Obstructions were few as the Board of Supervisors unanimously passed its $5 billion budget Tuesday. Members were cordial in finalizing a process that left them “somewhat exhilarated, and a lot depleted,” according to Supervisor Tom Ammiano.
“I think we should all feel pretty good about eleven to nothing on the budget,” Supervisor Ammiano told Beyond Chron. “It really does speak to consensus and some sacrifices on either side, but I think it strikes a good tone and it obviously is good for the city, and there’s that kind of concurrence.”
The budget succeeded as a largely ‘package deal’ that the Board considered in its whole. Not all elements of the budget went without contest, however. Supervisor Chris Daly was the sole dissenting vote on a $160 million San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) project that, he says, overlooks environmental concerns respecting the Hetch Hetchy water delivery system.
In 2002, San Franciscans approved Proposition A, which was aimed at retrofitting the aging water system. At the time, Daly says, environmental groups warned that SFPUC was trying to increase water output from the valley–particularly the Tuolumne river–“without regard to the health of the river.”
“Three years later, I’m worried that the PUC has played me for a fool,” Daly writes in his blog.
Daly was adamant in session, stating that “Politicians stink, because we do this all the time.”
Support for the budget was not uniform. Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi announced that his qualified support for the budget plan was the result of restorations in social programs. Mirkarimi, who had voted against the budget in committee, cited restorations in youth programs, minimum compensation, worker’s compensation, HIV/AIDS funding, tree planting, and senior services as reasons for his eventual approval.
Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval was equally complimentary of similar legislation, describing the restoration to HIV/AIDS, tutoring programs, and substance abuse funding as “the most important legislation that comes in front of any government at the municipal level.” The funding restoration, he said, “should give anyone a pause before voting against it.”
Daly also lent his support to a unanimously-passed ordinance forbidding the Department of Human Services from requiring fingerprint images of clients unless the images are either required by non-municipal programs and laws, or unless the client receives aid from programs like Supplemental Security Income Pending (SSIP) and General Assistance (GA).
Daly said that requiring fingerprint imaging likely deters some recipients from seeking care, and that the ordinance would “make sure everyone who is entitled to services…gets the services.”
