Supervisors narrowly back $381.7 million in PUC appropriations after tense debate over community choice aggregation

San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved two ordinances to appropriate capital funding for SFPUC water and wastewater projects after a tense discussion over Community Choice Aggregation, known as CCA.

The board passed the two ordinances together by roll-call vote, 10–0, after several hours of debate and procedural motions. The measures appropriated proceeds from debt and fee revenue to the SFPUC’s Water Enterprise capital program (item 1) and to the Wastewater Enterprise capital program (item 2). The ordinances were described in meeting materials as funding the SFPUC capital improvement programs for the coming fiscal years.

Supervisor Campos had removed items 1 and 2 from the consent calendar and said he wanted them continued until the PUC finalized a CCA contract. "Community Choice Aggregation should be the top priority of the PUC," Campos said, arguing that recent progress had been slow and that neighbors and the board needed assurance the PUC was making the contract a priority. Supervisor Campos moved to continue the two items to give the PUC more time to deliver documentation about the contract negotiations.

Several supervisors supported Campos’s call for more information about the CCA negotiations and the urgency posed by a pending statewide ballot threat mentioned during the hearing. Supervisor McCraney (as identified in the record) echoed Campos’s concern about external pressures, saying it "alarms" him that an acceptable contract was not yet in hand.

Other supervisors opposed the continuance. Supervisor Ellsberg (recorded as opposed) argued the motion was an improper exercise of the board’s authority and warned about charter limits on interfering in administrative contracting decisions. Supervisor Ellsberg said the voters had already prioritized seismic and Hetch Hetchy work and cautioned against holding up a multiyear wastewater program for unrelated negotiations. Several supervisors emphasized that much of the wastewater funding would be placed on reserve and still be reviewed by the board’s Budget and Finance Committee before expenditure.

After competing motions and a period of procedural votes, the Board voted to table a motion related to the continuance and then took a final roll-call on the two SFPUC ordinances. The clerk recorded 10 ayes and the ordinances were "finally passed," according to the meeting minutes.

Why it matters: The items fund major SFPUC capital projects that affect water and wastewater infrastructure. Supervisors used the opportunity to press the PUC publicly for clearer progress on CCA, a multiyear initiative that the board said carries political and legal urgency. The outcome leaves PUC funding moving forward while leaving unresolved tensions between the board and PUC over contracting priorities.

Quotes from the meeting

"Community Choice Aggregation should be the top priority of the PUC," Supervisor Campos said when he explained why he sought a continuance.

"This is exactly why we're going to do this. Don't want to put Deputy City Attorney Adams on the record, but wow, we're really talking about that charter section now about interfering with the administrative functions of departments," Supervisor Ellsberg said, urging caution about board interference.

What’s next: Although the capital appropriations passed, supervisors pressed the PUC during the hearing for documentation and for staff-level briefings. Supervisor Campos said he would seek further information and follow-up through the board’s oversight channels. The CCA contract negotiations described in public comment remain ongoing and were cited repeatedly by supervisors as a continuing oversight item.

Ending note: The Board’s action preserved scheduled capital funding while making a public record of concern about the PUC’s prioritization of CCA; the debate underscored the board’s limited tools—continuances and oversight—to push for administrative focus on policy priorities.