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BOMA VOTERS GUIDE | YOUR VOICE. YOUR VOTE.

BOMA San Diego Voters Guide: State and Local Measures to Consider By Craig Benedetto, Legislative Advocate, BOMA San Diego

It’s that time of year, and absentee ballots are now being sent to voters in the State of . There are a number of races and initiatives that could impact the commercial real estate industry. Here’s a brief synopsis of some of the election issues and candidates BOMA San Diego and our state coalition have been following.

State Measures

Prop 1 | Affordable Housing and Home-Purchase Assistance For Veterans

Proposition 1 would authorize the sale of $4 billion in bonds to finance existing housing programs, as well as infrastructure work and grants to match a local housing trust fund dollar-to-dollar. One-quarter of this $4 billion would help veterans purchase farms, homes and mobile homes. San Diego has good matching funds through a variety of programs, including the “linkage fee”, making it competitive for this type of grant funding should the measure pass.

Prop 2 | Using Mental Health Dollars for Low-Income Housing

Proposition 2 would free up $2 billion in bonds to build housing that includes mental health services for chronically homeless people. The original bonds are part of the Mental Health Services Act, approved by voters in 2004 to provide mental health services to Californians. Legislators tried to appropriate this money two years ago, but that law has been tied up in courts ever since. In San Diego, we know that mentally ill homeless are a major challenge to our urban environment, and providing housing and services for this population very important.

Prop 3 | Authorizing Bonds for Safe Drinking Water and Water Infrastructure [Support]

With Proposition 3 voters will decide whether to authorize $8.87 billion in state bonds for water infrastructure. The majority of the revenue would go to safe drinking-water projects and watershed and fishery improvements, with money also going to habitat protection, dam repairs, and other programs. The proposition also gives priority to disadvantaged communities and would require some projects to come up with matching funds from non-state sources.

Prop 5 - Granting Property Tax Break to Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons [Support]

Proposition 5 would grant a property tax break to property owners who are over 55 years old or severely disabled. The measure would allow them to transfer their property tax to a replacement property of equal or lesser value in a specific county. Obviously, a major part of housing affordability and making sure our state’s age diversity is preserved, this measure is also supported by the California Association of Realtors, having been proposed by the San Diego Association of Realtors.

Prop 10 | Allowing Local Authorities to Enact Rent Control [Oppose]

A measure seeking to give local authorities more freedom to enact rent control policies will be on the November ballot. Proposition 10 would repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act and its ban on certain types of rent control, including protections for tenants of single-family homes, condos and apartments built after 1995.

Local Measures

County of San Diego – Measure D – this measure would require all County elected officials (Board of Supervisors, Sheriff and District Attorney) to go to a run-off election in the November general. Currently, these officials can win outright in the primary election should they get more than 50% of the vote, thus saving money and time. The measure is sponsored by SEIU, a large labor union with numerous members working for County government. It is opposed by all five members of the Board of Supervisors.

City of San Diego – Measures E (SoccerCity) and G (SDSU West) – all eyes in the City of San Diego are on the competing measures for the re-use of the SDCCU stadium in Mission Valley. Millions are being spent by both sides with both claiming benefits to professional sports in San Diego, as well as to the future growth needs of SDSU.

Local Elections

County of San Diego – Board of Supervisors District 4 – District Attorney is running off against former Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher. The district has changed quite a bit since Supervisor Roberts first won the election, with Democrat registration outpacing Republican. Independent voters (those either of third parties or not choosing a party preference) will likely cast the decisive votes in a race where both are trying to appeal to center-left voters in this left-leaning district.

City of San Diego – Council Districts 2 and 6 – it’s all about the Mayoral veto…in District 2, you have sitting Councilmember Lorie Zapf squaring off against political newcomer, Jen Campbell. Similarly, in District 6, you have sitting Councilmember Chris Cate versus former radio personality Tommy Hough. Both races seem to be characterized by national politics, with the challengers, both of whom are Democrats, playing up the fact that the incumbents are Republican and attempting to tie them to President Trump. If either of the incumbents lose, it does challenge the balance of power on the Council, which is, right now, 5 Democrats to 4 Republicans. Even though it’s a non-partisan election, both challengers are considered “progressive left” candidates, favored by organized labor, which could mean they would line up against Mayor Faulconer’s agenda and able to over-ride any veto he might issue (it takes 6 votes to over-ride a veto). Turn out and national political satisfaction, or lack thereof, may be a key decider in these races.

City of San Diego – Council Districts 4 and 8 – in these districts, you have one incumbent, Myrtle Cole and a challenger who used to work for her, Monica Montgomery. In District 8, incumbent David Alvarez is termed out, and you one of his staffers, Vivian Moreno running off against a San Ysidro School Board member, Anthony Martinez. Since all of the candidates are Democrat and considered philosophically “progressive left”, the outcomes won’t necessarily challenge the balance of power on the council. What could change is the preference for organized labor and their agenda, with Councilmember Cole being endorsed by numerous local labor unions, as is Antonio Martinez in District 8.

Voters have a lot to consider before the November 6th election. For more information on the state or local initiatives and candidates, please look inside your voter pamphlet from the Secretary of State and the San Diego County Registrar of Voters. You can also go to the following links:

https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/upcoming-elections/general-election-november-6-2018/

https://www2.sdcounty.ca.gov/rov/Eng/ballot.asp

For more information from the California Business Properties Association, please see their news links for the election:

https://cbpa.com/eweekly-alert-news/

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