Yes on E – Putting Affordable Housing First

Proposition E on the March 3rd ballot provides an update to Proposition M, passed in 1986, that created a cap on new high-rise office development. That cap helped insulate San Francisco against recession in the 1990s and early 2000s.  In recent years, office development began to bump up against the Prop M cap, even though large development areas like Mission Bay, Hunters Point, Treasure Island and the Transbay Terminal Area are exempt. Meanwhile, San Francisco’s population has grown by more than 10% in the last decade as new high-rise housing has also increased dramatically.  But the increase in market-rate housing stock has not brought down housing prices, and construction of new affordable housing has not kept up with our housing crisis.

Prop E aims to cool San Francisco’s flaming hot housing market by tamping down demand. It will add teeth to the 1986 law by tying office building caps to the provision of affordable housing. If the production of affordable housing falls short of annual quotas, office development will be reduced by a similar percentage.  This will create a shared incentive to fill that affordable housing gap.

Proposition E gives San Francisco voters an important role in influencing future development.  We’ve seen the proliferation of high-rise offices and luxury housing, while middle and low-income residents are being pushed out of the City.  Past mayors, current Mayor Breed and a series of Planning Commission members have deferred to developers, allowing them to continue to build the most lucrative projects despite the high cost to San Franciscans’ quality of life and ability to remain in the City.

It’s time to renew our commitment to San Francisco neighborhoods. Vote Yes on E.

Jennifer Clary