For the first time in more than a decade, San Francisco government workers may be laid off to shore up a massive city budget deficit, The Standard has learned.
In order to close the $782 million gap, Lurie intends to permanently eliminate around 1,000 jobs, sources said. Most of those positions are currently vacant or, to a lesser extent, filled by employees slated for retirement. But he may also axe positions in up to 17 departments, with each losing up to 10 employees, sources said.
Details of Lurie’s first budget since being elected in November were shared in a meeting Wednesday between the mayor’s staff and communications directors for city departments. Roughly two dozen press officials for city departments attended the meeting in the mayor’s office at City Hall, sources said. Han Zou, acting communications director for Lurie, led the proceedings and was joined by the mayor’s press secretary, Charles Lutvak, and chief of staff, Staci Slaughter.
Lurie’s team reiterated that the top budget priorities are preserving funding for public safety departments, housing initiatives, and street cleaning, sources said.
Funding details for other departments and policy priorities weren’t made clear in the meeting, sources said, leaving many wondering what agencies could be hit by layoffs.
The mayor’s office declined to comment on potential layoffs and what was discussed at Wednesday’s meeting. News of the possible cuts has caused anxiety among city workers and the unions that represent them.
“I’m sick to my stomach,” one union official said. “140 people? That’s solvable. We can avoid that.”
Supervisor Connie Chan, who is budget chair, declined to share details of her discussions with Lurie on layoffs or other funding cuts. But layoffs have become harder to avoid, she said, as city officials work to not only plug a major deficit but to navigate the economic uncertainty of the Trump administration. Chan said she and Lurie support reserving $400 million in the budget to prepare for federal cuts.
“I will say that even one job lost is very painful. That’s an impact not just to that individual but their family and friends, and their coworkers,” Chan said, adding that supervisors would comb the budget to find alternatives to layoffs. “Right now there are no good options.”
If approved by the Board of Supervisors, it will be the first time since Gov. Gavin Newsom was mayor that dire budget projections force city officials to impose widespread layoffs. In fiscal year 2008-09, more than 700 employees were laid off, followed by roughly 960 in 2009-10 and more than 200 in 2010-11, according to the city’s Department of Human Resources.
Kim Tavaglione, president of the San Francisco Labor Council, which represents most city workers, said layoffs shouldn’t be needed. She argued that alternatives to cuts are possible, saying tech titans such as Airbnb should drop their multimillion-dollar tax lawsuits against the city.
“We’re going to fight for every position that we can,” Tavaglione said. “The city is already short-staffed. There’s work that won’t get done.”
Gabe Greschler contributed to this report.