San Francisco, CA — Today, Mayor London N. Breed released the following statement about the state budget agreement reached between Governor Gavin Newsom, the Senate and the Assembly. This budget, which includes funding for a number of Mayor Breed’s priorities, such as homelessness, behavioral health, affordable housing, transportation, and resiliency, also includes nearly $55 million in state funding for local community projects secured by San Francisco’s state delegation of Assembly Budget Chair Phil Ting, Senator Scott Wiener, and Assemblymember Matt Haney.
“The state budget will help to support the needs of so many San Franciscans by providing relief to our low-income communities, protecting all of us from future downturns, and ensuring that our homelessness and affordable housing crises are being prioritized,” said Mayor Breed. “Included in this budget are vital resources which will help us to bring parks, public plazas, safe streets, recreation, and cultural spaces to our communities. I want to thank Governor Newsom and our State Delegation for their work to secure this critical funding, especially Assemblymember Ting who led the Budget Assembly process and continues fighting for San Franciscans most in need, Senator Wiener who has long been an advocate for investing in diverse communities across the City, and Assemblymember Haney who immediately identified the priorities and needs of his constituents. The projects funded here will make a real difference in the lives of our residents and families.”
Examples of key priorities funded in the Budget include:
$6 million – Japantown Peace Plaza
San Francisco’s Japantown is one of the last three remaining Japantowns in the United States. For over 110 years, over 5 generations, the Peace Plaza open space has been the cultural heart of Japantown and is a key destination site for cultural festivals and community celebrations, as well as the home to culturally significant community organizations, institutions, artists, businesses, and buildings. Along with the State’s commitment of $6 million, the City will be supporting the renovation with $25 million of the 2020 SF Health and Recovery Bond and is awaiting confirmation of Fiscal Year 2022-23 Community Project Funding from Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
$5.5 million – LGBTQ History Museum
The LGBTQ History Museum will be located in San Francisco’s Castro District, which attracts residents and tourists who seek the neighborhood’s rich history and vibrant queer culture. This first in the nation museum will celebrate and recognize the City’s LGBTQ community’s history, while serving as a gathering space for the community to host events and artists to display their works. Last year, San Francisco Mayor London Breed invested $12 million to acquire a permanent site for the LGBTQ History Museum in the City’s budget. The City and County of San Francisco has been evaluating various sites over the last year, and has funded an economic analysis to ensure the project’s success.
$5 million – San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market
The San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market (SF Market) is the only non-profit wholesale produce market of its scale in the nation. The SF Market’s critical food infrastructure supports dozens of independent merchant businesses, over 500 direct jobs, a reliable market for growers and family farms across 38 California counties, and a variety of community programs that address significant food security issues. The SF Market is in the midst of a multi-year Reinvestment and Expansion Plan intended to modernize its aging campus and ensure its continued operation. Through San Francisco’s Fiscal Year 2021-22 Capital Budget, Mayor Breed committed $3 million to early stages of this Plan – work that is now underway. Together with the state allocation, these funds will support renovations to both the SF Market’s core operational facilities, and improvements to the public road network surrounding the market’s campus. This combined investment in the SF Market, and related public infrastructure, supports economic development and food security for the entire Southeast Corridor of San Francisco.
$5 million – Sunnydale Community HUB
The Sunnydale neighborhood is home to one of the highest concentrations of young people in San Francisco, as well as one of the highest concentrations of poverty. This funding will help with the construction of a community recreation center serving a public housing community in the southeastern part of San Francisco to provide safe and accessible space to families, children, and youth for sports, recreation, cultural events, as well as health and wellness programs and activities. The City has already committed over $10.5 million towards this project.
$4 million – Portsmouth Square
Portsmouth Square, located in Chinatown, is one of San Francisco’s most significant historic, cultural, and civic spaces. For decades, it has been the symbolic heart of the Bay Area’s Chinese American community. It is the location of countless events, ceremonies, and festivals, but it is also known as “Chinatown’s living room” for how significant it is to the day-to-day life of the neighborhood. This state funding will go towards building a new community clubhouse, a new playground with adult fitness equipment, flexible outdoor event space and stage, lighting improvements, and enhanced accessibility which includes elevator modernization to connect the park to the underground garage. The City is supporting this project through other funding sources such as the 2020 Health and Recovery Bond with $54 million and developer impact fees of $10.8 million.
$2.7 million – Sloat Boulevard (between Skyline Blvd. and Great Highway)
The San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency (SFMTA) has worked with community stakeholders and neighbors to develop a pedestrian improvement plan that will create a safer and more accessible street for all users, including people walking and biking. The section of Sloat Blvd. Is on San Francisco’s High-Injury Network and the design includes protected bike lanes and new traffic signal to improve efficiency and safety. This will be implemented through SFMTA’s Quick Build Program, which guides staff to move forward with quick, near-term safety enhancements on high injury corridors.
*note that the list above does not include the entirety of San Francisco-based projects and organizations that received state funding. Please see Assembly Bill 178 and Assembly Bill 180 for full budget details.