Text, photos and video by Sarah Phelan
City Hall looked cold and pretty Tuesday, what with the snow outside.
And the wedding couples posing for photographers at the top of the stairs.
Against the backdrop of a glittering Tree of Hope.
But inside the meeting, things were getting hot and ugly… in that glitteringly controlled way typical of city politics.
The highlight came Sup. Chris Daly produced a handmade bar graph in an effort to help folks better understand the economic backdrop against which the budget debate plays out.
Promising to bring more charts to future meetings, Daly displayed a chart that showed how the San Francisco Police Department has enjoyed a significantly larger growth in General Fund support than any other department, including the Health Department. And you can watch some of that fun by clicking on the following video clip:
During Daly’s show and tell, Sup. Sean Elsbernd started mumbling about stunts, and according to the Chron, he subsequently challenged Daly to tackle pension costs, especially related to the Service Employees International Union, promising in return to tackle the police budget. Daly reportedly said he’d take a look at pension reform—so expect even more bar charts in the New Year.