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Supervisor Preston presses for youth transitional housing, state rent-relief outreach and probe of "copaganda" spending
Summary
Supervisor Dean Preston used his March 22 roll call remarks to press the administration to buy a 21-unit building in his district for transitional housing for youth, to accelerate city outreach for a state rent-relief deadline, and to launch an inquiry into city-funded public communications on policing.
During roll call on March 22, Supervisor Dean Preston urged the city to act swiftly on youth homelessness in District 5 and pressed the mayor’s administration on outreach for the state rent-relief program. He also announced a planned hearing and a letter of inquiry into city and police public communications he described as ‘‘copaganda.’’
Preston said his office has repeatedly asked the administration to purchase the Red Vic, a 21-unit vacant building in his district, as transitional housing for youth. He said the city has more than $10 million already designated for bridge housing for youth and noted the Red Vic was on the market at an estimated price—about $5 million—that would have been within the set-aside funding. He said the administration’s lack of action, including an undisclosed contract with a private hotel operator, is ‘‘extremely problematic’’ and asked for a one-year deadline for the administration to secure transitional housing options.
On rent relief, Preston highlighted a March 31 state deadline for applications to the state rent-relief program and said the state had disbursed about $105 million to roughly 9,200 San Francisco households while many more applications remain pending. He said that if the city had mailed a citywide notice to renters, as his office had repeatedly requested, even a 1% increase in applications could have preserved an estimated $32 million in state payments for local renters. He said his office privately funded a mailer to 25,000 District 5 tenants to encourage applications.
Separately, Preston said he would convene a hearing and issue a letter of inquiry to SFPD and the mayor’s press office seeking details about taxpayer-funded media activities that, he said, promote ‘‘tough-on-crime’’ narratives and could ‘‘undermine police oversight or reform.’’ He said the expenditure reported by the mayor’s press office exceeds $1 million annually and said the board should understand how the money is used and whether any policies govern city messaging on policing.
Board response: Supervisors thanked Preston for the initiative; some signaled interest in examining communications spending and ensuring outreach for rent-relief before the March 31 deadline.
Ending: Preston asked colleagues to encourage constituents to apply for state rent relief before the deadline and said the board will hold follow-up hearings related to city messaging and youth housing options.
