Following several hours of impassioned testimony Tuesday,
the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 7-3
to deappropriate $82 million from Mayor Gavin Newsom’s budget proposal.
Photos by Luke Thomas
By Luke Thomas
June 17, 2009
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed an interim budget Tuesday that includes $82 million in deappropriations, including $35 million in cuts to the budgets of firefighters and cops.
The cuts were made to help offset $117 million in proposed cuts to health and human services departments announced June 1 by Mayor Gavin Newsom.
“We wouldn’t be here with a proposed interim budget focused on some of the departments if those departments were not collectively increasing by tens of millions of dollars, mostly for employee benefits,” said Board President David Chiu. “If you actually take out the increase in those budgets, we’re not talking about insurmountable cuts.”
Board of Supervisors President David Chiu.
The proposed cuts mean the San Francisco Fire Department would realize a $15 million reduction in its $278 million annual budget (5.4 percent), and the San Francisco Police Department would realize a $26 million reduction in its $433 million annual budget (6 percent). The cuts reverse wage increases proposed by Mayor Gavin Newsom who is running for governor and is seeking the coveted endorsements of law enforcement and firefighter unions across the State.
Chiu’s comments followed several hours of public testimony in favor of “equitably sharing the pain” of an unprecedented fiscal crisis.
“The difference between the mayor’s budget and what we’re proposing really demonstrates the magnitude, I think, the budget problem that we have,” Chiu said referring to the City’s $576 million fiscal shortfall.
The full Board voted 7-3 in support of the interim budget previously affirmed by the Budget and Finance Committee. Supervisors Bevan Dufty, Michela Alioto-Pier and Carmen Chu dissented. Supervisors John Avalos, David Chiu, Chris Daly, Ross Mirkarimi, David Campos, Eric Mar and Sophie Maxwell supported the amended budget. Supervisor Sean Elsbernd was absent from the proceedings due to the birth of his son, Michael Thomas Elsbernd.
While the Board has the authority to de-appropriate funds, its authority to allocate appropriations has oft been ignored by Newsom. For now, the deappropriated funds are held in suspension until a compromise can be reached between the Board and Newsom as to how the $82 million should be re-allocated.
“What we need to do is to work collaboratively to fill this gap; either by sharing the pain, or to find monies from other places in the budget, or from new revenues,” Chiu said.
Responding, Newsom spokesperson Nathan Ballard implied the mayor will not sign the amended budget.
“To take effect, this bill would have to pass a second reading and then be signed by the mayor,” Ballard told Fog City Journal. “Neither of those conditions have yet been met.”
Prior to the Board meeting, two competing rallies were held on the steps of City Hall and on Alioto Plaza. On one side, public health and human service advocates called for an equitable budget. On the other, firefighters staged a raucous rally that included loud music and speaking appearances by former Mayor Willie Brown and Newsom.
More photos after the jump.
The pledge of allegiance.
Former Mayor Willie Brown
Mayor Gavin Newsom
Budget Chair John Avalos.
Consultant Eric Jaye (right) serves as Gavin Newsom’s campaign manager
and represents the San Francisco firefighters union.
KGO radio reporter Barbara Taylor and Willie Brown.
SF Firefighters Local 798 President John Hanley.
SF Police Officers Association President Gary Delagnes.
Luke Thomas
Luke Thomas is a former software developer and computer consultant who proudly hails from London, England. In 2001, Thomas took a yearlong sabbatical to travel and develop a photographic portfolio. Upon his return to the US, Thomas studied photojournalism to pursue a career in journalism. In 2004, Thomas worked for several neighborhood newspapers in San Francisco before accepting a partnership agreement with the SanFranciscoSentinel.com, a news website formerly covering local, state and national politics. In September 2006, Thomas launched FogCityJournal.com. The BBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, New York Times, Der Spiegel, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Magazine, 7x7, San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco Bay Guardian and the San Francisco Weekly, among other publications and news outlets, have published his work. Thomas is a member of the Freelance Unit of the Pacific Media Workers Guild, TNG-CWA Local 39521 and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
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