Op-Ed: Housing Could Have Fared Better in San Francisco Election

The result of San Francisco's recent elections "echoes a contradiction at the heart of politics and public opinion in San Francisco, where far more officials and residents claim to support housing than are willing to welcome it to their neighborhoods," writes the San Francisco Chronicle Editorial Board.

On one hand, the strong reelection of Mayor London Breed to her first full term "was itself a testament to the political strength of a mayor who has pushed for more housing across the spectrum." On top of that, Prop. A, a $600 million affordable housing bond measure, passed with "overwhelming support." So did Prop. E, designed to boost affordable development, including for teachers. 

At the same time, the election of Dean Preston to represent Breed's former district on the Board of Supervisors "stands to exacerbate the Board of Supervisors' already pronounced bias against housing."

The editorial goes on, "The same board has gone out of its way to heap aspersions on the state Legislature's most important housing bill and block residential projects that might detract from the city's inconstant sunlight or its supposedly historic laundry assets. It's a miserable record in a city that can't seem to stem soaring housing costs or homelessness, and Preston appears likely to make it worse."