SF sunshine panel applicants sought

San Francisco’s Sunshine Ordinance Task Force has vacancies for an attorney and a journalist, both of whom must be nominated by the Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California Chapter.

The task force comprises 11 voting and two ex-officio non-voting members. The voting members are appointed by the Board of Supervisors and, under Sunshine Ordinance Sec. 67.30(a), “must have experience and/or demonstrated interest in the issues of citizen access and participation in local government.”

San Francisco residency is usually required; the board has on occasion waived that criterion.

Applications are available from the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, City Hall Room 244, Board.of.Supervisors@sfgov. The open seats are Nos. 1 (attorney) and 2 (journalist).

The task force’s job is to monitor how well City Hall complies with local and state sunshine laws, and to recommend to the board ways to
improve the ordinance (which is accessible at http://sfgov.org/sunshine). Because the ordinance was enacted by the voters (as Prop. G in November 1999), the board’s power to amend it is extremely limited.