Board President Warns LGBTQ Senior Housing Could Become a 'Betrayal'

The San Francisco Budget and Finance Committee advanced $47.5 million in state funding for a 185-unit LGBTQ-affirming senior housing project at 1939 Market Street on March 11, but not before Board President Rafael Mandelman delivered a pointed warning: the very referral systems designed to fill the building could strip it of its queer identity. The committee also greenlit a $3 million anti-fraud initiative, boosted security spending at SF General Hospital following a fatal stabbing, and gave a food vendor permit overhaul one final week to come together.

• $47.5M in state funding advances for 185-unit LGBTQ senior housing at 1939 Market Street, but Board President Mandelman warns referral systems could undermine the project's queer mission

• SF General security contract surges to $15.4M with an unusually large 60% contingency after a social worker's fatal stabbing

• $3M JPMorgan Chase grant launches Stop Scams SF, a new citywide fraud prevention program targeting seniors, youth and immigrants

• $2.75M in final-round CalAIM funding approved for electronic health record integration and jail health systems before the state waiver expires

• Mobile food vendor permit overhaul delayed again; Chair Chan sets a firm March 18 deadline

The committee's most substantive debate centered on a resolution authorizing the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development to execute agreements with the California Department of Housing and Community Development under the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities program for 1939 Market Street — a 15-story, 185-unit affordable senior housing development by Mercy Housing in partnership with Open House, a nonprofit serving LGBTQ elders.