Newsom rebuffs Daly invite

SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - Spokesman: Request that mayor explain anti-violence funding is ‘publicity stunt’

A San Francisco supervisor wants Mayor Gavin Newsom to attend a Wednesday budget committee meeting to explain his proposal for $2.5 million in anti-violence funding.

Peter Ragone, Newsom’s spokesman, called the request for the mayor to appear before supervisors a “publicity stunt.”

Supervisor Chris Daly, who chairs the Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee, has twice refused to hold a hearing on Newsom’s request for funding, saying he was not provided with enough details.

Last week, Daly agreed to hold a hearing Wednesday on the funding. However, Daly sent a memorandum Monday to Newsom requesting his attendance at the hearing “to explain the details of this [request] and the need for its passing.”

About $1.5 million of the proposed funding is earmarked for police overtime to “increase the numbers of officers working in the community, thereby decreasing street violence,” according to a budget analyst’s report. In addition, the Adult Probation Department would receive about $290,000 to hire three more probation officers and the Juvenile Probation Department would receive $66,000 to fund probation officers’ overtime.

Daly said the request has “some errors” when compared with what the city departments are reporting. Also, Daly says it is “irregular” to request salary increases and overtime costs this early in the fiscal year.

“We are pleased that [Daly] has finally decided to calendar it because while he’s been playing politics for several weeks we are doing our best to keep people safe in The City,” Ragone said. “The process of doing a supplemental [request] is being politicized by Supervisor Daly in his election year. ... All of the issues he raises could, in a normal course of business, get handled.”

In his memo, Daly said, “The real reason that this supplemental was not calendared was because your administration could not get to the Budget Analyst the requisite budget details on the plan.”

The funding request would need to go before the full Board of Supervisors for approval.

jsabatini@examiner.com