By Rachel Swan : sfchronicle – excerpt
The official who oversees San Francisco’s $14 billion budget — and who helped steer the city through a Great Recession, tech booms, COVID shutdowns and difficult recovery, all while navigating the relentless factional wars in City Hall — has announced plans to step down next year.
“I’ve worked on the last 26 city budgets. I’ve spent over half of my life on the city’s budget and finances,” City Controller Ben Rosenfield said in an interview with the Chronicle.
“It feels like the right moment for me to think about what’s next and what’s different,” Rosenfield continued, discussing a career milestone in the same measured tone he would use to write an audit, or break down intricate budget documents to a layperson. He has not hinted at his next move…
“Everybody trusts him — the mayor, the board, homeless advocates, labor unions, downtown businesses — they believe what he says; they know he’s an honest person,” said Ed Harrington, the previous controller, who passed the torch to Rosenfield in 2008…
Comparable to a chief financial officer, the controller serves as a referee in the city budget process, managing accounts, paying vendors and employees, selling bonds and forecasting economic conditions. Additionally, the controller audits city departments and contracts and regularly makes recommendations. Last year, voters added another duty: monitor trash rates, after the city’s longtime waste hauler, Recology, was linked to a City Hall corruption scandal.
As San Francisco struggles to revive its downtown, the role of the city controller seems critical — and many of Rosenfield’s colleagues are dismayed to see him go…
“Whether it’s the current economic downturn, prior recessions, the passing of Mayor (Ed Lee), or COVID, he has always been the steadying force in the city,” Chu said. “You felt that if Ben was here and involved, then things would be OK.”…(more)