San Francisco Mayor London Breed, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, and Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín joined housing leaders on Thursday at a press conference in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood to urge the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA) to place a measure on the November 2024 ballot that would issue $20 billion in bonds to finance approximately 90,000 affordable homes throughout the Bay Area.
The Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California issued the following press release:
San Francisco, Calif. – The Mayors of San José, San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley joined forces to express strong support for a regional affordable housing bond measure proposed for the November 2024 ballot at a press conference organized by the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California.
San José Mayor Matt Mahan, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, and Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín joined affordable housing leaders in calling upon the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA) to place a measure on the November 2024 ballot that would issue $20 billion in general obligation bonds to finance affordable housing development and preservation if passed. BAHFA will vote on whether to send the measure to the voters at its Wednesday, June 26, 2024 meeting.
The regional affordable housing bond measure would support the development and preservation of approximately 90,000 affordable homes throughout the Bay Area. 80 percent of the bond proceeds would be allocated directly to the nine Bay Area county governments and the region’s largest municipalities. The measure would require these jurisdictions to prioritize new housing construction for extremely low, very low, and low-income households.
The remaining 20 percent would be allocated to BAHFA, which will prioritize its share of proceeds to develop new housing for people who are currently homeless or in extremely low-income households—many of whom are housing insecure and at risk of homelessness.
The measure can pass only if approved by voters the nine Counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma, and the City and County of San Francisco. Taken together with ACA1, another measure that may advance to the November 2024 ballot, the bond will need 55 percent.
The proponent of the measure is an advocacy organization called Bay Area Housing for All, which argues that “Increasing our supply of housing and general obligation bonds at the local level is one of the most powerful affordable housing financing sources available.”
The organization represents a coalition of Bay Area nonprofits and housing advocates and has earned endorsements for the measure from a number of elected leaders from all nine Bay Area counties. Should BAHFA vote to place the measure on the ballot, Bay Area Housing for All would take lead on running the campaign in support of the measure.
“Our regional housing shortage requires bold and transformative action to deliver new homes faster so more people can afford to live and work in the Bay Area,” said San Francisco Mayor London Breed. “This funding will immediately be put to use, helping many projects in the pipeline cross the finish line, and speeding up the process of putting the roofs over the heads of families, seniors and lower income people all across the region.”
“This measure will allow cities like San Jose to stand up basic shelter for homeless residents while also expanding our supply of affordable housing for working families,” said San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan. “It’s not either/or — it’s both. As we increase shelter capacity, we will require people to come indoors and end the era of encampments. As we have adequate housing stock, we will unlock economic growth and opportunity because more people will be able to afford to live and work in the world’s most innovative place.”
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao underscored the bond’s potential to prevent displacement and homelessness of low-income and vulnerable residents. “38,000 people are experiencing homelessness in the Bay Area, and nearly half of renters pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing. This is not sustainable for anyone living in the Bay Area. With this investment, we will have another tool at our disposal to stop displacement and transition people experiencing homelessness into permanent supportive housing.”
Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín, the current Vice President of the Association of Bay Area Governments, emphasized the need for regional leaders to join together to approve the bond by saying, “the housing affordability crisis is not just a big city problem. It affects each and every jurisdiction in all nine Bay Area counties. This is a regional problem that requires a regional solution, and cities large and small must rise to the occasion.”
To demonstrate the type of affordable housing project the bond measure would finance if passed, the press conference was held at Five88, an affordable development in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood. The project, which opened its doors to 200 low income renters in 2017, is one of the largest 100% affordable projects developed in San Francisco in decades.