Budget committee advances department budgets with BLA recommendations, holds several policy fights
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Summary
The committee accepted Budget Legislative Analyst technical recommendations for most department budgets, but deferred or rejected several policy items — notably two juvenile probation position cuts and key OEWD economic recovery and ambassador proposals — and asked departments to return with more detail before final votes.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Budget & Appropriations Committee on June 22 advanced a slate of department budgets and technical changes recommended by the Budget Legislative Analyst (BLA) while reserving judgment on several policy proposals that supervisors said need more detail.
Chair Supervisor Hillary Ronan and committee members voted unanimously to continue focused hearings and to forward multiple items to the full Board with positive recommendations, but they declined to adopt several BLA policy cuts after department leaders and supervisors urged caution.
The committee accepted technical adjustments and reductions proposed by the BLA for dozens of departments — including the Assessor‑Recorder, Treasurer‑Tax Collector, Department of Technology, Department of Public Health and several others — and repeatedly asked the controller’s office to note the committee’s intention to carry those changes into the budget process.
But several contested items drew sustained attention. On juvenile probation, the BLA recommended eliminating two vacant juvenile hall counselor positions to reflect low average daily population; Juvenile Probation Chief Katie Miller warned that staff overtime and new state responsibilities make those cuts impractical. Chair Ronan said the committee would not accept the BLA’s two policy recommendations for juvenile probation, instructing the controller to adopt the BLA’s technical adjustments but to retain those positions. "I think we should reject the budget and legislative analyst policy recommendations to eliminate those 2 positions," Ronan said during deliberations.
The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing asked for a $2 million program appropriation to begin a 70‑cabin site in the Mission. Director Shireen McSpadden told the committee the department has estimated total project costs at $6–7 million but "does not have a detailed budget yet" and agreed to return Monday with a line‑item plan. The committee accepted technical recommendations for the department and deferred the policy decision on the cabin appropriation until it reviews the detailed plan.
The Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) produced the meeting’s most extended confrontation. BLA staff proposed several reductions and questioned new policy proposals, including a $6 million economic‑core recovery package and a $10 million small‑business recovery fund. OEWD Executive Director Kate Sofos said the department was "not in full agreement" with several BLA recommendations and defended proposed investments in downtown vacancy mitigation, programming and ambassador deployments. Supervisors pressed OEWD for an organization chart, a breakdown of Invest in Neighborhoods spending, and criteria and delivery schedules for the proposed small‑business grants and loans; the committee asked OEWD to return Monday with detailed materials before taking final action.
A second OEWD flashpoint was the mid‑Market/Tenderloin ambassador program. Committee members questioned why OEWD says 249 ambassador roles now exist and whether the proposed funding to sustain and expand those deployments next year is appropriately sized. OEWD agreed to supply monthly ramp‑up and invoice data and to clarify the program’s staffing and cost basis.
Across the meeting, the committee used roll‑call votes to forward certain resolutions to the full Board on July 12 and to file hearings (items 6 and 7), and it set reconvene dates (June 23 and June 27) for several large items that require additional documentation or public comment. Chair Ronan told departments the committee will closely scrutinize any outstanding policy proposals: "If you don't make an agreement with the BLA, we are going to examine every single cent of your budget, and we are going to cut, cut, cut," she said.
What’s next: the committee reconvenes as a recessed meeting on June 23 to continue budget deliberations, and several items (including rent‑relief appropriations and some certificates of participation) are scheduled for subsequent sessions.
Sources: Committee hearing transcript and direct testimony from BLA staff, department directors, and supervisors at the June 22 Budget & Appropriations Committee meeting.
