SFPUC Calls for Voluntary Conservation
Following two consecutive dry winters, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is asking customers to continue the voluntary conservation efforts that were effective in reducing water consumption by 13% overall last year. Cutbacks in water usage are an essential part of avoiding mandatory consumption limits and rationing later this year. The East Bay Municipal Utility District has already approved a plan that immediately forces residents to cut down on water usage in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. The SFPUC is again targeting a 10% overall reduction in water consumption this summer to avoid such a step.
Last year, the SFPUC asked customers to curtail water consumption and you stepped up to the challenge—successfully avoiding water rationing. As temperatures rise and outdoor water use hits its seasonal peak, the agency is asking for a continued commitment to conservation efforts.

Green Your Property
Victory Gardens is a pilot project funded by the City of San Francisco to support the transition of backyards, front yards, window boxes, rooftops and unused land into organic food production areas.

In 2008, The Garden for the Environment will choose 15 households that represent the diversity of San Francisco to participate in the program. You can participate regardless of your income, ethnicity, available space, neighborhood, gardening experience or lifestyle. As a participant, you will work with the Victory Gardens team to install a garden in your outdoor space. Although you will be the primary caretaker of the garden, the Victory Garden team will provide ongoing support.

For more information, check out www.sfvictorygardens.org.

SFAA at RBA Gala
The board members and staff of the San Francisco Apartment Association attended the annual banquet for the Residential Builders Association of San Francisco. The formal dinner was held on April 23, 2008, at the Ritz Carlton Hotel.  The RBA is dedicated to improving the conditions in the residential construction industry in San Francisco and to promoting the common interest of contractors engaged in the construction of residential buildings. SFAA and RBA enjoyed celebrating their mutual successes and partnerships on legislative and political issues in San Francisco and beyond.

No Fear of SF Rent Strike
Since mid-May, thousands of flyers calling for a “rent strike” have been circulated around San Francisco. Many alarmed owners have contacted the SFAA after seeing these flyers in their neighborhoods. Rest assured that the SFAA is aware of this threatened rent strike, but its attorneys want to assure the public that anyone who withholds rent, even as part of an organized strike, can have an unlawful detainer brought against them for nonpayment of rent.

Managers Luncheon August 21
SFAA invites all of its members in property management firms to join the Managers Luncheon on August 21, 2008, at Absinthe in Hayes Valley. These luncheons are designed to provide a venue for discussion amongst those who manage property in the city. Speakers have included sanitation workers with Sunset Scavenger and officers with the Vice Crimes division of the San Francisco Police Department. The Managers Luncheon takes place on the third Thursday of every other month at noon. The luncheon costs $40 per person, which includes a three-course prix-fixe lunch. Seating is limited, so please contact Education and Events Director Vanessa Khaleel at 415-255-2288 or via email at
vanessa@sfaa.org to RSVP.

Tropical Blast Trade Show September 22
On Monday, September 22, 2008, the San Francisco Apartment Association will hold its annual boutique trade show at Fort Mason. SFAA’s Tropical Blast Trade Show will cover all facets of the multifamily housing industry. Professionals who provide San Francisco’s rental housing industry with top products and services will be on hand and happy to speak to all attendees. This event is open to the general public and will run from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. For more information click here.

Second Annual SFAA Trophy Awards November 13
SFAA’s second annual Trophy Awards will be held at the Palace Hotel on November 13, 2008. Categories include: Best Independent Owner, Best Resident Manager, Best Property Management Firm, Building of the Year, Best Green Building and Best Residential Amenities. More information and the nomination form will appear in future issues of this magazine. To get involved with the 2008 Trophy Awards or sponsor the event, contact SFAA Education and Events Director Vanessa Khaleel at
vanessa@sfaa.org or 415-255-2288.

New Assessment Districts Considered
Building owners in the Financial District and SOMA are considering assessing themselves additional taxes in order to finance community benefit districts in three areas. These districts are already in place in other San Francisco neighborhoods, where owners pay extra taxes in order to get improved security, landscaping, graffiti cleanup and other services not readily available from the city. Taxes are typically calculated based on square footage, though the details for the new districts have not yet been determined. The exact boundaries were also unclear at press time, but approximate districts are: the Financial District, bounded by Kearny, Washington and Market streets and the Embarcadero; the Transbay District, bounded by Market and Second streets, the Embarcadero and I-80; and Yerba Buena District, bounded by Market, Second, Harrison and Fifth streets.

Prop. 98 Defeated
Proposition 98, an eminent domain reform measure that would have begun the phase-out of rent control throughout the state, was defeated at the polls on June 3. Voters instead decided to pass the far less comprehensive Proposition 99, which was supported by tenant and environmental groups and only affects eminent domain usage on single-family homes.

Locally, voters also made the choice to support Prop G., a Gavin Newsom-supported housing plan for Hunter’s Point developed by Lennar Corp., and vote down Measure F., a Chris Daly-supported plan for the area that would have required half of the new homes to be affordable to low- and moderate-income residents. The city must now negotiate a binding agreement with Lennar and get approvals from the San Francisco Planning Commission and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors before moving forward.

City voters also passed Proposition A, a $198 per parcel annual school tax that will bring about $30 million into city schools each year. The money will go primarily toward improving teacher salaries and training, as well as increasing funding for technology and charter schools. The parcel tax begins July 1, 2008, and expires in 2028.