Cal Academy Faces First-Ever Audit as Workers Decry Layoffs and Executive Pay

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors' Budget & Finance Committee unanimously advanced all 13 items on its July 8 agenda, but the marquee action was a pointed directive: audit the California Academy of Sciences for the first time in the institution's 170-year history. Laid-off workers, union representatives, and supervisors painted a picture of opaque finances, top-heavy management, and executive bonuses exceeding $100,000 at an organization that operates on city land, receives general fund support, and sits atop a $200 million endowment — all while cutting more than 50 jobs.

Beyond Golden Gate Park, the committee moved forward on a 10% jump in city health insurance costs that will push the annual bill past $1.1 billion, a $40 million public-private redesign of Embarcadero Plaza, $270 million in school bonds, and final funding for a nearly $80 million Mission Bay ferry terminal that will host the nation's first electrified ferry system.

• Cal Academy ordered to submit to first-ever performance audit after layoffs of 50+ workers; city places half the institution's budget on reserve
• City health benefits costs climb 10% to $1.1 billion, driven by GLP-1 drugs, gene therapies, and hospital consolidation
• $40 million Embarcadero Plaza and Sue Bierman Park renovation advances with $20 million in private fundraising
• $270 million in SFUSD bonds approved as the district taps its second tranche of Prop A 2024
• Mission Bay Ferry Landing secures final $8.5 million from UCSF and the transportation authority as construction nears
• Wastewater drug monitoring program launched to detect emerging synthetic threats beyond fentanyl