City Government

London Breed Budget Targets Affordable Housing as Key Priority

Published

7 years ago

June 13, 2019

San Francisco Mayor London Breed presented her budget priorities on Friday that included expanding behavioral health beds, creating new affordable housing, and cleaner streets.

The budget for next fiscal year the mayor is proposing is $12.26 billion and $11.96 billion for the 2020-2021 fiscal year.

Before Breed unveiled her budget to city officials and some members of the Board of Supervisors, the mayor visited residents living in public housing units in Sunnydale. She said The City had failed on commitments to the Sunnyvale neighborhood:

“We owe it to them to keep our commitments.”

New public housing units in Sunnydale are now being built as part of the HOPE SF program that looks to revitalize many of the old and dilapidated public housing units in The City, including many of the units in Sunnyvale — a reason why the mayor held her budget announcement in the neighborhood to show that The City is keeping its commitments for all neighborhoods.

Breed is committing funding for over $187 million to create new affordable housing, preserve existing housing, and prevent evictions. The mayor and Board of Supervisors President plan to place a $600 million bond measure on the November ballot that will help fund to build and rehabilitate affordable housing units.

Additionally, Breed is proposing $2 million in housing subsidies for a two-year pilot program for transgender and non-conforming city residents to prevent eviction, $5 million for prevention and diversion programs to prevent individuals from going homeless, and funding a program to give legal counsel for tenants facing eviction.

Breed said:

“With these commitments we can keep people stable. Keep them housed and prevent homelessness from ever becoming part of their life.”

The mayor is proposing 100 additional behavioral beds for people experiencing mental health and substance abuse disorders and providing the Fire Department with more funding for its EMS-6 crew that handles calls for people with mental health issues.

Breed is also recommitting to adding 1,000 shelter beds in The City by 2020.

Dirty streets were also on the mind of the mayor, as she committed $11.9 million to cleaner streets by adding seven new Pit Stop public toilets, 80 new BigBelly trash receptacles, and more street cleaning.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency plans to get $30.7 million to purchase more new light rail vehicles and to modernize the automatic train control system in the subway in Breed’s budget proposal.

An additional $2.5 million will go towards in support Vision Zero — The City’s goal of zero traffic fatalities by 2024. So far this year, 14 people have died in traffic collisions. Breed said.

Jerold Chinn, SFBay

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Oakland Post: Week of July 22 – 28, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of July 22 – 28, 2026

Published

18 hours ago

July 27, 2026

Oakland Post

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Oakland Post: Week of July 15 – 21, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of July 15 – 21, 2026

Published

1 week ago

July 18, 2026

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From Disparity Study to Solutions: Oakland Coalition and Mayor Barbara Lee Renew Commitment to Reform City Contracting

She committed to ensuring the coalition has direct access to City leadership by designating Assistant Deputy City Administrator Chuck Baker the primary liaison. Working alongside Deputy City Administrator Sofia Navarro, DWES Director Emylene Aspilla, Race and Equity Director Darlene Flynn, and other City departments, the coalition will continue advancing these priorities while maintaining regular communication with City leadership.

Published

2 weeks ago

July 15, 2026

Oakland Post

Present at the recent meeting on implementing recommendations on Oakland’s Disparity Study on city work contracts were (first row, l. to r.): Chuck Baker, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee and Darlene Flynn. Second row, l. to r.) Samuel Adams, Erica Astrella, Chadwick Spell, Cathy Adams, Stanley Cooper, Maria Wagner, Len Turner, Derek Barnes, Paul Cobb. Photo courtesy of Oakland Mayor’s Office.

Special to The Post

On June 30, a coalition of minority business leaders, contractors and others met with Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee to discuss the City’s commitment to implement recommendations outlined in Oakland’s Disparity Study and eliminate barriers that have historically prevented Black and minority-owned businesses from fully participating in public contracting opportunities.

Representatives of the Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce (OAACC), National Association of Minority Contractors Northern California (NAMC NorCal), Construction Resource Center (CRC), and the East Bay Rental Housing Association (EBRHA) said the meeting represented an important milestone in a process that has been underway for several months.

On April 21, the Oakland City Council’s Life Enrichment Committee received a progress report from the Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES), where Director Emylene Aspilla presented the coalition’s working document and outlined a collaborative implementation plan between the coalition and the City. That report established 30-, 60-, and 90-day objectives focused on five key priorities:

Reforming Local and Small Local Business Enterprise (L/SLBE) waiver practices
Strengthening prompt payment compliance
Improving procurement forecasting and transparency
Expanding contractor capacity building and business development
Increasing oversight, accountability, and public reporting

A series of working sessions was scheduled between coalition representatives, DWES, and the City Administrator’s Office to begin implementing those priorities but were temporarily delayed by the resignation of former City Administrator Jestin Johnson.

Rather than allowing that momentum to stall, OAACC President and CEO Cathy Adams requested a meeting with Lee to gain clarity on the City’s direction and reaffirm its commitment to implementing the recommendations contained within the Disparity Study.

Coalition leaders described the meeting as productive, candid, collaborative, and encouraging.

During the meeting, Lee spoke not only from her role as mayor but also from her experience as an 8(a) contractor and business owner, sharing that she understands firsthand what it takes to build and grow a successful company, employ a substantial workforce, compete for public work, and navigate the complexities of municipal contracting.

Mayor Lee also expressed her commitment to personally participate in future working meetings with the coalition.

“This meeting represents a renewed commitment to partnership,” said Adams. “Mayor Lee listened, engaged, and demonstrated that she wants to move beyond conversation and into implementation.”

CRC’s Len Turner said the roadmap is already in place. ““The City already has the evidence. What’s been missing is execution. …Now it’s time to deliver results.”

Mario Wagner, president of NAMC NorCal agreed that the next phase must focus on implementation, funding, and accountability.

“The coalition is ready to get to work. …The next step is ensuring these initiatives receive meaningful funding in the upcoming fiscal budget cycle. Just as important, the City must establish transparent reporting mechanisms that keep the public informed through regular progress reports, measurable benchmarks, and accountability.”

Coalition leaders also acknowledged that while City leadership has indicated it is reviewing Local and Small Local Business Enterprise waiver practices, the community continues to seek a formal response regarding existing long-term waivers, including waivers extending 10 and 25 years. The coalition believes those waivers should be comprehensively reviewed and, where appropriate, rolled back as part of the City’s broader contracting reforms.

The coalition is also calling on the City to include meaningful funding in the upcoming fiscal budget cycle to support implementation of the Disparity Study recommendations and establish better methods and mechanisms to keep the public informed through regular progress reports, measurable benchmarks, and transparent accountability.

The coalition’s immediate next step is to schedule a working meeting with Baker, Aspilla, Lee, and the appropriate City staff to review what has already been accomplished under the implementation framework.