The San Francisco District Attorney and Public Defender joined hands Tuesday in a rare show of solidarity, penning letters that asked Mayor Daniel Lurie to forego cutting city funding for general civil legal services as part of his budget downsizing.
The two offices, which normally do not agree on much and frequently clash in the courtroom and City Hall chambers, each expressed support and appreciation for nonprofits providing free legal aid.
“These providers … are a critical part of the patchwork of services that make San Francisco safer,” wrote Mano Raju, the public defender, adding that “fighting unlawful evictions” and other legal services helps “keep people safe, stable and housed.”
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins wrote in her letter that she is “grateful” for the work of Open Door Legal, one of the primary providers of such legal services in the city, and said the nonprofit’s “strong partnership” with her office helps support “the important work of public safety” in the city.
The two officials are no friends. Last month, the public defender’s office accused the DA of repeatedly withholding evidence in criminal trials. The DA, in a rebuttal, said the public defender was “trying to litigate in the court of public opinion what they cannot win in the courtroom.”
At a budget hearing in early May, as Jenkins asked for more funding at a time of cuts, Raju showed up and said his office could use more money, too, because the DA is charging more people and Raju’s office has to defend them. “Can he have his own hearing?” Jenkins snipped.
Currently, Lurie is proposing to cut all city funding for civil legal aid: roughly $4.2 million in funding that currently goes to seven legal aid nonprofits, one of which is Open Door Legal, which the DA’s office specifically pledged its support of earlier this month.
The city will continue to fund legal aid for immigration assistance, victims of domestic violence, and tenants facing eviction. But an estimated 60 percent of the cases Open Door Legal handles are for civil legal services, including wage theft and illegal evictions (when a landlord attempts to harass a tenant into leaving without trying to formally evict them).
Adrian Tirtanadi, the director of Open Door Legal, argues that affordable civil legal services essentially pays for itself by helping San Franciscans who are in dire financial straits from sliding further into poverty and becoming homeless.
Tirtanadi feels strongly enough about the issue that he’s been on a hunger strike since shortly after the proposed cuts were announced. It’s been a week, Tirtanadi said, and he hasn’t heard from Lurie or any of his staffers, but members of several local churches have also begun fasting in solidarity.
A majority of the Board of Supervisors have also thrown their support behind legal aid. Last week, representatives from seven offices rallied behind Tirtanadi on the City Hall steps.
The final budget decision will be up to the Board of Supervisors and Mayor Lurie when the Budget and Appropriations Committee begins their deliberations next Wednesday. Eight of the 11 supervisors have expressed their support for civil legal aid, said Tirtanadi.
Will that support lead to the supervisors voting down Lurie’s proposed cuts in a tight budget season where the mayor is attempting to close an over $800 million dollar deficit? We’re about to find out.