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Supervisors advance $368 million streets bond; debate over $20M undergrounding amendment leads to roll-call
Summary
The Budget & Finance Committee voted June 29 to move forward a $368 million streets resurfacing bond (Item 2) while tabling a separate measure that included an additional $20 million for utility undergrounding. Supervisors and public commenters debated equity in undergrounding and local-hiring mandates; the committee voted 4–1 to table the undergrounding-inclusive measure and forward the pared-down bond to the full board.
Supervisor John Avalos, chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, called Items 1 and 2 on June 29, 2009, asking the committee to consider a streets bond to fund resurfacing, sidewalk repairs and streetscape improvements across the City and County of San Francisco. The clerk read Item 1 (an ordinance estimating $388,000,000 in costs) and Item 2 (a smaller, $368,000,000 version the capital planning committee recommended).
Supervisor Bevan Dufty urged the committee to keep an amendment he introduced that would add $20 million for utility undergrounding, saying that underground wiring remains “an important unfinished agenda for the city” and pointing to inequitable distribution—he said only 12% of District 10 is undergrounded. Dufty asked for a roll-call vote on the version that included the undergrounding allocation and said he would not seek to block the broader measure from moving forward.
Supervisor Carmen Chu, who represents the committee on the capital planning panel, said she supports the concept of undergrounding but recommended the committee advance the original, pared-down $368 million measure that reflects the capital planning committee’s work and has a better chance of meeting the two-thirds threshold at the ballot box.
Several members of the public spoke during the public-comment period. Residents and community groups including speakers from Bayview Hunters Point and the Bicycle Coalition backed moving a streets-resurfacing bond to voters but were split over whether to add the undergrounding allocation; advocates for local-hiring asked the board to attach mandatory minimums for job opportunities to any project that moves forward.
After discussion, the committee voted on a motion to table Item 1 (the version including the $20 million undergrounding add-on) and to move Item 2 forward with recommendation to the full Board of Supervisors. The roll-call on tabling Item 1 recorded Supervisors Campos, Chiu, Mercarini and Avalos voting aye and Supervisor Duffy voting no; the motion passed 4–1. Item 2, the $368 million bond measure, will be forwarded to the full board with the committee’s recommendation.
Next steps: the pared-down bond will appear on the board’s calendar for a full vote; Dufty said he would continue to pursue undergrounding proposals outside of the immediate bond vote, including controller analysis of cost-effective options and potential local-hiring provisions.
