Community Survey
Analysis
General Manager
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
October 12, 2026
Debbie Gutman
Manager, Executive Recruitment
[email protected]
CPS HR Consulting
2450 Del Paso Rd. Suite 220
Sacramento, CA 95834
www.cpshr.us
Community Survey
Analysis
Contents
Executive Summary
Survey Analysis
Page | 1
Community Survey
Analysis
SFPUC GM Recruitment Community Survey
Executive Summary
Survey overview
Item Detail
Survey period Responses r eceived Sept. 25 – Oct. 9, 2026 Total individual responses 82 (includes 2 entries marked "test") Open-ended comments (Q3) 33 answered, 50 skipped
Format SurveyMonkey; Q 1 and Q2 allowed up to 5
selections each
Q1 – Top priorities for the next GM
Respondents want a General Manager who can fix and fun d a ging infrastructure while keepingrates affordable.
Infrastructure and system resilience is the clear top priority, chosen by nearly 3 out of 4 respondents.
Rank Priority % of respondents Responses
1 Advance Infrastructure & System
Resilience
72% 59
2 Strengthen Financial Sustainability 57% 47
3 Establish a Long-Term Strategic Vision 54% 44
4 Build Greater Transparency & Public Trust 50% 41
5 Advance Climate & Environmental
Leadership
45% 37
Page | 2
Community Survey
Analysis
Q2 – Top attributes of the ideal candidate
The top three attributes are closely bunched (61–66%): collaborative decision-making, balancing affordability with reliability, and developing the workforce.
Rank Attribute % of respondents Responses
1 Collaborative Decision-Making 66% 54
2 Utility Affordability & Reliability 62% 51
3 Workforce Leadership & Development 61% 50
4 Communication & Public Engagement 49% 40
5 Fiscal & Financial Stewardship 46% 38
Q3 – Themes from open-ended comments
Of 33 comments (about 29 substantive), the most common themes were public power and utility-industry experience.
• Public power / PG&E acquisition (6):champion public power expansion, reduce transmission costs, and plan for the engineering and labor demands of a buyout. • Utility industry and technical experience (6):prior utility experience at SF's scale; engineering or scientific background.
• Affordability and fiscal discipline (4):avoid rate shock, show ROI on capital programs, and examine SF's high construction costs.
• Workforce, culture and accountability (3):prioritize hiring and retaining staff at all levels, build in-house expertise, and address nepotism concerns. • Relationships and communication (3):regular public interaction and strong ties with the Mayor, Board of Supervisors and sister agencies. • Equity and community commitments (3):honor past commitments, including the Southeast mitigation agreement.
• AI readiness (2)and climate and water-supply resilience (2). • Internal vs. external hire:opinion is split, with 2 favoring an internal or government candidate and 2 urging an outside hire.
Page | 3
SFPUC General Manager Recruitment Survey-Community SurveyMonkey Survey Analysis
Q1 82 responses
Opportunities & Priorities: What are the most significant opportunities/challenges facing the SFPUC that will require the next General Manager’s attention? Choose up to 5 only.
Strengthen Financial
Sustainability – Improve
financial stewardship while
bal...
Advance Infrastructure &
System Resilience –
Address critical
infrastructure ...
Build Greater
Transparenc
y & Public
Trust – Enhance
transparency,
communicati...
Establish a Long-Term
Strategic Vision – De
velop
a clear vision and
strategic...
Advance Climate &
Environmental Leadership
– Build on SFPUC’s climate
leaders...
Strengthen R
egulatory &
Government Par
tnerships –
Build effective
relationshi...
Deepen Community &
Stakeholder Eng
agement –
Create stronger
connections and a...
Enhance Customer Service
& Equity – Identify
opp
ortunities to improve
the cus...
Other (please specify)
0% 8% 16% 24% 32% 40% 48% 56% 64% 72% 80%
1 / 7
SFPUC General Manager Recruitment Survey-Community SurveyMonkey Answer Choices Percentage Responses
Strengthen Financial Sustainability – Improve financial stewardship while balancing affordability and long-term fiscal health.
57.32% 47
Advance Infrastructure & System Resilience – Address critical infrastructure needs and strengthen the long-term reliability and resilience of SFPUC systems.
71.95% 59
Build Greater Transparency & Public Trust – Enhance transparency, communication, accountability, and public confidence in SFPUC.
50.00% 41
Establish a Long-Term Strategic Vision – Develop a clear vision and strategic direction that positions SFPUC for future challenges and opportunities.
53.66% 44
Advance Climate & Environmental Leadership – Build on SFPUC’s climate leadership while integrating environmental sustainability into long-term decision- making.
45.12% 37
Strengthen Regulatory & Government Partnerships – Build effective relationships with federal, state, local, and regulatory partners to advance SFPUC priorities.
36.59% 30
Deepen Community & Stakeholder Engagement – Create stronger connections 43.90% 36 and alignment among customers, communities, employees, elected officials, and other stakeholders.
Enhance Customer Service & Equity – Identify opportunities to improve the customer experience and ensure reliable, equitable access to essential services.
34.15% 28
Other (please specify) 6.10% 5
Total 327
#
OTHER (PLEASE SPECIFY) DATE
1 Increase the In-City build out of clean energy 10/9/2026 5:28 PM 2 improve customer service 10/6/2026 3:37 PM
3 Run our own power system! 10/1/2026 1:23 PM
4 test 9/29/2026 3:29 PM
5 test 9/29/2026 2:50 PM
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SFPUC General Manager Recruitment Survey-Community SurveyMonkey Q2 82 responses
Ideal Candidate: What are the top attributes the General Manager must exhibit to be successful? Choose up to 5 only.
Fiscal & Financial
Stewardship – Proven
ability to manage budgets,
operating ...
Capital Project Leadership
– Experience delivering
successful, cost-
effective...
Utility Affordability &
Reliability – Abilit
y to
balance affordable rates
wit...
Strategic & Regulatory
Leadership – Ability to
align federal, state, and
loca...
Workforce Leadership &
Development – Abilit
y to
motivate, mentor, and
develop...
Stakeholder Relations &
Negotiation – Str
ong
negotiation skills and
ability t...
Communication & Public
Engagement – Abilit
y to
clearly and persuasively
commu...
Collaborative Decision-
Making – Ability to balance
competing prioritie
s and
m...
Other (please specify)
0% 7% 14% 21% 28% 35% 42% 49% 56% 63% 70%
Answer Choices Percentage Responses
Fiscal & Financial Stewardship – Proven ability to manage budgets, operating costs, and expenditures responsibly.
46.34% 38
Total 333
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SFPUC General Manager Recruitment Survey-Community SurveyMonkey
Capital Project Leadership – Experience delivering successful, cost-effective capital projects and overseeing capital investments.
43.90% 36
Utility Affordability & Reliability – Ability to balance affordable rates with system reliability, regulatory compliance, climate goals, and infrastructure needs.
62.20% 51
Strategic & Regulatory Leadership – Ability to align federal, state, and local priorities while ensuring regulatory compliance.
41.46% 34
Workforce Leadership & Development – Ability to motivate, mentor, and develop a large and diverse workforce.
60.98% 50
Stakeholder Relations & Negotiation – Strong negotiation skills and ability to build effective partnerships with key stakeholders.
30.49% 25
Communication & Public Engagement – Ability to clearly and persuasively 48.78% 40 communicate complex operational, financial, and policy matters.
Collaborative Decision-Making – Ability to balance competing priorities and make sound decisions that support organizational sustainability and ratepayer value.
65.85% 54
Other (please specify) 6.10% 5
Total 333
# OTHER (PLEASE SPECIFY) DATE
1 Leadership 10/9/2026 12:42 PM
2 none 10/6/2026 5:50 PM
3 improve customer sercise 10/6/2026 3:37 PM
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SFPUC General Manager Recruitment Survey-Community SurveyMonkey Q3 Any other information you would like the Commission to consider during this recruitment process? (Optional, Open ended/free response) Answered: 33 Skipped: 50
RESPONSES DA
TE
1 I think it is important to have a GM who is regularly interfacing with the public 10/3/2026 9:42 AM 2 Consider someone from within who has a lot of potential but still has more to grow. 10/2/2026 4:25 PM 3 I would strongly like for San Francisco’s transmission costs to be reduced, which will require 10/1/2026 5:14 PM capital investment in the purchasing of all our lines and upgrading as much equipment. I believe strongly that this will be worthwhile to likely halve electricity costs, and promote business and EVs in the city
4 Communication abilities are super important! 10/1/2026 1:23 PM 5 test 9/29/2026 3:29 PM
#
6 7
8 9
test
Ability to establish effective working relationships with other SF leaders (e.g., Mayor, BoS) and agencies (e.g., DoE, RecPark, PW).
I want the Commission to consider a leader who is not just here for their last career before retirement, but ACTUALLY wants to make a difference (both short and long-term) for the SFPUC. The next GM should consider its people as their top priority, both acquiring AND retaining top for the agency, specifically for ALL levels of the organization (not just management). The next GM should be a fiscal champion and advocates for financial literacy and accountability so that every person who touches the SFPUC's budget has the basic knowledge and accountability for ratepayer dollars. The next GM should be approachable, spends time checking in with EVERYONE (not just their direct reports and AGM direct reports), and creates opportunity/programs to build a culture that transcends the agency. The next SFPUC GM should have a clear and achievable vision (5/10/20/50) for the SFPUC that is achievable and inspires everyone to work towards. Finally, the next GM should possess the courage to make bold/tough decisions, take positions that are in the best interest of the SFPUC (even if they are not popular), and move the organization forward with innovative technologies, partnerships, continuous improvements/change. We need a leader who can make change happen in a respectful and collaborative way. I really hope the SFPUC Commission is able to recruit a GM who has industry experience and who is tune with the needs of the organization from the field, to the front-line supervisors, to the mid-level managers, and finally the senior managers of the SFPUC. Thank you for your consideration.
Hold accountability across all levels of employment and ensure qualifications. Stop the corruption from Employee behavior and practices and nepotism. 9/29/2026 2:50 PM
9/28/2026 11:16 AM
9/28/2026 10:23 AM
9/28/2026 10:12 AM
10 Be ready for current and future AI challenges and advantages. 9/28/2026 10:01 AM 11 Experience at a utility serving the size and complexity of SF. 9/28/2026 9:58 AM 12 Some lingering issues that haunt SFPUC: PG&E, sewer laterals. Herrera was promising to resolve both, but it's unclear if those long-standing issues will still be championed. Without a champion at that level the initiatives are obsolete.
9/28/2026 9:36 AM
13 Consider someone who is aware of past inequities in public services and who has a vision that includes better services for all.
9/28/2026 9:20 AM
14 N/A 9/28/2026 9:13 AM
15 As someone who has worked with SFPUC and is also a SF resident, I think the new GM should explore what makes San Francisco the most expensive place to do construction in the world, what drives those costs, and whether there are any changes that could be made to make construction more cost-effective.
9/28/2026 9:03 AM
5 / 7
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18 19
20 21
22 23
24 25
26 27
SFPUC General Manager Recruitment Survey-Community SurveyMonkey GM should also prioritize the transparency about AI and the future of the workforce along AI. 9/28/2026 8:58 AM Next GM should acknowledge that it is a powerful tool both for the benefit of the City and work with leaders/experts to mitigate the risk that this technology pose.
Affordability is THE priority without compromising service level. Climate, diversity, etc are all 9/27/2026 11:37 PM regulated sufficiently by the California state agencied and we do not need any extra regulations.
Find someone who lives in, works in, and understands San Francisco as well as the broader 9/26/2026 12:36 PM public utility industry. We need someone who cares deeply about SF and who has experience outside the city to know what good looks like too.
SFPUC should lead on climate resilience in terms of renewable energy and coastal and inland 9/26/2026 11:42 AM flooding.
The new general manager should embody and live up to the commitments made over many 9/26/2026 10:47 AM years to our communities. From the mitigation agreement in the Southeast to being a reliable and affordable utility
. SFPUC is a leading utility that has opportunity to be better than PG&E and safer water than anywhere in the country. This first, bureaucracy should not be the main focus of the GM
Prior experience at a utility is a must! 9/26/2026 1:47 AM Diverse and woman, worked for SFPUC or in Government 9/26/2026 12:52 AM Choose a leader that prioritizes protecting water quality and taking control over SF’s energy 9/25/2026 11:53 PM services from PG&E
Do not hire from current employees for the city or has ties to the city. In my opinion, they are 9/25/2026 11:12 PM corrupt and does a lot of city politics. They are only focused on enriching themselves and their clicks.
The next candidate should not come from WWE. Please select someone from outside of this 9/25/2026 10:23 PM agency.
Use CCSF/City of San Francsico Permanent Civil Service staff for ALL planning, program 9/25/2026 7:16 PM management, ongoing replacement and rehabilitation planning, design, engineering, construction management, operations and maintenance whenever feasible and develop in house expertise to replace specialized skills currently being contracted out. Contracting out vital
planning, engineering and program management tasks results in less in-house expertise, control and oversight and increases inefficiencies, work duplication and costs.
During this recruitment process, I respectfully ask that each candidate be interviewed on how they would respond to the following three issues facing the SFPUC if they were the General Manager: (1) The next GM must maintain fiscal discipline and demonstrate clear, transparent
ROI on capital programs. This requires prioritizing essential system upgrades without triggering insurmountable rate shock or inequity from low- and middle-income residents. What will be your approach to accomplish this? (2) The SFPUC is heavily reliant on snowmelt flowing into Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and other reservoirs for most of its drinking water supply. In the face of climate change, how does the SFPUC plan to be more climate-resilient and develop water supplies to support its customers during times of water shortages? (3) As San Francisco continues to advance its multi-billion-dollar effort to buy out PG&E, one of the concerns is the significant wage gap between city lineworkers ($85/hr base) and PG&E counterparts ($92/hr base). This raises questions about operational feasibility and eventual cost savings. How will the next GM navigate deep utility negotiations with state regulators to deliver reliable, lower- cost public power that does not result in significant rate increases simply to operate the infrastructure.
9/25/2026 7:06 PM
For question #2, I see Fiscal & Financial Stewardship and Utility Affordability & Reliability as 9/25/2026 5:46 PM highly related, and sacrificed Collaborative Decision-Making to maintain both but that was a very close and important 6th choice. Collaborative decision making is paramount to the success of Utility
Affordability & Reliability.
Should have scientific background 9/25/2026 5:39 PM
The next General Manager should be a dedicated advocate for public power expansion in the 9/25/2026 5:26 PM City and help streamline processes to enable that initiative. 6 / 7
28 29
30 SFPUC General Manager Recruitment Survey-Community SurveyMonkey 31 32
33 We will have major engineering needs if the PG&E acquisition proceeds, I think someone with a strong engineering background is needed for Power, Water and Sewer This should be someone with deep knowledge of and experience working within the utility industry, and who is relatable across socio-cultural boundaries.
Thanks for getting our input.
9/25/2026 5:18 PM
9/25/2026 5:11 PM
9/25/2026 5:10 PM
7 / 7