Through Proposition G in 1996, the voters of San Francisco overwhelming decided to move from citywide elections for selecting the City’s 11 supervisors to district elections. As explained in proponent’s ballot arguments supporting the measure:
Citywide supervisors have to be accountable to their contributors, not to an identifiable district constituency of voters. District supervisors will have a better understanding of neighborhood issues. If you want supervisors more accountable to your individual concerns, support district elections.
In her paid ballot argument, San Francisco icon Sue Bierman explained that district elections would “give San Franciscans direct accountability over their supervisors” and would dramatically reduce election costs, as district supervisors would have to “address issues of concern to residents of the City’s neighborhoods – not the interests of a few wealthy contributors” from outside the district…