Government Reform

By Lisa Feldstein

Corruption. Patronage. Cronyism. Favoritism. Some people may think these are natural parts of politics

Respecting the Civil Service System

During my tenure from 1994 to 1999 as a Project Manager with the Mayor's Office of Housing, I saw first hand how important a strong civil service system is to curb corruption and abuse in government. Qualified professionals like myself hired outside the civil service protection system are too often ordered to "volunteer" unpaid time for special interest programs identified by public officials. In my case, I was told it would take a doctor's note confirming that I was six months pregnant to excuse me from involuntary street maintenance activities. After being strongly pressured to include campaigning for Willie Brown's reelection in my job duties, I felt compelled to quit my job developing affordable housing + a job I loved + rather than participate in unlawful, unethical conduct.

Eliminate Patronage

The concept of civil service is crucial for an effective, democratic government: the City should hire the most qualified individual for each position based on a genuine review of each applicant's abilities. The flip side: public employment based on special favors or "who you know" must be stopped. Right now, vague loopholes allow politicians to put friends and cronies on the public payroll, even if those individuals have no qualifications for those positions. As District 5's Supervisor, my job will be to find the loopholes hidden inside the City's administrative system and close them.

Stop Expensive "Contracting Out" of City Services

As an organizer for a public service union, I've seen first hand how the City hires expensive consulting firms to do work that can be readily performed by public employees already on the public payroll. As a Supervisor, one of my top priorities will be to make sure we effectively utilize City employees to do the work of our City government rather than contracting out millions of dollars on juicy but unnecessary contracts to consulting firms.

Continue Effective Partnerships with Non-Profit Service Providers

For community-based health and human services, including affordable housing and services for the homeless, our non-profits have a long and successful history of meeting the needs of San Franciscans. Community based organizations can often respond best to people because they are integrated into the community. We must continue these relationships and improve upon them, distinguishing these partnerships--where the work enhances and complements the work of City employees--from contracting out of work that is and should be performed by City employees.

Get Rid of Duplicative Functions

San Francisco must streamline its cumbersome operation, where too many functions are duplicated in too many departments. A good example of this is to consider how the City handles its engineering needs. Currently, numerous departments each have their own in-house engineering staff, including the Public Works Department, the Public Utilities Commission, Parking and Traffic, Rec & Park, the Airport, the School District, and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MUNI & DPT). There is no coordination of engineering work, especially for big capital projects, and the result is extraordinary inefficiency and ineffectiveness. Even if an engineer at the Airport has almost nothing to do while a PUC engineer is so overworked that engineering services are being contracted out to consultants out high costs, the City currently has no mechanism for moving staff to where they are needed in the City. As a Supervisor, a key goal action item will be to consolidate engineering functions under a City Engineer: workflows for major projects can be coordinated and staff assigned where needed most. Our City workforce would gain experience, resources would be conserved, and the City would have the opportunity to realize further savings by consolidating purchasing for capital projects and through technological advances.

Keep City Resources Within Public Control

San Francisco needs to look for ways to save money, but the answer shouldn't include privatizing one of the city's treasures like the Randall Museum or selling off historic properties like the old firehouse on Oak Street. Privatization of City services sets a dangerous precedent, creating opportunities for private enterprises to control our assets and even structure as profit-making ventures resources that should be operated to maximize the public good. I will fight privatization of public assets, and work with our community to ensure that properties deemed "surplus" are adaptively reused to meet the needs of the public.

My willingness to testify before the Ethics Commission and the Board of Supervisors about patronage and misuse of City staff has led to reforms that will require incumbent Special Assistants to prove + as all Civil Service candidates must + that they are qualified to perform the duties of their job. As supervisor, I will continue to speak out against corruption, and work hard to implement reform in City government.

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