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San Francisco committee advances OpenGov permitting contract without recommendation

San Francisco committee advances OpenGov permitting contract without recommendation

Money Moves San Francisco, CA local

Supervisors trim OpenGov deal to $22M over three years; inspector general probe continues

October 2026: Inspector general expected to release findings

Overview

Updated Sep 16

The Board of Supervisors voted 10-1 on Sept. 15 to extend OpenGov's contract for three years at $22 million, with Jackie Fielder the lone no vote. The deal trims the mayor's five-year, $33 million request and cuts the total contract from $38 million to $28 million.

The deal keeps Mayor Daniel Lurie's permitting overhaul alive but adds an exit: supervisors can terminate the contract without proving breach or wrongdoing. It follows months of criticism over the no-bid selection, which passed over a cheaper competitor that city staff scored higher. The inspector general's report on whether OpenGov can prevent improper activity is due this fall.

Why it matters

San Francisco may lock in $33 million for a permitting system that missed deadlines, while the city's new watchdog probes the deal.

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Key Indicators

$5.9M
Initial OpenGov contract
No-bid award from October 2025, set to expire September 30, 2026.
$22M
Approved contract extension
Three-year extension approved Sept. 15, replacing the mayor's five-year, $33M request. Total contract is now $28M.
4% / 38%
Permits meeting two-day goal (Aug. 31)
Share of fire permits and building permits hitting PermitSF's turnaround target, per city data obtained by The Standard.
4.42 vs 2.88
Staff evaluation scores (Clariti vs OpenGov)
City employees rated the competing vendor far higher on a 5-point scale.
$528K
Clariti's license bid
Competing vendor's software licensing cost, plus up to $1.4M for implementation.
$100K
Inauguration donation
From OpenGov advisory board member Katherine August-deWilde and her husband, plus $60K to a pro-Lurie PAC.

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People Involved

Daniel Lurie
Daniel Lurie
Mayor of San Francisco
Championing PermitSF; board trimmed his $33M extension request to $22M
 Jackie Fielder
Jackie Fielder
San Francisco Supervisor
Lone dissenter in final OpenGov vote
 Liz Watty
Liz Watty
Director of PermitSF, Planning Department official
Overseeing OpenGov implementation
 Matt Dorsey
Matt Dorsey
Budget and Finance Committee chair, Supervisor
Supports extension with early termination provision
 Chyanne Chen
Chyanne Chen
Supervisor, Budget and Finance Committee member
Voted for amended $22M extension; pressed for oversight tools
 Fred Brousseau
Fred Brousseau
Director of policy analysis, Budget and Legislative Analyst
Published critical report on procurement process
SS
Stephen Sherrill
San Francisco Supervisor
Handling the OpenGov contract extension legislation

Organizations Involved

OpenGov
OpenGov
Software company
Approved $22M, three-year extension through 2029

Software vendor for PermitSF, awarded a no-bid $5.9 million contract in 2025 and now seeking a $33 million extension.
Clariti
Clariti
Software company
Competing vendor passed over

Competing permitting software vendor whose bid was a fraction of OpenGov's cost and scored higher with city staff.
Tipping Point
Tipping Point
San Francisco nonprofit
Source of conflict-of-interest questions

Anti-poverty nonprofit founded by Mayor Daniel Lurie; OpenGov executives have financial ties to it.

Timeline

October 2025 October 2026

8 events Latest: October 2026
Tap a bar to jump to that date

  1. Inspector general expected to release findings

    Latest Report

    Fraud watchdog to detail whether OpenGov can ensure integrity in the permitting process.

  2. Current OpenGov contract expires

    Milestone

    Deadline for full board to act or the city loses its vendor continuity.

  3. City data shows most permits miss two-day target

    Report

    San Francisco Standard obtains data showing 4% of fire permits and 38% of building permits met PermitSF's two-day turnaround goal as of Aug. 31. Legacy systems issued comparable permits in one to two days in 2025.

  4. Committee advances $33M extension without recommendation

    Vote

    Budget and Finance Committee votes 3-0 to send the OpenGov deal to the full board, declining endorsement.

  5. Inspector general opens OpenGov probe

    Investigation

    New watchdog position examines whether the software can protect permitting integrity and prevent fraud.

  6. Budget analyst report criticizes procurement

    Report

    Fred Brousseau finds selection fell short of best practices but did not violate rules.

  7. First PermitSF phase launches with limited records

    Launch

    Portal goes live covering a limited number of permit records, far below planned scope.

  8. Lurie awards OpenGov $5.9M no-bid contract

    Contract Award

    Mayor's office bypasses competitive bidding, citing urgency to modernize permitting.

Scenarios

1

Full board approves the $33M extension

Likely Resolves by Oct 31, 2026

Discussed by: SF Standard reports the board is expected to decide in coming weeks; Mission Local notes two of three committee supervisors expressed support.

The full Board of Supervisors votes in the coming weeks to approve the five-year extension. The one-year exit provision added at the last minute gives skeptical supervisors cover, and the unanimous committee vote suggests momentum. OpenGov remains on contract through 2031, though the inspector general's fall report could still unravel the deal.

2

Board rejects or trims the deal

Possible Resolves by Oct 31, 2026

Discussed by: Supervisor Chyanne Chen and Jackie Fielder voiced skepticism about the $33M figure; city staff floated a $12M option at the hearing.

Supervisors reject the extension or cut it significantly, citing missed deadlines and transparency concerns. The city would keep operating fragmented legacy systems while officials weigh a new competitive procurement, returning to the slow status quo Lurie promised to fix. The one-year exit provision could also be used to force a faster re-evaluation.

3

Inspector general report reshapes the deal

Possible Resolves by End of 2026

Discussed by: SF Standard and Mission Local reported the I.G. announced its probe and expects to report this fall.

The inspector general's fall report finds that OpenGov's permitting software cannot adequately prevent improper activity. Even if the board approved the extension, the finding forces renegotiation, adds new contracting conditions, or triggers the early termination provision. This scenario would unfold in late 2026 or early 2027, after the board's initial vote.

4

Board pulls OpenGov contract after inspector general report

Possible Resolves by End of 2026

Discussed by: The contract's new termination clause, added before the Sept. 15 vote; the inspector general announced its probe in August with findings due this fall.

The inspector general's fall report concludes OpenGov cannot adequately prevent improper activity in the permitting process. Under the termination clause added to the contract, supervisors can cancel the deal without proving breach or wrongdoing. That would send the city back to legacy systems or a new competitive procurement.

Historical Context

3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

October 2013 - March 2014

Healthcare.gov launch (2013)

The federal health insurance exchange went live October 1, 2013 and crashed almost immediately, with most users unable to create accounts. The disastrous launch required months of emergency repairs.

Then

A 'tech surge' of private contractors fixed the site enough to function by March 2014, at a total cost above $2 billion.

Now

It became the standard reference point for large government software failures, and proof that salvage is possible with enough money and expertise.

Why this matters now

OpenGov's PermitSF is smaller in scale but has followed a similar arc: high-profile launch, missed deadlines, limited functionality, and heavy public criticism. The open question is whether the fix comes before the money runs out.

October 2013 - April 2014

Cover Oregon (2013-2014)

Oregon's state health insurance exchange, built by Oracle, never functioned properly. The state paid over $300 million before abandoning the system and using the federal exchange instead.

Then

Oregon rejected Oracle's system and launched an independent review of the project's failures.

Now

The exchange became a cautionary tale of sunk costs: paying a large vendor for software that simply doesn't work.

Why this matters now

San Francisco's one-year termination clause is essentially a Cover Oregon escape hatch. If OpenGov keeps missing deadlines, the city's exit option is the realistic worst case.

2001-2012

New York City's CityTime scandal (2001-2012)

New York City's payroll modernization project CityTime started at a projected cost of $63 million and ballooned past $700 million. Prosecutors later uncovered an $80 million fraud and kickback scheme among the contractors.

Then

Federal prosecutors charged 11 people in the scheme, and the city tightened its rules on large procurements.

Now

CityTime remains a textbook example of how a well-intentioned government tech project can become a corruption vehicle.

Why this matters now

San Francisco's inspector general is opening the same kind of inquiry into OpenGov, examining whether the new permitting system can prevent improper activities—echoing the concerns that haunted CityTime.

Sources

(7)
+3
SFist Mission Local San Francisco Standard San Francisco Chronicle Mission Local Mission Local San Francisco Standard