Majority disapproves of the way Lee handles growth and development — and a strong majority supports a moratorium on market-rate housing in the Mission
By Tim Redmond
MARCH 3, 2015 –A majority of San Francisco residents think Mayor Ed Lee is failing to properly address the impacts of growth on the city and to prepare the city for future growth, a new poll shows.
The poll also shows that only 27 percent of local voters think Lee’s Planning Department is doing a good job handling growth issues.
While Lee is heading toward an easy re-election, the poll suggests that on the single biggest issue facing the city right now, his policies are not that popular.
When voters were asked if they “approve or disapprove” of the way the mayor is handling growth, 26 percent “strongly disapprove” and another 15 percent “somewhat disapprove.” So 41 percent of the city isn’t happy. Only 36 percent approve.
The poll, by David Binder Associates, was commissioned by the Tenants and Owners Development Corporation, a Soma provider of affordable housing.
It shows that 71 percent of the voters likely to go to the polls this fall support the idea that 33 percent of all new housing should be below market rate. And it indicates that most voters would oppose greater height limits for new projects unless those projects included at least 33 percent affordable housing.
And by a two-thirds margin, they support the idea of a moratorium on new market-rate housing in the Mission.
That’s a remarkable number – remember, this is a citywide poll – and it shows how alarmed people across the city are at the displacement and neighborhood transformation that’s going on.
And it suggests another challenge for Lee and Sup. Scott Wiener, who is likely running for state Senate and who opposes a moratorium.
The voters are inclined, by a 66-19 percent margin, to support a $250 million housing bond this fall. That’s a good place for any bond measure to be at the start of a campaign, and it suggests that the mayor could push for considerably more money. The $250 million will barely begin to address the lack of affordable housing in the city.
