Private donors and foundations have so far refrained from funding San Francisco’s new reparations program. Despite sitting less than an hour from wealthy Silicon Valley and its numerous woke tech companies, no one is rushing to open up their checkbooks to help the alleged victims of historical racism.
However, the city has spent at least $217,000 to date on studying how to distribute reparations.
Created in December by a city ordinance, the reparations program promised to rely on private donors rather than government funding, according to National Review.
The mayor’s office did not provide any info on private donations.
“I was elected to drive San Francisco’s recovery, and that’s what I’m focused on every day,” Mayor Daniel Lurie told the news outlet in response to an inquiry. “We are not allocating money to this fund — with a historic $1 billion budget deficit, we are going to spend our money on making the city safer and cleaner.” It is the exact same statement Lurie used when he first signed the ordinance.
National Review also contacted the board of supervisors, but no one provided any further details on donations.
Still, the city is already on the hook for some costs, including a monthly $250 stipend to committee members. National Review calculated the total costs so far for “committee work” to be at least $217,000.
That pales in comparison to the ambitious proposals from the reparations committee, including a “a one-time, $5 million payment to each eligible person,” according to National Review.
The payment “would compensate the affected population for the decades of harms that they have experienced, and will redress the economic and opportunity losses that Black San Franciscans have endured,” the report stated.
Other proposals included wiping away all debt owned by black residents, free insurance, and sell public housing units for a “$1 buy-in,” according to the report.
San Francisco is not the only municipality to face problems implementing a reparations program.
Evanston, Ill., which sits just north of Chicago, offered to help pay for home repairs if people could prove they or their ancestors were discriminated against by the suburb.
Some of the early recipients who received the assistance complained that they would rather just have cash for other needs. Other concerns were raised that taking the money would put the residents over the income limits for receiving welfare.
Meanwhile, lagging sales of marijuana, which partially fund the program, have also caused budgetary issues.
“We’re hoping responsible cannabis sales increase,” Alderwoman Krissie Harris said at a March meeting, according to The Daily Northwestern.
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