Weiner withdraws waterfront height-limit resolution after mayor says departments will study impacts

Supervisor Scott Wiener withdrew his resolution asking city departments to analyze the potential effects of a waterfront height-limit ballot initiative on Thursday, saying the mayor's office had committed to doing the work.

"I have been informed by the mayor's office that Mayor Lee will be issuing a directive to the departments to engage in the requested analysis. As a result, I believe this resolution is now moot, and I intend to withdraw it. I request that the committee table it," Wiener told the Rules Committee during its March 20 meeting.

Jason Elliott of the mayor's office told the committee that the mayor is coordinating with department heads and that departments may, where budgeted or authorized, "investigate and evaluate objectively the potential impact of a ballot measure on city operations." Elliott said he would request the city attorney recirculate a memo, "Political Activity by City Officers and Employees" (dated 09/03/2013), which advises departments how to perform such analyses and requires that any analysis be made public.

Supervisor David Campos said he appreciated the outreach but expressed a policy concern: "I do have that concern, because I think that the way in which to, you know, campaign for or against something is to use private resources to make that happen. I'm not sure if that's necessarily a good precedent, but, you know, that's, legally, that's something that could be done." Campos said his worry was about precedent for using city resources on measures that are politically contested.

Members of the public urged the committee both to pursue and to be skeptical of departmental study. Pat Valentino, a South Beach community volunteer who said she had read a Port analysis, urged disclosure of details on the ballot measure's impacts: "23 acres of open space lost, 600 affordable housing units delayed or lost, [and] 3,700 potential loss of rental housing'without displacement," she said, and called the information "extremely urgent" amid the city's housing affordability crisis. By contrast, Eileen Bogan (District 4) said she was skeptical a mayor-directed analysis would be truly impartial, invoking the image of "The Emperor's New Clothes" and saying, "The emperor has no clothes," to express doubt.

After public comment the committee voted to file the withdrawn resolution; the chair noted that the mayor's office had indicated it would circulate and publish any department analyses. No formal change to the ballot measure was made by the committee; the mayor's directive and department reports were left as the next step.

Why it matters: The committee's handling of the request to study the waterfront initiative touches on how city resources are used to analyze ballot measures that could affect open space, development, and affordable housing along the waterfront, including assets such as Pier 70. The exchange clarified that departments may prepare public, analytical material under city policy but raised questions among supervisors and residents about impartiality and precedent.

The Rules Committee moved on after filing the withdrawn resolution; the mayor's forthcoming directive and the content of any departmental reports will determine whether the committee or full Board of Supervisors revisits the issue.