SAN FRANCISCO - Grand Jury Says City Violating Prop. 209 SAN FRANCISCO - Grand Jury Says City Violating Prop. 209
San Francisco Chronicle
By Rachel Gordon
Sat, May 28, 2005, Final Edition, Section: Bay Area, B2; Bay Area Digest
The city continues to violate the state law that prohibits the use of race and gender preferences in awarding contracts, incurring "unnecessary risks and costs," according to a report by San Francisco's civil grand jury.
The civil grand jury, a court-appointed volunteer panel that investigates government operations but has no binding power, said the contracting forms used by San Francisco's Human Rights Commission still track race and gender in defiance of Proposition 209.
State voters approved the initiative in 1996, though a majority of San Francisco voters rejected it. "Many of the city's citizens might wish San Francisco to be an island, unregulated by the state and federal government," the civil grand jury said this week. "Such a wish does not conform to reality."
The civil grand jury's assessment was rebuked by City Attorney Dennis Herrera, who said San Francisco's affirmative action policy was sound.
"Contrary to what the civil grand jury had to say, it's our view that San Francisco has acted within the law, and we continue to act within the law," Herrera said.
Copyright © 2005 The Chronicle Publishing Co.
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