City’s kids-and-families czar sacked
By: Beth Winegarner
Examiner Staff Writer
January 29, 2009
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| Margaret Brodkin, the director of The City’s primary agency serving San Francisco’s children and families, has been fired by Mayor Gavin Newsom, officials confirmed Wednesday. (Courtesy Photo) |
SAN FRANCISCO — The popular and respected director of The City’s primary agency serving San Francisco’s children and families has been fired by Mayor Gavin Newsom, officials confirmed Wednesday.
Following months of rumors that Newsom planned to fire her, Margaret Brodkin, four-year director of the Department of Children, Youth and Families, said Newsom asked her to leave her post.
“I don’t know the reasons behind [his decision],” Brodkin told The Examiner on Wednesday.
The move leaves youth advocates fearful that as The City faces a projected $576 million budget deficit for next fiscal year, a voter-approved budget set-aside for child-related needs — one of the DCYF’s largest sources of funding — could be in jeopardy.
Newsom is currently in Switzerland for the annual World Economic Forum in Davos. Spokesman Joe Arellano, said he could not discuss the specifics of the firing, citing confidentiality regarding personnel matters.
“Margaret put in great service, but the mayor felt that bringing new blood into DCYF was important,” Arellano said.
Before being hired by Newsom in 2004, Brodkin was the director of the San Francisco nonprofit Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth. At Coleman, she led the grassroots campaign that resulted in voters approving a ballot measure establishing The City’s Children’s Fund, which now supplies more than $30 million of DCYF’s $108 million annual budget.
“We’ve been such an engine of productivity,” Brodkin said. “We’ve developed initiatives with 13 other city departments. I don’t think there’s another department in the city that can make that claim.”
The current leaders of Coleman Advocates said they began hearing from City Hall insiders in November that Brodkin had been fired, according to director N’Tanya Lee.
Newsom wouldn’t discuss the rumors with the nonprofit or The Examiner.
“She’s extraordinarily talented, and I like having talented people around me,” Newsom told the Examiner in December.
In the wake of Brodkin’s dismissal, Lee has launched talks with Newsom’s staff about protecting the Children’s Fund — one of a smorgasbord of budget set-asides the mayor has criticized as limiting The City’s budget-balancing options.
“Our fear is that the Children’s Fund will be raided,” Lee said. “With [Brodkin] gone, we fear that [Newsom] will focus on his political ambitions over protecting the safety net for kids.”
Newsom has appointed Brodkin director of the New Day for Learning initiative, a San Francisco-based organization to connect youth with in-school and after-school services.
Deputy DCYF director Maria Su will immediately take over as acting director of the department, according to Arellano.
Temporary leaders
Several City departments are currently headed by “acting” or “interim” directors, including:
Recreation and Park Department: Jared Blumenfeld
Animal Care and Control: Rebecca Katz
Department of Building Inspection: Vivian Day
Department of Emergency Management: Vicky Hennessy
Department of the Environment: David Assmann
Office of Small Business: Regina Dick-Endrizzi
Department of Children, Youth and Families: Maria Su
San Francisco Zoo*: Tanya Peterson
* Not a city department, but receives city funds and is operated on city-owned land
