june 18

SENIOR BEAT – June is budget negotiation time at City Hall. On June 18, after receiving a draft budget from the mayor, the Budget and Finance Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors invited comments from the community.  Activists making up the Budget Justice Coalition rallied on City Hall steps to highlight the need for increased funding for for the poor, the homeless, seniors and people with disabilities. The coalition is a broad based collaboration of more than 30 community-based and labor organizations serving impoverished people working towards a City budget that prioritizes poor  communities in San Francisco.  Inside City Hall, advocates were allowed one minute to plead their case. They  testified on the need for increased funding for homeless services, rental subsidies for seniors and people with disabilities, and food programs. Funds were requested for employment programs for seniors, after-school programs, free summer school at City College, and pedestrian safety. After a representative for the senior community choirs program finished speaking, 30 choir members rose and serenaded the supervisors and audience.  (Photos by Mary Hunt)