Condemning Mayor’s Use of Undated Resignation Letters, Preston Introduces Resignation-Gate Legislation to Ban the Practice and Protect Independence of City Commissioners

SAN FRANCISCO — On Tuesday, Supervisor Dean Preston introduced an ordinance to ban the Mayor and other City leaders from requiring their appointed commissioners to submit undated resignation letters prior to their appointment. The legislation comes in response to revelations that the Mayor required undated resignation letters as a condition of appointment to Commissions, undermining the independence of commissioners.

The ordinance makes clear that it is against City policy to use resignation letters as a requirement for reappointment. It also makes clear that resignation letters are effective when received, and that such letters cannot be conditioned on any action by the appointing authority.

“It is a scandal that the Mayor was trying to manipulate independent commissioners through undated resignation letters, a practice that is inconsistent with our City Charter,” stated Preston. “Codifying an explicit ban on the practice will make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

The ordinance is one of several efforts that Preston, as Chair of the Government Audit and Oversight Committee, put forth following the bombshell revelation that Mayor Breed required Police Commissioner Max Carter-Oberstone to submit an undated resignation letter prior to his reappointment to the Police Commission.

Per Carter-Oberstone, the Mayor’s staff threatened him over a policy disagreement, telling him that he would face “serious consequences” if he did not make an “impassioned speech” accusing the Police Commission of rushing a pretext stop policy without adequate community input. He understood the threat to be a reference to his undated resignation letter, and subsequently rescinded it. Preston’s inquiry into the matter, including a formal Letter of Inquiry and a hearing at the Government Audit and Oversight (GAO) Committee held on October 11, 2022, revealed that the practice affected dozens of Mayoral appointees at the Mayor’s sole discretion.

In a public memo regarding the Mayor’s practice, the City Attorney acknowledged that the undated resignation letters “could threaten the independence of appointed officials from undue influence by the Mayor.” Consistent with this finding, the ordinance introduced on Tuesday explicitly includes a policy against requesting undated resignation letters from appointees.

“Resignation-gate was a betrayal of the public trust and an effort to undermine the independence of City commissioners,” said Preston. “I hope this good government legislation will put us on a better path going forward.”

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