Tuesday night was obviously a big election night across the country. Locally, affordable housing got a huge win in San Francisco with the passage of Prop C. An amazing 65 percent of San Franciscans voted to provide $1.2 billion to affordable housing over the next 30 years.

Clearly, San Francisco voters and elected officials continue to demonstrate an unparalleled belief in the importance of affordable housing. As one of the most active developers and owners in San Francisco, I think this vote is a great testament to the work of our staff, board, residents and partners.

We have many people to thank for making this happen, starting with Mayor Lee and the Board of Supervisors who voted to put this measure on the ballot. This campaign was powered forward by a strong coalition of our affordable housing colleagues led by the staff of the Council of Community Housing Organizations (Peter, Fernando, and Calvin). We also had great allies in SPUR, Ahsha Safai of Residential Builders, and Oz Erickson of the Emerald Fund.

Mercy Housing has many developments that are counting on this new funding, most notably our efforts to revitalize the Sunnydale community in San Francisco’s Visitacion Valley. We’ll be finding out more about those plans in the near future.

It’s been a rough few years for many people in our communities and one local measure doesn’t change that. But we don’t get enough moments to celebrate, so let’s take a few days to bask in the glow.

Live in Hope,
Doug Shoemaker
President, Mercy Housing California