Candidate for
City Attorney; City of San Francisco

Law Above Politics

I am running for City Attorney to change the direction of the office, which, I believe, is unduly influenced by monied and connected interests in San Francisco - hence, "Law Above Politics."

I made this declaration when I first filed my intent to run before the incumbent withdrew from the race. It is interesting, now that the incumbent has withdrawn from the race, that each of the other candidates has copied my original campaign theme of reform.

The City Attorney's office should be committed to providing the highest quality and timely legal services to all of the elected and appointed officials of the City and County of San Francisco. However, emphasis must be placed on the ethical provision of said legal services and advice without regard to political influence.

Protecting the public's interest in the integrity of government is the heart of the office. All action or inaction by the office must reflect this paramount obligation. The City Attorney should be the people's lawyer, not the privileged people's lawyer. The contributions flowing into my opponents' campaigns confirm that my opponents represent more of the same - money and privilege in politics and City Hall.

Major issues

Some of the major issues are:

• Improper governmental action: The City Attorney should act aggressively to curb improper governmental actions. I believe that the City Attorney does not solely act at the behest of other elected officials, but has an additional ethical duty to curb manifestly improper governmental actions.

• Open government: An open government makes for better governance. I will enforce the state and city sunshine laws as they are now written. I will also re-examine the city's ordinances to clarify specific notice requirements, remove potential conflicts of interest, and remove procedural bars to public access.

• Creating a pro-neighborhood culture: The voices of all San Franciscans need to be heard - and heeded - at the departments and before the commissions. For too long in City Hall, most access has been granted based on connections and privilege, money and campaign contributions. I will ensure that the legal advice provided departments and commissions, the Mayor and the Board, is impartial, without bias against the neighborhoods.

• MUNI and transportation: Despite the promise by Mayor Brown to "fix MUNI within 100 days," claims against MUNI continued to represent more than 50% of all claims handled by the City Attorney's office. This drain of resources from MUNI and the City Attorney's office will be one immediate focus under my administration.

• Consumer Protection/Affordability of San Francisco: Every candidate that has entered the City Attorney's race has done so with the promise to "serve the people" and to make the City Attorney's office a "public interest law firm." I am the only candidate who has already been doing it!

• The voting public must hold San Francisco's future City Attorney to the campaign spending limits pledge. Some of my opponents incredibly have vowed to violate the spending limits pledge.

The City Attorney's office can and should be:

1. an advocate for tenants' rights, taking immediate action against landlords who violate the City's ordinances,

2. be a public advocate for consumers moving to enforce the Raker Act for the benefit of the City's residents,

3. requiring the Refuse Collection and Disposal Board to comply with the Charter provision and other agreements limiting Nor-Cal's profit margin to the eight and one quarter percent and do environmental review,

4. end the use of the redevelopment authority as a "candy store" for developers who are enabled to ignore the City's General Plan and codes, as well as skirt the State Redevelopment law; and

5. vigorously and whole-heartedly enforce CEQA and other environmental protections afforded by law rather than merely paying lip service to said requirements and issuing, as matter of course, negative declarations and exemptions from environmental safeguards.

The City Attorney's Duties

The City Attorney is the second most important elected City official in San Francisco. As such, the office advises every City department, including the Office of the Mayor. In addition, the City Attorney's office writes all City contracts and oversees the selection process of all bids and proposals. Finally, it is the Office of the City Attorney which litigates on behalf of the City, both defending lawsuits and prosecuting civil actions.

The duties of the Office of City Attorney are spelled out in the San Francisco Charter. How the Office goes about meeting its responsibilities is what will define its "mission." The City Attorney should be committed to providing the highest quality and timely legal services to the City, its departments and all of the elected officials. Emphasis must be placed on the ethical provision of said legal services and advice must be given without regard to political influence. The "client" is the public entity (the City) and ultimately the public itself. All action or inaction by the Office must reflect this paramount obligation.

The Office's current organizational approach is through four "teams" - litigation, administration, general law, and claims and investigations. At this time, I see no reason to alter that structure; however, I will reevaluate the organizational structure after some time in office, perhaps with an eye toward creating a public interest team. I believe that the specific organizational structure is not paramount in determining the Office's direction. I believe that it will be the direction that comes from the City Attorney that will define the way the Office approaches governance.

A New Dynamic

The following examples illustrate why a new approach - a new dynamic - is needed in City Hall:

• It is the City Attorney who advises city commissions on the right or wrong process by which to award multi-year, multi-million dollar contracts.

• It is the City Attorney who recommends the appropriately legal development processes in residential tear-downs.

• It is the City Attorney who determines what and whom are subject to pubic disclosure # the Brown Act # and what and whom can remain secret.

• It is the City Attorney who advises the Board of Supervisors as to the fine nuances of the law when drafting legislation.

• It is the City Attorney, who drafts the minute legal points for virtually every transaction or project, recommending the specific language by which that deal will be interpreted, paid and concluded.

• And finally, and maybe most importantly, it is the City Attorney who selects which downtown law firms are rewarded with multi-million dollar consulting contracts # many of which firms simultaneously represent the public utilities, monopolies and companies for whom they are charged to regulate. Most of those firms are pouring contributions into the campaigns of my opponents.

Steve Williams