On March 4, 2018, the San Francisco Democratic Socialists of America gathered in a special meeting to consider endorsements for local and statewide ballot initiatives appearing in the June 5, 2018 elections, as well as an early endorsement of the November 2018 statewide Affordable Housing Act ballot initiative, which would repeal the Costa-Hawkins Act’s ban on strong rent control and vacancy control.

June 5, 2018 Election

DSA SF has made the following endorsements and statements on initiatives being voted on in the June 5, 2018 election. The chapter has taken no position and made no statement with respect to any other initiative appearing on the June 2018 ballot.

    • Proposition C – Tax on Commercial Rents for Childcare and Education
      • Vote YES
      • Accompanying Statement: DSA San Francisco endorses a YES vote on Proposition C to raise the commercial rents tax on the largest businesses in the city in order to fund child care and early childhood education for most families while increasing salaries for the workers who make these services possible. We are disappointed that the proposal is means-tested, with income-based restrictions that limit which families can qualify. The strongest, most effective social programs are those like Medicare and Social Security, which provide universal benefits and thereby build solidarity across the entire working class. Nevertheless, we view Proposition C as a critical first step in creating a right to truly universal child care and family benefits. For this reason, we endorse a “YES” vote on Proposition C.
    • Proposition D – Tax on Commercial Rents for Housing and Homelessness Services
      • No Endorsement
      • Accompanying Statement: Proposition D would raise the commercial rents tax to provide some measure of new funding for middle-income housing and homelessness services, but it also contains a “poison pill” that would kill Proposition C — that is, if both propositions pass but Proposition D wins more votes, Proposition C will not go into effect. DSA San Francisco condemns Interim Mayor Farrell and Supervisors Cohen, Safai, Sheehy, and Tang for playing politics with this disingenuous effort to block Proposition C. We are appalled that these conservative Democrats chose to force affordable housing advocates to compete for funding with child care providers, many of whom are women of color who work for completely inadequate wages. We reject this crass attempt to break working class solidarity, and for this reason we make no endorsement on Proposition D.
    • Proposition F – SF Right to Counsel, City-Funded Legal Representation for Tenants in Eviction Cases
      • Vote YES
    • Proposition G – Parcel Tax for San Francisco Unified School District
      • Vote YES
      • Accompanying Statement: DSA San Francisco endorses a YES vote on Proposition G, which would institute a new parcel tax used to increase salaries and benefits for public school teachers and other employees. We are disappointed and concerned that a small percentage of this tax (estimated less than 5% of its value) would be used to fund existing charter schools, which are an anti-socialist, right-wing attempt to privatize and destroy public education. This said, in light of the teachers’ union’s strong support of Proposition G, we endorse this measure to help ensure that San Francisco will be able to pay its teachers and other public school employees a living wage and not lose them to the affordability crisis.
    • Proposition H – Use of Tasers by San Francisco Police Department
      • Vote NO
    • Proposition 68 – $4 Billion Statewide Parks, Environment, and Water Bond
      • Vote YES
    • Proposition 70 – Vote Requirement for Using Statewide Cap-and-Trade Revenue
      • Vote NO

November 6, 2018 Election

DSA San Francisco endorses a YES vote on the Affordable Housing Act, a November 2018 statewide initiative that would repeal the Costa-Hawkins Act and thereby give cities the power to institute strong rent control and vacancy control. We now join our comrades in a number of other DSA chapters, including DSA Los Angeles and DSA East Bay, in supporting the statewide ballot initiative to repeal Costa-Hawkins.