Proposition A is a Charter amendment placed on the ballot by a vote of the Board of Supervisors. The measure contains the following major provisions: Creates a Homicide Prevention Planning Council, with 11 voting seats of public appointees—six appointed by the Board of Supervisors, five by the mayor—plus 18 additional non-voting members from City departments, and three ex officio members from the courts, school district…

In the absence of strong statewide planning and in the presence of weak local planning, stopping projects is what California does best. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) has become the tool of choice for stopping bad ones and good ones.

SPUR addresses Muni’s deficit, by sharply reducing costs and linking financial goals to long-term transportation goals.

SPUR's analysis of November 2005 ballot

This measure is a policy statement that concludes, “the people of San Francisco oppose U.S. military recruiters using public school, college and university facilities to recruit young people into the armed forces. Furthermore, San Francisco should oppose the military’s ‘economic draft’ by investigating means by which to fund and grant scholarships for college and job training to low-income students so they are not economically compelled…

Proposition H is an ordinance that would ban 
the sale, manufacture, transfer, or distribution
 of all firearms and ammunition in the City and County of San Francisco, and limit handgun possession for residents of the City and County 
of San Francisco, unless required for professional purposes as enumerated in the proposed ordinance. This measure was placed on the ballot by four members of the Board…

This ordinance is a simple, direct measure that seeks to clear up many years of very complex public exchanges relative to access to the underground parking structures that have been constructed at 
the Golden Gate Park Concourse. Its purpose is to clarify ambiguous language in a 1998 ballot measure regarding the southern entrance to the underground parking structures and allow operation of the nearly completed…

This ordinance would add a section to the San Francisco Administrative Code requiring the Fire Department to “maintain and operate firehouses and emergency apparatus at the same location and to the same extent as existed on January 1, 2004” and requires all 42 fire stations to remain open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It further requires that any relocation of equipment be…

This Charter amendment would move the election date for the Assessor-Recorder and Public Defender from the Statewide Primary Election
 in June to the following Municipal Election in November. The change would take effect the next time these offices are up for election, moving the election from June 2006 to November 2006. Proposition E was placed on the ballot by 
a vote of the Board of…

Proposition D is a Charter amendment that 
would change the process for appointing the
 Board of Directors that oversees the Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA). Currently all seven members of the MTA Board of Directors
 are appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the Board of Supervisors. Under Proposition D, the mayor would appoint four members, and the Board of Supervisors would appoint the remaining three…

This Charter amendment would require the mayor to submit to the Board of Supervisors, unchanged, the annual budget prepared by the Ethics Commission and the Controller’s Office based on a survey of other agencies in comparable jurisdictions. The budget then would be adopted or amended by the Board of Supervisors. The mayor would not have the ability to reduce or reject any expenditure authorized by…

This bond measure would provide $208 million primarily for San Francisco street re-surfacing and maintenance, but also for capital improvements, pedestrian and disabled access enhancements, bicycle upgrades, and other street-related physical improvements. If approved by voters, the measure will add roughly $9.50 annually per $100,000 of assessed value to property taxes, or $38 per year for a home with an assessed value of $400,000 until…

Proposition A is a $246 million general obligation bond. The proceeds would be used to fund facility renovations, remodeling, and new construction under City College of San Francisco’s (CCSF’s) Master Plan. The estimated average increase in annual property taxes resulting from this bond would be about $10.71 per $100,000 of assessed valuation, or $42.84 per year for a home with an assessed value of $400,000…

Jeff Tumlin spells out 10 lessons San Francisco can learn from Portland -- from providing free transit in the downtown area, to supplying street furniture to improving walkability.

Portland's successful public art program demonstrates that something impractical can also be purposeful. In the case of Portland's program, the wide ranging public art programs bring together the community, place, and planning.

The article describes the statewide context for successful regional planning in Portland, Oregon and how the city and its downtown in particular was able to benefit.

Gabriel Metcalf compares Portland's City Club and their research processes to SPUR's, discussing the varying roles the organizations play within their local governments and communities.

What can San Francisco do to improve voter participation?

A summary of the hidden costs of driving -- including air pollution, accident damages, congestion time and road maintenance costs, and the larger public policy implications for San Francisco.

Six years ago Mission Bay was home to a trailer park and the sprawling half-empty Port of San Francisco Maintenance Facility. The bridges linking the empty lots to the north to the empty lots to the south were seismic hazards. Today this 300-acre former railyard is being converted into a new UCSF campus, 6,000 homes and millions of square feet of commercial space.