A quick read of this morning’s Chronicle might lead you to believe that the Bayview Affordable Housing Initiative is dead in the water…

Candlestick housing petition count short
A signature drive for a San Francisco ballot measure to require that half the housing constructed at Candlestick Point and Hunters Point be priced affordably failed an early test on Friday. The city Department of Elections conducted a random sample of the 11,311 signatures turned in by the backers of the measure and found an insufficient number could be verified as coming from registered voters.

First of all, the final certified count of signatures turned into the Department of Elections was actually 11,811. Second, the Chronicle fails to mention the provisions of the California Elections Code that governs the sampling of signatures.

9115. (b) If the statistical sampling shows that the number of valid signatures is within 95 to 110 percent of the number of signatures of qualified voters needed to declare the petition sufficient, the elections official shall… examine and verify each signature filed.

In a memo release yesterday, the Department of Elections states, “the review of the random sample did demonstrate the petition as having a sufficient number of valid signatures to require the Department to review the remaining… signatures.” This means that the first sample produced between 95% and 110% of the required number.

We always knew that collecting these signatures in only 10 days was going to be difficult. When we turned the signatures in, I acknowledged that it would be close. Getting the signatures required to force a full count is a major victory!

We were fortunate to have dozens of volunteers braving the cold wind and rain, and now the odds are two-to-one in our favor.

On Monday, Bayview community leaders, joined by San Francisco progressives, submitted 11,236 signatures to qualify the Bayview Affordable Housing Initiative for June’s ballot. Progressives, with strong leadership from POWER, contributed almost 5,000 signatures to the effort! With only 10 days and a few thousand dollars, we almost surpassed Lennar’s 2-month, “dream-team” operation.

Seemingly unconcerned about any backlash from all their dirty money, Lennar dropped another $200,000 in the past couple of weeks on their campaign — bringing their grand total so far to $813,066.82!

Meanwhile, Lennar’s “dream team” only gets bigger. Continuing their payouts to San Francisco’s political establishment, Lennar added former 49ers President Carmen Policy, Newsom pollster David Binder, former Community College Trustee Johnnie Carter, powerhouse west-side lobbyist Denise LaPointe, and Willie Brown’s go-to astroturf operation A Philip Randolph Institute to their operation. They join the ranks of Terris, Barnes, and Walters, Eric Jaye’s Storefront Consulting, Alex Tourk’s Ground Floor Public Affairs, Singer and Associates, Jim Stearns, and Roberta Achtenberg.

With all this firepower, it’s hard to believe that these guys were only able to collect 13,000 signatures. By comparison, the Police Officers Association spent a total of $232,000 to qualify and pass Proposition B on Tuesday’s ballot. This included their signature gathering and campaign expenses, including commercials! As out of control as the POA is politcally, Lennar is like the cops on steroids… twice.

Thank you to everyone who braved the cold wind and rain to make this happen. Downtown may have expected progressives to sit on the sidelines as they raided the Bayview/Hunters Point, but we once again showed our committment to fighting for a diverse San Francisco and our solidarity with our friends and neighbors in the Bayview.

Thank you!