Getty Images/Justin Sullivan

People walk by a homeless person sleeping in front of San Francisco City Hall Feb. 28, 2007

Financial support for San Francisco's sit/lie initiative — Proposition L — has expanded beyond the wealthy power brokers who kick-started the campaign to include local small-business owners outside of the Haight-Ashbury district, where the ballot initiative had its genesis.

The Coalition for Civil Sidewalks, which is campaigning for Prop. L, has garnered thousands more from a range of supporters, disclosure filings show. From July 1 to Sept. 30, the coalition raised $143,584, including many donations of $100 to $500 from local business owners. Many of them are in tourism, real estate, restaurant or nightlife businesses that have complained about the city's transients, but those in other sectors give similar reasons for supporting the measure.

"I would do anything I could to help clean up our streets," said Marie Brooks, owner of Ellis Brooks Auto Center on Van Ness Avenue, who gave $500 to the campaign.

Brooks, 84, has lived in San Francisco since 1955, "when our streets were clean and safe, and I've watched the safety in the city disappear," she said. "I've watched the street people" panhandling in the tourist-heavy downtown area. "Sometimes those tourists are frightened and don't come back. That's not good for the city."

Aggressive panhandling is already against the law, as are obstructing the sidewalk, urinating in public and other behaviors at which sit/lie is aimed. But for many of those laws to be enforced, a police officer must witness the act or a civilian must report it, which can mean being called to testify in court, sometimes multiple times, according to Paul Henderson, chief of administration for the San Francisco District Attorney's Office. That process is burdensome for small-business owners, Henderson says.

"It makes it difficult to say, 'Just use the criminal justice system and make it go away,'" he said. A sit/lie ordinance would allow officers to "give the warning themselves, without having to ring the doorbell and say, 'Are these people bothering you?'"

Opponents argue the sit/lie measure would harm civil rights and could have unintended consequences, such as barring children from selling lemonade on the street or subjecting a resident sitting down to read a book to police attention.

Henderson says police wouldn't interfere in such situations, and his office wouldn't prosecute such cases. "We expect the officers to use their common sense," he said. "The police exercise discretion every day." He says the intent of the law is not to "just go arrest little girls and puppies and kittens. That's not what this is about."

A competing ballot measure, Proposition M, would require the police department to conduct foot patrols. It also contains a "poison pill" provision: If Prop. M passes with more votes than Prop. L, the sit/lie measure automatically fails.

NVI Investments, a Russian Hill company that leases residential buildings, donated $250 to Prop. L. A man who answered the phone at the firm's office said he supported sit/lie because "I think it's disgusting that the streets are becoming a place of bullying, intimidation, where ordinary people are uncomfortable." He refused to identify himself.

SF Forward, the political action committee of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, forked over $10,000. Its contributors include the restaurants Momo's and Medjool, as well as utility PG&E and biotech giant Genentech.

The broadening of financial support for Prop. L is part of the natural campaign cycle, according to Jim Lazarus, senior vice president of public policy for the chamber. "Ballot measures start much later than candidates — maybe candidates start too soon," he said. "It's September before things are really up and cooking."

Alex Tourk, the principal of Ground Floor Public Affairs, one of the firms managing the campaign for Prop. L, agreed. "I think after Labor Day, people really start to pay attention to what's on the November ballot," he said.

Big-name donors also made contributions to the Coalition for Civil Sidewalks in the latest round. Diane B. Wilsey, who previously gave $5,000, added another $10,000. Wilsey is a major donor to The Bay Citizen and a member of its board.

Entrepreneur Karl A. Jacobs, who has served on the board of Facebook, and San Francisco 49ers president Jed York also kicked in $10,000 each.

"The San Francisco 49ers are members of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and they have recommended that their member companies support the Civil Sidewalks Proposition," Lisa Lang, a team spokeswoman, wrote in an e-mail. "The contribution from the owners reflects our role as a business leader in the SF Bay Area and our support of a positive business climate in San Francisco." The team is planning a move to Santa Clara.

Carmen Policy, the 49ers' former president and chief executive, gave $500 to support Prop. L. Policy, who owns a Napa Valley vineyard and listed his occupation on the contribution disclosure as "vintner," is working to keep the team in San Francisco. "I think anything that enhances the approach of order and civility which makes the city more livable and presents itself in the way that I think San Francisco should be presented is going to be attractive not only to the 49ers staying in the city, but also people who are going to be coming here for any number of reasons related to tourism, business or football," he said.

Other prominent donors include Jeff Fluhr, the CEO of StubHub, and Bruce Gibney, chief operating officer of the Founders Fund, the venture capital firm headed by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. Fluhr and Gibney each gave $500. Kevin Lynch, the chief technology officer of Adobe Systems, gave $1,000. All three listed addresses in San Francisco.

Helen Hilton Raiser, a former trustee of SFMOMA, gave $200. "I decided to support Prop. L because I believe every person wants and needs respect. You cannot get respect if you are sitting or lying on the sidewalk with others looking down at you," she wrote in an e-mail. "I do feel that Proposition L provides the first step toward self respect for those presently sitting or lying on the sidewalk."

The largest donor this filing period, with a $25,000 contribution, was Charles Schwab, of the San Francisco-based investment-services company. He could not be reached for comment.

Ron Conway, the angel investor who was the first to donate to the campaign and is still the largest single donor at $35,000, did not contribute during the most recent filing period, but he has promoted the measure in other quarters — calling for its passage during a speech at the 65th annual Bay Area Council dinner earlier this month, where he also declared that "we must take our city back" from "progressives," the San Francisco Business Times reported.

In all, of the $194,384 raised to date, the campaign has spent $85,761.89 and owes $7,958.82 in unpaid bills. A significant portion of those expenditures has gone to two consulting firms managing the campaign: Ground Floor Public Affairs and Hsieh and Associates, which received $18,185.46 and $20,000 during this filing period, respectively. Another $5,000 is owed to Ground Floor, bringing its total income from the campaign to $28,185.46.

According to Tourk, the majority is being spent on communications, including a television ad and mailers. "We're trying to communicate to the entire city, which is not easy," nor is it cheap, he said.

Meanwhile, Sidewalks are for People, the campaign opposing Prop. L, lags in fundraising. The group has raised just $6,150 so far, according to its disclosure forms. But organizer Bob Offer-Westort says the monetary contributions don't tell the whole story.

The pro-Prop. L campaign "can buy commercials during Giants games. What we can do is pull together volunteers," he said. "We get donations in the form of labor."

Offer-Westort estimates that more than 1,000 people have volunteered at some point during the campaign, including a core of 70 or 80 repeat volunteers.

"I know that we can run a strong campaign without the bucks," he said. "I don't know if we can win. We'll see. If we give up the idea of a grass-roots campaign, then your Ron Conways and your Charles Schwabs will be able to buy every election, and democracy means nothing."

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly described the relationship between propositions M and L. Prop. M will only void Prop. L if both measures pass and Prop. M receives a greater number of votes. If both propositions pass and Prop. L receives more votes, both will take effect.