APPENDIX F:
AUTHORITY AND DUTIES OF CITY SERVICES AUDITOR

F1.100.	Findings.
F1.101.	City Services Auditor; Services Audit Unit.
F1.102.	Street, Sidewalk, and Park Cleaning and Maintenance.
F1.103.	Management Practices.
F1.104.	Performance Audits.
F1.105.	Audit Results.
F1.106.	Oversight of Contracting Procedures
F1.107.	Citizens' Complaints; Whistleblowers.
F1.108.	Customer Service Plans.
F1.109.	Legislation.
F1.110.	Access to Records; Preliminary Reports.
F1.111.	Citizens Audit Review Board.
F1.112.	Outside Experts.
F1.113.	Controller's Audit Fund.

 

F1.100. FINDINGS.

   (a)   City residents rely upon the government of the City and County to deliver many important services affecting the health, vitality and economy of San Francisco. These include services related to the maintenance and cleanliness of streets and parks, health care, emergency services, transportation and public works. Recognizing the difficult economic times the City faces, preservation and enhancement of such services can be achieved only by ensuring that City services are delivered in an efficient, cost- effective manner, and that government waste and unnecessary bureaucracy are curtailed to the greatest extent possible.

   (b)   It is often difficult for individual San Franciscans to judge the effectiveness and efficiency of local government in providing direct services to residents because of the size and complexity of City government. Consistent with the goals of open government, City government should establish tools to enable residents to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of City services; to compare the City's progress in delivering such services to that of other cities, counties and government agencies; and, where appropriate, to adopt "best practices" used in other jurisdictions when consistent with the goals of San Francisco residents.

   (c)   The San Francisco Controller is uniquely situated to provide objective, rigorous measurement of City service levels and effectiveness because the Controller is already charged with assessment of departmental performance and fiscal soundness. In addition, the Controller is appointed to a ten-year term, and therefore is sufficiently independent to render impartial assessments of the City's provision of public services.

   (d)   Therefore, this Charter Amendment:

      (1)   Establishes the Controller as the City Services Auditor, with the authority to conduct independent management and performance audits of departments providing services to San Francisco residents;

      (2)   Instructs the Controller/City Services Auditor to publish comparisons of the performance of San Francisco departments, the services they deliver, and the outcomes they achieve with other public agencies;

      (3)   Requires that the Controller/City Services Auditor perform comprehensive financial and performance audits of selected City departments each year;

      (4)   Mandates that the Controller/City Services Auditor review standards for street and park maintenance in consultation with responsible City departments and perform an annual Clean Streets/Clean Parks audit to track whether these standards are met;

      (5)   Provides the Controller/City Services Auditor the authority to review Citywide standards for government contracting processes and the development of "Requests For Proposals" to ensure that the selection process is fair and unbiased;

      (6)   Prohibits conflicts of interest in the auditing process by preventing companies that have participated in departmental operations from acting as outside auditors, requiring that all employees participating in audits be designated confidential employees for labor-relations purposes, and permitting the Controller to obtain outside independent assistance when in-house employees are subject to potential conflicts of interest;

      (7)   Requires the Controller/City Services Auditor to administer and publicize a whistleblower hotline and website for citizens and employees to report wrongdoing, waste, inefficient practices and poor performance in City government and service delivery;

      (8)   Authorizes the Citizens' General Obligation Bond Oversight Committee to also function as an independent Citizens Audit Review Board to advise the Controller/City Services Auditor, to recommend departments in need of comprehensive audit, and to review citizen complaints received through the whistleblower program; and

      (9)   Provides a dedicated source of revenue equivalent to two-tenths of one percent of the budget of the City and County of San Francisco.

(Added November 2003)

F1.101. CITY SERVICES AUDITOR; SERVICES AUDIT UNIT.

   (a)   In addition to the other duties prescribed by this Charter, the Controller shall perform the duties of a City Services Auditor, responsible for monitoring the level and effectiveness of services provided by the government of the City and County of San Francisco to the people of San Francisco. The City Services Auditor shall establish and maintain a Services Audit Unit in the Controller's Office to ensure the financial integrity and improve the overall performance and efficiency of City government. The Services Audit Unit shall review performance and cost benchmarks developed by City departments in consultation with the Controller and based on their departmental efficiency plans under Chapter 88 of the Administrative Code, and conduct comparisons of the cost and performance of San Francisco City government with other cities, counties, and public agencies performing similar functions. In particular, the Services Audit Unit shall assess:

      (1)   Measures of workload addressing the level of service being provided or providing an assessment of need for a service;

      (2)   Measures of efficiency including cost per unit of service provided, cost per unit of output, or the units of service provided per full time equivalent position; and

      (3)   Measures of effectiveness including the quality of service provided, citizen perceptions of quality, and the extent a service meets the needs for which it was created.

   (b)   The service areas for which data is collected and comparisons conducted shall include, but not be limited to:

      (1)   The cleanliness and condition of streets, sidewalks, and the urban environment and landscape;

      (2)   The performance of other public works and government-controlled public utilities, including water and clean water programs;

      (3)   Parks, cultural, and recreational facilities;

      (4)   Transportation, as measured by the standards set out in Charter Section 8A.103, provided, however, that primary responsibility for such assessment shall continue to be exercised by the Municipal Transportation Agency pursuant to Charter Section 8A.100 et seq.;

      (5)   The criminal justice system, including the Police Department, Juvenile and Adult Probation Departments, Sheriff, District Attorney, and Public Defender;

      (6)   Fire and paramedic services;

      (7)   Public health, human services, and services relating to homelessness;

      (8)   City management; and,

      (9)   Human resources functions, including personnel and labor relations.

   (c)   The information obtained using the service measurement standards set forth above shall be compiled on at least an annual basis, and the results of such benchmark studies, as well as comparative data, shall be available on the City’s website.

(Added November 2003; amended by Proposition C, Approved 11/8/2022)

F1.102. STREET, SIDEWALK, AND PARK CLEANING AND MAINTENANCE.

   (a)   The Services Audit Unit shall conduct annually a performance audit of the City’s street, sidewalk, and public park maintenance and cleaning operations. The annual audit shall:

      (1)   Include quantifiable, measurable, objective standards for street, sidewalk, and park maintenance, to be developed in cooperation and consultation with the Department of Public Works and the Recreation and Park Department;

      (2)   Based upon such measures, report on the condition of each geographic portion of the City;

      (3)   To the extent that standards are not met, assess the causes of such failure and make recommendations of actions that will enhance the achievement of those standards in the future;

      (4)   Ensure that all bond funds related to streets, parks and open space are spent in strict accordance with the stated purposes and permissible uses of such bonds, as approved by the voters.

      Outside of the audit process, the City departments charged with cleaning and maintaining streets, sidewalks, and parks shall remain responsible for addressing individual complaints regarding specific sites, although the Controller may receive and investigate such complaints under Section F1.107.

   (b)   In addition, all City agencies engaged in street, sidewalk, or park maintenance shall establish regular maintenance schedules for streets, sidewalks, parks and park facilities, which shall be available to the public and on the department’s website. Each such department shall monitor compliance with these schedules, and shall publish regularly data showing the extent to which the department has met its published schedules. The City Services Audit Unit shall audit each department’s compliance with these requirements annually, and shall furnish recommendations for meaningful ways in which information regarding the timing, amount and kind of services provided may be gathered and furnished to the public.

(Added November 2003; amended by Proposition B, Approved 11/3/2020; Proposition B, Approved 11/8/2022)