Debra Walker, a lesbian whose fight to stay on the police commission earlier this year garnered headlines, is now the newest member of the San Francisco Arts Commission.
Walker confirmed to the Bay Area Reporter she left the police commission on November 26, when she was sworn in as an arts commissioner after appointment by outgoing Mayor London Breed.
"I had a conversation with Mayor Breed after the election and she checked in with me about how I was feeling and what my thoughts were. This election has been particularly devastating for a lot of folks, a lot of women especially, and I said, 'you know, I feel I want to be where I can do the most good,'" Walker said. "The best way I know how to do that is with art."
Walker said that as an arts commissioner, she hopes to continue to help the community recover from COVID.
"We have a lot of work to do with securing our arts community right now," Walker said. "It's a hard time right now because of public funding and a lot of organizations and artists are recovering from COVID, so that's how it happened, and she [Breed] said, 'Absolutely, I totally support that,' and it was done last Tuesday."
Walker said that she feels a lot of the goals she worked on at the police commission had come to fruition, such as implementing hundreds of recommendations made by the U.S. Department of Justice after the SFPD asked it to review the department following a series of officer-involved shootings and high-profile misconduct cases in 2016.
"Two and a half years it's been, and a lot of what I certainly got on the commission to do, we actually accomplished," Walker said, referencing the 30x30 program, which had the goal of increasing representation of women in police recruitment classes to 30% by 2030, and clamping down on quality-of-life crimes.
"The incoming mayor probably has the same priorities," she said, referring to Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie, who defeated Breed in last month's election. "He has a lot of good folks who are advising him in transition."
Walker said that though she was "honored by working on the commission" and so was "torn" about leaving, she's happy to be back at the arts commission, which met December 2. Walker was sworn in as an arts commissioner and resigned as a police commissioner in Breed's office November 26; she told the B.A.R. that the city attorney's office said she did not need approval by the Board of Supervisors at that time.
The city attorney's office stated to the B.A.R. that according to a memorandum on appointments to San Francisco commissions, arts commissioners do not need approval by the Board of Supervisors. "Members serve at will and may be removed by the mayor without cause," the memo states, and the mayor must fill vacancies within 90 days.
An email sent Tuesday by the city arts agency noted Walker is serving out the remainder of a term on the oversight body ending August 31, 2026.
Walker will serve alongside gay arts Commissioners Seth Brenzel and Patrick Carney, and fellow lesbian arts Commissioner Mahsa Hakimi.
"I felt I had woken up from a dream in some ways," Walker said. "We need to make sure our arts community is moved forward and we continue to be the arts capital we are in San Francisco. It's for my own personal reasons, but we need the magic and catalyst of art, right now, rather than discussing policy around policing — for me."
Walker, a longtime artist, served between 1999 and 2019 as a tenant representative on the city's Building Inspections Commission and was appointed by successive Board of Supervisor presidents, beginning with gay former supervisor Tom Ammiano.
Then, she was appointed by Breed to the city's arts commission in 2020, at the height of the COVID pandemic. Walker and her fellow arts commissioners worked to help local artists and arts groups survive the health crisis.
In June 2022, Breed appointed Walker to a vacancy on the police commission, and she left her post at the arts panel.
Earlier this year, the Board of Supervisors Rules Committee rejected her reappointment amid allegations that the police oversight panel is polarized, and one supervisor remained fixated on Walker's comment that "there is way too much input from people who aren't cops" on the police commission. That supervisor, outgoing District 11 Supervisor Ahsha Safaí, at one point asked, "Should we have a police commission?" (To which Walker replied in the affirmative.)
Safaí was critical of Walker's support for Proposition E, which voters passed on the March ballot. The measure gives up some of the police commission's powers.
Safaí noted that Prop E "did a number of things that take things out of the police commission's hands," including SFPD's pursuit policy. He said that prior to Prop E's passage, San Francisco had one of the most reputable pursuit policies. He said that it was his understanding that under that policy, officers would need to call in and get a "green light" from a captain in order to engage in a pursuit.
"Prop E removes that," he said.
Safaí asked Walker if the police commission is involved in setting policy.
"That our policy is consistent with city law, yes," she answered.
Safaí had also questioned if Walker had the time to devote to being on the police commission. He didn't immediately return a request for comment December 3.
Safaí was joined in his no vote by acting committee Chair Supervisor Shamann Walton (District 10), who cited Walker's remark about policymaking. He didn't immediately return a request for comment December 3.
However, when the nomination went before the full board, Walker was appointed to a four-year term in a 7-3 vote (Safaí did not vote; Walton was joined by outgoing progressive Supervisors Dean Preston and Hillary Ronen in no votes).
Preston and Ronen didn't immediately return requests for comment December 3.
The B.A.R. reported on art Walker made to benefit the San Francisco Democratic Party before Election Day.
She drew art of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris that was being sold for $20 a pop.
Walker stated that she was inspired because she and Harris have a long-lasting professional relationship. Before becoming California's junior U.S. Senator and the state's attorney general, Harris served as a prosecutor in San Francisco and was elected in 2003 as the city's first female district attorney.
"I have known VP Harris for several decades now and feel so inspired by the possibility that she will be our first woman president," she stated at the time. "I was honored to do this portrait of her standing with an illuminated Statue of Liberty. This piece is entitled 'It's Time' because — it is. And as VP Harris has said — she will be the first but not the last."
As it happens, Harris was defeated in the presidential race by former President Donald Trump.
Updated, 12/3/24: This article has been updated with information from the city attorney's office.
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