In 2020, voters approved an overhaul of San Francisco Public Works. This week, the Board of Supervisors moved forward to ask the electorate to largely reverse that vote. More than 60 percent of voters approved Proposition B in 2020 to amend the city charter and split the department in two. The measure called for the creation of a Department of Sanitation and Streets, and a Sanitation and Streets Commission to oversee it. It also called for a Public Works Commission to oversee what remained in Public Works. That measure was meant to ensure transparency and oversight.
The decision will put another measure on the ballot in November on whether to remove several elements of Prop. B that have yet to be implemented. Among them: The creation of a Department of Sanitation and Streets and its separate director; an audit requirement; and required qualifications for higher-ups. The two new oversight commissions created by Prop. B would remain in place, with some modifications.
Despite concerns voiced by Laborers Local 261 union and some supervisors about the purpose and value of the original Prop. B, which many current supervisors supported in 2020, the majority of the Board approved the new measure on Tuesday. Supervisors Shamann Walton, Gordon Mar and Ahsha Safaí voted against the proposal. District 3 Supervisor Aaron Peskin supported Prop. B in 2020, but is now leading the effort to roll it back. In recent months, as the process to begin implementing Prop. B’s requirements began, Peskin said he began to experience “buyer’s remorse.”