Budget Committee Hearing on Youth Commission Priorities - March 25, 2026
Budget and Appropriation Committee Hearing on Youth Commission Budget Priorities - March 25, 2026
The Budget and Appropriation Committee, chaired by Supervisor Connie Chang, held a hearing on March 25, 2026, to receive the San Francisco Youth Commission's budget and policy priorities for fiscal years 2026-2027 and 2027-2028. Commissioners Taylor Ahmir, Leah Mordehai, Evelyn Conboy, and Harper Fort Gane presented 19 priorities across three subcommittees, highlighting areas such as immigration, youth violence prevention, gender-based violence, economic empowerment, homelessness, transit safety, climate change, and the commission's own charter and staffing. The committee heard public comment and filed the hearing unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Emily Yang (Youth Commissioner) urged restoring funding for the San Francisco Environment Department, specifically allocating $3.4 million from the general fund to prevent the loss of eight staff members, citing climate threats and the department's impact on youth.
- Alondra Esquivo Garcia (former Youth Commission Director) urged continued support for the Youth Commission and suggested using the budget priorities report as a framework for a citywide youth agenda.
Discussion Items
- Presentation by Youth Commissioners: The commission presented 19 Budget and Policy Priorities (BPPs) across three committees: Transformative Justice, Civic Engagement and Education, and Housing, Recreation, and Transit. Key priorities included:
- Immigration: Allocate $3.5 million for legal defense, fund community-based organizations for newcomers, and invest in language access (e.g., Vietnamese specialists).
- Youth Violence Prevention: Partner with gun buyback programs, expand youth mental health access (counseling staff, reduced wait times), and support community organizations (United Playas, Hunters Point Foundation, Salmon Community Development Center). Mentioned that shootings have risen 74% in five years and one in three homes with children have a gun.
- Gender-Based Violence: Renew the Title IX student advisory group, implement SFUSD curriculum on sexual assault, and provide non-competitive funding for domestic violence survivors. Noted that in 2022 only 5 out of 24 Title IX sexual harassment complaints in SFUSD were investigated.
- Economic Empowerment: Strengthen youth employment pathways (partnerships with SFUSD, Office of Workforce Development, SF Youth Works) and workplace protections (work permit verification, anti-harassment training).
- Reducing Youth Homelessness: Expand transitional age housing options beyond the Tenderloin, create youth-specific housing assessment processes, and strengthen collaboration among organizations. Cited 405 youth and 1,001 TAY experiencing homelessness, with family homelessness up 82% since 2022.
- Street Safety and Transit: Continue free Muni for youth, invest in lighting and security cameras at high-traffic stops, and include youth in transit safety surveys.
- Climate Change: Protect SF Environment by allocating $3.4 million for eight at-risk positions, expand climate education (district-wide day of action, permanent funding for the High School Climate Action Fellowship).
- Commission-Wide Priorities: Keep the Youth Commission in the city charter (opposing a task force recommendation to move it to administrative code) and support the clerk's office budget to maintain a fully staffed team of three (director, youth development specialist, community partnership specialist).
- Q&A with Supervisors:
- Chair Chan asked about youth violence trends and prevention, and expressed concern about SFUSD's counselor shortages (e.g., one counselor for 2,000 students). She also requested future input from the commission on identifying budget reductions.
- Vice Chair Dorsey praised the presentation, discussed the challenge of handgun regulation, and asked about the Title IX complaint investigation rate. He suggested a compromise on charter status (leaving the commission in the charter but moving prescriptive details to administrative code). The commission agreed to discuss this at a future full meeting.
- Member Sauter asked for more details on economic empowerment and AI regulation. Commissioners acknowledged the AI priority (authored by an absent member) and promised to provide full written priorities. They also discussed school resource officers (SROs), noting that SRO presence can create fear and potentially increase weapon carrying, and advocated for preventative mental health support instead.
- Chair Chan expressed strong support for advisory bodies and the Youth Commission's independence, and committed to following up on the Title IX student advisory group and gender-based violence issues.
Key Outcomes
- The committee voted unanimously (3-0) to hear and file the hearing (Supervisors Walton and Mandelman excused).
- Chair Chan requested that the Youth Commission provide written responses on AI regulation and the Title IX advisory group, and that the commission return with recommendations for budget reductions given the city's nearly $1 billion deficit.
- The Youth Commission will discuss Vice Chair Dorsey's hybrid charter proposal at its next full meeting.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon. The meeting will come to order. Welcome to the March 25th, 2026 meeting of the Budget and Appropriation Committee. I'm Supervisor Connie Chang, Chair of the Committee, and I'm joined by Vice Chair, Supervisor Matt Dorsey, and Member Supervisor Danny Souter. Our clerk is Brent Halipa. I would like to thank Seuss Etnalls from SFGov TV for broadcasting this meeting. Mr. Clark, do you have any announcement? Thank you, Madam Chair. Just a friendly reminder. To those in attendance to please make sure the SoundSall cell phones and electronic devices to prevent interruptions to her proceedings. Should you have any documents to be included as part of the file, these should be submitted to myself, uh the clerk. When 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 to provide public comment, we do invite you to fill out a comment card and leave them on the tray by the television to your left by the doors if you wish for your name to be accurately recorded for the minutes. Alternatively, you may submit public comment in writing in either of the following ways. You may submit them to or 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 B Goodlick Place, Room 244, San Francisco, California, 94102. And Madam Chair, then concludes my announcements. Thank you, Mr. Clerk. And before we call on item number one, we will need to excuse Supervisor Shaman Walton and President Rafael Mendelman. So I would like to move to excuse them. Second. Second by Vice Chair Dorsey, a roll call on to excuse. And on that motion uh to excuse both supervisors uh Walton and Mendelman from attending today's meeting. Vice Chair Dorsey. Aye. Dorsey. Aye. Member Sauter. Aye. Soder, I, Chair Chan. Aye. Chan, aye. Uh we have three ayes. I neglected to say it was the motion by the chair, seconded by Vice Chair Dorsey. And we have three ayes with members Walton and Mendelman excused. The motion passes. And with that, Mr. Clark, please call item number one. Yes, item number one is our hearing to identify the youth commission's budget priorities for fiscal years 2026 to 2027 and 2027 to 2028. Madam Chair. Thank you, Mr. Clerk. And this is our annual hearing, uh, hearing from our youth commission uh for the hard work that they've been doing and uh letting that this body and letting the city on the record to know um their recommendations for the budget. It is our part of our guiding principle and guiding um principles for our budget priorities every year.
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