The City of San Francisco has embarked on an ambitious plan to re-envision the troubled San Francisco Housing Authority (SFHA). SFHA is a federally recognized public corporation with a commission appointed by the local government and a mission to provide affordable housing to low- and moderate-income people. Concerned over the SFHA’s growing financial woes and poor organizational management, Mayor Ed Lee asked the city administrator and the director of the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development to lead an inclusive community process to identify strategies that would address the severe financial challenges facing the agency while still providing high-quality affordable housing to the more than 31,000 low-income residents it serves.
This month, the city released its findings as the re-envisioning process concluded. ºÚÁÏ´«ËÍÃÅcredits the City of San Francisco for conducting an inclusive process, and we believe that the findings are a good first step on the road to addressing the SFHA’s structural operating deficit, its unfunded capital needs and the lack of supportive services for residents and voucher holders. However, we believe that there is much more work to be done in order to stabilize the SFHA for the long term.
The Re-Envisioning Process
The process was spearheaded by the City of San Francisco and coordinated with representatives from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Residents, nonprofit service providers, affordable housing developers, local labor unions and private-sector development experts created working groups. These groups then established guiding principles that focused on: transparency and accountability; improving housing choice and access; creating safe and secure housing; supporting resident self-sufficiency and empowerment; and strengthening community connections. These principles inform six categories highlighted in the report: Governance and Administration; Financing and Re-Capitalization; Section 8 Operations; Public Housing Operations; Resident Services; and Tenant Leadership. Below we review the report’s key findings in each category and follow up with SPUR’s recommendations moving forward.
Key Findings
Governance and Administration
City Recommendation:
One of the SFHA biggest challenges has been the lack of stable leadership and a functional commission able to provide effective oversight. The housing authority has operated as a separate entity from general city operations. The report highlights the need for better alignment between housing authority functions and general city services. This coordination will allow the SFHA to focus on the delivery of housing services to residents and voucher holders while still addressing how to stabilize the city’s public housing buildings, both physically and financially.
SPUR’s Recommendation:
ºÚÁÏ´«ËÍÃÅagrees with the city’s primary recommendation to clarify the role and function of the SFHA Commission structure. We believe that SFHA commissioners should be recruited based on specific skills and expertise that enhance the operations and administration of SFHA functions. The commission needs to become a more professional oversight body with the capacity to appropriately address the SFHA’s fiscal and organizat