San Francisco Charter
ARTICLE XIII ELECTIONS
SEC. 13.110. ELECTION OF SUPERVISORS.
(a) The members of the board of supervisors shall be elected by district as set forth in this section.
(b) The city and county shall be divided into 11 supervisorial districts as set forth in this section. Beginning with the general municipal election in 2000, and until new districts are established pursuant to this section, these districts shall be used for the election or recall of the members of the board of supervisors, and for filling any vacancy in the office of member of the board of supervisors by appointment. Once new districts are established, those districts shall be used for the same purposes. No change in the boundary or location of any district shall operate to abolish or terminate the term of office of any member of the board of supervisors prior to the expiration of the term of office for which such member was elected or appointed.
(c) The 11 supervisorial districts shall be bounded and described as follows:
FIRST SUPERVISORIAL DISTRICT, shall comprise all of that portion of the city and county commencing at the point of intersection of the shoreline of the Pacific Ocean and a straight-line extension of Lincoln Way; thence easterly along Lincoln Way to Arguello Boulevard; thence northerly along Arguello Boulevard to Kezar Drive; thence easterly along Kezar Drive to Waller Street; thence easterly along Waller Street to Stanyan Street; thence northerly along Stanyan Street to Fulton Street; thence easterly along Fulton Street to Parker Avenue; thence northerly along Parker Avenue to Lone Mountain Terrace; thence westerly along Lone Mountain Terrace to Stanyan Boulevard; thence northerly along Stanyan Boulevard to Geary Boulevard; thence westerly along Geary Boulevard to Arguello Boulevard; thence northerly along Arguello Boulevard to Lake Street; thence westerly along Lake Street to Twenty-Seventh Avenue; thence southerly along Twenty-Seventh Avenue to California Street; thence westerly along California Street to its point of intersection with the eastern boundary of Lincoln Park; thence northerly along said boundary to the shoreline of the Pacific Ocean; thence westerly and southerly along said shoreline to the point of commencement. Unless specifically designated to the contrary, all references to streets, boulevards, drives, avenues, terraces and ways contained in the foregoing description shall refer to the centerlines of said streets, boulevards, drives, avenues, terraces and ways, respectively.
SECOND SUPERVISORIAL DISTRICT, shall comprise all of that portion of the city and county commencing at the point of intersection of the shoreline of the Pacific Ocean and the eastern boundary of Lincoln Park; thence southerly along said boundary to California Street; thence easterly along California Street to Twenty- Seventh Avenue; thence northerly along Twenty-Seventh Avenue to Lake Street; thence easterly along Lake Street to Arguello Boulevard; thence southerly along Arguello Boulevard to Geary Boulevard; thence easterly along Geary Boulevard to Stanyan Boulevard; thence southerly along Stanyan Boulevard to Lone Mountain Terrace; thence easterly along Lone Mountain Terrace to Parker Avenue; thence southerly along Parker Avenue to Fulton Street; thence easterly along Fulton Street to Masonic Avenue; thence northerly along Masonic Avenue to Turk Boulevard; thence easterly along Turk Boulevard to St. Joseph"s Avenue; thence northerly and northwesterly along St. Joseph"s Avenue to Geary Boulevard; thence westerly along Geary Boulevard to Presidio Avenue; thence northerly along Presidio Avenue to California Street; thence easterly along California Street to Laguna Street; thence southerly along Laguna Street to Geary Boulevard; thence easterly along Geary Boulevard to the center point of the intersection of Geary Boulevard and Starr King Way; thence southeasterly and easterly along Starr King Way to Van Ness Avenue; thence northerly along Van Ness Avenue to Green Street; thence easterly along Green Street to Leavenworth Street; thence northerly along Leavenworth Street and a northerly straight-line extension thereof to the point of intersection with the shoreline of San Francisco Bay; thence generally westerly and southerly along said shoreline to the point of commencement. Unless specifically designated to the contrary, all references to streets, boulevards, drives, avenues, terraces and ways contained in the foregoing description shall refer to the centerlines of said streets, boulevards, drives, avenues, terraces and ways, respectively.
THIRD SUPERVISORIAL DISTRICT, shall comprise all of that portion of the city and county commencing at the point of intersection of a northerly straight-line extension of Leavenworth Street and the shoreline of San Francisco Bay; thence easterly and southerly along said shoreline to the point of intersection with a northeasterly straight-line extension of Mission Street and including all piers north of said intersection; thence southwesterly along said straight-line extension of Mission Street to the Embarcadero; thence northwesterly along the Embarcadero to the intersection with a northeasterly straight-line extension of Market Street; thence southwesterly along Market Street to Sutter Street; thence westerly along Sutter Street to Van Ness Avenue; thence northerly along Van Ness Avenue to Green Street; thence easterly along Green Street to Leavenworth Street; thence northerly along Leavenworth Street and a straight-line extension thereof to the point of commencement. Unless specifically designated to the contrary, all references to streets, boulevards, drives, avenues, terraces and ways contained in the foregoing description shall refer to the centerlines of said streets, boulevards, drives, avenues, terraces and ways, respectively.
FOURTH SUPERVISORIAL DISTRICT, shall comprise all of that portion of the city and county commencing at the point of intersection of the shoreline of the Pacific Ocean and a straight-line extension of Lincoln Way; thence easterly along Lincoln Way to Nineteenth Avenue; thence southerly along Nineteenth Avenue to Sloat Boulevard; thence westerly along Sloat Boulevard and a straight-line extension thereof to the point of intersection with the shoreline of the Pacific Ocean; thence northerly along said shoreline to the point of commencement. Unless specifically designated to the contrary, all references to streets, boulevards, drives, avenues, terraces and ways contained in the foregoing description shall refer to the centerlines of said streets, boulevards, drives, avenues, terraces and ways, respectively.
FIFTH SUPERVISORIAL DISTRICT, shall comprise all of that portion of the city and county commencing at the point of intersection of Lincoln Way and Nineteenth Avenue; thence easterly along Lincoln Way to Arguello Boulevard; thence northerly along Arguello Boulevard to Kezar Drive; thence easterly along Kezar Drive to Waller Street; thence easterly along Waller Street to Stanyan Street; thence northerly along Stanyan Street to Fulton Street; thence easterly along Fulton Street to Masonic Avenue; thence northerly along Masonic Avenue to Turk Boulevard; thence easterly along Turk Boulevard to St. Joseph"s Avenue; thence northerly and northwesterly along St. Joseph"s Avenue to Geary Boulevard; thence westerly along Geary Boulevard to Presidio Avenue; thence northerly along Presidio Avenue to California Street; thence easterly along California Street to Laguna Street; thence southerly along Laguna Street to Market Street; thence southwesterly along Market Street to Duboce Avenue; thence westerly along Duboce Avenue to Buena Vista Avenue East; thence southwesterly along Buena Vista Avenue East to Buena Vista Avenue West; thence northerly along Buena Vista Avenue West to Frederick Street; thence westerly along Frederick Street to Ashbury Street; thence southerly and southwesterly along Ashbury Street to Clayton Street; thence southerly along Clayton Street to Twin Peaks Boulevard; thence southwesterly along Twin Peaks Boulevard to Clarendon Avenue; thence westerly along Clarendon Avenue and a straight-line extension thereof to Stanyan Street; thence northerly along Stanyan Street to the intersection of Stanyan Street and Seventeenth Street; thence westerly to the intersection of a straight-line extension of Seventeenth Street with the eastern boundary of the campus of the University of California San Francisco; thence generally northerly, northwesterly and westerly along the eastern and northeastern boundary of said campus to Parnassus Avenue; thence westerly along Parnassus Avenue to Nineteenth Avenue; thence northerly along Nineteenth Avenue to the point of commencement. Unless specifically designated to the contrary, all references to streets, boulevards, drives, avenues, terraces and ways contained in the foregoing description shall refer to the centerlines of said streets, boulevards, drives, avenues, terraces and ways, respectively.
SIXTH SUPERVISORIAL DISTRICT, shall comprise all of that portion of the city and county commencing at the point of intersection of a northeasterly straight-line extension of Mission Street and the shoreline of San Francisco Bay; thence southwesterly along said straight-line extension of Mission Street to the Embarcadero; thence northwesterly along the Embarcadero to the intersection with a northeasterly straight-line extension of Market Street; thence southwesterly along Market Street to Sutter Street; thence westerly along Sutter Street to Van Ness Avenue; thence southerly along Van Ness Avenue to Starr King Way; thence westerly and northwesterly along Starr King Way to the center point of the intersection of Geary Boulevard and Starr King Way; thence westerly along Geary Boulevard to Laguna Street; thence southerly along Laguna Street to Market Street; thence northeasterly along Market Street to Guerrero Street; thence southerly along Guerrero Street to Seventeenth Street; thence easterly along Seventeenth Street to Pennsylvania Street; thence northerly along Pennsylvania Street to Sixteenth Street; thence easterly along Sixteenth Street and a straight-line extension thereof to the shoreline of San Francisco Bay; thence generally northerly along said shoreline to the point of commencement and including all piers and rows of vessels. The Sixth Supervisorial District shall include Yerba Buena and Treasure Islands. Unless specifically designated to the contrary, all references to streets, boulevards, drives, avenues, terraces and ways contained in the foregoing description shall refer to the centerlines of said streets, boulevards, drives, avenues, terraces and ways, respectively.
SEVENTH SUPERVISORIAL DISTRICT, shall comprise all of that portion of the city and county commencing at the intersection of the southern boundary of the city and county and the centerline of Junipero Serra Boulevard; thence northerly along Junipero Serra Boulevard to Holloway Avenue; thence easterly along Holloway Avenue to Ashton Avenue; thence northerly along Ashton Avenue to Ocean Avenue; thence generally southeasterly and easterly along Ocean Avenue to the intersection of the Southern Freeway (Interstate Route 280); thence generally northeasterly along the centerline of the Southern Freeway (Interstate Route 280) to San Jose Avenue; thence northeasterly along San Jose Avenue to Bosworth Street; thence northwesterly along Bosworth Street to O"Shaughnessy Boulevard; thence generally northwesterly along O"Shaughnessy Boulevard to Portola Drive; thence northeasterly along Portola Drive to Twin Peaks Boulevard; thence generally northerly along Twin Peaks Boulevard to Clarendon Avenue; thence westerly along Clarendon Avenue and a straight-line extension thereof to Stanyan Street; thence northerly along Stanyan Street to the intersection of Stanyan Street and Seventeenth Street; thence westerly to the intersection of a straight-line extension of Seventeenth Street with the eastern boundary of the campus of the University of California San Francisco; thence northerly, northwesterly and westerly along the eastern and northeastern boundary of said campus to Parnassus Avenue; thence westerly along Parnassus Avenue to Nineteenth Avenue; thence southerly along Nineteenth Avenue to Sloat Boulevard; thence westerly along Sloat Boulevard and a straight-line extension thereof to the point of intersection with the shoreline of the Pacific Ocean; thence southerly along said shoreline to the southern boundary of the city and county; thence easterly along said boundary to the point of commencement. Unless specifically designated to the contrary, all references to streets, boulevards, drives, avenues, terraces and ways contained in the foregoing description shall refer to the centerlines of said streets, boulevards, drives, avenues, terraces and ways, respectively.
EIGHTH SUPERVISORIAL DISTRICT, shall comprise all of that portion of the city and county commencing at the intersection of San Jose Avenue and Bosworth Street; thence northwesterly along Bosworth Street to O"Shaughnessy Boulevard; thence generally northwesterly along O"Shaughnessy Boulevard to Portola Drive; thence northeasterly along Portola Drive to Twin Peaks Boulevard; thence generally northerly along Twin Peaks Boulevard to Clarendon Avenue; thence easterly along Clarendon Avenue to Twin Peaks Boulevard; thence northeasterly along Twin Peaks Boulevard to Clayton Street; thence northerly along Clayton Street to Ashbury Street; thence northeasterly and northerly along Ashbury Street to Frederick Street; thence easterly along Frederick Street to Buena Vista Avenue West; thence southerly along Buena Vista Avenue West to Buena Vista Avenue East; thence northeasterly along Buena Vista Avenue East to Duboce Avenue; thence easterly along Duboce Avenue to Market Street; thence northeasterly along Market Street to Guerrero Street; thence southerly along Guerrero Street to San Jose Avenue; thence southwesterly along San Jose Avenue to the point of commencement. Unless specifically designated to the contrary, all references to streets, boulevards, drives, avenues, terraces and ways contained in the foregoing description shall refer to the centerlines of said streets, boulevards, drives, avenues, terraces and ways, respectively.
NINTH SUPERVISORIAL DISTRICT, shall comprise all of that portion of the city and county commencing at the intersection of the centerline of the Southern Freeway (Interstate Route 280) and San Jose Avenue; thence northeasterly along San Jose Avenue to Guerrero Street; thence northerly along Guerrero Street to Seventeenth Street; thence easterly along Seventeenth Street to the centerline of the James Lick Freeway (State Route 101); thence generally southerly along the centerline of the James Lick Freeway (State Route 101) to the interchange with the Southern Freeway (Interstate Route 280); thence generally southwesterly along the centerline of the Southern Freeway (Interstate Route 280) to the point of commencement. Unless specifically designated to the contrary, all references to streets, boulevards, drives, avenues, terraces and ways contained in the foregoing description shall refer to the centerlines of said streets, boulevards, drives, avenues, terraces and ways, respectively.
TENTH SUPERVISORIAL DISTRICT, shall comprise all of that portion of the city and county commencing at the intersection of the southern boundary of the city and county and the centerline of Carter Street; thence northerly along Carter Street to Geneva Avenue; thence northwesterly along Geneva Avenue to the point of intersection with a southerly straight-line extension of the boundary between Crocker Amazon Playground and John McLaren Park; thence generally northerly along the western boundary of John McLaren Park to Burrows Street; thence easterly along Burrows Street to Harvard Street; thence southerly along Harvard Street to Bacon Street; thence easterly along Bacon Street to Oxford Street; thence southerly along Oxford Street to Wayland Street; thence easterly along Wayland Street to Cambridge Street; thence northerly along Cambridge Street to Felton Street; thence easterly along Felton Street to Amherst Street; thence northerly along Amherst Street to Silver Avenue; thence easterly along Silver Avenue to Colby Street; thence northerly along Colby Street to Sweeny Street; thence easterly along Sweeny Street to Bowdoin Street; thence northerly along Bowdoin Street and a northerly straight-line extension thereof to the centerline of the Southern Freeway (Interstate Route 280); thence northeasterly along the centerline of the Southern Freeway (Interstate Route 280) to the point of interchange with the James Lick Freeway (State Route 101); thence generally northerly along the centerline of the James Lick Freeway (State Route 101) to Seventeenth Street; thence easterly along Seventeenth Street to Pennsylvania Street; thence northerly along Pennsylvania Street to Sixteenth Street; thence easterly along Sixteenth Street and a straight-line extension thereof to the point of intersection with the shoreline of San Francisco Bay; thence generally southerly along said shoreline to the southern boundary of the city and county and including all piers south of said intersection; thence along the southern boundary of the city and county to the point of commencement. Unless specifically designated to the contrary, all references to streets, boulevards, drives, avenues, terraces and ways contained in the foregoing description shall refer to the centerlines of said streets, boulevards, drives, avenues, terraces and ways, respectively.
ELEVENTH SUPERVISORIAL DISTRICT, shall comprise all of that portion of the city and county commencing at the intersection of the southern boundary of the city and county and the centerline of Junipero Serra Boulevard; thence northerly along Junipero Serra Boulevard to Holloway Avenue; thence easterly along Holloway Avenue to Ashton Avenue; thence northerly along Ashton Avenue to Ocean Avenue; thence generally southeasterly and easterly along Ocean Avenue to the intersection of the Southern Freeway (Interstate Route 280); thence generally northeasterly along the centerline of the Southern Freeway (Interstate Route 280) to the intersection with a northerly straight-line extension of Bowdoin Street; thence southerly along that straight-line extension and Bowdoin Street to Sweeney Street; thence westerly along Sweeny [sic] Street to Colby Street; thence southerly along Colby Street to Silver Avenue; thence westerly along Silver Avenue to Amherst Street; thence southerly along Amherst Street to Felton Avenue; thence westerly along Felton Street to Cambridge Street; thence southerly along Cambridge Street to Wayland Street; thence westerly along Wayland Street to Oxford Street; thence northerly along Oxford Street to Bacon Street; thence westerly along Bacon Street to Harvard Street; thence northerly along Harvard Street to Burrows Street; thence westerly along Burrows Street to its end; thence generally southerly along the western boundary of John McLaren Park and a southerly straight-line extension of the boundary between Crocker Amazon Playground and John McLaren Park to the point of intersection with Geneva Avenue; thence southeasterly along Geneva Avenue to Carter Street; thence southerly along Carter Street to to [sic] the southern boundary of the city and county; thence along the southern boundary of the city and county to the pont of commencement. Unless specifically designated to the contrary, all references to streets, boulevards, drives, avenues, terraces and ways contained in the foregoing description shall refer to the centerlines of said streets, boulevards, drives, avenues, terraces and ways, respectively.
Voters residing within the boundaries of the City and County as established in Government Code Section 23138 but not on the San Francisco Peninsula or on Yerba Buena and Treasure Islands shall be deemed for the purpose of supervisorial elections to reside in the supervisoral [sic] district on the Peninsula closest to the voter"s place of residence.
(d) Within 60 days following publication of the decennial federal census in the year 2000 and every decennial federal census after that, the Director of Elections shall report to the Board of Supervisors on whether the existing districts continue to meet the requirements of federal and state law and the criteria for drawing districts lines set in the Charter.
The criteria for drawing districts lines are:
Districts must conform to all legal requirements, including the requirement that they be equal in population. Population variations between districts should be limited to 1 percent from the statistical mean unless additional variations, limited to 5 percent of the statistical mean, are necessary to prevent dividing or diluting the voting power of minorities and/or to keep recognized neighborhoods intact; provided, however, that the redistricting provided for herein shall conform to the rule of one person, one vote, and shall reflect communities of interest within the city and county. Census data, at the census block level, as released by the United States Census Bureau, statistically adjusted by the Bureau to correct the unadjusted census counts for any measured undercount or overcount of any subset of the population according to the bureau"s Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation or other sampling method, shall be used in any analysis of population requirements and application of the rule of one person one vote. In the event such adjusted census data, at the census block level, are not released by the Bureau, population data, at the census block level, adjusted by the California Department of Finance for any measured undercount or overcount maybe used.
If it is determined that the districts are in compliance with all legal requirements, including the requirement that they be equal in population, the current districts as drawn will be valid for the next decade. If it is determined that any of the districts are not in compliance, the Board of Supervisors by ordinance shall convene and fund a nine-member elections task force. Three members shall be appointed by the Board of Supervisors, three members shall be appointed by the Mayor, and three members shall be appointed by the Director of Elections unless an Elections Commission is created in which case the appointments designated to the Director of Elections shall be made by the Elections Commission. Task Force shall be appointed by January 8, 2002 and following the publication of each decennial federal census thereafter, shall be appointed within sixty days after issuance of a report by the Director of Elections to the Board of Supervisors that the districts are not in compliance, pursuant to this subsection.
Members of the Task Force previously appointed by the Director of Elections shall serve on the Task Force until the Elections Commission, if established, appoints three members to the Task Force, whereupon the terms of the members appointed by the Director of Elections shall expire.
The Director of Elections shall serve ex officio as a non-voting member. The task force shall be responsible for redrawing the district lines in accordance with the law and the criteria established in this Section, and shall make such adjustments as appropriate based on public input at public hearings.
The Task Force shall complete redrawing district lines before the fifteenth day of April of the year in which the first election using the redrawn lines will be conducted. The Board of Supervisors may not revise the district boundaries established by the Task Force. The Board of Supervisors may not revise the district boundaries established by the Task Force.
If the Task Force determines that the adjusted population data to which this subsection refers are not available a sufficient period of time before the fifteenth day of April in order to use the adjusted population data in redrawing the district lines for the following supervisorial election, and the adjusted population data demonstrate more than a five percent variance from the figures used in redrawing the district lines for the [sic] that supervisorial election, the Task Force shall by the fifteenth day of April immediately preceding the next supervisorial election redraw the district lines for that supervisorial election in accordance with the provisions of this section. The procedures for redrawing supervisorial lines following the publication of every subsequent decennial federal census shall follow the procedures established by this Section.
The City Attorney shall remove the description of district lines found in this subsection from the Charter after the Elections Task Force has completed redrawing the district lines as set forth above. Following each redrawing of the district lines thereafter, the Cite Attorney shall cause the redrawn district lines to be published in an appendix to this Charter.
(e) Each member of the board of supervisors, commencing with the general municipal election in November, 2000, shall be elected by the electors within a supervisorial district, and must have resided in the district in which he or she is elected for a period of not less than 30 days immediately preceding the date he or she files a declaration of candidacy for the office of supervisor, and must continue to reside therein during his or her incumbency, and upon ceasing to be such resident shall be removed from office.
(f) Notwithstanding any provisions of this section or any other section of the charter to the contrary, the respective terms of office of the members of the board of supervisors who shall hold office on the eighth day of January, 2001, shall expire at 12 o"clock noon on said date and the 11 persons elected as members of the board of supervisors at the general election in 2000 shall succeed to said offices on said eighth day of January, 2001. At that time, the clerk of the board of supervisors shall determine by lot whether the supervisors elected from the even- or odd-numbered supervisorial districts at the general municipal election in 2000 shall have terms of office expiring at noon on the eighth day of January, 2003, and which shall have terms of office expiring at noon on the eighth day of January, 2005; commencing, however, with the general municipal election in November, 2002, the terms of office of the supervisors elected from the even- or odd-numbered supervisorial districts, as the case may be, shall be for a term of four years and shall continue as such thereafter. Those members of the board of supervisors elected at the general election in 1998, and those elected at the general election in 2000 who only serve an initial two-year term, shall not be deemed to have served a full term for purposes of the term limit established in Section 2.101. (Added November 1996; amended November 1999; November 2001)
