Mayor Daniel Lurie and City Administrator Carmen Chu announced their first use of the expanded power granted by voters in last week's election: creating citywide rules for signing contracts, Mission Local reported.
Proposition E, which was leading 64% to 36% with virtually all votes counted when Mission Local published, grants the city administrator the sole authority to make changes to how the city grants contracts. Contracting represents $6 billion every year out of a $17 billion budget, the story said. Lurie said the current guidelines are insufficient because they are "scattered across different sections of city law, and the rules can vary — leaving room for corruption and abuse." He called the legislation "the first step toward centralizing and depoliticizing contracting so it serves San Franciscans, not insiders."
The new citywide standards introduced by Lurie and Chu would prohibit giving certain vendors a leg up by sharing confidential information; require employees to disclose conflicts of interest and potentially recuse themselves; route communication between city staff and potential contractors through official channels; prevent employees from splitting purchases or contracts into smaller amounts to avoid competitive bidding or other requirements; and explain that violating the standards could result in firing or other discipline, Mission Local reported. "It creates an additional tool for all of us, every single person involved with contracting, our city employees, our leadership, to be able to spot when bad behavior is happening," Chu said. Lurie's administration has itself been criticized for contracting decisions, including a $5.9 million October 2025 contract to OpenGov for digitizing the permit system after city staff recommended a lower bid from a competitor; OpenGov later missed several key deadlines, Mission Local reported. These are the new rules as announced. The story does not establish how they will be enforced in each department.