To the Editor:
Re: your article “Dramatic Action Required to Keep Kids in SF.”
The decline of families with children in San Francisco is a well-documented statistic, evidenced most recently by the closure of 2 public schools — and possibly more to come. One local Supervisor, Michela Alioto-Pier, has repeatedly cited this fact, as she attempts to ram through legislation that would “keep” our children in San Francisco.
But Alioto-Pier’s legislation would do the exact opposite. Fast-tracking TIC owners out of the condo lottery and allowing them to mass-convert may allow some families with children to stay in the City, but these are (a) families that are wealthy enough to have already become homeowners in the most expensive city in America, and (b) because they are wealthier, less likely to send their kids to public schools. The mass condo conversions would do a lot more to drive up real estate speculators to Ellis-evict every rental unit in the city, forcing many more families with children out of the City with nowhere else to go.
If Alioto-Pier was truly concerned about keeping our families with children in San Francisco (rather than rewarding her corporate allies in the real-estate industry), she should support stronger rent control in the City to keep stable communities, join statewide efforts to amend the Ellis Act to discourage real-estate speculators, and drop her efforts to accelerate the rate of condominium conversions in this City.
Given her track record, though, I kind of doubt she would do that.
–Paul Hogarth
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