SF moderates: how we restore gov't accountability to the City That Knows How
Image by Pascal Hirt
A more proportionate budget. Board of Supes elected at-large (not by district). Elected gov't auditors—and more. Here, the San Francisco Briones Society's “common-sense” suggestions to better manage their beloved city.
According to one ranking, San Francisco is the second worst-run city in America. It’s a miracle that we’re not number one. But, it’s important to remember that this dysfunction isn’t endemic. San Francisco was once a city that, while in many ways imperfect, still “worked” – and it can once again if we find the political courage to enact a series of common-sense reforms:
Less money = better government. A city of 800 thousand residents shouldn’t have a $14 billion budget. Period. A bloated city coffer only serves to attract the incompetent and the corrupt. … We should cut budget in half – back to where it was in 2014, when San Francisco had more residents and the City delivered better services.
Elect at-large members to the Board of Supervisors: Prior to 2000, supervisors were elected at large, meaning the 11 members of the Board were the highest vote-getters in citywide elections held every two years (the supervisors’ terms were staggered). In 2000, we moved to a system in which each supervisor is elected from one of the city’s 11 districts. … [T]he result has been a Board elected by powerful neighborhood groups and incentivized to serve parochial interests, yielding a collective action problem that blocks much-needed housing construction and homelessness services from moving forward. …
Reduce the number of commissions and transfer their authority back to the mayor. … [T]he policies and administration of many City departments are determined by bodies whose members are appointed by a combination of the mayor, the Board, and other interested parties. … [T]he result of this shared governance model has been sclerosis in reform and a neverending blame game between the various branches of government when things go wrong. For most departments and programs, there should be a single elected office in control, enabling voters to identify where the buck stops and hold the appropriate representative accountable.
Elect a Board of Auditors. … San Franciscans deserve the option to elect oversight officials who answer directly to them and who are politically incentivized to focus exclusively on cleaning up City Hall. Creating an elected Board of Auditors would align San Francisco with the majority of other California counties and US states whose auditors (or controllers with audit powers) are elected, rather than appointed. It would also professionalize the city’s audit function by entrusting it to full-time, qualified civil servants, rather than a patronage network of activists moonlighting as commissioners. …
Many government employees are competent, conscientious, and committed. But, over time, even the most well-meaning public servant can’t function effectively in a system that almost seems designed to fail. The result is a city that spends $60 thousand on a tent and $20 thousand on a trash can. The reforms outlined above aren’t a panacea, but they’re important first steps on the path back to a San Francisco that doesn’t spend $1.7 million on a toilet. Our government is broken. Let’s live up to our reputation as the City That Knows How and fix it.
Read the whole thing here.
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