Governance
We believe: The public sector can and should serve the collective good.
• Improve government’s capacity to provide services and address challenges effectively.
• Support voter engagement.
Our Goals
SPUR Report
Designed to Serve
San Francisco’s governance structure has evolved to distribute authority and maximize oversight. As a result, policies don’t always meet the needs of the people they intend to serve. SPUR outlines how San Francisco can choose to design a better system.
SPUR Report
Designed to Serve
San Francisco’s governance structure has evolved to distribute authority and maximize oversight. As a result, policies don’t always meet the needs of the people they intend to serve. SPUR outlines how San Francisco can choose to design a better system.
SPUR Voter Guide
The SPUR Voter Guide
The SPUR Voter Guide helps voters understand the issues they will face in the voting booth. We focus on outcomes, not ideology, providing objective analysis on which measures will deliver real solutions.
SPUR Voter Guide
The SPUR Voter Guide
The SPUR Voter Guide helps voters understand the issues they will face in the voting booth. We focus on outcomes, not ideology, providing objective analysis on which measures will deliver real solutions.
SPUR Report
Making Government Work
Many of the challenges Oakland faces are worsened by its unusual government structure, which makes it harder for the mayor and other officials to do their jobs well. SPUR explores how the city can adapt its governance structure to better serve Oaklanders.
SPUR Report
Making Government Work
Many of the challenges Oakland faces are worsened by its unusual government structure, which makes it harder for the mayor and other officials to do their jobs well. SPUR explores how the city can adapt its governance structure to better serve Oaklanders.
Updates and Events
Path to Better Governance: Oakland Mayor’s Working Group Releases Recommendations for Charter Reform
News / The League of Women Voters Oakland and SPUR co-facilitated Mayor Barbara Lee’s Charter Reform Working Group over the past six months. The collaborative process engaged more than 750 Oakland residents through public meetings and listening sessions, conducted over 60 interviews with officials and experts, and collected 433 survey responses plus written comments. Residents expressed frustration with unclear accountability and called for structural changes. The working group has released its final report and ultimately recommends adopting a strong-mayor system with a strengthened City Council.
Op-Ed: There’s No Fixing San Francisco Without Fixing Its City Charter. Here’s How
News / In an op-ed for the San Francisco Chronicle, SPUR argues that the San Francisco City Charter is due for an overhaul. What was meant to be a concise constitutional framework has become a detailed and disjointed instruction manual. Riddled with outdated, duplicative, and overly specific provisions, the charter ties the city’s hands at precisely the moment when flexibility and adaptability are needed most.
Charter for Change
Policy Brief / San Francisco's 548-page city charter, expanded through amendments over time, is hindering effective governance and solutions for housing affordability, public safety, climate resilience, and other critical issues. The November 2026 election offers a chance to update it. Our policy brief proposes 10 changes that, if approved by voters, would empower city leadership, improve outcomes, access, and accountability, and create a more effective and responsive government.
SPUR Member Profile: Claudine Cheng
Urbanist Article / Claudine Cheng is an attorney specializing in regulatory compliance, corporate governance, and land use in San Francisco. A community advocate and activist, she believes that one of the most powerful tools for city wellbeing is a strong arts and culture scene. We asked her about the role arts and culture initiatives play in a city’s health.
Governing Adaptation
Urbanist Article / Meeting the challenge of sea level rise in the San Francisco Bay Area will require cities and counties to work together on adaptation efforts. Several promising local governance structures are already demonstrating how communities can work together on legally mandated subregional shoreline adaptation plans.
A New Governance Model for Downtown Revitalization
Urbanist Article / The downtown districts of San Francisco, San José, and Oakland all face high office vacancies and shuttered storefronts as hybrid workplaces and declining tourism lower the daytime population. As cities grapple with an oversupply of commercial spaces, leaders have an opportunity to revitalize downtowns in a way that creates more housing opportunities, enhances economic mobility through small-business ownership, invests in public infrastructure, and nurtures arts and culture organizations.