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Tempers Flare in City Hall

By Neela Banerjee

San Francisco politics were at their dramatic best this week as supervisors growled at each other across the board room — and in the end, more restraints were put on the mayor and the housing authority.

The allocation of $2 million for senior services caused some tension in the chambers this past Monday as tireless activist-turned-politician Chris Daly faced off against steadily conservative Leland Yee. With last week’s Elaine Chao controversy closed (the Board voted in favor of Yee’s resolution honoring the labor secretary), it seems that these two are fast becoming regulars in the ring.

Daly’s $2 million ordinance would appropriate money for groups that serve the elderly for rent subsidies and technical support, and also for the creation of new programs to help homeless and needy seniors. These needs were identified by Aging and Adult Services.

Yee argued that the Board does not have $2 million to spare, considering this may be their tightest budget year ever. Yee said that base programs need to be protected over special needs.

“I am sympathetic to the needs of seniors but this is financially irresponsible. By reserving this much money for this one cause, we are setting a bad example for other departments,” Yee declared, causing an enraged Daly to storm out of the chambers to regain composure.

Yee later added, “Some individuals here may have made some campaign promises but I did not make these promises. To put out more money than we can afford is wrong. The behavior of some of the members of this board is duplicitous.”

Daly spoke about the two hearings he had with seniors and said that $2 million would not even cover all the needs of this population. He also pointed out that at $4.4 billion, last year’s budget was the largest the city has ever had.

“I didn’t become a Supervisor in San Francisco to break promises,” Daly said. “We need to help these people. We need to pass this. We need to figure out how to get these needs met. That’s our job.”

Supervisors Leno and Ammiano both spoke out about the importance of passing the ordinance. Ammiano said that it was important that “we don’t pit this need against other needs.”

Regardless of others, Yee stood strongly behind his beliefs. “I was in Chinatown last night and I saw people scrounging in garbage cans for food, which is a common practice,” Yee said. “Why are these things happening? With this budget, why are people looking in garbage cans for food?”

The ordinance finally passed – with Yee dissenting.

The Board approved an amendment co-sponsored by Supervisors Aaron Peskin, Maxwell and Ammiano which requires the Board to approve any mayoral appointment to the Planning Commission, the Board of Appeals or the Public Utilities Commission.

Supervisor Matt Gonzalez took a good amount of time exposing all the details of the recent criminal indictment of San Francisco housing chief Ronnie Davis, found guilty of taking more than $315,000 in illegal bonuses and perks while Chief Financial Officer for the Cleveland Housing agency in 1994.

Gonzalez criticized the mayor for supporting and protecting Davis.

“Thousands of public housing residents rely on the public housing authority, making them vulnerable to these kinds of abuses,” Gonzalez said. “How much better will our programs be when they are free of patronage?”

Gonzalez pointed out that the Housing Authority gave Davis a raise last year, increasing his salary to $188,000.

“Perhaps they thought by paying him more, he’d steal less,” Gonzalez said.