The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Rules Committee on Feb. 10 voted unanimously to continue consideration of the mayoral appointment of Cynthia Dye to the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force after lengthy public comment opposing her nomination.

Cynthia Dye, who introduced herself as an Elections Commissioner and longtime civic volunteer, told the committee she would "uphold the mission of the task force to protect public access to city government." President Mandelmann and other committee members said they wanted more time for discussion and to determine whether other applicants might be interested before the committee moved forward.

Dye described her background in public service: "I will try. Good morning. Thanks for the opportunity to explain why I want to be in the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force. I'm Cynthia Dye. I live in Bernal Heights...I just concluded 3 years as a San Francisco Elections Commissioner, where I first learned about the Sunshine Ordinance." She told the committee she favored educating departments to make public information more accessible and said she wanted to "cut the time to resolve complaints" about records requests.

Public comment focused heavily on Dye's record on redistricting and her tenure on the Elections Commission. Multiple speakers who identified themselves as former members of the 2022 redistricting task force and other community members criticized Dye's past actions as divisive and questioned her impartiality. For example, Lily Ho, a member of the 2022 redistricting task force, said Dye "weaponized the civic disorder as a process issue" and opposed her appointment. Deaka Reiner, vice chair of the 2022 redistricting task force, said Dye "is not an impartial or fair representative." Several other speakers, including Justin Sa and Michael Siracusa, urged the committee to reconsider Dye's nomination.

President Mandelmann said she wanted more time to speak with the applicant "about some of the issues that have come up today" and to consider whether other candidates might apply. Committee Chair Walton said she also supported continuing the item, while affirming that transparency is important but noting concerns raised by public speakers.

The committee voted to continue the item to the next Rules Committee meeting in two weeks. No formal disciplinary or policy action regarding the Sunshine Ordinance was taken at the hearing; the committee confined action to the appointment process.