Budget committee shortens Baldwin shelter extension and advances Mission Street housing loan

The Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee on Wednesday forwarded a shortened extension of the city's grant agreement for the Baldwin SAFE Navigation Center to the full Board, the most debated of a run of housing, homelessness and health spending items that otherwise moved with little friction.

The Baldwin amendment with Five Keys Schools and Programs was the fourth for the site and the only item the committee changed before sending it on. Department staff told the committee the non-congregate shelter runs close to full and sheltered hundreds of people over the past year, and described a new shelter-engagement policy that sets an initial stay limit and ties any extension to participation in case management. The Budget and Legislative Analyst reported that the contractor met some but not all of the objectives set in its agreement and recommended approval.

Committee questions and public comment centered on the street outside. A committee member cited worsening conditions on the surrounding blocks and complaints from neighbors, and supported the item only after staff described security additions made at the site. The committee then cut the extension short of what the department had requested and reduced the not-to-exceed amount below the $62,182,906 set in the resolution before it, and forwarded the amended item on a 3-0 vote.

The committee took up a second supportive-housing amendment with less argument but similar concerns. The Conard House grant covers support services, property management and master lease stewardship at the Allen, Aranda and McAllister Hotels, and the amendment extends the term and raises the total not-to-exceed amount to $32,803,756. Staff said the three sites house formerly homeless adults who stay for years on average, and that occupancy is high. The analyst said most of the monitoring findings against the provider have been resolved.

A committee member who voted to continue the grant raised concerns about sidewalk conditions near the Allen Hotel and about whether supportive housing is spread evenly across the city. Public comment asked how behavioral-health services reach residents of the hotels. The committee adopted a correction to the stated size of the increase before forwarding the item 3-0.

Next was a loan purchase agreement with MEDA Small Properties for 2059-2065 Mission Street, a mixed-use building the city is financing as 100% affordable housing, with a not-to-exceed amount of $22,157,500. The department said the agreement buys an existing bridge loan and converts it to permanent financing, and that lease-up, debt coverage and affordability protections had all improved since the project was first financed.

Committee members questioned why the sponsor sits on the city's heightened nonprofit monitoring tier and asked how departments share risk information with the supervisors who vote on the money. Public comment urged the committee to reject the deal, citing the sponsor's financial management history. The committee forwarded it 3-0, pointing to the assurances it received that the loan is secure and to protections that keep the loan separate from the sponsor's broader finances.

Rent relief drew no public speakers. The committee forwarded a $3,940,000 appropriation from the General Reserve to the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development for rent relief support services in the current fiscal year. Staff said the money would expand legal representation for tenants facing eviction and pay for a tenant rights campaign explaining what protections renters have.

The Budget and Legislative Analyst recommended approval and asked for stronger monitoring of outcomes. Committee members asked whether the outreach would reach renters covered by newer statewide rent-cap protections, and the item went to the full Board 3-0.

Behavioral health capacity came next. The committee forwarded a program funding agreement with the California Department of Health Care Services worth up to $70,893,613 under a state bond program for behavioral health facilities, money headed to UCSF Health Hyde Hospital. Staff said the funding adds mental health rehabilitation beds and psychiatric inpatient beds, and that the city would accept nonstandard state terms, including a long-term restriction on the property and receiver authority if the project fails. Annual operating costs would have to be budgeted in later years, staff said.

The analyst recommended approval and said the bed count matches need the city has already identified. Public comment supported the investment and asked for accountability and follow-through. The item went forward 3-0.

The remaining items passed without dispute. The committee forwarded two Governor's Office of Emergency Services grants, $640,008 for elder abuse services and $590,718 for advocacy and outreach to unserved and underserved violent-crime victims. It forwarded an airport contract of up to $38,000,000 for operations, maintenance and repair of passenger boarding bridges and the Terminal 2 baggage handling system, and an increase to $30,500,000 in a contract for centrally purchased pickup trucks.

It also forwarded $1,454,926 for easements beneath a privately owned property for the Folsom Area Stormwater Improvements Project, and $540,000 in District 7 participatory budgeting funds for sidewalk, traffic calming and maintenance work. An amendment adding money to the Delve Underground engineering contract for Mountain Tunnel improvements, not to exceed $30,780,000, advanced after a committee member asked about costs to ratepayers and about what the city should learn for future contracts.

All the items now go to the full Board of Supervisors, which can amend or reject them.