By Steven T. Jones
The real news from Mayor Gavin Newsom’s announcement yesterday of $45 million in mid-year budget cuts was that it didn’t make news (this Chron story was buried on page A15). But make no mistake that this is the calm before a budget storm that will really get howling next month when Newsom introduces his proposal to let TIC owners buy their way out of the condo-conversion lottery. Progressives strongly oppose the proposal because it could rapidly deplete the rental housing stock in a city where most residents rent, but where developers just aren’t building new rental housing.
Newsom’s budgets in recent years have stuck it to social services and front-line workers, but this round of budget cuts was actually much closer to progressive priorities, hitting the bloated public safety departments and high salary managers the hardest. “We were rather judicious in this round,” Newsom told the Examiner. “The next round, I can’t promise that.”
Newsom is still refusing to earnestly pursue new general revenue options (and belittling those who argue they are necessary and that the mayor’s support for them is crucial), so the question next month is whether the Board of Supervisors can decisively defeat the sellout of the condo conversion lottery (as well as the privatizing of taxi medallions, Newsom’s other big revenue idea that progressives hate) and convince Newsom that he’s going to need to work cooperatively with progressives to close the $522 million budget hole that the city is facing.