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Youth Commission presses supervisors for Vote16 funding, TAY housing and transit aid; urges deep SFPD cuts
Summary
At a July 29 Budget & Appropriations Committee hearing, the San Francisco Youth Commission urged funding to implement Vote16, completion of transitional-age-youth housing, transit fare relief and proposed redirecting 50% of the SFPD budget toward community programs; the committee filed the presentation.
Chair Sandra Lee Feuer convened the Budget & Appropriations Committee on July 29 and invited the San Francisco Youth Commission to present its budget priorities for fiscal years 2020–21 and 2021–22. Youth commissioners asked the board to fund youth-specific programs and policy work that they say will mitigate COVID-19 harms and longstanding racial disparities.
The Youth Commission — represented in the hearing by commissioners named in the agenda packet and by speakers during the presentation — emphasized several priorities. Commissioner Sarah Chung, vice chair of the commission’s Civic Engagement Committee, urged the board to ensure the Department of Elections receives roughly $84,556 to $102,000 to support voter registration and outreach if the Vote16 charter amendment passes, so 16- and 17-year-olds can register and turnout is high. "Allowing 16 and 17 year olds to vote will get more young people involved in our democracy," Chung said, noting the city could become a national precedent.
Commissioner Nora Hilton, chair of the Transformative Justice Committee, recommended the city adopt an "8 to abolition" framework and proposed cutting the San Francisco Police Department budget by 50%, with portions redirected to a "community and people's budget," trauma-informed social-work services, SFUSD wellness centers and community organizations that offer alternatives to incarceration. "We recommend that the city of San Francisco cut the budget for the San Francisco Police Department by 50%," Hilton stated during the presentation.
Alexander Hirji, a commissioner on the housing and land-use committee, urged completion of the 2015 transitional-age-youth housing plan and estimated it would cost about $30 million to $48 million to complete approximately 120 units still outstanding. The commission also asked that HSH maintain at least one operating TAY navigation center and have another in the pipeline, and that supportive services funding be proportionate to units.
Transportation equity was also highlighted. The commission recommended including youth in the SFMTA equity strategy, ending enforcement of fares by SFPD, enrolling students in free fares, eliminating nominal youth fares (estimated at about $2,000,000 per year), and expanding Muni's battery-electric bus pilot with additional contractor funding (estimated at $4,100,000 to $5,300,000).
Supervisors asked how the commission conducted outreach during the pandemic; commissioners said they shifted to online meetings and coordinated with community partners including the Chinese Progressive Association and Student Advisory Council members. Committee members also discussed commissioner diversity and compensation; staff noted the charter currently prohibits paying youth commissioners, and supervisors indicated a charter change would be required to address compensation.
During public comment several speakers — including representatives of youth services and immigrant- and community-based organizations — urged the board to invest in youth services and avoid cuts to community-based organizations, saying those groups have been essential during COVID-19. After the presentation Chair Feuer moved to file the hearing; the clerk recorded a roll-call vote and announced the motion carried with five ayes.
The committee did not adopt policy changes in the hearing itself; members said they will keep the commission’s recommendations in mind as they consider the mayor’s budget and possible add-backs during the August hearings.
