REP-SF Planning to the People Newsletter: Nov. 2024
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Welcome to our REP-SF Planning to the People newsletter for November!
As we reflect on the outcomes of the election, we are reminded that there are always steep challenges ahead and of the undeniable need for bold, transformative, lasting change. A heartfelt thank you to all of the REP-SF family for incredible and unwavering advocacy at all times, especially through this election season! Together, we make our voices heard and advocate for racial, social, and economic equity across SF & CA! The efforts of all our organizations remind us that our power lies in our collective action. Let's keep fighting, organizing, and building the movement toward a just and equitable future for our communities! Read statements from our REP-SF members, Asian Law Caucus and Mission Action.
This month, we are so excited to launch two new zines (mini magazines), illustrating the REP-SF Citywide People’s Plan, our visionary roadmap to housing justice in San Francisco! Read our latest blog post to learn more about these new resources for popular education and download the zines now! Please join us TOMORROW, Thursday Nov. 7 at 1:30 pm PST for an Instagram Live (@repcoalitionsf) to celebrate the launch!
Below, you'll find the latest news and ways to take action on behalf of grassroots communities for housing justice and equitable city planning!
In solidarity,
The REP-SF Team
Race & Equity in all Planning Coalition
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REP-SF Citywide People’s Plan Zines – Nov. 5, 2024
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We are so excited to launch our two new zines (mini magazines) illustrating the REP-SF Citywide People’s Plan, our visionary roadmap to housing justice in San Francisco! These zines showcase key parts of the Citywide People’s Plan so that we can inspire our members and the public about our work on people-centered planning and affordable housing.
The two zines are available in English, Spanish, Tagalog, and Chinese so that they are accessible to communities across the city. Read our latest blog post to learn more, download the zines, and share them with your networks!
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REP-SF Instagram Live: Launching Zines – Nov. 7, 1:30 pm
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Thursday, Nov. 7 at 1:30 pm PST, REP-SF, People Power Media, and Queerly Complex are hosting an Instagram Live to launch the zines and kick off a series of conversations. In this first Instagram Live, we will discuss how this project came about, the creative process, and the community guidance involved in co-creating these two zines. We hope to see you there!
The Instagram Live series will continue with conversations featuring the two artists who illustrated the zines, Sen Mendez and christen alqueza, and REP-SF members. Stay tuned and follow us @repcoalitionsf on Instagram for updates!
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We Did It! We Stopped School Closures! – Statement from REP-SF member Coleman Advocates, Oct. 21, 2024
"This is a win for our young people and our families. Much appreciation to the youth and their families who to shared their stories, as well as Small Schools Coalition and the REP-SF coalition! Our people showed up, organized, and made their voices heard! We did what thousands of our people across the nation have tried to do for the last 30 years — put a stop to school closures that have disrupted the lives of Black and Brown families and students."
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S.F. program made ‘crucial investment’ to support public housing. It will soon expire – San Francisco Chronicle, Oct. 29, 2024
REP-SF member, Housing Rights Committee featured: Mayor Breed is not releasing critical, approved funds for the new HUD Tenant Education & Outreach program, and is not releasing all the funds for the Code Enforcement Outreach Program. Isaac Santiago, Housing & Urban Development Organizer, who advocates to support Plaza East tenants says: “I think they took our funding away because they don’t want residents to be voicing their concerns. Most of them are living in horrible conditions, and coming together as an organized front is going to help them get their needs met.” It's time to unlock the funds NOW!
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REP-SF Members: Heroes for Housing Justice
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Policy Win! Possible Expansion of Rent Control in SF – Oct. 8, 2024
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The SF Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to expand rent control for the first time in 30 years, once we get past state hurdles! For decades, state law Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act has blocked rent control efforts throughout California. If Costa-Hawkins is repealed, at least 40,000 renters in San Francisco will benefit from rent control expansion. While Prop 33 does not look like it will pass, we will continue to fight legislatively and at the ballot box!
Thank you to our REP-SF members from South of Market Community Action Network (SOMCAN), Small Business Forward, Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council (HANC), & the Affordable Housing Alliance, and our allies at the SF Anti-Displacement Coalition (SFADC) & Council of Community Housing Organizations (CCHO), who gave public comment at the Land Use Committee hearing in support. Our communities deserve stable, affordable housing. Read our Instagram post to learn more!
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Policy Win! Protections for Legacy Businesses from Redevelopment – Oct. 21, 2024
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Policy Win for REP-SF & Small Business Forward! The Board of Supervisors unanimously passed an emergency measure, authored by Supervisors Peskin & Chan, to protect hundreds of legacy businesses at risk of displacement under Mayor Breed & SF Planning's ill-advised redevelopment proposal. Thank you to REP-SF members Small Business Forward & Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA), who gave public comments during the Land Use Committee hearing! Read our Instagram post to learn more.
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Southeast Tenant Association Victories! – Oct. 16 & 17, 2024
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REP-SF member Housing Rights Committee recently celebrated major victories for their Southeast Tenant Associations! Huge congrats to the 2911 16th St. and 2061 Mission St. Tenants Associations for organizing to keep their rent control under the city's Preservation Program and negotiating a first-of-its-kind tenant union contract with their nonprofit landlord! And congratulations to the 83 Woodward Tenants Association, who won a huge rent credit for tenants and secured critical health and safety improvements!
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Billionaire Blowback on Housing – Institute for Policy Studies, Oct. 21, 2024
A new report exposes how billionaires are actively fueling the housing unaffordability crisis across the U.S. The report from Institute for Policy Studies, Inequality.org, & Popular Democracy highlights national and local policy solutions to end billionaires’ grip on real estate, protect tenants, and advance permanent & truly affordable housing. Housing is a human right – not a commodity for billionaire greed. Read the full report and this great summary by Norada Real Estate!
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Wall Street's Big Housing Market Bet Created 12 New Billionaires – Fast Company, Sept. 27, 2024
A new report shows how developer greed has created 12 new billionaires. This is the market-rate housing industry and the developer lobbyist / YIMBY agenda: Making rich people richer. And not making housing cheaper for working-class people.
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How Investors Have Wreaked Havoc on Toronto's Condo Market – Toronto Star, Oct. 11, 2024
A new interactive article shows how investors are ruining housing in Toronto. In many ways, this is a glimpse into the future that the YIMBYs are trying to force on San Francisco – and a clear-eyed analysis of why that approach is a disaster that solves neither the problem of supply nor the problem of affordability. After decades of building small, expensive condos to maximize profits, Toronto is now faced with thousands of vacant units that no one wants to live in. SF Planning's proposed upzonings (height bonuses & density decontrols) would incentivize investors to build exactly the type of housing that's destroying Toronto.
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AFFH & Housing Element Summit: Nov. 15, 2024
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The nonprofit law firm Public Advocates is hosting the AFFH & Housing Element Summit on Friday, Nov. 15 at Fort Mason Center in SF. Dyan Ruiz will speak on behalf of REP-SF about our Housing Element & other advocacy on the civil-rights based Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) laws. Dyan and Charlie Sciammas of CCHO will speak on a panel with other grassroots organizers from Vallejo and Concord, sharing stories about how they have incorporated AFFH law into their campaigns, reflecting on successes and challenges.
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Take Action to Restore Remote Public Comment for SF Board of Supervisors Committee Meetings!
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REP-SF wrote a letter to the Rules Committee calling on them to restore remote public comment for SF Board of Supervisors committee meetings. Remote public comment promotes accessibility, equity, and the core values of a participatory democracy. It provides a critical opportunity for historically marginalized communities from throughout San Francisco, including disabled people, seniors, and low-income and working-class communities, to directly participate in the decision-making around important policies and issues that impact our daily lives. Please use this toolkit to take action!
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Act Now! Demand SF Put Affordability & Equity First!
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Thank you so much to everyone who has signed and shared REP-SF's petition calling on San Francisco to put equity and affordability FIRST! Let's keep up the pressure to move forward real solutions for housing affordability, tenant protections, and community planning. Help us spread the word to keep up the momentum!
Sign Petition: bit.ly/REPSF-Equity-Petition; Share Petition: bit.ly/REPpetitionToolkit
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Invite Your Communities to Subscribe to Our Newsletter!
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Our monthly Planning to the People newsletter (that you are reading now!) provides the latest news and ways to take action on behalf of grassroots communities for housing justice and equitable city planning – all in one place! Help us build our momentum by encouraging your networks and communities to subscribe to our newsletter: Share our subscription form!
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