03/06/10 – Mayor Newsom used his YouTube update this week to discuss the City’s budget and his plan to save thousands of city jobs and services by offering 37.5 hour part time positions to most city employees. This proposal will allow the City to maintain services for residents, while saving the City an estimated $50 million. San Francisco faces a projected $522 million budget deficit for the 2010-11 fiscal year.“The point is to keep people employed and to keep their benefits,” said Mayor Newsom.

San Francisco’s creative budget solution compares to Los Angeles, which is proposing to lay off 4,000 City employees, San Jose which is planning to reduce their workforce by 700 people, and New York City where Mayor Bloomberg is planning for more than 4,000 layoffs.

“We thought it was the most enlightened alternative of the limited number of choices that we were afforded,” said Mayor Newsom. “Go forward with thousands of layoffs or go forward by asking everyone to participate, and step up, and make a contribution, and allow the vast majority of people to keep their jobs, and benefits for the benefit of all San Franciscans,” said Mayor Newsom.

Mayor Newsom also highlighted Thursday’s “Day of Action” rallies against education cuts, calling for adequate, equitable funding for our public schools and universities.

“We’ve seen UC tuition increase almost double over the past seven and a half, eight years,” said Mayor Newsom. “You’ve seen costs at community colleges cost $20 a unit—Now $26 a unit. They’re shutting down opportunities. Its impacted faculty, its impacted morale, and it’s going to devastate the economy of the state unless we wake up and say enough’s enough.”

The mayor answered tweets in his weekly YouTube update about the City’s budget, the San Francisco 49ers, and efforts to help local businesses.

The update can be viewed on the “mayorgavinnewsom” YouTube channel or at http://bit.ly/dgYtux.