See our November 2024 SF Voter Guide for a nonpartisan analysis of measures on the San Francisco ballot, for the election occurring Nov. 5, 2024. The following measure is on that ballot.
Proposition E would create a task force to assess San Francisco’s many commissions and public bodies and recommend whether any should be altered or eliminated to improve local governance.
The task force’s powers would be more than advisory for certain types of commissions, which it could directly change or dissolve without approval from lawmakers.
Proposition E is in direct opposition with Proposition D, which would slash the number of city commissions to no more than 65, eliminate their oversight function and give the mayor hiring and firing authority over department heads.
Support
Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin wrote Proposition E. The measure is needed to block Proposition D, which “takes a meat ax to our government,” he says in the official proponent argument.
“It eliminates without a cost-benefit analysis essential and effective commissions,” he said. “It removes citizen oversight over police conduct policies such as the use of deadly force … undermining transparency and accountability and creating a breeding ground for abuse and corruption.”
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Assemblymember Phil Ting supports Proposition E, as do five San Francisco supervisors, including Aaron Peskin, board president and a mayoral candidate. Some retired politicians are also backing it, like former Mayor Art Agnos, California Sen. Mark Leno and Assemblymember Tom Ammiano. Local and political groups in favor of the measure include the San Francisco Labor Council, Coalition for San Francisco Neighborhoods, United Educators of San Francisco, the San Francisco Tenants Union and others.
Opposition
Proposition E is a “‘poison pill’ to defeat Proposition D, so that nothing meaningful gets done,” says Larry Marso, a technology executive, in the official opponent argument. “San Francisco continues to suffocate in bureaucracy, with over 100 commissions that overlap and waste resources.”
Other opponents of Proposition E include the San Francisco Democratic Party, TogetherSF Action, RescueSF, Stand with Asian Americans and others.
What it would do
If passed, Proposition E would first require the Budget & Legislative Analyst, which generally conducts studies to aid lawmakers’ decision-making, to prepare a report on how much public money each of the city’s approximately 130 commissions spends in carrying out its business — and how much money would be saved if each were eliminated or consolidated into other public bodies.
Proposition E would also create a Commission Streamlining Task Force that would have until Feb. 1, 2026, to review the Budget & Legislative Analyst’s report and decide which commissions should change, merge or be eliminated in order to improve and streamline the administration of city government.
The task force could also recommend no changes to city commissions.
Some of the city’s many commissions were created by ballot measures that voters approved; others resulted from conventional legislation, through the Board of Supervisors. To alter, combine or dissolve commissions, the task force would need to engage in the same processes that created them.
That means that if the task force wanted to affect commissions created through ballot measures, its proposed changes would require voter approval.
The task force would have greater power to affect commissions that had been legislated into existence. It could propose any changes via legislation, which would automatically go into effect within 90 days unless a supermajority of the Board of Supervisors intervened.
The five-member task force would consist of:
- The city administrator or their representative;
- The city controller or their representative;
- The city attorney or their representative;
- An appointee of the president of the Board of Supervisors, representing public sector unions;
- An appointee of the mayor with expertise in government transparency and accountability.
Cost
Implementing Proposition E “would have a minimal impact on the cost of government,” according to an analysis by San Francisco Controller Greg Wagner.
Wagner did not provide exact costs, likely because Proposition E’s impacts cannot be known before the task force forms and makes its recommendations. Eliminating commissions would probably save the city money, he said.
The costs associated with the Commission Streamlining Task Force also are unclear. While three of its five members would be full-time city officials or employees, the remaining two might be volunteers. In other public bodies, volunteers can receive stipends and health care benefits.
Campaign finance
As of Oct. 7, a campaign committee opposing Proposition D — and supporting other measures, including Proposition E — had raised $27,404.
Campaign committees opposing Proposition E and supporting Proposition D had raised more than $8.7 million.
Votes needed to pass
Proposition E requires a simple majority of “yes” votes to pass, as does Proposition D. If both measures pass, the one to get more votes will prevail.
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