Prop. O: A Bayview plan

THE CHRONICLE’S VIEW The shipyard development will create a new neighborhood in the Bayview — complete with housing, open space and, as most expert urban planners would argue it should, jobs. Adding office space in a major new housing development is good urban planning. DISSENTING VIEW

Proposition O, the latest developerfunded initiative, gives the Lennar Corp. a blank check for two of San Francisco’s long-ignored neighborhoods.

Countless mailers and ads make the same false argument that Prop. O is some continuation of 2008’s Prop. G, passed by voters after years of community input — and promises for what our community required in trade for giving Lennar public land, approvals and funding.

Our city is out of balance. Office construction (and the workers it brings) outpaces housing while the Bayview black community is getting smaller and poorer. We need clear accountability and an understanding of what Prop. O’s mega tech office park will mean, especially since much of the affordable housing, cleanup and jobs promised will be significantly delayed.

Will construction proceed with recent evidence of faked toxic soil samples, now delaying land transfers from the Navy? Won’t this add to the housing and displacement crisis? What does this mean for Bayview residents who have been locked out of tech jobs?

Developers should not be defining our city’s policies to benefit themselves at the expense of our residents who have no voice for the kinds of jobs and housing they truly need.

Ebony Isler is a member of the Candlestick Heights Tenants Association; Jason Fried is president of the Condominiums at the Shipyard Owners Association ( for identification purposes only).