Supervisor Mercarini introduces package of ordinances on reentry court, election-day registration, electronic documents and parking tax enforcement

Supervisor Mercarini used his introduction time to advance a package of measures he described as a “regular garden patch of policy considerations,” offering four distinct policy proposals the board will consider in coming weeks.

Mercarini said he would introduce an ordinance to authorize the city’s reentry council to work with the San Francisco Superior Court to create and operate a reentry court. He said the Superior Court had received a grant from the California Emergency Management Agency to create a reentry court, and that the court’s grant requires a steering committee; Mercarini proposed the city’s existing reentry council serve that role.

Mercarini also introduced an ordinance to prescribe procedures for election-day voter registration in municipal elections as the local implementing law for Proposition E, the measure on the November ballot. The ordinance, he said, would permit voters who register on election day to cast provisional ballots so their registration can be verified before a ballot is counted. He said staff had consulted with the Department of Elections and the California Secretary of State on the draft and that the ordinance would take effect only if Proposition E is approved by voters.

On city operations, Mercarini proposed an ordinance to require that city-generated documents longer than 10 pages be distributed electronically unless an individual opts out; the measure would allow exceptions where hard copies are legally required or standard business practice and would not prohibit producing hard copies upon request. Mercarini framed the proposal as an effort to reduce the city’s paper use and related costs.

Finally, Mercarini described two related ordinances intended to strengthen enforcement of the city’s existing parking tax. He said the 97 pages of draft ordinances close loopholes, increase penalties for failure to file tax returns and for administrative citations, improve enforcement of revenue-control equipment requirements, increase bond amounts parking operators must post (with the city able to claim bonds if operators do not pay taxes), and authorize the tax collector to revoke permits or shut down operators who fail to comply.

Mercarini thanked co-sponsor Supervisor Bevan Dufty and staff in the treasurer’s and city attorney’s offices, naming David Augustine and deputy city attorneys Julie Van Nostrand and Jean Alexander for their work. All of these measures were introduced by Mercarini at the meeting; no committee votes or final board votes on these ordinances were recorded in the transcript.