League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	San Francisco County, CA November 8, 2011 Election
	Proposition B Road Repaving and Street Safety Bonds City and County of San Francisco General Obligation Bonds - 2/3 Approval Required Pass: 129175 / 68.02% Yes votes ...... 60741 / 31.98% No votes See Also: Index of all Propositions

Arguments For Proposition B

Arguments Against Proposition B

FIX OUR STREETS--YES ON B! PROP B FIXES POTHOLES, BUCKLING SIDEWALKS AND SEISMICALLY UNSAFE OVERPASSES AND STAIRWAYS San Francisco has 850 miles of roads and sidewalks-- many filled with potholes, buckling sidewalks, seismically unsafe bridges, overpasses and stairways. Prop B is a critical component of the city's Ten - Year Capital Plan to make these urgently needed renovations and infrastructure improvements. PROP B IMPROVES PEDESTRIAN SAFETY AND ACCESSIBILITY FOR OUR MOST VULNERABLE Over the last decade, over 200 pedestrians have been killed--many of them seniors. Prop B will improve the safety of our streets for our most vulnerable--the elderly, children and families, and those with disabilities, especially at intersections near schools. PROP B IMPROVES OUR SAFETY In the event of the next earthquake, police, firefighters and medical personnel must be able to quickly reach those in need. Deteriorated roads, seismically unsafe bridges and overcrossings could have devastating impacts on the ability of first responders to aid in a disaster. PROP B CREATES BADLY NEEDED LOCAL JOBS With high unemployment and many families having trouble making ends meet, Prop B, by investing in infrastructure, helps create over 1,000 local construction jobs and boosts small businesses. PROP B DOES NOT RAISE YOUR TAXES Prop B has been specifically designed so tax rates WILL NOT increase. By complying with the city's policy of only issuing new bonds as old ones are paid off, this measure's full costs can be funded at current tax rates with NO INCREASE. PROP B puts San Francisco back on the road to safer, smoother streets. Fix the Streets of San Francisco--Yes on B! Mayor Edwin M. Lee Supervisor Scott Wiener Supervisor Carmen Chu* Supervisor David Chiu Supervisor Jane Kim Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi Supervisor Malia Cohen Supervisor John Avalos For identification purposes only; author is signing as an individual and not on behalf of an organization. Rebuttal to Arguments For DPW is pretending that all of the proposed street improvement projects are capital improvements and are not considered ongoing or routine maintenance. General Obligation Bonds (GOB) pay for capital improvements. They are not meant to pay for one-time maintenance projects such as road repairs. The City worked hard to earn its current a low road rating by deliberately deferring road maintenance in good times and bad. Just about 80% of the money that should have been spent on road repairs was deliberately redirected to City employee salaries. Now after years of deferred maintenance, the City comes crawling back to the voters with a $248M Road Repaving Bond on the November ballot. This is what the road repair bond claims they will give us: We get to repay for our infrastructure repair for a second time. The question here is: Should the voters now reward City government for doing such a bad job? Federal, state, and local infrastructure funds should be spent on purposes that were intended. As one supervisor has stated, "The City has the financial means but not the political will to prioritize the maintenance of our streets." Hopefully, the road repair bond will not kill passage of the school repair bond, since voters are leery of approving $761 million in new GOB debt across the two bonds. The education of our City's children is far more important than our City's deferred road repairs. Vote NO on Prop B! Coalition for San Francisco Neighborhoods

San Francisco's Neighborhoods OPPOSE Prop B! This bond does not guarantee your street will get paved not explain why the City Administrator and the Director of DPW have neglected -- for 20 years -- to direct already-budgeted street-repair funds to repaving our streets. not explain why the mayor is asking for citizens to pay for it again -- where did our property tax and rental pass-through monies go the first time we paid? And consider this: Only $148.4M of this bond's $248M is actually for street paving! Do you want the City to double-tax you to help pay for these things when they should have been doing it all along with your property tax and rent pass-through money? Of course not! Force City Hall to use our money as it was budgeted, and as it was intended! Vote NO on Prop B! Coalition for San Francisco Neighborhoods Established 1973. 46 neighborhood organizations. Rebuttal to Arguments Against San Francisco Planning and Safety Experts Support Prop B Many San Francisco streets, sidewalks and bridges are so deteriorated that major renovations are required. Structural street repairs, reconstructing buckling sidewalks and seismically strengthening our bridges and staircases are necessary improvements beyond the typical maintenance that state and federal funding support. Prop B is a major program of the city's Ten Year Capital Plan to invest in our infrastructure by reconstructing our failed roads, improving pedestrian access on sidewalks and crossings for the elderly and disabled, and making safety upgrades to bridges and other street structures. Prop B directs that more than half of bond funds be spent on street repaving and reconstruction - our biggest need - throughout all neighborhoods. Rebuilding our streets and upgrading signals improves traffic flow and safety for our public transportation system and emergency responders, as well as for bicycles and automobiles. If we do not pass Proposition B to ensure these improvements are made now, our city streets will further degrade with even more potholes, creating unsafe conditions for everyone and costing taxpayers significantly more as conditions worsen. Proposition B is subject to strict independent oversight and audits to ensure fund expenditures are transparent and used as directed. Prop B has been designed so taxes WILL NOT increase. Because the city only issues new bonds as old ones are paid off, Prop B will be funded at current tax rates with NO INCREASE. San Francisco Planning and Urban Research (SPUR) Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White* Police Chief Greg Suhr* For identification purposes only; author is signing as an individual and not on behalf of an organization.