By Calvin Welch, HANC Board
HANC devoted its September meeting to hearing from campaigns that it endorsed and discussing a plan of action for the November election here in District 5.
As readers of the Voice may remember HANC has devoted its last two meetings to discussions about the crucial importance of this year's ballot. In a City that has the double whammy of having the greatest income inequality of any major American city AND the highest housing costs in the nation, two measures on the ballot--Proposition G, which would raise the transfer tax on speculative real estate transactions which result in “flipping” properties after holding them for 5 years or less and Proposition J which would raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2018 – will actually seek to address these huge issues.
Additionally this November has two measures aimed at making San Francisco more “child friendly.” The first, Proposition C would extend the historic “only in San Francisco” funding program for children, families and youth. The second, Proposition E would tax sweet beverages, the proceeds of which will fund new programs aimed at healthy diets for children.
Two measures address the distressing conditions of Golden Gate Park, measures H and I. Proposition H, placed on the ballot by signatures, would prohibit the installation of artificial turf and event night lighting at the western end of GGP. Proposition I was placed on the ballot by Mayor Lee And Supervisor Chiu specifically to “kill” H should it pass. But Prop I goes farther than that as it automatically approves any “renovations” to playgrounds, fields or trails that have a certified EIR, basically overriding citizen concerns.
Finally, in keeping with the historic quality of this November’s ballot is state Proposition 47 which would roll back the thirty year policy of “lock ‘em up and throw away the key” that has pushed California’s expenditure on prisons to exceed its expenditures on the University ofCalifornia. Prop 47 would reduce penalties for non-violent property and drug crimes and earmarks the millions in savings to be spent on mental health and substance abuse treatment.
HANC Board members also urged voters to reject Proposition B which would allocate some $20M in additional annual general fund monies to the SFMTA without saying what programs will be cut to make these payments and without expressly requiring that the new funding go to restore and maintain MUNI service to “transit dependent” neighborhoods like the Haight-Ashbury which has received extensive MUNI service cuts over the last five years.
The membership of HANC voted to join other local District 5 organizations in mounting a joint effort to educate voters on the importance of the November election and urge them to support the positions taken by HANC on this November’s ballot measures.