Jake McGoldrick: Patriot Act as "Watch Law"

In 2003, I introduced a charter amendment dealing with San Francisco's response to federal requests under the USA Patriot Act. I was concerned that such requests would violate certain constitutional rights. For example, if the Department of Homeland Security were to request the library records of a San Francisco resident, our City Librarian would be required to provide any records she had or face criminal penalties. 

In March 2004, San Francisco voters passed the charter amendment designating the Patriot Act as a "watch law." This legislation takes the burden of requests for production under designated watch laws off the shoulders of city workers and puts the responsibility on the highest-ranking local lawmaking body, the SF Board of Supervisors. It also puts the local government in the role of protecting the constitutional rights of San Franciscans from federal intrusion.   

We are now implementing the watch law. The clerk of the board of supervisors has undertaken the task of coordinating citywide training that helps city employees identify watch law requests and to respond to such requests by contacting the board immediately. The legislative branch has the task of documenting such requests, consulting the city attorney's office and deciding on an appropriate response to each request. I will call a hearing in several months to review the law's implementation.       

Budget Process for the Next Fiscal Year
The budget process normally gets off the ground when the mayor's office submits a balanced budget in June. Once that happens, the public only has one month to weigh in with the board about which social services and community programs to save. It is a piecemeal process where certain programs and jobs are saved at the expense of long-term planning and the overall coordination of city services to meet community needs. 

This year, the board's Budget Committee is approaching the process differently. Based on public comment over the last several years, we are planning to provide the mayor with policy priorities that protect the well-being of youth, families and the most vulnerable populations in San Francisco before the mayor comes out with his budget. This is the time to weigh in with Mayor Gavin Newsom before he finalizes the budget. I encourage you to attend the mayor's stakeholder meetings and various city commission meetings from now until June. Taking a pro-active stance now will make a difference.

As your representative, I am working hard to address past and upcoming budget cuts by looking into revenue enhancements that keep the City running efficiently.  One source of cost savings includes cutting overtime excesses by various departments, including Muni, police, juvenile probation and recreation and park departments. A lot of overtime use is not related to safety issues but rather, administrative costs.

For example, San Francisco taxpayers are subsidizing the city's special events by paying for the overtime costs of policing. Corporate event promoters do not pay for these costs. Because of such abuses, I have proposed a 5 percent overtime reduction across the board for non-public health and safety departments. 

These cost savings will help generate revenue for expenditures that benefit the community.  I have already discussed one such expenditure with Newsom, that is, the restoration of the only citywide government program that provides skilled nurses and long-term nursing care for at-home patients. The elimination of the program has resulted in a loss for elderly, disabled and terminally ill patients to have their long-term health care needs met. 

We are facing a $110 million budget deficit for the next year.  There will be painful cuts.  However, that can be eased if we can identify new revenue sources. As always, I encourage you to contact my office about any revenue enhancement and cost savings ideas.   

Water Rate Increases
You may have seen the recent news stories about a 15 percent increase in water rates. The SF Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) has raised rates to cover the costs of issuing bonds for its Hetch Hetchy upgrade project. San Francisco ratepayers are paying for the costs of upgrading its water system while suburban ratepayers do not have to foot the costs until a much later date. As a result, the board of supervisors is considering having the SFPUC re-negotiate its contract with suburban customers so that everyone follows a more equitable water sales scheme. Some other options include having the SFPUC report to the board about; its financing scheme, the timing of its debt issuance as well as the planning, coordination and implementation of the water construction projects. 

The legislature only has a certain amount of oversight powers.  Therefore, I encourage you to contact the SFPUC about these issues.  Public input is critical.  

Jake McGoldrick is a San Francisco supervisor representing District 1.