Richmond district activist and former supervisorial candidate Marjan Philhour has applied for a vacant seat on the San Francisco Police Commission, The Voice learned Monday. If successful, Philhour would replace outgoing Commissioner Jesus Yañez.
Philhour ran and lost three extremely close races for District 1 supervisor, and currently serves on the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee. In her last race for supervisor, she received the rare endorsement of the San Francisco Police Officers Association. Speaking to the San Francisco Chronicle May 2, she said that she was being encouraged to apply by “numerous neighborhood, small business and public safety leaders.”
In a copy of her application obtained by The Voice, Philhour wrote, “My approach to public safety reflects the concerns I hear every day from residents all over San Francisco. We cannot keep our neighborhoods safe if we don’t have enough officers to respond when our residents need help… As a member of the Police Commission, I will bring a balanced, community-grounded perspective, committed to rebuilding trust, advancing reform, and ensuring that our approach to public safety reflects the full diversity of our communities.”
Other applicants for the seat include Hasib Emran, an aide to state controller and former San Francisco Police Commission President Malia Cohen; Neil Hallinan, a criminal defense attorney and nephew of former activist District Attorney Terence Hallinan; former United States Attorney Albert Mayer; former deputy city attorney and Assistant United States Attorney Meredith Osborn; and Tenderloin Housing Clinic organizer Pratibha Tekkey.
The commission has often been a venue for regular controversies over public safety policy between the mayor and supervisors.
The seat is one of three on the seven-member body nominated and confirmed by the Board of Supervisors. The remaining four seats are nominated by the mayor and confirmed by the board. The commission has often been a venue for regular controversies over public safety policy between the mayor and supervisors.
These controversies came to a head when Commissioner Max Carter-Oberstone, whom then-Mayor London Breed had nominated, contradicted her on policies such as pretextual stops and other measures giving a freer hand to police, essentially giving control of the commission to more left-leaning, supervisor-appointed members. Most recently, Mayor Daniel Lurie asked that Carter-Oberstone be removed from the body, and a friendlier, post-election Board of Supervisors approved.
Yañez is not seeking reappointment. In the past year, he and his spouse, Deputy Public Defender Ilona Solomon Yañez, were implicated in a harassment campaign against a neighbor in their shared apartment complex over maintenance and fiscal issues, as well as retaliation against the neighbor for helping police when another resident assaulted a person on the street with a blowtorch. The neighbor, Kristen Guhde, obtained temporary restraining orders against both Yañez and Solomon Yañez in January.
Commissioner Yañez was an outspoken member of the supervisors-appointed bloc of members that generally supported increasing restrictions on police; public opinion has leaned against this stance in recent elections, and there is speculation that his replacement will test how far the current consensus between the mayor and board extends.
