Background
The City government includes many boards, commissions, and advisory bodies (City Bodies). In general, city Bodies are created through either the City Charter (Charter) or by ordinance. Currently, people who serve on City Bodies created through the Charter must be registered to vote in San Francisco, unless the Charter sets a different rule. People who serve on all City Bodies, whether created through the Charter or ordinance, must be U.S. citizens.
Currently, the people allowed to serve on City Bodies must be both:
1. Registered to vote in San Francisco, unless:
- The Charter sets a different rule for City Bodies created through the Charter. (For example, people below voting age may serve on the Youth Commission.)
- For City Bodies created by ordinance, the public official appointing members may waive the San Francisco residency requirement because a qualified San Francisco resident cannot be found.
2. Members of all City bodies, whether created by Charter or ordinance must be U.S. citizens.
Proposition C Proposal
Proposition C would remove the requirement that a person be a registered voter and a U.S. citizen to serve on any City Body. The measure would continue to require that people serving on City Bodies be old enough to vote in City elections and be San Francisco residents, unless the Charter or ordinance sets a different rule for a particular City Body. For City Bodies created through ordinance, Proposition C would continue to allow these requirements to be waived if a person meeting them cannot be found.
Source: Legal Text of Proposition C and League of Women Voters of San Francisco Nonpartisan Analysis of Proposition C
