Neighborhood Newspaper Column – Month of July
Edwin M. Lee, Mayor of San Francisco

San Francisco road conditions are at a critical juncture.  Since I took over the Mayor’s Office, I went to countless meetings and talked to as many people as possible.  Among all the concerned issues, potholes and street conditions were on the top of the list.  

Many of you, who walk, bike, take transit or drive in the city, are familiar with the crumbling streets and sidewalks. The longer we wait to address the growing backlog of urgently-needed repairs, the more expensive it will cost to fix our streets down the road.

Though more money has been invested into the repaving of our streets in recent years, we, as a city, still have difficulties financially to adequately fund the rehabilitation of our streets.  There is a significant backlog that the general operating fund just cannot afford, given our fiscal responsibilities and realities.

Recently, with strong support from a majority of the members of the Board of Supervisors, I introduced a $248 million Road Repaving and Street Safety Bond for the November ballot that will significantly improve the condition and safety of our streets and infrastructure while modernizing them to suit the changing needs of the City. 

A general obligation bond is a common finance mechanism for major capital assets and is appropriate for our City’s streets. Streets have an average 20-year life span. Maintenance such as the day to day filling of potholes will continue to be funded through the City’s annual operating budget.

This bond is designed to secure funding for the City to repave our streets and eliminate potholes.  It will fund the maximum number of street repairs possible for each of the next three years. It is a recommendation of the Citywide Ten-Year Capital Plan, which prioritizes infrastructure needs and investments. The bond will allow us to make long overdue and urgently needed repairs now to create a safer driving, transit, walking and biking experience for everyone.

Also, repairing bridges and stairways is equally critical. The bond will fund necessary repairs and seismic strengthening of our deteriorating City-owned bridges, overpasses and stairways throughout San Francisco.

Our City is committed to creating safer streets for pedestrians, bicyclists & people with disabilities.  With ever increasing pedestrian and bicycle travel in San Francisco, we need to ensure that our streets are safer and up to date to optimize traffic flow and decrease congestion.  The bond will also help redesign streetscapes and install sidewalk and curb ramps to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to help people who use wheelchairs, walkers, canes, scooters and parents with strollers.

One of many important components of this bond is that it will hold the line on property tax rates.  The bond measure has been specifically designed to ensure that property tax rates will not increase as a result of this bond. By complying with the City policy of only issuing new bonds as old ones are repaid, this measure’s full costs can be funded at current tax rates with no increase.

While this bond is helping the City get sufficient funding to repave and repair our streets, it also gives us the opportunity to create more jobs.  It is estimated to create more than 1,000 jobs in construction and related activities. Coupled with our commitment to increase local hiring over the next few years, it will provide a significant boost to San Francisco’s economy and put many San Franciscans back to work.

This Road Repaving & Street Safety Bond is a smart and fiscally responsible investment that will repave crumbling streets, fix deteriorating bridges and overpasses and improve the safety.

Let’s take advantage of this opportunity before the costs and conditions become untenable.  Read more about the bond measure, visit www.sfdpw.org.

Neighborhood Newspaper Column – Month of June
Edwin M. Lee, Mayor of San Francisco

Since becoming your Mayor in January, I have been travelling across the city meeting residents, talking to them about my priorities, and asking them what is going on in their neighborhoods. Whether I am on a merchant walk, at a community meeting or a Budget Town Hall, San Franciscans have been very clear about what concerns them. They want government to focus on providing basic city services and live within our means.

You have probably heard much talk already about the City’s fiscal outlook.  There is no greater challenge we face as a City family than balancing our budget while providing important city services to our residents. We are facing an estimated $306 million deficit next year. If we do not take action on long-term budget solutions, the deficit is projected to grow to $642 million in just two years. There are no easy answers, but we are working tirelessly to find savings and tighten our belts. Make no mistake, balancing the budget in a way that protects basic City services is among my top priorities.

At the many Budget Town Halls I have co-hosted with the Board of Supervisors, I am sharing my guiding principles that I will use to make tough choices that need to be made in order to submit a balanced budget on June 1st. My decisions are guided by three principles: ensuring our city is Safe, Solvent and Successful.

When I talk about a safe city, I am talking about public safety. People who live, work, and visit here deserve to feel safe everywhere they go. But by safe, I also mean we need to protect our local social safety net that support San Francisco seniors, youth, and low-income and working class families.

Fiscal solvency is a challenge because the City’s budget projections over the next few years paint a bleak picture. A significant issue is the cost of pensions and benefits. These costs are hitting our general fund to the tune of $100 million a year and rising fast. If we don’t take action, costs will escalate quickly and squeeze out funding we need for services. City employees have worked hard and deserve a dignified pension, but we must provide pensions we can afford. I am working closely with every group, member of the board, and all concerned parties about this issue so that I can propose a fair, reasonable and feasible pension reform plan to San Francisco.

Finally, we need to ensure that our City is successful.  From supporting our neighborhoods to making sure our parks are clean and safe, to paving our streets, we need San Francisco to remain a strong, successful city. Creating and keeping jobs in our city is one of the best things we can do to be successful. Whether improving the city’s payroll tax structure, or creating legislation that encourages businesses to thrive here, I am working to make sure companies locate and stay in San Francisco, not just so these companies can stimulate our local economy, but so that our residents can find jobs.

I want to thank everyone for their input and ideas over the last few months.  There are still a few Budget Town Halls scheduled. To get information about the budget or where the next Budget Town Hall is, go to www.sfmayor.org. As always, call 311 to request city services.