The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has voted to remove a whistleblower police commissioner before his term end date next year in a controversial move that drew dissent from dozens of people during public comment.
The move to oust Max Carter-Oberstone began earlier this month when Mayor Daniel Lurie sent him an email asking him to resign without detailed explanation, other than to say he didn’t feel he worked “collaboratively” enough.
Carter-Oberstone remained defiant and refused to step aside.
“There is nothing classy about bending the knee to a mayor who would rather have a rubber stamp in my place,” Carter-Oberstone said during Tuesday’s meeting.
Carter-Oberstone was originally appointed to the commission by former mayor London Breed. But the two clashed over policy disagreements and after he exposed her practice of forcing commissioners to sign undated resignation letters.
In 2022, Carter-Oberstone revealed that Breed mandated police commissioners to sign preemptive resignation letters in case she should decide to jettison them from their positions. He won the James Madison Freedom of Information Award for exposing the now-banned practice.
“I think he’s exactly the kind of person San Franciscans should want on a commission,” said former District 5 supervisor Dean Preston in an interview. “It makes no sense whatsoever that he would be removed before his term.”
Public support and opposition
All supervisors except District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar and District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder voted in favor of his removal.
But Carter-Oberstone and his supporters did not go down without a fight. He showed up to Tuesday’s meeting to defend why he should stay.
“My job is not to become popular with the agency I’m supposed to be overseeing,” he said. “It is to serve the public and protect and defend the rule of law.”
His speech was followed by nearly one hundred supporters during public comment.
Most of them praised Carter-Oberstone for his track record of promoting police reform, including his efforts to stop police from being allowed to conduct pretextual traffic stops. Pretextual stops are for low-level violations like expired registration which are used to investigate whether the person is involved in an unrelated crime.
“He has taken bold and swift action to protect the public and to ensure that our policing strategies are effective, evidence-based and don’t permissively target people of color,” said public speaker Janelle Caywood at the meeting.
Melgar raised concerns about the lack of cause to remove Carter-Oberstone.
“I do not believe in removing a commissioner or supervisor if there has been no malfeasance or misconduct,” Melgar said. “You don’t have to agree with your colleagues all the time, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t have something valuable to add to the conversation.”
Some public commenters believe that Lurie’s desire to remove Carter-Oberstone is part of a larger plan to oust Police Chief Bill Scott. The commission plays a large role in the hiring process of a police chief, putting forward a list of nominees that the mayor chooses from.
Lurie did not make an appearance at Tuesday’s meeting, a decision that rubbed several public commenters the wrong way. According to Carter-Oberstone, Lurie never met with him to discuss his removal.
One of Carter-Oberstone’s colleagues on the commission, Kevin Benedicto, spoke out at the meeting against the removal.
“He’s collaborative, he’s a supporter of independent police reform and he should be allowed to finish his term,” Benedicto said.
Dorsey, who has been vocal in support of the removal of Carter-Oberstone, explained that Lurie is within his right to appoint his own police commissioner and saw “no legitimate basis” to oppose his decision.
“We have a newly elected executive who has earned the right to seek his own appointment,” Dorsey said.
Lurie’s new appointee
Earlier during the meeting, the Board unanimously voted in favor of appointing Lurie’s police commission pick, Wilson Leung.
“Wilson Leung has the experience and commitment to make San Francisco safer and we are lucky to have him joining the Police Commission,” Lurie said in a statement.
Lurie’s statement emphasized that he believes Leung will work collaboratively, an attribute he believes Carter-Oberstone lacks, according to the email Lurie’s staff sent to Carter-Oberstone to inform him of the intent to remove him.
“We are appointing leaders who will work with fellow commissioners and departments to deliver better services for our city,” Lurie said in a statement sent out Tuesday evening. “Wilson’s decades of work in compliance and oversight will make him an asset as we work together to protect San Franciscans.”
Correction: Janelle Caywood was misidentified as a policy director in the 13th paragraph of the previous version of this story; she is a public speaker. We regret the error.