The hearing chamber will be a little less empty and much more stylish during City Hall committee hearings starting this week, as Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier’s month long break from her committee assignments is over.
In early June, Alioto-Pier asked Board President David Chiu to excuse her from her two committee assignments — Public Safety and City Operations and Neighborhood Services.
Why the break?
“Personal reasons,” she told The Appeal during Tuesday’s meeting, using the one answer no journalist (or at least not this one) can break through rhetorically. “Personal reasons,” she repeated. “But I’m back on (all the committees) now.”
Alioto-Pier, who recently declared her candidacy for the statewide office of Insurance Commissioner, has in the past taken heat for a less-than-stellar (ok, worst on the Board) attendance record. And some might question why a public official is able to miss a significant chunk of work for “personal reasons,” (something a private sector employee might be hard-pressed to do) especially when the full Board’s monthlong recess is next month.
In between trying to get The Appeal’s reporter to ignore the story, an Alioto-Pier staffer did note that since Alioto-Pier was not on the committees, her no-shows “won’t be marked as absences” (yes, City Hall is sometimes like high school, minus the smoking in the boys room).
However, Michela-bashers should note that the District 2 supervisor did attend each and every Tuesday full board meeting, and if there are any “Recall Michela” efforts underway, we know not of them.
So welcome back, Michela!
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