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Rules Committee hears charter amendments on election timing, appointment diversity and pension forfeiture; several items continued
Summary
Supervisors discussed three first-draft charter amendments — moving municipal elections to even-numbered years, formally prioritizing diversity in appointments and clarifying forfeiture of retirement benefits for job-related crimes of moral turpitude — and continued multiple items for further drafting and full-Board consideration.
The Rules Committee considered multiple charter amendments at a single hearing and took procedural steps to continue or forward items for additional work or Board consideration.
Supervisor McGoldrick presented a first-draft charter amendment (Item 5) proposing to move elections for mayor, sheriff, district attorney, city attorney and treasurer to even-numbered years. McGoldrick cited voter turnout data and a controller analysis estimating up to $3,000,000 in savings if municipal elections align with statewide federal cycles; he said the change aims to increase turnout for those offices. Elections staff clarified that the amendment would not block special elections initiated by petitions or recalls, which are constrained by existing petition timelines.
Supervisor McGoldrick also introduced (Item 6) a charter amendment to make it city policy to consider and, as appropriate, support nomination and appointment of female and minority candidates to boards and commissions. McGoldrick offered an amendment of the whole adding a requirement that the Commission on the Status of Women conduct analysis in the second and fourth years of each mayoral administration to track appointment diversity, including gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and physical ability, and discussed proposed language to prohibit current city employees from serving on certain charter bodies. Representatives from women's political organizations and the National Women's Political Caucus urged the committee to forward the amendment with a recommendation and referenced statistics showing underrepresentation of women on some boards and commissions.
Item 7, presented by Claire Murphy of the San Francisco Employees' Retirement System, would clarify that pensions and disability retirements funded in whole or in part by the city would be forfeited if an employee is convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude in connection with their duties. Murphy said fewer than 10 cases over 20 years would be affected; Tom Owen of the City Attorney's Office explained that courts evaluate whether a crime demonstrates intentional dishonesty or an abuse of position and that embezzlement or similar misconduct against the city would likely meet that standard.
Committee members agreed to continue the election-cycle and appointment-diversity items for one week to refine language with the city attorney and stakeholders; the pension amendment was forwarded to the next full Board meeting for consideration.
