Good afternoon sf.citi members,
I’m writing to you this morning as a follow up to our members call yesterday. Please find additional detailed information below on the potential of a special election and a brief legislative update. This information was provided in addition to an overview of the member’s memo I sent last week. If you have any questions, please feel free to connect with me.
Legislative Update
At last Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, Supervisor Safai introduced a hearing request to review the economic impact of vacant office buildings in San Francisco, specifically in the Financial District, SOMA, and Embarcadero, due to the initial shelter-in-place ordinance, private company policies that promote working from home, and safety measures put in place to promote a return to in-person business. The Supervisor is requesting the following departments to prepare a report: The Office of Economic and Workforce Development, Department of Public Health, Department of Building Inspection, Controller’s Office, Small Business Commission and the City’s Economist. The item is currently pending committee action at the Land Use and Transportation Committee and has yet to be calendered. We will be sure to update you once it’s agendized.
DA Boudin Recall / Potential Special Election
The signature-gathering began this month for the effort to recall the DA Boudin. The Committee Supporting the Recall of District Attorney Chesa Boudin is spearheading the petition, and if the threshold for signature requirements is met, the City would hold a special election this year. The petition would require 51,325 signatures by August 11th for the campaign to qualify for a special election. After going through the certification process, the Director of Elections has to call a special election on the recall to be held between 105-120 days after the certification process is complete. There is no date designated for the potential election.
We are actively looking into what is/isn’t allowed to be on a special election ballot and have been discussing this with the Department of Elections and the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors. So far, we’ve gathered that according to Prop 218, general taxes must be decided at a regularly scheduled local election, except in the case of an emergency declared by a unanimous vote of the local government’s governing body. Because of this, we believe the City’s only two options would be a general tax via emergency declaration and a unanimous vote from the Board, or, a special tax with a ⅔ voter threshold. We are still looking to confirm rules for special taxes in special elections, but at this time, we believe it is possible.
As a note, we foresee this being an unlikely option for the Board, especially as San Francisco will hold elections in June and November 2022 when there will be a much higher voter turnout. We are still in discussions with the Department of Elections and will certainly update the group with a follow-up memo once we’ve definitively determined the options available to the Board of Supervisors. If you have any questions or information to add, we welcome any feedback.
Lastly, I will be following up with a date and time to schedule a follow up members call in the next two to three weeks.
As discussed in the call, please reach out with any thoughts and feedback you have regarding the items above or other areas of policy.
Thank you for your continued membership.
Jen
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