Even for San Francisco political insiders, the city’s vast network of commissions and advisory boards — estimated at over 130 —can be bewildering.
In addition to high-profile bodies like the Planning Commission and Police Commission, there is an array of lesser-known committees that weigh in on specialized topics: Food Security Task Force, the Urban Forestry Council, and the Advisory Committee of Street Artists and Craftsmen Examiners, some of which may have overlapping purviews with other commissions.
On Nov. 5, two ballot measures are competing over how to cut or consolidate those boards, committees, councils, and task forces to reduce the city’s layers of bureaucracy and boost government efficiency. It has become the most expensive ballot measure fight in this year’s election…