City and County Ballot Measures

Proposition A: Housing Bonds
Hey voter, can you spare a home? That's the appeal behind Prop. A, a bond measure funneling $85 million into community- and church-based nonprofit developers to build or refurbish 3,000 affordable housing units. The measure also sets aside $15 million for loans to some 1,000 first-time home buyers. Proponents say Prop. A will help relieve the city's housing crunch; the rental market's never been tighter, nor rents higher.

S.F. has earned a national reputation for creating affordable housing using the Prop. A scheme: Developers bid for city loans and grants, and agree to rent the units at below market prices. Unlike federal "housing projects," these units are typically attractive. Successful housing applicants are allowed to earn no more than $34,000 (for a family of four) and $21,000 (for a single person), so the new units won't assist the homeless as much as lower-middle-class renters who can afford up to, say, $600 a month.

This year, after some deal-making by Mayor Brown, the Chamber of Commerce and housing industry groups have joined the lefties. In exchange, Brown pledged to back an ordinance after the election to ease the way for landlords to pass on their property tax hike, which will pay for the bonds, in the form of rent increases. Proponents of Prop. A say landlords will be able to raise rents on average about 84 cents a month over five years.

Brown has also thrown a bone to tenants, of course. Although it's already illegal for landlords to evict tenants for the purpose of raising rents, some landlords end run this by moving into their own units temporarily, then moving out and jacking up the rent. Brown says he will push for a law to end that scam.

Proposition B: Museum Bonds
The city's art collection at the de Young would get new digs with the passage of Prop. B. The measure -- a darling of the political mainstream -- raises $73 million to replace the museum, a structure so shaky it could collapse in the next earthquake.

But neighborhood groups and some environmentalists fear a 370-car parking garage would likely be built under the new museum if the measure passes. They charge the garage would act like a magnet, further congesting the already crowded park. To blunt the attack, museum trustees (and Mayor Brown) are seeking a separate referendum on the garage for next year's ballot. And, in a deal to end the Sierra Club's opposition, Brown pledged to reduce park traffic by working to close roads and provide shuttle service.

Propositions C, D, E, F: Salaries and Benefits
Prop. C would raise the yearly increase of 2 percent for most city retirees to 3 percent using the retirement system's excess investment earnings. The average pension for the city's 12,500 retirees is about $1,200 a month, well below what prevails in other parts of California. Those retired longest receive the least; about 400 retirees collect $500 a month or less. Many are said to be living in poverty because the city didn't participate in the Social Security system when they were employed.

Since the retirement fund's investments have done so well over the years, dramatically lowering the General Fund contribution, retirees want a small part of those earnings. But a handful of fiscal conservatives who oppose the measure argue that all the fund's excess earnings should be pumped back into city services.

Prop. D would increase pensions for firefighters hired after 1976 to match the benefits given those hired before that date. Its cost is $3.5 million a year to the General Fund. While firefighters regularly ask taxpayers to pay fiscal homage to their courage, proponents argue Prop. D is simply about fairness.

A little history: In 1976 voters created a two-tier pension system for all city workers to reduce costs to taxpayers; hirees after that date would receive smaller pensions. In the Fire Department, which used to be an all-white-boys club, every woman and almost every minority firefighter is now on that second tier, which provides a pension of 70 percent of one's salary after 32 years of service. In addition, while the first tier is slightly above the prevailing statewide level, the second tier is well below it.

Prop. D also would increase some disability pensions to better reflect the injury. Proponents say that would remove an incentive for co-workers to cover for pensioners by keeping them on the payroll when they can't survive off the standard 50 percent pension.

Critics say the measure will push firefighters' pensions above what most private- and public-sector workers receive in San Francisco.

Theoretically, Prop. E would remove the need for voters to muck around in the kind of pension questions reflected above by putting responsibility back with the officials who were (arguably) elected to make such decisions.

Pushed heartily and hastily by Mayor Brown, the union-drafted measure restores bargaining between the city and its unions over retirement and health benefits, and gives the mayor greater authority in hiring and firing high-level city managers. Gone will be the locked-in labor agreements and civil service protection for lazy bureaucrats -- all in the name of creating a more cost-effective government.

But opponents -- including Supervisor Susan Leal and the business community -- charge Brown with empire-building. By pulling voters out of the equation, the mayor can use his new juice to feed the city unions, and employ the cronies, that have backed him ... at an estimated price tag of $50 million to $100 million annually.