This measure would amend the Charter of the City and County of San Francisco to provide for accelerated review and approval of eligible 100 percent affordable housing projects, educator housing projects, and market-rate projects that provide significantly increased affordability. The measure also requires sponsors of projects to pay prevailing wages during construction and use a skilled and trained workforce on Educator Housing Project and Increased Affordability Projects. The measure would amend the Administrative Code to provide for an Annual Affordable Housing Allocation Report as part of the City’s budget deliberation process. It would also declare as City policy the need to accelerate approval of 100 percent affordable housing projects, educator housing projects, and market-rate projects that provide significantly increased affordability. This measure relates to GLIDE’s policy area of focus, Housing & Homelessness, and it could positively impact GLIDE’s clients by accelerating the production of affordable housing and capping the maximum AMI for these projects.
Proposition G is an opportunity for San Francisco to come together and unite behind an initiative that will give our students a boost and help them find a path to success. San Francisco schools suffer from underfunding and long-term inequalities. Too many students are experiencing unmet mental health challenges and other barriers to learning; struggling in core academic subject areas and testing below grade level. The pandemic has only made this situation worse. The Student Success fund is a results-oriented initiative to help struggling students without raising taxes: Dedicates up to $60 million per year from existing city funds to programs that improve academic success and social/emotional wellness; Allows individual schools to apply for grants up to $1 million while requiring participation from parents, teachers, community members and school staff; Programs could include academic tutoring, math and literacy coaches, arts and science programs, nurses and social workers, mental health programs and nonprofit partnerships. Proposition G will not raise taxes. It will be paid for by already existing city funds. Guarantees are built in to ensure that vital city services will not be negatively impacted during a recession or budget deficit. The school-specific grant program ensures that programs meet the needs of each school community. The Student Success Fund will be a game changer for San Francisco’s public school students. That is why it has earned the support of a united educational community, a unanimous Board of Supervisors, mental health advocates, health care professionals, teachers, parents groups and community organizations.
According to a pre-pandemic report by the city’s Budget and Legislative Analyst, based on US Census data and other sources, 40,000 units sit vacant in San Francisco. From the highrises downtown, to the new construction in SOMA, and the controversial towers in the Mission, 40,000 homes remain empty while our housing and homelessness crisis rages on. The fact is, if we reduce vacancies we will have more housing. Other cities that have implemented a vacancy tax, such as Vancouver, Canada, have seen up to 10% of their vacant units become occupied after their vacancy tax became operational. Here is how it works: In buildings of 3 units or more, any units that remain vacant more than 6 months will be taxed; The tax will increase the longer a unit stays vacant; Revenue collected will be dedicated to an affordable housing fund and rental subsidies for low-income families and seniors; single family homes and duplexes are exempt, as are units vacant due to repairs, new construction, disaster or death of the owner. Prop M is not about taxing those who call San Francisco home. It is about tackling the large, corporate landlords keeping units vacant, and those wealthy individuals who purchase units but do not use them. In the first year alone, it is expected that 4,500 new units will return on the market – more than our annual goals – with no increase in taxes, no construction time, no multi-million dollar price tag, and no waiting.
Barely one in five California public schools have a full-time arts or music program. Prop 28 provides additional funding to ensure every student in PK-12 public school has access to arts and music education – without raising taxes and while protecting existing education funding and ensuring strict accountability. Studies on educational achievement prove that arts and music education improve student learning. Music education has been shown to improve cognitive development and spatial reasoning, while the dramatic arts improve reading comprehension. Arts and music education has also been shown to improve school attendance and individual student self-confidence and motivation to learn, particularly among poor and other at-risk students. An arts education also provides a viable pathway to a job in California’s creative economy, while developing and expanding culture.
