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Rules Committee approves changes to mayoral question time process to allow topic submission and limited follow-ups
Summary
The committee approved amendments to the administrative code to let supervisors submit a topic (not a full question) in advance, limit questions and answers to two minutes, rotate who may ask questions, and allow the mayor a brief follow-up or to ask a supervisor a related question.
The Rules Committee voted on March 14 to forward amendments to the administrative code that change how the mayor's monthly question-and-answer appearance before the Board of Supervisors is managed.
Sponsor Supervisor Aaron Peskin said the revision would require a supervisor to submit a "topic" to the mayor's office by noon on the Wednesday before the meeting rather than the full scripted question. "If we set forth that perhaps the topic be Senate Bill 827 or what have you, that should be enough to allow the mayor to prepare," Peskin told the committee.
Under the committee's amendment, the city attorney would review submitted topic wording for legal sufficiency and noticing compliance, supervisors would be limited to two minutes for an opening question and to two minutes for a follow-up, and the mayor would likewise be limited to two-minute answers. The proposal also sets a rotating schedule for which supervisors may raise topics at each mayor appearance, and it allows the mayor to pose a related question to a supervisor.
During debate, some supervisors cautioned that the change could become divisive or produce limited substantive gain; others argued it would revive the transparency voters sought when they approved Proposition C in 2010. The committee accepted the chair's two clarifying amendments and voted to forward the item to the full Board with a positive recommendation.
