Why I am voting ‘yes’ on San Francisco Proposition C
Alifelong San Franciscan, Dani was living the American Dream. The graduate of Mission High School lived in a townhouse in Dublin and had started her own business even as she raised her young children.
But as her marriage fell apart, Dani (a pseudonym to protect her privacy) and her children — all under the age of 9 —spiraled into a life she had never imagined: losing their home, living in a storage unit in Pleasanton and lining up for free food at a pantry in Livermore. Still, Dani took her oldest child to elementary school, where few knew he was homeless. Eventually, she was sleeping nights in her car in the Mission District.
“It was overwhelming, and I was mortified,” Dani says. “People had seen me as a success, and I didn’t want to appear homeless.”
As we debate Proposition C on the San Francisco ballot and how to address our crisis of homelessness, we can never forget that the 7,500 homeless individuals in our city include around 1,200 families, like Dani and her children. They are our neighbors.
It’s absurd to claim that there is not enough money to deal with this crisis. We are one of the wealthiest cities in the world, with major corporations worth billions of dollars. Shouldn’t the same companies that have helped fuel soaring housing prices be part of the solution?
That’s why I, and Salesforce, are strong supporters of Prop. C. It will levy a small tax — half of 1 percent — on big companies like ours with annual gross receipts of more than $50 million generated in the city. But we can afford it. Prop C could increase Salesforce’s annual taxes by about $10 million to $12 million. Meanwhile, we expect revenues this year of $13 billion. Small and medium-sized business and individual taxpayers are exempt — they will pay nothing.
With the wealthiest corporations paying a little more, we can generate up to $300 million a year to address this crisis, guided by a comprehensive plan with strong oversight and accountability. The money will help fund more than 1,000 desperately needed shelter beds, additional housing for 5,000 people, and more bathrooms, mental health care and housing assistance so fewer San Franciscans slip into homelessness in the first place.
Dani’s story is proof that these programs work. The nonprofit Hamilton Families provided her and her children with a room at the group’s shelter in the Tenderloin as well as medical care, financial assistance and counseling. “I was broken,” she says, “but they helped put us back on our feet.”
Every year, city programs prevent 2,000 people from becoming homeless. More than 10,000 homeless individuals in San Francisco have been reunited with their families through the Homeward Bound program since 2005. Since the launch of the Heading Home campaign in 2016, Hamilton Families has helped more than 350 homeless families move into permanent housing.
Finally, we cannot let ourselves be scared by unfounded fears, such as the claim that Prop. C will drive away business and jobs. The city’s Office of Economic Analysis found that over 20 years the effect on the local economy would be “small”—a mere 0.1 percent. In fact, businesses should be more worried about the risk to economic growth in San Francisco if we don’t make a dramatic change. A national medical association recently canceled its convention in San Francisco citing safety and the quality of our streets. There’s a danger tourists may stay away. In other words, Prop. C and reducing homelessness is good for business.
Today, with the help of Hamilton Families, Dani and her children are in a home of their own — a onebedroom apartment in Fremont. She dreams of running her own business again. Her 10-year-old daughter is falling in love with ballet, and her 9-year-old son has a new interest in Lego robotics. “We still have a lot of trauma,” she says, “but I’m working to get us to a better place.”
Yet Dani fears that, as a city, San Franciscans are becoming desensitized to homelessness. “You may be making a good salary, like I did,” she warns, “but you could lose that paycheck and be right on the streets like I was. I’m all for capitalism and making a profit, I started a business myself,” she adds. “But companies have a responsibility, not just to make money, but to serve their communities.”
I couldn’t agree more. That’s why I’m voting for Prop C. I’m voting for Dani, her children and the thousands of San Franciscans like her.