San Francisco leaders devote much of their energy to navigating the city’s budget problems as Mayor Daniel Lurie addresses the Board of Supervisors this week. Supervisors will also begin the week by revisiting an anchor project to revitalize the Civic Center and look to create some exemptions from state housing development imperatives. Later in the week, a Supervisors’ committee will decide whether to order a performance audit on the Sheriff’s Department.
On Monday, the Land Use Committee will start with an ordinance from District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey’s office to increase the allowed height for the One Oak Street project, a planned 40-plus-story tower that would be a major component of the Market and Octavia Area Plan. The site has undergone several changes since initial plans surfaced in the 2010s. A sister project at 1554 Market Street has been on pause since the developer became ensnared in the scandal around the former Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru.
The audit was originally demanded by Fielder, who is now on leave, after criticizing the office for outspending its overtime budget by $19 million, as well as incidents over the past few years involving “a mass strip search” of female inmates and a training accident where San Bruno elementary school students were exposed to riot control agents.
The committee will also mull legislation from Mayor Lurie to exempt light industrial and some other sites from provisions of Senate Bill 79, which mandates denser housing near busier transit stations, as well as the curbside electric vehicle charging permit program recently approved by the Municipal Transportation Agency board.
Mayor Lurie will address the Board of Supervisors at their regular Tuesday meeting as part of their regular policy discussions, and District 11 Supervisor Chyanne Chen has submitted questions for Lurie regarding city revenues and proposed layoffs of city workers. Last Monday, Lurie issued 127 pink slips to city employees across 18 departments, the first of 500 planned layoffs; local labor leaders have pledged to oppose the cuts in the budget process.
Other knock-on effects of the city’s budget deficit will be explored by the supervisors’ Budget and Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, when District 3 member Danny Sauter holds a hearing on budget impacts on services for the city’s seniors. The Department of Disability and Aging Services has been directed by the Human Services Agency to submit $8.5 million in cuts; the agency is proposing about $3 million in reductions.
On Thursday, the Government Audit and Oversight Committee will consider a motion from members Connie Chan and Jackie Fielder ordering the Budget and Legislative Analyst to perform a performance audit on the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office. The audit was originally demanded by Fielder, who is now on leave, after criticizing the office for outspending its overtime budget by $19 million, as well as incidents over the past few years involving “a mass strip search” of female inmates and a training accident where San Bruno elementary school students were exposed to riot control agents.
