Standing in front of a bank of television cameras Friday at City Hall, Mayor Daniel Lurie spoke somberly of the $15.9 billion budget he had just presented for the coming fiscal year, which includes layoffs of city employees, the first in a decade. “This is a painful budget,” he intoned. “Any job loss is difficult. I take no joy in this.”
As he spoke, a coalition of labor unions representing city employees released a statement condemning the mayor. “Layoffs are totally unnecessary,” said Rudy Gonzalez of the San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council, whose members include municipal craftspeople. “We can find the funds to save jobs and uphold San Francisco values.”
Only in San Francisco government would the elimination of jobs not currently filled by human beings be considered “painful” or “difficult.”…