Updated Friday, 4:30 p.m.
The latest election results, posted Friday afternoon, showed that San Francisco’s Proposition B is breezing to passage with just over 82% approval from voters. Continued updates to voting results can be found on KQED’s election results site.
The $628.5 million bond would pay for seismic retrofitting at police and fire stations, fix a deteriorating high-pressure water system, and improve the city’s disaster response by upgrading its 911 call center so it can handle an inundation of emergency calls.
If voters approve the bond, which requires a two-thirds majority to pass, it will be the third time in a decade the city has passed an earthquake bond worth hundreds of millions of dollars. In 2010, San Francisco passed a $412 million bond, and in 2014, voters approved a $400 million bond.
City leaders argued the bond is needed to secure city infrastructure for the next major earthquake.
“This bond will make our neighborhoods more resilient in the wake of disaster by building up our safety infrastructure on the westside and in our public safety facilities,” Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer wrote in an email. “I am proud to have fought for this crucial public investment on behalf of my residents.”
Scientists with the United States Geological Survey estimate a 72% likelihood of at least one earthquake of magnitude 6.7 or greater striking the Bay Area in the next 30 years.
The measure was sponsored by San Francisco Mayor London Breed and approved in a unanimous vote by the Board of Supervisors, which put it on the ballot.
The bond was supported by most of the city’s political establishment, including San Francisco Firefighters Local 798 President Shon Buford, the San Francisco Democratic Party, former Mayor Willie Brown, State Treasurer Fiona Ma, State Assemblyman Phil Ting and San Francisco Assessor-Recorder Carmen Chu.
No individuals or groups officially opposed the measure. San Francisco Republicans took no position on the proposition.
