Supervisors debate and re-refer contested public-health supplemental and salary items after vote confusion

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors debated a midyear public-health supplemental and related salary ordinance at length Tuesday, then voted to rescind earlier approvals and send the measures back to committee for additional work.

Supervisor Daly and Supervisor Avalos urged the board to use recently identified or anticipated revenues to avert layoffs and reclassifications in the Department of Public Health. Avalos described widespread service disruptions and individual examples of long-time clerks and public-health workers being "bumped" from positions. He cited a memo from the health department's CFO reporting the department ended the prior fiscal year about $8.25 million better than anticipated and told colleagues that state legislation (Assembly Bills 1383 and 188) could produce a larger pool of federal matching dollars for hospitals.

Controller Ben Rosenfield and Monique Smura from the Controller's Office cautioned the board that the department-level surplus did not equate to a citywide surplus. Rosenfield said the city's net general-fund position was only slightly better than expected on pre-audit numbers and that there were shortfalls in other departments. Smura explained the mechanics of AB 1383 and AB 188: the bills assess hospitals a fee to draw federal Medicaid matching funds, but the state must prepare an amendment to its Medicaid plan and the federal government must approve it before funds could be distributed. She said it was unlikely that the money could be certified as available in the current fiscal year.

The contested items were: - Item 11: An ordinance appropriating approximately $7,000,000 from general fund reserves to add 322.39 full-time-equivalent (FTE) positions and delete 272.95 FTEs in the Department of Public Health, effective Nov. 16, 2009, for fiscal year 2009-10. - Item 12: An amendment to the annual salary ordinance to add various job classes for 16.3 pay periods (Nov. 16, 2009 through June 30, 2010) in the Department of Public Health.

Initial roll-call voting on item 11 produced seven ayes and four noes; after a point of order the clerk announced the motion had failed because it required eight votes to pass. Item 12 passed on first reading by a 7-4 vote. Members later moved to rescind the votes on items 11 and 12 and to re-refer both items to committee; that motion passed 8-3.

Supervisor Daley (Daly) said he would introduce a resolution expressing the board's intent to replenish the general-fund reserve if anticipated state funds do materialize. Supervisor Ellsberg criticized use of a resolution as a "crutch" to justify advancing spending without a firm funding certification.

Why it matters: The measures were intended to avert layoffs and preserve services that supervisors said disproportionately affect women and people of color. The board stopped short of approving the appropriations without clearer certification of revenues and sent the items back to committee to reconcile revenue forecasts, the timing of potential state/federal reimbursements and the impact on city reserves.

Speakers (from transcript): Supervisor Avalos; Supervisor Daly/Daley; Supervisor Ellsberg; Supervisor Campos; Supervisor Chiu/Chu; Supervisor Maxwell; Supervisor Mercarimi; Ben Rosenfield (Controller); Monique Smura (Controller's Office); Greg Sasse (DPH CFO referenced); Mitch Katz (DPH director referenced); Assemblymember Dave Jones (referenced).