Committee tables proposed Office of Citywide Food Coordination after extensive public comment

The Rules Committee on Dec. 9 voted to table an ordinance that would establish an Office of Citywide Food Coordination (OCFC) within the Human Services Agency, require a five-year food security report, and dissolve the existing Food Security Task Force.

Chair Shamann Walton said the measure needs further community vetting and asked Susie Smith, deputy director for policy planning and public affairs at the Human Services Agency (HSA), to speak. Smith said the administration intended the office to help the city coordinate and advocate for food security amid anticipated federal policy changes and said several community amendments had been included in the ordinance. She characterized the ordinance as a beginning of a broader community process rather than a final product.

Members of the public and community organizations gave prolonged public comment. Speakers representing food banks, anti-hunger groups and neighborhood coalitions raised objections, including concerns that the city has cut roughly $32 million in food-related funding since 2019 (a figure cited by a public commenter), that the proposed office was being fast-tracked before a new mayor takes office, and that community participatory processes and a budget analysis were not completed before the ordinance's introduction. Other community speakers, including farming and food-justice groups, said a city office could consolidate food policy and protect programs across mayoral transitions.

Following public comment, Chair Walton made a motion to table the item to allow broader community engagement; Vice Chair Safaie, Supervisor Peskin, and Chair Walton voted aye and the motion passed without objection.