Proposition G Wins and So Does the Community

The Bayview-Hunters Point community took a huge step forward on June 3rd when San Francisco residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of Proposition G – The Bayview Jobs, Parks and Housing Initiative. The measure, which authorizes the creation of hundreds of acres of new parks in southeast San Francisco, up to 10,000 new homes with 3500 priced below market rate, 8,000 permanent jobs, a permanent home for the Hunters Shipyard artists colony and a site for a potential new football stadium, was approved by more than 62 percent of the electorate in what was a convincing victory at the polls.

Proposition G was the culmination of decades of planning and community input into how best to restore and cleanup up the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard and restart the economic engine that once powered Bayview-Hunters Point. The community and the city have spoken with one voice, affirming a commitment to restoring southeast San Francisco after too many years of broken promises.

Now that the voters have had their say, the development plan for Candlestick and Hunters Point goes back before the Hunters Point Shipyard Community Advisory Committee, the Bayview Project Area Committee, the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors. The momentum and support that carried Proposition G on Election Day will need to be sustained through a series of key hearings and votes at City Hall over the next 12 to 18 months.

But the message to policymakers in San Francisco should be easy to read. Along with passing Proposition G, city voters also shot down a rival, poison pill measure – Proposition F. San Franciscans have made their choice and want progress, long delayed in Bayview-Hunters Point, to finally become reality.