February 26 2003
|
|
||
Extra Andrea
Nemerson's Norman
Solomon's nessie's Tom
Tomorrow's Jerry Dolezal
Arts and Entertainment Culture Techsploitation
Without
Reservations Cheap
Eats
|
|||
    |
|||
 |
PLACE A CLASSIFIED AD |PERSONALS | MOVIE CLOCK | REP CLOCK | SEARCH
OpinionA fair budgetBy Supervisor Chris Daly San Francisco's fiscal situation is a mess. If seven years of runaway spending, excessive overtime, unnecessary special assistants, and sweetheart deals weren't enough, we now have a recession and state budget crisis to blame for the city's $317 million shortfall. Crucial programs may be cut, and San Franciscans of conscience must organize in a focused campaign to protect services we care about. My first year on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, I voted against the budget because it was unsustainable and full of waste, fraud, and abuse. Last year, after taking an active role in protecting health care and human services programs, I voted to approve it. Now, as Budget Committee chair, I need your help to ensure a fair budget for the city. Our first focus has to be Sacramento, where a lack of leadership in the governor's office is responsible for $99 million of our shortfall. The first step in this campaign is an important bus trip to Sacramento with leaders in our community. We need to send the message: Less money for prisons and more for human services. Many people voted for Proposition N (Care Not Cash) because they want care - housing, health care, mental health services - for homeless people. Yet the Departments of Public Health and Human Services are facing steep cuts to these programs, while using hundreds of thousands of dollars in a new Ashcroft-style proposal to fingerprint every person seeking shelter and establish an untested "sobering center" that some physicians say could increase deaths. We must do better. As Budget Committee chair, I will hold hearings on every dollar we spend on homelessness and work to direct these funds to proven programs that improve people's lives. There are many revenue ideas I support. Developers should pay their fair share for city services, as should large events like the X-Games. Treasurer Susan Leal's move to collect more than $44 million in delinquent business taxes and penalties is a good idea. But I just can't support the proposed 25 percent Muni fare increase. Transit is the vital link that moves people to work, home, and play. A fare hike hits working people hard and undermines our commitment to being a "transit-first" city. An appointed board that oversees Muni sets fares, and eight votes are needed at the Board of Supervisors to overturn the increase. The good news is that it looks like voters can have the final say. Stay tuned on this one. With a $317 million shortfall, every department's budget must be on the table. In the past law enforcement departments have been spared deep cuts. This year, the Mayor's Office is proposing sensible reductions, including a jail closure that saves $8 million and allows us to reassign nurses to our hospitals. I trust we can find acceptable community-based alternatives to incarceration. I am also pleased that the Juvenile Probation Department is looking at alternatives to detention and will strongly support efforts in this respect. In the wake of the Rhode Island nightclub fire that killed dozens and the countless fires in San Francisco residential hotels, I cannot support cuts that devastate the Fire Department's ability to carry out its critical mission. I hope leaders of the firefighters union will consider concessions that help us avoid drastic measures, and I am already working on a number of revenue ideas with the Fire Department's help. Neither the Board of Supervisors nor Mayor Brown can solve this budget problem alone. The mayor has extended the resources of his office to help me craft the budget, and I appreciate the extraordinary work of Ben Rosenfield, the mayor's budget director. Three of the four leading mayoral contenders are currently officeholders, and the fourth is a former president of the board. I look forward to their constructive budget-balancing ideas during this process. Know that my office remains an organizing center for economic justice and a fair budget and that any ideas you have are appreciated. Just call me at (415) 554-7970. Together we win. Sup. Chris Daly represents District Six. |
||
