SEC. 18.105. CHANGES IN OFFICES AND POSITIONS.
§ 18.105
This section describes the transition of city offices and positions from the prior charter to the new 1995 Charter, including renaming the Chief Administrative Officer to City Administrator, transferring positions to new departments, consolidating the Assessor and Recorder offices (effective July 1, 1997), and assigning various departments and functions to the City Administrator on the charter's effective date.
When the city adopted a new charter on November 7, 1995, certain job titles and responsibilities changed. The Chief Administrative Officer became the City Administrator with a five-year term. Some offices were renamed (like the Clerk of the Board stayed the Clerk, and the Retirement System's top manager became the executive director of the Retirement System). The Assessor and Recorder offices could not merge before July 1, 1997; after that date, their functions combined into one Assessor-Recorder position. Until the Mayor and Board of Supervisors reassigned them, the City Administrator took charge of many departments and programs, including Public Works, Elections, Animal Control, and several others.
- Complex:The section contains multiple transitions with different effective dates and conditional language (particularly the Recorder-County Clerk consolidation with its two phases), making it difficult to track what happens when.
- Could be simpler:The final paragraph listing dozens of departments and functions under the City Administrator could be clearer with a structured list or reference to a schedule rather than a comma-separated string.
AI-generated · claude-haiku-4-5 · informational only, not legal advice.
Official text
The Chief Administrative Officer and the Controller serving on November 7, 1995, shall be appointed to the offices, respectively, of City Administrator and Controller. These offices shall have the functions, powers and duties assigned by this Charter, and their initial terms of office in effect immediately prior to the date of this Charter shall remain unchanged, except that the term of office of the City Administrator shall be five years from the incumbent's appointment as Chief Administrative Officer.
The Clerk of the Board of Supervisors serving on November 7, 1995, shall be appointed as Clerk of the Board of Supervisors. This position shall remain a classified position as long as the person holding the position on November 7, 1995, remains in this position.
The Secretary-General Manager of the Retirement System serving on November 7, 1995, shall succeed to the position of executive director. This position shall remain a classified position as long as the person holding the position on November 7, 1995, remains in this position.
The General Manager of the Department of Social Services shall succeed to the position of executive director of the Department of Human Services.
The offices of Assessor and Recorder shall be consolidated no earlier than July 1, 1997. Prior to that date, the functions, powers and duties of the Recorder shall continue to be performed by the Recorder-County Clerk, as that office is established in the Charter of 1932. After July 1, 1997, the functions, powers and duties of the County Clerk shall be transferred to the City Administrator and the functions, powers and duties of the Recorder shall be transferred to the Assessor-Recorder. The person holding office as Recorder-County Clerk at the time of the transfer shall become a deputy department head to the Assessor-Recorder, and shall maintain his or her classified status.
The Social Services Commission shall succeed to the Human Services Commission.
On the operative date of this Charter, the City Administrator shall be responsible for the following functions until they are reassigned by the Mayor, with approval by the Board of Supervisors, or by operation of this Charter: Department of Public Works, Government Services, Purchasing, Real Estate, Electricity and Telecommunication, Public Guardian, Convention Facilities, Animal Control, County Clerk/Recorder, County Agriculture, Weights and Measures and Registrar of Voters/Department of Elections; Medical Examiner; and all projects previously assigned by ordinance to the Chief Administrative Office, including but not limited to: George R. Moscone Center Project, Clean Water program, Publicity and Advertising Fund, Risk Management, Beautification project, EIPSC, Waterfront project and Solid Waste Management.