City Props O, Q and R

Prop O – NO. Office Development in Candlestick Point and Hunters Point – Ordinance

Prop O would remove Hunters Point Shipyard from the 1986 Proposition M citywide limitations on office development. The proponent (the developer) argues that progress on the Hunters Point development, including creation of more than 10,000 affordable housing units (and over 5 million square feet of office and R&D space), is being held up by the Prop M limits, and that Prop M was intended to address downtown development and should not apply to this development.

According to the Planning Department, “…the Annual Limit Program aims to ensure a manageable rate of new development and to guard against typical ‘boom and bust’ cycles, among other goals.” A total of 950,000 gross square feet of new office development becomes allowable each year, with 75,000 gsf reserved for projects with between 25,000 and 49,999 gsf of office space and the remaining 875,000 gsf available projects with at least 50,000 gsf of office space. About 8 million square feet of office space is now awaiting approval, so there is a backlog – but Hunters Point Shipyard gets priority under that cap, second only to Transbay Transit Center and Mission Bay South, which were both approved as redevelopment areas before the shipyard. Approval of this measure would benefit downtown highrises in the pipeline – and encourage other projects to try to get a special exemption from Prop M through the ballot box.. The argument that it is not a downtown development is therefore not valid.

Prop Q – NO. Prohibiting Tents on Public Sidewalks – Ordinance

Proposition Q bans encampments (tents) on City sidewalks and allows them to be removed, but only if tent residents are offered housing and homelessness services and such services are available. The trouble is, there is not enough shelter available for all tent dwellers – so the effect would be simply to move people from one encampment to the next. This is another measure to criminalize poverty.

Prop R – NO. Neighborhood Crime Unit – Ordinance

Under Proposition R, the Neighborhood Crime Unit would be created as soon as Police Department reaches the voter-mandated staffing level of 1,971 sworn officers. Then 3% – about 60 police officers – would be reassigned to investigate neighborhood crime – “unlawful street behavior” – and nothing else, removing them from district stations. This so-called “safety” measure diverts the police from investigating serious crimes. Such staffing decisions belong in the hands of the Police Chief and local captains.