The C.L.A.E.R. Project Responds to SFHA Elections

TO: Henry Alvarez, Director, San Francisco Housing Authority
Kyle Pedersen, Director of Governmental Affairs, San Francisco Housing Authority
Denise Kimble, Program Specialist, San Francisco Housing Authority
Kim Brown, President, Public Housing Tenants Association

FROM: Sharen Hewitt, Executive Director, C.L.A.E.R. Project

RE: San Francisco Housing Authority Resident Elections on 9/23/09

DATE: 9/21/09


Beginning as early as July, C.L.A.E.R. has expressed interest in participating in the San Francisco Housing Authority’s Resident Council elections in Sunnydale. C.L.A.E.R., an organization whose very mission is based on building resident capacity, sees the process of resident elections as crucial to the overall development of indigenous resident leadership.

C.L.A.E.R. is proud to enjoy an active partnership with the San Francisco Housing Authority- one that lends itself to authentic and real feedback. To this end, given our observations of the resident election process and outreach, we cannot add legitimacy by participating until the SFHA can do a better job in the execution of Resident Council elections. We implore the SFHA to further consider their decision to hold elections this Wednesday, and to please view the upcoming resident elections as a real opportunity for building leadership. This is an opportunity that cannot be squandered, particularly with important decisions coming up around the SFRA Schlage Lock site, and HOPE SF.

In the interest of seeing free and fair elections, the C.L.A.E.R. Project is offering the following suggestions on how the process could be improved to increase resident participation and maximize the election experience:

1. C.L.A.E.R. suggests, and would be happy to participate in, an aggressive level of outreach and education surrounding elections of resident leaders. The help of residents, and specifically longtime residents, should be enlisted by the SFHA to ensure the highest level of engagement possible. Community based organizations in the area should also be asked to outreach to their program affiliates and Board members.
2. Candidates MUST be adequately educated before the election takes place. This means ensuring they are well versed in the regulations surrounding the distribution of resident participation funding. Residents running for office should also be familiar with the City-Wide Resident Organization (CWRO), the Public Housing Tenants Association (PHTA), and the Citywide Council for Senior and Disabled (CCSD), and how their specific resident council interacts with those entities. Candidates should also be provided with a copy of the bylaws for the resident Council for which they are running. Prospective candidates should also be made aware the time commitment that should be allotted for their new post. Are they able to represent the development at various Commission meetings? Do they have the capacity to hold office hours on-site? How often can they hold public forums in the development? These are all questions that must be asked of potential leaders, as this is what their fellow residents expect of them.
3. We must use these elections as a way to spur further civic participation. In 2005 the Berkeley Housing Authority enlisted the assistance of the League of Women Voters to help oversee and facilitate the election of Residential Council officers. The League of Women voters could also be on-site during resident elections to register residents to vote in the upcoming San Francisco Municipal Election.
4. C.L.A.E.R. wants to ensure that all notices and election materials are available in multiple languages to maximize full participation of the resident body.


Today C.L.A.E.R. sent a staff member to be trained at the San Francisco Housing Authority as an election monitor in the hopes that we could contribute to the election process. Instead, this training session just further highlighted the amount of opportunities we have missed, and how much more could be garnered from this process. It is because we view this process is so injured that with all due respect, we are unable to participate at this time.

Sunnydale, as the largest development in San Francisco, and the 16th largest in the nation, must set the example for tenant leadership throughout the United States. This can only happen through collaboration with neighborhood organizations, persistent outreach within the development, and a true commitment to building the capacity of residents of public housing. Simply put, this process needs more time.

C.L.A.E.R. anticipates a response from the San Francisco Housing Authority regarding these suggestions and their implementation. We look forward to continued work with the San Francisco Housing Authority around this topic and others.