as reported in the Bay Guardian the Hotel Fairness Initiative has gathered enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot. The problem is that some of the signatures were gathered by Tenderloin Housing Clinic employees, which is under contract with the City and County of San Francisco. This contract specifically states
no funds appropriated by the City for this Agreement may be expended for organizing, creating, funding, participating in, supporting, or attempting to influence any political campaign for a candidate or for a ballot measure
this is illegal campaigning using taxpayer money to put a proposition on the ballot and should be disqualified on those grounds alone
from the Bay Guardian article
Family health advocate for the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, Bobbi Lopez, said she found that those who signed the petition saw the hotel tax as a necessary step in closing the budget deficit, “They understood that the necessity of fighting the cuts, particularly the cuts to MUNI, to parks, and to hospitals,” Lopez told us, “I think that they were getting the idea that in desperate budget times, we need a temporary solution and long term solution and that’s exactly what the Hotel Fairness Initiative is.”
this is a copy of the Tenderloin Housing Clinic grant agreement where it says that this is illegal, signed by Randy Shaw. The ‘no political activity’ clause is on page 42, section 18.10 — Prohibition on Political Activity with City Funds