Budget and Finance Committee forwards mayor's emergency ordinance and a package of housing, transportation and lease measures to full board

SAN FRANCISCO — The Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee on Jan. 29 voted to send to the full Board a package of measures including a mayoral emergency ordinance aimed at speeding the city's response to fentanyl, homelessness and related behavioral-health needs, extensions and funding for homelessness and youth programs, several leases and a refinancing plan for Port of San Francisco debt.

The committee, chaired by Supervisor Connie Chan, acted on about a dozen agenda items. Chair Chan and Vice Chair Supervisor Matt Dorsey said the emergency measure responds to an "unprecedented" public-health and public-safety crisis and seeks time-limited authority so the administration can move more quickly on treatment beds, shelter and hiring while maintaining reporting and sunset provisions.

The ordinance and related amendments

The committee approved sending to the full Board an ordinance the mayor's office wrote to speed contracting and certain leases for a one-year period for projects tied to homelessness, mental health, substance use, integrated health and public-safety hiring. Ally Bondi, policy adviser to Mayor London Breed, and Kunal Modi, the administration's policy lead, told the committee the measure is intended to create "time certainty" so large contracts and leases do not stall and so the city can stand up more beds, a 24/7 drop-off stabilization center and additional behavioral-health staffing.

Members negotiated a set of amendments before forwarding the ordinance. The changes, read into the record by the mayor's office and adopted by the committee, include a reduced dollar threshold for board review of certain contracts (revised from $50 million to $25 million), added quarterly reporting to the Board on contracts and leases executed under the ordinance, clarifications that state or federal competitive requirements are not waived, and a sunset date for the broader authority of Jan. 8, 2026 (with bifurcated timing for some homelessness authorities). The committee also required tolling of the 45-day review clock in limited circumstances (for example, when the Board is on recess or a CEQA action is pending).

Mayor's office staff and administration witnesses emphasized that the ordinance preserves public reporting and that adopted amendments introduce additional safeguards. The budget and legislative analyst cautioned the committee that waiving municipal competitive procurement and budget requirements raises risks of higher costs and potential opportunities for waste, fraud or abuse and that FEMA and other federal programs have required competitive solicitations even during emergency responses in recent years. The analyst recommended the Board treat approval as a significant policy decision.

Public comment was split. Supporters, including public-safety and labor representatives and family members of people who have overdosed, urged rapid action; opponents and some advocacy groups urged clearer goals, metrics and continued protections for local-business contracting rules. Several speakers from the Local Business Enterprise (LBE) community asked for continued protections; the mayor's office said the adopted amendments do not alter existing LBE obligations and that it had met with LBE representatives before the hearing.

Rapid-rehousing contract amendment: Episcopal Community Services (Item 2)

The committee advanced to the full Board a proposed third amendment to a grant agreement between the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) and Episcopal Community Services (ECS). The amendment would extend the grant term to June 30, 2027, and…