San Franciscans for Social Housing calls on the Commission Streamlining Task Force to preserve the Housing Stability Fund Oversight Board

August 19, 2025

Dear Members of the Commission Streamlining Task Force,

On behalf of San Franciscans for Social Housing, a grassroots organization whose mission is to make Social Housing a reality in our city, we urge you to reconsider your recommendation to eliminate the Housing Stability Oversight Board.

The Oversight Board—and the Housing Stability Fund it oversees—were created in November 2020, when the Board of Supervisors unanimously passed, and the Mayor approved, Ordinance 233-20, which added language to Administrative Code SEC. 5.45-6 stating: “the Board intends the [Housing Stability Fund] Oversight Board to exist indefinitely unless terminated by ordinance.” According to the ordinance, the Oversight Board’s express responsibility is to “[make] recommendations and [provide] guidance for the use of the Housing Stability Program Fund for Social Housing Developments,” while the Housing Stability Fund is intended to “[provide] funds for the acquisition, creation, operation, development, construction, or rehabilitation of Social Housing Developments” (emphasis added).

It is important to underscore that the Housing Stability Fund was created specifically to support Social Housing—not merely general “Affordable Housing,” as your staff report suggests. This distinction is critical. Social Housing is publicly funded, permanently affordable housing owned by the public. It differs from conventional “Affordable Housing” in its public ownership, and from “Public Housing” in its broader income eligibility. By serving residents across a wide range of incomes, Social Housing fosters integrated communities and can place downward pressure on private market rents when built at scale. In August 2020, the Board of Supervisors unanimously passed Resolution 365-20, (August 2020) explicitly designating the Housing Stability Fund as one of two intended recipients of Proposition I revenues, for the specific purpose of funding Social Housing. Based on an understanding of this intended use of the funds, 58% of San Francisco voters approved the new transfer tax rate increases proposed in Proposition I.

Unlike some other boards recommended for elimination by Task Force staff, the Oversight Board neither duplicates the work of another body, nor imposes significant costs, as its members serve without compensation and administrative and clerical support for the board are provided by existing staff in the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD). Nor does it create bureaucratic bottlenecks, since its sole role is to provide recommendations and guidance on the MOHCD’s administration of the Housing Stability Fund. On the contrary, its work is essential to ensuring both the letter and the spirit of the law are upheld—particularly in shepherding and safeguarding the effective use of funds, protecting them from being diverted away from the Social Housing vision that voters demanded when they approved Proposition I.

Task Force staff cited two rationales for eliminating the Oversight Board: (1) the Housing Stability Fund has not received new allocations since March 2021, and (2) four of the 11 board seats are vacant. Neither reason justifies eliminating the body. The lack of new funding is not the Board’s failure, but rather the result of the Board of Supervisors neglecting to appropriate funds for the program. Likewise, the vacancies exist only because the Board of Supervisors and the Director of MOHCD have neglected their duty to fill them, despite the legal requirement to do so.

The solution to an underfunded program with an oversight body that has unfilled seats is not to eliminate its oversight body. If the City is unwilling to fund or staff the Social Housing program, then lawmakers should have an honest debate about eliminating it entirely. But until then, eliminating oversight undermines a program that has strong public support and remains enshrined in law.

This program represents a hard-fought political victory that drew widespread public engagement and achieved a rare moment of unity in San Francisco around the vision of Social Housing. It should not be discarded in the name of “streamlining.” Publicly owned, permanently affordable housing remains a shared political objective, affirmed less than five years ago, and deserves continued institutional support.

At a time when San Francisco’s housing crisis is as severe as ever, we should strengthen—not weaken—our capacity to build Social Housing. Thank you for your attention to this critical matter.

Sincerely,
San Franciscans for Social Housing