San Francisco Budget and Appropriations Committee Special Meeting - June 12, 2025
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San Francisco Board of Supervisors Budget and Appropriations Committee Special Meeting - June 12, 2025
The Budget and Appropriations Committee, chaired by Supervisor Connie Chan, held a special meeting on June 12, 2025, to hear presentations from multiple city departments on the Mayor's proposed budget for fiscal years 2025-2026 and 2026-2027. The meeting included presentations from the Asian Art Museum, Fine Arts Museums, California Academy of Sciences, Arts Commission, War Memorial, Child Support Services, Department of Early Childhood, Recreation and Park, Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH), Department of Public Health (DPH), Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD), Human Rights Commission (HRC), Department of Children, Youth and Their Families (DCYF), and Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD). The committee also considered numerous trailing legislation items. Public comment was taken on many items, with speakers expressing concerns over cuts to early childhood education, homelessness services, workforce development, and community programs. The committee took several votes, including amendments and continuances.
Consent Calendar
- Item 5 (Resolution to accept bequest from estate of William Benjamin Bobo for park furnishings, $3.6 million) was unanimously forwarded to the full board with a positive recommendation.
- Items 10-14 (DPH trailing legislation: patient rates, acceptance of grants, etc.) were unanimously forwarded to the full board with a positive recommendation.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Early Childhood (Item 4): Over 30 speakers, including parents, educators, and advocates from Parent Voices and other organizations, urged the committee to protect Baby Prop C funds. Many requested restoring the cash balance threshold from $200 million to $300 million before interest could be used for other purposes. Speakers emphasized the importance of universal child care, support for children with special needs, and wage equity for educators.
- Recreation and Park (Items 5-6): Several speakers opposed the proposed outsourcing of golf course operations and maintenance, arguing it would harm union jobs and public access. Others expressed concerns about the lack of community engagement regarding the Gerald Avenue shelter project. A few speakers supported paid parking in Golden Gate Park as a revenue measure.
- Homelessness and Supportive Housing (Items 7-9): Many speakers opposed the reallocation of Our City, Our Home (Prop C) funds, arguing it would cut housing for families and transitional age youth in favor of shelter beds. Speakers from Project Homeless Connect, Larkin Street Youth Services, and the Coalition on Homelessness urged the committee to maintain funding for permanent housing and support services. Community members from Bayview expressed anger over the lack of community input for the Gerald Avenue shelter expansion.
- Public Health (Items 10-14): Speakers opposed cuts to the Soda Tax-funded programs, including healthy eating grants and community health worker programs, which they said would harm Pacific Islander, Latino, and other communities facing health disparities.
- MOHCD, HRC, DCYF, OEWD: Numerous speakers urged restoration of funding for civil legal services, workforce development (CityBuild), immigrant legal defense, and programs for women and LGBTQ+ communities. Several city employees facing layoffs spoke about the importance of their roles in compliance and economic development.
Discussion Items
- Asian Art Museum ($34M total budget): Presented by Deputy Director Emiko Usui. The museum currently operates five days a week due to staffing reductions. Mayor's proposed budget maintains current staffing, avoiding a 15% cut that would eliminate 11-13 positions and potentially force closure.
- Fine Arts Museums ($85.8M total budget): Director Tom Campbell highlighted the museums' economic and educational contributions. The mayor's budget avoids a full 15% reduction, but headcount is reduced by 5.75 FTE. Free Saturdays continue to attract over 720,000 visitors since 2019.
- California Academy of Sciences ($80M total budget): CFO Matthew Lau reported that the city's $8.1M supports the Steinheart Aquarium and essential engineering staff. Ratified first union contract with goal of $25/hr minimum wage. Budget restores engineering capacity in FY27.
- Arts Commission: Director Ralph Remington presented the merger of Arts Commission, Grants for the Arts, and Film Commission into a new agency. The mayor's budget eliminates $500K in DKI grant-making (redirected to HRC). The committee discussed the transition and workforce impacts.
- War Memorial ($32M total budget): Managing Director Kate Sofis highlighted efforts to increase earned revenue and implement patron screening. Budget includes $737K decrease in general fund reliance through efficiencies.
- Child Support Services: Director Karen Roy reported a lean budget with no new positions. Caseload declined 22% over five years. Collections exceed state and national averages. No layoffs proposed.
- Department of Early Childhood ($600M+ over two years): Director Ingrid Mesquita presented kindergarten readiness improvements (66% to 78% from 2022-2024). The trailing legislation (Item 4) allows use of interest from Baby Prop C fund to reduce baseline spending by up to $16.9M annually. Supervisor Melgar proposed amending the cash balance threshold from $200M to $300M before interest can be used. The committee approved the amendment after the mayor's budget office signaled support.
- Recreation and Park ($263.9M in FY26): Director Phil Ginsburg and CFO Antonio Guerra presented a $17.5M deficit requiring $11.8M in new revenue (paid parking, fees). The budget eliminates $7.5M general fund subsidy for golf in FY27 and proposes exploring lease agreements. Without revenue measures, service reductions including pool closures, rec center hour cuts, and 34 full-time layoffs would occur in October 2025. Paid parking in Golden Gate Park (Item 6) was continued to align with other fee proposals.
- HSH ($742.7M in FY26): Executive Director Shireen McSpadden outlined the "Breaking the Cycle" initiative, including $122M for 630 new interim housing beds and a strategy to address vehicular homelessness. Trailing legislation reallocates $88.5M from Prop C fund balance and interest to shelter and hygiene programs, suspends the 12% cap on short-term rental subsidies, and authorizes flexible spending for three years. The committee expressed confusion over the plan and concerns about cuts to family and TAY housing. Supervisor Walton criticized the lack of community input for the Gerald Avenue shelter expansion (Item 7). All three items (7,8,9) were continued to allow further discussion.
- DPH ($3.37B gross budget): Director Daniel Sai presented a budget with no layoffs but $31.6M in CBO reductions. The department commits to $530M in new revenue over two years. 24 FTE were reassigned, and 182 vacant positions deleted. Supervisor Walton questioned cuts to Hope SF wellness centers and Soda Tax-funded programs.
- MOHCD ($172M in FY26): Director Dan Adams reported a $25M decrease from current year, driven by paused residential vacancy tax collection and cuts to general legal services, community building, and financial capability programs. 13 vacant positions deleted. DKI funding continues via non-general fund sources.
- HRC and DOSW ($27.9M combined): Acting Director Mawuli Tugbenyo presented the merger of the two agencies. 9 positions eliminated (2 filled). $5.7M in grant reductions. The committee questioned the future policy priorities for women's issues.
- DCYF ($350M annual): Interim Director Sharice Dorsey Smith noted an $11.8M cut, primarily from rescinding a community grants RFP. The department is in the second year of a five-year funding cycle. 18 positions vacant, one deletion.
- OEWD ($86M to $29M reduction): Director Sarah Dennis Phillips explained that $26M of the reduction is the transfer of ambassador programs to DEM, and $19M is one-time expiring funds. The remaining $12.5M in true reductions includes 18 position eliminations (12 filled) across workforce compliance and small business programs. The committee expressed frustration with cuts to CityBuild compliance officers and the legacy business manager.
Key Outcomes
- Item 4 (Early Care and Education baseline): Amended to raise the cash balance threshold from $200M to $300M before interest can be used. Forwarded to full board with positive recommendation (5-0).
- Items 5 (Bequest): Forwarded to full board with positive recommendation (5-0).
- Item 6 (Paid parking in Golden Gate Park): Continued to the call of the chair to be heard alongside Recreation and Park fee proposals next week (5-0).
- Items 7,8,9 (Gerald lease, OCO reallocation, HSH expenditure plan): Continued to the call of the chair for further discussion, with the intention to agendize next week (5-0).
- Items 10-14 (DPH trailing legislation): Forwarded to full board with positive recommendation (5-0).
- Items 1-3 (Budget and salary ordinances): Continued to the next meeting (June 13, 2025) (5-0).
Meeting Transcript
Good morning. The meeting will come to order. Welcome to the June 12, 2025 meeting of the budget and appropriation committee, and my apologies for being five minutes behind. I am Supervisor Connie Chan, Chair of the Committee, and I'm joined by Vice Chair Supervisor Matt Dorsey and members, uh Supervisors uh Join Guardio, Shaman Walton, and shortly President Raphael Mendelman. Our clerk is Brent Haliba, and I would like to thank uh Jeanette uh my apologies. I'm gonna pronounce the last name incorrectly, I know for sure. Uh uh E. Um, and uh thank you so much and excuse my uh butchering your last name and for um SIGF TV for broadcasting this meeting. And Mr. Clerk, do you have any announcement? Thank you, Madam Chair. Just a friendly reminder to those in attendance to please make sure to silence all cell phones and electronic devices to prevent interruptions to our proceedings. Should you have any documents to be included as part of the file, they should be submitted to myself, the clerk. Public comment will be taken on each item on this agenda when your item of interest comes up and public comment is called. Please line up to speak on the west side of the chamber to your right, my left along those curtains, and while not required uh to provide public comment, we do invite you to fill out a comment card and leave them on the trade by the television to your left by the doors if you wish to be accurately recorded for the minutes. Alternatively, you may submit public comment in writing in either of the following ways. Email them to myself, the budget and appropriations, committee clerk at B R E N T dot J A L I P A at SFGO V dot O R G. If you submit public comment via email, it will be forwarded to the supervisors and also included as part of the official file. You may also send your written comments via U.S. Postal Service to our office in City Hall at one, Dr. Carlton, be good the place. Room 244, San Francisco, California, 94102. And thank you, Madam Chair. That concludes my announcements. Thank you, Mr. Clerk. And before we begin, uh let's walk through today uh agenda and how it will run. Today is our second day of the hearing on department budgets. Uh, we will be hearing from departments in order that is listed on the agenda. Some departments on today's agenda have additional legislation tied to their department budgets, as we know as uh that we refer to as trailing legislation. Those items are listed as uh items four through fourteen on today's agenda. I will call those items along the departments responsible. And um, you will hear Mr. Clerk announce those items accordingly. Some of the trailing legislation also have budget and legislative analyst reports. For those items four, seven, and eight, we will have the department presentation first, followed by the budget and legislative analyst report, then we will take questions from the committee members before we proceed to public comments and public comments for the trailing legislation only. That means that for the trailing legislation, when you talk about it, please uh for public commenters keep it remarks related to trail the tri the legislation, not the overall department budget. Um however, if you would like to make public comments addressing any or all department budget, it will be taken after we have our final department budget presentation today. The last department is going to be the Office of Economic and Workforce Development. Finally, the committee will take um likely 45 minutes of recess uh today, because uh we some of us do plan to um join the mayor's unity rally at noon. So we're gonna work to coincide that time. Um and this is the unity rally for immigrant right. Uh so if there are no more questions, which I don't see any, then uh let's begin. And Mr. Clerk, please call item one through three together. Yes, item one is our hearing to consider the mayor's proposed budget for the departments of the city and county for fiscal years twenty twenty-five to twenty twenty-six and twenty twenty six to twenty twenty-seven. Item number two is the mayor's budget and appropriation ordinance appropriating all estimated receipts and estimated expenditures for the departments of the city and county as of May 30th, 2025. And item number three is the mayor's annual salary ordinance, enumerating positions in the annual budget and appropriations ordinance, continuing creating or establishing these positions, enumerating and including therein all positions created by charter or state law for which compensations are paid from the city and county funds and appropriated in the AAO, authorizing appointments or continuation of appointments there too, specifying and fixing the compensations and work schedules thereof, and authorizing appointments to temporary positions and fixing compensations there for both ordinances for the fiscal years ending June 30th, 2026 and June 30th, 2027. Authorizing appointments or continuation of appointments there too. Specifying and fixing the compensations and work schedules thereof and authorizing appointments to temporary positions and fixing compensations therefore, both ordinance for the fiscal years ending June 30th, 2026 and June 30th, 2027.
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