San Francisco Needs Proposition D
San Francisco has an outrageous number of commissions—groups of citizens appointed by the government to provide oversight for crucial city departments. How many? Twice as many as comparable cities. In theory, that means our government should be extra free of corruption and inefficiency. But the opposite is true.
TogetherSF Action is sponsoring Proposition D to streamline SF’s commission system, making it easier for City Hall to respond to residents’ concerns. Prop D will hold elected officials accountable by making it clear who’s responsible for fixing the city’s biggest problems.
Watch Now
TogetherSF Action’s Zoom Webinar Discussion on why we need Proposition D.
Why We Need Proposition D
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No Plan to Improve Public Safety
SFPD faces a severe staffing crisis with a shortage of 500+ officers and 300+ eligible for retirement. The Police Commission has no formal plan to address this shortage.
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Bribes & Money Laundering For Political Favors
Former Human Rights Commissioner Nazly Mohajer was caught by the FBI accepting a $20,000 bribe.
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Corruption on the Graffiti Advisory Board
In 2014, members of this board solicited their paid services to a resident who sought help cleaning up an apartment building.
“In theory, commissions are supposed to be a healthy check on power. In reality, there are so many commissions in San Francisco with real decision-making power that it’s no longer clear who’s ultimately responsible for solving the major issues in our city.”
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a commission?
A commission is a group of citizens appointed by the government to provide oversight for crucial city departments.
That sounds fine. What’s the problem?
It is fine. Good, even—in theory. San Franciscans rightfully believe in checks and balances. But San Francisco has so many commissions (~2x as many as comparable cities)
that they end up slowing the government down rather than helping it be better.
How do commissions slow the government down?
One example: the mayor has to consult with commissions before hiring city leaders. For example, DPW, which is in charge of all our trash (one of our top concerns!), once went 3 years without a permanent leader after its previous head had to resign due to a corruption scandal.
Isn’t corruption exactly what commissions are supposed to prevent?
Yup. But it turns out they’re often breeding grounds for scandal themselves. Take for example Hector Chinchilla, who accepted hundreds of thousands in payments from developers seeking permit approval from the Planning Commission while he was on the commission.
What can we do?
Commissions are good, and we want them to exist. We just don’t think we need this many of them, especially if they’re causing just as many problems as they solve. Proposition D creates a public process for consolidating and streamlining this system so that it does what it’s supposed to do.
How is Prop D different from Prop E, which is being proposed by Supervisor Aaron Peskin?
Peskin, a 16-year veteran of the Board of Supervisors, has introduced a competing commission reform measure (Prop E). Here are the key differences:
Max Number of Commissions: Prop D would create a maximum number of commissions for the city to reduce bloat for years to come. Prop E wouldn’t.
Decision-Making Power: Both measures would create a task force to evaluate the current system, but Peskin’s Prop E task force would be able to create laws—which is a problem because the task force is not an elected body.
Commission Maintenance: Prop D would mandate regular evaluation of the commissions system, allow direct removal of commissioners to keep corruption away, and put the power to hire and fire city department heads—which is currently held by commissions—back in the hands of elected officials. Prop E doesn’t account for these things.
Peskin knows that historically, when two similar measures appear on the ballot, voters get confused and vote no on both. Prop E isn’t designed to help the city; it’s designed to tank Prop D. Don’t fall for it.
Can I download a one-page fact sheet about this?
We’re so glad you asked! Yes, you can. Please share it far and wide.
Paid for by TogetherSF Action (tsfaction.org). Financial disclosures are available at sfethics.org.