New ID cards flying out of S.F. City Hall
By: Joshua Sabatini
Examiner Staff Writer
May 5, 2009
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| Improving relations: The City launched municipal ID cards in hopes of helping illegal immigrants and others use public services, such as the library, health programs and police. (Cindy Chew/The Examiner) |
San Francisco’s identification card program is expanding steadily, with no signs of slowing down.
Launched in January, The City has already issued 2,135 municipal ID cards to illegal immigrants and others, and all appointment times for new cards are booked untill the first week of September.
“We are working at a rate of 51 appointments per day,” County Clerk Karen Hong said.
The cards were hailed during Monday’s Board of Supervisors Public Safety Committee meeting as an important step in improving relations between the police and immigrant communities.
The cards are intended to connect those without a traditional ID to city services, such as library borrowing, health programs and police, who often require a valid ID to file reports or act as a witness to a crime.
City Administrator Ed Lee said efforts are under way to allow people to report crimes using 311, The City’s informational call center that offers multilingual live operators.
The program has cost The City about $500,000, which includes the cost of the card-making machines. The program’s proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1, is $250,000. That includes the labor costs of two full-time employees and one part-timer. The card costs $15 for an adult, considered someone 14 years and older, and $5 for seniors, low-income adults and children.
