By Lisa Awbrey, HANC Board
At HANC’s June public meeting, Calvin Welch covered the election results and how the Haight and adjacent neighborhoods voted. Voter turnout was the third lowest for a primary election in the past 10 years. 48 Hills independent journalist Tim Redmond also provided excellent insights to local election outcomes. Mayor Lurie continues to ignore the struggles of a majority of San Franciscans—those who are not billionaires. Too bad the YES on Prop D campaign didn’t frame Yes on D as NO on Trump. After millions of dollars were spent to defeat Prop D, the measure barely lost by 47% to 53% (in a low and lackluster turnout election).
In the local congressional race, a majority of voters chose someone other than Scott Wiener, which should alarm him and his tech and real estate billionaire backers. Whoever replaces Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi will be centered in Washington DC, not in San Francisco. Scott Weiner is already Sacramento and state focused. Connie Chan has her finger on the pulse of working San Franciscans and will likely bring that perspective to Washington DC.
Next Anya Worley-Zeigmann from the People’s Budget spoke on the dire situation of Mayor Lurie’s austerity budget and the organizing and fight against his planned cuts to city departments and services. The People’s Budget is a Citywide coalition of over 150 nonprofit organizations, unions, community groups, and advocates working together for a better San Francisco budget. Lurie seeks 20% across the board cuts to the City + public + nonprofit service jobs over the next five years: A FIRST. Never before has a mayor who is focused on making cuts not gone on to find ways to fund civic services. Previous mayors sought to make cuts but then restored funding for City services. Lurie’s goal is not to balance the budget, but to make the cuts because corporations and billionaires are pressing him to cut all city services and to run local government like a corporation. Anya believes that if San Franciscans truly knew the extent of Lurie’s austerity budget and the services and organizations he seeks to slash, they would not believe it.
A primary role of The People’s Budget is to inform the public about city departments and nonprofits and the public services they provide. Already 100 workers have been laid off. 1000 workers will be gone if Lurie’s austerity budget passes. We must change the current budget process. Law enforcement (SFPD, jails and the DA’s office) is the only City department that is not slated for ANY cuts. 36% of the General Fund already goes to law enforcement. Lurie’s budget gives SFPD AN ADDITIONAL $69 million increase while slashing $40 million in cuts for social services.
6/26/26 statement from the People’s Budget: “There’s still work to do. Not all the cuts have been fully restored, and next year’s deficit is projected to be worse than this year’s. San Francisco has, particularly in this AI boom, extraordinary quantities of wealth and resources that many city leaders have so far refused to tap to fund essential public services. If our city is to carry forward in a way that lives up to our stated values, that’s a pattern that must change.
“This budget represents a remarkable victory for every single San Francisco resident,” said Anya Worley-Ziegmann, Coalition Coordinator for the San Francisco People’s Budget Coalition. “And it shows that public pressure works. Showing up works. Organizing, going out into communities where people will see their lives impacted by cuts, where people feel like their government and their representatives aren’t listening to them, and giving people an outlet to make their voices heard can make real change. Thanks to the thousands of people, workers, unions, community and advocacy organizations, as well as the leadership of Budget Chair Connie Chan and supervisors who fought for their districts’ priorities, we have won back tens of millions of dollars for essential programs serving our city’s most vulnerable populations.”