The Way It Is Now:

• The City currently has about 130 boards, commissions and advisory bodies (commissions) that make policy and other decisions for the City or provide nonbinding advice to City officials and departments.
• Most City commissions that are created by ordinance do not have the authority to make City decisions and instead provide nonbinding advice to City departments and officials.
• Members of the Board of Supervisors (Board), the Mayor and City departments have authority to introduce an ordinance, which must be approved by a majority of the Board. The Mayor has authority to veto it.
• Voters may also approve an ordinance and require their approval for any change to a voter-approved ordinance.
• Other commissions are established by Charter amendment. Only voters may amend the Charter.
• Most of these Charter commissions oversee City departments and have authority to set City policy and make binding decisions.

The Proposal:

Proposition __ would amend the Charter to:

• Create a Commission Streamlining Task Force (Task Force) to review the structure of the City's commissions and recommend to the Mayor and the Board by February 1, 2026, how the City could change, eliminate or consolidate commissions to improve the administration of City government.
• The Task Force would include five members:
  • the City Administrator or a designated employee of their department;
  • the Controller or a designated employee of their department;
  • the City Attorney or a designated employee of their department;
  • a public sector organized labor representative appointed by the President of the Board; and
  • a person with expertise in open and accountable government appointed by the Mayor.
• Require the Board's Budget and Legislative Analyst to prepare a report on how much it costs the City to support each current commission, and how much it would save if certain commissions were eliminated or consolidated.
• Authorize the Task Force to implement its recommendations in these ways:
  • If the Task Force recommends changes to commissions established by ordinance, the Task Force may introduce ordinances to make those changes.
  • Any ordinance the Task Force introduces would take effect 90 days after introduction unless the Board rejects it by supermajority vote of at least eight members.
  • If the Task Force recommends changes to commissions established by voter-approved ordinance, those changes may also require voter approval at a future election before the City may implement them.
  • If the Task Force recommends changes to commissions established by Charter amendment, the City Attorney would be required to prepare a Charter amendment implementing these recommendations for the Board to consider placing on the ballot for a future election.
• The Task Force will end 24 months after its first meeting.

If Proposition ___ passes with more votes than Proposition ___, then Proposition __ would have no legal effect.

What Your Vote Means:

• A "YES" Vote: You want to create a Task Force with authority to make recommendations by February 1, 2026, on ways the City could change, eliminate or consolidate commissions to improve the administration of City government; require a financial report on the City's commissions; and give the Task Force authority to introduce ordinances to implement its recommendations, and if necessary, require the City Attorney to draft Charter amendments to submit to voters at a future election.
• A "NO" Vote: You do not want to make these changes.

1. The proposed Charter amendment would create a five-member Commission Streamlining Task Force to recommend changes to San Francisco's appointive boards and commissions.

2. If approved, the amendment is expected to have minimal initial impact on government costs, but could potentially reduce costs depending on future decisions.

3. In FY 2022-23, San Francisco paid approximately $350,000 for stipends and health benefits for 180 commissioners, with stipends ranging from $25 to $500 per meeting or $100 to $500 per month.

4. Changing, eliminating, or combining commissions could decrease the amount of staff time needed to support them, potentially freeing up staff for other government functions.

5. While the task force itself may increase costs if additional staff are hired to run it, the overall impact on government costs will depend on the recommendations made and subsequent actions taken by the Board of Supervisors or voters.