Board approves charter amendment to guarantee decades of baseline funding for parks

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 9–2 on Feb. 23 to place a charter amendment on the June ballot that would require a baseline appropriation for the Recreation and Park Department and add new equity, oversight, and audit requirements for park planning and spending.

Supervisor Mark Farrell, who introduced the measure, told colleagues the amendment would guarantee “just over a billion in new funding” for parks over the next 30 years and asked the board to support the item so voters could decide in June. He said the change would require the department and Rec and Park Commission to develop equity metrics, submit capital and strategic plans for review, and create a separate equity fund to accept voluntary private donations.

The amendment directs the department to include equity analysis when comparing services across neighborhoods and to submit those metrics to the mayor and the board. It also mandates performance audits by the city services auditor to confirm that the department meets goals set out in its strategic plans. Farrell said neighborhood groups had repeatedly told him they wanted infrastructure repairs, more programming, and options to acquire new open space.

Supporters said the amendment is a step toward stabilizing operations and reducing a historic shortfall in maintenance funding even while the city invests in park capital projects. “We have to make sure the operational investment in our parks matches the capital investment,” Supervisor Scott Wiener said. Supervisor John Avalos, who cosponsored the measure, said the equity provisions would help ensure historically underserved neighborhoods receive needed investments.

Opponents warned that adding a permanent baseline in the charter reduces budget flexibility. Supervisor London Breed and Supervisor Aaron Peskin both said they have concerns about permanently limiting the city’s budget discretion through charter language. Peskin said he opposed the item “with a heavy heart” because set-asides reduce the city’s ability to make trade-offs across priorities. Ultimately, Tang and Peskin voted no; Farrell, Weiner, Avalos, Campos, Marr, Kim, Yi, Cohen and Breed voted yes.

The amendment, as submitted by the board, will go to the voters in June. The charter language and related implementing ordinances would determine how and when the guaranteed baseline is added to annual budgets and how the new equity review and audit requirements will be carried out.

Supporters and some opponents said they expect follow-up legislation and budget review after the voters act, and multiple speakers emphasized the department must be accountable for how the new dollars are spent.