San Francisco's Proposal C Would Tax Companies to Address Homelessness

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff plays master of ceremonies to the giant Dreamforce conference every year in San Francisco – and while it's been called the hottest ticket in town, he said it came with this year.

"In San Francisco," he said, speaking at the Moscone West luncheon at the Silver SPUR Awards, a week before Election Day.

Benioff said it was that experience that steeled his resolve to support Proposal C – a grassroots-led ballot measure that would tax San Francisco's largest companies – those making over $ 50 million per year – and earmark the money for housing and homelessness issues, including behavioral health services.

Walking San Francisco's Dirty Block

Supporters of Prop C say it would house 6,000 of the city's estimated 7,500 homeless individuals, and add at least another 1,000 shelter beds, clearing the shelter wait list. Benioff said he believes it is a civic responsibility for successful companies and billionaires to clean up the streets – and he believes this is the best way to do it.

But opponents of the measure, including Mayor London Breed, say it would make money for a broken system, making it harder to implement structural reforms to make San Francisco deals with homelessness in the first place.

"We can not spend money without doing the work to figure out the best ways to spend it," Breed said at the luncheon SPUR.

Tech leaders including Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey also worry that it will not be easy to locate them in San Francisco. Dorsey has had spirited exchanges with Benioff on Twitter.

In the end, voters will decide whether an additional $ 300 million per year is needed to solve homelessness in San Francisco – or if doing business in San Francisco is already too expensive.