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Board adopts resolution to pursue $368 million street-resurfacing bond after heated debate over undergrounding
Summary
The Board approved a resolution declaring public necessity for a $368 million general obligation bond to finance street resurfacing, sidewalks, curb ramps and street-structure repairs; supervisors warned the bond omits utility undergrounding and some members opposed timing and financing choice.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution on Tuesday declaring that public interest and necessity demand the resurfacing of streets and other right-of-way improvements and setting the stage for a proposed $368 million general obligation bond.
Supervisor Ellsberg spoke in strong opposition, calling a bond for resurfacing “a maintenance bond” and arguing the city should not use general obligation debt for ongoing maintenance. He said the measure shifts responsibility onto property taxpayers and called for delaying a November bond or prioritizing other capital projects.
Department of Public Works Director Mr. Ryskin (recorded on the floor) explained the administration and capital planning committee support the bond. He said resurfacing, curb ramps and street-structure repairs are capital projects with useful lives that justify matching financing, and that existing local financing streams would be exhausted without the bond. Nani Coloretti, the mayor’s budget director, told the board the bond would also create an estimated 2,600 local jobs and help preserve the city’s capital plan.
Supervisor Dufty and others acknowledged concerns about equitable undergrounding of utilities but said including an additional $20 million for undergrounding had been rejected in committee because it would have invited organized opposition and risked ballot success. Supervisor Duffy and several colleagues said they remain committed to pursuing undergrounding in future measures and to seeking greater equity in which neighborhoods receive undergrounding investments.
Vote and next steps: The board approved the resolution by roll call, recorded as nine ayes and two noes. The transcript records named no votes by Supervisor Ellsberg and Supervisor Aleoto Pier; the motion was recorded as adopted and will allow bond language to move forward in the capital plan and for placement on the ballot per the city’s procedures.
Why it matters: Supporters framed the bond as a way to arrest decades of deferred street repairs and to match capital financing to the useful life of assets. Opponents said the measure improperly places recurring maintenance on long-term property-tax debt and criticized the timing amid recent other bond measures and fiscal constraints.
Implementation details and limits: The adopted resolution references resurfacing, sidewalk repair, curb-ramp construction, street-structure repairs and streetscape design; a higher-dollar version considered earlier had included utility undergrounding but the version forwarded did not. The Department of Public Works said maintenance (pothole repair, crack filling) remains an operating-budget function and is funded separately.
