Budget committee amends Mid‑Market and downtown ambassador contracts and continues item to March 15

On March 8 the San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ Budget and Appropriations Committee voted to amend two Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) grant agreements that fund community ambassador programs, and continued the substantive amendments to the committee’s March 15 meeting for final action.

The committee approved motions to add contract authority of $10,000,000 to the Mid Market Foundation grant and $3,000,000 to the San Francisco Tourism Improvement District (downtown welcome ambassador) grant and to extend both contracts through Dec. 31, 2023. The actions were adopted on a 5–0 roll call (Vice Chair Rafael Mandelmann, Supervisor Asar Safaie, Supervisor Hillary Ronan, Supervisor Shamon Walton and Chair Connie Chan voting aye). Deputy City Attorney Anne Pearson advised the panel that the proposed additions are substantive; as a result the items will be continued to March 15 for further consideration.

Why the committee acted

OEWD said the immediate increases originally before the committee were $3.1 million for the Mid Market/Tenderloin program and $3.3 million for the downtown Welcome Ambassadors for the current fiscal year (to cover deliverables through June 30, 2023). OEWD also requested added contract authority — the $10 million and $3 million amounts voted on — so that, once the mayor’s FY23–24 budget is confirmed, the department can amend contracts and continue programming without interruption. OEWD staff and the Department of Emergency Management emphasized the risk of…