How to Keep Tabs on What the SF City Government is Really Up To
How to Keep Tabs on the Government

Talking with city employees is like meeting a troll with intricate riddles. The riddle part is getting them to discuss candidly the issues they face, and the reasons for it being awkward and stalemated are threefold:
- I think it’s safe to say there was a culture of fear under the previous administration, warranted or not, that cannot all be pinned on former mayor London Breed. It at least in part came from the Mohammed Nuru scandals and subsequent fallout.
- They have some pretty strict ethical guidelines to follow and they’re not allowed to opine about elected officials. Technically, for example, DPW’s boss is the Mayor. City employees can’t really exercise their political beliefs in the same way as you or me (posting stupid memes on social media, for example).
- City employees are die-hard San Francisco lovers. They won’t tell you about a problem unless they have time to explain the nuances of it, the often tangled roots, the implications of making a sudden cut, the people who stand to profit from a pivot. After all, San Francisco is a seagull town, in that a lot of greedy tech and finance people will hover sinisterly trying to glean information they can turn into a startup or some other form of profitable fuckery.
There’s Always a Story
But because city employees are neither a cavernous blank slate nor a monolith, it’s hard to make sweeping generalizations about them. Other than this one truism: They deeply understand paper trails, probably better than a map seller at the Grand Canyon. Which means they know how to leave no trace, and they also know how to give us breadcrumbs.
Many a time this reporter has been at a party and heard a bureaucrat (no offense) say that the story is there if someone knows where to look. And now it’s more important than ever for you to dig in and become the chismosa you’ve always been called in your heart of hearts to be.
You’re Not Nosy Enough
A democratic populace needs to know what’s going on, especially since we’ve got billionaires in & in-fluencing the government at all levels. Here’s how to stay Way Too Informed in San Francisco using tools like DataSF and the Sunshine Act.
- Animal welfare reports: The USDA makes inspection reports available online. Read about all the research facilities and educational institutions that have animals on display. The next SF Zoo inspection will be coming up soon and the increasing speculation over pandas and other priorities promises this will be a juicy one.
- Sunshine Act and public records requests: Thanks to the Sunshine Act and FOIA (pronounced foyah, Freedom of Information Act), you can use this tool for both pulling records AND seeing what others pulled. The lazy ones among us with preternatural pattern recognition are going to have a field day with this.
- SF Crime Report Map: The SFPD’s incident reports are plotted on a map to give us a visual interpretation of where the cops and crime are concentrated. The feds are stepping back from their oversight because SFPD has apparently improved a lot from their heyday of injustice, so this kind of tool is essential for citizen oversight.
- Board meeting agendas and notes: Armchair snoops can thank the Brown Act for requiring public board meeting notes and agendas for many of the major authorities. But you can also attend board meetings in person. The only time they can truly kick you out is if they go into closed session to discuss sensitive personnel matters. Pro tip: body language often reveals what words cannot.
- DataSF, particularly these data sets:
- Business registrations. This one can be such a delight. It gives you an insight into what might be coming into your neighborhood.
- Data sets from the Mayor’s department, sorted by date updated. Good way to keep tabs on things as the great shakeup continues under Denim Dan!
- SFEC Departmental Gifts Disclosure. This is just a really fun data set because they make employees disclose anything over like, $25 so you’ll see a lot of tiny things like donuts or shared tea. But remember that calendars are also public information, so if you’re following a particular politician and notice that they are being soft-lobbied you might break the next big story. Remember the Mark Farrell stuff last fall?
- The Chronicle: Who owns what. I will forever be obsessed with this data, even though it’s only available for people with a subscription to the Paper of Record. Being nosy is more than just a hobby for me; it’s literally a job, but I like to think this is where it all started. Note that it costs money.
- Joaquin Torres’ Property Record Resource: In a move for public transparency, the assessor-recorder made property records since 1990 much easier to search through. The reason this is so cool is because you used to have to pay for records without even knowing if you were purchasing the right one. Note that it costs money.
- The Public Library: You know what they say. Having fun isn’t hard when you’ve got a library card. And SFPL is mad-good at making research easy. There’s no specific recommendation for this one, just a reminder that the library exists and it’s one of the best places to snoop and pry.
So get your nose out there and into other people’s business. After all, you pay taxes (unlike the billionaires who have cast a shadow over California’s otherwise sunny environs). You should know how your money is being spent.