SEC. 4.140. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS.
§ 4.140
This section establishes the Department of Public Works, merging the former Department of Sanitation and Streets into it as of January 1, 2023. The Department, headed by a Mayor-appointed Director, is responsible for designing and maintaining City infrastructure, streets, public right-of-way, trash collection, and street trees, while property owners retain their own legal responsibilities.
San Francisco has a Department of Public Works that runs the City's streets, buildings, and public spaces. Starting January 1, 2023, this department took over the jobs that the Department of Sanitation and Streets used to do. The Department handles things like fixing potholes, sweeping streets, picking up trash and graffiti, removing illegal dumps, and caring for street trees. A Director appointed by the Mayor runs the Department. However, property owners still have to follow City and State laws about their own properties—this change doesn't change that.
- Complex:Subsection (c) contains overlapping and somewhat redundant language about transition procedures, director continuity, and Charter cross-references that could be streamlined for clarity.
AI-generated · claude-haiku-4-5 · informational only, not legal advice.
Official text
(a) Responsibilities of Department. There shall be a Department of Public Works (the “Department”). On January 1, 2023, the Department shall assume the responsibilities of the Department of Sanitation and Streets as they existed on December 31, 2022, and shall retain the existing responsibilities of the Department of Public Works. The Department shall be headed by a Director of Public Works appointed by the Mayor as provided in Sections 3.100(19) and 4.102(5).
Except as otherwise provided in the Charter or pursuant to Section 4.132, in addition to any other duties assigned by ordinance, the Department shall have the following duties: the design, building, repair, and improvement of the City’s infrastructure, including City-owned buildings and facilities and the public right of way; maintenance of the public right of way, including street sweeping, and litter abatement; the provision and maintenance of City trash receptacles and removal of illegal dumping and graffiti in the public right of way; and planting and maintenance of street trees pursuant to Section 16.129.
(b) Nothing in this Section 4.140 shall relieve property owners of their legal responsibilities set by City or State law, including as those laws may be amended in the future.
(c) Transition.
(1) Notwithstanding subsection (a), the Director of Public Works or person serving in an acting capacity as Director of Public Works on December 31, 2022, shall continue to serve in that capacity beginning on January 1, 2023. If at that time there is a person in an acting capacity serving as the Director of Public Works, or if at any time the position of Director of Public Works is vacant for any reason, the position shall be filled in accordance with the Charter provisions governing appointment of a department head. This subsection (c)(1) does not modify the powers vested in the Public Works Commission to remove the Director of Public Works in accordance with Section 4.102(6).
(2) By no later than June 30, 2023, the Director of Public Works shall submit to the Board of Supervisors a proposed ordinance amending the Municipal Code to conform to Sections 4.139, 4.140, and 4.141 and the repeal of Section 4.138.
(Formerly Sec. 4.130; Renumbered and amended by Proposition B, Approved 11/3/2020; amended by Proposition B, Approved 11/8/2022)