Is Prop. F What Bayview And Hunters Point Residents Need?

Communtiy leaders face off over the controversial measure.

By Kevin M. Nickels

Not long ago Bayview and Hunters Point were vibrant middle-class industrial neighborhoods. Now run-down storefronts and dilapitaded houses dominate the landscape. This Tuesday the community faces a crucial crossroads: an under publicized measure that could spur much needed economic development.

Proposition F, the Bayview Hunters Point Reparations Act, is an attempt to alleviate the social and economic conditions in the Bayview area. Economic development has been promised to the neighborhoods by the city, yet little has been accomplished.

The measure would have the city allocate $150 million dollars to create jobs for residents in the Bayview area solely. Also on the measure is an exemption on homeowners' taxes for five years. This is only for owners with property valued under $500,000 and provided they have lived there for at least three years.

The measure, authored by Carlos Petroni, editor of San Francisco Frontlines newspaper, would also exempt small businesses in the area from paying city and payroll taxes for five years. Small businesses would then be required to "pass on" 50% of the savings to their employees.

"This is a formula for problems," says Jim Chappell, president of the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR). SPUR has expertise in government and planning related matters and provides a non-partisan analysis on propositions.

"The $150 million is open ended, no criteria, nothing," says Chappell

Chappell appreciates that the measure identifies social and economic problems in the area, such as unemployment, environmental hazards as well as gentrification. He also believes the measure correctly places responsibility on the city to correct the situation.

"There is a long history in Hunters Point and Bayview dealing with economic development," says Chappell.

The $150 million is intended to create jobs for small businesses as well as "environmentally sound" jobs for the district residents. An elected council of neighbors will control and administer the money. Only residents in the district are allowed to run for the council or vote for the council.

"They (opponents of F) complain about the $150 million at a acost of $19 million a year, while the new state propositions are expected to cost more than $500 million in bonds," says Petroni. "By creating jobs and more businesses, it will expand the tax base for the area."

A problem the measure might face is whether waiving property taxes is even Constitutional, state or federal. Another issue is the newly implemented districts in the city. Bayview and Hunters Point lie in District 10, which also includes Potrero Hill and parts of Mission Bay.

Several business owners in the area were unfamiliar with the proposition. A telling sign of the amount of publicity the measure has received even though it is controversial.

"It's good if it did what it said it would do. I'm not sure whether that will happen," says Ernestine Howard, owner of Winnie's Cheesecake Bakery on Third Street in Bayview.

Map courtesy of Mapquest.com