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Mayor Newsom has until Dec. 24 to sign historic jobs bill to put unemployed residents back to work and millions into the local economy
by Brightline Defense Project
San Francisco – On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors once again approved Supervisor John Avalos’ landmark local hiring legislation requiring jobs for San Francisco residents on publicly-funded projects, sending the bill to Mayor Gavin Newsom’s desk for signature. Thousands of eyes watch City Hall Room 200 for a hint that Mayor Newsom will sign the law and help give the city’s unemployed a Christmas gift nearly 50 years in the making.
Many are asking how could the nation’s strongest local hiring law, which has earned the support of a super-majority of policymakers, the city’s largest building trade unions, the Bay Area’s largest public works contractors, dozens of social justice organizations, community groups in every corner of the city, and every single unemployed worker in San Francisco, not earn the support of Mayor Newsom, who in a matter of weeks will become California’s lieutenant governor.
Scores of speakers spoke in favor of the legislation during hearings at the Board of Supervisors, with not a single voice against the measure at the most recent public vetting. The only remaining public opposition to the legislation has come from San Francisco Human Rights Commission Director Theresa Sparks, who rebuffed several invitations to join other city departments in helping to craft the legislation.
The measure, which the City Controller said has “positive net benefits to the local economy,” will put $270 million into the hands of local workers over the next 10 years and jumpstart the local community economy, providing incentives to contractors that hire local and disadvantaged workers.
Many insiders have been left guessing as to whether Newsom himself has been made aware of the overwhelming breadth of support for the measure, the fact the city controller’s cost mitigation ideas were all adopted by the board except for a controversial plan to buy and sell worker hours like pollution credits in a “cap-and-trade” system, and that concerns about the impact on the regional labor market have been addressed through the promotion of reciprocity agreements between small Bay Area towns like Millbrae and large cities like Oakland. A recent worry that San Mateo workers at San Francisco International Airport would be laid off were allayed by an exemption for existing project labor agreements like that in place at the airport.
A mayoral signature will ensure that projects approved and initiated by Newsom during his time in office actually deliver on jobs promises far beyond his term, helping to uplift and empower San Francisco’s local workforce and the city’s historically disadvantaged and underserved communities. Supervisor Avalos has called his measure “A New Deal for San Francisco,” thanking longtime Bayview Hunters Point activist Espanola Jackson for her decades of work prior to Tuesday’s vote.
There seems to be a massive sea of momentum behind the legislation. A poignant op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle by Supervisor Avalos and Bayview Hunters Point Supervisor Sophie Maxwell underscored the significance of this week’s vote, and Supervisor Bevan Dufty has been publicly lauded for his support for the measure. Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who several years ago initiatied a series of steps to consolidate the City’s workforce development under a single agency in order to strengthen relationships with community-based organizations and increase results, has already called for a hearing to discuss mandatory local hiring in the non-construction sector. Board President David Chiu has recently reached out to the small business community to help local companies understand how this law can benefit them as well.
“We don’t want to wait until Christmas for the mayor to sign this law,” said James Richards, president of Bayview-based community job advocates ABU. “We have qualified union members that are ready to go to work right now.”
“Mayor Newsom’s signature on the Avalos local hiring legislation will help us ‘put the Merry into Christmas and the Happy back into New Year,’” said Brightline Executive Director Joshua Arce, quoting a greeting card that ABU delivered to Mayor Newsom just hours before Tuesday’s vote. The August 2010 Chinese for Affirmative Action-Brightline report “The Failure of Good Faith” helped ignite the call for local hiring reform that has been smoldering for decades.
Brightline Defense Project is a non-profit civil rights advocacy organization dedicated to protecting and empowering communities. Brightline’s efforts have led to the prevention of a new power plant in Southeast San Francisco and increased employment opportunities for economically disadvantaged residents, particularly in the green jobs sector. Learn more at www.brightlinedefense.org. Executive Director Joshua Arce can be reached at josh@brightlinedefense.org.
