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Commissioner Lazarus, President
Commissioner Harrison, Vice President
Commissioner Bonilla
Commissioner Lee
Commissioner Levitan
Commissioner Martin
Commissioner Sullivan
Commissioner Lazarus, President
Jim Lazarus, a fourth generation San Franciscan, was appointed to the Commission in July, 2002.
An attorney by training, Commissioner Lazarus served as a Deputy City Attorney from 1975 to 1980, which included assignment as legal counsel to the Board of Supervisors. In 1980 he entered private practice, where his firm served as the City's Employee Relations Office. In 1983 he was appointed Deputy Mayor by Mayor Feinstein, a position he returned to in 1992 for Mayor Jordan.
Mr. Lazarus has served as Chief Operating Officer for the San Francisco Zoological Society, State Director for Senator Feinstein and Executive Director of the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society and its Old Mint restoration project. In January 2006, he was appointed Senior Vice President for the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, heading its Public Policy Department.
Mr. Lazarus is married to Ann Blumlein Lazarus, a non-profit corporation executive and Port Commissioner. They have two daughters and two sons. He serves on the board of the SPUR, the Planning Association for the Richmond, the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society, the California Missions Foundation and the Santa Clara University Law School Board of Visitors.
Commissioner Harrison, Vice President
Tom Harrison, born and raised in San Francisco, was appointed to the Recreation and Park Commission in October 2004 by Mayor Gavin Newsom. He was sworn into office by Mayor Newsom in November 2004.
Mr. Harrison worked for the Recreation and Park Department beginning in 1964 as an Assistant Gardener and was promoted to Gardener in 1972. After 28 years of service and many assignments after, he was then hired by Laborers Local 261 as a Union Representative. Mr. Harrison was appointed to serve the Gardeners and Laborers of the City. In 2002 he was promoted to Assistant Business Manager of Local 261. He retired from City Employment in 2004 completing 30 years of service to the City and County of San Francisco.
Commissioner Harrison take great personal pride in his appointment to the Recreation and Parks Commission, "I have a great respect for the people of San Francisco for whom I serve."
Commissioner Bonilla
Since moving to San Francisco in 1976, Gloria Bonilla has been active in the Mission District community. For the past 30 years, she has served in top leadership positions at Centro Latino de San Francisco, Inc. From 1985 to the present she has held the position of Executive Director. In this capacity she has developed and implemented services (on-site and home delivered meals, paratransit, recreation and education activities, English as a second language classes, naturalization classes, and health care advocacy) that address the essential needs of low-income, at-risk seniors, immigrants, youth and families.
Prior to her current role as Executive Director, Ms. Bonilla was an administrator for youth programs. During her tenure at CYO she oversaw the implementation of programs that offered year-round and summer employment training for youth, 14-21 years of age; a daycare program for elementary school age children; and an after school recreation and sports program for teens.
Commissioner Bonilla has provided leadership to community groups in various capacities and served on distinguished nonprofit boards. Some of these include: San Francisco Giants Community Fund, UCSF Community Advisory Group, and Mission Housing Development Corporation.
Born in San Luis Obispo, CA and raised in Fresno, CA, Ms. Bonilla holds a degree in government from University of San Francisco.
Commissioner Lee
David E. Lee is Executive Director of Chinese American Voters Education Committee (CAVEC), a private, non-profit civic education and research organization dedicated to increasing Asian American civic participation. He was appointed to the Recreation and Park Commission by Mayor Gavin Newsom in 2005.
Mr. Lee is also a Lecturer of Political Science at San Francisco State University. He is active on several boards including the California First Amendment Coalition, Wells Fargo Community Advisory Board, KQED Public Television and Radio, New America Media and the San Francisco Lee Federal Credit Union.
Commissioner Lee has a BA from Hamilton College and a MA in Political Science from SFSU. David is a graduate of Harvard Kennedy School's Senior Executives In State and Local Government Program, Harvard Business School's Strategic Perspectives for Non-profit Leaders Program and Stanford Business School's Executive Program For Non-profit Leaders Program.
In 2002, he received the San Francisco Foundation Community Leadership Award. David's other recognitions for public service include the Wallace A. Gerbode Foundation Fellowship and the David Jenkins Award for Community Service.
Commissioner Levitan
Born in North Beach and raised in the Richmond District, Meagan hasn't strayed far from her native San Francisco. A graduate of Stanford University, she has devoted most of her professional life to public sector and non-profit work. She served under Mayors Agnos, Jordan and briefly Brown. After a short stint in corporate public relations and local lobbying, Ms. Levitan turned to the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park where she ran public relations and community affairs. At that time she started and helped oversee several programs the Academy embraced to reach out to more broad and diverse communities in the City.
After running for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2000 (where she narrowly missed the runoff for District 3), Meagan worked for herself as a public affairs consultant. Her clients included the Academy of Sciences who she helped secure unanimous approval for at the Planning Commission for their new building in the Park. This required an extensive outreach program and the establishment of a very successful community advisory group. Similarly she worked with the Villas Parkmerced, one of the City's biggest landlords located on 19th Avenue, on their efforts to reach out to the community to become a better corporate citizen of the City.
An elected member of the San Francisco Democratic Central Committee since 1998, Commissioner Levitan was appointed to the Recreation and Park Commission by Mayor Gavin Newsom in 2004. She currently sells residential real estate with San Francisco's Hill and Company and serves on the boards of San Francisco Beautiful, San Francisco Neighborhood Theater Foundation and the Magic Theatre.
Meagan lives in the Richmond -- in the house where she grew up -- with her husband Dale Carlson and their four year old daughter Jacqueline.
Commissioner MartinCommissioner Larry Martin began his career with the San Francisco Municipal Railway in 1966 and rose through the union ranks to lead the influential Transport Workers' Union (TWU) on a local, national and international level.
He is no stranger to the inner-workings of city government having worked with seven mayors. Prior to being appointed to the Recreation and Park Commission he served on the Human Rights Commission for over twelve years and on the Planning Commission for over eight years. He was appointed to the Recreation and Park Commission in 2000 and became President of the Commission in January of 2007.
Over the years, Mr. Martin has served on many boards, including the A. Philip Randolph Institute, the NAACP, and the San Francisco Labor Council. He is a member of numerous constituency organizations, including the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists; the Coalition of Labor Union Women; the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance; and Pride At Work.
He has been called an "inspiration to a lot of people in the City and County of San Francisco because of his leadership, dedication and burning desire to do better and to improve people's quality of life."
Commissioner Martin retired from the Transport Workers' Union and the Municipal Railroad in 2004 allowing him to spend more time with his family and enjoying his love for traveling.
Commissioner Sullivan
Michael Sullivan was appointed to the Commission by Mayor Gavin Newsom in May 2007.
Mr. Sullivan served on the San Francisco Urban Forestry Council from 2003 to 2005. He served on the Board of Directors of urban forestry nonprofit Friends of the Urban Forest from 1993 through 2005, including a period as Board chair, and continues as an active volunteer with that organization. He is a co-founder and chair of the board of Plan C San Francisco, a citywide civic organization. He is the author of Trees of San Francisco, which was published in 2004.
Mr. Sullivan is a practicing attorney with Howard Rice Nemerovski Canady Falk & Rabkin in San Francisco, where his practice involves the representation of early stage technology companies. He is a graduate of Williams College and the University of Michigan Law School.
Commissioner Sullivan has lived in San Francisco since 1984, and in Cole Valley since 1989. He and his partner Paul Loeffler have a three year old son, Joseph, who says that his favorite park is Grattan Playground.
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