Board of Supervisors overrides mayoral veto to fund San Francisco General workers' compensation clinic

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, April 8, voted 8-3 to override Mayor Gavin Newsom’s veto of an ordinance appropriating funds from the General Fund Reserve to the Human Resources Department to keep the workers’ compensation clinic at San Francisco General Hospital open.

Supporters said preserving the clinic protects a publicly administered service used by city employees; opponents called the vote symbolic amid a broader budget crisis. The board’s override restores the appropriation that supervisors said would otherwise have been cut in the mayor’s budget actions.

Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi argued the clinic’s retention was a check against creeping privatization and said the publicly run clinic had shown improvements in reducing lost work time and other performance measures. “I stand by the premise … that to privatize this service during a severe budget deficit is the wrong direction,” Mirkarimi said.

Supervisor Matt Gonzalez Ellsberg (identified in the transcript as Ellsberg) countered that overriding the veto was largely symbolic and would not prevent the larger round of personnel reductions the administration said it had planned. “We eliminated 300 positions in the budget last week. Yet we are going to stand on a cut that has 0 layoffs,” Ellsberg said, arguing the override would not, by itself, stop other cuts or guarantee the clinic’s future.

Supervisor Daly said the override was also about the legislative branch protecting its appropriation authority and asked colleagues to send a message to the mayor’s office that the board should be part of budget decisions. “If you don’t want to spend money we appropriate for priorities of the people’s branch of government, then we will start to deappropriate monies that are priorities of the executive branch,” Daly said.

The roll call on the override recorded eight ayes and three noes. The board clerk recorded the votes as follows: Tom Ammiano — Aye; David Chiu — No; Daly — Aye; Dufty — Aye; Ellsberg — No; Maxwell — Aye; McGoldrick — Aye; Mirkarimi — Aye; Peskin (presiding) — Aye; Sandoval — Aye; Alioto-Pier — No. The clerk announced: “There are 8 ayes and 3 noes.” The veto was overridden.

The ordinance under consideration was described earlier in the meeting as an appropriation from the General Fund Reserve to the Human Resources Department to fund the workers’ compensation clinic. During debate supervisors referenced a specific dollar amount that had been proposed for the clinic appropriation ($246,000) but the ordinance language and appropriation authority remain the operative legal text on the city file.

Because the mayor had vetoed the appropriation, the board’s override returns the matter to the city’s appropriation schedule with the funding restored. Supporters and opponents emphasized different interpretations of what the override would accomplish: supporters framed it as protecting a public service and asserting legislative budget authority; opponents framed it as largely symbolic in the face of broader planned budget reductions.

Actions recorded: the board overrode the mayoral veto and restored the appropriation for the workers’ compensation clinic. The outcome was a formal override (passed).