Youth Commission lays out 16 budget and policy priorities, urges Vote 16 and permanent Free Muni for youth
March 27, 2024 | San Francisco County, California
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The San Francisco Youth Commission presented its budget and policy priorities for fiscal years 2024-25 and 2025-26 to the Budget & Appropriation Committee on March 27, 2024. Chair Ewan Barker Plummer and vice chair Gabby Lozano outlined 16 Budget & Policy Priorities (BPPs) across three committees (civic engagement & education; housing, recreation & transit; and transformative justice) and asked supervisors to work with commissioners and departments through the budget process.
Top priorities emphasized by the commission include placing a charter amendment on the November ballot to lower the voting age ("Vote 16"), making Free Muni for All Youth a permanent, baseline SFMTA program, and increasing school-safety investments such as functioning PA systems, secure door locks and drills, plus a public-awareness campaign for the Say Something anonymous reporting system. Commissioners also urged expanding wellness-center capacity to reduce mental-health wait times and recommended standardized training and evaluation for preventing and responding to sexual assault and harassment in schools, including support for the Title IX Student Advisory Group.
In housing and transportation, commissioners endorsed the city's housing element target (which they cited as 82,000 new units by 2031), recommended continued upzoning and scrutiny of discretionary review rules that can slow housing development, and asked supervisors to support annual building targets and affordable-unit commitments. Transit priorities included preserving and funding Free Muni for All Youth, improving the school tripper program, reducing overcrowding and safety concerns on Muni, addressing delays along Ninth Avenue and MLK Drive near Golden Gate Park, expanding Slow Streets and car-free spaces, and pursuing Vision Zero with measurable deadlines.
On homelessness and resilience, the commission urged long-term solutions for transitional-age youth (18-25) without displacement, evaluation of navigation centers for youth effectiveness, and targeted supports for LGBTQ+ and minority youth. For climate resiliency, commissioners recommended updating the Climate Action Plan to include defensive measures against sea-level rise and extreme storms, routine tree inspections after storms, and long-term infrastructure investments.
Transformative justice priorities included reducing youth access to weapons through community programs and buybacks, expanding fentanyl overdose prevention education and Narcan availability in schools, improving language access across city departments (including support for emerging languages such as Vietnamese and Tagalog), accelerating Bayview Hunters Point cleanup work and groundwater analysis per Civil Grand Jury recommendations, and investing in food-security initiatives targeting neighborhoods like the Tenderloin and Bayview.
Supervisors thanked the commission and asked for prioritization guidance given the city's budget deficit; they encouraged regular check-ins between supervisors and their district's youth commissioner. The committee voted to have the hearing "heard and filed" and to keep the Youth Commission engaged through the budget process.
Provenance: Youth Commission presentation and question-and-answer exchange recorded in committee minutes.
Top priorities emphasized by the commission include placing a charter amendment on the November ballot to lower the voting age ("Vote 16"), making Free Muni for All Youth a permanent, baseline SFMTA program, and increasing school-safety investments such as functioning PA systems, secure door locks and drills, plus a public-awareness campaign for the Say Something anonymous reporting system. Commissioners also urged expanding wellness-center capacity to reduce mental-health wait times and recommended standardized training and evaluation for preventing and responding to sexual assault and harassment in schools, including support for the Title IX Student Advisory Group.
In housing and transportation, commissioners endorsed the city's housing element target (which they cited as 82,000 new units by 2031), recommended continued upzoning and scrutiny of discretionary review rules that can slow housing development, and asked supervisors to support annual building targets and affordable-unit commitments. Transit priorities included preserving and funding Free Muni for All Youth, improving the school tripper program, reducing overcrowding and safety concerns on Muni, addressing delays along Ninth Avenue and MLK Drive near Golden Gate Park, expanding Slow Streets and car-free spaces, and pursuing Vision Zero with measurable deadlines.
On homelessness and resilience, the commission urged long-term solutions for transitional-age youth (18-25) without displacement, evaluation of navigation centers for youth effectiveness, and targeted supports for LGBTQ+ and minority youth. For climate resiliency, commissioners recommended updating the Climate Action Plan to include defensive measures against sea-level rise and extreme storms, routine tree inspections after storms, and long-term infrastructure investments.
Transformative justice priorities included reducing youth access to weapons through community programs and buybacks, expanding fentanyl overdose prevention education and Narcan availability in schools, improving language access across city departments (including support for emerging languages such as Vietnamese and Tagalog), accelerating Bayview Hunters Point cleanup work and groundwater analysis per Civil Grand Jury recommendations, and investing in food-security initiatives targeting neighborhoods like the Tenderloin and Bayview.
Supervisors thanked the commission and asked for prioritization guidance given the city's budget deficit; they encouraged regular check-ins between supervisors and their district's youth commissioner. The committee voted to have the hearing "heard and filed" and to keep the Youth Commission engaged through the budget process.
Provenance: Youth Commission presentation and question-and-answer exchange recorded in committee minutes.
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