Three ballot measures proposed by San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie each appeared to receive majority approval on election night, early results show.
Propositions D, E and F — a ballot package coined “Clean Up City Hall” — each crossed the 50% approval threshold needed to pass as early returns came in Tuesday night. The tally included most vote-by-mail ballots received before Election Day and all ballots from Election Day polling places.
Prop D
Early results showed Prop D with about 58% approval.
Prop D proposed raising the threshold of signatures required for citizen-led ballot measures from 2% of the city’s registered voters to 8%. It also proposed increasing the threshold of signatures needed to call for a special election from around 39,000 signatures to 53,100.
In addition, Prop D would take away the mayor’s power to place measures on the ballot. It would also require supervisors to get a majority on the Board of Supervisors in order to place a measure on the ballot, instead of the current requirement of four or more supervisors.
Propositions E and F had slightly higher approval than Prop D in early results on election night.
Prop E
Prop E, a measure to expand the city administrator’s authority over contracting, had 67% approval on election night.
Prop E would give the city administrator more power over procurement, which involves the city selecting vendors and entering into contracts with people or groups to purchase commodities and services for the city. The city administrator is an appointed position that oversees the day-to-day operations of more than 25 city departments.
Prop E also proposes raising the monetary threshold for contract approval. Current city rules require Board of Supervisors approval for certain contracts and lease agreements. The measure would also increase the city administrator’s term from five years to 10 years.
Carmen Chu, the current city administrator, celebrated the results.
“By approving Proposition E, San Francisco voters have sent a clear message that they want a government that works for the people it serves,” she said in a statement. “Prop E’s passage allows us to change the outdated rules that no longer make sense. We will be working to make sure our rules serve the public interest and strengthen ethical safeguards against the misuse of public funds.”
Prop F
Prop F also appeared to move forward, with early results showing 63% approval.
The measure would allow the mayor to hire deputy mayors to supervise departments. It would also give the mayor the power to hire and fire certain department heads without cause and without involvement from boards or commissions that oversee the department.
All election night results are preliminary, and the tallies will continue to be updated with the remaining ballots, which include those received on or after Election Day.
On Wednesday, the San Francisco Department of Elections will publish the number of ballots that still need to be counted. It will also post updated results at 4 p.m. each day through Nov. 13.
