BCNA news: Review of City Grand Jury’s report on MOH, part 1

(Editor’s note: This is part 1 of a two-part series on affordable housing by June A. Osterberg for the Barbary Coast Neighborhood Association.)

The City’s 2013-2014 Civil Grand Jury last year chose three topics for its investigative reports that are of special interest to BCNA members and other residents of the Northeast Waterfront community.

They are: The Port of San Francisco, the Mayor’s Office of Housing, and Rising Sea Levels.

The Civil Grand Jury’s well-researched and well-written findings and recommendations are too lengthy to be reproduced in these pages.

But the BCNA intends to carry locally relevant excerpts and quotations from the reports, beginning with housing, before the valuable reports disappear onto shelves at City Hall.

The Civil Grand Jury is an 18-member government oversight panel in the Office of the Controller.

Copies of the bound book of all the reports are available at City Hall. They also may be seen at the Main Library, and the reports can be found online at www.civilgrandjury.sfgov.org.

“THE MAYOR’S OFFICE OF HOUSING”

The report is sub-titled “Under Pressure and Challenged to Preserve Diversity” and is primarily about Affordable Housing.

This topic leads off because the BCNA for some time has been in public discussions with the City about its Affordable Housing project planned for Seawall Lot 322-1 at Broadway and Front, saying the need for housing moderate-income households has not been given the attention it deserves.

(Note: Several articles have appeared herein about the two large affordable housing projects of the CCDC–Chinatown Community Development Center–that have opened on Lower Broadway, a short distance away. The newest block-wide building at Broadway and Sansome is being completed for opening in a few months.)

MORE ABOUT MODERATE INCOME HOUSING

The City Grand Jury report opened with the following explanation: “The Jury decided to center its research on the 2014 Affordable Housing goals championed by Mayor Lee in his January State of the City speech.”

On Page 2 under Summary, its first Conclusion is stated as:

“The City should continue a robust commitment to housing production policies where a substantial percentage of units are Affordable Housing.

“Focus on policies to increase the number of opportunities for Middle Income households and special needs populations, as only 20% of regional housing targets for this income group have been met.” (BCNA italics)

The last paragraph of the Summary states:

“San Francisco Affordable Housing programs will not resolve the housing affordability crisis currently overtaking the City.

“At best, these politically funded programs will provide relief for a limited number of citizens and help to sustain a level of economic diversity important core values expressed in the Housing Element of San Francisco’s General Plan.

“Accountability and transparency will be essential as 2020 approaches and projected regional policies require another major evaluation of ‘next steps’ for City housing policy.”

This concludes the first half of the BCNA’s “review” of the 2013-2014 City Grand Jury’s report, “The Mayor’s Office of Housing.” The second half will appear in a few days.