Our Co-Executive Director and Dignity Fund Member, Marie Jobling, recently spoke with the San Francisco Disability and Aging Services Commission about why people should vote No on Prop D and Yes on Prop E.
Good Morning Commissioners and Executive Director Kelly, My name is Marie Jobling, and I’m here today as co-chair of the Dignity Fund Coalition.
There are many important measures on the November ballot, especially Propositions D and E on Commission Reform. These dueling measures will profoundly affect local democratic engagement in policy development and program oversight. After hearing from representatives of each campaign and reviewing their material, the Dignity Fund Coalition has taken a position of No on D and Yes on E.
At this point, we need to anticipate the chaos that might result if Prop. D passes. The Dignity Fund Coalition, in crafting the language for the Charter Amendment to create the Fund, included language to assure good planning through the Community Needs Assessment, input from providers through the Service Provider Working Group, and transparency through the meetings and recommendations of the Oversight and Advisory Committee. This will all be eliminated from the Charter.
We understand that these bodies, as well as many other Commissions, will be ended in January. The Dignity Fund functions will revert back to the DAS Commission.
This action is not only an issue for Dignity Fund implementation. Overall, it is abruptly ending scores of other government bodies that assure community engagement and transparency throughout City government.
The list of Charter-implemented Commissions and Advisory Groups that will end is extensive and includes others whose policies and programming are important to older adults and adults with disabilities. To name a few, it includes the Health Commission, the Commission on the Status of Women, the Library Commission, the Immigrant Rights Commission, Police Oversight and so many more.
So here is what we are asking in what is a very short timeline.
We ask your help in requesting a detailed overview of the impact and implementation timeline if Prop D passes.
By your next Commission meeting, we will know the result of the vote and it would be important to plan for how DAS, as well as the Dignity Fund Coalition, can prepare for the confusion that will ensue. We can be better prepared, as every constituency represented by disbanded Commissions and Advisory groups will be set up to compete with one another to keep a place at the table over the ensuing months.
We would appreciate any information that can be provided publicly from the City Attorney and are hopeful you can provide a fuller briefing next month.
We would urge San Franciscans to read the voter handbook and vote No on Proposition D and Yes on Proposition E.
Thank you for your consideration of our request.
Recent Examiner article – Supporters of Proposition D, this billionaire-supported November ballot measure that would reduce the number of San Francisco city commissions, have continued to run up the fundraising score, with contributions totaling nearly $8 million versus the opposition’s comparatively paltry $21,500.