What is it?

Prop F gives the Mayor more direct control over City government, subject to oversight by the Board of Supervisors. The Mayor would gain the power to reorganize most City departments, hire and fire department heads, and remove them without a vote of the Board of Supervisors. Separately, most commissioners would serve at the pleasure of whoever appointed them, so the Mayor could remove the Mayor's own appointees at will, and the Board could remove the Board's. The measure also deletes a 1990s era ban on the Mayor hiring "deputy mayors" (akin to chiefs of staff or cabinet members) to supervise the administration of departments.

Today, most departments are written into the City Charter, so making any changes to them requires a vote of the people. Prop F would let the Mayor move duties between departments, or merge whole departments; Charter duties could move but not be eliminated. The Board could block a change within 30 days, or 60 days if an implementing ordinance is needed. Some departments would retain existing rules, including the Controller, City Administrator, Board of Appeals, Port, Airport, the Asian Art and Fine Arts Museums, and the police and sheriff oversight bodies.

Today, for most departments, an unelected commission gives the Mayor a list of at least three candidates to choose from and holds the power to fire whoever gets the job. The Police Chief is a partial exception: the Police Commission still assembles the list, but the Mayor can already remove the Chief without the Commission. F changes that for departments generally, giving the Mayor direct hire and fire authority over the heads of Planning, Building Inspection, Public Works, Homelessness and Supportive Housing, Small Business, and Entertainment. At the Municipal Transportation Agency and the Public Utilities Commission, the commission would still supply candidates, but the Mayor could remove the department head and would approve the employment contract and set the pay. Additionally, commissioners could be removed at will by whoever appointed them, rather than requiring written charges, an Ethics Commission hearing, and a three-fourths vote of the Board of Supervisors; though the Board of Appeals, Civil Service Commission, and Ethics Commission keep the current process.

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Why vote Yes?

When a City department fails, you expect the Mayor to fix it. But Mayor Lurie says he can hire and fire just 6% of the City's department heads, and that replacing a failing one can take six to twelve months. Most of the rest answer to unelected commissions, which pick the candidates and decide who keeps the job. The Mayor you elected can only make a recommendation.

Prop F closes that gap. The Mayor would choose department heads, reorganize departments that aren't working, and answer to you for the results. As SPUR adviser and former City Controller Ed Harrington put it, "if you want the mayor to be held responsible, you have to give them authority to make decisions."

The checks are real. The Board of Supervisors can still block any reorganization, and on police accountability the measure cuts the other way: appointing the police-accountability director moves from the Mayor to the Police Commission. Yes, this is Mayor Lurie's own measure, and it gives his office more power. It also gives you someone to hold responsible.

Vote yes on Prop F.