John M. Lee: Housing - Newsom vs. Gonzalez

On Dec. 9, we will be choosing the next mayor of San Francisco, so I thought it would be good to compare where each of the candidates stand on the affordable housing issue and how they propose to make living in San Francisco more affordable.

Both candidates, supervisors Gavin Newsom and Matt Gonzalez, have listed affordable housing as a priority and have posted how they will tackle the problem on their web sites.

Gavin Newsom
Newsom believes that a key component of rebuilding San Francisco's economy is creating home ownership opportunities for the city's workforce. The men and women who work in San Francisco every day should be able to live in San Francisco and raise their families here, he says.

The need for new housing in San Francisco is critical. Nationwide, two-thirds of all residents are homeowners, while only one-third rent. Here in San Francisco, that statistic is reversed: only one-third of San Franciscans are homeowners while two-thirds rent.

Nationwide, more than half of all households can afford to purchase the median-priced home in their communities. In San Francisco, only 17 percent of residents can afford the median-priced home.

"In order to help more San Franciscans realize the dream of home ownership, I have worked with the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and others to develop an innovative workforce housing initiative that will create new housing in two Workforce Housing Neighborhoods particularly conducive to it: the Central Waterfront and Downtown San Francisco," Newsom said. "The initiative will give developers incentives to create housing for San Francisco's middle-class workforce at no cost to the City. As mayor I will make passage of this initiative one of my top priorities."

Newsom wants to expand the city's housing supply by targeting certain neighborhoods for affordable housing. He believes that if supply goes up and the demand stays the same, prices will decrease, consistent with simple economic theory. Boosting construction will also bring jobs to San Francisco, improve the unemployment situation and stimulate the local economy.

Matt Gonzalez
Gonzalez is committed to making San Francisco more affordable for existing and new residents by expanding rental and home-ownership opportunities and making San Francisco more affordable for people of all incomes. He also wants to prevent the eviction and displacement of San Franciscans. Specifically, Gonzalez will:

· Maintain strong rent control and eviction protections to prevent evictions and allow tenants to stay in their homes;

· Increase affordable homeownership opportunities through limited-equity homeownership, community land trusts, first-time homebuyer assistance and other programs;

· Preserve the city's affordable housing by preventing the demolition of sound housing and by making low-interest financing available to maintain and upgrade housing;

· Expand affordable rental housing by providing additional funding for the construction, purchase and rehabilitation of permanently-affordable rental housing constructed by non-profit groups.

Gonzalez wants to strengthen rent control laws and discourage development, which keeps the housing supply low. His other two points are to provide financial assistance for low-income residents and to build more rental housing.

In April of this year, Gonzalez proposed some rent control measures that would have strengthened rent control laws and expanded the rights of tenants. And even with the current SF Board of Supervisors, who are pro-tenant, he could not get it passed. If elected mayor, I believe Gonzalez will attempt to do more of the same to strengthen rent control laws.

No matter whom you are backing for mayor, go vote on Dec. 9.

John M. Lee is a top-selling broker with Pacific Union and specializes in the Richmond and Sunset districts. If you have any questions regarding real estate, call him at (415) 447-6231 or e-mail him at johnlee@isellsf.com.