We believe: The public sector can and should serve the collective good.
Our Goals
• Improve government’s capacity to provide services and address challenges effectively.
• Support voter engagement.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Local bond measures to fund essential services often garner the support of a majority at the ballot box yet fail to pass because they don’t meet California’s requirement that bonds be approved by a two-thirds supermajority. Proposition 5 would amend the state constitution to lower the voter approval threshold for bonds to fund housing, infrastructure, wildfire prevention, and parks.
In a new report, SPUR’s Nicole Neditch untangles San Francisco’s complex system of governance, a structure that has evolved over the course of decades. As a results of this complexity, the city can’t always implement policies effectively and doesn’t always meet the needs of the people it serves. We spoke with Nicole about SPUR’s call for a redesign that prioritizes leadership, empowerment, and accountability.
Over time, San Francisco’s governance structure has evolved to distribute authority and maximize oversight. As a consequence, policies don’t always meet the needs of the people they were intended to serve. The lack of clear, coordinated action to address big challenges has led to a growing perception that city government isn’t working. SPUR’s latest report outlines how San Francisco can choose to design a better system that supports leadership and empowerment with clear lines of accountability.
The rise of remote work and other economic changes have exposed vulnerabilities in San Francisco’s business tax structure. The city’s controller and treasurer have studied potential tax reform recommendations for a possible November 2024 ballot measure. Their proposal aims to increase the city’s economic resilience, create more transparency for taxpayers, and help struggling small businesses.
On October 25th, MTC Commissioners discussed and voted on proposed amendments that will eliminate the need for jurisdictions to comply with the Transit-Oriented Communities Policy in order to receive transit extension funding. A coalition of regional policy and advocacy organizations urged the Commission to not arbitrarily lower thresholds for policy compliance due to some Bay Area cities resisting compliance. These actions will weaken incentives to comply with the policy and undermine its purpose of helping the region achieve its goals for the climate and equity under Plan Bay Area.
On October 13th, MTC staff presented to the MTC-ABAG Planning Committee proposed actions to amend funding conditioning for transit rail extension projects from complying with the TOC Policy. Our coalition expressed concern with the proposed amendments that would delay or lower thresholds for compliance - weakening the policy in the process and undermining its purpose of helping the region achieve its goals under Plan Bay Area. We are particularly concerned that the proposed changes could significantly undermine the climate and equity goals of the policy.