The sidewalks of San Francisco will become a battleground for billionaires this election season as a proposition on the ballot, Proposition Q, seeks to tackle the issue of homeless encampments. The measure is sponsored by Supervisor Mark Farrell and supported largely by venture capitalists William Oberndorf, Michael Moritz and Ron Conway.
Oberndorf, a Mill Valley-based investor, spent more than $1.5 million this election cycle in support of Jeb Bush’s race to win the Republican nomination for president.
Moritz, a venture capitalist, drew public attention for his support for and $250,000 donation backing a 2010 measure that sought to increase city employees’ payments into their generous pension funds.
Conway, an early investor of Google and PayPal, bankrolled $85,000 for Proposition L in 2010 -- a measure targeting the homeless that banned sitting or lying on sidewalks between the hours of 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. His contributions to campaigns supported by Mayor Ed Lee are well documented.
At one dollar short of $50,000 each, the three contributors account for more than 60 percent of all total funding for Measure Q.