From the President
by Eric Andresen
Proposition R – HOPE
Many of our members have been asking me how Proposition
R, the HOPE initiative (Home
Ownership) which we will explore in depth in the
next issue of this magazine, does give us some important
information.
The survey revealed several interesting results. First, during the past three years, only 44 percent of tenants had considered purchasing a home. Second, only half of the respondents would ever contemplate the purchase of a home in San Francisco, with most attributing the extremely high cost of housing as their reason. Third, and even more telling, is the fact that most would prefer single-family homes, a “sizeable minority” would give serious thought to owning apartments or condominiums and only 7 percent would opt for live/work lofts.
From these statistics, the voters did not turn down the idea of homeownership. Instead, at the polls, voters indicated their preferred goal is to own a single-family home rather than an apartment or condominium unit. The idea was right, the product perhaps was wrong. New Members of the Board of Supervisors December’s run-off election placed two new members on the Board: Bevan Dufty, in District 8, and Fiona Ma, in District 4. Bevan was the candidate selected by SFAA’s Political Action Committee, and we are quite relieved that he won out over the ultra-liberal, Ammiano-supported Eileen Hansen. Bevan has an incredibly level head and has been heavily involved in San Francisco politics for many, many years including serving as Susan Leal’s Chief of Staff during her tenure as a Supervisor. Bevan’s endorsements run the gamut from Barbara Kaufman to John Burton, from Mabel Teng to Willie Brown. He will prove a truly valuable asset to the Board of Supervisors and will be a conscientious ally to our industry.
In District 4, our PAC gave its endorsement to SFAA member Ron Dudum who, unfortunately for Ron, lost the race. However, his challenger, Fiona Ma, is still an excellent addition to the Board of Supervisors. Her credentials include an MBA from Pepperdine University and a career as a Certified Public Accountant, specializing in taxation. She is a dedicated advocate of small business interests, a strong supporter of the HOPE initiative and a champion for changing the General Assistance benefits to homeless individuals. She is also fiscally prudent and attentive to detail. Supervisor Ma will be a reasonable and responsive representative, and we look forward to working with her in the years to come.
Far and away, the biggest winner in the 2002 elections was Supervisor Gavin Newsom. Not only did he overwhelmingly maintain his seat on the Board of Supervisors, he garnered incredible support in his homeless initiative. Proposition N won with a resounding 59 percent to 41 percent majority and marks the first time in decades that such a proposal has actually made it through the entire ballot process. Gavin has been given an incredible head start in his bid for Mayor thanks to these victories and those of the candidates and other issues he supported. We, at the SFAA, really look forward to giving our strong support to Gavin in his run for mayor. We also look forward to continuing to work with him in the years to come. All in all, I am fairly confident that we will be able to work with the new Board of Supervisors, and I am looking forward to the upcoming campaign season.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reect the viewpoint of the SFAA or the SF Apartment Magazine. Eric Andresen owns West Coast Property Management and West Coast Property Maintenance Companies. Eric is also the Treasurer of the California Apartment Association's Executive Board and serves on the boards of many other leading housing industry organizations. Copyright © 2003 San Francisco Apartment Magazine