Newbie SF Supervisor Alan Wong launched a “dumb laws” contest Wednesday inviting residents and small businesses to submit examples of regulations or permit requirements they consider unnecessary, outdated, or overly burdensome, which could potentially be repealed.
At a media event Wednesday, San Francisco District 4 Supervisor Alan Wong invited residents and small businesses from across the city to submit examples of city laws, regulations, permit requirements, fees, street signs, or administrative processes they consider outdated, overly complicated, or unnecessary as part of a “Dumb Laws” contest, as Bay City News reports.
"I want to work on just things that don't make sense and are making the lives of every day people harder," he said, per KGO.
The winning “dumb laws” will be showcased on Wong's social media and could result in outdated or unhelpful local laws being reviewed, simplified, clarified, reconsidered, or repealed, according to the contest page. As KPIX reports, the contest could also help inform future policy discussions or potential changes to San Francisco’s municipal code.
"Over time, every city accumulates regulations that may have been created with good intentions," Wong said in a statement announcing the contest, per KPIX. "But as the city evolves, some of those rules become outdated, overly complicated or simply unnecessary."
As KGO reports, examples of little-known city rules include a prohibition on carrying bread or pastries in an exposed container, and a rule barring people from picking weeds or removing soil, flowers, or grass from city parks without permission from the Recreation and Park Department.
"Sometimes, the people interacting with these rules every day are the first to recognize when something no longer makes sense," Wong said, per the statement.
Other regulations that some consider unnecessary can have more serious impacts on businesses. Bay City News reports that in one case, Cyn Wang of Wang Insurance in the Outer Sunset said city planning rules governing storefront design created delays after vandals shattered her office windows in 2023. To replace them, she was required to hire an architect and meet design standards requiring a certain level of transparency in the storefront before receiving a permit. Wang said the process took more than a month and cost about $30,000 to complete.
"What we thought would be a simple fix, which is to replace the glass and then get the gate in front to protect the glass going forward, turned into a bureaucratic nightmare," Wang said at the roundtable Wednesday, per SFGate.
The contest deadline is March 30, and the winning entries will be announced in April.
"By highlighting these examples, we hope to start a broader conversation about how we can modernize city policies, reduce unnecessary barriers and make government work better for the people it serves," said Wong.
Image: Alan Wong/Facebook
