Mayor Ed Lee is running for a second four-year term without any prominent, powerful or well-financed opposition. But five eclectic challengers hope the city’s ranked-choice ballot will deliver a surprise victory to one of them.
Category: City Hall
Posted inCity Hall, Elections, Housing, San Francisco 2015 Nonpartisan Election Guide
Proposition A: Affordable Housing Bond
Proposition A would create a fund with up to $310 million for helping people remain in, and move to, San Francisco if they otherwise could not afford to do so.
Posted inCity Hall, Elections, Labor, San Francisco 2015 Nonpartisan Election Guide
Proposition B: Paid Parental Leave for City Employees
Proposition B would increase paid parental leave for qualified city government workers.
Posted inCity Hall, Economy & Business, Elections, Housing, San Francisco 2015 Nonpartisan Election Guide
Proposition F: Regulating Short-Term Rentals
Proposition F would actively regulate the city’s short-term rental industry, much of which operates largely outside of City Hall’s knowledge and control.
Posted inCity Hall, Elections, Labor, San Francisco 2015 Nonpartisan Election Guide, Utilities
Propositions G and H: Defining ‘Clean’ or ‘Green’ Energy
To wrap your head around these dueling ballot measures, you first need to understand CleanPowerSF, San Francisco’s forthcoming municipal utility system that breaks Pacific Gas & Electric’s monopoly on delivering electricity to city residents.
Posted inCity Hall, Elections, Housing, Neighborhoods, San Francisco 2015 Nonpartisan Election Guide
Proposition I: Mission District Housing Moratorium
Proposition I would block the construction, demolition or conversion of nearly all new, unpermitted market-rate housing in the Mission District for 18 months, giving city officials and community groups time to create a long-term plan for helping low- to middle-income people who live in the neighborhood. Projects for 100 percent affordable housing would not be affected.
Posted inCity Hall, Housing
Once a Long Shot, Affordable Housing Bond Picks Up Momentum
Last summer, the prospect of a bond to help fund affordable housing projects in San Francisco seemed remote. What a difference a year makes. Early Wednesday morning the Board of Supervisors reached an agreement on a proposal to borrow $310 million to finance affordable housing construction and acquisition.
Posted inCity Hall, Housing
New York Reform Effort Shows How San Francisco Rent Control Dialogue Lags
Reforms to rent control are finally a topic of hot debate — but not in San Francisco.
Last year the Public Press wrote about the city’s curious rental laws, which somewhat arbitrarily helps some tenants by limiting yearly rent increases but not others, depending on when the building was put up.
Since then, not much has been done to revisit the issue, even though local leaders have been grasping for ideas to ease the housing crisis here, such as a housing bond of at least $250 million, and additional taxes on home sales to fund affordable housing programs.
Posted inCity Hall, Law & Justice, News, Public Safety, Social Justice
Body Cameras Will Not Be Cheap
San Francisco has become the latest of many cities nationwide where leaders are deciding that the benefits of outfitting police with body cameras outweigh the myriad costs.
Posted inCity Hall, Homelessness
Supervisor Ponders Taxing Home Sales to Fund Affordable Housing
San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim wants to help pay for new affordable housing in the city by imposing a tax on sales of luxury condominiums. But it could take a year or two for the proposal to get before voters.