San Francisco's Board of Supervisors is poised to grant newly elected Mayor Daniel Lurie greater powers and flexibility to expedite the city's response to a fentanyl crisis that has turned sidewalks into open-air dens of drug consumption and homelessness.
At Wednesday's budget and finance committee, legislative analyst Nicolas Menard warned that waiving competitive bids would likely increase service costs and “create opportunities for waste, fraud and abuse.” The fiscal impact is unknown, but the grants and contracts budget for the affected city departments totals just over $1 billion.
San Francisco AIDS Foundation opposes the proposal because it lacks metrics and details, such as how it would actually reduce fentanyl use, said Laura Thomas, the nonprofit's drug policy expert and senior director of HIV & harm reduction policy.
Lurie's proposal would allow the city to bypass the competitive bidding and procurement process for contracts, grants and leases related to addiction, homelessness and public safety hiring.
The legislation, which supervisors will vote on Tuesday, eliminates competitive bidding requirements for some contracts and allows the administration to solicit private donations to quickly add 1,500 shelter beds and hire more public safety and behavioral health specialists.
