Board authorizes retroactive one‑year extension of sheriff's phone contract, removes sheriff's unilateral extension authority

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Dec. 10, 2013 voted 9–2 to retroactively authorize a one‑year extension of the sheriff’s contract with Global Tel Link (GTL) for inmate telephone services and amended the resolution to remove the sheriff’s authority to exercise a second one‑year option without returning to the board.

The measure, introduced as a retroactive contract amendment, drew several hours of questions from supervisors about phone rates, revenue increases and how revenue from the contract is spent. Breema Hoarder, identified in the meeting as the sheriff’s department chief financial officer, told the board: “The item that you see before you is a request to extend our contract with GTL for 1 additional year.” Hoarder outlined how some contract revenue supports in‑jail staff and programs: she said the department budgets about $745,000 for staff salaries (including a legal services manager, a facilities worker at CJ5, a senior administrative analyst and several…