SF Sunshine Ordinance Architect Terry Francke Paved the Way for Open Government in Countless Towns and Cities
September 15, 1944 – December 24, 2025
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• • • • • • • • • • February 2026 • • • • • • • • • • •
Joseph Terrence “Terry” Francke, a longtime open government advocate whose work strengthened public access to local government, including in San Francisco, and helped set nationwide standards for transparency, died Dec. 24, 2025. He was 81. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Carolyn “Muffy” Francke (née Jaskunas). Francke was the principal author of San Francisco’s Sunshine Ordinance, the nation’s first and arguably most comprehensive municipal open-government law.
The ordinance expanded public access to city hall records and meetings and strengthened enforcement beyond state requirements. It remains a model for cities throughout the nation, many of which have adopted similar sunshine laws with Francke’s guidance.
Born Sept. 15, 1944, in Williamsport, Pa., to James Anthony Francke and Kathryn Lorena Francke, Francke dedicated his life to public service, especially defending the public’s right to know. He was educated at the University of Notre Dame, where he developed early interests in communication and performance.
He served on active duty in the United States Marine Corps, enlisting in April 1968 and honorably discharged in April 1970 with the rank of sergeant. Stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, he worked as a broadcast information specialist.
During the early 1990s, he played a significant role in strengthening interpretation and enforcement of the Ralph M. Brown Act, California’s open-meeting law for city and county governments, and school, community college and special districts.”
After military service, Francke began his career in journalism, serving as information officer for the Modesto, Calif., City School District and later working at the Ceres Courier. In 1972, he and his wife co-purchased the newspaper, where Francke served as editor, reporter and photographer. His experience in local newsrooms—and the obstacles journalists and other members of the public face in obtaining public information—shaped the course of his later legal work.
He earned a law degree from the University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento in 1979 and went on to serve as general counsel to the California News Publishers Association, becoming one of the state’s leading authorities on open-meeting and public-records law. During the early 1990s, he played a significant role in strengthening interpretation and enforcement of the Ralph M. Brown Act, California’s open-meeting law for city and county governments, and school, community college and special districts.
Francke later served for 14 years as executive director and general counsel of the (then-California) First Amendment Coalition, where his work helped bring overwhelming passage by voters of Proposition 59 in 2004, adding the public’s right of access to government records and meetings to the California Constitution.
After leaving the coalition, Francke co-founded Californians Aware, continuing to educate journalists, public officials and citizens about open-government law. He authored widely used legal guides and remained active in transparency efforts well into later life.
Outside his professional work, he enjoyed reading and gardening.
Francke’s other survivors include a son, Andrew Francke; a daughter.
The family requests that he be honored with donations to the American Civil Liberties Union.
February 2026
