Make civil rights optional? Allow your tax dollars to subsidize discrimination? In San Francisco?
You might think this article is about a United States Supreme Court decision or a Deep South, deep-red state legislature. No, suspending civil rights laws related to city work and contracts is happening right here in San Francisco in the form of District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan’s legislation called “Streamlined Contracting for Vision Zero Projects.” Supervisors Hillary Ronen and Myrna Melgar are cosponsors.
To speed up Vision Zero projects that promote traffic safety, Supervisor Chan’s bill will amend city law by allowing Municipal Transportation Chief Jeff Tumlin to ignore (in legal parlance, “waive the application of”) civil rights requirements placed on city contractors. The bill would strip away from the Human Rights Commission oversight and authority to bar discriminating contractors from being awarded future city contracts — powers that are the product of decades of struggle by civil rights advocates, women’s organizations, and LGBTQ leaders. Supervisor Chan says it is justified because we have an emergency situation on city streets, and we have waived these laws and programs before to address homelessness.
The fast track to set aside civil rights protections has been paved by Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin who waived Board Rule 3.22, which requires the board to wait 30 days before considering legislation that “could revise major city policy.” The Chan bill is exactly what the rule is intended to slow down. If adherence to civil rights is not a major city policy in San Francisco, it’s difficult to say what is. The Chan bill is attracting a grassroots letter campaign for waiving the rules .
Supervisor Chan’s bill also wipes out existing legal requirements to abide by the entire city Environment Code, to level the playing field for minority- and women-owned business enterprises (Administrative Code Section 14B), to prohibit sexual harassment of city employees who work with contractors, and to apply various best practices and good government contracting principles to city contracts for projects related to pedestrian safety. Even the provisions enforcing prevailing wage requirements for workers and prompt payment for subcontractors are waived. By contrast, Mayor Breed’s legislation authorizing new speed cameras on street corners specifically retained existing prevailing wage and other requirements.
The bill would strip away from the Human Rights Commission oversight and authority to bar discriminating contractors from being awarded future city contracts.
The extraordinary reach of Supervisor Chan’s bill allows the heads of the Department of Public Works and Municipal Transit Authority (MTA) to amend any existing contract or enter into new ones in disregard of the local civil rights laws and environmental code as long as the contract is for “construction, repair, or improvement of public facilities with a primary purpose of implementing Vision Zero.” This power could be used to deny millions of dollars of public works contracts to the small businesses and minority contractors who have long been denied access to city contracts because of discrimination. In 2022, City Administrator Carmen Chu’s Contracts Management Division described the laws that Supervisor Chan’s bill waives “the first Equal Benefits Ordinance in the United States” and “one of the strongest and well-established disadvantaged/local business participation programs in the country.”
The Board of Supervisors routinely asks affected city departments to submit written comments or testify about proposed legislation. In its rush forward on the Chan bill, the board requested input from MTA and the Department of Public Works but did not ask the City Administrator’s Office or the Human Rights Commission their views on taking away their authority.
For projects whose primary purpose is to implement Vision Zero, the Chan bill ends the requirement that requires bidders on city contracts to abide by the Nondiscrimination in Contracts program administered by the Human Rights Commission. The commission requires contractors to report annually on how they comply with Equal Pay laws, to advertise that they abide by nondiscrimination in employment policies, and to provide reasonable accommodations for workers with disabilities .
Up to now, San Francisco has always been very proud and protective of its leadership role against all forms of discrimination for job and contracting opportunities for all communities. The city attorney has defended Human Rights Commission authority all the way to the United States Supreme Court. Our local law itself emphasizes that if one part of it is struck down in court, the remainder of it will still be enforced. The Chan bill does the opposite by eliminating it in its entirety as applied to Vision Zero projects for the next three years .
Going too fast on the road causes traffic accidents. Going too fast on the second floor of City Hall can cause legislation with accidental consequences. Supervisors would do well to slow down and take the time necessary to consult with women-owned, minority and small businesses, civil rights and environmental leaders, the Human Rights Commission, and the city administrator’s office before allowing Public Works and MTA to waive critical civil rights protections.
