By RACHEL GORDON
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Oct. 4, 2000 (San Francisco Examiner)—The Board of Supervisors, in a move entwined in policy and politics, blocked a plan by Supervisor Leland Yee that would have forced City Hall to automatically funnel more money into The City's aging water and sewer systems to pay for much needed repairs and maintenance.
Under the current practice, the mayor and the Board of Supervisors decide year by year how much money from the cash-cow PUC should be transferred to The City's general fund.
Yee's legislation would have guaranteed The City's Public Utilities Commission a designated portion of its annual surplus generated by the Hetch Hetchy water and power system - a move that would mean less money for The City's general fund to pay for such services as libraries, park programs and police.
Yee argued that the money derived from water charges levied on property owners and other rate-payers should be redirected back into Hetch Hetchy.
A city-funded study found that the system needs an estimated $3.5 billion in repairs in order to withstand a major earthquake and stave off catastrophic flooding and a breakdown of the water-delivery system.
Mayor Willie Brown and other city officials are contemplating whether to place a major bond initiative before voters to pay for the fixes.
Under Yee's proposal, which lost on an 7-4 vote at the Board of Supervisors meeting Monday, 10 percent of the PUC's surplus would have gone into the sewer and water upgrades the first year. The amount would have increased 10 percent a year thereafter for the next decade.
The annual Hetch Hetchy surplus ranges between $30 million and $60 million.
"You begin to wonder why you need to go out there and take out bonds to repair the water system," Yee said.
The majority of his colleagues were quick to answer, arguing that the Hetch Hetchy surplus pays for essential city services, such as health care and homeless services.
"You don't tie somebody's hands for 10 years when you don't know who you're going to be cutting or hurting," said Supervisor Barbara Kaufman, a vocal critic of Yee who led the charge against the proposed legislation.
She was joined by Supervisors Alicia Becerril, Amos Brown, Leslie Katz, Gavin Newsom, Mabel Teng and Michael Yaki, who regularly relish going after Yee.
Yee was backed by Supervisors Tom Ammiano and Sue Bierman, his two most constant allies, and Supervisor Mark Leno.
If Yee's proposal were in effect this year, the general fund would have lost about $3 million. Yee said that that money could be made up by cutting fat.
"You can't tell me you . . . are so lean that you can't find a penny of waste in government," he said without offering specifics of what programs and services should be trimmed.
As it now stands, however, City Hall - flush with record revenue from the dot-com fueled economy - took $29 million out of the $39 million Hetch Hetchy funds available to help balance The City's $4.4 billion budget, said Steve Kawa, the mayor's acting budget director.
© 2000 San Francisco Examiner via Bell&Howell Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved.
