This is news to me from the City Controller's Office, that arrived a few days ago. The City Attorney banned the annual $100,000 district allocations, a.k.a slush funds, the Board of Supervisors gave themselves:
"The City Attorney determined that district allocations were an abrogation of the Board’s duty to approve appropriations because they effectively delegated appropriation decisions to a single member. While the full Board approved appropriating $100,000 to each district in the budget, the actual uses of funds over the course of the fiscal year were determined by each supervisor for their district."
I don't recall any news about the City Attorney's ban or the Supervisors objecting to it, neither do a number of City Hall and open govt watchdogs I asked.
My emails to the City Attorney seeking more info about the end of these allocations haven't produced a response yet and it's important to get the word out about this matter, and show where some the Supervisors spent their final slush fund amounts that caught my eye.
Let's follow the money in the comments. Figures are for FY 2014/2015.
Board president London Breed's biggest allocation, at $35,000, was for street fair permits in District 5.
Even though the police department has a multi-million dollar budget, apparently not enough money was set aside for plainclothes officers in the Bay View District, so Supervisor Malia Cohen spent $50,000 on their teams.
For Supervisor Mark Farrell, his largest gift, a robust $45,000, went to the San Francisco Zoo in District 2.
In District 6, Supervisor Jane Kim spent $18,000 on a pedestrian safety banner, her second biggest allocation. Must have been a mighty large banner at that price.
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