NO on Q & R People for Homeless and Housing Solutions

Campaign Update:
Looking for something to cheer about in the midst of a majority national vote for sexism, racism and xenophopia?

We will not know the final results for a couple weeks as many still need to mail in their ballots. One thing is sure already - we haven't beaten back an anti homeless measure since before 2000. We did it and that is amazing!

Prop R
Prop R will likely fail. For homeless people, in many ways, this was the one that would have had a more negative effect as it would have permanently assigned police to criminalize poverty. Fantastic work everyone!

Results without the recent mail in's:
No
133,550 voters or 54.49%

Yes
111,531 votes or 45.51%

Prop Q
Prop Q is too close to call. We are behind 14,000 votes, and there are a very estimated 80.000 votes to still count. The number of yes votes has gone down from 57% to 52%. That means we have very good chance of winning still.

Yes
132,209 votes or 52.8%

No
118,209 votes or 47.2%

Keep checking Department of Elections results over the next couple weeks or check here for updates!

Today is election day and I just want to share some thoughts about the journey that brought us here. I want to share some gratitude, and some hope.

We have fought back against some very evil forces. Billionaires who could so easily buy countless housing units for the most destitute who instead invested in a sinister effort to tear the tents away from impoverished people. Forces who represent the unbridled greed of gentrification, forces who have financial and real estate investment in the white washing of this city. These forces outright lied to voters, they told them folks would get shelter and housing when they won't. They even stooped so low as to use the r**e of women as a reason to tear away their tents to leave them exposed on the concrete. They may end up spending a million dollars, against our maybe $8,000. The whole thing has made my stomach churn, because we know it is all about political gain and political games and was NEVER about doing right by the black, brown, q***r and disabled communities who make up our homeless population.

With that small amount of funding, everyone said we didn't have a chance. But we approached this campaign with love and hard dedicated work. We got 80,000 pieces of literature to neighbors across the city, we knocked on countless doors, and called voters in 3 districts. We garnered endorsement after endorsement simply by speaking truth. We went to bars and pubs, we went to poor areas and rich ones, we went in the pouring rain, and the sunny days, we got hundreds of posters up and we had countless conversations. Homeless people fought back against their vicious attacks and nasty vitriol, and joined forces with allies across the city who saw through this farce.

All of us see that an attack on homeless people is only a thinly veiled attack on people of color, people with disabilities, and the q***r and trans community. All of us see this attack coming clearly from pro-gentrification and pro-displacement forces. But as gross as it is, we have already won and that feels wonderful. We won countless hearts. We won by becoming stronger. We won in endorsements. We won with love. We won by shifting the debate squarely away from a criminalization response. We won and will continue winning throughout this struggle until all San Franciscans have a safe and decent place to call home.

Big thanks to all those who worked so hard on this campaign, out of love and adoration for not only social and economic justice, but for all our sisters and brothers forced to live outdoors and in shelters, We were all forced to weather this ugly storm of attacks and deciept, we did it with grace and rose up, fought back with unchecked passion. We will keep winning.

Big Love and Gratitude To All of You!

Jennifer Friedenbach

Did you get a Pi**ed Off Voter Guide yet? You can find it online here... http://www.theleaguesf.org/voter_guides

Here is the write up on Prop Q...

Prop Q: Demonize the Homeless for Political Gain - F**k No 😡

Dang, Mark Farrell sure does hate homeless people. Though apparently the District 2 Supervisor has no problem using them as fodder to propel his fetid political career. He authored this Prop amending the police code to make it illegal “to place an encampment on a public sidewalk.” SFPD would have the authority to remove an encampment after giving just a 24-hour notice and offering ‘shelter options’. As we know, though, the options are pretty limited. Authorities would either bus folks out of the City via the Homeward Bound program or give them housing for 24 hours in a temporary shelter if housing was not available at the Navigation Center. But, seriously, one night is not even 24 hours of housing. They could also could toss homeless people’s seized property after 90 days - but eep! right now there are reports of people's belongings being tossed right away.

San Francisco has approximately 6,686* homeless residents according to the 2015 count, though many advocates say that is an undercount as families and youth are underrepresented. About half of them sleep on the streets every night. The City estimates there are 500-700 homeless residents in tents. There are only about 1,300* adult shelter beds - with a huge waiting list for 90-day beds (~900* on the waitlist any given night). There simply aren’t enough resources. Even great efforts like the Navigation Centers suffer from a fundamental problem. To quote Street Sheet: “The problem with the Navigation Center model is that it is not particularly successful in linking homeless people with long-term permanent housing because there is no housing to be linked up with.”

Prop Q isn’t just cruel, it’s arguably unconstitutional. In August 2015, the Department of Justice announced that these types of ordinances criminalize the status of being homeless and violate the 8th Amendment to the Constitution.

Ultimately, this isn’t about helping homeless people. It’s about getting Mark Farrell’s name out there as a “homeless advocate” so that he can run for Mayor, similar to how Gavin Newsom did with 2002’s “Care Not Cash”. We say f**k no.

What might be most frustrating about the fight over Prop Q is that it's distracting all of us from the measures that will actually fund housing for the homeless: Prop J, Prop K, and Prop S. Please vote yes on those three for real solutions to homelessness.

Right on! Thanks Margaret!

https://www.facebook.com/NOonQandR/videos/663092947201650/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE

"Our homeless response system is like a pipe: It can only carry water proportionate to available housing. By that logic, an encampment ban would be tantamount to a water main break, pushing thousands of people through a bursting pipe, where the street is still their final destination. An encampment ban doesn’t ban encampments as much as it asks The City to start a flood and then spend its resources to divert the flow of human suffering from one sidewalk to another. This is symptom-chasing, not problem-solving, and it would have bad policy consequences for our city."

http://www.sfexaminer.com/encampment-ban-creates-several-problems-solves-none/

Encampment ban creates several problems, solves none No San Franciscan sees encampments as a sustainable response to homelessness, least of all those living unsheltered during our winter months. But Proposition Q, a nominal encampment ban, will create several problems and solve none. Prop. Q makes sidewalk encampments unlawful. It permits The City

Endorsements for November 8th, 2016 Election – San Francisco Tenants Union This taps an unused city fund to allow the purchase and rehabilitation of apartment buildings. This will save many rent-controlled tenants their homes.

It's POURING rain and yet we have an even better turnout of volunteers than yesterday!! Throwing down in the Sunset! Vote NO on Q&R!!

"This November is a chance to prove that San Francisco is still a City for All, no matter what the national mood. Say no to Trumpifying San Francisco, and vote NO on Props P, Q, R, and U."

http://48hills.org/2016/10/28/some-sf-ballot-measures-donald-trump-would-love/

OPINION: Some SF ballot measures Donald Trump would love - 48 hills Props P, U, Q and R reflect Trumpian politics in San Francisco

Wiener Giraffe says Vote NO on Q&R!!

Stretching the full gamut of SF's political thought, nearly everyone is voting NO on Q! Join the opposition to this harmful Prop!

Vote NO on Props Q&R!