Serving San Francisco: What are commissions?

Citizenship is not a spectator sport.
- Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone

This is the first post in our series called Serving San Francisco, highlighting the ways you can help our city thrive.

There are myriad ways in which you can participate in local government and improve the fabric of our civic community. One such way is by joining a commission. But before we can convince you to apply for a commission, you first need to know what they are.

Let’s start with the basics - what exactly is a commission?

A commission is a governmental body made up of people who oversee, manage, and provide input to different City departments, policy areas, or funds. We call them “commissions” but they include Boards, Task Forces, and pretty much any other name you can think of for a small group of people.

Most cities have commissions, but San Francisco’s are unique in that we have more than twice the number of commissions of any comparable City or County (at least 130!)¹, and several of our commissions have a lot of power. If you haven’t already, take a spin through our Commissions Tracker to see just how many there are.

What is the purpose of a commission?

It depends who you ask!

Some cities, so called “Strong Mayor” cities, view commissions as an extension of the Executive Branch. Seats are filled with Mayoral appointees and commissions are generally seen as being an arm of the Mayor’s Office providing administrative oversight or management of a department or policy implementation.

Cities like San Francisco view commissions as bodies that engender Public trust through public meetings and citizen participation. Commissioners are mostly members of the public at large, and most commission meetings are open for public comment, with recordings made available on SF Gov TV.

In both models, and in hybrid models, commissions exist to provide oversight and accountability of departmental operations. Every commission has an affiliated Department (with Staff who have to work with these commissions, preparing materials, answering questions, and more - it's a lot of work!) commissions provide input and, often, directly oversee the policy and fiscal operations of a governmental Department.

Where do commissions come from?

In general, commissions can be created in five ways:

By Charter, which is basically our City’s Constitution. It was originally authored in 1898, and re-written in 1996. It outlines how our city government is structured, including the creation and authority of various commissions. Examples include the Police Commission, Civil Service Commission, Planning Commission, Fire Commission, and Health Commission (all of which were included in the 1932 Charter and the 1996 re-write).

By Charter Amendment. From time the time the voters amend the City Charter², which sometimes creates new commissions. Examples include the Historic Preservation Commission, Public Works Commission, and the SFMTA Board of Directors.

By Ordinance, via laws passed by our Board of Supervisors. These can be modified or dissolved by the Board of Supervisors through - well, new ordinances. Examples of such are the Film Commission and the Children, Youth, and their Families Commission.

By Ordinance via ballot measure, which can only be repealed or modified by other ballot measures. One example is the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force.

By State or Federal Law. While Laws don’t usually create the commissions, they can require the establishment of them to ensure compliance or oversight at the Municipal level. Examples include LAFCO, the San Francisco Health Authority, and the Retirement Board.

And, sometimes, commissions are a result of a combination of these - the Human Rights Commission was created by ordinance in 1964, but was later voted into Charter status in 1990.

All in, about 30% of commissions were created by Charter or Charter Amendment, 61% by Ordinance, and the rest by a combination of Charter and Ordinance, or by state law³.

What are the different types of commissions?

There have been a few different methods of categorizing commissions over the years. We like the method used by the Controller’s Office⁴ as part of their work for the commission on Streamlining. They describe three types of commissions:

Governance - Most of these commissions were established in the Charter and are decision-making bodies with the ability to hire and fire Department heads. They generally have significant authority to make policy decisions and direct Departmental resources. Some of these commissions also have quasi-judicial responsibilities. The Police Commission, for example, adjudicates cases of officer discipline. There are ~28 of these bodies, including the Health Commission, Public Works Commission, and the MTA Board of Directors.

Regulatory - These commissions uphold and enforce existing law; they often hold hearings and settle disputes. In this sense they are often referred to as being quasi-judicial. Some of these have some decision-making power, and some have a LOT. There are ~16 of these, including the Planning Commission, and the Building Inspection Commission.

Advisory - These commissions advise City Departments. They can’t hire or fire, they don’t adjudicate, they just advise. The majority of commissions fall under this category. Examples include: SFMTA Citizen’s Advisory Committee, the Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Advisory Council, the Youth Commission, and more.

There can be overlap between types - for example, several commissions, including the Police Commission, and Planning Commission, are both Governance and Regulatory.

What departments do commissions work with?

Commissions work with about 45 different City Departments of our city’s ~50 total departments.

I heard there’s a commission to streamline commissions - is that true?

It sure is! Kafka would be proud.

In the Nov 2024 election, voters approved Proposition E, which created the Commission Streamlining Task Force to make recommendations to the mayor and Board of Supervisors about ways to modify, eliminate, or combine the various commissions, Boards, and other related bodies to make them more effective and efficient. The Task Force must submit its recommendations by Feb 1, 2026, and will automatically disband on January 31, 2027.

So far, the Task Force has had six meetings. They've been working to identify all of the commissions in San Francisco (yeah, the number on that list has been a longstanding question in SF for years!)⁵, agree on their purpose, structure, their appointing authorities and the appointment process. Two of the individuals on this Task Force were also on the Task Force that created SPUR’s Designed to Serve report, and many of their recommendations and questions are aligned with what is in that document. If you’d like to follow along on their work, head to their website.

What are other good reads on commissions in San Francisco?

Here’s a list!

Phew! That’s enough for now. Stay turned for the second half of this post where we dive into why you should join a commission, and how you can apply.

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