Yes on Prop G: Let’s make affordable housing accessible to those who need it most

by Ed Donaldson

It’s no secret that San Francisco is facing a severe housing affordability crisis. We are often told that an effective solution is for the City to add thousands more units to its affordable housing system, but we seldom hear about how this system has long excluded many of our communities’ most vulnerable and lowest-income residents. These residents include seniors, families with children and people with disabilities, who often don’t make enough money to qualify for “affordable” units. At the time of writing, most listings on the City’s affordable housing portal require incomes of at least $57,700 for one person or $82,400 for a family of four. Affordable housing is, in fact, unaffordable to a growing number of San Franciscans.

To help alleviate the problem of (un)affordable housing, 50+ community-based organizations across the City have come together to place Proposition G on the November 2024 ballot. If passed, the Affordable Housing Opportunity Fund would be the single largest expansion of affordability in San Francisco’s history. 

The measure would secure $8.25 million annually to subsidize rents in affordable units available through DAHLIA for extremely low-income seniors, families and people with disabilities. This measure commits San Francisco to provide dedicated and consistent funding to subsidize units, ensuring that the City’s growing stock of affordable units better serve lower-income households and vulnerable populations.

The Prop G campaign evolved from ongoing discussions between affordable housing developers, tenant advocates and grassroots organizations across the City with a shared goal of expanding access to affordable housing. Specifically, this measure would ensure that seniors, families with children and individuals with disabilities qualify for affordable units. Prop G is endorsed by over 50 community-based organizations across the City – including Bayview Senior Services, Young Community Developers, and Black to the Future – along with teachers, healthcare workers, all 11 members of the Board of Supervisors, and Mayor Breed.

We know all too well that “affordable housing” doesn’t always mean low-income housing orhousing for our community. Despite this, we are repeatedly asked to vote for affordable housing measures, such as general obligation bonds, that offer little relief to our family, friends or neighbors. Prop G seeks to address this exact problem and will be a critical step towards stemming the outflow of Black and Brown residents from the City.

Given the costs of constructing and operating affordable housing, rents can only be lowered so much before the finances for such projects no longer add up. As a result, rents in most of the City’s affordable housing are too high for seniors on fixed incomes and parents working minimum-wage jobs. They are also too high for the 48% of Black households and 40% of active Certificate of Preference (COP) holders with incomes below $45,000, not to mention the many “inactive” COP holders who have long since given up on finding housing through the City’s system. These COP holders, themselves or their families forcibly displaced from their homes decades ago, have yet to receive their promised replacement housing. Without public investment in deeply affordable units for which they qualify, Black residents – including those  wishing to relocate from HOPE SF sites – will continue to be shut out of our City’s affordable housing system.

The only way to bring rents within reach of extremely low-income residents is through subsidies such as those that will be funded through Prop G. While in the short term, Prop G may not fully meet the needs of all low-income households in San Francisco, it will set a precedent for the type of affordable housing opportunities the City offers. It will also enable us to look to the future and work to increase funding for deeply affordable units citywide. With the passage of Prop G this November, we can begin to make our local affordable housing system more inclusive, ensuring many of our most vulnerable neighbors have access to stable, affordable homes. 

Economic development professional Ed Donaldson can be reached at ed@universalsoldier.org. 

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