The Board of Supervisors approved a proposal to "clean up" City Hall by cutting dozens of the city’s committees and commissions while implementing changes to some existing groups. The proposal will appear before voters in November.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted for a plan Tuesday that aims to reorganize the city’s sizeable network of commissions, advisory bodies, and task forces by eliminating 43 mostly inactive groups, as the Chronicle reports. Supervisors are expected to meet next week with additional revisions that would ultimately head to voters on the November ballot, as SFist earlier reported.
The proposal, which was reportedly written by a task force mandated by a 2024 voter-approved ballot measure, also includes changes to some remaining committees, including renaming some groups and standardizing term limits for members.
According to Mission Local back in March, the board said that they would not pursue the task force’s initial report due to criticism that it had gone beyond its mandate, such as reducing oversight powers, moving commissions out of the city charter, and merging bodies with similar roles.
Supervisor Shamann Walton criticized the initial recommendations as undermining voter-approved oversight and community representation. More than 60 commissioners, former commissioners, and supporters spoke during public comment in defense of the city’s existing commissions.
The ordinance passed Tuesday in a 6-4 vote, with Supervisors Myrna Melgar, Connie Chan, Chyanne Chen, and Shamann Walton opposing it, as the Chronicle reports. While Melgar said she supported the broader effort to streamline city commissions, she raised concerns about several of the cuts, including the elimination of the Early Care and Education Oversight and Advisory Committee, where she previously served.
Melgar reportedly said some of the recommendations still need more work and could carry unintended consequences, adding that she may pursue follow-up legislation to address those concerns.
Supervisors are also preparing a charter amendment to go before voters in November, with Board President Rafael Mandelman expected to introduce the measure next week, per the Chronicle. Because some commissions are embedded in the city charter while others exist only in the administrative code, restructuring the system requires both legislation from the board and voter approval.
Mandelman said eliminating some commissions and moving others out of the charter and into the administrative code would allow supervisors to make future changes without another citywide vote. The charter amendment will reportedly avoid several of the most controversial proposals, including changes involving the Police Commission and Sheriff’s Department Oversight Board.
Community groups and advocates have warned that some of the task force’s recommendations could weaken oversight and consolidate more power under the mayor’s office, according to the Chronicle.
Advocates also pushed back on plans to eliminate commissions that serve vulnerable residents — like the Shelter Monitoring Committee, which Coalition on Homelessness Director Jennifer Friedenbach notes was created two decades ago in order to provide vital oversight of conditions inside city shelters.
Other inactive commissions that are recommended for elimination include things like the Citizens Advisory Committee for Street Utility Construction, the City-Operated Farmers' Market Advisory Committees, the Delinquency Prevention Commission, the Industrial Waste Review Board, and the Newsrack Advisory Committee.
Previously: Mayor Lurie and Supervisor Mandelman Introduce Ballot Measures to (Of Course) Give Lurie More Power
Image: SF.gov
