SF supervisors elect Katy Tang as interim president

Supervisor Scott Weiner hugs newly-elected interim Board President Katy Tang, right, following Tang's selection on Tuesday. San Francisco Supervisors elected an interim board president on Tuesday, November 18, 2014, naming Katy Tang to replace David Chiu who will be stepping down to join the state assembly in December. The selection took place during the Board of Supervisors meeting at City Hall in San Francisco, Calif. less Supervisor Scott Weiner hugs newly-elected interim Board President Katy Tang, right, following Tang's selection on Tuesday. San Francisco Supervisors elected an interim board president on Tuesday, November 18, ... more Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle Image 1 of / 13 Caption Close SF supervisors elect Katy Tang as interim president 1 / 13 Back to Gallery

Supervisor Katy Tang is the next president of the Board of Supervisors — at least until Jan. 8, when the board will vote again.

Tang, who represents District Four, was elected Tuesday on an 8-0 vote to serve the remainder of President David Chiu’s term when he is sworn in to the Assembly on Dec. 1. Tang will preside over two meetings in December, and the board will choose a permanent replacement for Chiu in January, when its new term begins.

“My priority for the next two meetings, as interim president, is to make sure we have a smooth transition, knowing we do have another vote coming up in January,” she said.

When asked whether she would pursue the full, two-year term in the new year, Tang said, “We will cross that bridge when we come to it.”

Tang was a longtime legislative aide to Supervisor Carmen Chu until 2013, when Mayor Ed Lee named her assessor-recorder. Lee then appointed Tang, who grew up in the Sunset District, to represent the west side neighborhood on the board. She has since faced two elections and won both.

Drama before vote

While the vote for Tang took only a few minutes, the lead-up to her election was fraught with drama — and came after the supervisors debated whether they should even be choosing a president Tuesday. Supervisors John Avalos and Eric Mar walked out of the board chambers, refusing to vote on the matter.

The controversy is due in part to Chiu’s election to the Assembly: He beat out fellow Supervisor David Campos in a bruising race that had wide reverberations at City Hall.

Last week, at the urging of board Clerk Angela Cavillo, Chiu made the unprecedented move to schedule a vote for his replacement before he left the board. He and others framed it as a way to ensure that the leadership spot does not go empty between his departure and the Dec. 9 meeting.

But Campos is away on vacation this week, and many of his supporters saw the pre-emptive vote as a blatant power grab by the city’s more moderate faction, even though none of the left-leaning supervisors had the six votes needed to claim the interim presidency, with or without Campos.

The board’s progressives, miffed that the vote was scheduled by Chiu while Campos was out of town, said Tuesday that it was disenfranchising District Nine residents and should be delayed until after Chiu is gone.

“We have one of our colleagues who is not going to be here today — he represents a district that will not be able to have their voice heard for the interim president vote, and I don’t think that’s right,” said Avalos. “I don’t think it is right to exclude someone from the vote when there isn’t a pressing need to do this today.”

Other supervisors hit back. Supervisor Scott Wiener said the vote was necessary to ensure a smooth transition between Chiu’s departure and the next meeting.

“The fact that Supervisor Campos decided to go on vacation instead of coming to the board meeting — to leave the country on vacation — I would love to leave the country and go on vacation,” Wiener said. “To suggest that because one colleague chose to take a vacation instead of attending a board meeting that somehow it’s not collegial or it’s nefarious or undemocratic for the board to continue with the business of the people, I just don’t agree.”

Also Tuesday, the board unanimously backed two pieces of legislation — over the opposition of business leaders — that will give most of San Francisco’s hourly workers more predictable schedules and the opportunity for full-time work.

New law for workers

The proposals by Supervisors Mar and Chiu apply to chain stores with more than 20 locations and 20 workers. If passed once more by the board and signed by Mayor Lee, they will require those businesses to pay employees who are on call or sent home early, or whose shifts are canceled or changed at the last minute; to offer extra hours to part-time workers before hiring new employees; to post schedules 14 days in advance; and to give part-time workers the same access as full-time workers to requests for time off and particular work schedules.

The new laws would also prohibit employers from discriminating against employees who have commitments such as caregiving or school.

Marisa Lagos is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: mlagos@sfchronicle.com

Twitter @mlagos