Breaking down Prop. B, the “Cop Tax,” for Common Sense San Franciscans.

Editor:

As someone who has done a deep dive into the San Francisco Police Commission, our citywide staffing shortage and funding obstacles, I urge all San Franciscans who care about public safety to understand Prop. B and vote “No.” In it’s current form, it is a misleading and purposefully destructive measure. 

There is no higher governmental priority than public safety, and this cynical “Cop Tax” is a public safety roadblock. SFPD short-staffing has resulted in increased response times, more crime, significantly overworked officers and growing SFPD overtime costs at a time when crime and open-air drug markets are ravaging our City. We need more officers as soon as possible and Prop. B will delay staffing for at least 18 months.

Originally proposed by Supervisor Matt Dorsey, this ballot measure would have facilitated a straightforward, immediate police staffing increaseby reallocating existing funds. But Supervisor Ahsha Safai tacked on an amendment, over Dorsey’s objections, making police staffing increases contingent upon passage of an unidentified “new or modified future tax.”  This single move by Safai will delay any response to the urgent SFPD staffing crisis by 18 months to two years – and that’s a best case scenario; in its current form, Prop. B could tie San Francisco up in litigation for years.

Our tax dollars should go first, not last, to police and firefighter funding. But Prop. B turns public safety into an afterthought. We have the money right now to increase SFPD staffing, and Prop. B was intended to be about recruitment. But as amended, Prop. B will stop us in our tracks on police staffing and now requires that a new tax be created in order to proceed. If we have the same anti-police make-up of the Board of Supervisors going forward, there may never be funding identified for this.

By earmarking future tax increases for police funding, Safai’s amendment arguably violates the California constitution, which requires a two-thirds vote to pass certain “special taxes,” while Prop. B is drafted to only require a majority vote.

The proponents of Prop. B want you to believe that San Francisco can only increase police staffing by creating a new tax. This is not true. With a $14 billion budget, we have the funds.  But, if we didn’t, then it would be the responsibility of our elected leaders to reallocate current funds; perhaps they will pull in that that $90 million that went to non-existent non-profits and some of the $120 million that was removed from the police budget in 2020?

Don’t be fooled into thinking the current iteration of Prop. B is aimed at increasing staffing. Prop. B jeopardizes the entire police staffing objective, perpetuating the cycle that keeps our streets and businesses unsafe. It creates another fiscally irresponsible government fund leaving our city in an uncertain, dangerous and reckless limbo.

Vote “No” on Prop. B.

Marie Hurabiell

Marie Hurabiell, lifelong, mutigeneration native San Franciscan is an active advocate for public safety and co-founder / co-lead of SOAR-D1, a 1500 member organization in San Francisco’s Richmond District. Marie swears by the No B.S. Voter Guide at takeactionsf.com, as the guide that primarily aims to protect residents and not the city family.  https://www.takeactionsf.com/voterguide