Hi Aubrey and All,
Here is the second ballot argument I signed up for. The Mission Moratorium is tricky, I think, because we are dealing with a neighborhood's "feelings" as well as government nonsense. So, I treaded lightly. Also, I think the mantra of supply and demand has been talked to death. So I took a different approach.
Please let me know if I inadvertently said something not Libertarian or not factual, or made any grammar or spelling errors.
Marcy
Ballot Argument in Opposition of the Mission Moratorium
The Mission Moratorium is a proposal worthy of the string of
Not In My Back Yard zoning ordinances enacted over the past several decades
designed to keep newcomers out. Before
The City decided to be frozen in time, The Mission was home to waves of German,
Irish, Italian, Scandinavian, as well as Latino residents. The Libertarian Party of San Francisco
suggests that voters consider not only the changing character of The Mission
over the years, but also the drawbacks of the Moratorium.
1. The City has been
trying for the last decade to reconcile its desire to preserve neighborhood
character, and its inclination to entice moneyed interests and their multitude
of current and potential employees to relocate to The City. The chances that this challenge will be
solved in the 18 months the Moratorium is to last is slim.
2. Developers have
invested time and money passing The City’s innumerable hurdles to starting any
construction. Going forward they will
demand a lot more return for their investment to cover the risk of such moratoriums. That means higher home prices, higher rents,
and higher taxes for everyone.
3. The proposal’s
assertion that subsidized housing has not been built at the rate hoped for by
those in the lower end of the income scale is correct. That is because the traditional bottomless
well of Federal funds is drying up, the state is “drowning in debt” as Governor
Brown recently stated, and The City is beginning to fear that voters might balk
at the endless list of bonded indebtedness on every ballot necessary for higher
levels of subsidy. Now proposals such as
The Mission Moratorium are placing developer financing of subsidized housing also
in peril. Developments of 100%
subsidized housing do not seem realistic.
The Libertarian Party of San Francisco