Vote Yes

Measure L – Fund Affordable Housing and Infrastructure

Berkeley

No matter who you are or where you come from, success in life starts at home. When we all have safe and secure places to live, parents earn more, kids learn better, health and well-being improve, our communities are strengthened, and our region has the building blocks to thrive. But right now, wealthy and powerful real estate developers and corporate landlords control the housing market in California and pour millions into each election to swing votes in their favor. They use predatory strategies to drive up their profits when ordinary working Californians can’t even afford our rent or our mortgages. This especially affects people of color, working families, seniors, and people with disabilities.

To address this problem, we need to fund more affordable housing in Berkeley, among other things. Though bonds are not the ideal way to raise money, this measure will have a positive impact. It also raises significant funds to improve Berkeley’s substandard streets, sidewalks, bicycle infrastucture, as well as parks and pools.

Bonds are a regressive way to raise funds that saddle the public with debt and bring Wall Street into managing our democracy, and we would prefer for affordable housing to be fully funded. However, our communities have long suffered from unfair tax rules that favor millionaires, billionaires, and big corporations. That’s why we support fair, equitable taxes — for budgets that will fully and reliably ensure our children will inherit quality public education and public services, no matter what they look like or where they come from. In the meantime, we need to ensure that our communities have access to the resources they need, and this bond is a necessary step to do that. Vote yes on Measure L.

Won with 59.42%

Sheng Thao

Oakland Mayor
Oaklanders elected Sheng Thao to represent City Council District 4 in November 2018, and Thao has served Oakland for four years now. As a current city…

Nikki Fortunato Bas

Oakland City Council District 2
Oakland City Council sets goals and priorities for the City. The council approves the City budget, adopts ordinances to help the City serve its commun…

Pamela Price

Alameda County District Attorney
District Attorneys hold one of the most critical and powerful roles in our legal system as they hold the power on who to sentence and how harsh that s…

Rebecca Kaplan

Alameda County Board of Supervisors District 3
With two decades of experience in elected office, Rebecca Kaplan is the best choice to lead our county on issues of housing and homelessness, mental h…