San Francisco’s Measure A sparks fight over earthquake safety bond

San Francisco’s latest earthquake bond landed in familiar terrain, but the fight around it was anything but routine. Measure A would authorize up to $535 million for seismic upgrades, fire and police stations, emergency-response facilities and the city’s Emergency Firefighting Water System, yet it drew organized opposition over what it includes and how the money would be spent.

Mayor Daniel Lurie and Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman announced the 2026 Earthquake Safety and Emergency Response bond on January 14, pitching it as a way to speed public safety work across the city. Supporters leaned on a hard San Francisco lesson: after the 1906 earthquake, the city’s survival depended on the Navy pumping saltwater onto the Embarcadero and Van Ness Avenue. That history still shapes the argument over whether the city is prepared for the next big quake, especially in neighborhoods that were built out long after the original seawater-fed hydrant network served downtown.

The city’s bond ordinance said up to $100 million could go to critical firefighting facilities and infrastructure. The ballot digest said a yes vote would cover the Emergency Firefighting Water System, fire and police stations, Potrero Yard and other disaster-response facilities. For supporters, that package reflects how emergencies actually unfold in a city where water, transit and building safety are all tied together.

Opponents say the bond reaches too far. The No on A campaign argued that San Francisco should extend the current saltwater system instead of relying on a plan that uses drinking water, especially on the west side and in the Richmond and Sunset districts. City planning materials for the Westside Potable Emergency Firefighting Water System show what that buildout would look like: about 16 miles of below-ground pipeline, pump-station upgrades at Lake Merced, two new emergency pump stations and a phased schedule running from 2026 through 2040. The system would serve Lakeshore, Parkside, Outer Sunset and Outer Richmond.

The fiercest criticism centered on Potrero Yard. Opponents objected that roughly $200 million would go toward rebuilding Muni’s Potrero maintenance yard and adding 100 units of affordable housing, arguing that the bond had drifted beyond earthquake response. But the project has been moving for years. In 2022, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency approved a plan to replace the 107-year-old Potrero Bus Yard with a modern transit facility and up to 575 affordable rental units, and later city filings described it as a joint transit-housing development. More recent city materials have referred to a 465-unit affordable housing component, underscoring how the plan has continued to change.

The measure also invited comparison with the city’s last major quake bond. In 2019, San Francisco approved a $628.5 million ESER package that set aside $153.5 million for the Emergency Firefighting Water System, $275 million for neighborhood fire stations, $121 million for police stations, $70 million for disaster-response facilities and $9 million for the 9-1-1 call center. Measure A tested whether voters trust City Hall to again bundle resilience, transit and housing into one large public-finance deal.