SETTING THE CULTURAL CONTEXT
San Francisco is a beautiful city . The fourth largest in California , it is home to about 900,000 residents and a special destination for visitors from all over the globe . The City and County government employs 32,000 people . About 1,500 work at Public Works , a department with an annual budget of $ 352 million ( FY20- 21 ).
People who work at Public Works pride themselves on improving San Francisco . They design , build , maintain and protect San Francisco ’ s public spaces . Their work includes everything from designing and building the region ’ s billion-dollar Level I trauma center , to managing construction of neighborhood playgrounds , to tending the urban forest of 125,000 street trees .
On the surface , the city has all manner of diversity and we celebrate it . We draw people from all over the world . One-third of San Franciscans were born abroad . No racial group is a majority . In recent decades , the people have elected leaders who reflect the racial diversity of the city . While the first 40 mayors of San Francisco were white ( 39 of them male ), three out of the last four elected mayors have been people of color .
But a look beneath the surface reveals the stubborn fact that race still has too great an influence on the outcomes of some of the most basic parts of life . People who are Asian , Black or Latinx are far more likely to live in poverty . 1 The city ’ s Black population has been in steady decline for decades , dipping to around 5 % in 2019 from a peak of 13 % in 1970 . 1 Chinatown remains one of the densest , poorest neighborhoods in the city . There , median income is 28 % of the San Francisco median and one-third of the residents live below the official poverty line . 2 Throughout the ongoing pandemic , Latinx and Black people are disproportionately testing positive for , and dying of , COVID-19 . 3 , 4 San Francisco is one of the most expensive real estate markets in the country . On average , it takes a white household 22.7 years to save for a down payment compared with the 36.4 years it would take a non-white household to save for the same house . 5
It is not surprising , then , that our racially diverse department has disparities reflective of our region and country : At Public Works , as in many City departments , there is occupational segregation , accompanying salary disparities , and inequity in promotional opportunities and disciplinary actions . Additionally , there is clear evidence , as captured through the racial-equity staff surveys and discussion groups , that we must work harder to create a culture of belonging and inclusion for everyone and not perpetuate implicit and explicit racism .
How did it get this way ? How does race seem to influence so much about access to jobs , housing , health , education and wealth ?
Not that long ago , this peninsula was not yet San Francisco and home to the Ohlone and Miwok people . Around the same time , Europeans were establishing colonies in North America — England in the east and Spain to the south . By the middle of the 19th century , the colonies freed themselves and founded new nations — Mexico and the United States — both with a significant presence in California .
The United States annexed California in 1846 . In the years after , tens of thousands of people from the eastern U . S ., Mexico and China converged on this peninsula to find work and wealth . There was enough to go around . Had laws been written and
16 San Francisco Public Works