The June 28th firing of Taxi Commission Director, Heidi Machen, drew a great deal of attention– and not just because the Taxi Commission is one of the most watched programs on SFGTV. Machen was previously best known for being Supervisor Gavin Newsom’s Legislative Aide. In 2001 after Supervisors’ staffs were trimmed to two, then-Supervisor Newsom, in a most awkward moment, stood at his swearing in and publicly asked if any in San Francisco was willing to hire Ms. Machen. After stints at the Office of Citizen Complaints and the Water Transit Authority, Machen was taken on as the Taxi Commission Director in the Newsom Administration. Machen’s last public hurrah was just two days previous when she appeared in the Pride Parade in a vehicle featuring signage that read, “Heidi Machen, Executive Director, Taxi Commission.”
The controversy around Machen’s firing largely centered on Newsom’s bungling of the Commission appointments. The biggest boosters of Machen blamed the Mayor for his lack of attention to the matter. “The fact that this happened is in part a consequence of the mayor’s own neglect of his commission,” said United Taxi Workers spokesperson Mark Gruberg. All 6 Taxi Commissioners were dangling on expired terms, and the UTW had previously asked Newsom to make appointments. But the practice of keeping commissioners dangling is not new, and it probably is not just an oversight either. Keeping commissioners that can only be removed for cause dangling on commissions gives the Mayor significantly more control over decision-making at the commission level. While a commissioner in a fixed-term seat can vote independently without fear of removal, commissioners on expired terms can assume that if they buck the Mayor, they are out of their seat. And that very well may be what happened to Commission President Martin Smith and Commissioner Mary McGuire.
Yesterday’s Rules Committee hearings on the Mayor’s new appointments to the Taxi Commission provided me and Supervisors Ross Mirkarimi and Tom Ammiano the opportunity to bring the issue of dangling appointments up with the Mayor’s Board Liaison, Wade Crowfoot. Crowfoot took the constructive criticism like a good soldier. He even seemed amused at my offer to serve as acting Mayor should their office need help with appointments. Hours later we received this email. Newsom had made 14 new appointments to various commissions. I guess a little public attention is what really motivates room 200.
This blog was amended slightly on July 25th after receipt of an email from Ms. Machen.
Dangling Commissioners
The June 28th firing of Taxi Commission Director, Heidi Machen, drew a great deal of attention– and not just because the Taxi Commission is one of the most watched programs on SFGTV. Machen was previously best known for being Supervisor Gavin Newsom’s Legislative Aide. In 2001 after Supervisors’ staffs were trimmed to two, then-Supervisor Newsom, in a most awkward moment, stood at his swearing in and publicly asked if any in San Francisco was willing to hire Ms. Machen. After stints at the Office of Citizen Complaints and the Water Transit Authority, Machen was taken on as the Taxi Commission Director in the Newsom Administration. Machen’s last public hurrah was just two days previous when she appeared in the Pride Parade in a vehicle featuring signage that read, “Heidi Machen, Executive Director, Taxi Commission.”
The controversy around Machen’s firing largely centered on Newsom’s bungling of the Commission appointments. The biggest boosters of Machen blamed the Mayor for his lack of attention to the matter. “The fact that this happened is in part a consequence of the mayor’s own neglect of his commission,” said United Taxi Workers spokesperson Mark Gruberg. All 6 Taxi Commissioners were dangling on expired terms, and the UTW had previously asked Newsom to make appointments. But the practice of keeping commissioners dangling is not new, and it probably is not just an oversight either. Keeping commissioners that can only be removed for cause dangling on commissions gives the Mayor significantly more control over decision-making at the commission level. While a commissioner in a fixed-term seat can vote independently without fear of removal, commissioners on expired terms can assume that if they buck the Mayor, they are out of their seat. And that very well may be what happened to Commission President Martin Smith and Commissioner Mary McGuire.
Yesterday’s Rules Committee hearings on the Mayor’s new appointments to the Taxi Commission provided me and Supervisors Ross Mirkarimi and Tom Ammiano the opportunity to bring the issue of dangling appointments up with the Mayor’s Board Liaison, Wade Crowfoot. Crowfoot took the constructive criticism like a good soldier. He even seemed amused at my offer to serve as acting Mayor should their office need help with appointments. Hours later we received this email. Newsom had made 14 new appointments to various commissions. I guess a little public attention is what really motivates room 200.
This blog was amended slightly on July 25th after receipt of an email from Ms. Machen.