Governance
We believe: The public sector can and should serve the collective good.
• Improve government’s capacity to provide services and address challenges effectively.
• Support voter engagement.
Our Goals
SPUR Report
Designed to Serve
San Francisco’s governance structure has evolved to distribute authority and maximize oversight. As a result, policies don’t always meet the needs of the people they intend to serve. SPUR outlines how San Francisco can choose to design a better system.
SPUR Voter Guide
The SPUR Voter Guide
The SPUR Voter Guide helps voters understand the issues they will face in the voting booth. We focus on outcomes, not ideology, providing objective analysis on which measures will deliver real solutions.
SPUR Report
Making Government Work
Many of the challenges Oakland faces are worsened by its unusual government structure, which makes it harder for the mayor and other officials to do their jobs well. SPUR explores how the city can adapt its governance structure to better serve Oaklanders.
Updates and Events
November 2001 Voter Guide
Voter Guide
Includes SPUR's analysis of nine city measures on the November 6, 2001 ballot.
Planning for Growth
SPUR Report
SPUR makes four recommendations to expand the successful transit impact development fee.
Reforming Local Government
Urbanist Article
Beryl Magilavy offers suggestions on how to update San Francisco governmental policies, and calls for greater transparency and an elected public advocate as potential answers to the problems.
Public/Private Partnerships 101:
Urbanist Article
Prowler recounts his experience successfully negotiating public and private interests in the redevelopment of Mission Bay, and explains how such efforts could be replicated.
Small Steps Toward a Better City
Urbanist Article
Gabriel Metcalf interviews City Controller Ed Harrington. Harrington, who served from 1990-2008, describes his role as not just financially managing city departments, but assisting them with staff and resources to be more effective.
Some Thoughts on District Elections and the New Progressive Majority
Urbanist Article
In the city’s first round of district elections since 1979, San Francisco voters elected what one victor boasted was a “progressive super-majority” to the Board of Supervisors and decisively thumped Mayor Willie Brown’s anointed candidates in one district after another, wrecking his vaunted machine. As establishment leaders lament their defeat and business elites despair, there is joy among progressives in our left coast city this…