Proposition E has now officially passed, according to the San Francisco Department of Elections's latest elections update.
The measure will create a task force to study potential ways San Francisco could cut down its byzantine network of commissions, which will have a study period lasting up to two years.
City Administrator Carmen Chu, City Controller Greg Wagner, City Attorney David Chiu, Mayor Daniel Lurie, and the next president of the Board of Supervisors will each appoint one member.
A competing proposal supported by the nonprofit TogetherSF, Proposition D, failed to pass earlier this week with only 44% of the vote. It would've arbitrarily cut the 130 city commissions down to just 65 and expanded the powers of both the mayor and police chief.
Outgoing Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin authored the bill, arguing that Prop E's comparatively measured approach is more democratic and allows qualified experts to determine the best path to slimming down the city's sprawling bureaucracy.
“My measure is commission reform done in the light of day with voter participation and voter input, as opposed to this ill-conceived meat-axe approach of TogetherSF and their non-expert political hacks,” Peskin told the Chronicle in October.
Critics point out how the measure does not guarantee any commissions will be cut, and that it is uncertain if any of the task force's recommendations would ever see implementation.
"Even if this measure were to pass and be enacted, there’s no guarantee that the desired streamlining of commissions would result, because the measure contains no mechanism to ensure that the Board of Supervisors takes timely action," wrote local think tank SPUR.
Prop E only received $62,000 in funding, compared to the nearly $10 million poured in by former mayor Mark Farrell, the Fisher family, and various venture capitalists in support of Prop D.
“That just tells me that, No. 1, San Francisco voters are smart, and No. 2, these guys really need to reexamine their priorities,” Peskin stated to the Examiner earlier this week, in reference to Prop E's success and the failure of Prop D's wealthy backers.
