Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Vision Zero Procurement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Rules Committee debates waiver to speed up Vision Zero projects; action continued for a week
Summary
Supervisors debated a proposed ordinance to let SFMTA and Public Works waive certain local procurement and contracting requirements to accelerate approved Vision Zero projects; the committee accepted sponsor amendments and continued the measure to June 10 for drafting of clarifications and vendor safeguards.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Rules Committee on Monday debated an ordinance that would let the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) and the Department of Public Works use a limited, three-year authority to expedite approved Vision Zero safety projects by waiving certain local contracting and administrative requirements.
Sponsor Supervisor Chan said the measure is intended to clear a backlog of approved safety projects and speed installations that could reduce street fatalities. “We have a long ways to go to eliminate traffic fatalities,” Chan said, arguing the city needs a faster way to move projects from design into the ground and noting the bill expressly limits the authority to three years.
The committee’s deputy city attorney, Anne Pearson, said the ordinance does not name individual projects. “There is no such list because this legislation doesn’t expedite approvals for specific projects,” Pearson said, adding the text authorizes departments to expedite projects that meet the ordinance’s definition of a Vision Zero project, similar to prior waivers the board approved.
SFMTA’s Joel Ramos told supervisors he supported the objective but said staff could not provide program-level dollar figures or specific delay timelines at the hearing because project managers were out of the office. He said the agency presented a sample backlog to the Transportation Authority in April and displayed a quick-build project table for committee members. “We were excited about it because we share the supervisor’s goals in expediting the kinds of projects that would result in safety,” Ramos said.
Alex Burns of Public Works said staff identified about 15 pipeline projects—mostly streetscape safety improvements such as protected bike lanes, boarding islands and signal work—that could qualify and estimated waiving certain local procurement steps could shorten a typical 9–10 month procurement phase to roughly 5–6 months.
Opponents in public comment pressed supervisors to preserve local hiring, prevailing-benefit and competitive-bidding requirements, calling the proposal a broad removal of safeguards for unions, local business enterprises and the environment. One public commenter said, “I’ve never seen a worse piece of legislation,” and warned the change could undercut protections negotiated over years.
Committee members raised multiple concerns on the record. Supervisor Safaie asked for clarity on project lists, dollar caps and vendor pools to avoid creating “a blank check” for departments with uneven contracting records. Chan said she was open to narrowing qualifying projects and to drafting language to allow use of a prequalified vendor pool, and agreed to several clarifying amendments to the ordinance’s long title and text.
After debate the committee voted to accept the sponsor’s amendments and then voted to continue the item for one week so staff and supervisors could draft and consider clarifying language on vendor selection and procedural safeguards. The matter was continued to the next Rules Committee meeting on June 10.
