San Francisco finds consolidation works; city-county government action-oriented, officials say

Trent Rhorer, executive director of San Francisco's human services agency, says the city-county government combined with the city's activist history creates a truly representative system. SPECIAL TO THE BLADE/JOHN SEBAST Enlarge | Photo Reprints

Gabriel Metcalf, left, says his hometown's city-county government has its problems but overall is effective. The executive director of San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association met recently with a predecessor, founding Executive Director John Hirten. SPECIAL TO THE BLADE/JOHN SEBAST Enlarge | Photo Reprints

As calls mount for Lucas County to consider major changes to its government structure, The Blade continues to examine areas in Ohio and across the United States that have elected executive-council county structures. Beginning today with a look at the City and County of San Francisco, The Blade will examine specific county governments in California, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania — where positive results amid tough times have resulted from the presence of an elected executive and county council.

First in an ongoing series

SAN FRANCISCO - As children glided on swings behind him in this Lower Pacific Heights neighborhood, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom claimed another victory for the people in the face of fiscal trouble.

The dynamic Democrat with slicked-back hair and aspirations for California lieutenant governor championed an expanded summer program for youths despite more than $600 million in budget deficits between the local government and school system - which were among the partners sponsoring the program.

Despite its aesthetic beauty - think steep neighborhood streets, trolley cars, and the Golden Gate Bridge - and trendy tourist spots such as Fisherman's Wharf and Union Square, San Francisco is like so many communities in the United States that are rife with problems.

Unemployment hovers around 10 percent, a sizable homeless population roams the sidewalks, and the process of filling a $500 million hole in a $3 billion general fund budget remains.

Yet Mr. Newsom exudes confidence when offering solutions to San Francisco's troubles, and his attitude is steeped in more than the requisite self assuredness and oratorical skills of an adept politician.

The consolidated city-county is the only one in California and one of a handful in the United States.

Mr. Newsom said he believes the heavily Democratic, progressive City and County of San Francisco, with its charter government, is better structured to respond to the serious financial and institutional woes that persist from coast to coast and are festering in northwest Ohio.

"I don't think there's a better form of government than city-county government because it's all about collaboration," Mr. Newsom said. "It's all about getting things done in the end."

Calls for changes to Lucas County government continued last week, when two county commissioners proposed differing routes to reform.

One commissioner proposed a charter commission to study alternative governance structures, and the other suggested a citizens' ballot initiative to adopt a home-rule charter and replace the board of three commissioners and row offices with an elected executive-council format.

San Francisco's government structure, in which typical city and county functions are consolidated under one government to more efficiently serve a large population, is the ultimate goal of many government reformers, including some who believe the many fiefdoms of Lucas County create a fractured, inefficient government for taxpayers.

And because San Francisco is both a city and a county, Mr. Newsom serves as the county executive.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors - think 11 city-county councilmen elected by district - serve as the legislative branch.

All city-county government officials can be recalled, giving San Francisco's structure some similarities to the new charter government adopted in Ohio's Cuyahoga County and one being considered by pockets of political and civic leaders in Lucas County.

Mr. Newsom believes San Francisco's city-county, executive-council structure is why its residents have universal health care and progressive welfare and preschool programs.

Other local leaders believe the checks and balances in San Francisco's government are a main reason the city-county's debt bond rating has held strong while other California counties' ratings have plummeted.

Although San Francisco's government structure does not prevent budget deficits, crime, or political disputes, more than a dozen politicians, academics, and government watchdogs in California all said it creates more accountability among elected leaders and more accessibility to government for the public.

In an age when budgets and services are being cut in every corner of local government, San Franciscans - perhaps more than other Californians - can believe those cuts are being made with residents in mind.

Trent Rhorer, executive director for San Francisco's human services agency and longtime collaborator with Mr. Newsom, described a recent public meeting his department conducted when considering cuts to some programs.

One was elimination of an employment program for San Francisco's transgender population, the other a reduction in a case-management support program for grandmothers who are taking care of their grandchildren.

Although the programs total a combined $550,000 to operate - small when considering the department's $720 million budget - Mr. Rhorer said the room was packed with people on both sides who felt their programs should remain.

"The last person who spoke went up to the microphone and said, 'You know, this is San Francisco. We need to support all populations,'•" Mr. Rhorer recalled, "•'and in the end, we shouldn't be pitting the trannies against the grannies.' The whole room busted up in laughter."

Mr. Rhorer said that as a result of the meeting, the proposed cuts ultimately were not forwarded to the mayor's office.

Programs with more widespread support include Healthy San Francisco - or health-care subsidies for the city-county's uninsured - and the mayor's program to put more than 3,000 homeless residents in permanent housing and help them get jobs at no added cost to taxpayers.

The city-county is collecting a property tax of 1.15 percent and a 9.5 percent sales tax this year - a portion of the sales tax goes to the state - as well as other taxes including payroll, hotel, parking, and real property transfer levies.

Mr. Rhorer said that in addition to the millions of dollars San Francisco receives from the state to fund welfare and health-care programs, local government pumps its own funds into those programs as well.

He said the residents' access to the 11 district supervisors, a single executive driving decisions and accepting responsibility, the citizen commissions appointed by the mayor to oversee many departments, and the activist history of San Francisco create the atmosphere of a truly representative local government.

"It's a good recipe for giving all those folks who might be disenfranchised on the state or federal level a voice," he said.

If anything, there may be too much activism in San Francisco, according to one of its top good-government advocates.

San Francisco was consolidated in 1856 and adopted its charter in 1932, but it has undergone many changes by vote of the public.

San Franciscans gave the mayor more autonomy and supervision of city and county departments in the mid-1990s, and about 10 years ago they chose to elect their supervisors by district after about 20 years of electing at-large supervisors.

Since 2000, 16 charter amendments have been placed on the ballot, and 10 have passed.

"We change our form of government a little every year," said Gabriel Metcalf, executive director of the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association.

Mr. Metcalf said too many issues are decided through ballot measures instead of by the men and women who were elected and are paid to make and pass laws. As a result, he said, compromises that would otherwise be made by the mayor and board of supervisors to benefit a political minority often go by the wayside.

"In general, I would say our system of government is pretty good," Mr. Metcalf said. "This is a progressive city. It's a very idealistic city that prides itself on figuring out answers to those questions.

"That's not to say it doesn't have problems - of course it does. But [advocacy and social service] are a part of our cultural DNA here."

Typically in California, a supervisor is similar in many - but not all - facets to a county commissioner in Ohio. In 57 of California's 58 counties, a board of five supervisors oversees the county's general fund and most health and human services and fulfills both executive and legislative functions of government.

Supervisors have more authority in counties with charters, but only 13 of California's counties have them despite being in the first state to authorize home rule for counties in 1911.

San Francisco is the only county in California with an elected executive opposite its board of supervisors.

"After an initial burst of innovation, we didn't do much innovating," said Raphael Sonenshein, a professor at California State University-Fullerton who has studied county reform in his state.

According to the National Association of Counties, about 150 of the more than 3,000 counties in the United States have elected executives.

All counties in California are required to elect a district attorney, sheriff, and assessor, but having a charter enables counties to elect additional officeholders.

Available to all county officials in California - elected, appointed, or staff - is a comprehensive training program offered by the California State Association of Counties, California State-Sacramento, and the University of Southern California.

The program consists of multiple educational classes on the intricacies of collecting taxes and assessing property values, administering welfare and mental health programs, abiding by open-meeting and public-records laws, and handling media relations.

Similar programs exist in many states, but not in Ohio.

"In California, many supervisors are elected to office because they are interested in one or two issues," said Tim Hodson, the executive director for the Center for California Studies at Cal State-Sacramento who teaches a county course. "They're greatly surprised when they find out that these are not the only issues in county government. Many county employees in one department are relatively ignorant of what other county departments are responsible for."

Although there are 17 elected officials in San Francisco, it is the mayor's responsibility to craft and submit to the supervisors a single budget for entire city-county. The supervisors ultimately pass the budget, and acting as an independent intermediary for government finances is a controller, who is appointed to a 10-year term by the mayor and approved by supervisors.

"It's good for there to be some balancing power, even when it comes to spending," said Monique Zmuda, chief deputy for San Francisco Controller Ben Rosenfield.

Ms. Zmuda said San Francisco has remained in strong standing with bond-rating agencies in part because of the existence of the controller's office, which she said established a mechanism for augmenting the city-county's rainy day fund and can halt spending if the budget is being overspent. She also said the mayor and supervisors have demonstrated the ability to respond appropriately to financial difficulties.

With about 815,000 people crammed into 47 square miles, San Francisco's layout is ideal for the type of government it has. But Mr. Sonenshein believes more spacious counties in California and throughout the United States should consider reform.

Referring to county government as the "government of the poor" because of the welfare, health, and child-care programs it provides, Mr. Sonenshein argues that millions of Californians who are in need would benefit from an executive-council government.

Mr. Sonenshein said reform efforts have failed in the nation's largest county, Los Angeles County, with about 10 million people, and elsewhere in California because political party leaders and elected row officers typically influence the public to resist change, in an effort to maintain power and hold onto their own jobs.

In Lucas County, Democratic Party Chairman Ron Rothenbuhler and many row officeholders, including Auditor Anita Lopez and Recorder Jeanine Perry, have spoken out against adopting a charter and replacing the commissioners and row officers with an executive-council format. On Wednesday, Mr. Rothenbuhler and several Lucas County row officers supported Commissioner Pete Gerken's plan for a commission to study government reforms.

In San Francisco, Mr. Newsom said that if he is elected lieutenant governor in the fall, he would be in favor of more California counties installing elected executives opposite their boards of supervisors.

Mr. Newsom also would like to see more cities and counties merge governments, especially in light of the state's $19 billion budget deficit and the potentially devastating cuts to government social service programs that loom.

"If you want to get things done, I think it's good governance," Mr. Newsom said. "If you don't want to get things done, if you want to say, 'That's the county's responsibility,' or, 'That's the city's [responsibility],' I think the status quo is something to argue for."

Contact Joe Vardon at:

jvardon@theblade.com

or 419-724-6559.

37.77713 -122.4196

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, announcing a summer camp program, says the charter government enables the city-county to respond effectively to financial and institutional woes. SPECIAL TO THE BLADE/JOHN SEBAST Enlarge | Photo Reprints

Despite its aesthetic beauty and trendy tourist spots such as Fisherman's Wharf and Union Square, San Francisco is like so many communities in the United States that are rife with problems. Unemployment hovers around 10 percent, a sizable homeless population roams the sidewalks, and the process of filling a $500 million hole in a $3 billion general fund budget remains.