Open to the Public
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Speaker C. W. Nevius – SF Chronicle Columnist
No host cocktails with appetizers 6:00 – 7:00pm
Dinner and guest speaker 7:00 – 9:00pm
498 Jefferson Street
San Francisco @ Fisherman’s Wharf
Fundraiser $200 per person
General Election 11/2/2010
Proposition A - Earthquake Safety Bond
The Way It Is Now: In 2009, the City’s Department of Building Inspection commissioned a report concluding that many soft-story buildings in San Francisco are vulnerable to collapse or significant damage in an earthquake. Soft-story buildings are multistory wood structures where at least one floor has large outside wall openings, such as garage doors. The Report identified approximately 2,800 soft-story buildings in San Francisco constructed before 1974. Of these, 125 buildings include affordable housing units funded by government agencies. An additional 31 buildings consist of single-room occupancy units, which are usually rented to low-income tenants. There are 8,247 affordable housing units in these buildings.
The Proposal: Proposition A is a bond measure that would authorize the City to borrow up to $46,150,000 by issuing general obligation bonds to fund loans and grants to pay for seismic retrofitting of soft-story affordable housing and single-room occupancy buildings.
Projects funded by the bond would include:
• A deferred loan and grant program to pay for seismic retrofitting of soft-story affordable housing buildings funded by government agencies. Up to $41,330,000 could be used for this program.
• A loan program to pay for seismic retrofitting of soft-story single-room occupancy buildings. Up to $4,820,000 could be used for this program.
A “YES” Vote Means: If you vote "yes," you want the City to issue $46,150,000 in general obligation bonds, subject to independent oversight and regular audits, for loans or grants to pay for seismic retrofitting of soft-story affordable housing and single-room occupancy buildings. Landlords would be allowed to pass through 50% of any increase in property taxes to tenants.
The recently passed Impact Fee Deferral Legislation becomes effective July 1, 2010. Read more...
Community Action Plan for Seismic Safety (CAPSS)
SFCRG officers and members are working to ensure our interests are represented.
SFCRG is advocating before the CAPSS Public Advisory Committee (see videos) to offer property owners tangible financial incentives for seismically upgrading their buildings. Read more...
Discretionary Review Reform
The Planning Department has expended considerable time and resources on the Discretionary Review (DR) Reform Legislation. On Monday March 8, 2010 the Land Use Committee ‘tabled the [DR Reform] motion.’ That means the committee choose to stop action on DR Reform and to lay it aside indefinitely. The DR Reform legislation will remain in bureaucratic limbo unless and until it is called by the chair of the Land Use Committee or a supervisor calls for the legislation before the Board of Supervisors. SFCRG will continue to follow this legislation that if implemented would impact development projects in this City. See Video...
