The San Francisco Democratic Central Committee voted 18-8 late last night to endorse Prop M, the Housing Preservation Initiative. The vote marks a major victory for the coalition of tenants, builders, religious leaders, and senior and neighborhood groups that gathered over 19,000 signatures to qualify the initiative for the ballot.
Committee members Holly Thier, Bill Barnes and Malik Looper spoke strongly in favor of a Yes on M endorsement. Looper emphasized the measure’s importance for preventing the demolition of affordable housing at Bayview-Hunters Point, while Thier spoke passionately in urging her colleagues to support the measure. Committee member Robert Haaland missed the meeting due to a candidates event but had previously lobbied his colleagues on behalf of Prop M.
Supervisor Chris Daly and Residential Builders leader Joe O’Donoghue played key roles in securing the Party endorsement, and were joined at the four hour meeting by fellow Prop M campaign leaders Ted Gullicksen of the San Francisco Tenants Union and Sam Dodge of the Tenderloin Housing Clinic. Nobody associated with the No on M campaign attended the meeting.
