What Happened in San Francisco’s Election?
After nearly a week of vote counting, the results of San Francisco’s election are in. The big winners were ballot measures promoting affordable housing and progressive candidates challenging the vision of Mayor London Breed.
Affordable Housing Measures Won!
Propositions A and E, which authorize a $600 million bond for affordable housing and streamline building affordable housing on public land, both passed with more than 70% of the vote. These measures will function as a package of funding and land-use reform that will facilitate the addition of affordable housing.
The bond proceeds will fund public housing ($150 million), housing for low- and medium-income households ($220 million and $30 million, respectively), purchasing and rehabilitating existing housing ($30 million), and construction of affordable housing for seniors and teachers ($150 million and $20 million, respectively). Eventually, the projects would generate annual revenues of $50 million for the city.
Proposition E will allow the construction of 100% affordable housing and housing for teachers on public land where these kinds of projects are currently prohibited. Teachers are a particularly rent-burdened group in San Francisco. According to the SFUSD, 64% of their teachers pay more than 30% of their income on rent and 15% devote more than half of their income to rent. The measure requires at least one SFUSD or San Francisco Community College District employee to live in each teacher housing unit. It also makes zoning adjustments and streamlines the planning approval process, hopefully lowering costs by shortening the length of time to complete a project.
While this package will certainly help address San Francisco’s housing crisis, there is still a need for additional progress, especially on affordable housing funding. The housing bond is the largest in the city’s history, but still may not be enough to make affordable housing for teachers financially viable. Proposition E makes it difficult to cross-subsidize affordable teacher housing with market-rate housing, and the $20 million in one-time bond funding set aside for teachers may not be enough to make up the difference. More sustainable funding streams will be needed to truly address the lack of affordable housing in both San Francisco and the state as a whole.
But What About the Other Measures?
Proposition D, which taxes Uber and Lyft rides to reduce traffic and provide funding for other means of transportation, passed with just more than the required two-thirds majority. Voters also approved the campaign finance reform measures in Proposition F. One of the new restrictions is a prohibition on donations from individuals with high-value land use approvals before the city.
Voters also passed Proposition B, which renames the Department of Aging and Adult Services to the Department of Disability and Aging Services and requires more representative membership on the Disability and Aging Services Commission.
Proposition C, which would have overturned the ban on e-cigarette and vaping product sales, was resoundingly rejected by voters, becoming the city’s least popular ballot measure (by initiative petition) ever.
Progressives Sweep the Marquee Races
Candidates aligned with San Francisco’s progressive bloc won both of the high profile races. Dean Preston unseated Vallie Brown as District 5 Supervisor, and Chesa Boudin defeated Suzy Loftus to become San Francisco’s next District Attorney. Both Loftus and Brown had been endorsed by Mayor Breed and other members of the moderate bloc. Breed, as expected in a race without serious challengers, easily won re-election.
Preston is an attorney and founder of Tenants Together, a statewide renters’ advocacy organization. He also authored Proposition F in 2018, which guaranteed a tenant’s right to an attorney in eviction proceedings. Preston campaigned on building 10,000 units of public housing and supports using public land for 100% affordable publicly owned housing as well as land banking and community land trusts. Preston has shown skepticism of the YIMBY (Yes In My Backyard) movement that advocates for the production of all types of housing, instead emphasizing publically-owned affordable housing.
Boudin was a deputy public defender in San Francisco prior to his election to the District Attorney post. He worked on the successful effort to eliminate cash bail in San Francisco and supported closing the juvenile detention center in the city. Boudin supported AB 392, which limits when police officers can use deadly force. He ran on creating a wrongful convictions unit, promising to make the charging decision following police shootings, and closing the jail at the Hall of Justice on Bryant Street. Boudin also campaigned on cutting back on trials and seeking restorative justice alternatives to incarceration for low-level misdemeanors.
With San Francisco’s election now behind us, we’re looking forward to bringing greater equity to California’s tax system with the Schools and Communities First coalition and preparing for the 2020 legislative session and elections. We’ll be back this spring with another voter information series before the March primary election!
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