4:39 PM: David Chiu was elected president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for the third time today.
Chiu, 42, was unanimously re-elected to the position by his fellow supervisors at this afternoon’s meeting after two other supervisors–Jane Kim and Malia Cohen–withdrew their nominations just before the vote.
The board president serves a two-year term and, among other duties, is in charge of appointing chairs and members of board committees and running the full board’s regular meetings.
Chiu was voted into the post by the other supervisors at the start of his first term in 2009 and was re-elected in 2011.
He thanked his colleagues today for the “incredible honor” and said he hopes the board will move past the “oppositional politics” that have plagued it in past years.
“This Board of Supervisors has been getting things done,” Chiu said, while noting, “we still have a lot of work to do.”
Cohen told reporters after the vote that she withdrew her nomination because she did not have the six votes needed to win the majority of the 11-member board.
“The support wasn’t there,” she said. “It wasn’t enough.”
However, Cohen said she hopes the nominations of her and Kim “sets the stage for a greater conversation moving forward.”
Kim said the negotiations over the board president position only came together in the last few days and said she had no problem with supporting Chiu, whom she had nominated for the spot back in 2011.
The inaugural meeting of the new Board of Supervisors also included the swearing-in of all supervisors who were elected or re-elected in November.
Chiu, Eric Mar, David Campos and John Avalos were re-elected, while London Breed and Norman Yee won their first terms on the board.
Breed thanked the voters of District 5 and said that as a native of the area, she is “prepared for the challenges we face.”
Breed also participated in a ceremonial swearing-in by state Attorney General Kamala Harris this morning at City Hall.
She said she held this morning’s event so that more of her family and friends could celebrate her taking office, since the board chambers were filled to capacity for the inaugural meeting.
All 11 supervisors followed today’s meeting with receptions and open houses at each of their offices at City Hall.
Dan McMenamin, Bay City News
1:33 PM: David Chiu was elected president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for a third time today.
Chiu, 42, was re-elected to the position by his fellow supervisors in a unanimous vote after retaining his District 3 seat in November’s election.
The board president serves a two-year term and is in charge of appointing chairs and members of board committees and running the full board’s regular meetings.
Supervisors Jane Kim and Malia Cohen were also nominated for the position, but both withdrew their nominations just before the vote.
Also at today’s meeting, San Francisco Superior Court Presiding Judge Cynthia Ming-mei Lee swore in all of the supervisors who were elected or re-elected in November’s election.
Chiu, Eric Mar, David Campos and John Avalos were re-elected, while London Breed and Norman Yee won their first terms on the board.
Dan McMenamin, Bay City News
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