By Vanguard Staff
SAN FRANCISCO — Hundreds of community members, essential workers, and nonprofit organizations filled San Francisco City Hall on Monday in a show of force against Mayor Daniel Lurie’s proposed city budget, which critics say threatens core services for low-income, immigrant, and BIPOC (Black, indigenous and People of Color) communities.
During the final public comment session of the Board of Supervisors Budget and Appropriations Committee, speakers and activists decried planned cuts to housing support, legal aid, food security, and violence prevention programs. Demonstrators with the People’s Budget Coalition unfurled banners from the third-floor balconies reading “Stop Cuts” and “Immigrants’ Rights,” while chants of “Whose City? Our City!” rang through the building.
The demonstration marked the last formal opportunity for public input before the city finalizes its budget. Many speakers criticized the mayor’s plan to increase funding for a new jail while reducing investment in social services, which they argue would exacerbate existing inequities.
“San Francisco was built on the backs of immigrants and working people,” said Claire Lau of the Chinese Progressive Association. “Today, immigrants are scared to go to work, to school, and to speak out about injustice in the workplace. Our program makes sure that immigrants know about and exercise their rights—cutting that program in today’s climate is unacceptable and disgraceful.”
Joe Wilson, executive director of Hospitality House, called on the Board of Supervisors to reject the mayor’s proposal in favor of a more equitable spending plan.
“Budgets are moral documents,” Wilson said. “You invest in your city by investing in its people—not by cutting workforce programs and pushing folks further to the margins. Cutting housing services and violence prevention to fund a new jail won’t make San Franciscans safer.”
He urged supervisors to “budget for hope and possibility” by funding essential programs that foster long-term community stability.
Jose Juis Pavon of the youth nonprofit HOMEY emphasized the economic injustice of austerity in a city with immense wealth.
“We live in one of the wealthiest cities in the world—and people are going hungry,” Pavon said. “That’s a disgrace. Immigrants and working-class San Franciscans are the pillar of this city’s economy. We’re not asking for handouts—we deserve a fair share. We deserve a democratic budget.”
The Lurie administration has defended the proposed budget as fiscally responsible amid projected shortfalls. But opponents argue that cuts to community-based programs will deepen poverty and instability while failing to deliver true public safety.
The Board of Supervisors is expected to deliberate amendments in the coming weeks before adopting a final budget.
