S.F. leaders propose bond measure for recovery

San Francisco Mayor London Breed will introduce a bond for the November ballot on Tuesday that would give the city $438.5 million to spend on mental health and homelessness facilities, parks and street repairs.

The city’s Capital Planning Committee approved the preliminary structure of the bond measure Monday, clearing the way for Breed to present it to the Board of Supervisors, where it will likely be revised before it reaches voters in November.

In the midst of the COVID19 pandemic and its attendant economic impacts, the proposed measure, called the 2020 Health and Recovery Bond, could take on an outsize importance, considering the money it raises will be invested into jobcreating public works projects at a time of historic unemployment.

“Large capital projects serve as an engine for growth and create local jobs that will help jump start San Francisco’s economy — while also benefiting the (overall) good,” the Capital Planning Committee said in documents providing an overview of the bond. “Investing in public facilities and infrastructure is an important and necessary step that San Francisco can take to put thousands of people to work and help accelerate our economic recovery.”

City officials will spend the next several weeks deliberating exactly where to spend the bond funds, and over how much debt San Francisco can afford to take on as it faces down potential revenue losses of between $1.1 billion and $1.7 billion over the next two fiscal years.

In addition to exacerbating the city’s homelessness and mental health crises, the pandemic has also forced “nearly 100,000 San Franciscans” to file for unemployment, Breed said. “We can invest in jobs and in putting San Franciscans back to work because these projects are shovelready.”

Breed said she would maintain open lines of communication with the board as it weighs changes to the bond. She said she had already received feedback from supervisors concerned about which parks would receive funding and about whether there was enough money set aside for mental health initiatives.

Board of Supervisors President Norman Yee said Tuesday that he and his colleagues would starting by asking whether, in a time of unprecedented economic difficulty, it was appropriate for the city to take on more debt.

“I’d prefer to have a comprehensive approach to the whole budget issue, and this bond is one element of that,” Yee said.

Yee, a member of the Capital Planning Committee, said he abstained from Monday’s vote on the bond measure out of deference to his fellow supervisors.

“The 11 of us may not agree on everything, but for me it’s important for us to have that process” of deliberating over the bond, he said.

As it stands, the general obligation bond would allocate $197 million toward housing and mental health priorities: $90 million would go toward permanent supportive housing, and $107 million to create or rehabilitate facilities treating mental health and substance abuse disorders.

Parks and open spaces would receive $200 million under the current bond proposal, Of that $121 million would be allocated to parkimprovement projects that have already undergone public and environmental reviews and design studies. The remaining $79 million would be spent on park programming, trail improvements, community gardens and other initiatives.

Another $41.5 million would be allocated for repairs and upgrades to public rightsofway. Most of that — $31.5 million — would go toward street resurfacing. The remaining $10 million is currently budgeted for improvements to curb ramps, street structures and plazas.

Like all bond measures, the initiative would require a twothirds supermajority to pass.