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Supervisors probe Planning Department reorganization and zoning-administrator reporting change
Summary
Director Richard Hillis defended a reorganization that creates a Community Equity division and shifts the Zoning Administrator into Current Planning for knowledge-sharing. Supervisors raised concerns about optics and ZA independence; the committee asked for vacancy-level staffing data and continued the matter for follow-up.
The Board’s Land Use and Transportation Committee held a detailed review of the Planning Department’s recent internal reorganization, including the creation of a Community Equity division and a structural change that places the Zoning Administrator (ZA) under Current Planning rather than as a direct dotted-line to the Planning Director.
Director Richard Hillis said the changes were intended to consolidate expertise, improve staff development and embed racial and social equity into long-range planning work. "The division is charged with the development and implementation of our racial and social equity action plan," Hillis said, and he described moving the housing and code-interpretation staff into Current Planning so planners and code experts would be co-located.
Hillis emphasized that the ZA’s core authorities remain unchanged and noted that the ZA is a civil-service position. "I generally don't get involved in the ZA's decisions," Hillis said, adding that the reorganization aims to expand staff knowledge so planners better understand how the ZA interprets the code.
Supervisors pressed on the optics and the position’s independence. Supervisor Aaron Peskin said historically the ZA reported directly to the director and asked whether the new structure could be perceived as a demotion; Hillis responded that civil-service protections remain in place and that the change should strengthen institutional knowledge without impinging formal ZA authority.
The committee also discussed department funding and staffing: Hillis reported roughly $62 million in the department budget and about 250 authorized positions, and later said 29 positions were vacant across divisions (Environmental Planning 5, Current Planning 9, Citywide 6, Admin 4, Community Equity 4, Director's office 1). He said hiring had been constrained by pandemic-era declines in fee revenue.
Public commenters praised responsive staff and urged the department to improve staff work and project review procedures; others urged more systemic reforms. After public comment, the committee voted to continue the matter to the call of the chair for further review and requested a detailed org chart showing vacancies by division.
The discussion underscored a balance supervisors want preserved: improve staff capacity and equity-focused planning without undermining the perceived independence and quasi-judicial role of the ZA. The committee did not adopt ordinance changes; it requested follow-up and additional information.
