San Francisco budget hearing draws hours of testimony as human-services cuts threaten senior meals, on‑call care, transgender employment program

The Budget and Finance Committee heard more than four hours of public testimony on proposed cuts to the Human Services Agency (HSA) and the Department of Aging and Adult Services (DAS), with speakers warning that reductions would harm seniors, people with disabilities, the homeless and members of the transgender community.

"The Older Americans Act purpose is to end dietary inadequacy and to keep people healthy," said Vera Hale, an advisory-council member for DAS, urging restoration of a proposed $515,000 reduction to senior nutrition services. "This is the first time" the county has considered such cuts to a long‑standing program, she said.

Testimony that followed offered dozens of individual accounts. Vicki Westland, who said she lives with severe arthritis, told the panel that the loss of complementary therapies, dental care and other services had left her and her peers feeling abandoned. Roland Wong, an IHSS peer mentor, described how the on‑call emergency assistance program averts hospitalizations and said holding line‑item funding flat will cut service next year unless roughly $20,000–$23,000 is restored to draw federal matching funds.

Advocates for homeless services and supportive housing warned cuts would increase homelessness and emergency costs. Gail Gilman of the Community…