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Pursuant to Charter Sections 2.103 and 3.100(7), and Administrative Code Section 2.11, the Mayor shall answer the following eligible questions submitted from Supervisors representing District's 1, 3, 5, and 9. The Mayor may address the Board initially for up to five minutes. Discussion shall not exceed five minutes per Supervisor.
1. Recently, the Board of Supervisors held a hearing looking into the creation of a municipal bank at the urging of Supervisor Avalos and OccupySF leaders. San Francisco currently divides its nearly 200 bank accounts between three massive financial firms: Wells Fargo, Union Bank of California, and Bank of America. Many residents are saying that rather than sending our savings elsewhere, and depending entirely on the private sector, with its boom/bust cycles, the City needs to look to its own assets and strengths, and develop a strategy to reinvest locally. It is not a new idea, it was a demand of the 1975 SF Community Congress, and the Board of Supervisors commissioned a Legislative Analyst Report at the request of Supervisor Matt Gonzalez on this issue in 2001. A municipal bank could eventually invest millions in low-interest loans for alternative forms of development in San Francisco, prioritizing nontraditional business models. At a time when millions of individuals are taking their money out of large banks and putting them into local institutions, it seems necessary for the City to seriously consider this option as well. In addition, throughout most of the City, including all of San Francisco's Neighborhood Commercial Districts, formula retail stores and restaurants are considered conditional uses. This means they must be approved by the Planning Commission on a case-by-case basis. This gives residents more control over the development of their communities. However, the Planning Department is interpreting the Formula Retail law narrowly to exclude banks and other entities that aren't specifically listed in the formula retail law, despite the fact that formula retail is defined with reference to a catch-all category (Sales & Service, Retail), so all of these businesses, including banks, should be covered. Do you support subjecting formula retail banks to the same Conditional Use restrictions as other formula retail uses? And, do you support the creation of a municipal bank for our City? (Supervisor Mar, District 1)
2. This fall, I requested that the Budget and Legislative Analyst perform a review of the frequency and cost to the City of contract change orders for large construction and professional services contracts. The report found that half of the contracts had modifications, totaling almost $300 million, almost the size of the City's budget shortfall last year. The report also found that there is less public scrutiny of contracts in San Francisco than in other jurisdictions, and contract information is not kept in a uniform manner by Departments. What is your reaction to the findings in the Budget and Legislative Analyst report? Do you agree that we need to reform the way that we approve, monitor, and report contracts? (Supervisor Chiu, District 3)
3. One of the promises you made during your mayoral campaign was to focus on job training and job creation. According to information provided by the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development, San Francisco’s Human Services Agency (HSA) had $25 million in federal stimulus funds available from May 2009 to September 2010 to use towards the Jobs Now job training and job placement programs. With these funds, HSA was able to provide job services to over 4,100 low-skilled and/or unemployed San Franciscans in less than a year and a half. City data also indicates that since federal stimulus funding ran out just over a year ago, HSA has been able to serve approximately only 550 San Franciscans in these programs annually -- a significant decrease. What level of funding for these programs do you propose in the upcoming budget to fulfill your campaign pledge of job training and creation? (Supervisor Mirkarimi, District 5)
4. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) work orders $60 million to other City departments for services, including services that may not have a direct connection to public transit such as the motorcycle fleet of the San Francisco Police Department. Would you commit today to reducing the amount of work orders by at least 20 percent by Fiscal Year 2012-2013 in order to increase Muni service for all riders? (Supervisor Campos, District 9)
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