November 2026: No Position on Prop F

What Is It?

Proposition F is one of three ballot measures that Mayor Lurie is promoting to reform aspects of city elections and governance. (The other two are Proposition D, which would make changes to the ballot measure process, and Proposition E, which would make changes to the City Administrator’s authority and to the City’s contracting procedures).

Currently, the Mayor has the authority to reorganize city departments created pursuant to ordinance (subject to disapproval by the Board of Supervisors), but not city departments established in the City’s Charter. Departments established in the City’s Charter of most concern to SFLCV include the Department of the Environment, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), the Planning Department, and the Recreation and Parks Department. 

The Mayor may hire and fire heads of departments created by ordinance. For departments established by the Charter and that operate under a board or commission, the Mayor generally may only hire a department head nominated by the board or commission. Those agency heads generally may only be removed by the board or commission that supervises the department, not the Mayor.

For most boards and commissions established by the Charter, members may be removed by their appointing authority only for official misconduct or conviction of a felony crime involving moral turpitude. If an appointing authority (the Mayor or, in some instances, the Board of Supervisors) initiates removal of a board member, the member is entitled to hearings before both the Ethics Commission and the Board of Supervisors. The removal becomes effective only if a three-fourths majority of the Board of Supervisors approves it.

Finally, the Charter prohibits the Mayor from appointing deputy mayors with the authority to supervise departments established by the Charter.

Proposition F would amend the Charter to allow the Mayor to reorganize and transfer the functions of most departments established in the Charter, unless the Board of Supervisors disapproves the reorganization. The Mayor could not eliminate any duties established in the Charter, but could generally transfer those duties from one department to another. The Mayor could not reorganize certain specified Charter departments, including SFMTA, SFPUC, and the Port.

Proposition F would also allow the Mayor to remove almost all department heads at will. The Mayor would be able to hire most department heads without board or commission involvement. For SFMTA and SFPUC, however, the Mayor could hire as department head only individuals recommended by the boards overseeing those agencies.

In addition, Proposition F would allow the appointing authority (i.e., the Mayor or the Board of Supervisors), to remove members of most Charter boards and commissions without cause and without a right for hearings before the Ethics Commission and the Board of Supervisors.

Finally, Proposition F would allow the Mayor to hire deputy mayors with supervisory authority over Charter departments.

SFLCV Recommendation

Proposition F would make important changes to mayoral authority and the autonomy of members of Charter-established boards and commissions. Those changes have significant pros and cons. After much discussion, SFLCV board members could not reach agreement on recommending a yes or no vote on Prop F. We ultimately decided to provide an evaluation of the pros and cons.

Pros

Currently, unelected officials have significant say over adopting and implementing many City policies. That reduces the ability of elected officials to implement their priorities and can make it easier for them to avoid political accountability.

The existence of multiple veto points and opportunities for delay in adopting and carrying out City policies can seriously impede the City’s ability to address pressing problems, including environmental problems.

The difficulty of removing members of Charter-established boards and commissions can result in members remaining in place through inertia even when there are significant questions about the quality or integrity of their work.

Requiring that any reorganization of a Charter-established department be approved by the voters can make it very difficult to fix even broadly recognized administrative inefficiencies in those departments.

Cons

The Mayor already has very significant formal and informal authority regarding hiring and firing department heads. The authority of a limited number of Charter-established boards and commissions to play a role in the hiring and firing of some department heads provides important opportunities for public input and can be a check on corruption and other improper influences. 

Boards and commissions more generally provide a very important avenue for public participation. Members of those boards and commissions should carry out their responsibilities on the basis of the law and the facts, not political pressure. Making membership contingent on the continued pleasure of the member’s appointing authority may degrade the quality of decision-making, reduce independent oversight, and increase opportunities for corruption.

Placing too much authority in the hands of the Mayor has the potential to allow one individual to cause serious harm. Maintaining checks and balances on mayoral authority is necessary to avoid the kinds of abuses that can occur in their absence.

SFLCV encourages voters to evaluate these pros and cons in deciding how to vote on Prop F.