Scott Wiener Will Be Next Land-Use Chair, Mark Farrell to Head Budget

Mark Farrell -- a budget hawk atop Budget

SF Weekly has learned that Board President David Chiu will award both of the city's most influential committee chairmanships to his moderate colleagues.

Supervisor Scott Wiener will be the chairman of the land-use committee. Supervisor Mark Farrell will be named the chair of the budget committee. 

See complete committee assignments at end

See Also: David Chiu Unanimously Re-Elected Board President
This is a deeply interesting move. Farrell has inherited the mantle of Board Fiscal Hawk from the departed Sean Elsbernd. And Wiener has clashed with the city's preservationists and environmentalists due to efforts to "streamline" historic preservation codes and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) appeals of developments.

Reached for a comment on Wiener's ascension to land-use chair, attorney Sue Hestor, a stalwart of the city's slow growth movement, paused and uttered, "Sigh. That's my comment."

Scott Wiener

Chiu's unanimous election as board president was delivered after Wiener noted that he would not be seeking the office -- and the four supes who'd have sided with Wiener voted for Chiu. That would be Wiener, Farrell, Carmen Chu, and London Breed. SF Weekly is told that Farrell served as the point man for these negotiations.

After his re-re-election, Chiu said he aimed to create "balanced" committees, which he will announce during roll call at this week's board meeting.

Here's how, in his mind, that shakes out:

Budget and Finance
Mark Farrell, chair
Eric Mar, vice chair
John Avalos
London Breed (temporary)
Scott Wiener (temporary)

Government Audits and Oversight
Carmen Chu, chair
Malia Cohen, vice chair
David Campos

Land Use and Economic Development
Scott Wiener, chair
Jane Kim, vice chair
David Chiu

City and School District
Jane Kim, chair
John Avalos, vice chair
Mark Farrell

Rules
Norman Yee, chair
London Breed, vice chair
Malia Cohen

Finally, Chiu will move to consolidate the City Operations and Neighborhood Services and Public Safety committees. The joint appointees are David Campos (chair), Eric Mar (vice chair), and Norman Yee.

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