San Francisco Budget: $6.06 Billion
In our June newsletter we reported on the upcoming fight between Mayor Newsom and the Peoples’ Budget advocates. This is a follow-up report.
The Mayor’s proposals, a “back-to-basics” budget, emphasized law and order, street improvements, transportation and homelessness (Peoples’ Courts), and cut funding for housing and homeless programs, AIDS services, and children and family programs. The Peoples’ Budget emphasized really affordable housing, AIDS services, health and social services.
We are pleased to report that the budget passed by the Board of Supervisors reversed the Mayor’s cuts, putting $10 million toward affordable rental housing for families, $8 million to HIV/AIDS services, $4.8 to children and family programs, $2 million to environmental programs—and cut the proposed spending on the punishing Peoples’ Court proposal and added a requirement that the Mayor must return to the Supervisors to get the funds actually appropriated.
We are less pleased to report that this budget managed only to restore proposed cuts, not to increase funding desperately needed for social programs. This budget did not noticeably cut the Mayor’s law and order appropriations. And we are sorry to report that in the past the Mayor’s office has found various ways to avoid actually spending the money mandated by the Supervisors.
Gray Panthers should work to inform and educate our members and the people of our city about how our money is spent—and not spent—so that all who live here benefit. We congratulate and thank the Peoples’ Budget Coalition.
Read June 2007 GP Newsletter article on the City budget.
Read July 2007 "Street Sheet" article on the City budget.
Read SF Bay Guardian's June 27 2007 article "Budget Blowback" on some budget restorations by the Board of Supervisors