Just three months into the new fiscal year, several of San Francisco's largest departments are warning they will run out of money unless the mayor and Board of Supervisors find extra cash during one of the worst financial times in city history.
Already, the jails are housing 300 more inmates each day than planned for in the sheriff's budget. The public defender's office is declining five major felony cases a day, forcing the city to hire private defense lawyers instead.
The Superior Court says its indigent defense program, which picks up many of the cases refused by the public defender, is incredibly strapped financially. The Asian Art Museum warns it can't fully pay for the security staff to guard its treasures.
And the fire, police and public health departments have told the controller's office they have concerns about their funding, too.
The calm that came after the mayor and board brokered a summertime compromise over this year's $6.6 billion budget could soon be over as they grapple with requests to restore funding to some departments while also bracing for an expected deficit of several hundred million dollars in 2010-11.
Mayor Gavin Newsom said worries over departments running out of money are "wildly premature."
"I'm not worried about that," he told The Chronicle. "We have to live within our means."
Crackdowns costly
But that's proving easier said than done - especially for the Sheriff's Department. Its $170 million budget for this year was based on closing seven of its housing units. But since July 1, Sheriff Michael Hennessey has had to reopen six of them to house an unexpected crush of inmates.
In June, the average daily jail population was 1,861 inmates - and by September, it was up to 2,146. He said a large reason for the influx is new Police Chief George Gascón's crackdown on open-air drug dealing in the Tenderloin, and that he needs an extra $3 million to house, feed and clothe everybody who's getting arrested.
And if the mayor and board don't give it to him?
"Well, um, they will," Hennessey said haltingly. "If I were to get the message that the mayor and the Board of Supervisors do not intend to fund these newly opened units, I would have to tell the Police Department to bring in fewer people, which is an odd way to do law enforcement."
Public Defender Jeff Adachi, who waged war with the mayor and board over his funding, said the Tenderloin arrests have resulted in a 100 percent increase in new felony filings at the court. He said he doesn't have the money to hire new staff so he must reject many of the cases.
Gascón said the arrests are appropriate and need to continue because they're targeting serious drug dealers, but that he understands city officials weren't banking on the strategy when they crafted their budget in June.
"It's a problem that needed to be created," he said of the new criminal justice financial crunch. "I understand the predicament ... and I'm hoping we can come up with a resolution to it."
Greg Wagner, the mayor's budget director, said midyear adjustments are normal.
"When you make a budget, you're trying to predict the future," he said, noting he is most concerned about the increase in inmates and gets a headcount daily.
'Bigger fish to fry,' supervisor says
So far, the supervisors don't sound very concerned about money problems in the criminal justice system. Board President David Chiu pointed out that crime is down overall - and yet the departments keep crying poor.
"We will have midyear conversations with these agencies and ask tough questions about why the court system is not effectively managing their expenses," he said.
Supervisor John Avalos, chair of the board's budget committee, warned that the criminal justice issue is the least of the city's worries.
"There will be bigger fish to fry," he said, pointing out that the mayor's midyear cuts - which don't require board approval - will likely begin in November and will likely mean service cuts and layoffs.
Avalos said the board is watching to ensure Newsom keeps his promise not to try to cut the $45 million in restorations the board made to social services and health programs.
"Hopefully we can have some give and take about how we can share the pain all around the city," Avalos said.
"It's certainly getting harder and harder, the more we cut."
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