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
2020 SPUR Impact Awards: Rebecca Garcia Helps Provide Housing and Shelter for All
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The 2020 SPUR Impact Awards recognize outstanding job performance by public sector leaders in Santa Clara County. This year’s ceremony recognized Rebecca Garcia for her leadership on issues of affordable housing and homelessness for the City of Morgan Hill. Ms. Garcia built cross-sector partnerships to develop unique solutions to the full spectrum of housing needs.
2020 SPUR Impact Awards: SJSU's CommUniverCity Team Partners with City Residents to Support Community-Based Planning
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The 2020 SPUR Impact Awards recognize outstanding job performance by public sector leaders in Santa Clara County. This year's ceremony recognized San Jose State University's CommUniverCity team. CommUniverCity is a multi-sector partnership between SJSU, the City of San José and local residents to support community-based planning and advocacy.
2020 SPUR Impact Awards: Building Reach Code Team Helps San José Go Carbon Neutral
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The 2020 SPUR Impact Awards recognize outstanding job performance by public sector leaders in Santa Clara County. The 2020 SPUR Impact Awards recognize outstanding job performance by public sector leaders in Santa Clara County. This year’s ceremony recognized the City of San José’s Building Reach Code team that developed new building requirements to advance the city’s climate action plan and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
2020 SF Good Government Awards: Goal to Roll Team Tackles a Backlog to Let City Revenue Flow
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The 2020 San Francisco Good Government Awards, held on March 4, recognized outstanding job performance by those serving the City and County of San Francisco. This year’s ceremony recognized the Goal to Roll team, a multi-year, cross-division initiative that, as of June 2019, eliminated the City’s property tax assessment backlog for the first time in over twenty-five years.
2020 SF Good Government Awards: CalFresh Expansion Team Makes Food Stamps More Accessible
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The 2020 San Francisco Good Government Awards, held on March 4, recognized outstanding job performance by those serving the City and County of San Francisco. This year's ceremony recognized the CalFresh Expansion team, a cross-departmental effort to ensure increased access to nutrition benefits for more than 40,000 seniors and persons with disabilities.
2020 SF Good Government Awards: Peggy Sugarman Develops an Injury Hotline to Keep City Employees Safe and Healthy
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The 2020 Good Government Awards, held on March 4, recognized outstanding job performance by those serving the city and county of San Francisco. The ceremony honored Peggy Sugarman for streamlining the worker's compensation processes, creating efficiencies to grow and stabilize her department and developing a city-wide Injury Hotline staffed 24 hours a day by a registered nurse.