Restriction on board and commission members seeking office

This measure assumes that board and commission members are regularly corrupted by their campaigns for elected office, an assumption proponents have not even attempted to prove. I attended an event from a local democratic club to hear from proponents and opponents of each ballot prop, and the Prop B proponent was asked for an instance where this had been problematic. They were unable to produce an example.

Another set of candidates for public office makes official decisions that affect their election chances, yet are excluded from this measure: incumbent officeholders. The official opponents’ argument in the voter pamphlet comes off as conspiracy-minded in raising this, but this measure would clearly expand the incumbency advantage. It’s noteworthy that the Supervisors who approved this for the ballot are largely the same ones who voted to oust London Breed as Acting Mayor after Mayor Lee’s death, enabling competitor Mark Leno to sue for her to remove the Acting Mayor title from campaign materials. If Prop B were to pass, incumbents would be free to describe themselves as a current elected official, while other candidates would require the “former” commissioner/board member designation.

This would discourage aspiring politicians from seeking seats on commissions and boards, which provide relevant government knowledge. In turn, it would favor candidates from the private sector and incumbents, ultimately stifling electoral competition and the quality of our elected officials.