Board of Supervisors holds public hearing on Department of Public Health midyear cuts as advocates press to save ARC House and trauma program

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors held a Committee of the Whole hearing on Jan. 26 to review proposed midyear reductions to the Department of Public Health (DPH) budget, drawing more than two hours of public testimony about cuts that community groups and service providers say would close or reduce critical programs.

The hearing followed an earlier motion to sit as a Committee of the Whole so the board could take extended public comment specifically on the Department of Public Health’s proposed reductions. Supervisors said the hearing was intended to give residents and service providers a public forum to describe the real‑world impacts of potential cuts.

Supervisor John Avalos, who brought the motion, said the hearing was meant to set a precedent for public review when public‑health or substance‑abuse services are in the crosshairs of budget pruning. “Many committee members felt it would be really important that we set a precedent when we do have cuts to our Department of Public Health,” Avalos said.

DPH Director Mitch Katz opened the hearing and described a department working to preserve services with limited dollars. “There are a lot of services that we very much want to provide, more than we're currently providing. And we're just trying to figure out how to do the best we can with the…