By James Sword, HANC Board

We’d like to thank both Jen Snyder from Supervisor Preston’s Office and Supervisor Connie Chan for presenting at the March HANC Membership meeting.  Jen Snyder presented on budgeting 101, addbacks, and where and how to get involved. Supervisor Chan presented on why questions should be asked about the odd situation surrounding the Ferris Wheel. Here’s a bit of a summary.

Budget 101

San Francisco has a budget upwards of $12 billion. Much of it is already pre-determined, but not all of it. This is where you/we come in and (may) have the ability to influence how some (not in the billions) will be spent.

First, a timeline: in December (2020) budget instructions are issued by the Mayor (this year there is a 7.5% cut to the General Fund); in February departments submitted proposed budgets; from March – May (we are here) the Budget and Appropriations Committee holds hearings on key departments; on April 8, just hours before our next HANC meeting, a District 5 Budget Town Hall will be held at 5PM - Save the date!; On June 1 the Mayor releases her proposed budget; after 3 weeks of figuring out what is in there, it is Public Comment Day! June 25, get your dialing fingers ready!; and finally, June 28: “Addback Night” - the final night of deliberations on funding. The budget year runs July-June.

What are Addbacks? – An addback is funding not included in the Mayor’s Budget but “added back” to the final Budget passed by the Board of Supervisors.

• Funding comes from cuts the BOS make and goes to causes/initiatives - NOT organizations
• Addbacks in a pandemic is not your normal addback scenario. Limited funds available compared to prior years.
• Essentially, district-specific asks will be limited and will likely address crucial COVID-related needs (think TAY flex pool, Right to Counsel, corridor cleaning, broken windows, etc.)

• What can organizations do? Join the Budget Justice Coalition (BJC)! Send Preston’s Office your ask ASAP: forms.gle/J6yGwyXLjyi2f4498

• What can individuals do? Find/support an organization, follow the BJC, make public comment!

• A few of the many D5 priorities:

• Right to Counsel, Public/Affordable Housing, Prop I implementation, D5 Community Resource Hubs and dedicated Western Addition/Japantown vaccinations
• Homelessness, Public Safety, Public Bank, Anti-Displacement, Pandemic Recovery, Small Businesses, D5 Navigation Center, Family Center replacement, TAY exits, and exits for Safe Sleeping Sites, and Community Action Response Team.

So, what can you do? Follow/visit sites for causes you care about: For example, Coalition on Homelessness, Budget Justice Coalition, Defund SFPD Now, Public Bank Coalition, #30RightNow. Contact your supervisor’s office!: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Contact the Mayor/Board: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. And finally, make public comment day and hearings, participate!

It’s Not About the Ferris Wheel!

As highlighted by Mission Local’s Joe Eskenazi the week after our meeting, it is not about the Ferris Wheel (a must read article if you have been following the issue) (https://missionlocal.org/2021/03/ferris-wheel-skystar-golden-gate-park/  ). The reason Supervisors Chan and Peskin set up a hearing is that the Wheel may be connected to corruption in the city. Supervisor Chan eloquently explained why questions needed to be asked and how there is little to no oversight of Park Alliance accounts despite them having contracts with vendors using our public space. Should private organizations have say over public commons with little/no oversight?

Some really interesting developments happened leading up to our meeting and the 10 days following. First, Supervisor Chan (and Peskin) was undermined by Supervisors Haney and Ronen who voted with the moderate Supervisors to allow the extension without any oversight. Whether this was due to jockeying for position come 2022 Mayor’s race or something less political (which is unlikely in the phone booth that is SF politics), we will learn soon enough.

Around the same time, Drew Becher, CEO of the Parks Alliance, sent a letter to Supervisor Chan threatening to pull $2m of pledged funding for the Richmond Playground. The letter can be downloaded here:  https://www.hanc-sf.org/the-voice-and-docs/Parks-Alliance/March-18-2021-From-Parks-Alliance-to-Supervisor-Chan/ .  Becher later sent an equally disgusting email to everybody on the Richmond Playground email list (including myself)--it can be downloaded from here:  https://www.hanc-sf.org/the-voice-and-docs/func-startdown/213/.  I sent him a reply email stating, “…While your organization may have not done anything wrong, the Parks Alliance was in the middle of a city scandal where $1m was filtered through your organization in order for contractors to get $100m+ in city contracts. Given the timeline on these projects, I don’t think waiting a couple weeks or months will make a major difference... If you have trouble with the city providing oversight on $3m playgrounds, maybe the Parks Alliance shouldn’t be associated with city agencies…” I have yet to get a response, I look forward to the next in person playground meetings, I suspect he may not be as warm the next time I meet him.

Finally, don’t forget Sandra Zuniga became a state witness the week of our meeting.  She is connected to everybody from DPW to the Mayor’s Office.  It seems unlikely the corruption scandal indictments are over. Who is cooperating with the Feds behind the scenes (unknown to the public) and who could be indicted in the coming weeks or months could be a who’s who of SF insider politics, or not. Since the Parks Alliance is literally in the middle of the scandal, it is pretty disingenuous to place a playground benefitting the city’s children in the middle of good governance and oversight. Questions should be asked. The city should be investigating corruption, but alas, Herrera seems too busy suing SFUSD, so we must leave it up to the Feds.