Longtime San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera is likely to be approved to lead the city’s Public Utilities Commission next week, an appointment that could lead to a flurry of changes within City Hall.
The commission plans to vote on Herrera’s $395,000-a-year employment contract at Tuesday’s meeting, according to an agenda posted online. If approved, Herrera will then step down as head of the City Attorney’s Office, a position he’s held since 2001.
Then comes a number of potential changes on the city — and possibly state — level.
Soon after the commission votes on Herrera’s contract, Mayor London Breed will appoint a new city attorney. Her pick is widely expected to be Assemblyman David Chiu, who has represented Assembly District 17 since 2014.
If Chiu is chosen, Gov. Gavin Newsom would then call for a special election two weeks after Chiu officially leaves his seat, and the race to replace him must be held between 126 and 140 days after his departure. Two big names in San Francisco politics are already expected to make a run for the empty seat: David Campos, chief of staff to District Attorney Chesa Boudin, and current District Six Supervisor Matt Haney.
If Haney wins, then Breed will choose his replacement on the Board of Supervisors. That could greatly benefit the mayor since she would likely pick a supervisor who is more politically aligned with her.
In April, Breed nominated Herrera to lead the Public Utilities Commission after the agency’s former chief, Harlan Kelly, resigned Nov. 30 in the wake of FBI charges. Kelly was accused of accepting bribes from a city contractor and permit consultant. Whoever she picks as the new city attorney will oversee an office that has spent the past year-and-a-half investigating a wide-ranging City Hall corruption scandal.
That probe, along with a separate investigation by the FBI, has led to the arrest and resignation of several city contractors and department heads.
Herrera’s contract negotiations have taken much longer than many anticipated. In a brief interview last week Sophie Maxwell, president of the PUC commission, said “these things take awhile.”
“You’re negotiating contracts and he has another job that he’s getting out of. So there has been a lot going on,” she said. The commission also had to get an outside attorney to negotiate and review the contract, she said.
Herrera’s appointment, and the domino effect it could have on San Francisco politics, comes after a tumultuous year in City Hall where much of the attention was spent on the pandemic. Now, the attention will be turned to multiple campaigns and elections through next year.
The new city attorney will have to run in the June 2022 primary to keep the seat. But even before that, voters might also have to vote in a recall election of three San Francisco school board members later this year or early next. District Attorney Boudin also faces a recall effort, with signatures to qualify for the ballot due in October.
Trisha Thadani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani
