League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	San Francisco County, CA November 4, 2008 Election
	Proposition C Prohibiting City Employees from Serving on Charter Boards and Commissions City of San Francisco Charter Amendment - Majority Approval Required Fail: 124,395 / 38.06% Yes votes ...... 202,419 / 61.94% No votes See Also: Index of all Propositions

Arguments For Proposition C

Arguments Against Proposition C

Prohibiting City employees from serving on City chartered commissions is simply an issue of good government. The issues that are faced and important votes that are cast on these commissions and boards can have a huge impact on the citizens of the City and County of San Francisco. San Franciscans need to be assured that the people representing them on these boards and commissions are as objective as possible and free from excessive influence. A City employee serving as a commissioner or board member may be asked to vote on issues that concern the department or agency that they work for possibly clouding their judgement. Such a conflict can make it very difficult for them to make an unbiased decision. We should not put City employees in this extremely untenable position. Also, City employees could use their potentially powerful positions on boards or commissions to advance themselves personally to fellow employees and should not be permitted. Proposition C will eliminate the potential for any conflict of interest relating to City employees and their service as voting members on these chartered commissions and boards. There must neither be nor appear to be any conflict of interest for our City employees. We urge a "YES" vote on Proposition C. Supervisor Jake McGoldrick Supervisor Chu Supervisor Elsbernd Supervisor Mirkarimi Supervisor Peskin, President, Board of Supervisors

If this charter amendment is approved, a San Francisco firefighter, for example, may never serve on the Environment Commission. How does this improve City government? This is a solution in search of a problem. Please vote NO. Bevan Dufty Sophie Maxwell Rebuttal to Arguments Against This measure is aimed at eliminating any potential conflict of interest in relation to City employees serving as members on City chartered boards and commissions. A City employee's vote could be influenced due to their position with their respected department. We want to make sure that our City employees are not put in these uncomfortable positions. A City employee has direct contact with their department and possibly other City departments on a daily basis. Many of the decisions on these boards and commissions deal with issues that involve City departments. The judgement of a City employee serving on a City chartered board or commission would have a greater chance of being questioned due to their close involvement with their respected department or agency and the City family of employees. When members of City chartered boards or commissions need an expert opinion from a City department in order to make a determination on an issue, they can request that a member of the appropriate department appear before them at a meeting. This will help provide the necessary information to the voting body and aid them in making the tough and important decisions that there are tasked with. Again, this is an issue of good government. With an adult population of over 600,000, there is no shortage of qualified, willing residents to serve as commissioners. Vote "YES" on Proposition C. Supervisor Jake McGoldrick Supervisor Carmen Chu Supervisor Sean Elsbernd Supervisor Mirkarimi Supervisor Aaron Peskin, President, Board of Supervisors