By Gordon Mar

As westside residents prepare to cast their ballots in this election, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the long list of local, regional and statewide measures. Between glossy mailers and rapid-fire political ads, the stakes for our neighborhoods can get lost in the noise.

I have lived on the west side for decades and served as District 4 supervisor. I’ve seen firsthand how crucial it is to look past political slogans and examine how proposed ballot measures will actually affect everyday life in the Richmond and Sunset districts.

That is why I’ve worked with fellow community activists to create the inaugural Westside Forward Voter Guide. Our grassroots group evaluated selected ballot measures by asking four questions: Will they help working families and seniors afford to stay? Will they protect community participation and accountable government? Will they sustain essential public services? And will they ask the wealthiest people and largest interests to contribute their fair share?

Three themes emerged from those questions.

1. Grassroots Democracy and Community Voice

Westside residents have long organized to make sure our neighborhoods are heard at City Hall. Yet several measures would change the ways people can participate in and oversee City decisions.

Consider Proposition D, which would quadruple the signature threshold required to place a citizen initiative on the local ballot. While framed as a measure to streamline government, raising the requirement from roughly 10,600 to over 42,500 signatures effectively puts citizen-led measures out of reach for volunteer neighborhood groups, leaving the initiative process largely to well-funded interests capable of paying professional signature gatherers.

Similarly, measures like Proposition A, Proposition E and Proposition F propose broad structural changes – concentrating procurement, oversight and departmental authority into unelected or centralized offices while scaling back the oversight role of citizen commissions and the Board of Supervisors. On the state level, Proposition 45 would restrict environmental review processes in ways that limit community input. Effective local governance requires checks, balances and transparency, ensuring everyday westside residents retain a meaningful seat at the table.

2. Affordable Housing and Community Investment

The housing crisis pushes working families out, makes it harder for seniors to remain in their communities and leaves young people wondering whether they can build a future here. Addressing this challenge requires intentional, dedicated investment in affordable housing alongside creative financial tools.

Westside Forward highlights several opportunities for voters to support long-term stability. Proposition C (Housing Trust Fund) and Proposition I (Affordable Housing Transfer Tax) seek to secure dedicated local funding for affordable housing construction and preservation. At the state level, Proposition 1 would authorize bond funding for affordable housing across California.

Equally significant is how public projects are financed. Proposition B authorizes San Francisco to establish a Municipal Finance Corporation and public bank, creating a new pathway for public financing that could support affordable housing, small businesses, and other community needs.

3. Essential Public Services – and Who Pays

Vibrant neighborhoods rely on dependable public infrastructure, from transit lines like the N-Judah and 38-Geary to public schools, healthcare and City services. Maintaining these essentials requires both dependable funding and honest choices about who bears the cost.

Local measures like Proposition H (Muni Parcel Tax) and the Regional Transit Measure (RTM) respond to urgent funding needs for Muni and BART. The RTM, however, relies on a sales tax, which takes a larger share of income from lower- and middle-income households. Its promise of preserving service comes with a question about how to fund transit more fairly in the long run.

That question, “Who pays?” runs through the statewide ballot as well. Proposition 3 would continue existing higher income-tax rates on high earners to help sustain schools and healthcare, while Proposition 40 would impose a one-time tax on wealth above $1 billion, primarily for healthcare amid drastic cuts to Medi-Cal enacted under President Donald Trump’s administration. Both ask Californians with the greatest resources to contribute more for the common good. Propositions 41, 42 and 43, by contrast, would place different restrictions on the ability of voters and governments to raise revenue for public needs. As we weigh these measures, we should consider both the services our communities need and whether the costs are shared equitably.

Westside Forward does not claim that every ballot question has an easy answer. The guide covers selected measures and includes no position on some, including Proposition G, concerning the future of the Upper Great Highway and Sunset Dunes Park. Neighbors can disagree on that issue and still work together for affordable housing, essential public services and a stronger community voice.

As you vote, I hope you will ask what each measure would change, whose needs it would serve, and who would pay. Read the arguments, discuss them with your neighbors and make your own decisions. You can find Westside Forward’s analysis and recommendations at westsideforwardsf.org/voter-guide.

Gordon Mar is a former District 4 supervisor and a co-founder of Westside Forward.