San Francisco Chronicle - December 10, 2004
Rachel Gordon at rgordon@sfchronicle.com.

The board's Budget Committee voted 2-1 Thursday to cut nearly $3.7 million -- a 50 percent reduction -- earmarked for the visitors bureau. In effect, that would wipe out what city funding remains for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends June 30.

The committee wants to shift the savings to the Tom Waddell public health clinic, which serves a large homeless population, and support services for people with HIV and AIDS -- both of which are targeted for midyear, budget- balancing service cuts by Mayor Gavin Newsom.

Supervisors Gerardo Sandoval and Chris Daly supported the plan; Supervisor Jake McGoldrick opposed it. Instead, McGoldrick wanted to see about cutting the city allocation to the visitors bureau 5 percent. The full board will get its first chance to weigh in Tuesday, but unless a special meeting is called before Jan. 1, final consideration wouldn't be given until after the new year.

Newsom has indicated he would veto the proposed 50 percent cut, saying the work done by the visitors bureau generates much-needed tax revenue and jobs for the city. It would take eight votes to overturn a veto, a daunting prospect.

Hotel operators, restaurant owners, unions working in the convention- related trades and others whose businesses rely on tourism oppose the hit on the San Francisco bureau, but some others who'd rather see the money spent on health and social services vulnerable to cutbacks from City Hall have voiced support.

Sandoval, who is eager for big business interests and the wealthy to do more to help the city solve its budget mess, also proposed cutting city funding for the Opera, Symphony and Ballet by about $800,000. The big three arts organizations already were hit with a 25 reduction in city funding earlier this year.

Karen Ames, communications director for the San Francisco Symphony, told the committee she was moved by earlier testimony at the committee hearing from people fighting to retain funding for programs serving youth and their families. However, she said, "I feel that the arts are essential to the quality of our lives here in San Francisco, and the message that you send by cutting even further into the grants for the arts program is that the arts don't matter."

Sandoval interrupted her. "No, I'm sorry, that's the message you want to put out. That's not the message that I've articulated," Sandoval said. "What I've articulated is that we have to share the pain, fairly, across the board."

Daly jumped in soon after their exchange ended. "We're not doing this because we want to cut arts programs," he said. "We're doing this because they're a little easier to stomach than the cuts proposed by Mayor Gavin Newsom."

In the end, the Budget Committee, which heard from Ames and others that part of what the performing arts organizations do is bring programs into the public schools, voted to delay consideration of the arts cuts until after the new year.

Newsom has proposed a long list of midyear cuts to balance the budget that will cut across the board, from public health programs and recreation services to street maintenance and staffing at the district attorney's office. The plan was in direct response to the rejection by city voters last month of two tax measures that would have generated a projected $97 million in new revenue for the city over the next 18 months.

Newsom has said that he takes no pleasure in his proposed cost-reduction package and that he would entertain alternative solutions put forth by the board. But in the end, it is the mayor who has the authority to make midyear adjustments to the annual budget.

McGoldrick already had one suggestion: end taxpayer support of bottled water in City Hall offices for a savings of more than $600,000 a year.

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