Kai Rivers
Gavin Newsom, the former mayor of San Francisco, has been accused of creating or exacerbating the city's rent problems. Newsom, who served as mayor from 2004 to 2011, has been criticised for his handling of the city's housing crisis and his close ties to developers. While he focused on development projects and claimed to support affordable housing, he has been accused of prioritising luxury condo towers over the needs of renters and exacerbating the city's budget deficit. Newsom's legacy as mayor has been described as a deep structural budget deficit and a diminished social safety net, with critics arguing that he failed to adequately address the city's housing affordability crisis.
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What You'll Learn
Homelessness in San Francisco
Homelessness has been a persistent issue in San Francisco, with several thousand homeless individuals in the city. The problem has been attributed to various factors, including economic growth, a lack of affordable housing, poverty, and social issues.
During his tenure as mayor of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011, Gavin Newsom faced scrutiny for his handling of the city's homelessness crisis. While he claimed to have reduced the street population by 40%, this decrease occurred between 2002 and 2009, before and during his first two years in office. The homeless population increased by 400 during his final two years, and the overall count in 2017 was 1,044 higher than when he left office. Newsom has been criticised for his approach, which included turning over parts of the city to developers for luxury condo towers, resulting in a diminished social safety net and an affordable housing crisis.
Newsom has also been criticised for his response to homelessness as governor of California. In 2023, he faced backlash for ordering the removal of homeless camps in San Francisco ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' summit, which was seen as an attempt to impress visiting leaders, particularly Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The homelessness crisis in San Francisco is complex and influenced by various factors. Strong economic growth and job creation have been coupled with a housing shortage due to restrictions on building new units, resulting in extremely high rents. This has been exacerbated by the loss of jobs from deindustrialisation, rapid rises in housing prices, and cuts to social welfare and mental health services. The city's dense development pattern and lack of vacant land also limit homeless encampments to sidewalks, making the issue more visible to residents and visitors.
Addressing homelessness in San Francisco requires a multifaceted approach that considers the economic, social, and political factors contributing to the issue. While there have been extensive efforts by the city government to tackle homelessness, the problem persists and continues to impact the city and its residents.
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Housing crisis
Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, was the mayor of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011. He succeeded Willie Brown and was San Francisco's youngest mayor in over a century when he took office at 36.
During his tenure, Newsom focused on development projects in Hunters Point and Treasure Island. He also signed the Health Choices Plan in 2007 to provide San Francisco residents with universal healthcare. Newsom has also been credited for improving San Francisco public housing through his public-private partnership initiative called SF HOPE. The Baysview-Hunters Point project includes over 8,500 housing units and 350 acres of open space. Since Newsom became mayor, the city has invested nearly $500 million in the construction of affordable housing for nearly 20% of San Francisco's families. He also worked on plans for 6,000 new homes and apartments on Treasure Island, new high-rise apartments and condominiums on Rincon Hill, and the rebuilding of the Transbay Terminal.
However, Newsom has also been criticised for exacerbating the affordable housing crisis in San Francisco by turning over large parts of the city to politically connected developers for "redevelopment" with mostly luxury condo towers. He has also been criticised for his ideological opposition to new taxes and for giving overly generous contracts to police, fire, and other unions.
While he was mayor, Newsom also gained national attention for directing the San Francisco city-county clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, violating a state law passed in 2000. Approximately 4,000 same-sex couples were issued licenses in San Francisco from February 12 until March 11, 2004, when the weddings were halted by the California Supreme Court. Newsom's unexpected move brought international attention to the issues of gay marriage and gay rights, solidifying political support for him in San Francisco and in the gay community.
Newsom has also been criticised for his handling of the city's homeless crisis. While he has often pointed to his role in cutting San Francisco's "street population by 40%", his critics argue that he cherry-picked the timeframe of this reduction, which took place from 2002 to 2009, two years before he became mayor, to two years before he left office. The street population increased by 400 during his final two years, and the city's overall homeless population also increased slightly during his tenure, from 6,248 in January 2005 to 6,455 in January 2011. However, a 2010 San Francisco Chronicle article credited Newsom with "moving more homeless people into supportive housing in his seven years in office than any other mayor in the city's history".
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Support for progressive policies
Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, served as the mayor of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011. During his tenure, Newsom supported progressive policies in areas such as housing, education, and LGBTQ+ rights.
Newsom focused on addressing the city's housing issues, particularly the need for more affordable housing. He worked on plans for new homes and apartments, including 6,000 new units on Treasure Island and 8,500 housing units in the Baysview-Hunters Point project. Since he became mayor, the city invested nearly $500 million in constructing affordable housing for about 20% of San Francisco's families. Additionally, Newsom's public-private partnership initiative, SF HOPE, aimed to improve public housing in the city.
Newsom also initiated programs to tackle chronic homelessness. The San Francisco Homeless Outreach Team (SF HOT) and Project Homeless Connect (PHC) collectively placed 2,000 homeless people in permanent housing and provided 5,000 additional affordable rental units. However, there are conflicting reports on the overall impact of his efforts on homelessness. While some sources claim that the homeless population decreased during his tenure, others argue that it increased slightly.
In terms of education, Newsom secured $77 million to support underperforming schools in San Francisco. He also committed $30.6 million in city funds to help the San Francisco Unified School District offset a $40 million drop in state funding. Additionally, he supported tax incentives for biotech and clean industries to attract more businesses to the city.
Newsom gained national attention for his support of LGBTQ+ rights. On his 36th day in office, he directed the San Francisco city-county clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, citing the California Constitution's equal protection clause. Approximately 4,000 licenses were issued before the California Supreme Court halted the weddings and later voided the licenses. Newsom's actions brought international attention to the issue of gay marriage and solidified his support in San Francisco and the LGBTQ+ community.
While Newsom's progressive policies had varying levels of success and faced some criticism, he made significant efforts to address housing, homelessness, education, and LGBTQ+ rights during his tenure as mayor of San Francisco.
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Development projects
As the mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom focused on development projects in Hunters Point and Treasure Island. He also worked on plans for 6,000 new homes and apartments on Treasure Island, new high-rise apartments and condominiums on Rincon Hill, and rebuilding the Transbay Terminal.
Newsom has worked to improve San Francisco's public housing through his public-private partnership initiative, SF HOPE. The Baysview-Hunters Point project includes over 8,500 housing units and 350 acres of open space. Since Newsom became mayor, the city has invested nearly $500 million in the construction of affordable housing, housing nearly 20% of San Francisco's families.
Newsom's administration also secured $77 million to support underperforming schools and increase the number of police officers in schools. He committed $30.6 million from San Francisco's budget reserves to help the San Francisco Unified School District close a $40 million gap caused by state budget deficits. During Newsom's first term, tourism, air traffic, and hotel occupancy increased, while unemployment decreased by 2.5%. 57 new companies and 35 new biotech firms opened in San Francisco during this time, including the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine Stem Cell Institute. Newsom supported biotech and clean industry tax incentives to attract more businesses to the city.
While Newsom has been credited with moving more homeless people into supportive housing than any other mayor in San Francisco's history, he has also been criticised for exacerbating the city's affordable housing crisis by turning over large areas of the city to politically connected developers for "redevelopment" with mostly luxury condo towers.
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City's budget deficit
During his tenure as mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom left behind a legacy of a city plagued by a deep structural budget deficit. Newsom's fiscally conservative stand against new taxes created problems for the city's nonprofit service providers and social service agencies. Each year, Newsom refused to appear before the board to present his budget, instead relishing in provocative gimmicks and starting fights. This led to increasing cynicism from the public and press about City Hall, which still haunts San Francisco.
Newsom's ideological opposition to new taxes also laid the groundwork for attacks on public employee unions, disguised as necessary "pension reform" efforts. Despite this, Newsom gave generous contracts to police, fire, and other unions, which some believe was done to clear the field for his re-election in 2007.
Newsom's administration also faced criticism for its handling of the city's homelessness crisis. While Newsom has been credited as a leader on the issue, with some reports stating that he moved more homeless people into supportive housing than any other mayor in the city's history, the overall homeless population in San Francisco increased during his tenure.
Newsom has pointed to his role in cutting San Francisco's "street population by 40 percent" and getting "12,000 people off the streets". However, this claim has been fact-checked and rated as "half true", as the reduction took place from 2002 to 2009, two years before he became mayor, and the street population increased by 400 during his final two years.
In summary, Newsom's time as mayor of San Francisco was marked by a structural budget deficit, ideological opposition to new taxes, and a mixed record on addressing the city's homelessness crisis. His legacy includes a city with a diminished social safety net, an affordable housing crisis, and a divisive political environment.
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Frequently asked questions
While serving as mayor, Newsom turned over large parts of the city to developers, who built mostly luxury condo towers. This exacerbated the affordable housing crisis in the city.
Newsom's public-private partnership initiative, SF HOPE, focused on improving public housing in the city. He also worked on plans for 6,000 new homes on Treasure Island and new high-rise apartments on Rincon Hill.
Newsom has been credited as a leader on the topic of homelessness. During his tenure, he initiated programs like the San Francisco Homeless Outreach Team (SF HOT) and Project Homeless Connect (PHC), which provided permanent housing for 2,000 homeless people and 5,000 additional affordable rental units. However, critics argue that the homeless population increased during his time as mayor.
Newsom focused on development projects in Hunters Point and Treasure Island. He also signed the Health Choices Plan in 2007 to provide universal healthcare for San Francisco residents. Additionally, he gained national attention for directing the city-county clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in 2004, bringing attention to the issues of gay marriage and gay rights.
Newsom has faced criticism for his actions as mayor. Some argue that he left a legacy of a deep structural budget deficit and a diminished social safety net. He has also been criticized for his ideological opposition to new taxes and for prioritizing his political ambition over the best interests of the city.
