San Francisco’s City-Owned Bank Measure Pulls Ahead Thursday Night
While a measure that would create the structure for a public bank in San Francisco squeaked ahead on Thursday, the race is far from over.
Proposition B pulled ahead in the latest tally from Thursday afternoon, with a difference of more than 5,000 votes. It’s the largest gap the race has seen so far.
The measure was behind on Wednesday, 50.04% to 49.96%.
Daniel Anderson, a consultant with the Yes on B campaign, said minutes after the measure jumped ahead that they were “very excited” with the change, but that it was too soon to declare victory because of the number of ballots left to count and how close the race has been.
“We could see even in the later returns from [Wednesday] the gap also closed slightly,” Anderson said. “I think this is all part of a larger trend of more of the votes that came in later being yes on B. So I expect it to continue, but you gotta see it to believe it.”
Supporters of Proposition B said the city-owned bank would give out loans to finance things like affordable housing — which can help “to build the backlog of 17,000+ approved affordable housing units” — and take the place of predatory lenders.
They said the municipal financial cooperation would be financially responsible and prioritize “public needs over profits at a time when state law has carved out a pathway to create a public bank.”
Critics, however, questioned what the measure would accomplish.
Marie Hurabiell, a supporter of the No on B campaign and the founder and executive director of political nonprofit ConnectedSF, pointed to the example of the Bank of North Dakota, currently what she said is the only public bank in the nation. She said the state-owned bank has “extremely conservative lending practices.”
“That’s not a bank that could ever get FDIC [Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation] insurance,” Hurabiell said.
Before the public bank can actually be opened, the treasurer-tax collector would have to decide that there’s enough money and resources.
Only a simple majority of voters need to give their support to pass the measure.
Supervisors placed the idea on the ballot this summer, with Supervisor Stephen Sherrill and Alan Wong opposing the measure. Sherrill called it “redundant,” and Wong said it asks voters “for trust the city has not yet earned.” Mayor Daniel Lurie also opposes the measure.
The next ballot count update is expected at 4 p.m. on Friday.