Former supervisor Chris Daly noted on his Facebook page that the "coup is complete," referring to the new committee appointments for the Board of Supervisors.
Board president David Chiu on Tuesday afternoon announced the new sitting members of the seven Board committees, making the more moderate Carmen Chu chair of the most powerful committee -- Budget and Finance.
True, Chu voted for the other Chiu on Saturday when he was up for reelection as board president; so was it just a favor returned?
City Hall pundits say Daly's theory that the "coup is complete" doesn't holdup -- and this why.
Looking at the list of committees, all the progressive members of the Board of Supervisors -- Jane Kim, Ross Mirkarimi, David Campos and John Avalos -- have been appointed to chair committees. Only one moderate -- Chu -- is chairing a committee.
Kim, a progressive who represents District 6, was made chair of the Rules Committee, which is responsible for making commission appointments and charter amendments and Campos is chair of the Government Audits & Oversight committee, which is in charge of approving contracts and leases.
Even if progressives given a disadvantage, the idea that one committee is more powerful than another is misleading since it's the board president who ultimately decides what items are heard by which committees.
There is one oddity in Chiu's appointments which has perplexed some political circles. Chiu made the atypical move of creating committees having the chair of the committee from one political camp and the two other standing members being from the opposite political camp.
So Supervisor Campos might be the chair of the Government Audits & Oversight Committee, but the two other members are moderates, David Chiu and Mark Farrell. That means as chair, Campos will set the agenda, but he will have a harder time getting items passed.
"It's a bit of a problem," one city hall insider said. "It will certainly make committee meetings more lively than before."
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