Public Protests Agonizing Health Care Budget CutsCarol Harveybyline‚ Jun. 26‚ 2007At 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday, June 19th, I arrived halfway through the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Bielenson hearings, state-mandated at any time cuts are proposed for programs serving indigent people. It was hard to distinguish nervous energy from boredom as Supervisors heard four hours of urgent pleas from an endless queue of distressed public commentators. Tom Ammiano and Aaron Peskin paced. Sophie Maxwell sat rigid. One Supervisor's laptop reviewed "A Mighty Heart." Others walked, or wheeled, in and out of chambers. Chris Daly had vehemently opposed cuts to affordable housing and health services for the poor and homeless. He soundly thrashed the Mayor for his own substance abuse (both admitted and alleged) and then, according to Human Services Network officials, slashing $8 million from health services including indigent drug rehab and overdose prevention programs. |