Supervisors advance charter amendment to create Department of Sanitation and Streets in first reading

The Board of Supervisors on July 21 approved in first reading a charter amendment that would create a new Department of Sanitation and Streets and a separate Public Works commission to oversee remaining public‑works functions. The first‑reading vote was 7–4; the item now advances toward final city‑wide consideration if subsequent steps are completed.

Supervisor Shamann Haney, the measure’s sponsor, said the change is intended to focus city resources and management on street cleaning, trash removal, public bathrooms and related sanitation services. “Our streets are often covered with feces and needles, and soaked in urine,” he told the board. “There are not enough pressure washing, public bathrooms, and a lack of strategy or baselines to get the job done.” Haney and co‑sponsors said the Department of Public Works is too large and dispersed to give sanitation the priority residents demand.

The proposal would delay the new department’s effective date until 2022, require performance audits, and create two citizen commissions: one to oversee the new sanitation department and another to oversee the remaining Public Works functions. The sponsors also negotiated cost reductions and provisions intended to protect existing frontline workers.

Opponents, including Supervisor Catherine Stefani, said the city budget faces a multi‑billion dollar shortfall and that new departments risk adding administration rather than boots on the ground. “Investing in new bureaucracy will not be the best use of our scarce resources for the foreseeable future,” Stefani said. Supervisor Ahsha Safaie, who represents the Tenderloin and has experience working in DPW, said he backs the measure’s goal but emphasized the need for robust staffing and implementation planning before creating a new bureaucracy.

After extensive amendments to reduce cost and to delay the department’s start date, the board voted 7–4 to pass the amendment on first reading. Supporters called the result an important step to give voters a chance to consider the charter change; opponents said they feared adding long‑term costs during a recession.

Ending: If the charter amendment receives the additional approvals required under city rules, it will go on the ballot for voter approval. The charter change includes audit and reporting requirements and a delayed implementation date to ensure budget years 2020–21 and 2021–22 are not immediately affected.