San Franciscans need to get involved in deciding how to spend homeless funds

Andrea Evans September 12, 2020

This post first appeared on The San Francisco Chronicle’s Opinion Page.

The California Supreme Court has ended the legal challenges to Proposition C, the 2018 Homelessness Gross Receipts Tax Measure that created a dedicated funding source for homelessness services — specifically, housing, behavioral health care, shelters and prevention.

The passage of Prop. C. is a victory for voters, the city of San Francisco and, most importantly, the thousands of homeless residents on whose behalf the measure was championed.

Prop. C has unlocked hundreds of millions of dollars for homelessness services. Prop. C also established a nine-person committee, appointed by the mayor, Board of Supervisors and controller’s office, to make recommendations about the distribution of Prop. C funds.

The Prop. C Committee held its first public meeting on Sept. 16. Three members of the Board of Supervisors and several senior department officials attended the meeting, reflecting the importance of the committee’s work.

The committee itself is a diverse group of experts, all of whom are committed to making decisions informed by best practices, relevant data, and the perspectives of people with lived experiences of homelessness. Many attendees spoke of Prop. C as a historic opportunity to “move the needle” on homelessness.

As residents, neighbors and stewards of our community, we must not let this historic opportunity pass us by. And, yet, not a single member of the public spoke during the nearly three-hour meeting. This, despite the fact that more than 60% of San Franciscans voted for Prop. C and 90% report that homelessness is one of their top concerns.

What is the public’s role?

First, we must demand transparency from the Prop. C Committee and other leaders in this work.

The committee should broadly publicize meeting information and commit to creating dashboards or other tools to help the public understand exactly how the city is progressing towards its goals in as close to real time as possible. Additionally, given the glaring disparities that Black and LGBTQ+ San Franciscans experience, the committee must also disaggregate the data so we can determine whether we are delivering on our commitment to equity.

Second, we must hold this committee, and ourselves, accountable to meeting our goals.

Nothing will fuel cynicism about homelessness more than if, after an infusion of hundreds of millions of dollars, conditions on the streets and in our communities do not improve.

Third, we must get involved and make our voices heard.

It is time to step forward, to see people experiencing homelessness as people, not problems.

At “All In,” we are uniting the public to support effective solutions to homelessness. Together, we will demand transparency and report on progress toward accomplishing our goals. We will keep advocating for a solution space large enough to meet the scale of the problem.

We need you with us. Join the campaign to get updates and action opportunities.

Voting for Prop. C was easy. Now it is time for the hard work, time to remove the barriers to progress caused by our apathy and cynicism. It is time to own our individual roles in creating a San Francisco where everyone has a home.

Andrea Evans is a member of the Local Homeless Coordinating Board and campaign manager for “All In,” a campaign to bring nonprofits, philanthropy, health care, businesses, faith, labor and everyday residents together to support solutions to homelessness in San Francisco.