Civil grand jury faults San Francisco IT governance, urges consolidated ICT budget and stronger CIO authority

The civil grand jury told the Board of Supervisors on Oct. 29 that San Francisco’s information‑technology operations remain fragmented and inefficient, urging the city to consolidate budgets and strengthen the City CIO’s authority to stop ‘‘repeated and costly’’ duplications.

Morton Rafael, chair of the civil grand jury’s investigative committee, told the Government Audit and Oversight Committee that interviews and prior audits show a persistent ‘‘culture that protects organizational status quo and department independence’’ and said the lack of formal ties between departmental technology leaders and the City CIO has produced ‘‘continuous unnecessary costs, unnecessary duplication of services, and unnecessary inefficiencies.’’

Why it matters: The grand jury said the city cannot reliably track what it spends on IT, how much has been saved by consolidation projects, or where savings would appear department‑by‑department — findings that bear directly on whether city technology investments are delivering promised public value.

The jury cited large, lingering projects and uneven consolidation efforts as evidence. It noted the controller’s aggregated technology…