If you’re new here, you may not know that we’re trying to get a measure on the ballot in November to streamline San Francisco’s commissions system. What does that mean? Essentially, the city is hampered by a vast network of boards staffed by ordinary (and unelected) citizens that are supposed to keep our government accountable. These boards are a good idea, but the execution is a little over the top—we have more than twice as many of these commissions as comparable cities, and it’s making our government bloated and inefficient. 

Enter Aaron Peskin, a 16-year veteran of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors (that’s like our city council). He has introduced a very similar, yet different, measure. It’s confusing by design. Here are the key differences:

Max Number of Commissions: Our measure would create a maximum number of commissions for the city to reduce bloat for years to come. Peskin’s wouldn’t.

Decision-Making Power: Both measures would create a task force to evaluate the current system, but Peskin’s task force would be able to create laws—which is a problem because the task force is not an elected body.

Commission Maintenance: Our measure 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. Peskin’s measure doesn’t account for these things.

Use the form below to tell the Board of Supervisors to vote no on Aaron Peskin’s confusing charter amendment, clearing the way for ours to be passed by voters in November. Hit "send," and a copy of the letter below will be sent to all 11 members of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors.

Still confused about commissions? Check out our blog post.