The people of every city make determinations about the power and authority they assign to the elected mayor, the elected city council or supervisors, professional city administrators, civil service employees, and appointed boards and commissions. A number of functions are appropriately assigned to our elected officials, while some powers should have a degree of insulation and protection from undue political influence.
San Francisco’s Proposition F seeks to make significant revisions to the balance of those roles in the city. While many of the measure’s provisions are beyond the scope of ACLU NorCal’s mission, changes to the Elections Commission and Police Commission are concerning enough to our local democracy and civil liberties that we oppose Prop F.
Currently, members of the Elections Commission may be removed only for “gross misconduct” following a fair and rigorous removal process articulated in Section 15.105 of the City Charter. Prop F retains that high bar for removal of members of the Civil Service Commission and the Ethics Commission but eliminates that protection for the Elections Commission. The Elections Commission, which oversees all elections in San Francisco, should function free from political influence and should not be stripped of those protections.
Prop F also undermines the Police Commission’s independence, which is critical for transparency, accountability, and public trust. Due to our decades of work ensuring police accountability, particularly in San Francisco, we recognize the Police Commission’s essential role in providing civilian oversight of the Police Department. That is no easy task.
Although the full Board of Supervisors will continue to vote to approve police commissioners nominated by the mayor or the board’s Rules Committee, under Prop F the mayor or the Rules Committee will be able to unilaterally remove police commissioners they each nominate without a vote of the full board. Make a decision a mayor or a few members of the board do not like to hold the police department to account, and the result can be removal. No reason given. No vote by the board. Just removal.
The commission is often under tremendous political pressure from the SF Police Officers Association and other special interests that seek to influence department policy or interfere with determinations of officer misconduct. Prop F makes the Police Commission, and thus the Department of Police Accountability which it oversees, more susceptible to political influence, rather than an independent, rigorous policy-making body with the authority to conduct oversight needed to protect public safety and civil liberties.
Because the Police Commission has a role in setting department policy and in adjudicating officer misconduct, it is exactly the kind of commission that requires a degree of insulation from undue political pressure.
Furthermore, Prop F takes away the Police Commission’s power to fire the police chief, a central component of strong civilian oversight systems, and rests that power solely with the mayor.
Removing these checks and balances in City Hall for our elections and police accountability is not good for local democracy or civil liberties in San Francisco. For these reasons, we strongly urge a “No” vote on Prop F.
