Jake McGoldrick: Budget highlights

Public Health

Have you ever heard of nurses that make home visits where they help fill prescriptions, administer medications, arrange medical appointments, connect folks to mental health services and provide nutrition counseling?

Our SF Department of Public Health's maternal-child team and chronic care team is made up of public health nurses and medical social workers who look after homebound people - anyone from a new mother who has tuberculosis to a diabetic who is also disabled.

These public health nurses and medical social workers tend to those who need and may not otherwise receive long-term care due to financial and/or family difficulties. They keep people out of the emergency room, thereby, using fewer resources than required for hospital care and nursing homes.

Budget cuts in December 2004 resulted in a loss of almost one half of the chronic-care team. And the program was almost eliminated when there was an additional $1 million in reductions proposed for the new fiscal year.

I worked to restore $1.3 million in cuts. As a result, we now have approximately 32 public-health nurses serving the entire City. Still, this is not enough. This shortage of public health nurses has created a long waiting list and patient needs are going unmet.

As the cost of facility care soars and a lack of home care worsens, many people will fall through the cracks. This cannot happen.

I am still working to address the mayor's drastic cuts to our public health nursing program. Home care is a critical service the City should provide.

Neighborhood Beautification

As the SF Recreation and Park Department reorganizes its staffing and programming, I have made it a priority to increase the amount of gardeners in our district.

I am also looking into the equitable use and distribution of the Golf Fund. The funds have been used to build and maintain Harding Golf Course as a competitive site for PGA tours. Since Harding is now a premiere site, the monies generated from Harding should help address some of our City's needs. My priority is to ensure that the Golf Funds are used for youth programs and to maintain Lincoln Park.

Youth and Recreation

The Department of Children Youth and Their Families (DCYF) has $500,000 to fund program partnerships between community-based organizations and recreation sites. I am in full support of DCYF's partnership with the Recreation and Park Department to revitalize the programming and management of our district's recreation centers. I am also working with both departments to increase the number of after-school programs in the district. It is my hope that we can restore all of the programming we lost in the past year.

As we move into the final stages of the budget process, I will be pushing for the restoration of a number of public health programs, child care programs, better enforcement of the city's wage laws and more money for neighborhood and economic planning.

At the same time, I am addressing wasteful spending and looking at ways to address cost efficiency. For example, the contracting out of major services, like security work to private contractors, is wasteful. The Sheriff's Department has the training and expertise necessary to work with city agencies to address safety issues at City Hall. Additionally, many departments need to decrease their overtime spending in order to improve efficiency and save city dollars.

I welcome your comments. Please contact my office at (415) 554-7410.

Jake McGoldrick is a San Francisco supervisor representing District 1.