San Francisco voters decided seven ballot measures in the March 5 primary election, including those related to affordable housing, police staffing, drug screening for city welfare recipients, and reintroducing Algebra in middle school curriculum.
All measures require over 50 percent approval to pass, with the exception of Measure A.
Measure A: Affordable Housing Bonds
The measure will determine whether the city should authorize a $300 million bond to fund affordable housing construction.San Francisco is mandated by state law to build over 46,000 affordable housing units by 2031 or face penalties. Due to inadequate state funding, the city must seek alternative sources to meet this obligation.
Currently, the measure is winning 70 percent to 30 percent.
Measure B: Police Staffing and Funding
The measure aims to amend San Francisco’s charter by setting minimum police officer staffing levels and establishing a dedicated fund for police officer recruitment and staffing for a minimum of five years.Measure C: Real Estate Transfer Tax Exemption
This measure would exempt converted commercial-to-residential buildings from transfer tax for their first sale and grant the Board of Supervisors the power to amend the transfer tax without voter approval. Its aim is to tackle the problem of vacant office space in the city.Current transfer taxes range from 0.5 percent to 6 percent of such a building’s sales price.
Measure D: Tighten Local Ethics Laws
This measure would expand the list of prohibited gifts for city employees to receive. It also redefines bribery to include solicitation or acceptance of anything of value to influence government actions and banning the offering of such bribes.Additionally, it would mandate city department heads to provide further details regarding gifts received by city employees and enable disciplinary action for non-compliance.
Measure E: Policing Policies
The measure would authorize the police to use public surveillance cameras and drones, and reduce paperwork and reporting requirements for police officers. It also increases officers’ ability to engage in vehicle pursuits, which is currently restricted to cases of violent felonies or immediate threats to public safety.It would also reduce the authority of the police department’s citizen police oversight commission.
Measure F: Drug Screening for City Welfare Recipients
The measure, introduced by Mayor London Breed, requires recipients of city public assistance benefits suspected of drug dependency to undergo screening, evaluation, and treatment in order to qualify for most of those benefits.Measure G: Algebra I for 8th Graders
This advisory measure would urge the San Francisco Unified School District to provide Algebra 1 to students by their eighth-grade year and to assist in the development of the district’s math curriculum at every level.Currently, the measure is winning 82 percent to 18 percent.
Results will be updated until April 4—the last day the results must be certified.
