Hamilton Families Housing Voter Guide

Hamilton Families works to end family homelessness in the San Francisco Bay Area through shelter, transitional housing, permanent housing, homelessness prevention, resource referral, and advocacy.  

We activate community members on housing and homelessness issue areas that will achieve more inclusive services and growth, specifically for low-income families and families of color. In San Francisco and California, much of this policy change happens on the ballot, and many of the ballot initiatives—especially the local ones—can be hard to understand.  

While we do not cover candidate races, we do believe it is important to educate our base of supporters about local and state ballot measures that focus on housing and homelessness. For the November 2022 election, we focused on San Francisco Propositions C, D, and E, as well as California Proposition 27.

San Francisco Ballot Measures

 
 

Proposition C

Homelessness Oversight Commission 

The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Services is the City of San Francisco’s largest agency without an oversight committee, responsible for a $700 million budget. Supervisor Safaí wants to ensure there is a body creating accountability for the expenditure of those funds. The commission would allow community members the ability to provide input on the city’s homelessness policies, services, and stewardship of the department’s funding. The commission would also be an additional step in the approval process for projects that would add to the timeline. 

Homelessness activists say the establishment of an oversight committee is crucial, citing a recent investigation by The San Francisco Chronicle which found that city staff have authorized millions to be spent to shelter those who are experiencing homelessness in dilapidated hotels with poor conditions.

PROPOSITION D

Affordable Housing Now

Mayor Breed’s proposal, dubbed the Affordable Homes Now initiative, would remove the discretionary review process for the approval of certain housing projects. It also requires projects to be approved within 3–6 months, and it provides prevailing wages for all construction workers, ensuring they receive fair pay and benefits for their work. 

Projects eligible to skip the review and approvals process under Measure D must meet the following criteria:

  • The project is 100% affordable. 

  • The project includes 10 or more units at mixed-income and will offer at least 15% more affordable housing than the city’s existing inclusionary requirement. 

  • The project is teacher housing where all units are made available to households with at least one SFUSD or City College employee and where at least 80% of units are affordable. 

Notably, Measure D lacks many of the eligibility requirements set forth by its competitor: Measure E. This is the strength of Measure D: fewer eligibility requirements with straightforward criteria means that more projects will be able to skip the lengthy review process and ease the pathway to construction. However, Prop D would allow people of higher income (180% versus 120% AMI required by Prop E and entire project AMI of no more than 80% versus 140%) to qualify for affordable housing. 

PROPOSITION E

Affordable Housing Production Act 

Supervisor Connie Chan led the charge on the Board of Supervisors to place the Affordable Housing Production Act on the ballot, an initiative that would remove the discretionary review process for some housing projects. Chan claims her proposal will also hasten the development of affordable housing, but her proposal presents more barriers that developments need to clear in order to skip review. 

Measure E would allow streamlined approvals for projects that meet its criteria: 

  • The project is 100% affordable. 

  • The project includes 10 or more units at mixed-income and will offer at least 8% more affordable housing than the City’s existing inclusionary requirement. 

  • The project is teacher housing where all units are made available to households with at least one SFUSD or City College employee and where at least 80% of the units are affordable. 

  • Restricts eligibility according to size and affordability requirements for studios, which must be no less than 300 square feet and rent no more than 80% AMI. 

  • Requires that 30% of affordable units have 2 bedrooms and 20% have 3 bedrooms. 

Supporters of Measure E say that these additional requirements are necessary to ensure that units qualify for streamlined approval and will be truly affordable and serve the needs of the city’s families. Also, Prop E reserves affordable housing for lower income people than does Prop D (120% AMI versus 180% AMI, and entire project AMI of no more than 80% versus 140%). But with these additional requirements, the type of eligible developments could be diminished, defeating the purpose of the streamlining effort. 

PROPOSITIONS D AND E

Some much needed context

San Francisco desperately needs to build more affordable housing.  

Mayor Breed’s idea to achieve a less burdensome process of meeting the State’s housing production targets wasn’t supported by the Board of Supervisors, so the mayor worked with community groups to get the proposal on the ballot via initiative petition, placing Measure D before voters. The Board of Supervisors were not satisfied, so they placed their own affordable housing streamlining measure on the ballot as well: Measure E. Both measures seek to solve the same problem but do so with slightly different approaches. In this instance, the devil is in the details with no ability to compromise, the warring political factions of San Francisco let the battle spill onto the ballot and left voters to decide between these intersecting and somewhat confusing initiatives. 

Both measures aim to streamline the approval process for 100% affordable housing, mixed-income housing, and teacher housing but do so through slightly different approaches. Because the measures have competing provisions, if both get more than 50%+1 approval, the measure with the greatest number of votes will become law. This means voting in favor of both measures defeats the purpose. 

California Ballot Measures

 
 

PROPOSITION 27

Legalize Sports Betting and Revenue for Homelessness Prevention Fund Initiative (2022) 

Prop 27 would also allow sports betting in California much like Prop 26 but with a few key differences. Prop 27 would allow that activity online and would allow private companies, not just tribes, to provide online gambling. Prop 27 sets parameters for who can facilitate online sports betting, requiring that the purveyors be “large, well-established” betting companies, which would limit what companies would be eligible. 

Prop 27 sets aside a portion of the tax revenue from gambling activity to fund the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) program which provides flexible funding to cities, counties, and tribes to address homelessness in their communities. 

Are you registered to vote?

It’s time to get out the vote and make sure our unhoused and recently housed neighbors are registered to vote by October 24, 2022! 

Elections matter, and families experiencing homelessness are personally impacted by what happens at the ballot box. From affordable housing policy and more, let’s make sure their voices are heard! Will you help register an unhoused or recently housed family to vote this month? 

Not sure where to start? We got you covered! Bookmark this webpage for easy reference, because everything you need is below:

 

YOUR VOTE MATTERS! BE SURE TO GET & SIGN YOUR BALLOT 

To protect you from COVID-19 exposure, all Californians will receive Voter Ballots by mail (2020 Executive Order). People can still vote in-person by county as needed, especially those with special needs, language needs, or who do not have an address. 

  • Documents you’ll need if voting in person, be sure to bring either card:

    • CA Driver’s License

    • Social Security 

  • Missed the deadline?

    • It’s ok. You can still register and vote on Election Day:

      • Complete a conditional voter registration by visiting county election office, vote center, or polling place on Election Day.

      • If your name isn’t listed at your polling place, submit a provisional ballot. 

¡SU VOTO ES IMPORTANTE! ASEGÚRESE DE OBTENER SU BOLETA Y FIRMARLA

Orden ejectiva para 2020: todas las boletas electores en California se recibirán por correo para proteger a las personas de la exposición a la COVID-19. Las personas todavía pueden votar en persona por condado si es necesario, especialmente aquellas con necesidades especiales, necesidades de idioma o las que no tienen dirección. 

  • Regístrese antes o no más tarde 24/10/22 en línea por correo: registertovote.ca.gov 

    • Descargue en 15 idiomas: eac.gov/voters/national-mail-voter-registration-form

    • Formularios de papel en: El Departamento de Vehículos Motorizados, las oficinas de correo, bibliotecas, las oficinas gubernamentales y electorales.

    • Enviar por correo a: Elections Division, 1500 11th Street, 5th Floor, Sacramento, CA 95814 

  • Documentos que necesitará: Si vota en persona, asegúrese de traer cualquiera de las dos tarjetas: 

    • Licencia de manejo de CA

    • Seguro Social 

  • ¿Se le pasó el pazo límite? 

    • Está bien. Todavía puede inscribirse y votar:

      • Leene un inscripción de elector condicional en: la oficina electoral del condado, centro de votación o lugar de votación el día de las Elecciones.

      • Si su nombre no aparece en la lista en su lugar de votación, presente una boleta provisional. 

AdvocacyCory WinterHamilton Families, voter guide, San Francisco, California