| BOMA San Francisco Leads the Way – A Report on the November 2, 2010 Election
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| From Ken Cleaveland, BOMA San Francisco's Director of Government and Public Affairs
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The Building Owners and Managers Association of San
Francisco represents the physical assets of commercial property owners and
managers. That means the hundreds of multi-tenant and corporate office
buildings in the City, as well as the thousands of businesses housed in these
structures and the hundreds more firms employed to maintain and service these
structures. With our members’ long term investments in our community, and with
the livelihoods of thousands at stake, it’s absolutely vital that our
organization advocate on behalf of our members with the public policy leaders
of San Francisco.
BOMA must raise and spend funds to defend our members against measures that
would reduce property values, endanger commerce or unfairly restrict private
property rights. BOMA San Francisco advocates continuously for the well-being
of our members and their clients through a variety of meetings during the year
with members of the Board of Supervisors, the Mayor, heads of city departments,
and state and Federal legislators. 2010 was no different. In fact, 2010 was a
very important and very busy year for BOMA San Francisco’s advocacy efforts. For
example:
BOMA San Francisco was one of the first organizations to
support the effort to reform the MUNI wage law governing transit operators,
whose salaries and benefits had been imbedded in the city’s charter. That
effort, led by Supervisor Sean Elsbernd, resulted in a ballot measure,
Proposition G, which passed overwhelmingly in November. BOMA’s Political Action
Committee contributed nearly $50,000 to help get that measure on the ballot,
and gain voter approval.
BOMA San Francisco led the effort to create a coalition of
business organizations to fight new tax measures being considered by the SF
Board of Supervisors as they wrestled with a huge city deficit. BOMA
significantly funded the advocacy and outreach efforts that resulted in the
withdrawal of two onerous tax measures: a commercial rent tax, and an increase
in the parking tax. When two other tax measures were placed on the November
ballot, BOMA contributed over $150,000 to defeat the increase in the hotel tax
(Prop J) and the increase in the property sales – transfer – tax (Prop N).
Proposition J was soundly defeated, as a majority of San Franciscans understood
that tourism is our city’s #1 business, and increasing the hotel tax would hurt
the recruitment and retention of conferences and conventions. Unfortunately,
BOMA and our Economic Recovery SF coalition were not successful in defeating Proposition
N, the measure that will significantly increase the real estate transfer tax
beginning December 17, 2010. It passed
because most voters did not see this tax increase affecting them. Our coalition
tried but failed to make the connection in voters’ minds between increasing the
transfer tax rate on sales of $5 million or more to the overall increase in
costs to tenants, businesses, and their customers. The increase in the tax rate
from 1.5% to 2.0% - on property sales between $5 million and $10 million - and
an increase from 1.5% to 2.5% on sales over $10 million passed handily. San Francisco will now
lead the state with the highest property transfer tax rate of any jurisdiction.
BOMA San Francisco was also involved in the recent district
elections for the Board of Supervisors. No other local political body has as
much influence on the city’s real estate industry as they do. BOMA was one of
the first, and largest contributors to a new business/labor coalition entitled
the Alliance
for Jobs and Sustainable Growth. In our opinion, and that of our union allies,
nothing is as important or vital to our city as growing our city’s private
sector economy and creating jobs. Consequently, BOMA spent over $100,000 to help
fund this Alliance
which supported business-friendly candidates. Happily, the newly-elected Board
of Supervisors will reflect a more moderate approach to local governance, and
will be more focused on creating jobs and helping businesses grow. Congratulations
to the newly-elected Supervisors: Mark Farrell, Jane Kim, Scott Wiener, and
Malia Cohen.
BOMA San Francisco’s advocacy mantra is simple: “If you
aren’t at the table, you’re probably on the menu”. Owners and managers of
commercial real estate must continuously protect their investments. That is one
very good reason for them to belong to BOMA. We are active participants in the
local political process on behalf of our members, and will “walk the talk” when
called upon. Now, with 2011 upon us, it will be important for BOMA to continue
to play as large a role as possible in the upcoming Mayor’s race, and to defend
against propositions that hurt our industry and/or our city’s economy.
Thank you for your support of BOMA SF PAC, and I urge you to
continue (and increase!) your support in the coming year.
With best wishes,
Ken Cleaveland
Director, Govt. and Public Affairs
BOMA San Francisco
kenc@boma.com
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