Vote YES on Prop B

Fiscal Impact: None

How it landed on the ballot: Supervisor Bilal Mahmood introduced the charter amendment measure with Supervisors Melgar, Dorsey, Sauter, Sherrill and Wong as co-sponsors. It passed through the Board of Supervisors with a vote of 7 to 4 to be put on the ballot.

Bottom Line: Lifetime term limits would guarantee regular turnover of leadership, opening the door for fresh, new voices that might otherwise compete against those of entrenched incumbents. A firm eight-year cap will keep the SF government dynamic, competitive, and more open to new ideas and leadership

WHY YES ON PROP B?

For decades, San Francisco has operated under a political culture where long tenures translate into entrenched power. We believe experience matters, but we also believe permanent jobs for life do not. Prop B restores balance to our Board of Supervisors and Office of the Mayor by ensuring leadership remains dynamic, accountable, and responsive to the people, not to single-party political networks built over decades. And let’s be clear, San Francisco is a one-party town that concentrates this “network” into an insurmountable machine. Currently, the city charter limits these offices to two consecutive four-year terms, but allows officials to run again after a break from office. Prop B ballot would replace that with lifetime term limits, meaning no one could serve more than two four-year terms in either position, regardless of breaks in service.  

Prop B is compelling because it opens the door to new and younger candidates. San Francisco is a city defined by innovation, creativity, and generational change, yet our political pipeline can feel closed off to first-time candidates without institutional backing. When seats are perpetually occupied by career politicians rotating between offices, emerging leaders are discouraged from even trying. Lifetime limits create predictable openings and real competition, making it more likely that educators, small business owners, public safety professionals, and community advocates step forward.

We also know from firsthand experience that deadlines increase efficiency. Who knows how many more hours we would have spent watching clips of Jack Hughes scoring the “golden goal,” if we didn’t have a deadline for this voter guide breathing down our necks? 

When elected officials know their time in office is limited, incentives change. The focus shifts from political longevity to policy results. Decision-making becomes more urgent, priorities become clearer, and the legacy is defined by accomplishment rather than incumbency. In a city facing urgent challenges like public safety, infrastructure reliability, fiscal discipline, housing production, and the drug and homelessness crises, we need leaders motivated by impact, not career preservation. Voters deserve elected leaders with vision, accountability, and energy, not uninterested career opportunists who phone it in.

Regular leadership change strengthens democracy by making the government more reflective of the city as it is now, not as it was 20 years ago.

San Francisco prides itself on leading the nation. Prop B is a practical reform that promotes generational renewal, sharper focus, and healthier civic competition. A vote for Prop B is a vote for fresh leadership, greater efficiency, and a City Hall that belongs to the future, not the past. Congress should take note! VOTE YES!