Tag: San Francisco

10/18/08

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

Shall the City provide funds to develop Pier 70, based on new City hotel and payroll expense tax revenues from the development, if the Board of Supervisors approves a financial and land use plan for Pier 70?

Proposition D will allow the Board of Supervisors to approve a broad development plan for Pier 70 rather than checking off each and every project one at a time. The proposition will also contribute approximately $600 million to help the developers clean up the area of contaminates from when the port first operated as a ship part factory. A portion of taxes and revenue from the future hotels and businesses will be used to pay back the City.

No real risk to passing this proposition unless the developers quit midway through the project. The area this affects is pretty run down currently. Once the land is developed, the City can recoup the cost through taxation and generate more revenue for other programs.

An easy yes vote for this proposition.

10/17/08

SF: Prop C – Prohibiting City Employees from Serving on Charter Boards and Commissions

Shall the City prohibit City employees from serving on most Charter created boards and commissions?

Proposition C is pretty clear cut. The supporters of the proposition do not want city employees to staff commissions whose decisions may affect their department. The reasoning seems logical.
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10/17/08

SF: Prob B – Establishing Affordable Housing Fund

Shall the City establish an Affordable Housing Fund; set aside from the property tax 2 ½ cents for every $100 of assessed value for this Fund through 2024; and use this Fund, subject to public review, to acquire and develop new affordable housing units meeting certain priorities and income limitations?

Proposition B sounds like someone watched Office Space once too many times. In the movie, three disgruntled office workers concoct a plan to transfer half a cent from the company’s internal bank transactions to a private bank account. They ended up with a huge sum of money. Worried about getting caught, they try to return the money to the company only to find the place burned to the ground. The money was assumed to have burned in the fire; but, another employee had found the packet and flew to a tropical island for some R&R.
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10/17/08

SF: Prop A – San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center Earthquake Safety Bonds, 2008

To ensure the availability of San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center in the event of a natural disaster or emergency, by building and/or rebuilding and improving the earthquake safety of the hospital and to pay related costs necessary or convenient for the foregoing purposes, shall the City and County of San Francisco issue $887,400,000 in general obligation bonds subject to independent oversight and regular audits?

Turns out there is a state law (SB 1953) that requires hospitals to meet certain seismic safety standards by 2013 or have their acute facilities downgraded to non-acute status. The definition of acute care is “short-term medical treatment, usually in a hospital, for patients having an acute illness or injury or recovering from surgery.” (Answers.com)

The San Francisco General Hospital is the only hospital in the city that have these facilities. Unfortunately, the hospital is unable to retrofit the current buildings thereby requiring bonds to build a new acute facility on the current hospital grounds.
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06/4/08

No Surprises in Election Results

Tonight’s election results had absolutely no surprises; the turnout for the election was decent for a summer deal.

California Propositions

Prop. 98: Government Acquisition, Regulation of Private Property. Constitutional Amendment. failed with 2,091,890 (61%) NO votes to the 1,342,655 (39%) YES votes. Rent control remains intact.

Prop. 99: Eminent Domain. Acquisition of Owner-Occupied Residence. Constitutional Amendment. passed with 2,129,247 (62%) YES votes compared with 1,282,763 (38%) NO votes making things a little bit more difficult for the government to take homes using eminent domain.
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06/2/08

Summer Election Predictions

I was 8 for 10 in my last election predictions, so I am feeling pretty good about my predictions for the coming June 3, 2008 election.

California Propositions

Prop. 98: Government Acquisition, Regulation of Private Property. Constitutional Amendment.
Proposition 98 will make it tougher for the government to take property under eminent domain and phase out rent control.
Vote: No
Prediction: No

Prop. 99: Eminent Domain. Acquisition of Owner-Occupied Residence. Constitutional Amendment.
Proposition 99 would restrict the government from taking residential homes under the eminent domain flag.
Vote: Yes
Prediction: Yes
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05/31/08

SF: Prop H – Prohibiting Elected Officials, Candidates, or Committees They Control from Soliciting or Accepting Contributions from Certain City Contractors

Shall it be unlawful for City elected officials, candidates or political committees they control to solicit or accept campaign contributions from contractors who are prohibited from making contributions to these elected officials, candidates and political committees because the contractor has a pending contract or a recently approved contract before the official or the Board on which the official or an appointee of the official sits?

Proposition H is a pretty open and shut case.
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05/27/08

SF: Prop G – Mixed-Use Development Project for Candlestick Point and Hunters Point Shipyard

Shall it be City policy to encourage timely development of a mixed-use project in the Bayview on Candlestick Point and Hunters Point Shipyard, including a new 49ers stadium or a non-stadium alternative; shall the City be authorized to transfer park land in Candlestick Point for non-recreational use if the land is replaced with new public parks or open spaces of at least equal size and the transfer meets the measure’s policy objectives; and shall Propositions D and F, approved by the voters in June 1997, be repealed?

Proposition G lays out guidelines the developer must follow to meet the conditions to develop the Candlestick Point and Bayview Hunters Point area. The proposition is asking for the public’s approval to move forward on completing the agreement with the developer funding the ballot measure, Lennar Corp.
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05/22/08

SF: Prop F – Affordable Housing Requirement for the Candlestick Point and Hunters Point Shipyard Mixed-Use Development Project

Shall it be City policy that any mixed-use development plan the City approves for Candlestick Point and Hunters Point Shipyard require 50% of all new housing units developed in the area be affordable, give preferences for the rental or purchase of new affordable housing to families of low and moderate income, and, if Alice Griffith housing is rebuilt, replace the units on a one-to-one basis; and shall the City be prohibited from selling, conveying or leasing any City-owned land at Candlestick Point unless the Board of Supervisors finds that the mixed-use development plan for this area incorporates these policies?

Currently, state law requires any new mixed development to include at least 15% affordable housing.
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05/20/08

SF: Prop E – Requiring Board of Supervisors’ Approval of Mayor’s Appointments to the Public Utilities Commission and Creating Qualifications for Commission Members

Shall the City set qualifications for members of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and change the process for appointing members to the PUC by requiring a majority of the Board of Supervisors to approve the Mayor’s appointments to the PUC?

Proposition E gets an emphatic Yes vote from me.

The Public Utilities Commission handles construction, management, supervision, maintenance, extension, operation, use and control of all water and energy supplies and utilities of the City. They also handle the financial assets under their jurisdiction. In other words, the PUC hold sole dominion over doling out contracts upwards into the billions to retrofit the City’s utilities. A current example would be the $4.3 billion seismic retrofit of the City’s Hetch-Hetchy water system.
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