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Committee backs $1.84 million in SoMa stabilization grants after five-year community process
Summary
Supervisors reviewed Citizens Advisory Committee recommendations to allocate $1,844,273 from the South of Market Community Stabilization Fund across 19 nonprofit awards and two city department projects; CAC chair and community groups urged the funding to mitigate displacement and support services.
Supervisor Daly presented the Citizens Advisory Committee's recommendations to allocate $1,844,273 from the South of Market (SoMa) Community Stabilization Fund to a package of 19 nonprofit grants and two city-department projects. Daly traced the fund's origin to a 2005 development agreement tied to Rincon Hill and outlined four strategic priorities that guided the CAC: strengthen community cohesion; support economic and workforce development; increase access to permanently affordable housing; and improve neighborhood infrastructure.
Jazzy Collins, chair of the Citizens Advisory Committee, described five years of monthly CAC meetings and public town halls used to shape the recommendations. Claudine Del Rosario (mayor's office staff) and CAC members presented grant categories and the planned uses: community asset-building (economic/workforce development), a San Francisco Community Land Trust allocation to pursue permanently affordable homeownership conversions, and planning/capacity-building awards. Specific recommendations included a $75,000 grant toward renovations at Alice Street Gardens and an economic/workforce development allocation administered by the Office of Economic and Workforce Development.
Supervisors raised questions about oversight and whether the stabilization fund should backfill anticipated departmental budget cuts; Supervisor Ellsburn urged considering department applications because of stronger internal oversight, while Daly and others said the fund was specifically set up to address development impacts in SoMa and that CAC oversight and selection processes are part of the accountability framework. Budget analyst Mr. Rose reported that 31 proposals were evaluated and 19 nonprofits were selected; he estimated that, after approving the requested $1,844,273, the fund would retain a balance of about $4,277,636. The committee moved the recommendations forward and will send the item to the full Board with the committee's recommendation.
