Mayor Ed Lee and Supervisor Jane Kim have been duking it out over the future of affordable housing in San Francisco for months. Yesterday, the battle went even more public as both Kim and Lee submitted competing measures for the upcoming June ballot. Both measures give the Board of Supervisors the power to decide below-market-rate housing percentages in new developments, but Kim's measure sets a floor of 25 percent BMR housing that the Board could never dip below.
Yesterday was the deadline to submit ballot measures, and both Lee's and Kim's snuck in right before the final hour. Lee moved first, with Kim's measure going in just four minutes later. That doesn't mean that two measures will ultimately end up on the ballot, however. As SFGate points out, ballot measures are often used as bargaining chips in political games, and there is still time for negotiations. Either side could pull its measure by March 4. No matter what happens, it seems as if voters will almost definitely get a say on affordable housing this June.
· Proposal for More Affordable Housing Moves Ahead [Curbed SF]
· Dueling S.F. Housing Measures Submitted for June Ballot [SFGate]
Loading comments...