Jake McGoldrick: We Have Good City Budget

What a long, strange budget season it has been, folks! June and July were intense months for our office and others in City Hall. As you may know, I serve as chair of the SF Board of Supervisor's Budget and Finance Committee, which approved a budget at the end of June. The final budget will be approved by the supervisors by the time you read this column, as the board's votes will take place in the last weeks of July. The City is required to have an approved, balanced budget by Aug. 1.

When the committee members first received the mayor's proposed budget in June, we received a budget that included cuts amounting to millions of dollars for programs that served as the safety net for many of San Francisco's most vulnerable populations, cuts that were unacceptable to the members of the committee and the board.

The Budget Committee's task this year was to restore programs which help those who cannot help themselves, while still building a fiscally prudent budget to run the City.

This year, the committee's total recommended budget reductions of more than $26 million is the largest amount of budget reductions ever made from the mayor's proposed budget. (We also recommended more than $16 million in reductions for enterprise funds, departments that largely rely on their own fees for their budget.)

All of the hard work that we went through - the late nights spent, the thousands of reports and letters and memos read, the hundreds of heartrending public comments heard - were worth it when we were able to make restorations of more than $30 million to citywide programs that serve those in need of mental health services, survivors of domestic violence, the elderly, the disabled, those fighting AIDS and other life-threatening diseases, hardworking families with children, hundreds of foster children and foster families. I am so proud of what we accomplished in this excruciating budget year, supporting the city family and city residents with a balanced, fair and compassionate budget.

Lincoln Park Playground
When the Albertsons grocery store at 32nd Avenue and Clement Street was approved, it was with conditions. Some of these conditions included neighborhood enhancements that would minimize the impact of the grocery store on the immediate neighbors. One of the conditions was to provide half a million dollars to revitalize the Lincoln Park Playground.

The problem with this deal is that Lincoln Park Playground only received $200,000 of the promised $500,000. When concerned members of the community brought this to my attention, my office contacted the appropriate city agencies and the attorney for Albertsons.

Thankfully, the full $500,000 will be paid to the Recreation and Park Department in the next few weeks, according to Albertsons' attorney. This money will go directly towards improvements at the Lincoln Park Playground.

The neighbors in this area have worked long and hard on their playground and should be commended for their organization and determination to get their park the promised funding and attention it deserves. In the next months, the Recreation and Park Department will take the conceptual design for Lincoln Park Playground to the Recreation and Park Commission for approval.

Also, filling this lot with a new tenant has been of great concern to many Richmond residents due to recent grocery store closures throughout the district. My office has just been informed that Albertsons is in conversation with several food retailers and is close to an agreement to lease the space. A public announcement should be made in the coming months, according to an attorney for Albertsons.

Alexandria Theatre
Many of you have called my office inquiring about the vacant Alexandria Theatre at 18th Avenue and Geary. I have recently received an update from the SF Planning Department about the proposed plans. The project sponsor intends to retain a boutique, one screen theatre with lobby, a 200 seat restaurant, 16 retail spaces and 39 units of housing, 15 percent of which would be affordable. The parking plans consist of a 142 space parking lot, 98 of which would be commercial attendant-operated stacker parking.

The plans should go before the planning commission in a few months as the environmental review is still underway. The design is still a work in progress.

If you would like additional information or would like to participate in the design discussion, please call Mary Woods, the planner assigned to the project, at Mary.Woods@sfgov.org or (415) 558-6315. Lastly, in my previous column, I provided a phone number for the public to call for inspection of wooden utility ladders. The number was incorrect. The correct number is 558-6220.

Jake McGoldrick is a San Francisco supervisor representing District 1.