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Pursuant to Charter, Sections 2.103 and 3.100(7), and Administrative Code, Section 2.11, the Mayor shall answer the following eligible questions submitted from Supervisors representing Districts 1, 5, and 9. The Mayor may address the Board initially for up to five minutes. Discussion shall not exceed five minutes per Supervisor.
1. Mayor Lee, we are in the midst of a housing affordability and evictions crisis not seen since the venture-capital tech surge and real estate speculation frenzy of the late 1990s “dot com boom.” Your response in the last two months certainly deserves credit - - first, in supporting the preference legislation for Ellis evictees from private-owned rental housing to get into City-subsidized affordable units, and second, your Executive Directive prioritizing approvals for affordable housing projects in recognition that the real estate market is leaving out more and more low and moderate income San Franciscans. I look forward to the day that the Richmond District will break ground on new affordable housing projects to meet the housing needs of my District’s growing low-income senior population.
However, these policy priorities are incumbent upon increasing the actual production of affordable housing units, which is entirely dependent on funding to do so. Moreover, the current tech induced affordable housing crisis and your administration’s recent response are occurring in the midst of your simultaneous initiative to absorb the housing authority and rehabilitating and re-servicing 3,000 existing units of public housing, thus in combination committing your administration to the largest affordable housing program in recent City history and effecting a vast range of San Franciscans from residents with little or no income to low income to middle income households. This creates a serious challenge for us all to ensure the resources are sufficient to both expand and advance the citywide production of affordable housing to confront the growing crisis and renovate and enhance the City's public housing. Such an ambitious program far exceeds funds available from the Proposition C Housing Trust Fund.
Mr. Mayor, what additional funding can we expect in your budget proposal to address these significant needs for increasing as well as accelerating the City’s production of affordable housing? (Supervisor Mar, District 1)
2. Mr. Mayor, according to the California Department of Education’s most recent data, the high school graduation rate for African Americans in San Francisco is 12% lower than SFUSD’s overall graduation rate. And African American males drop out at a far higher rate than any other group.
Although the homicide rate has declined from a high of 97 in 2008 to 48 in 2013, according to SPFD data, African American males continue to fall victim to violent crimes at an enormously disproportionate rate.
According to Sheriff’s Department data and the Controller’s October 2013 report, 56 percent of San Francisco inmates are African American while only six percent of adult San Franciscans are African American. African Americans aged 18 to 25 make up the single largest demographic group in jail, accounting for a whopping 16 percent of the total inmate population.
All the while, the African American population in San Francisco continues to plummet, decreasing by another 18 percent (59,461 to 48,870) from 2000 to 2010. And though San Francisco’s overall population is expected to grow considerably, the California Department of Finance projects our African American population to decline yet further to 34,101 by 2050.
We are experiencing a crisis in the African American community in San Francisco, particularly among African American males. As we prepare to celebrate the Martin Luther King holiday this weekend, what can we as a city do to focus on this population and help them thrive? (Supervisor Breed, District 5)
3. For every Ellis Act eviction that takes place in San Francisco, we know that many other tenants have been displaced from their homes after accepting a monetary offer, often called "buy-outs" from their landlord. There are currently no municipal regulations of these buy-outs that lead to the significant reduction of rent controlled units in our City. Will you commit to working with me on legislation addressing buy-outs? (Supervisor Campos, District 9)
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