Photo by Rink

Theresa Sparks, Good Vibrations president and CEO, was sworn in on April 26th for a second four-year term as a member of the San Francisco Police Commission. The Board of Supervisors confirmed Sparks’ re- appointment to the Police Commission last week in a unanimous vote of confidence. Attended by a delegation of elected officials and representatives of the Mayor of San Francisco, the official swearing in ceremony was administered by Supervisor Tom Ammiano in a ceremony held at the Hotel Monaco.

“Theresa Sparks represents the best in a leader, a teacher, and a role model as a Police Commissioner in the transgender community and the City of San Francisco,” Ammiano said.

The ceremony was held at the beginning of a new City-sponsored program initiating a recently approved economic empowerment program designed to help reduce unemployment and underemployment in San Francisco’s transgender community.

“The transgender community is among the most disenfranchised groups throughout the United States, and this is the first program of its kind anywhere in
the country,” Sparks said. “I am honored to represent the transgender community and our entire city as a Police Commissioner.” She said the first time she was sworn in for her first term, the atmosphere was cold and impersonal in the Supervisors’ chambers by people she had never seen before and have not seen since then. “It is important that I be sworn in this time with people I know and love,” she said.

“It is a little unusual, even in politically-correct San Francisco, for the head of a company like Good Vibrations to also serve in a leadership role in law enforcement,” said Dr. Carol Queen, Good Vibrations sexologist and member of the company’s board of directors. “As our great Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi would say, ‘San Francisco values at their absolute best,’” Queen concluded.

Prior to her initial appointment to the Police Commission in 2004, Sparks served two four-year terms as a member of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission. The San Francisco Police Commission is the seven-member civilian oversight board responsible for developing policy for the San Francisco Police Department. It also conducts hearings and administers discipline in cases of alleged police officer misconduct. Sparks has been President and CEO of Good Vibrations for two years, having previously served as the company’s chief financial officer. She originally joined the Good Vibrations staff in 2001. Good Vibrations is the San Francisco-based retailer trusted for nearly three decades to provide a comfortable, safe environment for finding sex-positive products and educational materials to enhance one’s sex life. Good Vibrations offers its products through its retail stores, mail order catalog and its e-commerce website: goodvibes.com.

Before swearing in Sparks, Supervisor Tom Ammiano called her an excellent role model. “I am so honored to be able to do this,” he said. “She has made history and will continue to make history.”