Jake McGoldrick: Budget Passed with Little Pain

Over the last two months, my colleagues and I on the SF Board of Supervisor's Budget Committee have struggled mightily to balance the city and county of San Francisco's budget with a minimum of pain. This year, the City was faced with a shortfall of more than $350 million unless we changed the way we did city business. So, we all rolled up our sleeves and got to work to ensure successful budget reform.

Our approach has been to cut layers of administration and middle management, so that scarce revenue can continue to pay for essential services for needy residents. Departments were consolidated, management and support staff were scaled back and, to the extent possible, we preserved staff that provided direct services to the public. Sacrifices were made in each and every department and pain was shared in programs throughout the City.

As I have mentioned in past columns, my priorities during this difficult budget year have been to preserve public safety, to preserve the public health safety net, to maintain funding for children and senior programs, to preserve gardeners for our beleaguered parks, and to restore funding for renovation of Rossi Playground. District 1 residents have helped me greatly in achieving these goals despite budget shortfalls by coming to town hall meetings and committee hearings to testify in support of these priorities. I am proud to inform you that together we have been successful in these efforts.

The supervisors recently passed the city budget that we referred to them from the Budget Committee, and Mayor Gavin Newsom has indicated that he will sign it into law. The Budget Committee restored millions of dollars the mayor had cut from health programs, thereby preserving basic services, such as the dialysis unit and interpreter services at General Hospital, as well as neighborhood community health clinics. In addition, we added several million dollars to programs for children, youth and seniors, including employment-training programs for at-risk youth.

My office was able to secure several changes in the budget that benefited the residents of our district. I secured $280,000 for increased paratransit services provided by Jewish Family Services, restored the position of liaison to the Russian immigrant community in the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Services, added $100,000 for the Richmond Beacon Center and $500,000 for increased gardeners and restored funding for Rossi Playground improvements.

Rossi Funding Restored
I am so pleased to report that not only have we restored funding for Rossi Park renovations, we also restored funding for capital improvements in many other parks throughout the City that had been placed unexpectedly on a waiting list by the SF Recreation and Park Department. I identified $2 million in savings in other departments to appropriate to the SF Recreation and Park Department's Open Space Fund. Working closely with Newsom's staff, my office was able to reach a more comprehensive solution: The City will use this $2 million to secure a $21 million revenue bond. Again, thanks to vocal and organized advocacy from park advocates, many park projects are now back on track.

Next Town Hall Meeting
Please join me for our next District 1 Town Hall Meeting on Thursday, Aug. 19, from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m., at the Richmond Recreation Center, located at 251 18th Ave. I look forward to seeing you there.

Jake McGoldrick is a San Francisco supervisor who represents District 1.