San Francisco groups advocate against budget cuts
SAN FRANCISCO - Now that San Francisco's mayor has delivered his budget proposal, the city is now grappling with the tough decisions ahead.
The mayor's budget proposal is full of what he says are difficult but necessary cuts. However, advocates are pushing back, and now one man has embarked on a hunger strike.
On the steps of San Francisco's City Hall, demonstrators and supervisors spoke out against proposed cuts to free legal aid programs in the mayor's budget proposal.
Advocates say the city spends $4.2 million to support the free legal aid program. They also say that money saves about 300 people from homelessness each year, which would cost the city even more.
The head of Open Door Legal is taking a drastic step to bring the issue to the forefront.
"That's why I want to bring out into the open if this proposed budget is passed," said Adrian Tirtanadi. "So, as a statement of solidarity, I've decided to embark on a hunger strike and not eat again until the funding is restored."
Those who've used the free legal help say it kept them off the streets.
"If Open Door Legal didn't exist, I would be homeless, my mental health would be drastically affected and I'd still be under a depression," said Traci Grellinger.
In response, the mayor's office referred KTVU to his budget proposal announcement where he said he is facing down the $800 million deficit head-on, that some painful decisions are necessary, and that the city is doubling down on core services to keep people safe.
Inside City Hall, the Budget and Appropriations Committee got to work tackling the budget. City department heads said they know positions may be on the line.
For example, City Administrator Carmen Chu said positions that the public deals with directly, including the team that answers 311 calls and the community ambassador programs, may both be impacted.
"While the number may not sound like a lot, these are people who work with us," said Chu. "So, I think just to recognize that the impact is not only most profoundly impacted by the job loss potentially, but by all out colleagues as well who get to know them."
Budget Chair Connie Chan has said all along that this would be a difficult and painful process, one that she said is compounded by the likelihood of cuts from the federal government.
"For every dollar that we may have in our reserves, we now really cannot spend it to bridge some of the existing spending gaps because we're facing threats from the Trump administration," said Chan.
The board of supervisors will continue working on the budget through June, the mayor needs to sign off on the budget by the end of July.