San Francisco Voters Overwhelmingly Pass Proposition A

Following Years of Struggle, Aging Retirees to Rightfully See a Restoration of Benefits

With nearly 62% of those casting ballots marking”yes,” San Francisco voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition A. The San Francisco Retiree Supplemental Cost of Living Adjustment Charter Amendment will rightfully restore much-needed benefits to thousands of retirees.

“We are thrilled beyond belief that Prop A has passed,” said Fred Sanchez, chair of the campaign to restore retiree benefits. “We are grateful for the voters of San Francisco who elected to rightfully restore these retiree benefits.”

 The victory at the ballot box was a long-time coming. Because of changes to the San Francisco City Charter more than a decade ago, approximately 4,500 city retirees had their pensions unfairly compromised. These changes stripped away their supplemental Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA), and forced many to live on pensions of as little as $22,000 a year.  Prop A restores the supplemental COLA benefit payments to members of the San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System who retired before November 6, 1996.

“My mother fought for the right for city retirees to live their golden years with dignity,” said Denise Mayfield, daughter of longtime activist and Protect Our Benefits founder Nancy Gin, who passed away late last year. “Thank you San Francisco for doing the right thing.”

After being placed on the ballot unanimously by the Board of Supervisors, Measure A enjoyed wide bipartisan support, including both the local Democratic and Republican parties, labor unions, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Mayor London Breed.

For more information, visit https://yesonpropa.net/.