|
|
SPUR 2007 ANNUAL REPORT
PROGRAM UPDATES:
SPUR's Top Policy Goals for 2008
This article appears in the April 2008 issue of Urbanist
Good Government
SPUR’s Good Government program acts as a watchdog for the public interest.
We promote government efficiency and its ability to bring a higher level of service to the broadest group of residents and visitors. We want City government to perform well.
While the core of our good government work — analyzing the ballot, tracking the budget and capital plan and monitoring City procedures, contracts and charter changes — receives less attention than our good planning work, it is nevertheless crucial for the ability of the public sector to function effectively. SPUR promotes best practices from other cities, long-term thinking and ethics in government. By reforming the operations and processes of our local government, we hope to get better outcomes which, in turn, will lead to a better city.
Ballot analysis
In 2007, we reviewed 11 local measures for the November election. In a change from prior years, we spent a greater amount of time getting the word out about our positions – in part because two measures (Propositions A and C) were largely the product of SPUR’s analytic work. We led a fundraising push for our Voter Education Fund and used those funds to help those measures succeed at the ballot box. We presented our positions to the editorial boards of the San Francisco Chronicle and The Examiner newspapers, participated in radio debates on KALW-FM and appeared on local television. We also continued the tradition of “Ballots and Brews” with SPUR’s Young Urbanist group. While we lost longtime Ballot Analysis Committee co-chair Jim Andrew, we gained former SPUR staffer Greg Wagner, who joins SPUR Board Member Peter Mezey as co-chairman.
View the results of our 2007 ballot analysis at www.spur.org/documents/1107_ballot_analysis.shtm.
Ballot reform campaign wins
In 2005, SPUR formed a broad coalition of organizations to amend the process by which the mayor and the Board of Supervisors place propositions on the San Francisco ballot. Our shared goal was to improve the quality of public policy in San Francisco by modifying how measures appear on the local ballot – a process that has been abused by mayors and supervisors alike. Under prior rules, the mayor alone or four supervisors in concert, could put any ordinance or policy statement on the ballot without any hearing or legislative discussion. SPUR proposed and helped draft an amendment to the San Francisco City Charter measure that requires early introduction and public hearings for ordinances or policy statements introduced by the mayor or the Board of Supervisors.
The measure, Proposition C, won with 68 percent of the vote in November of 2007. SPUR and our partner organizations were able to create enough support to get a majority of the Board of Supervisors to place the measure on the ballot. Some of the organizations involved in the ballot reform campaign included the League of Women Voters San Francisco, the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce Small Business Network, Small Business Advocates and San Francisco Tomorrow. The measure already is working exactly as intended. Of the four mayor- and board-introduced ordinances initially submitted for the June ballot, three are proceeding as legislation instead, and will no longer appear before voters.
Public outreach on City budgeting
While we often hear about fights between the budget “priorities” of the Board of Supervisors and those of the mayor, the reality is that very little of the budget is truly discretionary. In truth, the City’s $6 billion budget has limited dollars available for the mayor and other elected officials to reorient to fund specific initiatives. As SPUR recognizes that debates on budget allocations are often heated, so we’ve made it a priority to educate the public about how the budget process actually works, what the budget funds and how best to interpret the budget as a document that reflects the collective values of society. SPUR followed the June budget process, participated in a radio show and wrote a policy paper on the impact of budget set-asides.
Read our recent policy paper on budget set-asides at http://www.spur.org/documents/030108_article_01.shtm.
The City begins its “Big Fix”
In early 2005, SPUR took the lead in identifying major problems in the City’s capital planning process. We wrote and distributed a policy paper, titled “The Big Fix,” in which SPUR estimated that the City had deferred billions of dollars in maintenance over the prior 20 years and concluded that the City fails to adequately maintain our existing assets because it does not adequately fund annual needs. Officials listened – and in 2006 the City announced the first citywide capital plan in 20 years. This $15.7 billion plan will address everything from street repairs to earthquake safety to the modernization of buildings. Last year, the plan underwent a second update in which some projects, including street paving, were fully funded for the first time ever. The updated plan also includes details of many upcoming bond measures. SPUR called for the bonds to include sufficient accountability mechanisms. While the plan has raised local attention to our annual capital needs, huge funding gaps remain for the City’s backlog of deferred maintenance.
Learn more about the City’s Capital Plan at www.sfgov.org/site/port_index.asp?id=45611.
MFAC and SPUR merge
For 30 years, the Municipal Fiscal Advisory Committee has provided private expertise to assist with City government challenges and has conducted an awards program to recognize mid-level City employees for excellence in public management. In 2007, MFAC merged its activities with SPUR’s Good Government program. SPUR continued MFAC’s tradition of pro-bono consulting; managed the nomination process for the Public Managerial Excellence Awards; conducted the MFAC briefing to the Controller’s Office; and kicked off the MFAC Good Government lecture series. By leveraging private sector expertise to solve public sector problems, MFAC continues to provide guidance and input to City staff on policy, management and fiscal issues.
To learn more about MFAC, visit www.mfac.org.
|
|
