San Francisco Bay Area Renters' Federation

The San Francisco Bay Area Renters' Federation (SFBARF) is a political advocacy group formed in response to the San Francisco housing shortage.[1] SFBARF advocates for more housing development, and fewer zoning restrictions on the production of housing.[2]

History, organization, and membership

SFBARF is incorporated as a non-profit political action committee or PAC.[3] The organization's acronym barf, a slang term for vomiting, was deliberately chosen to improve the group's name recognition.[4]

The group was founded in early 2014 by local activist Sonja Trauss, a self-described anarchist.[5][6] Previously a prep school math teacher,[6] Trauss now leads the group full time.[5]

As of April 2016, the group had a mailing list of 500 people and a "a few dozen hard-core members — most of them young professionals who work in the technology industry — who speak out at government meetings and protest against the protesters who fight new development."[5]

Funding

Opponents, without producing any evidence, have accused the organization of being funded by the real estate industry.[2] SFBARF has denied this claim, saying they have raised no money from real estate developers.[7] Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman has donated $10,000 to the group.[2]

Activities

SFBARF engages in anti-"NIMBY" political activity, such as rallying for housing projects, campaigning for legislation, and organizing events.[2][6] The press has referred to SFBARF as an "avidly pro-development grass-roots activist group" aiming to increase the height and density of buildings allowed under San Francisco Bay Area zoning regulations.[8] The New York Times says of the group: "Its platform is simple: Members want San Francisco and its suburbs to build more of every kind of housing. More subsidized affordable housing, more market-rate rentals, more high-end condominiums."[5]

In 2015, SFBARF sued the city of Lafayette, California for blocking a housing development. The group referred to this as part of their "Sue the Suburbs" campaign, creating a website under this name.[9] The suit claimed that under California's Housing Accountability Act, the Lafayette city council could not force developers to reduce the density of a housing project, since the project already complied with all zoning laws.[10] In a televised debate with SFBARF, Lafayette mayor Brandt Andersson argued the suit was unwarranted, saying that Lafayette should "keep multi-unit housing downtown" near the BART station.[4]

SFBARF has campaigned for new leadership for the San Francisco chapter of the Sierra Club, as the local chapter has opposed high-density development, such as 2015's Proposition D in Mission Bay.[11] According to the San Francisco Business Times, SFBARF "believes that blocking dense housing near transit encourages sprawl," which is environmentally destructive.[12] The campaign was criticized in an editorial in VICE, which said that one of the candidates supported by SFBARF had a history of using "shady" activism tactics.[13]

Rivals and opponents of SFBARF include anti-gentrification activists; the San Francisco Tenants Union; and San Francisco supervisor David Campos.[6][5]

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ "SFBA Renters' Federation". Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 McIntire, George (July 1, 2015). "Nobody Can Figure Out How to Fix San Francisco's Housing Crisis". VICE. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  3. ↑ "SF Bay Area Renters Federation". localwiki. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  4. 1 2 Smith, Heather (17 Sep 2015). "Urban activists set out to sue San Francisco's suburbs". grist. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Conor Dougherty, In Cramped and Costly Bay Area, Cries to Build, Baby, Build, New York Times (April 16, 2016).
  6. 1 2 3 4 Lydia DePillis, How a prep school math teacher has exploded the debate over affordable housing in San Francisco, Washington Post (February 9, 2015).
  7. ↑ Li, Roland (January 29, 2015). "Bay Area renters group advocates for more density to solve housing crisis". San Francisco Business Times. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  8. ↑ Lamb, Jonah Owen (October 2, 2014). "Pro-development activist group SFBARF agitates for more housing". SF Examiner. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  9. ↑ "Sue the Suburbs". SFBARF. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  10. ↑ Modenessi, Jennifer (December 9, 2015). "Lafayette sued over luxury homes approval". Contra Costa Times. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  11. ↑ Purchia, Robyn (October 14, 2015). "SFBARF keeps the Sierra Club in check". SF Examiner. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  12. ↑ Li, Roland (Oct 7, 2015). "Housing crisis spurs fight over the soul of the S.F. Sierra Club chapter". San Francisco Business Times. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  13. ↑ Montgomery, Kevin (November 19, 2015). "Why Are Redditors and a Cyber Bully Trying to Take Over San Francisco's Sierra Club?". VICE. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
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