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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