Mayor Lurie Announces Appointments of Civic Leaders to City Boards, Commissions, and Key Roles

SAN FRANCISCO – Mayor Daniel Lurie today announced a series of appointments, reappointments, and nominations to key city commissions, committees, and roles. The appointees will serve on the Rent Board, the Southeast Community Facility Commission, and the Youth Commission. Mayor Lurie is also appointing Autumn Ragone to the Children, Youth, and Their Families Oversight and Advisory Committee.

“Our administration is working every day to make San Francisco work better for our families and residents,” said Mayor Lurie. “From delivering safe streets to tackling the cost of living, everything we do in City Hall is meant to support the people who love this city and want to live here. I appreciate this group of leaders for their continued service to San Francisco, and I look forward to working with them to support the people and communities they will serve.”

Mayor Lurie has reappointed the following individuals to the Rent Board:

• David Gruber
• Ashley Klein
• Cathy Mosbrucker
• Kent Qian
• Arthur “Art” Tom
• David “Dave” P. Wasserman

He has appointed and reappointed the following individuals to the Southeast Community Facility Commission:

• Karen A. Chung
• Shavonne Hines Foster
• Damien Posey

He has appointed the following individuals to the Youth Commission:

• Vince Edgar G. Biagtan
• Liam Connell
• Tatiana Deanda
• Calder Law
• Maya Oren
• Classic Shulman

Rent Board

David Gruber (reappointment, landlord voting seat) has worked in real estate since 1974, including spending 24 years at the firm now known as CBRE as a vice president focused on investment sales, apartment buildings, and land for housing development. He founded Gruber and Gruber Properties in 2003 and then Gruber and Sons Properties in 2017. Today, he manages 26 properties and more than 430 units across the city. He has served on the board of the San Francisco Apartment Association since 1993, on the board of the Professional Property Managers Association since 1995, and as president of the Coalition for Better Housing. He served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam from 1971 to 1972 with the First Cavalry Division and studied business administration at the University of San Francisco and Menlo College.

Ashley Klein (reappointment, landlord alternate seat) is a real estate attorney specializing in landlord-tenant law. She is a partner at the national firm Nixon Peabody, where her practice covers real estate developers, real estate investment trusts, property management companies, landlords, and individual homeowners. She also serves as a board member of the San Francisco Association of Realtors. She earned her J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 2013.

Cathy Mosbrucker (reappointment, tenant voting seat) has worked on housing law and tenant advocacy for decades, including at the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, Bernal Heights Law Collective, and San Francisco Neighborhood Legal Assistance Foundation. After serving as the Supervising Attorney at the Tenderloin Housing Clinic from 1984 to 1995, she co-founded Mosbrucker and Foran, a firm specializing in tenants' rights, where she remains a partner. Since 2023, she has also served as the managing housing attorney at Legal Assistance to the Elderly. Alongside her formal practice, Mosbrucker has spent decades serving low-income San Franciscans, with her contributions earning her the state bar’s president’s Pro Bono Service Award in 2000. She received her J.D. from U.C. Hastings, now U.C. Law, San Francisco.

Kent Qian (reappointment, tenant voting seat) is a public-interest attorney whose career has ranged from the hard sciences to housing law. During law school, Qian handled prisoners' rights cases at the Southern Center for Human Rights, housing and consumer cases at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago, civil liberties at the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, and poverty law at the Sargent Shriver National Center. He then joined the National Housing Law Project, collaborating with local and national advocates to protect tenants and homeowners facing foreclosure under federal programs like the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act and the Home Affordable Modification Program. He has earned a bachelor's degree in physics from Georgia Tech University, a master's degree from Ohio State University, and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.

Arthur “Art” Tom (reappointment, landlord alternate seat) is a San Francisco native whose career spans accounting, real estate, and public service over four decades. He has served as a Rent Board commissioner since 2019. Tom was a realtor at Coldwell Banker for 22 years and remains active in the industry today as the director of investments and multi-unit sales at City Real Estate. Alongside his private-sector career, Tom has maintained a longstanding commitment to public service, serving as a tax auditor for the San Francisco Treasurer and Tax Collector from 2010 to 2021. He has also served on the Assessment Appeals Board, the Taxi and Immigrant Rights commissions, and the San Francisco Association of Realtors governmental relations committee. He and his wife have two daughters enrolled in San Francisco's public school system. Tom earned a Bachelor of Science in business administration from the U.C. Berkeley Haas School of Business.

David “Dave” P.  Wasserman (reappointment, landlord voting seat) is a native San Franciscan who has spent his career in housing law and real estate asset management, serving on the Rent Board since 2015. Today, he manages his own residential and commercial portfolio, co-owns Vertex Property Group overseeing roughly 2,000 units citywide, and serves as an officer and broker for The Mosser Companies. He has served on the board of the San Francisco Apartment Association since the late 1990s, including a tenure as president. He has sat on the California Apartment Association’s board and its government affairs committee since 2004. He also joined the Professional Property Managers Association board in 2021 and serves as vice president of the Coalition for Better Housing’s executive board.

Southeast Community Facility Commission

Karen A. Chung (reappointment) is a certified public accountant who has operated Karen Chung CPA Firm since 1987 and served on the Southeast Community Facility Commission since 2008. She is president of the Oakland East Bay Korean American Association, a board member and former chapter president of the Northern California Korean American CPA Association, and a former president and chair of the Global Children Foundation. Chung has also held leadership roles with the National Unification Advisory Council of Korea, local church finance committees, and community Rotary clubs. Her service has been recognized with a Medal of Honor from the president of South Korea and Special Congressional Recognition from Nancy Pelosi. Chung earned a Bachelor of Science in accounting and a Master of Science in taxation from Golden Gate University.  

Shavonne Hines Foster (new appointment) is a public affairs professional whose experience in San Francisco government and civic life spans a multi-year internship with the Office of the President of the Board of Supervisors, internships with the ACLU of Northern California and San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, and service as a student delegate on the San Francisco Board of Education. As a student, she also served as student government association president and founding president of Black Girls Vote and held fellowships with the Campus Vote Project and In Our Own Voice Next Generation Leadership Institute. In 2024, she received the Brandon Harrison Youth Visionary Award. She is currently pursuing a Master's in Public Affairs at Brown University, following her graduation from Hampton University with a B.A. in Political Science: Pre-Law in May 2025.

Damien Posey (reappointment), known in the community as “Uncle Damien,” is a San Francisco native, mentor, and nonviolence advocate who has spent more than a decade working with young people and families. Drawing on his experiences with gun violence and incarceration, Posey mentors at-risk youth, counsels families, and works to prevent and mediate community violence. He founded US4US, which supports youth and adults during reentry. Posey has received the ADRNC Promise Award for resolving conflict among rival groups, the Golden State Warriors Impact Award, and the Youth First Community Hero Award. His work has also been recognized by the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office and the City and County of San Francisco.

Youth Commission 

Vince Edgar G. Biagtan (appointment) grew up in both the Philippines and San Francisco. He is currently a student at Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, where he has served as student government treasurer, a writer and photojournalist for his school newspaper, and president of his school’s math and science clubs while also working part-time. On the Youth Commission, Biagtan plans to focus on addressing student mental health by expanding school-based support.  

Liam Connell (appointment) is a lifelong San Francisco resident and student at St. Ignatius College Preparatory. He participates in Model United Nations, tutors his younger sister in mathematics, and has worked as an assistant youth soccer coach. On the Youth Commission, Connell plans to focus on affordable housing, homelessness, and public transportation.  

Tatiana Deanda (appointment) is a student at ICA Cristo Rey Academy who has interned for Supervisor Jackie Fielder, chaired the Preservation and Culture Subcommittee of the District 9 Youth Council, and led initiatives with Spartans for Activism. She has also served as an admissions ambassador and San Francisco Department of Elections ambassador. On the Youth Commission, Deanda plans to focus on mental health and addiction services, affordable housing, immigrant communities, climate resilience, and youth employment programs.

Calder Law (appointment) is a student at San Francisco University High School who has served as co-chair of the District 7 Youth Council and co-founded Youth for Common Sense, a national nonprofit that facilitates discussions among young people with different political views. Through the District 7 Youth Council, he helped provide college counseling to students without access to counselors. On the Youth Commission, Law plans to focus on encouraging family-sized housing near transit and reaching young people through neighborhood organizations.

Maya Oren (appointment) is a student at San Francisco University High School who has participated in neighborhood cleanups, served as a middle school admissions ambassador, and been active in Jewish youth groups. On the Youth Commission, Oren plans to focus on preventing bullying and improving school safety.  

Classic Shulman (appointment) is a student at the Urban School of San Francisco who volunteers at the San Francisco Public Library, serves as a community action member for Civic Leaders of America, and co-leads a high school Model United Nations team. Shulman has also participated in regional outreach with Indivisible and the Sunset Movement. On the Youth Commission, Shulman plans to focus on public transportation, youth drug prevention and recovery services, and accessible gathering spaces for young people.

Children, Youth, and Their Families Oversight and Advisory Committee

Autumn Ragone (new appointment, youth seat) is a rising senior at St. Ignatius College Preparatory, where she serves as co-captain of the varsity speech and debate team. As co-founder and director of the San Francisco Futuremakers Summer Program, she designed a comprehensive civic leadership curriculum and placed student interns with local nonprofits and Y Combinator-backed startups. She is a native English and Mandarin speaker, with proficiency in both Cantonese and Spanish.