ABSTRACT
The funds for social services represented only a small part of the city budget, but a million dollars can mean a very large increase in health and well-being for low-income and elderly residents. The city council's focus on social welfare was aided by the fact that progressives won a majority on the county board of supervisors in the 1981 elections, making it possible for the city and county to coordinate their funding of social programs. Progressives faced a major unexpected problem that plagued them throughout the 1980s and gave ammunition to their critics—the rising number of homeless people hanging out in the downtown. At the outset, the progressive-neighborhood electoral organization did not look as unbeatable as it turned out to be. A community credit union, a community printing company, a cultural council, and many unionized government and service workers were supporters of the progressive electoral coalition.
