San Francisco City Hall lit up red, white and blue during election season

Good Government

Our goal: Support a high-functioning public sector that serves the collective good.

SPUR’s Five-Year Priorities:

• Provide voters in San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland with in-depth analysis and recommendations for all ballot measures at the state, regional and city level.

• In each of our policy areas and cities, develop the government capacity necessary to address the region’s most pressing challenges.

 

Read our policy agenda

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 Event

Good Government Awards

The Good Government Awards honor outstanding managers working for the City and County of San Francisco, recognizing them for their leadership, vision and ability to make a difference in city government and in the community.

SPUR Report

Back in the Black

San José has the highest median household income of any major city in the country, but years of budget cuts and staffing reductions have left the city in a precarious position. SPUR and Working Partnerships USA explore how San Jose can bolster its resources and deliver high-quality public services.

SPUR Event

SPUR Impact Awards

The Impact Awards Luncheon, honors the outstanding contributions by employees of city and county governments, public agencies and nonprofit organizations in Santa Clara County. The awards celebrate significant accomplishments in the areas of housing, transportation, placemaking and urban design, community advocacy, and sustainability and resilience.

Updates and Events


Good Government Awards 2018: Sonali Bose Oversees Billions to Help SFMTA Innovate 

News /
The 2018 Good Government Awards, held on March 21, recognized outstanding job performance of those serving the City and County of San Francisco. The ceremony honored Sonoli Bose for her deep knowledge of city government, her strategic vision and her ability to forge successful interagency partnerships as SFMTA's revenues grew significantly.

Good Government Awards 2018: The Dahlia Housing Portal Transformed How San Franciscans Find Affordable Housing

News /
The 2018 Good Government Awards, held on March 21, recognized outstanding job performance of those serving the City and County of San Francisco. The ceremony honored the DAHLIA Housing Portal team who created a centralized listing for affordable housing in the city, replacing a cumbersome paper-based process that created confusion and distrust among prospective applicants.

Evergreen Senior Homes Initiative: Vote No in June

News /
This June, voters in San Jose will consider the Evergreen Senior Homes Initiative, a ballot measure that would approve a plan to build 900 housing units for seniors on a 200-acre parcel in the Evergreen area. The measure would create significant exemptions from the priorities laid out in the Envision San Jose 2040 General Plan and weaken inclusionary housing requirements. SPUR recommends voting "no."

2017 Silver SPUR Awards: How Dr. Nadine Burke Harris Is Transforming Response to Early Childhood Adversity

News /
Pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris is a leader in the movement to transform how we respond to early childhood adversity and stress. She serves as an expert advisor on the Too Small to Fail initiative and on the American Academy of Pediatrics National Advisory Board for Screening. Her book The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity will be released in January of 2018.

2017 Silver SPUR Awards: How Steve Nakajo Champions San Francisco’s Japanese Community

News /
Steve Nakajo is a civic leader and longtime champion of San Francisco’s Japanese American community. In 1971, he co-founded (with Sandy Mori) Kimochi, Inc., a successful community-based nonprofit, to bring social services to non-English-speaking seniors of Japantown. A longtime instructor in the Asian American Studies and MSW programs at San Francisco State University, Nakajo served on the the City’s Fire Commission and the Arts Commission.