San Francisco Pride weekend is almost here – the rainbow flag was raised at City Hall this week – but you wouldn't know it from the way Mayor Ed Lee has dragged his feet on the proposal to name one of the terminals at San Francisco International Airport after slain supervisor Harvey Milk. As we reported last month on the eve of Harvey Milk Day, Lee has five slots to fill on the advisory committee tasked with recommending which of the four SFO terminals should be named after Milk. The Board of Supervisors has four picks, and filled those positions months ago. Yet for unexplained reasons, the mayor has not chosen his appointees, meaning no panel exists that can act on the matter or even hold a meeting. At this point, of course, it's too late for Pride 2014 and likely too late for the November 27 anniversary of Milk and Mayor George Moscone's assassinations. And because we know how long it takes to get something done by the city's bureaucracy, we'll be lucky if there's a decision in time to install signage for next year's Milk Day.
That's a shame. How cool would it have been for folks flying into SFO in a couple weeks to disembark at Harvey Milk Terminal?
The idea for recognizing Milk at SFO started in January 2013 when gay Supervisor David Campos shocked the city with his grand plan to name the entire airport after the gay rights leader. Unfortunately for Campos, he didn't take the necessary time to brief key stakeholders and others before going to the San Francisco Chronicle, which broke the story amid much consternation, even within the LGBT community. Most people appreciate a heads up on major issues but most leaders didn't know about it until they read it in the paper. After Campos could not muster a crucial sixth vote at the Board of Supervisors to place an amendment to the city's charter, which refers to San Francisco Airport, on the ballot for voters' approval, he cut a deal with Lee.
The mayor was never keen on the idea of designating SFO after Milk, but he worked with Campos to broker a deal establishing the Airport Facilities Naming Advisory Committee. It not only would be tasked with suggesting either the airport's international terminal or one of its three domestic terminals be named in Milk's honor, it could also decide to recommend names for the other three terminals. The supervisors and the mayor would have final approval over the committee's recommendations.
But without action by the mayor, the whole project is at a standstill.
We're not even sure the mayor knows he has committee slots to fill. When we asked him about the panel last month, he initially appeared not to realize that the committee had yet to meet. After we pointed out to Lee that he had not announced his selections, the mayor said that his office "had started putting our folks on it" and would announce the appointments "very soon."
For his part, Campos, who is in a tight Assembly race against Board of Supervisors President David Chiu, could be more aggressive in urging the mayor to take action. But he seems content to sit back and watch the process unfold. "We're waiting for him to appoint his people," Campos told us. "The Board of Supervisors can't force him to do anything. The deal we struck was to create a committee; we did our part and we are waiting for him to do his part."
Instead of waiting, Campos should be proactive, issuing regular news releases calling on the mayor to quickly make his appointments and keep his end of the bargain.
We know there are more pressing issues at City Hall than committee appointments. But the mayor has completed his budget proposal. The city doesn't have to worry about another America's Cup, and negotiations with Muni drivers are at a standstill. Now is a good time to find five people willing to serve on what will be an important panel.
We urge Mayor Lee to move quickly. If it were up to us, we'd pick the international terminal for Milk, so we recommend that the committee – when it's finally up and running – seriously consider the suggestion.