| Proposition F stands for fortitude and the future of San Francisco |
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| by: Francisco Da Costa | |
| Wednesday, 16 April 2008 | |
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 Francisco Da Costa Proposition F has made history all over this nation. In less than 10 days we collected 11,818 signatures. The required number of signatures needed to put our initiative on the ballot: 7,165.  After decades of ship repair and radiological research and the dumping of toxic waste from all the other military bases in the area, the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, located in a historically Black neighborhood, is a Superfund site with some of the worst toxic and radioactive contamination in the country. How can Lennar clean it up with a few million dollars when the Navy has spent half a billion and not a single parcel is clean? Vote Yes on Prop F, No on Prop G! Prop F requires that 50 percent of any housing built be truly affordable to the people who live here now. Lennar calls Prop F a “poison pill” that would kill its plan by denying it the 25 percent profit it expects to make – on market rate housing built on land it would get for free! So be it. Once we collected the signatures, all hell broke loose at City Hall. The San Francisco Department of Elections decided to count each and every signature. We knew pressure was coming from Room 200 and Mayor Gavin Newsom. Other dubious entities included the Pacific Heights Mafia. I took the matter personally to the Secretary of State and then we saw some change. However, we had to create three teams and each team leader saw to it that we had observers to monitor the signature count. It was hectic and went on for days. Then suddenly the San Francisco Department of Election decided to stop counting and verifying the signatures. We were certified and our initiative was put on the ballot. But there are other processes and even as we were victorious with our initiative, we had to gather our strength to finalize the language that would be published in the official voters’ handbook. This meant attending long meetings with the committee that reviews the language and deems fit what is right. Our Prop G opponents did not have to go through the hectic hours we spent monitoring the count of the signatures nor the language review before the Ballot Committee. They have the resources and the person power. One good thing that emerged from the process was that people were pissed off and in getting pissed off they got involved. Getting involved enabled them to be empowered and, if one looks back, this is the best thing that could have happened to us. We are demanding 50 percent affordable housing for all San Franciscans. We look at the Candlestick Point area — an area over 700 acres and valued easily between $4 billion and $6 billon. With such equity and the land given free for development there are hundreds of developers that would jump at the opportunity to develop Candlestick Point. We do not agree that either the Shipyard or Candlestick Point or the land in between should be given to the Lennar Corp. This rogue company does not have a good track record. All over this nation, thousands of home owners are suing Lennar. Lennar has no money and fakes that it can deliver, but all it has delivered so far are lies. In its disastrous work on Parcel A of the Shipyard, Lennar has failed to abide by the Disposition and Development Agreement, a legal document. Lennar has failed to abide by the Dust Mitigation Plan. Lennar reneged on the commitment to build rental units. Lennar clearcut over 400 mature trees on Parcel A at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard and cut away 35 feet of the hill so that its upscale neighborhood would lie much lower, separated from the poor Black and Brown people who would otherwise have lived “next door.” With intent it bombarded the community with lead, mercury, asbestos and other toxins by not suppressing the dust in large areas containing ultramaphic serpentine rock. This rock when crushed releases dense asbestos structures. Lennar with intent poisoned our children and so we the community have no faith in this rogue company. Moreover, Lennar does not have money — its stock has been reduced to junk status. It reported an almost $2 billion loss for 2007 and cut its workforce 35 percent. Bottom line, we prefer to have dealings with any decent developer and prefer some from California. In fact, we see no reason why some developers from San Francisco could not take up the challenge and build 50 percent affordable housing. Anyone can build 10,000 homes and make a profit – especially if they get the land for free, equity worth billions. Right here at home in Bayview Hunters Point are excellent home builders who can not only build affordable homes but put our people to work in the process. When our youth and our people returning from prison have an opportunity to build homes and beautify their community, we all know the violence will stop. Lennar promises to do the cleanup. This company has a track record of building homes on toxic dumps – including an ammunition dump in Florida, where homebuyers found large unexploded bombs in their back yards. Building homes at the Hunters Point Shipyard without first cleaning it up this Superfund site is like building on Chernobyl. The United States Navy polluted the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard and is required by law to do the cleanup. Their work there so far has cost taxpayers a half a billion and will take billions more, not the measly $82 million that was recently released. Lennar in its conceptual plan reports that it will create 400 acres of open space and recreational fields. Well, first and foremost, the area must be cleaned to residential standards. Then we must deal with cumulative pollution. We do not have a sound environmental impact report (EIR). We must have the empirical data to evaluate the situation and do justice when it comes to quality of life issues. Remember Proposition P? It demands sound cleanup of the entire Shipyard to residential standards — 87 percent of San Francisco voters said so. This passed in the year 2000. Lennar’s conceptual plan talks about jobs. Well, so far City Build and Young Community Developers have failed to provide career jobs. Some youth are given a couple of weeks training but cannot perform simple tasks. There has been no model where youth and others are trained and mentored by journeymen and other professionals over an extended period of time. A glaring example of failure is the project linked to Apartment Investment Management Company (AIMCO) at Hunters Point. Here Latinos were pitted against Black workers. One worker was shot and killed. Several workers were assaulted and injured. Workers were told to sign their checks and money was taken from them. The AIMCO fiasco is known to all, but City officials will not comment. It’s a waste of over $73 million of California bond money that was given to AIMCO, the nation’s largest apartment owner-operator. The San Francisco Human Rights Commission has not said a word and this is a crying shame. The SF Human Rights Commission started in Bayview Hunters Point. It has not addressed the exodus of the Black population from a high 34 percent all over San Francisco to less then 5 percent today. Lennar promises 8,000-10,000 workforce housing units. Well, it cannot deliver on Parcel A, has failed in Florida, selling 11,000 vacant homes 40 cents on the dollar, has reneged on its commitment with Mare Island not far from San Francisco, has been sued for inferior homes and has NO money with its junk bond ratings. It promises facilities for artists because Nancy Pelosi made that arrangement the first time around. However, the artists’ quarters not far from Parcel A suffered adverse impacts. I know of two artists who died from cancer. Here again we must address cumulative pollution. Lennar promises to make room for new affordable housing for the residents of Alice Griffith, also known as Double Rock public housing. But many families have already left Alice Griffith. Over 40 percent of the homes are boarded up. In a couple of months there will no one to apply for the dream homes mentioned in Lennar’s conceptual plan. The 49ers do not want to stay and play in San Francisco if they can help it. Right now everything is moving in the right direction for them at the favored site for a new stadium in Santa Clara. The Lennar conceptual plan mentions the building of a stadium but has no money allocated for this vast project. Propositions D and F passed by San Franciscans in 1997 prohibit what Lennar plans. Hence, Lennar demands that these Proposition D and F be ratified. Lennar presupposes that it can control Candlestick State Park that comes under the jurisdiction of officials in Sacramento. It’s even talking about swapping land on the Hunters Point Shipyard that has not been conveyed to the City and County of San Francisco and is still under the jurisdiction of the United States Navy — such arrogance. Lennar touts green building leadership to be chique, but that is the extent of one more promise it has no intention of delivering. Proposition F offers the constituents of San Francisco an opportunity to vote for what is right. F stands for fortitude and the future of San Francisco and we must work unceasingly to assure its passage. This is our opportunity to get some affordable housing tailor made and linked to incomes at 80, 60 and 30 percent of San Francisco median income. The land is free and offers billions in equity. We must stop pandering to rogue developers. This is the last frontier and too many decent San Franciscans are leaving the City of San Francisco because they cannot afford good housing. Join the grassroots movement to pass Prop F – a movement as spiritual and powerful as the one that started with the Montgomery bus boycott. Come to the meetings every Thursday at 6 p.m. at Grace Tabernacle Community Church, 1121 Oakdale at Ingalls in Hunters Point. Call 1-866-475-6907 for more information. Then come June 3 and before that using your absentee vote, do the right thing and vote for Proposition F. You will do yourself proud and future generations — justice.
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