>> hello. i am running for mayor in the most densely populated corner of the city. chinatown, which tourism is the income from visitors all over the world which city hall takes for granted. most candidates bank on influential endorsements, a huge war chest, thinking that will secure getting votes. me? i believe that the most important thing is to help people better themselves. this is my joy fulfillment in my

life. if someone asks me if you are elected as the mayor this november, what would you do first? my answer is i would waste no time to meet with department heads, directors of nonprofit, and most importantly, community leaders and grassroot organizations for their input and support. together, we solve problems. the most pressing problems are homelessness, housing shortages, and empty store fronts all over the city. one of my qualifications and expertise in solving problems as an educator, retired professor of esl and music for over 35 years, my skills are to bring out the best in people.

my other life experiences and qualifications are as community organizer, founder and co-chair of a better chinatown tomorrow, community-based organizations formed to preserve the rich cultural heritage of chinatown. as administrator, i was one of the six ethnic field officers in sydney, australia. i was recruited to go there in 1983. a model now based worldwide for programming cultural events of different ethnicities and i served as neighbor arts organizer for the san francisco arts commission 1980s. business owner.

i work closely with the san francisco visitors bureau for companies and artists showcasing cultural events to visitors. professor. i taught esl and music at city college of san francisco for 35 years. parent. i raised three daughters in san francisco. they all graduated from public schools. we'll work for quality neighborhoods, schools, incentives for families to stay in san francisco, better child care for working parents, and assistance to business owners. i appreciate your vote this november. thank you very much. >> new transformational

leadership and fundamental change is coming to city hall. if i am elected san francisco mayor on tuesday, november 5, 2019. my name is joel. as the leading challenger in the race, i am the only progressive democratic party candidate for mayor on the ballot. and i'm the only san francisco green party endorsed candidate for mayor. with your support and vote, i will govern as america's most effective progressive mayor. i will serve as a neighborhood public interest mayor. i will be different from the corporate downtown private interests, economic elite mayors we've had for years. i have 34 years of exceptional, successful, award-winning public service. as an administrator, analyst with the city and county of san francisco airport commission,

which runs the 7th largest international airport in the united states between 1987 and 2018, and as a department head assistant, aging specialist with the city and county of san francisco aging commission between 1981 and 1984, with decades of leadership experience in the environmental neighborhood and labor mass movements. i served in the following prior positions. city and county of san francisco environmental commissioner. president, coalition for san francisco neighborhoods. president, sunset parkside education and action committee. president, neighborhood council. chair, san franciscans for public power. chair preserve the presidio campaign.

executive committee member siu790. other accomplishments highlights include i'm a recognized safety, security and risk expert. i adopted the first landmark city and county of san francisco sustainability plan. i have received nearly 100,000 votes from san franciscans in local elections over the years. and i earned a masters in public administration degree from the university of san francisco. san francisco journalists have described me as incorruptible, principled, honest, knowledgeable, tough, independent, courageous. my action oriented platform as mayor will be to dismantle the decades' old establishment status quo insider, corrupt, political machine.

mandate 100% clean public money candidate campaign. reinvent san francisco into the first zero carbon emissions international city in the world. expedite full service public power. make public transit free. defend neighborhood character, diversity and self-determination. approve the best tenant protection laws in the nation. end poverty on the streets with a comprehensive homelessness program. challenge corporate and tech agendas. empower mass movement. disempower the top 1% economic elite. halt manhattan-ization. rejuvenate inclusive democracy and convert the presidio national park into a second

united nations headquarters focused on global warming. in conclusion, the stakes have never been higher for the future of san francisco. when the official voter information pamphlet comes out and you receive it in the mail or review it online, please read my short, 200-word statement, that includes important information about my qualifications, accomplishments and visionary 16-point platform. if you're convinced i can improve your quality of life as mayor, i ask for your vote. and if you do vote for me, i ask you to simply ask three of your friends to vote for me as well. together, we can create a just, livable and flourishing city for all. >> may name is ellen. i have been living in san

francisco for 33 years. i work for the government for the last 15 years. i am a behavioral health clinician. i train people how to behave. i also represent the government employees as of may 2019, we have 32,000 government employees. because i investigate complaints from government employees and because i was a civic grand jury for two terms, i learn a lot about san franciscans. a lot about public policy that is currently failed to deliver the quality care for you, for me, in san francisco. my name is ellen. as i'm campaigning, going on the streets talking to homeless people, i find out three things the homeless people need. three things.

indoor place to sleep. get away from the drug dealers. and a job so they can go back to the life they used to have. august 2019, according to 13 departments summarize report, we now have 21,000 homeless report in san francisco. in addition, we have 25,000 drug dealers, abusers and users. i'm not sure if you pay attention. for the last two years, we have more than 400 people died, pass away, on san francisco streets. something is not right about a picture. when i walked on the streets, sometimes i see homeless people. they have to pick up food from the trash can to eat. i am ashamed as a government employee. and as a mother, i do not want to see anybody raise their life

like i have been experienced and seen people waste their life in san francisco streets. we also have 50,000 empty apartments in san francisco. if you refer back to may 2019, san francisco chronicle report, we have more than 100,000 empty apartments across the bay area. san francisco alone has 50,000 to 75,000 apartments that is available today, right here, right now if we have free housing policies to release the housing for the property owners and the tenants who need housing. when i become mayor, i will work with the law enforcement to obey the united states constitution. so we will stop the -- according to the report, we have minimum 100 every day in san francisco, maybe more because many people feel useless to report when nothing can be done.

the police fail to deliver quality of care to prevent those property crimes. 2019, san francisco is ranked number one in the nation that we are the number one property crime in the united states. if you think london breed our current mayor is going to change for you. forget it. you know why? because i work for the government for the last 15 years and associate with people who provide solutions. i am one of the solution-providers. when i become a mayor, i will work with the federal government to enforce the united states constitution to clear the drug dealers off the street and revive the life of homeless people, so they can get back to their feet. no more drugs, give jobs to them. i am good that the because i'm a behavioral health clinician. i train people how to behave,

get back on their feet and live a life with hope, faith and love. when i become a mayor i will release the empty apartments to the teachers and the workers and local san franciscans first. we do not need a bond and get more money and get more debt for our children generations to come, because we have empty apartments today. vote for me. ellen for mayor, november 5, 2019. together we heal the homeless, we will work with the united states constitution law to arrest the people they are not welcome. they are not welcome. they should not be representing our government when they are not delivering the quality of life in san francisco. vote for me, ellen for mayor in november, 2019. together we'll make san francisco safe and clean. thank you.

>> this is a unique moment in american and san francisco history. there is a growing national consensus that the criminal justice system is broken. for the first time in 110 years, there is an open d.a. race in san francisco, with no incumbent. it's a historic opportunity. and i'm running for district attorney because we need to

seize this moment. my name is chasea. i've dead dated my life to making sure the criminal justice system works for everyone. not just the rich and powerful. when i was an infant, my parents left me with a baby-sitter. they never came back. they drove the car in a robbery. my earliest memories are visits to my parents in prison just to give them a hug. years of walking through steel gates taught me how broken our criminal justice system is. that's why i became a public defender. where i provide equal justice for people who can't afford a lawyer. as district attorney, i'll ensure that our criminal justice system works for all of us. not just the wealthy and well connected. my campaign is about commonsense reforms that will make us safer.

first, let's test every rape kit and respect survivors of sexual assault. for every reported sexual assault, only 5% result in arrests and fewer still are brought to court. we need to do better. i'll transform the way law enforcement treats survivors, create a sexual violence task force and guarantee that every single rape kit, new and old, gets tested. second, we need to expand mental health treatment and stop using the jail as a mental health facility. 75% of people in san francisco jails suffer from serious mental illness, drug addiction or both. that's why two-thirds of the people who are locked up will be arrested again within three years. we need to break that school by creating and treating the root causes of crime. i'll expand facility for mental health treatment and ensure that people who need to get treatment

get it. third, we need to stop trump's racist and xenophobic attacks on immigrants. i've stood up to the attacks. i helped pioneer san francisco's sanctuary city policy that protects immigrants. i helped launch the first ever immigration unit at the public defenders office. as your d.a., i'll protect immigrant rights and keep families together. fourth, we need to end money bail. money bail keeps innocent people in jail because they're poor while wealthy people go free, even if they're guilty and dangerous. i've led the fight all the way to the california supreme court. as d.a. i'll ask the court to detain defendants only on danger to the community and flight risk, not on whether someone has enough money to buy their way out. finally, we need to end racial discrimination. san francisco's african-american community is under 5% of the

city's population, but over 50% of our jail population. we have the highest rate of african-american incarceration of any major city in the country. as d.a., i'll implement a comprehensive program to reverse this discrimination and treat every person equally. i'm proud to be endorsed by a broad cross section of san franciscans and criminal justice leaders around the country, from assembly member phil tinge to five members of the board of supervisors, to elected officials around the country, boston, kim fox in chicago, to retired judges from san francisco and beyond. and i have the support of six current or former members of the san francisco police commission as well as our public school and city college teachers unions who know we are safer when we invest in education rather than incarceration. as your district attorney i'm going to fix this broken system

by treating every arrest as an opportunity for intervention. we'll give victims of crime a voice. disrupt a broken status quo that doesn't work for anybody. we have an amazing opportunity to create the kind of san francisco we all want and deserve. please, join me in doing that. thank you. >> hi, my name leef i'm running for the district attorney of san francisco to restore accountability to the justice system. whether that means holding accountable our city leaders for the homelessness crisis, or cracking down on the organized rings breaking into our cars by the thousands, or holding law enforcement accountable. i've been passionate about these issues my entire life and it started with my mom. she was a nurse at the local juvenile hall where i grew and you she was one of those saints that makes the system run.

she would work night shifts and come back in the morning as my sister and i would get up, telling us about the kids she was working with, the issues they were dealing with. one day when i was 8 years old, my mom came home and said it's not enough to tell you about the kids, we've got bring them into our home. we took in a dozen foster kids over a decade. from the time i was 8 years old, i saw the good, bad and ugly of the criminal justice system. i saw the impact of race, trauma, poverty, but i also saw amazing people like mom and her colleagues working inside the justice system to make sure it was more fair and equitable. it was inspiration that took me to yale, harvard law school, to working for president obama's campaigns in 2008 and 2012, making sure that everyone's voice could be heard in the political process.

to clerking on the ninth circuit here in san francisco, for the last seven years, workings a deputy attorney general for the state here in our san francisco office where i prosecuteded over 400 criminal cases. i'm also a supervisor of a team of prosecutors, making me the only candidate who is a prosecutor and manages a team of prosecutors on a day-to-day basis. i mentioned my experience and passion for these issues, because we're at an inflection point. it's the first time in 110 years we have an open seat race for district attorney. where all of us get to decide what sort of criminal justice system do we want. four of the issues i've been focused on the entire campaign are the homelessness crisis, the auto burglary, the environmental injustice at the shipyard and

the scourge of sexual violence. the facility right now is 80% empty. the board of supervisors has voted to shut it down. let's turn it into 150-bed facility for those on the streets battling serious mental illness. car break-ins, there were 30,000 reported in 2017. only 500 raeflts. and the d.a. -- arrests. and the d.a. office only it would be one case to trial and they lost it. that's why i'm putting together a task force to work on this problem. it's the deputy supervisors association and -- sheriffs association and over 150 groups in the city that are concerned about that problem. sexual violence. there were 757 reported sexual

assaults, and yet the d.a. office only got nine convictions after trial. that's 1.3%. we're committed to starting an online rape kit tracking portal so that survivors of sexual assault know the status of their case in realtime. it's earned me the endorsement of many. finally, we have an environmental injustice playing out with the soil contamination saga, yet the current district attorney disbanded our environmental unit. i'm going to bring them back. we need the environmental justice unit to be leaders on the issue. it's that commitment that earned me endorsement from the league of conservation voters and sierra club. it's these ideas that have earned me endorsements of 150 groups, elected officials and community organizations from the

seer club to the firefighters and the deputy sheriffs, fiona mar, leaders on the school board and the state assemble. i would be honored to earn your support. thank you. >> hi, my name is nancy. i'm running to be your next district attorney. i've spent the last 18 years as a prosecutor, 11 of them in the san francisco district attorney office. i've worked my way up as a prosecutor. i've tried misdemeanors, felonies. and public integrity cases, including police misconduct, public corruption, fraud and embezzlement. when it comes to criminal justice in san francisco we have serious problems we must confront. we see every day what is happening in the district attorney's office and on our streets isn't working. our criminal justice system cannot continue to ignore

victims and everyday crimes that affect us all. as district attorney, i will prioritize and prosecute the crimes that have the greatest impact on our communities, like property crimes, violent assaults and the open drug dealing that is ravaging our streets. we can address these problems head on with my concept of community centred justice. the community is at the heart of everything we do and the district attorney's office, and in our criminal justice system. we will prioritize, protecting and lifting up communities. we'll strengthen ties between the office and neighborhood interests, diverse constituencies, law enforcement and community groups. because the first time you meet a prosecutor from the district attorney's office shouldn't be when you're the victim of a crime. we should be collaborating to prevent crime in the first place. today the district attorney's office that failed to prioritize a range of serious crimes that affect our daily lives. as a result, san francisco is, today, ranked number one for

property crime in the country. that is not what criminal justice reform is about. prosecuting property crimes or drug crimes can be an entry point for intervention to stop repeat offenses and as a barrier to falling deeper in the criminal justice system at the same time, we cannot allow our neighborhoods to be devastated by people who repeatedly commit crime. i know the importance of working with other criminal justice leaders to investigate and prosecute drug and robbery rings that are victimizing people every day. i'm endorsed by the district attorney nancy o'malley and we will work together to stem the tide of organized crime. as a career prosecutor who worked in this district attorney's office for more than a decade, i know how broken the office has become. it has been weakened, demoralized, politicized and cut off from the partnerships we should be building. and the last year, over 30% of the prosecutors in the office

have left out of frustration, mismanagement and neglect. the state of the district attorney's office has impacts far beyond the office itself and i'm prepared to address these problems starting day one. i'm inspired to serve in large part by my father. he came to the united states from a country where he lived nearly his entire life under martial law. he marvelled at our freedom and democracy. his not so secret dream was to be lawyer. his philosophy, always to give back to the country that has given so much to our family. i chose a career in public service as a lawyer, as a prosecutor, because of him. my name is nancy tong. i'm running to be your next district attorney. i'm a prosecutor, not a politician and i will work every day to keep our streets safe and make sure victims get the help

they deserve. please, vote for me on november 5th. thank you. hi, i'm your district five supervisor vallie brown. today, san francisco faces serious challenges and i'm proud to serve you at city hall, fighting for affordable housing,

solutions to homelessness and keeping our vibrant neighborhoods moving, clean and green. i bring a perspective and life experience that is unique. i lost both my parents by the time i was 14. i've been without health insurance, been evicted and had to live in a van as a child because my mother did not have money for the next apartment. so when i work on homelessness, when i work on housing, it's personal. for the last three decades i've been your neighbor and your community activist first. i've seen the ups and downs, the booms and busts and watch our neighborhoods change. sometimes for the good, and sometimes for the not so good. so i got involved from the ground up in making community better. i fought to keep our neighborhood elementary school open. end the violence plaguing the district.

my work brought me to city hall. i helped create landmark legislation. like the first plastic bag ban and clean power sf. and our neighborhood preference policy that prioritizes residents for affordable housing in their own neighborhood. the first farmers markets in the city and worked to make our streets safer and new protected bike lanes and muni cars. since becoming your supervisor last year, i've written and passed 30 pieces of legislation. these were passed unanimously by working tirelessly with my deletion find creative, progressive solutions to the issues that matter. on housing i've identified sites for 100 affordable development and raised affordable housing requirement and new private development. i added $40 million to the

budget to buy existing buildings where tenants faced eviction. and funding in housing ombudsman to mediate between tenants and landlords before eviction notices are sent. on homelessness, i worked to create the first navigation center for people living in their cars. an experience i know from my youth. i worked to open the first resting place in a d5 church so our homeless neighbors can get off the streets and rest and receive food and health care and access to social workers. and i'm committed to bringing a youth navigation center to the district. and on muni, i uncovered a root cause of delays and helped end the driver shortage, bringing more trains and buses into service. i worked to add prop d to the ballot. a tax on ride shares that will see millions to funding to muni and reduce traffic.

finally, recommendation matters. with women under attack across the country, our voice and our leadership could not be more consequential. today, only 4 out of 11 members of the board of supervisors are women, including me. and that number could go down to three. i ask you for your vote, not as a politician, but as your neighbor for the past 30 years, working to better our community for all. i'm your neighborhood voice. i'm the only candidate sole endorsed by the san francisco democratic club. san francisco firefighters, san francisco chronicle, the league of conservation voters, the lgbt democratic club, planned parenthood california action fund, the san francisco women's political committee, united food and commercial worker 64, local

21 and many more. we've achieved real results together, but there is so much more to do and we're just getting started. join us at www.vote and don't forget to vote on november 5. >> i'm ryan lamb running for district 5 supervisors supervisor of san francisco. i emigrated to the bay area in 2003. growing up and being educated in san francisco convinced me how lucky we are to be living in such a beautiful place. but in this decade several issues have grown serious, such as the littering of needles on the streets, homelessness and on and on. it seems to me that our government is making many very wrong decisions that may poorly discern the true interests of district 5 residents. so much so that i've concluded that city hall is moving in the wrong direction and statistics

agree with me. i'm running because i am committed to solving my top three priorities for district 5. number one is ensuring the cleanliness and safety that must be provided through the creation of jobs. i'm a huge believer in law enforcement, holding violators accountable for unsafe, unclean and simply illegal actions. i want to propose the most intensive infrastructure improvement plan to ensure safety on our streets from pedestrians to all transporters. secondly, we need to fix our affordability crisis. i'm the only candidate that promises a decrease in homelessness. and lastly, we need to help local businesses to building a strong economy where the american dream is attainable. i will fight against higher operating costs for businesses because those costs could be passed down to us. i will oppose adding more and more taxes or higher taxes.

for me, running for the board of supervisors is also personal. i want to directly ensure that san francisco remains a prosperous place for residents and small businesses in my own future and generations to come. i started my first business in san francisco and had my fair share in participating and proving our economic market. so i have the deepest understanding of actions that need to be completed in order to advance our public and private sectors. finally, i need to fight against uncontested machine that has been taking advantage of law-abiding, tax-paying residents for over 40 years. in many ways, we have the most unprecedented campaign in this nation. if you want to change in representation, elect the most fundamentally unique candidate with the reasonable policies. a vote for me would mean a vote for the youngest muslim

republican formerly homeless immigrant canada in our history. together we strive to build the most community-based transparent campaign where i can manifest true responsibility and integrity in my policies as supervisor. to sum it up, our sole mission is to improve the living experience of residents. it would be an honor to serve this district and the opportunity that is provided for me. i respectfully ask for your vote. >> hi, everyone. my name is dean preston. i'm running for supervisor because the status quo in city hall is not working. san francisco is the least affordable city in the entire nation, with staggering inequality. our city is on the wrong track. district 5 deserves an independent leader with a track record of accomplishments who is ready to take on the root causes of our problem. i've never been a city hall

insider. i'm a civil rights and tenant attorney. i founded the only statewide tenant group that saved rent control. i cofounded a community division that forced city hall more for affordable housing for developers. district 5 has been my home for over two decades. i've been a renter and a homeowner in the district. i helped lead my neighborhood association. i'm a former small business owner and everyday muni rider and public school parent. i believe now is the time for us to take bigger, bolder and more courageous steps. i'm inspired by new leaders like

alexandria ocasio-cortez. i've already helped san francisco take big steps. most recently i wrote and passed the law that gives every tenant in san francisco who faces eviction the right to an attorney. i was an early backer of our city, our home, the visionary ballot measure that taxes the largest corporations to tackle homelessness. my campaign is about taking bold steps. a green new deal for san francisco, free public transit, fundamental criminal justice reform, a public bank to reinvest in our community and social housing to reverse displacement. we need to think and act big to meet the scale and demands of our current crisis. and while we fight big city-wide, we must also fight big in our neighborhoods. here in district 5, we need to save midtown, find a permanent

space fort homeless youth alliance, stand up to evictions of our neighbors and build affordable housing, rather than just luxury condos. i have a 20-year track record of getting big things done for our community. representi representi representing tenants, championing city-wide limits on chain stores to protect small businesses. leading the fight to save rent control, launching california's only statewide tenants right organization, creating a hot line that has helped over 20,000 renter households and writing the only tenant right to counsel law in the state of california. these are just a few of the things i'm proud to have accomplished. i've done this work with so many amazing community leaders. it earned me the endorse amount of the sierra club, the united educators of san francisco, city

college faculty, affordable housing alliance, the san francisco young democrats, harvey milk democratic club, the latino democratic club, a march of the board of -- majority of the board of supervisors, and jane kim. i look forward to working with all of those leaders and you to take the bold steps we need to make san francisco more affordable and livable. and to rethink what is possible for our city. thank you.

my name is jenny lam, i currently serve on the san francisco board of education. i believe strong education is the strong foundation for a strong and vibrant democracy. we in san francisco are deeply committed to public education, yet for far too long, we have to tackle the most -- we have failed to tackle the most persistent issues in the school. ensuring all our schools are providing high quality education to all students no matter what neighborhood they live in. to ensuring our teachers and educators are supported.

and the importance of a student assignment system that encourages families to enter san francisco public schools, rather than causing stress and frustration. i am a proud parent of two children who attend public schools. i've dedicated my entire career, over 20 years, in working in community, in schools, with students and families. as a civil rights advocate around education policy maker, with successful nonprofit experience, i bring an important voice and experience to the san francisco board of education. my top three goals for the school district are, first, prioritize student learning. we must make our decisions student-centred. including, providing early literacy intervention so every student is reading at grade level. strengthen learning foundations

in arts, math, science and technology. enable teachers to innovate and provide engaging collaborative and inspiring instruction for all students. second, invest in safe, inclusive, caring communities. support community schools with more access to caring adults like counselors, nurses and social workers. it's so critical to engage our parents in their child's education experience. we must also increase before and after school programming and give students the opportunity to continue learning in the before and after hours. lastly, develop a youth mentoring program that ensures career exploration and service learning. and third and last, building pathways to excellence.

expanding language learning opportunities and access to all students in san francisco public schools. ensure that all our students graduate with life skills and job readiness to prepare them for the future. prepare every student to have access and to thrive in higher education. i believe in 100% of our students must have access to higher education. in closing, i have the confidence of parents, teachers and city leaders to bring people together and to get things done. i have the endorsement of mayor london breed, all of my colleagues on the board of education and numerous community organizations. thank you for listening and your consideration and remember to vote november 5. >> thank you so much for tuning in and being informed and engaged in san francisco. i deeply appreciate your time. i'm kirsten strobel. i was motivated to run over the

controversy at george washington high school. it's a detriment to the students its mandated to serve. while i'm relieved the murals will not be destroyed after the second vote, they still did not go far enough and continued to kick this can down the road. while it was the murals that caught my attention, it's my longstanding commitment to social impact work. i began my career her in san francisco at legal services for children. at l.s.t. we worked closely with families. especially those are marginalized. special education students. students who are newcomers and just learning english. and students who are unjustly pushed out. there are really great people in the district that are dedicated to our students, but you shouldn't have to have a lawyer to access your basic rights. equity is the real issue in san

francisco and that has always been the case. the school assignment still fuels segregation. our transportation service is woefully inadequate. all of the students should receive the support and services they need to thrive regardless of address. this boils down to resource allocation and we must have an honest dialogue about what that looks like. the issues our students face are not unique to urban school districts, but i believe our ability to tackle them is. we're on the birthplace of innovation and san francisco should serve as a model. with have a strategic-public private partnerships we can do

that. equity, segregation and the overall assignment process. thank you again for your time and consideration. i hope you will vote for me. >> hello. i'm shauna with the league of women voters of san francisco. a long with the league and sf gov tv i'm here to discuss proposition e. a ballot measure before the voters on tuesday, november 5. proposition e is an ordinance that would amend the planning cod to allow affordable housing projects. the planning code currently does not include specific zoning

rules for residential projects dedicated to employees of the san francisco unified school district or the community college district. under proposition e, 100% affordable housing would be allowed in zoning districts except on property used for parks. would be located on lots that are 10,000 square feet. could not demolish or replace existing units. would be subject to less rules regarding size, ground floor height, density and other factors than other buildings. would allow limited amount of mix use to support the affordable housing. and would not be subject to any conditional use restrictions, unless the restrictions have been adopted by the voters. proposition e requires a review of proposed 100% affordable housing projects within 90 to

180 days, depending on the size of the project. and the proposition would authorize the expedited review of the first 500 units of proposed educator housing. the planning department could administrative approve 100% affordable housing projects without review by the planning commission. the board of supervisors could amend proposition e by a two-thirds vote without voter i approval. if you vote yes, you want to amend the planning code to allow 100% affordable housing projects and educator housing projects in public zoning districts and expedite approval of the projects. if you vote no, you do not want to make these changes. i'm here with peter cowan from the council of community housing organizations and a proponent of proposition e. welcome. >> thank you. >> we're also joined by nick smith from the libertarian party of san francisco and opponent of the measure.

>> thank you for having me. >> thank you, both, for being here. we're going to start with opening statements. peter? >> sure. well, thank you for having me. you know, san francisco has had this what seems like a never ending affordable housing crisis. we hear that in the newspapers all the time. and one of the solutions -- in a very simple way, the two primary ingredients for affordable housing are money and land. and we have this november two measures, i'll speak about prop e specifically, that are really for both of those. probably a is bonds. and prop e is about land. the need we have is to get more sites that will actually accommodate affordable housing throughout the city. most of our affordable housing historically has been on the eastern side of the city. we've had larger sites, old industrial, it's where working class communities have been, so

bringing housing to those communities is a priority goal. but it's time to have opportunities throughout the city, the northern, the southern, to build those housing developments. but we don't have the sites. what this measure does basically is four things. first, it says any 10,000-square foot site, that's the minimum size we need to make it a project work, will be automatically zoned to allow affordable housing. there is no rezoning required, no environmental impact, no conditional use. secondly, publicly owned sites will also be zoned to allow affordable housing. currently they don't allow any housing at all. third is on school district and city college district properties, their sites will also be zoned to allow by right, educator housing. which i'll talk about more. and lastly they require that the city planning department review

and approve these projects within a very specified time frame. this is really a big, big change to the way we do affordable housing. >> nick? >> well, we have a problem in san francisco. it's a very high cost of living. that's for a number of reasons. one of them, the big one is cost of housing. and i think what we all want is for housing in san francisco to be more affordable. we recognize there is not enough supply. unfortunately, affordable housing programs are really not effective in getting us the supply that we need. so what we really need to do -- so here's why. if i'm a developer in san francisco and i want to build, i'll go to the mayor's office of housing and community development, they'll tell me, okay, you can build the project, but you have to make 25% of the below market rate housing. or you pay a huge fee. and also it's going to take a year or two maybe to get the approvals you need to get the surveys done, to start your

project. well, if i'm a developer i'm looking at that, i don't want to build here. i'm going somewhere else. so what with we need to do, instead of creating these programs to fix the problem, we just need to let people build. we need to make it very easy and give people the tools they need to build in the city. we'll get more market-rate housing and eventually the market rate will drop and there will be more affordable housing. >> i think you may have answered my first question. you probably do not believe this measure is the correct way to address the affordable housing shortage. what is the correct way? >> right, i did just answer that, but i will say, it's not anecdotal. there was a 2015 report by the california legislative analyst office which showed that building more market-rate housing resulted in less

displacement, regardless of ininclusionry housing policies. it said these programs at any kind of scale are extensive and just impractical to do. and what they advised instead was that policymakers encourage private housing development. so i said, we're going to get more market-rate housing, which over time will drive the supply up. will drive the price down. that's just economics 101. that's what we need to do. and if we can, roll back the regulations and make it easier. we'll see that for everyone. >> peter, same question, why is the measure the correct way to address the affordable housing shortage? >> let me start by pivoting off nick's answer. so the legislative analyst report from 2015 did not say that the affordable housing is not effective, what it said on its own it's not effective to take care of the affordable

housing needs. i'm not going to quibble. i think there is problems with the report, but i'm not here to debate market rate housing. this is specifically about affordable housing, which i think most people recognize you need both. there might be a supply argument around market rate housing that brings prices down to some equilibrium if that even exists, but certainly not the lower income level that needs to serve folks. it requires public support, and in that case, we cannot compete in the open market for sites. even if they were available, which they're not, the transactional costs are something we can't compete with. this frankly provides a little bit of the competitive advantage, by rezoning sites only for affordable housing throughout the city. that's how we solve our problem. >> and then second question and

start with you, peter, how does this benefit educators in san francisco? >> so there has been a long discussion, at least over the last four or five years about the crisis, if you would, in the educator community. there is retention problem that the school district has, an attraction problem and they're even having educators getting evicted from their homes. one of the solutions is to build housing specifically for educators. it's been very difficult to do because of esoteric legal and financing reasons, that have been unlocked in the last couple of years by state law. it allows us to help the school district and city college use their properties to build brand new housing for that educator workforce. this is fresh landscape. there is one, if you will model project or pilot project in the sunset now at the francis scott key elementary annex, which is

sport of test -- sort of testing certain ideas. we want to see that expanded throughout the district. >> nick, can you speak to the issue of educator housing? >> well, sure. i think the amount of new housing you're going to get through these kind of programs because it is expensive, it's going to be so small it's going to have an insignificant effect. and to apply for this housing, you have to go through a lottery process, which is open to any employee of the unified school district or community college district, which includes a lot more than teachers. peeking of teachers, this does not include teachers who are not part of the government school system. if we care about educators, why are we not including them? basically, i don't think it's going to help teachers all that much. and i think the impacts, it's going to perpetuate the program.

it's not going to be great for teachers or anybody else. >> we're going to move into closing statements. >> i'm going to circle back to how i started. i think this november of 2019 we have before us with these two measures, proposition a, a bond, proposition e, city wide rezoning for affordable housing, arguably the most significant affordable housing we've seen in decades. rather than talking about affordable housing crisis and all the needs that are not being met, we can get to work. and it's really exciting to me having spent most of my professional career in this world of affordable housing, working east side neighborhoods to think we have the opportunity to be doing our work in every neighborhood of san francisco. that is going to be a whole new san francisco. and i hope voters see that.

and welcome affordable housing into their communities. >> thank you. nick? >> well, i think every election voters are presented with one crisis after another, whether it's homelessness, housing. it's always a crisis and the solution is always more government. these programs are just slapping a band-aid onto the pile of existing band-aids already there. i think what we need to do is follow the advice from the legislative analyst office, and start peeling back the band-aids and letting it heal naturally. that means allowing developers to build in the city, allowing people to build. making that as easy as possible, which we're prepared to do for affordable housing. and once we do that, we'll see more housing. the market rate drops over time as the supply goes up. and we get more affordable housing for everyone, not just teachers who win the lottery. >> thank you, both, for your time and input on this measure.

>> thank you. we hope this discussion has been informative. for more information about this and other measures in the november election, please visit the department of elections website. remember, early voting is available at city hall starting on october 7 from 8 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. if you don't vote early, be sure to vote on tuesday, november 5.