors to be confirmed.
So's term on the SFMTA was to end March 1, so Chen would need to be reappointed next year to a full four-year term should he join the transit board. So had endorsed Breed's selection of Chen to succeed her on the board, noting she was "delighted" in seeing him continue "representation from the Chinese and AANHPI community," using the acronym for the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander community.
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