Mayor’s office details federal stimulus awards to San Francisco and outlines CDBG plan; supervisors press for transparency

San Francisco budget and mayoral staff told the Board of Supervisors’ Budget & Finance Committee on April 22 that the city is receiving multiple federal stimulus awards but that several large pots of money will not flow directly through the city’s budget or are still pending federal and state guidance.

Carrie McClellan of the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development said the city has identified several awards and competitive applications under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, including a $121,000,000 General Services Administration (GSA) allocation to renovate the regional GSA office at 50 United Nations Plaza in San Francisco. "We were able to secure funding... $121,000,000," McClellan said, noting that because the GSA is a federal landlord the city cannot require the developer to comply with local hiring rules but will seek CityBuild participation where possible.

McClellan listed other formula and local allocations: about $2,500,000 in Department of Energy weatherization formula funds to the local Economic Opportunity Council, and roughly $257,000 to a local FEMA Emergency Shelter/Food Program board for meals, shelter vouchers and utilities. She also reviewed competitive submissions already in play — the Port’s NOAA request (about $8.1 million for waterfront pile removal), National Endowment for the Arts proposals, and a COPS application seeking funding to hire additional police academy classes. Several grant proposals and one discretionary award for Pier 45 — approximately $1.8 million flowing through the State Water Resources Control Board — were described as federal funds that will come to the port via the state.

Doug Schumaker of the Mayor’s Office of Housing explained the expected Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) formula allocation, which HUD’s preliminary posting put at about $5,700,000 for San Francisco. Under staff estimates about $2.28 million would normally be allocated to the Mayor’s Office of Housing and roughly $3.42 million to other city offices. Schumaker told the committee that the city has not yet received final HUD regulations and that staff prepared a recommendation to use an initial portion of CDBG stimulus funds to shore up two affordable housing developments — the Civic Center YMCA (a Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation project) and 1000 Fourth Street — in order to position those projects to secure larger state grants. "We will recommend that we spend $3,400,000 on the Civic Center YMCA," Schumaker said.

Schumaker described the internal mechanics: the Mayor’s Office of Housing places capital dollars into a housing capital pool and individual project investments are programmed through an internal loan committee. He said the staff-level decision to direct stimulus/CDBG funds to projects that could score higher for state Prop 1C funding was a time-limited strategy; staff recommended repaying the stimulus portion from the housing capital pool and then issuing a NOFA (notice of funding availability) that would follow the Citizens Committee process for community-oriented allocations.

Supervisors and advocates pushed staff on transparency. Committee members asked whether the mayor’s office could create an ongoing advisory group — including mayoral staff, members of the Board of Supervisors and community representatives — to review stimulus priorities and allocations. McClellan said she would discuss forming such a committee with the mayor’s chief of staff and Board President Hsu and hoped to respond within a week.

Why it matters: The package of federal funds and the range of discretionary applications offer opportunities to advance infrastructure, energy and housing projects in San Francisco. But several of the largest awards either bypass city contracting or require coordination with state/federal partners, which limits the city’s direct control. Supervisors signaled they want clearer, earlier public involvement in decisions that affect local priorities.

What’s next: McClellan said the mayor’s office will continue posting updates at recoverysf.org as more information and regulations are published. Schumaker said HUD guidance will determine timing for any CDBG NOFA and the department expects to follow the Citizens Committee process when issuing competitive solicitations for community-oriented uses.