Mayor signs budget; focus on street issues

Mayor London Breed signed San Francisco’s two-year, $11.1 billion budget Wednesday morning, putting into motion a spending plan meant to address many of the city’s most protracted problems — homelessness, street cleanliness and public safety.

“What we see on our streets is unacceptable, and these budget investments are a key step to ensuring that San Franciscans see and feel a difference in all of our neighborhoods,” Breed said in a statement.

The budget — the largest in the city’s history — includes tens of millions of dollars over the next two fiscal years to hire more street cleaners, open new Navigation Centers and homeless shelters, and substantially grow the ranks of the police department.

Around $13 million has been set aside to hire 44 new street cleaners — four in each of the 11 supervisorial districts. That money will also be used to extend hours at public Pit Stop bathrooms and to expand efforts to clean up used needles.

It also includes $12 million for rapid rehousing programs meant to keep vulnerable people from becoming homeless and $5.8 million for a new, voter-approved program to provide free legal counsel to anyone facing eviction.

Breed signed the budget at the Bishop Swing Community House, a permanent, supportive housing location, a gesture meant to underscore her administration’s commitment to confronting homelessness.

Breed’s budget-signing ceremony caps off a months-long process that began with then Mayor Ed Lee, who issued budget instructions to department heads last year. Breed stuck to his course when she took over as acting mayor following Lee’s death in December.

Former Mayor Mark Farrell’s administration then crafted the bulk of the budget during his brief tenure in office. He and Breed negotiated jointly with Budget Committee Chairwoman Malia Cohen after the budget was handed to the Board of Supervisors on June 1.