Support Smart Government Reform
The Problem
San Francisco’s commission system is bloated, confusing, and outdated.
San Francisco’s system of City commissions, made up of over 1,000 commissioners, is supposed to provide residents with a voice in government and improve transparency and accountability. Unfortunately, the system is broken:
1. Public input is currently spread across 152 City Commissions that often overlap and fail to coordinate. This fragmentation dilutes public voices instead of amplifying them. Also, of these 152 commissions, only 115 are active and actually meeting. This means ~24% of total commissions don’t do anything.
2. Forty-two commissions are locked into the Charter, which is our City’s constitution, meaning even minor updates require a citywide election. As a result, outdated or ineffective commissions persist long after they stop working.
3. Many of these commissions make key government decisions unbeknownst to most residents. Notably, voters reasonably expect the Mayor to be accountable for managing City departments. But in reality, commissions are primarily responsible for hiring/firing City department heads.
4. Commission structures vary wildly: different term lengths, appointment rules, removal standards, and membership sizes. This complexity makes participating on commissions opaque and inaccessible to most residents.
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The Solution
The Commission Streamlining Task Force’s Good Government Charter Amendment
In November 2024, voters recognized the commission system’s problems and voted for Prop E to create a good government task force, the Commission Streamlining Task Force, to recommend reforms.
Chaired by long-time public servant, Ed Harrington, and composed of dedicated civil servants, the task force has conducted an extensive public review process, involving 21 public meetings, 556 total public comments, and over 320 unique public commentators.
Through this stringent public process, the task force has come up with the below smart good government reforms that we support:
1. Strengthen meaningful public participation in government by streamlining the commission system into 87 effective commissions. This means removing inactive and ineffective commissions such as the Sanitation and Streets Commission (which was created for a City department that doesn’t exist) and the Special Strike Committee (whose existence violates state law).
2. Improve our commission system’s ability to tackle new problems by moving the majority of commissions into the flexible administrative code. This move will make it easier for commissions to be updated to reflect the City’s changing needs.
3. Improve government accountability and transparency by clarifying commissions responsibilities and roles. Allow the elected Mayor to directly hire/fire most City department heads while preserving commissions’ oversight role.
4. Make commissions more understandable and easier to participate in by standardizing their structure i.e. appointment process, qualifications, term length and limits.
What We’re Calling For
Board of Supervisors put Commission Streamlining Task Force Charter Amendment on ballot for November 2026 Election.
Residents deserve an opportunity to vote on these good government reforms. That’s why we are calling for the Board of Supervisors to place the Commission Streamlining Task Force Charter Amendment on the ballot for this upcoming November 2026 election.
Their charter amendment will actually put into action the reforms we need to ensure our government is accountable, transparent, and effective.
Send a message telling the Board of Supervisors to put the charter amendment on the ballot by signing the petition below.
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