(Quick Access: Endorsed Candidates, Positions on Ballot Measures)

This November’s municipal election in San Francisco will be of critical importance to everyone who owns real property or operates a business here. This November, seats on the Board of Supervisors for all of the odd-numbered districts will become vacant. Four supervisors are being termed out—Jake McGoldrick in District One, Aaron Peskin in District Three, Tom Ammiano in District Nine and Gerardo Sandoval in District Eleven. Additionally, the seat in District Four is becoming vacant because of the resignation of Ed Jew in the face of extortion allegations and a residency violation. Jew’s replacement, Carmen Chu, who was appointed by Mayor Gavin Newsom, must now seek election in her own right.

To enable interested persons to become familiar with the positions of the endorsed candidates and participate in the campaign activities of candidates they wish to support, links to the web sites of the candidates appear below.

Sue Lee—Planning Commissioner

Alicia Wang—Teacher

District Three (North Beach, Telegraph Hill, Financial District, Nob Hill)

Claudine Cheng—Former National President, Organization of Chinese Americans

Lynn Jefferson—President, North Beach Neighbors

Carmen Chu—Incumbent Supervisor

District Seven (Parkside, Golden Gate Heights, Clarendon Heights, Twin Peaks, Forest Knolls, Midtown Terrace, Forest Hill, Miraloma Park, Sunnyside, Sherwood Forest, Westwood Highlands, Westwood Park, St. Francis Wood, Monterey Heights, Mt. Davidson, Balboa Terrace, Ingleside Terrace, Stonestown, Lakeside, Lake Shore, Merced Manor, Park Merced, Lake Merced, City College, San Francisco State)

Sean Elsbernd—Incumbent Supervisor

District Eleven (Excelsior, Ingleside, Oceanview, Merced Heights, Ingleside Heights, Mission Terrace, Outer Mission, Crocker Amazon)

Myrna Lim—Former Planning Commissioner

Ahsha Safai—Mayoral Aide

Many of the measures on this November's ballot seek funds for various purposes. This year's budget for the City and County of San Francisco is the largest in the city's history—$6.5 billion. In voting on measures with fiscal impacts, ask yourself before casting your vote whether the citizens of San Francisco are getting fair value for the billions the city collects in taxes.

Voters may find San Francisco’s November ballot to be more challenging reading than Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace. Twenty two measures—from a general obligation bond of $887.4 million for General Hospital to a declaration of policy to legalize prostitution—will appear on the ballot, making the voter handbook look more like a telephone directory than a voter guide.

The Association’s official position recommendations on the measures appearing on the municipal ballot and Proposition B appearing on the State ballot are listed below, along with a brief description of each measure.

Measures Appearing on San Francisco Municipal Ballot
November 2008

Yes on A – SF General Hospital and Trauma Center Earthquake Safety Bond, 2008:

Authorizes the issuance of $887,400,000 in general obligation bonds to earthquake retrofit San Francisco General Hospital. Allows the Board to impose and collect a general tax levy annually until such bonds are repaid. Allows landlords to pass through 50 percent of the increase in real property taxes attributable to the repayment of the bonds.

No on B – Establishing Affordable Housing Fund Using Set-Asides from Property Taxes:

Creates a baseline appropriation and set-aside equivalent to $0.025 on each $100 of assessed property tax valuation for the next 15 years to support affordable housing programs. Ultimately, could cost up to $2.3 billion – with all the housing dedicated to low- and very low-income people, providing little opportunity for working families to benefit.

No on C – Prohibiting City Employees from Serving on Charter Boards and Commissions:

Prohibits, except for specified positions, city employees from serving on Charter-created boards and commissions. There is no apparent reason to limit eligibility when the Board of Supervisors can reject a mayoral appointee.

Yes on D – Financing Pier 70 Waterfront District Development Plan upon Board of Supervisors’ Approval:

Creates a Pier 70 improvement district to preserve and restore historic buildings, make seismic upgrades, clean up toxics and fund parks and maritime facilities. Authorizes the city to appropriate General Fund revenues in an amount up to 75 percent of the projected hotel and payroll taxes attributable to new development. 

No on E – Changing the Number of Signatures Required to Recall City Officials:

Would double the number of signatures required to petition for recall of a member of the Board of Supervisors by increasing the number to 20 percent of the voters in the district, greatly reducing the opportunity for voters to recall a supervisor.

No on F – Holding all Scheduled City Elections Only in Even-Numbered Years:

Moves all elections of city officials to even-numbered years. Also, specifies that any person appointed to fill a vacancy on the Board of Supervisors with more than two years remaining on a term who is then elected to fill the balance of the term has served one of the person’s allowable two terms. No major American city holds mayoral campaigns in even-numbered years because of the danger of the race being overshadowed by concurrent campaigns for President and US Senate.

Neutral on G – Allowing Retirement System Credit for Unpaid Parental Leave:

Allows police and firefighters taking unpaid parental leave to buy back the time as total years of city service for retirement purposes. No cost to the city, and will help attract and retain public safety employees.

No on H – Setting Renewable Energy Goals; Options for Providing Electric Power; Changing Revenue Bond Authority to Pay for Public Utility Facilities:

Grants authority to six members of the Board of Supervisors to municipalize electricity distribution in San Francisco. Requires the SF PUC by late April 2009 to issue a comprehensive plan to provide “cost effective” power to residents and businesses, including the costs and benefits of municipalizing PG&E. By the end of 2009 and without a further vote by the public, the Board of Supervisors could authorize the issuance of billions of dollars of bonds to force PG&E, or any other local utility to sell its local distribution system to the city.

Neutral on I – Creating the Office of an Independent Rate-Payer Advocate:

Creates an independent rate-payer advocate appointed by the City Administrator to analyze and comment on rate proposals prepared by the SF Public Utilities Commission. Services to be paid from revenues of the utility rates that are the subject matter of those services.

Establishes a seven-member Historic Preservation Commission to replace the Landmarks Board. New commission would have the power to recommend landmark designations and historic district designations, certificates of appropriateness for work on landmark structures and amendments to the Preservation Element of the General Plan – powers that currently rest with the Planning Commission. Adds a layer of bureaucracy that could increase uncertainty in the building-permit process, and does not balance other planning priorities in the permitting process.

Neutral on K – Changing the Enforcement of Laws Related to Prostitution and Sex Workers:

Attempts to illegally circumvent state law by prohibiting legal action against prostitutes. May encourage sex trafficking and other violent crimes.

Authorizes the creation of the Community Justice Center, in collaboration with the Superior Court, to address crimes that negatively impact the quality of life of those living and working in the Tenderloin, South of Market, Civic Center and Union Square neighborhoods. Authorizes the expenditure of $1,770,000 dollars for the court, $984,000 of which will come from earmarked federal grant funds.

No on M – Changing the Residential Rent Ordinance to Prohibit Specific Acts of Harassment of Tenants by Landlords:

Provides for both criminal and civil cause of action against landlords for “harassment,” including failure to perform a repair, abuse of a landlord’s right to access a unit, threats by word or gesture and other repeated acts or omissions designed to encourage a tenant to vacate a unit. Can expose landlords to unfounded complaints and litigation.

Increases the real property transfer tax rate from .75 percent to 1.5 percent if property value exceeds $5 million, and reduces the tax on residential property transfers by up to 1/3 if, after January 1, 2009, transferor has installed an active solar system or made seismic retrofitting improvements.

Neutral on O – Replacing the Emergency Response Fee with a General Tax (Access Line Tax) and Revising the Telephone Users Tax:

Ratifies and approves the city’s existing 911 tax and telephone tax. If the measure does not pass, the city would risk losing between $85 and $90 million in annual revenue.

Neutral on P – Changing the Composition of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority Board (a State Agency):

Replaces the 11- member SFTA board with five members, all of which must be elected officials: The Mayor and a designee, the President of the Board of Supervisors and a designee, and the Treasurer. The measure also makes it city policy to, to the extent feasible, merge SFTA’S functions into existing city departments.

Neutral on Q – Modifying the Payroll Expense Tax:

Extends the 1.5 percent payroll tax to pass-through entities and shareholders of professional corporations for work or services performed in the city, excluding return on capital. Contains a 200 percent formula cap based on the average wages of the top 25 percent of a firm’s wage earners as a “safe harbor” to calculate the tax due. Also includes an expanded small business exemption for businesses with payrolls of less than $250,000.

Neutral on R – Renaming the Oceanside Water Treatment Plant

Yes on S – Policy Regarding Budget Set-Asides and Identification of Replacement Funds:

Makes it city policy that new set-asides or other mandated levels of spending must identify a funding source, limits the duration and any annual growth in the set-aside or mandated level of spending. Requires the city controller’s analysis of the fiscal impact of any proposed new set-aside.

Neutral on T – Free and Low-Cost Substance Abuse Treatment Programs:
Prohibits the reduction of funding, staffing or the number of substance-abuse treatment slots so long as there is excess demand for the slots. No funding source identified for the additional cost of the program.

Neutral on U – Policy against Funding for Deployment of Armed Forces in Iraq:

Makes it official San Francisco policy that Congress should vote against any further funding for the deployment of United States Armed services in Iraq, with the exception of funds specifically earmarked to provide for their safe and orderly withdrawal.

Yes on V – Policy against Terminating Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) Programs in Public High Schools:

Makes it city policy, though not binding on the school district, to offer voluntary extracurricular JROTC programs and to reverse the action by the Board of Education to terminate the program.

Measures Appearing on California State Ballot
November 2008

Would overturn the recent California Supreme Court decision extending the right to marry to all couples, regardless of sexual orientation.

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