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San Francisco Planning Commission adopts resolution centering racial and social equity; calls for community oversight and new metrics
Summary
After hours of public testimony, the Planning Commission unanimously adopted a resolution directing the Planning Department to center racial and social equity in its work program, expand funding for community-based planning, and develop equity metrics and reporting. Commissioners and speakers urged stronger commitments to repair harms to Black, Indigenous and other communities of color.
The San Francisco Planning Commission unanimously adopted a resolution on Thursday directing the Planning Department to center racial and social equity in its work program, increase funding for community-based planning and develop public equity metrics and reporting.
The measure, introduced by Commissioner Millicent Johnson during the June 11 remote meeting, frames planning as both a historical driver of segregation and an active lever to reverse displacement. Commissioner Johnson told colleagues she had personal experience with fear while walking in the city and said planning decisions have contributed to “intergenerational” harms. She said, “Black lives matter,” and urged concrete reparative steps in the department's work.
Miriam Choon, a Planning Department presenter, reviewed the resolution's background and objectives, citing data included in the draft report: a steep decline in the city's Black population to roughly 5% and under-representation of American Indian residents. Staff listed actions in the draft: expanding the racial and social equity plan, using an equity assessment tool in budgeting, changing hiring and promotion practices, and funding community engagement and community-based planning projects.
Dozens of public commenters representing community groups, nonprofits and neighbors urged the commission to make the resolution binding and to add a community oversight body. Calls ranged from adding more family-sized affordable homes to halting certain market-rate projects; community groups asked that amendments from frontline organizations be incorporated. Multiple speakers asked the commission to require formal metrics, a permanent community oversight committee, and targeted funding for communities most harmed by past planning.
Commissioners debated language and scope, including how to resource Phase 2 of the department's equity plan and whether the commission should direct staff to accept specific community-submitted amendments. Commissioner Dylan Chan and others recommended clear definitions of "racial and social equity," funding commitments for community partnerships, and stronger hiring metrics. The commission read several staff-drafted amendments into the record covering increased resources for Phase 2, metrics, and centering community engagement.
After the debate and amendment read-ins, the commission voted to adopt the resolution and the staff-read amendments; the motion passed unanimously, 7'to'0. Commissioner- and public-requested next steps include returning with a Phase 2 work plan, specified equity metrics, and proposals for how community partners will be funded and engaged.
The commission also directed staff to return with budget and implementation plans that align the department's resources with the resolution's goals. The record shows staff will present follow-up proposals in July and during the department's next budget discussions.
The resolution does not itself appropriate funding; it authorizes staff to operationalize the objectives and brings the conversation about reparative and community-centered planning into the department's formal work program and budget discussions.
