Breed aims ‘windfall’ toward affordable housing, transit

Mayor London Breed laid out her plans to spend a windfall of revenue to fund more affordable housing and homelessness services in The City.

The City has a windfall of $415 million, of which $234 million will have to go towards to city reserves and other city agencies, which leaves $181 million for city officials to decide on what to spend the money.

Breed said at a press conference in the South of Market that her top priority is affordable housing and homelessness, and wants to spend $90.5 million for affordable housing and another $90.5 million for homelessness services:

“How we spend this money matters. It can mean the difference between life and death. It can mean the difference of someone being able to pay their rent or not. Part of our responsibility to do is to make every single dollar count.”

Of the $90.5 million for housing, $42 million would go help fill a funding gap to build approximately 255 affordable rental units for formerly homeless adults and seniors in the South of Market neighborhood.

Millions more will help in the predevelopment phases for three affordable housing sites and make upgrades to existing public housing units in the Sunnydale and Potrero Hill neighborhoods, said Breed.

The City’s Small Sites Program, which helps nonprofits acquire existing rent-controlled buildings that are at risk of being sold to a private developer, would get a $20 million boost in Breed’s proposal.

Breed’s proposal would also support funding 300 new units of permanent supportive housing, a 200-bed shelter, expanding navigation center services, additional behavioral health beds at St. Mary’s Hospital, and additional substance abuse recovery beds. Breed said:

“When you’re trying to get work or school on time, I want the buses and trains to be right there and not completely full when you’re smelling everybody’s armpits, Mr. Reiskin.”

The mayor’s other priorities to spend the windfall revenue, include funding for street tree maintenance, education and family programs, and to make improvements at the Main Library.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency will also get a chunk of the windfall revenue. Breed said $38 million will help fund to accelerate the purchase of over 150 new Muni trains:

“When you’re trying to get work or school on time, I want the buses and trains to be right there and not completely full when you’re smelling everybody’s arm pits, Mr. Reiskin.”

The Board of Supervisors will take up Breed’s proposal on how spend the money next year when new supervisors Gordon Mar, Matt Haney and Shamann Walton are sworn into office.

Jerold Chinn

Jerold serves as a reporter and San Francisco Bureau Chief for SFBay covering transportation and occasionally City Hall and the Mayor's Office in San Francisco. His work on transportation has been recognized by the San Francisco Press Club. Born and raised in San Francisco, he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism. Jerold previously wrote for the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization. When not reporting, you can find Jerold taking Muni to check out new places to eat in the city.