>> good morning everyone. welcome to the july 20, 2020, meeting. with me is vice chair stefani and gordon mar. our clerk today is victor young and i would like to thank sfgov for staffing this meeting. mr. clerk, do you have any announcements. >> yes, to protect board members, city employees and the public, the board of supervisors

and committee room are closed. however, members will be participating in the meeting remotely. committee members will attend the meeting through video conference and participate in the meeting to the same extent as if they were physically present. public comment will be available on each item on the agenda, both channel 26 and sfgov.org are streaming the number across the screen. you can call in via phone, calling 415-655-0001. the meeting id is 146 308 2077. then press pound and pound again. when connected you will hear the meeting discussion, but you will be muted and in listening mode only. when your item of interest comes

up, press star three to be added to the speaker line. call from a quiet location, speak clearly and slowly and turn down your television or video. you may submit public comment by e-mailing it to myself. if -- it will be forwarded to the supervisors and be part of the official file. that concludes my comments. >> thank you very much. can you please call item number 1. >> yes, an ordinance to amend the police code to require employers to provide public health emergency leave during a public health emergency. >> thank you, supervisor mar, do you have any comment? >> thank you so much chair ronen. colleagues, we prepared this

measure because we believe it's imperative that as we contend with our current public health emergency we prepare to provide policy intervention in the future. this would codify it into law permanently. this was created earlier this year that is currently in effect and it offers two additional week of fully paid leave to over 200,000 san franciscans to take care of themselves or a loved one. it would be triggered under a public health emergency situation. however, it's clear that we will be living with the current public health crisis for many months, perhaps a year or longer, and with some version of the current public order for most of it, if not all of the time. as such, i decided it's a better policy approach to continue to reenact the existing emergency order providing public health

emergency league and to file this ballot measure. we introduced the second ordinance for the emergency ordinance and will continue to reenact it going forward for the duration of the emergency order. this will give us more time to consider and legislate this policy for future emergencies while maintaining the crucial benefit the the duration of the current emergency. this crisis has made it clear. we need to consider and enact new riot protections and benefits for working people and i'm committed to doing that work. i don't think this initiative ordinance needs to move forward right now to do that so i intend to file it today. >> thank you so much. is there any questions or comments before we open up this item for public comment? seeing none, mr. clerk, can we please open this item for public comment. >> yes.

public comment will be available on each item -- oh, sorry, wrong note. members of the public who want to comment on this item should call, the meeting id is 146-308-2077, then press pound and pound again. if you haven't done so, press star 3 to line up to speak. a system prompt would indicate that you raised your hand. please wait until the system indicates you have been unmuted and then you can proceed with your comment. do we have anyone for public comment at this time?

would you happen to have any callers at this time? >> it does appear there is one caller and he may be having some issues. hold on one moment. >> i'm sorry about that, is it unmuted now? sorry about this, is this agenda item number two? >> no, we're on agenda item number one still. >> oh, okay, my apologies. i'm going to withhold until item number two. >> okay, thank you.

>> are there any other callers on the line? >> no more callers. >> there are no more callers on the line madam chair. >> okay, thank you. supervisor mar, you already made the motion, correct? can we have a roll call on that motion? >> just to confirm, the motion is to recommend this item to the full board -- sorry, i was unclear. would you mind repeating the motion, i didn't catch it. >> yes, i would move that we file this item. >> yes, the motion is to table and file this matter. on that motion, supervisor stefani. >> aye. >> supervisor mar.

>> aye. >> chair ronen. >> aye. >> this matter is tabled. >> thank you, can you please read item number two. >> item number two is a motion ordering an ordinance to be submitted to the voters at an election to be held on november 3, 2020, authorizing the city and county of san francisco to own, develop, construct, acquire, and rehabilitate up to 10,000 affordable rental units in the city under article xxxiv of the california constitution. >> good morning supervisor ronen and supervisor mar and stefani and chair ronen. i want to first off thank you chair ronen for your early

cosponsor ship of this measure and your leadership on housing issues and support for the broader package of reforms that this is part of and i also want to thank supervisors haney, walton, and mandelman who are also early cosponsors of this measure. colleagues, before the committee today is an ordinance and initiative that we are putting before, intend to put before the voters this november that would authorize the creation of up to 10,000 units of municipal housing. as i mentioned, it's one piece of a broader package of legislative reforms put forth by my office, which tends to tax wealthy real estate investors in order to pay for covid related rent relief, as well as long-term social housing. this measure before you is relevant to the social housing components. it will allow san francisco to

expand its ability to pursue, if we so choose, municipal housing programs in addition to and to complement the proven non-profit affordable housing strategies that are currently underway and have been for some time in our city. to understand the context of this ballot measure, we have to roll back the clock and start and look at what occurred 70 years ago. in 1950, segregation is backed by the california realtors association passed a statewide ballot measure with just 50.8% of the vote to create article xxxiv of the california constitution. article xxxiv requires that any public housing or private low income housing be approved at the ballot before even a single unit can be bought or built. it is simply put, a racist relic of the red lining era.

in effect, this allowed for municipalities in california to keep out low income tenants and people of color, especially african american tenants, further segregation on race and class line. there is no law and i think it's important to note the distinction. there is no law requiring anyone to go to the ballot every time they want to create high rent counts. it's just low rent housing that's discriminated against. this was and remains a racist approach to stopping affordable housing and specifically to stopping government owned housing. i believe article xxxiv should be, and in fact must be repealed at the state level. while a broad coalition has supported such efforts, including the entire san francisco state delegation, they have not seen success to date. in fact, article xxxiv repeal bill offered by senator scott

and senator of santa monica is not moving forward for this november's ballot. we cannot sit by and wait indefinitely for this law to be repealed. i'm proposing with this ballot measure that san francisco lead the way with a powerful statement that we are in effect standing up locally against the structures that have upheld housing injustice for decades. the measure seeks to authorize 10,000 units of municipally owned social housing, where the city buys up land or constructs new housing that is equitable, affordable, and sustainable. to be clear, it does not compel the city to pursue this model. instead, it clears the way for municipal housing, without requiring voter approval for each municipal housing proposal. this is crucial as we map out the social housing plan and strategy. we cannot have that conversation with one type of housing,

municipal housing off the table because of an arbitrary state law. i want to acknowledge that government run housing in our country and in our city has a very mixed record. on the one hand, public housing has created housing stability for many who would otherwise be shut out from the housing market completely. the poor conditions of many public housing sites are well-known with devastating impact to the health and well-being of residents. what is hard to know colleagues is how public housing would have faired in our city and in our country had it not faced decades of bipartisan, racist, disinvestment. as a failure of our broader housing market has become more apparent, there is a movement to municipal housing as an approach, looking boldly to the future to complement affordable housing models.

when we look around the world and what has worked, when we look to other cities for guidance, to other countries, we see models have succeeded when funded in other nations. hong kong, singapore, barcelona. in vienna, tenants spend no more than 20% to 25% of their income on rent and have permanent housing stability. in austria, the average household spends only 21% of their income on rent. vienna's program is growing at 10,000 units per year, including 4,000 of those units over five years. so just like these other jurisdictions, we can get this right, but i think we all recognize that it won't be easy, that our country assault on public housing has been linked

to and driven by racism. as with so many aspects of structural racism in this country, african american who have been harmed disproportionately, the failure to maintain public housing and expand municipal housing opportunities and the failure to protect residents from unfair eviction all contribute to income disparities and displacement of so many african americans from san francisco and other expenses urban centers. it's undeniable that these factors are a major cause of the displacement of the african american population of san francisco. to reverse that, i believe we need a bold social housing policy and municipal housing is just one part of that. i'm asking for your support of this simple ballot measure to give the city the authority under article xxxiv to pursue a pilot program for municipal housing which would otherwise be banned under article xxxiv. we know colleagues that without federal and state investment,

we're not going to be able to scale up to meet our affordable housing needs, but that doesn't mean we can wait to address affordability and the crisis in our city. we're going to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for social housing, as i described last week when discussing our transfer tax ballot measure and i really, truly believe that this is the time to think big and plan for the future. i want to say it wouldn't be the first time that san francisco has risen to that type of challenge. i mean we look back to 1909 when san francisco created one of the first municipal transit systems in the nation, muni. united railroads treated workers poorly and today we can reflect on how expansive muni has become and how critical it is to support muni through the challenges of the covid pandemic. likewise, think of how far we could go if we fund a vision

from municipally run social housing which is deeply affordable and benefit low income communities. that's what this ballot measure is about, getting the approval we need to work around a racist and classist law, so we can create a more equitable housing system. it does not lock us into doing municipal housing on day one but instead it allows municipal housing to be one of the tools we have to address housing affordable and stability in san francisco. so thank you for your time. i look forward to any questions and the public comment and to urge you all to support this measure. thank you. >> supervisor peskin, i want to thank you so much for your leadership on this. this is exactly the type of change that we need in san francisco and order to stabilize communities that have been

displaced in alarming numbers over the years that also to allow people to come back who have been displaced. thank you so much for all your leadership and work on this. are there any other questions or comments? >> chair ronen, i have my name on the roster. >> oh sorry, supervisor stefani. >> thank you chair ronen and supervisor preston for putting this proposal forward. i'm pleased to support the item before us today. i also want to take this opportunity to also recognize senator scott's work on the issue and to express my hope that we can work to repeal article xxxiv all together in the near future. as you know in december of 2018, the senators introduced the amendment to our state constitution sca1 which would have repealed article xxxiv if

approved in this year's election. last year in september, the state senate passed sca1 unanimously but the assembly failed to vote on the measure by deadline. we know as you el -- el locately mentioned that it has kept people of color out of the state of california. during this time of crisis, we need to make sure people have affordable places to live and to create stable union jobs, including in construction and related professions. i want to thank you again supervisor preston for putting this forward and i hope the legislature will soon visit the senator's proposal to eliminate this stain on california's constitution. thank you, i look forward to supporting this today.

>> thank you, supervisor mar. >> thank you chair ronen. i also want to thank supervisor preston for his leadership on this issue of bringing this item forward. i wanted to acknowledge all the housing advocates in our city that have been working on this for many years. so, i'm happy to support it. i would actually like to be added as a cosponsor, and i do agree that we need to deal with repealing article xxxiv in a statewide level. i thank the senator for his leadership on that and on a local level, we need to look at all options to address our housing affordability crisis and think outside the box. so i think looking at municipal housing strategies, you know, it's very important right now. even in my district, in district

four, they had the least amount of investment in affordable housing, we have had a small public housing project out of the great highway for decades where several townhouse units that blend in well. it's supported by the neighborhood and has been the only affordable housing in the sunset district for decades until the time we're moving forward finally. thank you so much supervisor preston for your leadership on this. >> thank you so much, we're going to open this item up for public comment. every member of the public will have 2 minutes to speak. >> yes, members of the public who wish to provide public comment on this item should call 415-655-0001, meeting id is 146-308-2077. then press pound and pound again. if you haven't done so, press

star 3 to line up to speak. the system prompt will indicate that you raised your hand. please wait until the system indicates you have been unmute and you may begin your comment. mr. co, do you have any speakers on the line? >> yes, there are currently 25 callers in the queue. i will start the first caller. >> good morning supervisors, i live in district four. i'm calling in support of the proposed ordinance to create social housing. we had an affordable housing crisis for decades, even more so now with the pandemic threatening many with evictions. we need to make sure everyone has the housing they need. this ordinance will overcome a racist barrier with the support of issing degree segregationist.

san francisco will lay the ground for a housing program that will address our homeless crisis. please recommend this ordinance to the full board so we can move forward guaranteeing affordable housing for all. thank you. >> thank you. can we have the next caller please. >> hello, i live in district 7 and work in a school. my parents came here to san francisco in the '60s to find housing when it was difficult or even impossible for them to find housing as an interracial couple. despite the racist and classist history of san francisco, san francisco has been the progressive leader in comparison to many municipalities and we need to continue this tradition to make sure that housing is a

human right for all as residents. give us the opportunity to display our better nature and potentially ensure that the future of success is one that we recognize housing is a human right for all residents and provide affordable housing for all. thank you. >> thank you. can we have the next caller please. >> hi there, my name is brad. i'm in the democratic club and i want to thank you for putting this forward and my very good friend who passed away recently, who was a champion on affordable housing and rent control and all of that will be so proud to hear what all of the supervisors have spoken today have said.

i am almost brought to tears hearing all of this. the main thing i wanted to say was harry would be honored by a lot of things, but he didn't care as much about monuments or things like that. what he would care about is for me and the members of the club in san francisco that we are in some way fighting for things like this and not just mourning his death, but doing something about making san francisco a place for everybody to live. i'm just so proud of all of you and to be a san franciscan right now and how you're addressing this crisis. thank you so much. >> thank you, can we have the next speaker? >> good morning supervisors, my name is rebecca and i live in

district four. i am a member of the san francisco -- and i am calling in support of this proposed ordinance to create social housing. we had an affordable housing crisis for decades. we need to make sure everyone has the housing they need. this will overcome a racist barri barrier. it was designed to exclude people of color, including black tennants. it would lay the ground for a housing program. it will address our homelessness crisis. as of right now, there are more likely 10,000 homeless san franciscos on -- san franciscans on our street. we need to provide housing

service, which is why the coalition for homelessness -- [indiscernible - low volume] >> thank you. >> thank you, can we have the next caller please? >> good morning supervisors and i live in san francisco, in district eight. many of you may recognize me by some of the calls we had on this measure. i'm calling to support it as well obviously since i've been helping out with this effort. i just want to say, you know, i've been living in san francisco for over a decade. i've been in the bay area my whole life. every year i think about how expensive housing is and i think it can't get worse and then the next year it does. so we really need to attack this

problem and solve it in a bold way because the piecemeal efforts we've been doing over the years has not been enough. as supervisor preston said, we seen the cratering of san franciscan s that are black because of it. we need to bring a strong municipal housing program to san francisco and i think this is the first step and i look forward to working with you all on those next steps after voters approve it in november. thanks again for your support supervisors and i look forward to the next step. thanks so much. >> thank you, can we have the next caller? >> good morning supervisors, my name is todd snider, i'm a resident of district five. i want to echo all the previous

callers to authorize the city to create social housing. i really want to press the point that our unhoused brothers and sisters on the street, the vast majority of whom actually had housing in the city before becoming homeless. so with the pandemic and the crisis of affordability in our city, we the voters demand a voice in this and social housing is the way to go. i urge all supervisors to move this ordinance forward to the full board so we can guarantee affordable housing for all. thank you, i yield my time. >> thank you, can we have the next speaker please? >> hi, good morning supervisors, my name is ann wily. i live in district four. i work in san francisco in a

hospital. i'm calling in support of the ordinance that's before us now. i just want to highlight that this ordinance is antiracist and this ordinance is addressing our current pandemic environment. i also appreciated the mention earlier that was made of the municipal transit system. i use that everyday to get to work and i can't imagine my life in a city without it. so yes, absolutely support this social housing measure and yeah, again i just want to highlight that as other people have mentioned, most people on the street had housing before this happened and with the pandemic that could only get worse. i absolutely support this measure to stop gentrification or at least slow its spread. then also i wanted to highlight how racist the original

article xxxiv was, passed in 1960 to keep out low income housing. i think that in san francisco, it sounds like everybody, at least on this call believe we can do better and i do too. thanks for supporting this and i support it as well. >> thank you, can we have the speaker please? >> good morning supervisors, thank you preston for bringing this forward and ronen for cosponsoring and stefani and mar for all your work as well. i live in san francisco district seven. my family has represented he here -- rented here for 15 years. i'm calling to overcome this racist barrier and authorize the city to create 10,000 units of social housing. as a young person, i seen increasing costs of housing,

which is making it harder and harder to afford to live in the city i grew up in. this is a result of decades of policy that privatized our public housing. there is a solution, if we have the political will to act on it, which is social housing program, which has proven successful in cities from cities like vienna to hong kong, a lot of these