O'Connell

The preamble of article XII of the charter of the city and county of San Francisco declares that it is “the purpose and intention of the people of the city and county of San Francisco that its public utilities shall be gradually acquired and ultimately owned by the city and county”; and with this purpose in view it is provided by section 1 of the same article that “whenever the board of supervisors by ordinance . . . shall determine that the public interest or necessity demands the acquisition, construction or completion of any public utility or utilities by the city and county, or whenever electors shall petition the board of supervisors, as provided by section 3 of this article, for the acquisition of any public utility or utilities, the board of supervisors must procure from the board of works, through the city engineer, plans and estimates of the cost of original construction and completion by the city and county of such public utilities.”

Section 3 of the same article, and which is specifically referred to in section 1, provides that “Whenever a petition or petitions, each signed by electors of the city and county equal in number to fifteen per centum of all the votes cast…