Supervisors approve charter change syncing city attorney and treasurer elections to higher-turnout cycle

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to submit a charter amendment that would change the election cycle for city attorney and treasurer, synchronizing those offices with higher-turnout citywide elections for mayor, district attorney and sheriff.

President Chu presented the amendment and described its goals as increasing voter participation and saving city resources. "City attorney and treasurer ... are two very, very important offices in San Francisco. That one election is a notoriously low-turnout election. The idea here is consolidation and making sure that we have a much higher voter participation," Chu said.

The board recorded an 11-0 roll call vote to pass the charter amendment on first reading; President Chu said the change would save taxpayers approximately $4.3 million every four years by eliminating a separate low-turnout election. Under the version presented, the treasurer and city attorney would stand for election in November 2013 and again in November 2015 to align terms.

Why it matters: Consolidating these races into a higher-turnout cycle is intended to increase voter engagement for two offices responsible for city legal and financial oversight and to reduce the city’s election costs.

Action taken: The board passed the charter amendment on first reading with an 11-0 vote and submitted it to the process for placement before voters.

Context: The item had returned from committee with modifications to place the synchronization on a November ballot rather than a June ballot as previously discussed. The board's motion asked that the amendment be sent to the voters for final approval.

Quotes used in this story come from President Chu's remarks and the roll-call announcements during the meeting.