San Francisco Voters Appear To Approve All 5 Ballot Measures
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- San Francisco voters took to the polls Tuesday and appeared to approve all five measures on the ballot, according to the preliminary election results.
Proposition A appeared to garner more than 70 percent of the vote, well above the 55 percent needed to pass. The measure asked voters whether to allow the City College of San Francisco District to sell $845 million in bonds to renovate the school's buildings, including seismic retrofitting and environmentally sustainable upgrades.
Tuesday's preliminary results also showed 81 percent of San Franciscans approved Proposition B, much more than the two-thirds of the vote needed.
FULL LOCAL RESULTS:
Prop B sought approval for the city to sell $628.5 million in bonds to finance infrastructure improvements at the city's fire and police stations, as well as other disaster response facilities like the city's 911 call center.
The money would also be used to expand the city's emergency firefighting water system, a 135-mile-long network of high-pressure pipelines and saltwater pumping stations used to combat fires.
Early election results also showed 68 percent of voters approved Proposition C, surpassing the simple majority needed for approval. The measure asked voters whether to continue providing former Housing Authority employees rehired by the city between March 7, 2019 and March 1, 2021, retiree healthcare coverage based on their combined years of service and date of hire.
Back in March 2019, dozens of Housing Authority employees received layoff notices after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development mandated the city assume responsibility of the agency due to several defaulted agreements and obligations.
Under the new arrangement, the city announced it would begin managing the agency and contract third-party experts to administer housing vouchers and public housing programs for the 14,000 San Franciscans who rely on them. Though a deal with the mayor's office, however, many of the laid-off workers were either transitioned into other city jobs, or given severance packages.
Proposition D garnered 68 percent of the vote in the preliminary numbers, just above the two-thirds majority needed to pass. Prop D would allow the city to tax property owners in certain commercial districts who allow their ground-floor spaces to go vacant for more than 182 days. The tax would start at $250 per linear foot of the space the first year, and then double each year after that.
Proposition E also appeared to narrowly pass, as preliminary election results indicated it garnered more than 55 percent approval. The measure, which needed a simple majority to pass, asked voters whether to restrict large office projects if the city fails to meet state mandated affordable housing goals. A 1986 proposition approved by voters limits new office developments annually, but Prop E would bring the number of large projects even lower, to the same percentage as the housing shortfall.
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