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Supervisors press tech department to target Wi‑Fi funds to public housing and low‑income neighborhoods
Summary
Budget hearings probed Department of Technology plans: the mayor's proposed budget includes roughly $1.5 million over two years for Wi‑Fi/connectivity planning and pilot work, but supervisors urged clearer commitments to public housing and disadvantaged neighborhoods and asked staff to report back on reprogramming non‑general‑fund savings.
Supervisors pressed the Department of Technology and the Mayor's Budget Office on Monday for clearer commitments that Wi‑Fi and connectivity dollars address the city's digital‑divide priorities, specifically public housing and low‑income neighborhoods.
Miguel Gamino, the Department of Technology's chief operating officer and acting CIO, told the committee the department had reached agreement with the Budget & Legislative Analyst's recommendations and was ready to move forward but said the department currently had limited capital funding earmarked specifically for expanded Wi‑Fi projects beyond ongoing maintenance and park implementations.
"There is $275,000 from the capital fund to allow us to complete a feasibility study around Wi‑Fi," Gamino said. He added that an additional $476,000 had been identified in the Office of Economic and Workforce Development for the Invest in Neighborhoods program, but that the mayor's office and DT had not yet designated which corridors or neighborhoods would receive the investment.
Mayor's Budget Director Kate Howard said the mayor's proposed budget includes "a little over $1.5 million" over two years for Wi‑Fi and connectivity work, with the first piece funding planning and feasibility work and the other funds intended to allow the city to pursue public‑housing connectivity, neighborhood corridor projects and city fiber needs once a comprehensive plan is developed.
Supervisors raised two linked concerns: that the Invest in Neighborhoods funding appeared focused on commercial corridors rather than low‑income residential areas and that the Department of Technology's recommended non‑general‑fund cuts (about $867,000) might be a potential reprogramming source to support connectivity in public housing. Controller Ben Rosenfield and Mr. Rose (the Budget Analyst) said staff would analyze which non‑general‑fund dollars could be reallocated and report back by Wednesday.
The committee accepted the Budget Analyst's recommendations for the Department of Technology, with the department in concurrence, and directed staff to return with a reallocation analysis so supervisors could consider targeting savings to digital‑divide priorities as the budget is finalized.
