November 2022: Prop B—Vote Yes on Reversing the Formation of a New City Department

Two years ago, voters directed the City to create a new department focused on street cleaning by removing street sanitation responsibilities from the Department of Public Works (DPW). At the time, SFLCV agreed that street cleaning represents a high priority, though we did not believe that forming another costly department with overlapping administrative duties would address the problem. As the deadline looms to form this new department—the Sanitation and Streets Department—Supervisors Peskin, Ronen, and Preston have come to share SFLCV’s concern.

This November’s Prop B drops the idea of forming a new, separate department but retains the Sanitation and Streets Commission that will have limited authority to set policies on behalf of DPW. Will this result in cleaner streets or reduce corruption in DPW? Probably not. We share the Board of Supervisors’ and the public’s frustration with the City's inability to address sanitation conditions downtown and elsewhere. SFLCV does not have much faith in the Sanitation and Streets Commission to change conditions in the City. Rather than create bureaucratic duplication and unaccountable commissions, we urge the Supervisors to hold DPW its obligations and develop a concrete strategy to deal with a situation that has escalated over many decades. 

These limitations of Prop B notwithstanding, it is a sound idea to reverse the creation of the Sanitation and Streets Department. Once created, we urge the Sanitation and Streets Commissioners to hold DPW accountable to performance metrics that demonstrably improve the quality of life in SF.

SFLCV urges you to vote yes on Prop B.