Op-Ed: Supes Should Stop Mayor from Removing Carter-Oberstone from Police Commission

Tuesday/tomorrow, Feb. 25, the SF Board of Supervisors will vote on whether to remove Max Carter-Oberstone from the Police Commission at Mayor Lurie’s request. If they do, it would be a step backward for street safety.

Carter-Oberstone has been a champion and a key vote for the policy to limit pretextual traffic stops — the practice of officers stopping a road user over infractions that are proven to have a negligible impact on safety, usually as a pretext to question the person. Not only are these stops historically racially biased, they take officers’ time away from enforcing the “Focus on the Five” driving violations that are most relevant to safety.

Pretext stops also include jaywalking, not riding a bicycle close to the edge of the roadway, or riding a bike on a sidewalk — a near necessity to ride in neighborhoods like Bayview and Crocker-Amazon that lack safe infrastructure. Such stops discourage people from walking and biking, which is why Walk SF and the SF Bicycle Coalition joined with racial justice advocates to support banning these stops.

Thanks to Carter-Oberstone and fellow Commissioners Cindy Elias and Kevin Benedicto, who led working group meetings with police officers and the public, and pored over crash data to make absolutely sure banning the stops in question wouldn’t harm safety, the policy became reality in 2023.

Without Carter-Oberstone, that progress could be reversed.

We don’t know if that’s the goal. Mayor Lurie strangely provided no rationale for his request to remove Carter-Oberstone, who was appointed in 2022 and whose term goes until 2026. Nothing improper has been alleged, so it doesn’t make sense to kick Carter-Oberstone off the commission mid-term.

As safe streets advocates who have organized group bike rides and Slow Street events on Page and Shotwell, we’ve seen how bicycling can bring joy to diverse groups of San Franciscans, but sadly, we’ve seen, too, how fear of dangerous drivers can make people hesitant to try it. And it’s important to make sure communities of color are included in bicycling in San Francisco. That becomes more difficult if cyclists of color have to worry about being targeted and stopped over trivial bicycling infractions. We need to make sure the policy banning pretext stops stays in effect — and that Carter-Oberstone, its hardworking, thoughtful, and independent-minded champion, stays on the commission for the remainder of his term.

Voters made a powerful statement in favor of checks and balances when they definitively rejected November’s Proposition D, which would have given the mayor unilateral power to remove commissioners. As a result, Lurie can only remove Carter-Oberstone if the Board of Supervisors agrees. The supervisors should vote “no,” to preserve progress toward equitable and safe streets.

Here’s how to contact your supervisor.

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Scott Feeney is a writer, programmer, advocate, and happily car-free San Franciscan. Jess Jenkins is a longtime advocate for Slow Streets and walking, rolling, and public spaces for all.