Intern Voice: Evelyn Conboy on Reducing the Number of City Commissions
Student intern Evelyn Conboy
Intern Voice features student interns in Supervisor Joel Engardio’s office who researched issues and wrote OpEds for their final project.
By Evelyn Conboy
San Francisco’s annual government budget has grown by 85 percent since fiscal year 2013-2014, but have our city services improved by 85 percent?
Currently, San Francisco has 130 commissions, which employ over 1,200 unelected commissioners. Commissions comprise a body of citizens who provide specialized guidance for certain city issues and oversee specific city departments, such as the Police Department or the Department of Public Works (DPW). The intended purpose of commissions is to create a proper system of checks and balances to hold city departments accountable. However, in reality, San Francisco’s numerous ineffective commissions have only led to more bureaucracy and wasted government time and effort.
On June 20th, 2024, San Francisco’s Civil Grand Jury wrote a report titled “Commission Impossible” exposing San Francisco’s failure of commission management. The Grand Jury report compared San Francisco to similar-sized cities and counties, like Los Angeles and San Diego, and found that in some cases, San Francisco has more than double the number of commissions. While commissions are an integral aspect of San Francisco's government, the number of commissions has swelled far beyond the government’s control and capacity.
San Francisco’s commissions also lack accountability. The city’s government currently has no comprehensive list of its commissions and there is no authority to monitor their effectiveness. Their lack of oversight paired with the fact that many commissions have significant decision-making power should concern voters and raise suspicion about who runs our city and how it is run.
While most people would agree that the powers of a group of unelected citizens should be purely advisory, many San Francisco commissions carry substantial weight when making decisions. For example, the Police Commission is a board of unelected officials who are responsible for recommending to the mayor a list of police chief nominees. The mayor is then bound to choose a chief from their list only. Furthermore, the mayor has no power to fire that department head. Instead, firing authority is left only to the Police Commission.
Additionally, each commission requires adequate staffing, extensive time, and senior government oversight. The amount of energy needed to staff and create each commission far exceeds most commissions’ results. The Civil Grand Jury reported that in 2023, twenty percent of commission meetings were canceled, which led to wasted administrative resources and delayed decisions, further frustrating city residents.
Commissions tend to create confusing responsibility entanglements, a game in which everyone points fingers and passes their responsibility to another department or commission.
Voters will get to decide between two ballot measures this November that address commission reform.
TogetherSF Action proposed a commission reform charter amendment to reduce the number of commissions and restore more power to the mayor and other elected officials.
Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin proposed a competing commission reform charter amendment.
The main differences between the two measures are that Peskin’s measure (1) would not create a maximum cap for commissions, (2) would create a commission-evaluating task force with legislative powers, and (3) would not allow direct hiring and firing of commissioners and city department heads.
As a young person and a future voter, I want our government to work for us. Elected officials must focus on serving their constituents rather than navigate a confusing maze of commissions. Meaningful commission reforms are a crucial step toward a more responsive, transparent, and efficient government. No one thinks our city’s services are eighty-five percent better than they were ten years ago, so it’s time for San Francisco’s government to become more accountable.
Evelyn Conboy is a junior at St. Ignatius College Preparatory in the Sunset and grew up in San Francisco on the westside. Her passions include community engagement and advocacy work. In her free time she enjoys reading and playing golf. At school she is involved with various clubs on campus such as the school newspaper, InsideSI, and other cultural and academic clubs. In the future, she hopes to pursue a career in law.
Student interns from left: Griffin Lee, Lucas Liang, (Supervisor Engardio), Evelyn Conboy, Sam Wolff
We had a talented class of interns this summer who worked in my City Hall office. Four assigned to my chief of staff focused on research. Their focus, talent, and ability to engage in critical thinking gives me hope for the next generation. As the saying goes, “the kids are alright!”
Read another OpEd by an intern in Supervisor Engardio’s office. Lucas Liang makes a case for reducing construction costs through better planning.