San Francisco, CA — Today, Mayor London N. Breed issued an Executive Directive to initiate comprehensive Charter Reform in San Francisco. The current version of the San Francisco Charter was adopted by voters in 1995, and this would be the first comprehensive reform effort in 30 years.
“The current charter, with its layers of bureaucracy added over the years, has created inefficiency and diffused accountability across our governance structures,” said Mayor London Breed. “The good news is that we can fix this by stepping back and reconsidering the Charter as a whole. That time is now.”
The Executive Directive asks the City Controller and City Administrator to work with good government experts and City officials to identify key areas of improvements, and to establish a public outreach and education process with City leadership, residents, businesses, and labor partners to consider changes to the Charter.
The goal of this Executive Directive will be to develop, draft and pass a Charter Reform measure at the Board of Supervisors to be placed on the November 2026 ballot.
“Too often, our City government acts more like a collection of loosely affiliated departments than a unified municipal government with clear lines of accountability and oversight. Much of this dysfunction is baked into our Charter, and it’s high time for us to take a comprehensive look at that foundational document,” said Supervisor Rafael Mandelman. “I’m thrilled that Mayor Breed is taking on this project, and I’m looking forward to working with her on it. Common sense reforms can meaningfully improve how City Hall functions and most importantly, ensure our local government delivers for the residents of San Francisco.”
Specifically, the Executive Directive sets the following requirements:
- The City Controller and City Administrator shall establish a thorough outreach and implementation process, outlining public meeting timelines and input requirements from City leadership, residents, businesses, and labor partners, with an end goal of placing comprehensive Charter Reform on the November 2026 ballot.
- The City Controller and City Administrator, working with the support of the City Attorney and good government experts, shall collect data and analyze opportunities to reform the Charter to increase the effectiveness of government and improve the delivery of services to our residents. These areas should include, but are not limited to, consolidating City Departments, overhauling Commission structures, improving accountability in the Executive Branch, and updating the legislative process to ensure that new rules can be implemented.
- The City Controller and City Administrator, working with the support of the City Attorney and good government experts, shall propose a range of recommendations for consideration to improve the identified areas.
- The Office of the Mayor, the City Controller and City Administrator, working in partnership with the Board of Supervisors, shall collect input from internal stakeholders, commissioners, residents, businesses and labor partners, as well as conduct public meetings both inside and outside of City Hall to consider the different recommendations for Charter Reform.
- The Office of the Mayor, working in partnership with the Board of Supervisors and City Attorney, shall finalize the charter reform measure for the 2026 ballot.
“Today’s Executive Directive creates a valuable opportunity to examine how the Charter impacts our ability to deliver public services and to operate more efficiently,” said Rachel Cukierman, Deputy City Administrator, on behalf of City Administrator Carmen Chu who is on maternity leave. “We look forward to working with the Controller and other City partners to improve the effectiveness of our City services.”
“It’s the right time to ensure that laws are keeping pace with our ever-evolving city,” said Controller Greg Wagner. “Our office is looking forward to taking a fresh look at our Charter with the City Administrator and City Attorney. This project is a big undertaking with an important goal of ensuring the Charter is best set up to serve our residents.”
Recently, SPUR released a report – “Designed to Serve” – highlighting opportunities for comprehensive Charter Reform. Mayor Breed has asked SPUR to participate, along with other good government groups, in this process to bring expertise of how local governments could improve efficiency.
“At SPUR, we believe that local government can and should be designed to serve the community,” said Alicia John-Baptiste, President and CEO of SPUR. “Sometimes, it’s important to step back and evaluate whether the system we have in place is structured to allow the government to play this critical role effectively and if not, how it should change. We’re thrilled to have an opportunity to support this important process and look forward to the work ahead.”
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