Board of Supervisors approves ordinance creating Office of Harassment and Assault Response and Prevention

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Sept. 4 approved an ordinance to amend the Administrative Code to create an Office of Harassment and Assault Response and Prevention (Sharp) as a city department under the oversight of the Human Rights Commission.

Supervisor Ronan, who led the item on final reading, described a multi-month process that began with hearings in May and said the ordinance responds to repeated accounts from survivors who said they were improperly treated by city employees. "I first introduced the legislation on May 8 of, about 5 months ago," Ronan said, and recounted testimony at a board hearing from women who described mistreatment by police, the district attorney’s office and hospital staff. She said the office is intended to provide a place for survivors who feel "they are not being believed, they're being belittled, [or] not being respected." Ronan added, "And frankly, this experience is almost worse than the **** itself." (Transcript excerpts.)

Ronan also criticized a five‑page letter from the Municipal Attorneys Association delivered at 11:45 a.m. on the meeting day asking the board to postpone the final vote. She said the association had not engaged in earlier meet‑and‑confer sessions and that most bargaining units had participated. "To say that this has moved ... at the eleventh hour to send a five page letter asking us to postpone the legislation when nobody from the union ever reached out to me ... I am frankly, as an attorney myself, flabbergasted at the lack of professionalism," Ronan said. (Transcript excerpts.)

Supervisor Peskin said he differentiated between a union and a bargaining unit and agreed that the late submission made the request "too little, too late." After brief additional discussion, Ronan asked colleagues to approve the ordinance "unanimously on final vote." The clerk called the roll and recorded 11 ayes; the ordinance passed unanimously.

The ordinance text on final reading directs the administrative code change to establish the office, defines appointment rules for its director, and specifies employee qualifications and duties under the Human Rights Commission. The board did not attach an ordinance number or effective date in the public roll call; the clerk recorded the item as "Item 1" on final passage and the measure will be forwarded to the mayor for signature according to the city’s normal legislative process.

Why it matters: Supervisors framed the office as a response to repeated survivor complaints about city responses to sexual assault and harassment. Sponsors said the office is intended to be a resource when survivors say city employees — including law enforcement or prosecutors — have failed them or treated them disrespectfully.

What’s next: The ordinance passed final reading at the Sept. 4 meeting and will be transmitted to the mayor’s office for the mayor's signature and implementation steps. The meeting record does not include an ordinance number or an explicit timeline for hiring the director.