Opening Up City Hall
Participating in our City should easy and available to all.
April 29, 2020 - In San Francisco, we’re lucky to live in a community that prides itself on robust civic and political engagement. But, we need to face a stark reality: these values are not being realized fully for so many communities. By and large, City Hall looks too much like a political machine and too little like the public service center it should be. It listens to insiders and does little to bring in new voices. It sets up systems that disproportionately exclude families and working-class communities.
Just as The City is responding now to physical barriers that prevent us from gathering due to Coronavirus, it too should have been acting long ago to overcome socio-economic and generational barriers that have kept too many from participating in their city.
To achieve this, we need to take intentional steps to open up City Hall, bring departments and their staff into our neighborhoods, and meet people where they are.
Here’s our plan.
Offer Childcare at City Meetings
You should not have to arrange a sitter or plan weeks in advance to participate in your city. We should offer Childcare at both the Board of Supervisor and Planning Commission meetings. We can take inspiration from cities as far as Ithaca, NY and as close as Hayward, CA who have led on this issue and we can learn from their programs. Our city is strongest when families are active participants, and we must dismantle costly barriers that keep families from participating.
Hold More City Meetings in Neighborhoods
City Hall, despite its all its grandeur, can be an inconvenient and intimidating place to hold meetings. As your Supervisor, I’ll work with city departments to help them pledge to hold regular meetings and workshops in rotating neighborhoods throughout the City, rather than always at City Hall. City government should go where the people already are and see their concerns firsthand.
Permanently Offer Virtual Meeting Options
Many of our city’s most important decisions are made on Tuesdays at 2pm when the Board of Supervisors convenes at City Hall. This limits the participation of who is able to take off work to make a public comment or ask questions. This is why both the Board of Supervisors and other committees must continue to accept virtual participants, even after shelter-in-place orders are lifted.
Hold Regular Office Hours
Meeting with your Supervisor should not be a daunting gauntlet of playing calendar bingo or having to trek across town to City Hall. As Supervisor, I will hold weekly office hours in rotating neighborhoods. You’ll be able to clearly see when the hours are, where we’re located, and easily book a time to share your ideas or concerns.
Make Communication Transparent
All too often, I hear from my neighbors that their emails to City Hall have gone unanswered. It should not be the job of an everyday resident to chase down departments and Supervisors for an answer to their questions. We need to set goals for response times by office and enact accountability to make sure our residents are being responded to in a timely manner. Most city departments already are required to track their responsiveness, and the Supervisor’s office should be no different.
My campaign and my role as your Supervisor will be grounded in the goal of bringing people off the sidelines to participate in our city. As the noted urbanist Jane Jacobs said, “Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” This begins with giving everyone a fair chance to participate in their city government. This is our moment to live up to such an ideal. Let’s not miss it.
Add Your Support
Spread The Word
Share our plan with your neighbors and help us show what it will take to make a responsive, transparent City Hall that gives all of our residents a chance to participate.
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