Dennis Herrera

General Manager, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC)

Dennis joined the SFPUC in 2021 after serving as San Francisco's City Attorney for nearly 20 years, where he built one of the premier public law offices in the country and spearheaded cases of national importance on civil rights, health care, and environmental protection.

As the SFPUC's lawyer for nearly two decades, Dennis was at the forefront of pivotal water, power, and sewer issues facing San Francisco.

Additionally, in his role as San Francisco’s advocate, Herrera filed the first ever government lawsuit to challenge the constitutionality of state marriage laws that discriminate against gay and lesbian couples, and his office was centrally involved in the nearly decade-long battle that successfully won marriage equality in California.

Herrera also filed numerous successful federal lawsuits against President Donald Trump and his administration over federal funding for sanctuary cities, discrimination in healthcare against women and LGBTQ patients, and attempts to deny basic benefits to lawful immigrants.

He has been a champion for workers, ratepayers and the environment. In 2017 Herrera sued the five largest investor-owned fossil fuel companies over sea level rise caused by their products, seeking billions of dollars to protect waterfront infrastructure. Bayside sea level rise from global warming places at risk at least $10 billion of public property in San Francisco and as much as $39 billion of private property.

In 2018 he defeated a years-long attempt to drain Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, the crown jewel of the SFPUC system, which provides emissions-free hydroelectric power and clean drinking water to 2.8 million Bay Area residents.

Originally from New York, Herrera earned his bachelor’s degree from Villanova University in Pennsylvania and his juris doctor from the George Washington University School of Law in Washington, D.C. Dennis and his wife, Anne, live in the Dogpatch neighborhood with their son, Declan.