By Kevin Stark
The Public Press
Hundreds are expected Wednesday for protest of the proposed cuts in Mayor Gavin Newsom’s $6.6 billion budget.
The action will begin at 3 p.m. at Hallidie Plaza (on Market between Fourth St. and Fifth St.), and activists, many representing community groups affected by budget cuts, will march to City Hall.
The cuts include $169 million from the Department of Public Health, $22.8 million of which are from community organizations that provide service to the mentally ill and people with drug addiction. Newsom’s cuts to social services have been met with criticism from service providers.
Bob Offer-Westort, coordinating editor of Street Sheet, a newspaper affiliated with the Coalition on Homelessness, an organization helping organize the event, questions the motivations behind Newsom’s cuts.
"While the economic crisis is very real, the choice of cuts is political," Offer-Westort said. "At a time of crisis it is important for San Francisco to invest in its community.”
The rally is organized by Budget Justice, a coalition of community organizations concerned about how the cuts will affect communities in San Francisco.
In other budget news, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that firemen will receive a 3 percent raise while most other city services will see cuts.
