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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://eltecolote.org/content/en/sf-rv-crackdown-fallout/\">\u003cem>El Tecolote originally published this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along John Muir Drive, a winding road in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a>’s quiet Lake Merced neighborhood, more than a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12047562/please-just-let-us-be-san-francisco-rv-crackdown-advances-despite-families-pleas\">dozen RVs line the curb\u003c/a>. Inside one of them, Jessica Cuevas, 32, lives with her 8-year-old son.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After being evicted from her $3,800-a-month rental in late January, she bought an RV on Facebook Marketplace and parked near her son’s school in the Bayview. When parking tickets began piling up, she moved across the city to Lake Merced, joining other RV residents who, once again, may soon have to leave, this time having nowhere else to go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As San Francisco steps up efforts to curb vehicular \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/homelessness\">homelessness\u003c/a>, safe parking options for RV residents have dwindled. The crisis, which disproportionately impacts Latino\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/immigrants\"> immigrants\u003c/a>, has pushed longtime residents hit hard by pandemic job loss and newcomers seeking sanctuary into two distinct neighborhoods: Lake Merced and the Bayview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, more people are turning to oversized vehicles for shelter as San Francisco’s cost of living soars. Driven onto the same few streets, many RV residents have formed small communities of support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, a new citywide policy could decide the future of hundreds of people and families who call RVs home. Starting Nov. 1, 2025, San Francisco will enforce a two-hour parking limit for large vehicles. Residents must obtain a \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/large-vehicle-refuge-permit-program\">Large Vehicle Refuge Permit\u003c/a> or face tickets and towing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062252\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12062252 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV2-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV2-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Lakewood Apartments serve as a backdrop to a row of RVs parked along the street near Lake Merced in San Francisco, California, on April 9, 2025. Some neighbors have voiced concerns about the RVs in online forums such as Reddit. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>City officials say the program will connect eligible residents to housing assistance, but advocates warn it will uproot families and worsen conditions for working-class immigrants, seniors and people with disabilities already weathering the physical and mental health toll of displacement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the past year, \u003cem>El Tecolote\u003c/em> has documented the informal support systems forged by RV residents in Lake Merced and the Bayview in the absence of city aid. Firsthand accounts and public records reveal that, despite the promised support, the city’s upcoming crackdown threatens to dismantle the fragile stability these households have found.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>This isn’t forever: Families find refuge in Lake Merced\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When Cuevas worked as a DoorDash delivery driver last year, she often drove past dozens of parked RVs around Lake Merced. The Mexican mother worked three jobs and shared a Visitacion Valley home with two roommates to cover $3,800 rent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She had already been homeless once, when she first moved to the Bay Area in 2018 with a pending asylum application. After time in San Mateo County’s shelter system, a social worker helped her find housing in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062256\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12062256 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV3.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV3-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV3-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jessica Cuevas, 32, stands outside her RV near Lake Merced holding her two guinea pigs in San Francisco, California, on April 9, 2025. “I like staying on this street because it feels safer than the Bayview, where we stayed for a short time,” she said. “It’s been really difficult to get any type of resources.” \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>By late January, an eviction over missed rent payments pushed her family back to the streets. Cuevas bought an RV and started parking near her 8-year-old son’s school in the Bayview, moving every 72 hours to avoid tickets. As the citations piled up, Cuevas remembered the motorhomes she’d seen in Lake Merced and headed west.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In March, Cuevas found a spot on John Muir Drive, a wide, quiet street facing the lake where dozens of other RVs were parked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re still here,” Cuevas said. “We’re trying to look for a better place. But we have to wait.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062269\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12062269 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV4.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV4-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV4-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nathan, 8, holds his guinea pig outside the RV he shares with his mother, Jessica Cuevas, near Lake Merced in San Francisco, California, on April 9, 2025. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Her RV is small and poorly insulated, and rain seeps through the roof. Inside, a single mattress fills most of the floor, and a plastic box holds her son’s two guinea pigs, Pepe and Greñas. Without electricity or plumbing, they rely on the park’s public restrooms and a propane stove.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This kind of unstable housing puts residents at greater risk of poor health outcomes, including respiratory and cardiac diseases, \u003ca href=\"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10203673/#Sec16\">public health experts warn\u003c/a>. It also makes it harder to manage chronic conditions.[aside postID=news_12062042 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/250519-AffordableHousingFile-13-BL_qed-1.jpg']San Francisco’s promise of housing support to RV residents is what Cuevas said she needs, though those options seem far from reach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s been on the city’s backlogged family-shelter waitlist since January. In June, the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing \u003ca href=\"https://media.api.sf.gov/documents/Agenda_Item_8_Directors_Report_June_2025.pdf\">reported\u003c/a> that 295 families were waiting for shelter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For now, Lake Merced feels more peaceful than anywhere else she’s parked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The area is quiet, aside from chirping birds and the occasional car driving by. Between the line of RVs and the lake, residents take evening strolls along a walking path.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many parked along the road have formed a sense of community. They look out for one another — Cuevas said she once drove a neighbor to the hospital after noticing she was limping — and work together to keep the area clean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062280\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12062280 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV5.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV5.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV5-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV5-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The work boots of Rubén, 23, a Mexican immigrant who lives in an RV near Lake Merced, an area that has become a refuge for displaced working families in San Francisco, California, on April 9, 2025. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“This place is nice and we try to take care of it, because they’re letting us stay here,” said Rubén, a 23-year-old Mexican immigrant who lives a few RVs down. Unlike Cuevas, Rubén chose to move out of a shared apartment and invest in an RV, saving the wages he earns from a street-repavement company.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents are able to park on John Muir Drive for months largely due to sparse enforcement, moving their vehicles only for biweekly street sweeping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet even that schedule brings stress, affecting their mental health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062288\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062288\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV6.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV6.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV6-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV6-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yuri S., 40, stands outside her RV near Lake Merced, an area that has become a parking refuge for working families in San Francisco, California, on April 9, 2025. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Yuri S., 40, watches her 1-year-old daughter during the day while her husband works, so she’s often in charge of moving the RV every other Monday, despite not knowing how to drive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When spaces fill up after street sweeping, she sometimes has to park in other parts of Lake Merced that feel less safe, with heavier traffic and unfamiliar neighbors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Sometimes I just want to leave as fast as I can,” said Yuri, whose family was pushed out of a shared apartment in Daly City after having a baby last October. “I’m not used to this. Living here in the United States is completely different from anything I was used to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Echoes of a displaced community\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Some residents now parked along John Muir Drive had previously spent years in even more established RV communities nearby, along Winston Drive and Lake Merced Boulevard. There, they had systems in place to discard water waste, organize trash pickups and coordinate child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But last summer, the tight-knit community of predominantly Latino families was dispersed to different parts of the city after one of San Francisco’s \u003ca href=\"https://eltecolote.org/content/en/sf-rv-crackdown-six-takeaways/\">most controversial crackdowns\u003c/a>. According to Lukas Illa, an organizer with the Coalition on Homelessness, the displacement placed them in even more precarious situations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062289\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062289\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV8.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV8.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV8-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV8-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A row of RVs, where many working immigrant families live, lines a street near Lake Merced in San Francisco, California, on April 9, 2025. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Sweeps are not only a means to displace people from a sidewalk, it is a means to break down communities and break down political power,” Illa told \u003cem>El Tecolote.\u003c/em> “It breaks down communication channels. It breaks down the community of trust and resource sharing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Illa said the mass eviction of a working-class community of families with children on Winston Drive exposed the limits of the city’s goodwill to find compassionate solutions. “We had the most humanizing population,” he said. “And still, nothing was done. It was seen as acceptable to displace them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar, who represents the neighborhood, has since become a leading voice in regulating and banning RVs citywide. Melgar has framed enforcement as a way to protect RV residents, who she said have faced harassment, vandalism and frequent calls to law enforcement, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062292\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062292\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV9.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV9.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV9-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV9-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Juan Sebastián, 25, a newcomer from Colombia, shows his neck tattoo in the Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco, California, on April 24, 2025. “I carried my two daughters in front of me with my suitcase on my back,” Sebastián said, recalling his migration through the Darién Gap from Colombia. He and his wife later saved enough money to apply for political asylum and obtain Social Security numbers. “It’s all been thanks to the RV,” he said. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We do not have a system to not just regulate but also support these families in an adequate way,” Melgar said \u003ca href=\"https://sanfrancisco.granicus.com/player/clip/50412?view_id=10&redirect=true\">on July 15\u003c/a>, ahead of the vote to approve the new RV policy. “I think it’s on us to build the system to support people to success, and not pretend that by leaving them on the streets we are doing the progressive thing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even in Lake Merced, where \u003ca href=\"https://journaliststudio.google.com/pinpoint/document-view?collection=d25e221763f99bd4&p=1&docid=2b28caa7a019a360_d25e221763f99bd4&page=1&capvm=2&dapvm=2\">complaints from neighbors\u003c/a> are driving an uptick in enforcement on certain streets, RV residents have continued to park and accrue tickets. Vidal Drive, for instance, limits parking to four hours without a permit but remains a refuge for residents like Beriuska Acosta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The tickets are piling up, but we have nowhere else to park,” Acosta said. Each one costs $102. “I get stressed out when I see the parking officers coming because you don’t know who you are going to get that day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>In the Bayview, RV residents are pushed to the brink\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While Lake Merced’s RVs sit near water and family housing, those in Bayview–Hunters Point make do in industrial corridors lined with warehouses and empty lots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along Jerrold and Barneveld avenues, rows of RVs sit wheel-to-wheel. Children’s bikes and barbecue grills rest outside. On Toland Street, a massive Amazon logo looms over the rows of vehicular homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Laura C., 37, living in an RV is the only option for her family. She rents her vehicle for $1,000 a month from another resident and has been parking along the same Bayview Avenue for months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062293\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062293\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV11.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV11.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV11-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV11-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">RVs are parked in front of an Amazon warehouse in the industrial Bayview neighborhood, where a concentration of families are living inside their RVs, many who are working immigrants, in San Francisco, California, on Jan. 17, 2025. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“On one occasion, the city came to clear us out,” Laura said. “But to tell you the truth, we came back. There is nowhere else to park.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>District 10 Supervisor Shaman Walton, who oversees the Bayview, was one of two supervisors to vote against the new RV policy, arguing that an enforcement-first approach won’t solve the housing crisis that made RV living necessary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To say that someone living in a vehicle does not have a home is malicious when they have no other form of shelter,” Walton said during the board’s vote. “This legislation is alluding to supporting brick and mortar as the only possible home in the most expensive city on the planet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With 55% of the city’s RVs parked in the Bayview, Walton’s district is the epicenter of San Francisco’s RV crisis. In \u003ca href=\"https://journaliststudio.google.com/pinpoint/document-view?collection=d25e221763f99bd4&p=1&docid=7763a74df0eb275f_d25e221763f99bd4&page=1&capvm=2&dapvm=2\">emails obtained\u003c/a> by \u003cem>El Tecolote\u003c/em>, residents described RVs blocking hydrants and generating trash and noise, which they fear deters potential tenants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062296\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062296\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV10.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV10.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV10-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV10-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Inside the RV the Clavejo family rents for $1,000 a month in the industrial Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco, California, on April 3, 2025. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Despite numerous 311 reports, many cases are quickly closed as “invalid” or “canceled,” fueling accusations of unequal enforcement compared with wealthier Lake Merced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, along a number of streets in the Bayview, RV neighbors say they help each other find jobs, resources and care for each other’s pets. Some, like Laura, lend their shower or kitchen to neighbors living in cars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In September, the SFMTA began taping notices on the windshields of the RVs, warning that vehicles longer than 22 feet or taller than seven feet will risk being towed. The flyers invited residents to informational events and permit workshops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062298\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062298\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV12.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV12.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV12-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV12-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sofía, 7, plays on a smartphone inside the RV her parents rent for $1,000 a month in the industrial Bayview neighborhood in San Francisco, California, on April 3, 2025. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The agency is offering six-month parking permits for people who were found parked in the city on May 31, as well as a limited number of housing subsidies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Permits could be revoked if residents decline shelter services. The city will also have an optional buyback program, paying $175 per linear foot — $1,000 upfront, with the remainder after residents secure housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Laura and her husband said they feel reassured by the permit but are anxious that they might be required to give up their RV to qualify for housing, a rumor that has circled among RV communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062299\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062299\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV14.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV14.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV14-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV14-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Laura C., 37, checks her DoorDash app from her car in the Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco, California, on April 3, 2025. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A spokesperson with the Department of Emergency Management \u003ca href=\"https://drive.google.com/file/d/1v0axnUbwmWfMXKqYU3BFw7fvR6Dq_aaj/view?usp=drive_link\">clarified in an email\u003c/a> that residents can keep their RVs, though they must move them to storage or parking outside the city once the ban begins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Laura worries that housing subsidies won’t provide lasting relief. She and her husband have struggled to find steady work to cover a full month’s rent, and their rental assistance is \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/strategy-to-address-vehicular-homelessness-and-restore-public-spaces?\">temporary\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You adapt to a place,” Laura said. “We’ve already adapted to the calmness here. So going to a different place is difficult because you’re not sure if you can trust it, you can’t leave your children alone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The toll of displacement on fragile communities\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As the ban looms closer, many RV residents feel mounting anxiety about their future. Lupe Velez, communications director at the Coalition on Homelessness, said some elderly immigrants she’s spoken with are so stressed they can’t sleep, unsure if they’ll qualify for permits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s really just so many barriers that they’re facing just to receive this information: cultural, language, generational,” she said. “It’s just really devastating.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062302\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062302\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV15.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV15.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV15-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV15-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Laura C., 37, pours a spoonful of Gatorade into a cup while her two children eat lunch inside their RV in the Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco, California, on April 3, 2025. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For some residents, giving up their vehicle would mean surrendering their only source of stability. And frequent displacement can disrupt access to medication and healthcare visits, as well as take a steep mental toll.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A 2021 study on Oakland’s RV population, for instance, found that \u003ca href=\"https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/sites/default/files/resources/UCSF%20BHHI%20Oversized%20Vehicle%20Report.pdf\">RV residents were often reluctant\u003c/a> to seek healthcare or social services because they feared their vehicles might be towed while they were gone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Daniela, 37, who lost most of her belongings during a tent sweep five years ago, those fears are constant. She fears leaving her RV for too long, worried that it might get towed. She can’t fathom giving it up for a shelter bed, leaving her five pet dogs behind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062315\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062315\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV16.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV16.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV16-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV16-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Samir, 8, walks past the RV where he lives with his family in the Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco, California, on April 24, 2025. He attends Buena Vista Horace Mann K–8 Community School, which operates an overnight shelter for students and families experiencing homelessness. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Sometimes I have enough to eat, sometimes I don’t,” said Daniela, who parks her RV in the Bayview by an Amazon warehouse. “I’m always worried about the police coming and taking away my home because it’s the only thing I have.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others are cautiously optimistic. Asylum seeker Alexander, 33, and his wife live with their dog in an RV. Increased enforcement pushed them from Vidal Drive to John Muir Drive, and they’re now weighing the city’s permit program — or even its RV buyback offer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s nice that they’re giving us opportunities,” Alexander told \u003cem>El Tecolote\u003c/em>. “That they’re not just putting rules but that they’re giving us a way to move forward.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062316\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062316\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV18.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV18.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV18-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV18-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Samir, 8, tries to juggle his soccer ball with his feet in the Bayview neighborhood in San Francisco, California, on April 24, 2025. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A few vehicles down, Mario and Nancy Guardin are more skeptical. They plan to apply for the permit but are wary of selling their RV, worried that once housing subsidies expire, they’ll face homelessness again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With a safe parking site, they would be able to solve all these problems,” Mario said. “But they don’t want that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With an enforcement deadline looming, the city is deciding where to place the new two-hour parking signs. Mayoral staffer Eufern Pan advised the SFMTA in \u003ca href=\"https://journaliststudio.google.com/pinpoint/document-view?collection=d25e221763f99bd4&p=1&docid=6a366498aa6e6557_d25e221763f99bd4&page=1&capvm=2&dapvm=2\">an email\u003c/a> to base the locations on four factors: where RVs are concentrated, where constituents complain most, 311 data, and input from police and parking officers who work on homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062324\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062324\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV19.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV19.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV19-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV19-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pairs of shoes dangle above the Bayview neighborhood where a concentration of families are living inside their RVs, many who are working immigrants, in San Francisco, California, on Jan. 17, 2025. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For the dense communities of families living in RVs in Lake Merced and the Bayview, it’s unclear whether the new policy will stabilize their lives with more housing opportunities or uproot them entirely through constant tows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They have consolidated the RVs to two different spots. It’s the Bayview, it’s Lake Merced,” Illa said. “[It’ll make it easy] for cops to monitor every two hours.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Illa said a ban on large RVs, a “visible sign of poverty,” will only encourage housed residents to report RVs in their neighborhoods and push families to seek refuge in cars and smaller vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062320\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062320\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV17.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV17.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV17-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV17-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Laura C., 37, looks out from the RV she rents for $1,000 a month in the Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco, California, on April 24, 2025. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s a lot harder to stay vehicularly housed in an RV versus like a sedan because the image of an RV is so stigmatized, is so hyper policed, that it is reported the second that it is seen,” Illa said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From the living room of her RV in the Bayview, Laura looks out over an industrial landscape. Her eyes widen when she thinks about a backup plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is our home. If they take our homes, we will end up in the street,” she said. “For me, this is my home.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This project was supported by the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism, and is part of “Healing California,” a yearlong reporting Ethnic Media Collaborative venture with print, online and broadcast outlets across California.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Along Lake Merced and in the Bayview, families who turned to RVs for shelter face new city rules that could uproot the fragile communities they’ve built.",
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"title": "‘This Is Our Home’: San Francisco Families in RVs Brace for New City Crackdown | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://eltecolote.org/content/en/sf-rv-crackdown-fallout/\">\u003cem>El Tecolote originally published this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along John Muir Drive, a winding road in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a>’s quiet Lake Merced neighborhood, more than a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12047562/please-just-let-us-be-san-francisco-rv-crackdown-advances-despite-families-pleas\">dozen RVs line the curb\u003c/a>. Inside one of them, Jessica Cuevas, 32, lives with her 8-year-old son.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After being evicted from her $3,800-a-month rental in late January, she bought an RV on Facebook Marketplace and parked near her son’s school in the Bayview. When parking tickets began piling up, she moved across the city to Lake Merced, joining other RV residents who, once again, may soon have to leave, this time having nowhere else to go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As San Francisco steps up efforts to curb vehicular \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/homelessness\">homelessness\u003c/a>, safe parking options for RV residents have dwindled. The crisis, which disproportionately impacts Latino\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/immigrants\"> immigrants\u003c/a>, has pushed longtime residents hit hard by pandemic job loss and newcomers seeking sanctuary into two distinct neighborhoods: Lake Merced and the Bayview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, more people are turning to oversized vehicles for shelter as San Francisco’s cost of living soars. Driven onto the same few streets, many RV residents have formed small communities of support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, a new citywide policy could decide the future of hundreds of people and families who call RVs home. Starting Nov. 1, 2025, San Francisco will enforce a two-hour parking limit for large vehicles. Residents must obtain a \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/large-vehicle-refuge-permit-program\">Large Vehicle Refuge Permit\u003c/a> or face tickets and towing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062252\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12062252 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV2-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV2-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Lakewood Apartments serve as a backdrop to a row of RVs parked along the street near Lake Merced in San Francisco, California, on April 9, 2025. Some neighbors have voiced concerns about the RVs in online forums such as Reddit. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>City officials say the program will connect eligible residents to housing assistance, but advocates warn it will uproot families and worsen conditions for working-class immigrants, seniors and people with disabilities already weathering the physical and mental health toll of displacement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the past year, \u003cem>El Tecolote\u003c/em> has documented the informal support systems forged by RV residents in Lake Merced and the Bayview in the absence of city aid. Firsthand accounts and public records reveal that, despite the promised support, the city’s upcoming crackdown threatens to dismantle the fragile stability these households have found.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>This isn’t forever: Families find refuge in Lake Merced\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When Cuevas worked as a DoorDash delivery driver last year, she often drove past dozens of parked RVs around Lake Merced. The Mexican mother worked three jobs and shared a Visitacion Valley home with two roommates to cover $3,800 rent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She had already been homeless once, when she first moved to the Bay Area in 2018 with a pending asylum application. After time in San Mateo County’s shelter system, a social worker helped her find housing in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062256\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12062256 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV3.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV3-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV3-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jessica Cuevas, 32, stands outside her RV near Lake Merced holding her two guinea pigs in San Francisco, California, on April 9, 2025. “I like staying on this street because it feels safer than the Bayview, where we stayed for a short time,” she said. “It’s been really difficult to get any type of resources.” \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>By late January, an eviction over missed rent payments pushed her family back to the streets. Cuevas bought an RV and started parking near her 8-year-old son’s school in the Bayview, moving every 72 hours to avoid tickets. As the citations piled up, Cuevas remembered the motorhomes she’d seen in Lake Merced and headed west.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In March, Cuevas found a spot on John Muir Drive, a wide, quiet street facing the lake where dozens of other RVs were parked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re still here,” Cuevas said. “We’re trying to look for a better place. But we have to wait.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062269\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12062269 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV4.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV4-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV4-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nathan, 8, holds his guinea pig outside the RV he shares with his mother, Jessica Cuevas, near Lake Merced in San Francisco, California, on April 9, 2025. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Her RV is small and poorly insulated, and rain seeps through the roof. Inside, a single mattress fills most of the floor, and a plastic box holds her son’s two guinea pigs, Pepe and Greñas. Without electricity or plumbing, they rely on the park’s public restrooms and a propane stove.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This kind of unstable housing puts residents at greater risk of poor health outcomes, including respiratory and cardiac diseases, \u003ca href=\"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10203673/#Sec16\">public health experts warn\u003c/a>. It also makes it harder to manage chronic conditions.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>San Francisco’s promise of housing support to RV residents is what Cuevas said she needs, though those options seem far from reach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s been on the city’s backlogged family-shelter waitlist since January. In June, the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing \u003ca href=\"https://media.api.sf.gov/documents/Agenda_Item_8_Directors_Report_June_2025.pdf\">reported\u003c/a> that 295 families were waiting for shelter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For now, Lake Merced feels more peaceful than anywhere else she’s parked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The area is quiet, aside from chirping birds and the occasional car driving by. Between the line of RVs and the lake, residents take evening strolls along a walking path.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many parked along the road have formed a sense of community. They look out for one another — Cuevas said she once drove a neighbor to the hospital after noticing she was limping — and work together to keep the area clean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062280\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12062280 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV5.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV5.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV5-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV5-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The work boots of Rubén, 23, a Mexican immigrant who lives in an RV near Lake Merced, an area that has become a refuge for displaced working families in San Francisco, California, on April 9, 2025. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“This place is nice and we try to take care of it, because they’re letting us stay here,” said Rubén, a 23-year-old Mexican immigrant who lives a few RVs down. Unlike Cuevas, Rubén chose to move out of a shared apartment and invest in an RV, saving the wages he earns from a street-repavement company.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents are able to park on John Muir Drive for months largely due to sparse enforcement, moving their vehicles only for biweekly street sweeping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet even that schedule brings stress, affecting their mental health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062288\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062288\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV6.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV6.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV6-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV6-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yuri S., 40, stands outside her RV near Lake Merced, an area that has become a parking refuge for working families in San Francisco, California, on April 9, 2025. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Yuri S., 40, watches her 1-year-old daughter during the day while her husband works, so she’s often in charge of moving the RV every other Monday, despite not knowing how to drive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When spaces fill up after street sweeping, she sometimes has to park in other parts of Lake Merced that feel less safe, with heavier traffic and unfamiliar neighbors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Sometimes I just want to leave as fast as I can,” said Yuri, whose family was pushed out of a shared apartment in Daly City after having a baby last October. “I’m not used to this. Living here in the United States is completely different from anything I was used to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Echoes of a displaced community\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Some residents now parked along John Muir Drive had previously spent years in even more established RV communities nearby, along Winston Drive and Lake Merced Boulevard. There, they had systems in place to discard water waste, organize trash pickups and coordinate child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But last summer, the tight-knit community of predominantly Latino families was dispersed to different parts of the city after one of San Francisco’s \u003ca href=\"https://eltecolote.org/content/en/sf-rv-crackdown-six-takeaways/\">most controversial crackdowns\u003c/a>. According to Lukas Illa, an organizer with the Coalition on Homelessness, the displacement placed them in even more precarious situations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062289\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062289\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV8.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV8.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV8-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV8-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A row of RVs, where many working immigrant families live, lines a street near Lake Merced in San Francisco, California, on April 9, 2025. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Sweeps are not only a means to displace people from a sidewalk, it is a means to break down communities and break down political power,” Illa told \u003cem>El Tecolote.\u003c/em> “It breaks down communication channels. It breaks down the community of trust and resource sharing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Illa said the mass eviction of a working-class community of families with children on Winston Drive exposed the limits of the city’s goodwill to find compassionate solutions. “We had the most humanizing population,” he said. “And still, nothing was done. It was seen as acceptable to displace them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar, who represents the neighborhood, has since become a leading voice in regulating and banning RVs citywide. Melgar has framed enforcement as a way to protect RV residents, who she said have faced harassment, vandalism and frequent calls to law enforcement, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062292\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062292\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV9.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV9.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV9-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV9-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Juan Sebastián, 25, a newcomer from Colombia, shows his neck tattoo in the Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco, California, on April 24, 2025. “I carried my two daughters in front of me with my suitcase on my back,” Sebastián said, recalling his migration through the Darién Gap from Colombia. He and his wife later saved enough money to apply for political asylum and obtain Social Security numbers. “It’s all been thanks to the RV,” he said. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We do not have a system to not just regulate but also support these families in an adequate way,” Melgar said \u003ca href=\"https://sanfrancisco.granicus.com/player/clip/50412?view_id=10&redirect=true\">on July 15\u003c/a>, ahead of the vote to approve the new RV policy. “I think it’s on us to build the system to support people to success, and not pretend that by leaving them on the streets we are doing the progressive thing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even in Lake Merced, where \u003ca href=\"https://journaliststudio.google.com/pinpoint/document-view?collection=d25e221763f99bd4&p=1&docid=2b28caa7a019a360_d25e221763f99bd4&page=1&capvm=2&dapvm=2\">complaints from neighbors\u003c/a> are driving an uptick in enforcement on certain streets, RV residents have continued to park and accrue tickets. Vidal Drive, for instance, limits parking to four hours without a permit but remains a refuge for residents like Beriuska Acosta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The tickets are piling up, but we have nowhere else to park,” Acosta said. Each one costs $102. “I get stressed out when I see the parking officers coming because you don’t know who you are going to get that day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>In the Bayview, RV residents are pushed to the brink\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While Lake Merced’s RVs sit near water and family housing, those in Bayview–Hunters Point make do in industrial corridors lined with warehouses and empty lots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along Jerrold and Barneveld avenues, rows of RVs sit wheel-to-wheel. Children’s bikes and barbecue grills rest outside. On Toland Street, a massive Amazon logo looms over the rows of vehicular homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Laura C., 37, living in an RV is the only option for her family. She rents her vehicle for $1,000 a month from another resident and has been parking along the same Bayview Avenue for months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062293\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062293\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV11.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV11.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV11-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV11-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">RVs are parked in front of an Amazon warehouse in the industrial Bayview neighborhood, where a concentration of families are living inside their RVs, many who are working immigrants, in San Francisco, California, on Jan. 17, 2025. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“On one occasion, the city came to clear us out,” Laura said. “But to tell you the truth, we came back. There is nowhere else to park.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>District 10 Supervisor Shaman Walton, who oversees the Bayview, was one of two supervisors to vote against the new RV policy, arguing that an enforcement-first approach won’t solve the housing crisis that made RV living necessary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To say that someone living in a vehicle does not have a home is malicious when they have no other form of shelter,” Walton said during the board’s vote. “This legislation is alluding to supporting brick and mortar as the only possible home in the most expensive city on the planet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With 55% of the city’s RVs parked in the Bayview, Walton’s district is the epicenter of San Francisco’s RV crisis. In \u003ca href=\"https://journaliststudio.google.com/pinpoint/document-view?collection=d25e221763f99bd4&p=1&docid=7763a74df0eb275f_d25e221763f99bd4&page=1&capvm=2&dapvm=2\">emails obtained\u003c/a> by \u003cem>El Tecolote\u003c/em>, residents described RVs blocking hydrants and generating trash and noise, which they fear deters potential tenants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062296\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062296\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV10.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV10.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV10-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV10-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Inside the RV the Clavejo family rents for $1,000 a month in the industrial Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco, California, on April 3, 2025. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Despite numerous 311 reports, many cases are quickly closed as “invalid” or “canceled,” fueling accusations of unequal enforcement compared with wealthier Lake Merced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, along a number of streets in the Bayview, RV neighbors say they help each other find jobs, resources and care for each other’s pets. Some, like Laura, lend their shower or kitchen to neighbors living in cars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In September, the SFMTA began taping notices on the windshields of the RVs, warning that vehicles longer than 22 feet or taller than seven feet will risk being towed. The flyers invited residents to informational events and permit workshops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062298\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062298\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV12.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV12.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV12-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV12-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sofía, 7, plays on a smartphone inside the RV her parents rent for $1,000 a month in the industrial Bayview neighborhood in San Francisco, California, on April 3, 2025. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The agency is offering six-month parking permits for people who were found parked in the city on May 31, as well as a limited number of housing subsidies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Permits could be revoked if residents decline shelter services. The city will also have an optional buyback program, paying $175 per linear foot — $1,000 upfront, with the remainder after residents secure housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Laura and her husband said they feel reassured by the permit but are anxious that they might be required to give up their RV to qualify for housing, a rumor that has circled among RV communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062299\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062299\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV14.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV14.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV14-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV14-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Laura C., 37, checks her DoorDash app from her car in the Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco, California, on April 3, 2025. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A spokesperson with the Department of Emergency Management \u003ca href=\"https://drive.google.com/file/d/1v0axnUbwmWfMXKqYU3BFw7fvR6Dq_aaj/view?usp=drive_link\">clarified in an email\u003c/a> that residents can keep their RVs, though they must move them to storage or parking outside the city once the ban begins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Laura worries that housing subsidies won’t provide lasting relief. She and her husband have struggled to find steady work to cover a full month’s rent, and their rental assistance is \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/strategy-to-address-vehicular-homelessness-and-restore-public-spaces?\">temporary\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You adapt to a place,” Laura said. “We’ve already adapted to the calmness here. So going to a different place is difficult because you’re not sure if you can trust it, you can’t leave your children alone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The toll of displacement on fragile communities\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As the ban looms closer, many RV residents feel mounting anxiety about their future. Lupe Velez, communications director at the Coalition on Homelessness, said some elderly immigrants she’s spoken with are so stressed they can’t sleep, unsure if they’ll qualify for permits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s really just so many barriers that they’re facing just to receive this information: cultural, language, generational,” she said. “It’s just really devastating.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062302\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062302\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV15.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV15.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV15-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV15-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Laura C., 37, pours a spoonful of Gatorade into a cup while her two children eat lunch inside their RV in the Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco, California, on April 3, 2025. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For some residents, giving up their vehicle would mean surrendering their only source of stability. And frequent displacement can disrupt access to medication and healthcare visits, as well as take a steep mental toll.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A 2021 study on Oakland’s RV population, for instance, found that \u003ca href=\"https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/sites/default/files/resources/UCSF%20BHHI%20Oversized%20Vehicle%20Report.pdf\">RV residents were often reluctant\u003c/a> to seek healthcare or social services because they feared their vehicles might be towed while they were gone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Daniela, 37, who lost most of her belongings during a tent sweep five years ago, those fears are constant. She fears leaving her RV for too long, worried that it might get towed. She can’t fathom giving it up for a shelter bed, leaving her five pet dogs behind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062315\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062315\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV16.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV16.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV16-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV16-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Samir, 8, walks past the RV where he lives with his family in the Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco, California, on April 24, 2025. He attends Buena Vista Horace Mann K–8 Community School, which operates an overnight shelter for students and families experiencing homelessness. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Sometimes I have enough to eat, sometimes I don’t,” said Daniela, who parks her RV in the Bayview by an Amazon warehouse. “I’m always worried about the police coming and taking away my home because it’s the only thing I have.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others are cautiously optimistic. Asylum seeker Alexander, 33, and his wife live with their dog in an RV. Increased enforcement pushed them from Vidal Drive to John Muir Drive, and they’re now weighing the city’s permit program — or even its RV buyback offer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s nice that they’re giving us opportunities,” Alexander told \u003cem>El Tecolote\u003c/em>. “That they’re not just putting rules but that they’re giving us a way to move forward.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062316\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062316\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV18.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV18.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV18-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV18-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Samir, 8, tries to juggle his soccer ball with his feet in the Bayview neighborhood in San Francisco, California, on April 24, 2025. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A few vehicles down, Mario and Nancy Guardin are more skeptical. They plan to apply for the permit but are wary of selling their RV, worried that once housing subsidies expire, they’ll face homelessness again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With a safe parking site, they would be able to solve all these problems,” Mario said. “But they don’t want that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With an enforcement deadline looming, the city is deciding where to place the new two-hour parking signs. Mayoral staffer Eufern Pan advised the SFMTA in \u003ca href=\"https://journaliststudio.google.com/pinpoint/document-view?collection=d25e221763f99bd4&p=1&docid=6a366498aa6e6557_d25e221763f99bd4&page=1&capvm=2&dapvm=2\">an email\u003c/a> to base the locations on four factors: where RVs are concentrated, where constituents complain most, 311 data, and input from police and parking officers who work on homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062324\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062324\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV19.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV19.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV19-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV19-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pairs of shoes dangle above the Bayview neighborhood where a concentration of families are living inside their RVs, many who are working immigrants, in San Francisco, California, on Jan. 17, 2025. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For the dense communities of families living in RVs in Lake Merced and the Bayview, it’s unclear whether the new policy will stabilize their lives with more housing opportunities or uproot them entirely through constant tows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They have consolidated the RVs to two different spots. It’s the Bayview, it’s Lake Merced,” Illa said. “[It’ll make it easy] for cops to monitor every two hours.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Illa said a ban on large RVs, a “visible sign of poverty,” will only encourage housed residents to report RVs in their neighborhoods and push families to seek refuge in cars and smaller vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062320\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062320\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV17.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV17.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV17-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/RV17-1536x1021.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Laura C., 37, looks out from the RV she rents for $1,000 a month in the Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco, California, on April 24, 2025. \u003ccite>(Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s a lot harder to stay vehicularly housed in an RV versus like a sedan because the image of an RV is so stigmatized, is so hyper policed, that it is reported the second that it is seen,” Illa said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From the living room of her RV in the Bayview, Laura looks out over an industrial landscape. Her eyes widen when she thinks about a backup plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is our home. If they take our homes, we will end up in the street,” she said. “For me, this is my home.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This project was supported by the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism, and is part of “Healing California,” a yearlong reporting Ethnic Media Collaborative venture with print, online and broadcast outlets across California.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "historic-west-oakland-blues-clubs-restoration-reveals-layers-of-hidden-history",
"title": "Historic West Oakland Blues Club’s Restoration Reveals Layers of Hidden History",
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"headTitle": "Historic West Oakland Blues Club’s Restoration Reveals Layers of Hidden History | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>When Noni Session first imagined reopening Esther’s Orbit Room, she saw a gleaming new building that would serve as an anchor for a reinvigorated cultural and commercial corridor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Session, who was born and raised in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/west-oakland\">West Oakland\u003c/a> and is the executive director of the \u003ca href=\"https://ebprec.org/\">East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative\u003c/a>, or EBPREC, renovating Esther’s was a chance at a fresh start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The former blues club had been a staple of the historic Seventh Street district, called the “Harlem of the West,” serving as the center of Black life in West Oakland for roughly half a century. While a series of policy decisions decimated the strip, with dozens of businesses and thousands of homes razed, Esther’s had remained the lone holdout, keeping its \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13809453/evolutionary-blues-resurrects-west-oaklands-musical-legacy\">doors open until 2011\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The building had sat vacant for around a decade by the time it came to EBPREC’s attention. But the decision to reopen it as a performance venue, bar and eatery seemed self-evident, Session said. She and her team at the developer co-op purchased the building and planned contemporary additions, including a wellness studio, working and living spaces for artists and an outdoor patio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They released renderings of the proposed upgrades: new balconies, murals, and a bold new sign replacing the rough faux-stone facade in favor of a fresh, modern aesthetic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We thought we were doing West Oakland a favor by getting rid of the sniff of the trauma and the lack of resources, right? You know, new facade, new bar, new vibe, new day,” Session said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062061\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12062061 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/Esthers-Orbit-Room-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1514\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/Esthers-Orbit-Room-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/Esthers-Orbit-Room-1-160x121.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/Esthers-Orbit-Room-1-1536x1163.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Esther’s Orbit Room photographed in 1987. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the African American Museum & Library at Oakland)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And then came the outcry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some of the old men in the neighborhood — on public record — were like, ‘That’s cultural genocide,’” Session recalled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She and her colleagues at EBPREC were already having some misgivings about the proposed design and had resolved to change it. But the criticism still threw Session for a loop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And then after some time sitting with it, looking at it, we realized you couldn’t really see West Oakland in that rendering,” she said. “It was only really then that I understood what they meant by cultural genocide, that they could not see their story on the surfaces of these buildings that we were calling assets, but not treating like assets.”[aside postID=forum_2010101895065 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/43/2023/11/010_KQED_AlamedaAffordableHousing_01122023-qut-1020x680.jpg']Now, instead of a ground-breaking ceremony, planned for later this year, there will be a rock-breaking ceremony. With help from professional masons, volunteers will painstakingly remove the building’s original fabricated stones from the exterior so \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DLa2PyfBllH/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==\">they can be reconstructed\u003c/a> when the restoration is complete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For some of West Oakland’s older generation, who experienced Seventh Street in its heyday, the decision to restore — rather than remodel — is one step toward repairing what was lost.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is sort of a love letter to a legacy,” said Cheryl Fabio, whose documentary film, \u003cem>Evolutionary Blues: West Oakland’s Music Legacy\u003c/em>, recounts the area’s musical history. “It is some repair — not enough repair — but some repair for what was stolen in places like Seventh Street.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inside, Session said EBPREC plans to repurpose the building’s original wooden walls, painted yellow and orange and long hidden beneath a layer of sheetrock, to use as a decorative backing for the bar and stage. The bar’s antique safe, rolltop desks and other furniture will feature prominently. “So that everywhere you turn, you see the authentic textures of this historical space.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a true act of serendipity, Session said, they uncovered Esther’s original stage lights, hidden behind an artificial wall and perfectly positioned where a new stage had already been planned. Standing inside the blackened room with only a headlamp to see by, Session pointed to the conical spotlight covers, their bulbs removed, nestled into the ceiling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were just dumbfounded,” she said. “What we’ve realized we need to do is, in some ways — this is a made-up word — but that we need to museumize the whole space.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘The place to be’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At its height in the middle of the 20th Century, Seventh Street was not only a prime entertainment district drawing national acts — such as B.B. King, Al Green, Aretha Franklin, Big Mama Thornton and other blues greats — but the locus of civic and community life. There were banks and lawyers’ offices, barber shops and grocery stores, a record store and recording studio, pharmacies, clothing stores, a bowling alley, theaters, and plenty of eateries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Esther Mabry, the Orbit Room’s namesake, founder and operator for more than a half-century, first came to Seventh Street during WWII, drawn from her hometown of Palestine, Texas, by the promise of good pay, she said in a \u003ca href=\"https://californiarevealed.org/do/97295ae0-188e-425d-96ca-264375d3b633\">2002 interview\u003c/a> with the African American Museum and Library at Oakland, or AAMLO.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062065\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062065\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/Esthers-Orbit-Room-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2471\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/Esthers-Orbit-Room-3.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/Esthers-Orbit-Room-3-160x198.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/Esthers-Orbit-Room-3-1243x1536.jpg 1243w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/Esthers-Orbit-Room-3-1658x2048.jpg 1658w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two men stand shaking hands on the sidewalk underneath Elsie’s neon sign on Seventh Street, circa the 1950s. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the African American Museum & Library at Oakland)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Everybody was making good money, and they were talking about how much money they were making,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By that time, West Oakland, the terminus of the transcontinental railroad, had already become a magnet for working-class people of all ethnicities, said Mitchell Schwarzer, an architectural historian and author of the book, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ucpress.edu/books/hella-town/paper\">\u003cem>Hella Town: Oakland’s History of Development and Disruption\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. But, he said, it had a particular pull for Black transplants as the West Coast headquarters of the \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandlibrary.org/content/oaklands-pullman-porters/\">Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters\u003c/a>, a large and influential union representing Black workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Porters became the genesis of a larger black community. They were kind of the foundation because they had decent-paying jobs at the time,” Schwarzer said. “And for Black people, this was probably one of the best jobs you could get until the war industries.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mabry herself worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad when she first arrived in West Oakland, she told AAMLO.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I sold tickets and made sandwiches — they had boxed lunches — and just did it all,” she said. “It was the place to be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12058750\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12058750\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-3-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-3-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-3-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-3-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The exterior of Esther’s Orbit Room, a historic former jazz club on Seventh Street in Oakland, on Oct. 2, 2025. Once a hub for music legends such as BB King and Etta James, the building is being renovated by the East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And Mabry was at the center of it. She told AAMLO she first opened Esther’s Breakfast Club, located across the street from the Orbit Room’s current location, in 1950.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By then, Schwarzer said West Oakland was well on its way to becoming a majority Black neighborhood, in part because racial covenants prevented Black residents from owning property in other parts of the city, and the \u003ca href=\"https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/map/CA/Oakland/context#loc=11/37.8099/-122.2263\">federal government’s policy\u003c/a> of redlining made buying and improving properties in most Black neighborhoods very difficult. So, working-class residents mingled with their wealthier neighbors in West Oakland, providing a diverse economic base that allowed businesses to thrive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And they all frequented Esther’s. “The pimps and prostitutes, they’d be up all night, and they would be ready to come in and eat and drink,” Mabry told AAMLO, adding that Sunday dinners were a different crowd, “All the attorneys and the judges and doctors, they all came.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All walks of life,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She and her husband, William Mabry, bought the building in 1959 and expanded it to include cocktails and live music in 1961, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2010/06/01/esther-mabry-owner-of-esthers-orbit-room-in-west-oakland-dies-at-90/\">East Bay Times.\u003c/a> In 1963, the couple opened Esther’s Orbit Room, at 1753 Seventh St., with a dance hall that could \u003ca href=\"https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=OT19850729.1.7&srpos=8&e=-------en--20--1-byDA-txt-txIN-%22Esther+Mabry%22-------\">host some 300 guests\u003c/a> and Harry “Daddy O” Gibson and Jay Payton headlining, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=OT19631105.1.40&srpos=6&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Esther%27s+Orbit+Room%22-------\">notice\u003c/a> in the Oakland Tribune.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12058753\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12058753 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-17-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-17-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-17-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-17-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An old safe was discovered inside Esther’s Orbit Room with plans to be made into a liquor cabinet during renovations in Oakland on Oct. 2, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Patrons came as much for the performers as for her down-home Southern food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Chitlins,” Mabry told AAMLO. “That was my thing that kept me in business was chitlins. Nobody had chitlins but me; I started everybody having chitlins.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Mabry did more than serve food. She often connected her patrons in need of work with available jobs or served as the conduit between employers and their employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She told AAMLO, “They’d come there to look for somebody, and I’d find them for them. I knew just about where to get in contact with somebody, where they’d be playing cards or something, and go and tell them that they’ve got a job for them this evening. That would work out real good.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And Esther’s served a civic function, hosting meetings for the East Bay Democratic Club, \u003ca href=\"https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=OT19660603.1.5&srpos=4&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Esther%27s+Orbit+Room%22-------\">political forums\u003c/a> and city council \u003ca href=\"https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=OT19670405.1.31&srpos=5&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Esther%27s+Orbit+Room%22-------\">candidates’ fundraisers\u003c/a>; it was even visited \u003ca href=\"https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=OT19701208.1.19&srpos=1&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Esther%27s+Breakfast+Club%22-------\">by Ethel Kennedy\u003c/a>, the widow of Robert F. Kennedy, on a tour of West Oakland in 1970.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘We always come back’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>By then, massive developments were well underway, Schwarzer said. And a series of governmental policy decisions had, over several decades, hastened the hollowing out of Seventh Street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first was the construction, during the mid-1950s, of the Cypress Street Viaduct, a freeway that tore through the middle of West Oakland, along with the city’s Chinatown, Japantown and Mexican communities, \u003ca href=\"https://archive.ph/20250111235351/https:/www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/environmental_justice/case_studies/case5.cfm\">uprooting some 600 families\u003c/a> and dozens of businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So you have a freeway that takes its route through the primary minority communities in Oakland, and disrupts them dramatically,” he said. “That’s the first big change. This was called the Cypress Viaduct, and it went right through the middle of West Oakland — a two-level concrete structure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062064\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062064\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/Esthers-Orbit-Room-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1416\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/Esthers-Orbit-Room-2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/Esthers-Orbit-Room-2-160x113.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/Esthers-Orbit-Room-2-1536x1087.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In an Oakland Post story from Sept. 25, 1963, the newspaper reports on the status of the new Oakland Main Post Office development: “Weeds are over nine feet high. This is an insult to the Negro community. In the background are businesses on Seventh St. This area was sold to the federal government for an alleged Post Office. Over 500 homes were destroyed, to create this blight.” \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the African American Museum & Library at Oakland)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Then came what politicians called “slum clearing” for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandca.gov/files/assets/city/v/1/city-administrator/documents/archive-oakland-redevelopment-agency/redevelopment-plan.pdf\">Acorn Urban Renewal Plan\u003c/a>, Schwarzer said, and a new Oakland Main Post Office and distribution center. Demolition for that began in 1960, when a contractor used a \u003ca href=\"https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=OT19600816.1.13&srpos=4&e=------196-en--20-OT-1--txt-txIN-%22sherman+tank%22-------\">surplus WWII Sherman Tank\u003c/a> to plow through hundreds of homes. “The elapsed time from the first resounding snap to the last dusty roar was 10 minutes,” an Oakland Tribune article from the time stated. But despite the expediency of demolition, construction was slow, and the new post office didn’t open \u003ca href=\"https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=OT19691017.1.17&srpos=1&e=01-01-1969-01-12-1970--en--20-OT-1--txt-txIN-Oakland+post+office-------\">until 1969\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Esther’s Orbit Room, which was located next to the new post office, eventually had to move to make way for its parking lot, and Mabry relocated across the street to its current location.[aside postID=news_11823182 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/06/002_KQED_Oakland_GeorgeFloydProtest_06032020-672x372.jpg']But the real death knell for Seventh Street, said Ronnie Stewart, executive director of the Bay Area Blues Society, was the construction of the West Oakland BART Station, with its elevated tracks running down the middle of the street. To accommodate them, businesses along one side of the street were leveled. For those that remained, there were years of construction to contend with, Stewart said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“During the process … they parked bulldozers and tractors and earth-moving equipment. They put that in front of all the different clubs. Cars couldn’t park. You couldn’t even hardly go down Seventh Street,” Stewart said. “And so consequently, that destroyed it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Esther’s and a neighboring restaurant, The Barn, which also served Southern cuisine, continued operating in large part because they received patrons from the post office, Stewart said. But many of the other businesses “just died on the vine.” And while Esther’s still had live music, the rumble of passing BART trains would interrupt it, shaking the walls, rattling glassware and setting lights to flicker, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents displaced by the redevelopment or who left voluntarily moved to North Oakland and West Berkeley, to the Oakland hills if they could afford it, and to East Oakland, Schwarzer said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12058749\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12058749\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-2-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-2-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-2-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-2-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Noni Session, executive director of the East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative, stands in front of the Barn next to Esther’s Orbit Room on Seventh Street in Oakland, part of plans to revive the corridor with a community café, meeting, and maker space, on Oct. 2, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“So there’s a segmentation which hadn’t been present as much before 1960 because the community was so jammed into West Oakland,” he said. “Dispersal of the Black community into segmental class groups starts to weaken the older commercial districts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Fabio said that mass displacement had a deeper, psychological impact on the people who lived it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So all of those homes they took out also removed all of those voices, right?” she said. “The impact is devastating.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By 1985, when the Oakland Tribune \u003ca href=\"https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=OT19850729.1.7&srpos=8&e=-------en--20--1-byDA-txt-txIN-%22Esther+Mabry%22-------\">profiled Esther and her Orbit Room\u003c/a>, West Oakland featured “mostly boarded-up shops, liquor stores, vacant lots and a fried chicken outlet.” Still, Mabry remained, serving as “a sort of neighborhood update service, a place where people who used to live around Seventh Street go to look up old pals who are still there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Customer Betty Johnson commented to the Tribune, “It seems like, regardless of where we go, we always come back to Esther’s.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Back like it was before’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Mabry’s business persisted past the turn of the century as the “Grand Lady of Seventh Street” and the last remaining testament to the storied strip. When Mabry’s health began to fail, her nephew took over operations. Mabry \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2010/06/01/esther-mabry-owner-of-esthers-orbit-room-in-west-oakland-dies-at-90/\">died in 2010\u003c/a>, and the bar closed the following year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To Stewart, it’s vital the building — and Mabry’s legacy — is preserved, and he’s grateful EBPREC listened to his and other community members’ feedback, urging them to keep that history alive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12058748\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12058748 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-1-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-1-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-1-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-1-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Barn, next to Esther’s Orbit Room on Seventh Street in West Oakland, is part of efforts to revive the corridor as a community café, meeting and maker space in Oakland on Oct. 2, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“[Seventh Street] was the center of Black life. And we think it’s very important to have that remembrance,” Stewart said, “And we feel that the community should have some sort of an iconic symbol of where it used to be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The building next to Esther’s, which held The Barn and where EBPREC now has its headquarters, will house a new museum to recount the story of Seventh Street, complete with oral histories, archival photos and other memorabilia, Session said. Some of Esther’s original furniture, gambling gear, signage, a clock — even one of Mabry’s hats — will be housed inside the Orbit Room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>EBPREC hopes the roughly $9 million restoration will become the cornerstone of a plan to revitalize the entire 13 blocks of the historic stretch in an initiative called \u003ca href=\"https://www.7thstreetoakland.com/\">7th Street Thrives\u003c/a>, which includes a coalition of other area residents, business and property owners and city officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The vision is to have “every commercial space leased up, the lights turned back on, the trash picked up regularly, and foot traffic and business at increasing levels,” Session said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12058751\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12058751\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-5-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-5-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-5-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-5-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Noni Session points to the spot where the first brick was removed from Esther’s Orbit Room during renovations on Seventh Street in Oakland on Oct. 2, 2025. The cooperative is seeking skilled masons to help preserve its original stone facade. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But more than that, she said it’s also about retaining community control of the corridor’s future and ensuring existing and returning residents can benefit from it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People don’t want something new,” Session said. “They want to recover what was lost.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To her dying day, that’s what Mabry wanted, too, Stewart said. In her 2002 conversation with AAMLO, Mabry told her interviewers it was her “greatest ambition” to see Seventh Street, and all of West Oakland, revitalized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After all, she told the Tribune in 1985, “This is where people’s roots are. We just try to take care of ‘em.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When Noni Session first imagined reopening Esther’s Orbit Room, she saw a gleaming new building that would serve as an anchor for a reinvigorated cultural and commercial corridor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Session, who was born and raised in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/west-oakland\">West Oakland\u003c/a> and is the executive director of the \u003ca href=\"https://ebprec.org/\">East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative\u003c/a>, or EBPREC, renovating Esther’s was a chance at a fresh start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The former blues club had been a staple of the historic Seventh Street district, called the “Harlem of the West,” serving as the center of Black life in West Oakland for roughly half a century. While a series of policy decisions decimated the strip, with dozens of businesses and thousands of homes razed, Esther’s had remained the lone holdout, keeping its \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13809453/evolutionary-blues-resurrects-west-oaklands-musical-legacy\">doors open until 2011\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The building had sat vacant for around a decade by the time it came to EBPREC’s attention. But the decision to reopen it as a performance venue, bar and eatery seemed self-evident, Session said. She and her team at the developer co-op purchased the building and planned contemporary additions, including a wellness studio, working and living spaces for artists and an outdoor patio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They released renderings of the proposed upgrades: new balconies, murals, and a bold new sign replacing the rough faux-stone facade in favor of a fresh, modern aesthetic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We thought we were doing West Oakland a favor by getting rid of the sniff of the trauma and the lack of resources, right? You know, new facade, new bar, new vibe, new day,” Session said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062061\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12062061 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/Esthers-Orbit-Room-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1514\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/Esthers-Orbit-Room-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/Esthers-Orbit-Room-1-160x121.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/Esthers-Orbit-Room-1-1536x1163.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Esther’s Orbit Room photographed in 1987. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the African American Museum & Library at Oakland)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And then came the outcry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some of the old men in the neighborhood — on public record — were like, ‘That’s cultural genocide,’” Session recalled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She and her colleagues at EBPREC were already having some misgivings about the proposed design and had resolved to change it. But the criticism still threw Session for a loop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And then after some time sitting with it, looking at it, we realized you couldn’t really see West Oakland in that rendering,” she said. “It was only really then that I understood what they meant by cultural genocide, that they could not see their story on the surfaces of these buildings that we were calling assets, but not treating like assets.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Now, instead of a ground-breaking ceremony, planned for later this year, there will be a rock-breaking ceremony. With help from professional masons, volunteers will painstakingly remove the building’s original fabricated stones from the exterior so \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DLa2PyfBllH/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==\">they can be reconstructed\u003c/a> when the restoration is complete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For some of West Oakland’s older generation, who experienced Seventh Street in its heyday, the decision to restore — rather than remodel — is one step toward repairing what was lost.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is sort of a love letter to a legacy,” said Cheryl Fabio, whose documentary film, \u003cem>Evolutionary Blues: West Oakland’s Music Legacy\u003c/em>, recounts the area’s musical history. “It is some repair — not enough repair — but some repair for what was stolen in places like Seventh Street.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inside, Session said EBPREC plans to repurpose the building’s original wooden walls, painted yellow and orange and long hidden beneath a layer of sheetrock, to use as a decorative backing for the bar and stage. The bar’s antique safe, rolltop desks and other furniture will feature prominently. “So that everywhere you turn, you see the authentic textures of this historical space.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a true act of serendipity, Session said, they uncovered Esther’s original stage lights, hidden behind an artificial wall and perfectly positioned where a new stage had already been planned. Standing inside the blackened room with only a headlamp to see by, Session pointed to the conical spotlight covers, their bulbs removed, nestled into the ceiling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were just dumbfounded,” she said. “What we’ve realized we need to do is, in some ways — this is a made-up word — but that we need to museumize the whole space.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘The place to be’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At its height in the middle of the 20th Century, Seventh Street was not only a prime entertainment district drawing national acts — such as B.B. King, Al Green, Aretha Franklin, Big Mama Thornton and other blues greats — but the locus of civic and community life. There were banks and lawyers’ offices, barber shops and grocery stores, a record store and recording studio, pharmacies, clothing stores, a bowling alley, theaters, and plenty of eateries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Esther Mabry, the Orbit Room’s namesake, founder and operator for more than a half-century, first came to Seventh Street during WWII, drawn from her hometown of Palestine, Texas, by the promise of good pay, she said in a \u003ca href=\"https://californiarevealed.org/do/97295ae0-188e-425d-96ca-264375d3b633\">2002 interview\u003c/a> with the African American Museum and Library at Oakland, or AAMLO.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062065\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062065\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/Esthers-Orbit-Room-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2471\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/Esthers-Orbit-Room-3.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/Esthers-Orbit-Room-3-160x198.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/Esthers-Orbit-Room-3-1243x1536.jpg 1243w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/Esthers-Orbit-Room-3-1658x2048.jpg 1658w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two men stand shaking hands on the sidewalk underneath Elsie’s neon sign on Seventh Street, circa the 1950s. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the African American Museum & Library at Oakland)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Everybody was making good money, and they were talking about how much money they were making,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By that time, West Oakland, the terminus of the transcontinental railroad, had already become a magnet for working-class people of all ethnicities, said Mitchell Schwarzer, an architectural historian and author of the book, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ucpress.edu/books/hella-town/paper\">\u003cem>Hella Town: Oakland’s History of Development and Disruption\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. But, he said, it had a particular pull for Black transplants as the West Coast headquarters of the \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandlibrary.org/content/oaklands-pullman-porters/\">Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters\u003c/a>, a large and influential union representing Black workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Porters became the genesis of a larger black community. They were kind of the foundation because they had decent-paying jobs at the time,” Schwarzer said. “And for Black people, this was probably one of the best jobs you could get until the war industries.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mabry herself worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad when she first arrived in West Oakland, she told AAMLO.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I sold tickets and made sandwiches — they had boxed lunches — and just did it all,” she said. “It was the place to be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12058750\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12058750\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-3-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-3-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-3-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-3-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The exterior of Esther’s Orbit Room, a historic former jazz club on Seventh Street in Oakland, on Oct. 2, 2025. Once a hub for music legends such as BB King and Etta James, the building is being renovated by the East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And Mabry was at the center of it. She told AAMLO she first opened Esther’s Breakfast Club, located across the street from the Orbit Room’s current location, in 1950.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By then, Schwarzer said West Oakland was well on its way to becoming a majority Black neighborhood, in part because racial covenants prevented Black residents from owning property in other parts of the city, and the \u003ca href=\"https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/map/CA/Oakland/context#loc=11/37.8099/-122.2263\">federal government’s policy\u003c/a> of redlining made buying and improving properties in most Black neighborhoods very difficult. So, working-class residents mingled with their wealthier neighbors in West Oakland, providing a diverse economic base that allowed businesses to thrive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And they all frequented Esther’s. “The pimps and prostitutes, they’d be up all night, and they would be ready to come in and eat and drink,” Mabry told AAMLO, adding that Sunday dinners were a different crowd, “All the attorneys and the judges and doctors, they all came.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All walks of life,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She and her husband, William Mabry, bought the building in 1959 and expanded it to include cocktails and live music in 1961, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2010/06/01/esther-mabry-owner-of-esthers-orbit-room-in-west-oakland-dies-at-90/\">East Bay Times.\u003c/a> In 1963, the couple opened Esther’s Orbit Room, at 1753 Seventh St., with a dance hall that could \u003ca href=\"https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=OT19850729.1.7&srpos=8&e=-------en--20--1-byDA-txt-txIN-%22Esther+Mabry%22-------\">host some 300 guests\u003c/a> and Harry “Daddy O” Gibson and Jay Payton headlining, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=OT19631105.1.40&srpos=6&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Esther%27s+Orbit+Room%22-------\">notice\u003c/a> in the Oakland Tribune.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12058753\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12058753 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-17-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-17-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-17-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-17-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An old safe was discovered inside Esther’s Orbit Room with plans to be made into a liquor cabinet during renovations in Oakland on Oct. 2, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Patrons came as much for the performers as for her down-home Southern food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Chitlins,” Mabry told AAMLO. “That was my thing that kept me in business was chitlins. Nobody had chitlins but me; I started everybody having chitlins.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Mabry did more than serve food. She often connected her patrons in need of work with available jobs or served as the conduit between employers and their employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She told AAMLO, “They’d come there to look for somebody, and I’d find them for them. I knew just about where to get in contact with somebody, where they’d be playing cards or something, and go and tell them that they’ve got a job for them this evening. That would work out real good.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And Esther’s served a civic function, hosting meetings for the East Bay Democratic Club, \u003ca href=\"https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=OT19660603.1.5&srpos=4&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Esther%27s+Orbit+Room%22-------\">political forums\u003c/a> and city council \u003ca href=\"https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=OT19670405.1.31&srpos=5&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Esther%27s+Orbit+Room%22-------\">candidates’ fundraisers\u003c/a>; it was even visited \u003ca href=\"https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=OT19701208.1.19&srpos=1&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Esther%27s+Breakfast+Club%22-------\">by Ethel Kennedy\u003c/a>, the widow of Robert F. Kennedy, on a tour of West Oakland in 1970.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘We always come back’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>By then, massive developments were well underway, Schwarzer said. And a series of governmental policy decisions had, over several decades, hastened the hollowing out of Seventh Street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first was the construction, during the mid-1950s, of the Cypress Street Viaduct, a freeway that tore through the middle of West Oakland, along with the city’s Chinatown, Japantown and Mexican communities, \u003ca href=\"https://archive.ph/20250111235351/https:/www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/environmental_justice/case_studies/case5.cfm\">uprooting some 600 families\u003c/a> and dozens of businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So you have a freeway that takes its route through the primary minority communities in Oakland, and disrupts them dramatically,” he said. “That’s the first big change. This was called the Cypress Viaduct, and it went right through the middle of West Oakland — a two-level concrete structure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062064\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062064\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/Esthers-Orbit-Room-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1416\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/Esthers-Orbit-Room-2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/Esthers-Orbit-Room-2-160x113.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/Esthers-Orbit-Room-2-1536x1087.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In an Oakland Post story from Sept. 25, 1963, the newspaper reports on the status of the new Oakland Main Post Office development: “Weeds are over nine feet high. This is an insult to the Negro community. In the background are businesses on Seventh St. This area was sold to the federal government for an alleged Post Office. Over 500 homes were destroyed, to create this blight.” \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the African American Museum & Library at Oakland)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Then came what politicians called “slum clearing” for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandca.gov/files/assets/city/v/1/city-administrator/documents/archive-oakland-redevelopment-agency/redevelopment-plan.pdf\">Acorn Urban Renewal Plan\u003c/a>, Schwarzer said, and a new Oakland Main Post Office and distribution center. Demolition for that began in 1960, when a contractor used a \u003ca href=\"https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=OT19600816.1.13&srpos=4&e=------196-en--20-OT-1--txt-txIN-%22sherman+tank%22-------\">surplus WWII Sherman Tank\u003c/a> to plow through hundreds of homes. “The elapsed time from the first resounding snap to the last dusty roar was 10 minutes,” an Oakland Tribune article from the time stated. But despite the expediency of demolition, construction was slow, and the new post office didn’t open \u003ca href=\"https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=OT19691017.1.17&srpos=1&e=01-01-1969-01-12-1970--en--20-OT-1--txt-txIN-Oakland+post+office-------\">until 1969\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Esther’s Orbit Room, which was located next to the new post office, eventually had to move to make way for its parking lot, and Mabry relocated across the street to its current location.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But the real death knell for Seventh Street, said Ronnie Stewart, executive director of the Bay Area Blues Society, was the construction of the West Oakland BART Station, with its elevated tracks running down the middle of the street. To accommodate them, businesses along one side of the street were leveled. For those that remained, there were years of construction to contend with, Stewart said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“During the process … they parked bulldozers and tractors and earth-moving equipment. They put that in front of all the different clubs. Cars couldn’t park. You couldn’t even hardly go down Seventh Street,” Stewart said. “And so consequently, that destroyed it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Esther’s and a neighboring restaurant, The Barn, which also served Southern cuisine, continued operating in large part because they received patrons from the post office, Stewart said. But many of the other businesses “just died on the vine.” And while Esther’s still had live music, the rumble of passing BART trains would interrupt it, shaking the walls, rattling glassware and setting lights to flicker, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents displaced by the redevelopment or who left voluntarily moved to North Oakland and West Berkeley, to the Oakland hills if they could afford it, and to East Oakland, Schwarzer said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12058749\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12058749\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-2-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-2-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-2-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-2-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Noni Session, executive director of the East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative, stands in front of the Barn next to Esther’s Orbit Room on Seventh Street in Oakland, part of plans to revive the corridor with a community café, meeting, and maker space, on Oct. 2, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“So there’s a segmentation which hadn’t been present as much before 1960 because the community was so jammed into West Oakland,” he said. “Dispersal of the Black community into segmental class groups starts to weaken the older commercial districts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Fabio said that mass displacement had a deeper, psychological impact on the people who lived it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So all of those homes they took out also removed all of those voices, right?” she said. “The impact is devastating.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By 1985, when the Oakland Tribune \u003ca href=\"https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=OT19850729.1.7&srpos=8&e=-------en--20--1-byDA-txt-txIN-%22Esther+Mabry%22-------\">profiled Esther and her Orbit Room\u003c/a>, West Oakland featured “mostly boarded-up shops, liquor stores, vacant lots and a fried chicken outlet.” Still, Mabry remained, serving as “a sort of neighborhood update service, a place where people who used to live around Seventh Street go to look up old pals who are still there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Customer Betty Johnson commented to the Tribune, “It seems like, regardless of where we go, we always come back to Esther’s.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Back like it was before’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Mabry’s business persisted past the turn of the century as the “Grand Lady of Seventh Street” and the last remaining testament to the storied strip. When Mabry’s health began to fail, her nephew took over operations. Mabry \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2010/06/01/esther-mabry-owner-of-esthers-orbit-room-in-west-oakland-dies-at-90/\">died in 2010\u003c/a>, and the bar closed the following year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To Stewart, it’s vital the building — and Mabry’s legacy — is preserved, and he’s grateful EBPREC listened to his and other community members’ feedback, urging them to keep that history alive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12058748\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12058748 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-1-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-1-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-1-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-1-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Barn, next to Esther’s Orbit Room on Seventh Street in West Oakland, is part of efforts to revive the corridor as a community café, meeting and maker space in Oakland on Oct. 2, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“[Seventh Street] was the center of Black life. And we think it’s very important to have that remembrance,” Stewart said, “And we feel that the community should have some sort of an iconic symbol of where it used to be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The building next to Esther’s, which held The Barn and where EBPREC now has its headquarters, will house a new museum to recount the story of Seventh Street, complete with oral histories, archival photos and other memorabilia, Session said. Some of Esther’s original furniture, gambling gear, signage, a clock — even one of Mabry’s hats — will be housed inside the Orbit Room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>EBPREC hopes the roughly $9 million restoration will become the cornerstone of a plan to revitalize the entire 13 blocks of the historic stretch in an initiative called \u003ca href=\"https://www.7thstreetoakland.com/\">7th Street Thrives\u003c/a>, which includes a coalition of other area residents, business and property owners and city officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The vision is to have “every commercial space leased up, the lights turned back on, the trash picked up regularly, and foot traffic and business at increasing levels,” Session said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12058751\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12058751\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-5-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-5-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-5-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251003_ORBIT_ROOM-_-5-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Noni Session points to the spot where the first brick was removed from Esther’s Orbit Room during renovations on Seventh Street in Oakland on Oct. 2, 2025. The cooperative is seeking skilled masons to help preserve its original stone facade. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But more than that, she said it’s also about retaining community control of the corridor’s future and ensuring existing and returning residents can benefit from it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People don’t want something new,” Session said. “They want to recover what was lost.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To her dying day, that’s what Mabry wanted, too, Stewart said. In her 2002 conversation with AAMLO, Mabry told her interviewers it was her “greatest ambition” to see Seventh Street, and all of West Oakland, revitalized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After all, she told the Tribune in 1985, “This is where people’s roots are. We just try to take care of ‘em.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "report-projects-weak-housing-production-under-san-francisco-zoning-plan-over-next-20-years",
"title": "Report Projects Weak Housing Production Under San Francisco Zoning Plan Over Next 20 Years",
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"headTitle": "Report Projects Weak Housing Production Under San Francisco Zoning Plan Over Next 20 Years | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a>’s contentious \u003ca href=\"https://sfplanning.org/sf-family-zoning-plan\">rezoning plan\u003c/a> is unlikely to produce the number of homes the city is required to build to meet state requirements, according to projections in a report released Thursday by the city’s chief economist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco is on the hook to make way for 82,000 new homes by 2031, and risks losing state funding and control over housing development if a local rezoning plan is not adopted by January 2026. The report could add another hurdle for the housing proposal, which has already been a major test for Mayor Daniel Lurie, who had never served in public office before this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report suggests that Lurie’s Family Zoning Plan could lead to a “significant increase in the city’s housing supply.” But even optimistic modeling projected only about 14,600 new units, due to construction costs and the plan’s dependency on market conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The context for housing development in San Francisco has changed profoundly in the past several years,” the report read.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nevertheless, under both scenarios considered in this report, the proposed rezoning would lead to a significant increase in the city’s housing supply, and have broadly positive effects on housing prices and the city’s broader economy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city’s Office of Economic Analysis reviews all new legislation introduced at the board and will report on its economic effects if it’s determined to have a significant impact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062183\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12062183 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/240214-CoastalCommission-56-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/240214-CoastalCommission-56-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/240214-CoastalCommission-56-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/240214-CoastalCommission-56-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Houses line Lawton Street in San Francisco’s Sunset District on Feb. 14, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Family Zoning Plan increases citywide capacity for about 39,000 additional homes, meeting the state target of 36,200 units in the city’s more residential \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12057448/on-sfs-west-side-a-push-to-protect-historic-landmarks-amid-plans-for-more-housing\">western\u003c/a> and northern neighborhoods. The plan does not include blueprints for actual developments, but instead permits more units to be built on some 92,000 parcels in the city to allow denser and taller housing in areas where development is restricted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A separate \u003ca href=\"https://sfplanning.org/sites/default/files/documents/citywide/FZP-Factsheet-Capacity-Calculations.pdf\">financial feasibility\u003c/a> analysis by the Planning Department found that the plan could produce about 19,000 units of moderate and above moderate income units, meeting the state-mandated target of 16,000 for these income categories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report analyzes market trends before and after the 2010s, when housing production sharply increased following a post-recession low. But the chief economist points out that housing is now more expensive to build than before the coronavirus pandemic, with no clear signals that could change or revert back any time soon.[aside postID=news_12059533 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/002_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3417_qed-1020x680.jpg']“An expansive rezoning effort, like the proposed Family Zoning plan, will be challenged to match the 2010s levels of new housing development in the city, even under an optimistic high-growth scenario,” the report read.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California Department of Housing and Community Development, in its preliminary review in September, said the city’s rezoning plan is largely compliant. It’s unclear how they will view the latest report or whether it will affect the city’s standing with the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the city fails to pass a rezoning plan by January, state officials could withhold local funding and take over San Francisco’s housing production approval processes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Too many parents are already afraid their kids won’t be able to afford to live in San Francisco,” said Charles Lutvak, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office. “Mayor Lurie’s Family Zoning Plan will help build the housing we need and meet our obligations under state law — we just need to get it done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes In My Backyard (YIMBY) organizers who support the rezoning proposal have been pushing for more permissive rules to allow for more density and housing across the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We still should be doing family zoning, but we need to do a lot more to actually produce the housing we need as a city,” said Jane Natoli, Organizing Director at YIMBY Action in San Francisco, who stressed that the plan needs to pass. “I am concerned because we have a target that we’re supposed to be moving toward.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12046616\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12046616\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NewTeacherHousing-19-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NewTeacherHousing-19-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NewTeacherHousing-19-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NewTeacherHousing-19-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction workers build at 750 Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco on June 18, 2025, during a groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of two affordable housing projects. One will deliver 75 units prioritized for SFUSD and City College educators, and the other at 850 Turk will add 92 family apartments. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Critics of the plan, which span from homeowners fearful of changes in their neighborhoods to housing watchdogs who say the plan doesn’t do enough to protect renters and small businesses, said the latest findings match some of their concerns, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>The problem isn’t zoning; it’s financing, construction costs, and an outdated RHNA formula driven by politics rather than real demand,” said Lori Brooks with Neighborhoods United SF, using an acronym that stands for Regional Housing Needs Allocation and refers to the number of homes each jurisdiction must build.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some supervisors are simultaneously pushing for a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12058853/san-francisco-public-bank-supporters-eye-2026-ballot-measure\">public bank that could help finance the thousands of affordable units\u003c/a> that are already approved in San Francisco, but are stalled in the development pipeline due to a lack of funding. Other datasets show \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/housing-megaprojects-stalled-20812460.php\">private development has also slowed\u003c/a>.[aside postID=news_12061468 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-24-BL-KQED.jpg']“Instead of focusing on what’s actually needed — preserving existing rent-controlled housing, supporting small businesses, and building truly affordable homes — this plan upzones nearly the entire west and northeast sides of the city with no guardrails, no affordability guarantees, and silences the voice of residents in how their communities should grow,” Brooks said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report casts two projections based on a high-growth scenario and a low-growth scenario.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The high-growth scenario assumes that the city’s housing process returns to pre-pandemic levels by 2030 and grows until 2045, projecting a 10% increase in housing prices over the next five years. Under that model, the report found the plan could add 14,646 additional housing units, beyond what the city’s existing zoning might produce, over the next 20 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The low-growth scenario assumes that San Francisco housing prices increase only at the U.S. long-term rate of 1.8% annually, and that housing prices won’t reach pre-pandemic levels until 2041. That projection would lead to only 8,504 new units in 20 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report also highlights changes to the housing market that have occurred in westside and northern neighborhoods, which are a focus of the rezoning plan to increase density. Condos downtown and in the South of Market neighborhood have experienced price drops of nearly 40% since 2016, while the Richmond and Sunset have fallen only slightly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042431\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042431\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250519-AffordableHousingFile-10-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250519-AffordableHousingFile-10-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250519-AffordableHousingFile-10-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250519-AffordableHousingFile-10-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250519-AffordableHousingFile-10-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250519-AffordableHousingFile-10-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250519-AffordableHousingFile-10-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Housing in San Francisco’s Sunset District on May 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Jeff Bellisario, executive director of the Bay Area Council, said he’s projecting insignificant shifts in construction and labor costs in the years ahead. But other market factors could pose a challenge for the city in its effort to build thousands of new affordable homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The real question is, where do rents go in the city? They have been increasing in the last 12 months. Do they continue on an upward trajectory?” he said. “Even if costs continue to move in an upward fashion or stay elevated, that may not matter if developers are able to recapture that via rents or if their condos are for-sale units via higher home prices. So I think that’s really the equation to think about.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report notes that the amount of housing that will be produced as a result of rezoning, and its economic impact on the city, depends on the future housing market conditions, creating uncertainty in the projections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If market conditions were such that the 36,000 unit target was achieved, as a result of the rezoning, the economic impact on the city would likely be significantly more positive than the estimates in this report,” it read.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco’s Planning Commission approved the city’s zoning plan in September. In the weeks since, supervisors have put forward amendments, including to prohibit demolition of buildings with more than two rent-controlled units and to incentivize developers to replace lost commercial space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those amendments were not included in the city economist’s latest report, but could lower the housing production projections even more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As for the amendments, some are improvements, but they do not go far enough to protect tenants, small businesses, or neighborhood-serving corridors,” Brooks, of Neighborhoods United SF, said. “A responsible housing plan must balance production with protection and preservation. This one does not.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "But the report acknowledges that Mayor Daniel Lurie’s Family Zoning Plan could lead to a “significant increase in the city’s housing supply.” ",
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"title": "Report Projects Weak Housing Production Under San Francisco Zoning Plan Over Next 20 Years | KQED",
"description": "But the report acknowledges that Mayor Daniel Lurie’s Family Zoning Plan could lead to a “significant increase in the city’s housing supply.” ",
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"headline": "Report Projects Weak Housing Production Under San Francisco Zoning Plan Over Next 20 Years",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a>’s contentious \u003ca href=\"https://sfplanning.org/sf-family-zoning-plan\">rezoning plan\u003c/a> is unlikely to produce the number of homes the city is required to build to meet state requirements, according to projections in a report released Thursday by the city’s chief economist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco is on the hook to make way for 82,000 new homes by 2031, and risks losing state funding and control over housing development if a local rezoning plan is not adopted by January 2026. The report could add another hurdle for the housing proposal, which has already been a major test for Mayor Daniel Lurie, who had never served in public office before this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report suggests that Lurie’s Family Zoning Plan could lead to a “significant increase in the city’s housing supply.” But even optimistic modeling projected only about 14,600 new units, due to construction costs and the plan’s dependency on market conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The context for housing development in San Francisco has changed profoundly in the past several years,” the report read.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nevertheless, under both scenarios considered in this report, the proposed rezoning would lead to a significant increase in the city’s housing supply, and have broadly positive effects on housing prices and the city’s broader economy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city’s Office of Economic Analysis reviews all new legislation introduced at the board and will report on its economic effects if it’s determined to have a significant impact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062183\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12062183 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/240214-CoastalCommission-56-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/240214-CoastalCommission-56-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/240214-CoastalCommission-56-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/240214-CoastalCommission-56-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Houses line Lawton Street in San Francisco’s Sunset District on Feb. 14, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Family Zoning Plan increases citywide capacity for about 39,000 additional homes, meeting the state target of 36,200 units in the city’s more residential \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12057448/on-sfs-west-side-a-push-to-protect-historic-landmarks-amid-plans-for-more-housing\">western\u003c/a> and northern neighborhoods. The plan does not include blueprints for actual developments, but instead permits more units to be built on some 92,000 parcels in the city to allow denser and taller housing in areas where development is restricted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A separate \u003ca href=\"https://sfplanning.org/sites/default/files/documents/citywide/FZP-Factsheet-Capacity-Calculations.pdf\">financial feasibility\u003c/a> analysis by the Planning Department found that the plan could produce about 19,000 units of moderate and above moderate income units, meeting the state-mandated target of 16,000 for these income categories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report analyzes market trends before and after the 2010s, when housing production sharply increased following a post-recession low. But the chief economist points out that housing is now more expensive to build than before the coronavirus pandemic, with no clear signals that could change or revert back any time soon.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“An expansive rezoning effort, like the proposed Family Zoning plan, will be challenged to match the 2010s levels of new housing development in the city, even under an optimistic high-growth scenario,” the report read.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California Department of Housing and Community Development, in its preliminary review in September, said the city’s rezoning plan is largely compliant. It’s unclear how they will view the latest report or whether it will affect the city’s standing with the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the city fails to pass a rezoning plan by January, state officials could withhold local funding and take over San Francisco’s housing production approval processes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Too many parents are already afraid their kids won’t be able to afford to live in San Francisco,” said Charles Lutvak, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office. “Mayor Lurie’s Family Zoning Plan will help build the housing we need and meet our obligations under state law — we just need to get it done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes In My Backyard (YIMBY) organizers who support the rezoning proposal have been pushing for more permissive rules to allow for more density and housing across the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We still should be doing family zoning, but we need to do a lot more to actually produce the housing we need as a city,” said Jane Natoli, Organizing Director at YIMBY Action in San Francisco, who stressed that the plan needs to pass. “I am concerned because we have a target that we’re supposed to be moving toward.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12046616\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12046616\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NewTeacherHousing-19-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NewTeacherHousing-19-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NewTeacherHousing-19-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250618-NewTeacherHousing-19-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction workers build at 750 Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco on June 18, 2025, during a groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of two affordable housing projects. One will deliver 75 units prioritized for SFUSD and City College educators, and the other at 850 Turk will add 92 family apartments. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Critics of the plan, which span from homeowners fearful of changes in their neighborhoods to housing watchdogs who say the plan doesn’t do enough to protect renters and small businesses, said the latest findings match some of their concerns, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>The problem isn’t zoning; it’s financing, construction costs, and an outdated RHNA formula driven by politics rather than real demand,” said Lori Brooks with Neighborhoods United SF, using an acronym that stands for Regional Housing Needs Allocation and refers to the number of homes each jurisdiction must build.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some supervisors are simultaneously pushing for a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12058853/san-francisco-public-bank-supporters-eye-2026-ballot-measure\">public bank that could help finance the thousands of affordable units\u003c/a> that are already approved in San Francisco, but are stalled in the development pipeline due to a lack of funding. Other datasets show \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/housing-megaprojects-stalled-20812460.php\">private development has also slowed\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Instead of focusing on what’s actually needed — preserving existing rent-controlled housing, supporting small businesses, and building truly affordable homes — this plan upzones nearly the entire west and northeast sides of the city with no guardrails, no affordability guarantees, and silences the voice of residents in how their communities should grow,” Brooks said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report casts two projections based on a high-growth scenario and a low-growth scenario.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The high-growth scenario assumes that the city’s housing process returns to pre-pandemic levels by 2030 and grows until 2045, projecting a 10% increase in housing prices over the next five years. Under that model, the report found the plan could add 14,646 additional housing units, beyond what the city’s existing zoning might produce, over the next 20 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The low-growth scenario assumes that San Francisco housing prices increase only at the U.S. long-term rate of 1.8% annually, and that housing prices won’t reach pre-pandemic levels until 2041. That projection would lead to only 8,504 new units in 20 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report also highlights changes to the housing market that have occurred in westside and northern neighborhoods, which are a focus of the rezoning plan to increase density. Condos downtown and in the South of Market neighborhood have experienced price drops of nearly 40% since 2016, while the Richmond and Sunset have fallen only slightly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042431\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042431\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250519-AffordableHousingFile-10-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250519-AffordableHousingFile-10-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250519-AffordableHousingFile-10-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250519-AffordableHousingFile-10-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250519-AffordableHousingFile-10-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250519-AffordableHousingFile-10-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250519-AffordableHousingFile-10-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Housing in San Francisco’s Sunset District on May 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Jeff Bellisario, executive director of the Bay Area Council, said he’s projecting insignificant shifts in construction and labor costs in the years ahead. But other market factors could pose a challenge for the city in its effort to build thousands of new affordable homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The real question is, where do rents go in the city? They have been increasing in the last 12 months. Do they continue on an upward trajectory?” he said. “Even if costs continue to move in an upward fashion or stay elevated, that may not matter if developers are able to recapture that via rents or if their condos are for-sale units via higher home prices. So I think that’s really the equation to think about.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report notes that the amount of housing that will be produced as a result of rezoning, and its economic impact on the city, depends on the future housing market conditions, creating uncertainty in the projections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If market conditions were such that the 36,000 unit target was achieved, as a result of the rezoning, the economic impact on the city would likely be significantly more positive than the estimates in this report,” it read.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco’s Planning Commission approved the city’s zoning plan in September. In the weeks since, supervisors have put forward amendments, including to prohibit demolition of buildings with more than two rent-controlled units and to incentivize developers to replace lost commercial space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those amendments were not included in the city economist’s latest report, but could lower the housing production projections even more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As for the amendments, some are improvements, but they do not go far enough to protect tenants, small businesses, or neighborhood-serving corridors,” Brooks, of Neighborhoods United SF, said. “A responsible housing plan must balance production with protection and preservation. This one does not.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "the-latest-bay-area-recall-campaign-is-over-a-six-story-apartment-building",
"title": "The Latest Bay Area Recall Campaign Is Over a 6-Story Apartment Building",
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"headTitle": "The Latest Bay Area Recall Campaign Is Over a 6-Story Apartment Building | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>It’s spooky season in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/marin-county\">Marin County\u003c/a> town of Fairfax, where skeletons and pumpkins take up their positions in yards, right alongside signs urging residents to “Vote Yes to Recall” or “Vote No Recalls.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Nov. 4, voters will decide whether to recall Fairfax’s mayor and vice mayor over their approval of a six-story apartment complex — a decision that’s divided this small town of about 7,500 residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://storage.googleapis.com/proudcity/fairfaxca/2025/04/Notice-of-Intent-to-Circulate-a-Recall-Petition-Hellman-3-6-25.pdf\">recall petition\u003c/a> accuses Mayor Lisel Blash and Vice Mayor Stephanie Hellman of mismanaging funds, neglecting road maintenance and prioritizing their personal agendas. But at the heart of the recall is a high-density housing development proposed for a 2-acre site called School Street Plaza.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last November, developer Mill Creek Residential submitted a preliminary application to build a 243-unit apartment complex at School Street Plaza, with 49 affordable housing units priced between about \u003ca href=\"https://storage.googleapis.com/proudcity/sanrafaelca/2024/07/2024-affordable-rent-schedule-50-60-65-7075-80-90-100-AMI.pdf\">$1,900 to $2,500 a month\u003c/a> for a studio. The proposal includes two levels of parking and commercial space on the ground floor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents immediately pushed back. The development site sits on a hill at the edge of downtown Fairfax. A six-story building would tower over the town, where most buildings are one or two stories and the tallest reaches just four stories, and would block many residents’ views of the rolling hills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12060488\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12060488 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-37-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-37-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-37-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-37-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Fairfax Theater in Fairfax, California, on Oct. 15, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Recall proponents blame Blash, who was elected to the council in 2022, and Hellman, who has served since 2019, for approving zoning changes to School Street Plaza that allowed the housing proposal to move forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, voters replaced two council members who had approved the rezoning with Mike Ghiringhelli and Frank Egger, who both opposed taller buildings. Egger told KQED he will vote Yes on the recall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Blash and Hellman argue their hands were tied. State housing mandates require Fairfax to approve a housing plan, or “housing element,” for \u003ca href=\"https://townoffairfaxca.gov/town-of-fairfax-files-regional-housing-needs-allocation-rhna-appeal/\">at least 490 new homes by 2031\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12061569\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12061569\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FairfaxRecall-11-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FairfaxRecall-11-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FairfaxRecall-11-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FairfaxRecall-11-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Halloween display plays on election related content in Fairfax on Oct. 15, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If the town fails to make progress toward meeting its required housing allocation, it could \u003ca href=\"https://assets.marincounty.gov/marincounty-prod/public/2025-06/The%20Worrisome%20Future%20of%20Marin%20Housing.pdf\">face lawsuits, fines of up to $600,000 a month and a loss of permitting and zoning authority\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The push to unseat Blash and Hellman is the latest in a string of Bay Area recall campaigns, where frustrated residents have increasingly turned to recalls to express their dissatisfaction with political leaders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fight also underscores a fundamental shift in California housing policy, as new state laws steadily erode local control in favor of state mandates.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A small town divided\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Fairfax, nestled in the foothills of Mount Tamalpais, is known as the cradle of mountain biking and was once an oasis for artists and musicians, who have since been priced out of the town. Many people find the charming homes along winding, redwood-forested streets a desirable place to settle down and raise kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ian Glover, 47, who’s lived in Fairfax for five years, was among families shopping at a recent Wednesday evening farmers market in Bolinas Park. Glover had initially signed the recall petition, believing it would block the School Street apartment complex. The property’s former occupants included a school, a marijuana dispensary and community hot tubs and saunas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12060959\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12060959\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/School-Street-Plaza-Plaza-View-2-04.16.2025-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/School-Street-Plaza-Plaza-View-2-04.16.2025-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/School-Street-Plaza-Plaza-View-2-04.16.2025-KQED-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/School-Street-Plaza-Plaza-View-2-04.16.2025-KQED-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The proposed 6-story housing development at 95 Broadway in Fairfax includes 4 stories of apartment units, 2 levels for parking and commercial space on the ground floor. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Stackhouse De la Peña Trachtenberg Architects)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I don’t want to see a big high-rise. I don’t want to see more traffic,” Glover said as he offered his 2.5-year-old son some pomegranate seeds and melon slices. Even though he believes apartments and cheap housing benefit the community, Glover said he’d prefer the site become something that preserves the town’s character. “I’d rather see it be a cool school again or … the hot tub place was funky.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many residents share his sentiment. Some call the building proposal a “monstrosity.” Even Vice Mayor Hellman agrees it’s too tall and would look out of place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Design-wise, it’s cookie-cutter, cheap, ugly, doesn’t fit within the design and aesthetic or character of the town,” Hellman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12060487\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12060487\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-33-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-33-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-33-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-33-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vice Mayor Stephanie Hellman poses for a photo at her home in Fairfax on Oct. 15, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Wendy Lee, 64, has lived in Fairfax for nearly 40 years, raised three kids there and now has three grandchildren. Lee is against the recall, but like many residents, she doesn’t like the development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t want to be a NIMBY because I know Marin County, we need low-income housing,” Lee said. “But I also don’t think that a six-story apartment building should be smack downtown on that little hill rise.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along with concerns about parking and traffic, recall supporters contend the project could create a “death trap” in the event of a wildfire, flood or earthquake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have one road in and out in case of fire coming from West Marin,” said recall treasurer Sean Fitzgerald. “We have to go through four other towns to get out to the freeway.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12060483\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12060483\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-23-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-23-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-23-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-23-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Mackintosh (left) and Sean Fitzgerald speak with fellow supporters of the recall of Mayor Lisel Blash and Vice Mayor Stephanie Hellman at Nave’s Bar and Grill in Fairfax on Oct. 15, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Riley Hurd, a land use attorney representing Mill Creek, said he isn’t surprised by the town’s pushback on the School Street proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s been the Fairfax way for decades and decades,” he said. “That’s why nothing ever gets built there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The debate over the recall has driven a wedge between neighbors and strained friendships in the tight-knit community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This has totally splintered our town,” Lee said. “It’s so sad.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Council meetings have turned “ugly and vitriolic,” Blash said, with people yelling, pounding chairs and waving their fists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12060480\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12060480\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-09-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-09-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-09-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-09-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fairfax Mayor Lisel Blash at her home in Fairfax on Oct. 15, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“People talk about gnawing on our necks, or lynching us or tar and feathering us,” Blash said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve had days where it’s really taken a toll on my mental health for sure,” Hellman added. “I’ve had days where I’ve thought about quitting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hellman installed a new security system after a few recall organizers showed up at her house. Blash stopped walking home from meetings at night and no longer goes to her favorite coffee shop, now that its windows are plastered with pro-recall signs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People hear about East Bay recalls or recalls in San Francisco, and I’m sure those are painful for the recallees, but this is a really tiny town,” she said. “It just really feels very personal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Bay Area recall fever\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The campaign to oust Blash and Hellman joins a growing list of Bay Area recalls since the pandemic, including the removal of three school board members in San Francisco and the city’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11916212/chesa-boudin-recall-sf-voters-on-track-to-oust-district-attorney\">District Attorney Chesa Boudin\u003c/a> in 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, voters recalled \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11992881/recall-of-two-sunol-school-board-members-appears-headed-to-victory\">two more school board members in Sunol\u003c/a>, Alameda County \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12013442/alameda-county-voters-recall-district-attorney-pamela-price\">District Attorney Pamela Price\u003c/a> and Oakland \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12012357/sheng-thao-accepts-defeat-in-contentious-oakland-mayoral-recall\">Mayor Sheng Thao\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12060479\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12060479\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-03-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-03-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-03-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-03-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Signs for and against the recall of Fairfax Mayor Lisel Blash and Vice Mayor Stephanie Hellman sit outside a 7-Eleven in Fairfax on Oct. 15, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In September, residents in San Francisco’s Sunset District \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12056059/supervisor-joel-engardio-is-out-whats-next-for-san-franciscos-sunset-district\">recalled Supervisor Joel Engardio\u003c/a> over his support for closing part of the Great Highway to turn it into a park. His removal did not alter the highway’s closure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mark Baldassare, a director at the Public Policy Institute of California, said local recalls offer residents a tool to effect change. They’re far harder to pull off at the state level and they don’t exist at the federal level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“COVID put the emphasis on local government as being both the solution and in some cases the problem,” Baldassare said. “As that’s taken place, it’s also become apparent to a lot of people that an option is the recall.”[aside postID=news_12012553 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/GETTYIMAGES-1244095544-KQED-1020x680.jpg']Fairfax recall organizers received guidance from Chris Moore and Edward Escobar, who helped lead the recalls of Price and Thao. Fitzgerald said they sought their advice after their initial petition was rejected by the town clerk and town attorney over technical errors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They came out, they shared with us what they had done successfully for free,” Fitzgerald said. “We’ve done this all 100% grassroots.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moore said he spent a few hours with recall organizers in the spring, advising them on messaging strategies, how to gather signatures and volunteers and recommending an attorney. Since then, he’s answered one or two questions a month over text.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wasn’t active in day-to-day activity,” Moore said. “I just kind of say, ‘OK, here’s what we did in that scenario.’ But largely they’ve run it up there themselves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In July, recall supporters held a rally, which Moore and Escobar attended. Escobar said he helped “orchestrate” a press conference, reaching out to reporters to cover the event.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All we do is amplify the voice of the people,” Escobar said. “These folks are, they’re weeds that need to be pulled out of office.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A shift in housing policy\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Recall organizers often meet at Nave’s Bar, a downtown pub managed by recall leader Candace Neal-Ricker, which they jokingly call their “newsroom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am your local, ultra-low-income, born and raised Fairfaxian that could not afford what they are proposing there,” Neal-Ricker said as she poured drinks and rang up customers on a 1967 vintage cash register. If the development had included “truly affordable” housing with fewer stories, she said she would’ve supported it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neal-Ricker believes the mayor and vice mayor are out of touch with their constituents’ desires. In 2022, the town council approved a rent stabilization ordinance and its “just cause” eviction ordinance, which aimed to protect tenants from arbitrary evictions. At the time, Hellman was on the council, but Blash had not yet been elected. Voters \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12012553/californians-appear-to-reject-many-rent-control-measures\">repealed the law\u003c/a> in last year’s election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12060485\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12060485\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-25-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-25-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-25-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-25-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fairfax Citizens Coalition Lead Candace Neal-Ricker works at Nave’s Bar and Grill in Fairfax on Oct. 15, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Council members are not gods,” Neal-Ricker said. “They’ve forgotten who they work for and what they were elected to represent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s also critical of the development receiving “ministerial approval,” which fast-tracks developments by bypassing public hearings and review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hellman defended her handling of the housing proposal, saying she followed state laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All of my actions have been to protect the town from litigation, penalties and fines,” Hellman said. “I’m not happy about a lot of these laws, but I didn’t run for office to break the law. And if I have to fall on my sword for that, that’s perfectly fine.”[aside postID=news_12056059 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250916-RecallElectionNight-33-BL.jpg']In July, Hellman said the town council received \u003ca href=\"https://townoffairfaxca.gov/documents/yimby-law-letter-06-18-25/\">letters from Yes In My Backyard\u003c/a> (YIMBY) groups and “threatening communications” from the enforcement arm of the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), \u003ca href=\"https://storage.googleapis.com/proudcity/fairfaxca/2025/09/4-95-Broadway-City-letter_ministerial-process-clarification-with-exhibits_9-8-25.pdf\">reminding them that they could face enforcement action\u003c/a> if they failed to process the School Street project under ministerial approval.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I truly believe that the state and lots of jurisdictions are looking at Fairfax right now as a test case,” Hellman said. “I also believe that they would love to make an example out of Marin County due to their perception that we haven’t kept up with housing demand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://assets.marincounty.gov/marincounty-prod/public/2025-06/The%20Worrisome%20Future%20of%20Marin%20Housing.pdf\">Marin County Grand Jury report\u003c/a> in June noted that since 2017, lawmakers have passed over 100 pieces of legislation to shift power over housing policy to the state. “New state laws significantly reduce the ability of local jurisdictions to deny housing projects that meet objective requirements, even if there is community opposition,” the report said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawmakers passed many of these laws in response to years of Not In My Backyard (NIMBY) communities interfering with state efforts to ease California’s housing crunch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Blash said recall supporters don’t understand how much power the state has taken from local governments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12061504\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12061504 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FairfaxRecall-06-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FairfaxRecall-06-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FairfaxRecall-06-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FairfaxRecall-06-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign supporting the recall of Fairfax Mayor Lisel Blash and Vice Mayor Stephanie Hellman hangs in a coffee shop in Fairfax on Oct. 15, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“They’ve chipped away at most of our local control,” Blash said. “It used to be possible to object to something and either force the developer to give a little bit or to stop the project altogether. And that power isn’t there as much as it used to be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The grand jury report determined that the state’s requirement for the whole county to issue 14,405 permits by 2031 is “unrealistic and unlikely to be achieved.” The report cites community resistance as a major obstacle to new housing in Marin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The town has a really famous reputation for fighting development,” Blash said. “People are very proud of the small town atmosphere and very protective of it, so it’s often been hard to get just about anything built.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the threat of lawsuits and fines, recall proponents feel their city leaders caved to state demands too readily.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can’t let the fear of financial penalties be the deciding factor in what’s right for a town,” Fitzgerald said. “Do I think the state’s gonna come in and bankrupt every small town because we don’t meet their housing numbers? I doubt it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recall organizers know their town has a reputation for being NIMBY. But Fitzgerald said, actually, they consider themselves more “MIMBY” — maybe in my backyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12060486\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12060486\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-29-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-29-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-29-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-29-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(From left) Kathy Flores, Michael Mackintosh and Sean Fitzgerald, supporters of the recall of Mayor Lisel Blash and Vice Mayor Stephanie Hellman, talk at Nave’s Bar and Grill in Fairfax on Oct. 15, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There’s all these elements that go into why we don’t want that particular building in its current form, so I think being called NIMBY is lazy,” Fitzgerald said. “It prevents people from having constructive dialogue.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hurd, the developer’s attorney, pointed out that the School Street proposal only represents about half of Fairfax’s housing allocation, and there are currently no other multi-family housing applications in the town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If doing just half of what was allotted results in this level of outcry, I think it’s pretty clear that doing all or meeting the goal was never really on the table,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Less than three weeks before the election, Fairfax’s planning department sent a \u003ca href=\"https://storage.googleapis.com/proudcity/fairfaxca/2025/10/ec4f9313-95-broadway-application-consistency-review-10-16-25.pdf\">letter to the developer\u003c/a> requiring major changes to the housing proposal. The letter cited 25 deficiencies that, if not addressed in 30 days, will result in the project’s denial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hurd said he does not expect the developer to make any project changes, nor will they abandon ship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That letter violates numerous, numerous laws,” he said. He expects HCD to weigh in and “inform the town that that letter is illegal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if the recall fails, both Blash and Hellman said they will not seek reelection when their terms expire next November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Voters in the Marin County town of Fairfax will decide Nov. 4 whether to recall the mayor and vice mayor over their approval to rezone for a proposed six-story housing development downtown.",
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"title": "The Latest Bay Area Recall Campaign Is Over a 6-Story Apartment Building | KQED",
"description": "Voters in the Marin County town of Fairfax will decide Nov. 4 whether to recall the mayor and vice mayor over their approval to rezone for a proposed six-story housing development downtown.",
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"headline": "The Latest Bay Area Recall Campaign Is Over a 6-Story Apartment Building",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It’s spooky season in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/marin-county\">Marin County\u003c/a> town of Fairfax, where skeletons and pumpkins take up their positions in yards, right alongside signs urging residents to “Vote Yes to Recall” or “Vote No Recalls.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Nov. 4, voters will decide whether to recall Fairfax’s mayor and vice mayor over their approval of a six-story apartment complex — a decision that’s divided this small town of about 7,500 residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://storage.googleapis.com/proudcity/fairfaxca/2025/04/Notice-of-Intent-to-Circulate-a-Recall-Petition-Hellman-3-6-25.pdf\">recall petition\u003c/a> accuses Mayor Lisel Blash and Vice Mayor Stephanie Hellman of mismanaging funds, neglecting road maintenance and prioritizing their personal agendas. But at the heart of the recall is a high-density housing development proposed for a 2-acre site called School Street Plaza.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last November, developer Mill Creek Residential submitted a preliminary application to build a 243-unit apartment complex at School Street Plaza, with 49 affordable housing units priced between about \u003ca href=\"https://storage.googleapis.com/proudcity/sanrafaelca/2024/07/2024-affordable-rent-schedule-50-60-65-7075-80-90-100-AMI.pdf\">$1,900 to $2,500 a month\u003c/a> for a studio. The proposal includes two levels of parking and commercial space on the ground floor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents immediately pushed back. The development site sits on a hill at the edge of downtown Fairfax. A six-story building would tower over the town, where most buildings are one or two stories and the tallest reaches just four stories, and would block many residents’ views of the rolling hills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12060488\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12060488 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-37-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-37-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-37-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-37-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Fairfax Theater in Fairfax, California, on Oct. 15, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Recall proponents blame Blash, who was elected to the council in 2022, and Hellman, who has served since 2019, for approving zoning changes to School Street Plaza that allowed the housing proposal to move forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, voters replaced two council members who had approved the rezoning with Mike Ghiringhelli and Frank Egger, who both opposed taller buildings. Egger told KQED he will vote Yes on the recall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Blash and Hellman argue their hands were tied. State housing mandates require Fairfax to approve a housing plan, or “housing element,” for \u003ca href=\"https://townoffairfaxca.gov/town-of-fairfax-files-regional-housing-needs-allocation-rhna-appeal/\">at least 490 new homes by 2031\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12061569\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12061569\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FairfaxRecall-11-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FairfaxRecall-11-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FairfaxRecall-11-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FairfaxRecall-11-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Halloween display plays on election related content in Fairfax on Oct. 15, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If the town fails to make progress toward meeting its required housing allocation, it could \u003ca href=\"https://assets.marincounty.gov/marincounty-prod/public/2025-06/The%20Worrisome%20Future%20of%20Marin%20Housing.pdf\">face lawsuits, fines of up to $600,000 a month and a loss of permitting and zoning authority\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The push to unseat Blash and Hellman is the latest in a string of Bay Area recall campaigns, where frustrated residents have increasingly turned to recalls to express their dissatisfaction with political leaders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fight also underscores a fundamental shift in California housing policy, as new state laws steadily erode local control in favor of state mandates.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A small town divided\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Fairfax, nestled in the foothills of Mount Tamalpais, is known as the cradle of mountain biking and was once an oasis for artists and musicians, who have since been priced out of the town. Many people find the charming homes along winding, redwood-forested streets a desirable place to settle down and raise kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ian Glover, 47, who’s lived in Fairfax for five years, was among families shopping at a recent Wednesday evening farmers market in Bolinas Park. Glover had initially signed the recall petition, believing it would block the School Street apartment complex. The property’s former occupants included a school, a marijuana dispensary and community hot tubs and saunas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12060959\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12060959\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/School-Street-Plaza-Plaza-View-2-04.16.2025-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/School-Street-Plaza-Plaza-View-2-04.16.2025-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/School-Street-Plaza-Plaza-View-2-04.16.2025-KQED-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/School-Street-Plaza-Plaza-View-2-04.16.2025-KQED-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The proposed 6-story housing development at 95 Broadway in Fairfax includes 4 stories of apartment units, 2 levels for parking and commercial space on the ground floor. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Stackhouse De la Peña Trachtenberg Architects)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I don’t want to see a big high-rise. I don’t want to see more traffic,” Glover said as he offered his 2.5-year-old son some pomegranate seeds and melon slices. Even though he believes apartments and cheap housing benefit the community, Glover said he’d prefer the site become something that preserves the town’s character. “I’d rather see it be a cool school again or … the hot tub place was funky.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many residents share his sentiment. Some call the building proposal a “monstrosity.” Even Vice Mayor Hellman agrees it’s too tall and would look out of place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Design-wise, it’s cookie-cutter, cheap, ugly, doesn’t fit within the design and aesthetic or character of the town,” Hellman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12060487\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12060487\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-33-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-33-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-33-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-33-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vice Mayor Stephanie Hellman poses for a photo at her home in Fairfax on Oct. 15, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Wendy Lee, 64, has lived in Fairfax for nearly 40 years, raised three kids there and now has three grandchildren. Lee is against the recall, but like many residents, she doesn’t like the development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t want to be a NIMBY because I know Marin County, we need low-income housing,” Lee said. “But I also don’t think that a six-story apartment building should be smack downtown on that little hill rise.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along with concerns about parking and traffic, recall supporters contend the project could create a “death trap” in the event of a wildfire, flood or earthquake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have one road in and out in case of fire coming from West Marin,” said recall treasurer Sean Fitzgerald. “We have to go through four other towns to get out to the freeway.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12060483\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12060483\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-23-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-23-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-23-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-23-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michael Mackintosh (left) and Sean Fitzgerald speak with fellow supporters of the recall of Mayor Lisel Blash and Vice Mayor Stephanie Hellman at Nave’s Bar and Grill in Fairfax on Oct. 15, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Riley Hurd, a land use attorney representing Mill Creek, said he isn’t surprised by the town’s pushback on the School Street proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s been the Fairfax way for decades and decades,” he said. “That’s why nothing ever gets built there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The debate over the recall has driven a wedge between neighbors and strained friendships in the tight-knit community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This has totally splintered our town,” Lee said. “It’s so sad.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Council meetings have turned “ugly and vitriolic,” Blash said, with people yelling, pounding chairs and waving their fists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12060480\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12060480\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-09-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-09-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-09-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-09-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fairfax Mayor Lisel Blash at her home in Fairfax on Oct. 15, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“People talk about gnawing on our necks, or lynching us or tar and feathering us,” Blash said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve had days where it’s really taken a toll on my mental health for sure,” Hellman added. “I’ve had days where I’ve thought about quitting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hellman installed a new security system after a few recall organizers showed up at her house. Blash stopped walking home from meetings at night and no longer goes to her favorite coffee shop, now that its windows are plastered with pro-recall signs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People hear about East Bay recalls or recalls in San Francisco, and I’m sure those are painful for the recallees, but this is a really tiny town,” she said. “It just really feels very personal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Bay Area recall fever\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The campaign to oust Blash and Hellman joins a growing list of Bay Area recalls since the pandemic, including the removal of three school board members in San Francisco and the city’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11916212/chesa-boudin-recall-sf-voters-on-track-to-oust-district-attorney\">District Attorney Chesa Boudin\u003c/a> in 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, voters recalled \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11992881/recall-of-two-sunol-school-board-members-appears-headed-to-victory\">two more school board members in Sunol\u003c/a>, Alameda County \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12013442/alameda-county-voters-recall-district-attorney-pamela-price\">District Attorney Pamela Price\u003c/a> and Oakland \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12012357/sheng-thao-accepts-defeat-in-contentious-oakland-mayoral-recall\">Mayor Sheng Thao\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12060479\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12060479\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-03-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-03-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-03-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-03-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Signs for and against the recall of Fairfax Mayor Lisel Blash and Vice Mayor Stephanie Hellman sit outside a 7-Eleven in Fairfax on Oct. 15, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In September, residents in San Francisco’s Sunset District \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12056059/supervisor-joel-engardio-is-out-whats-next-for-san-franciscos-sunset-district\">recalled Supervisor Joel Engardio\u003c/a> over his support for closing part of the Great Highway to turn it into a park. His removal did not alter the highway’s closure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mark Baldassare, a director at the Public Policy Institute of California, said local recalls offer residents a tool to effect change. They’re far harder to pull off at the state level and they don’t exist at the federal level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“COVID put the emphasis on local government as being both the solution and in some cases the problem,” Baldassare said. “As that’s taken place, it’s also become apparent to a lot of people that an option is the recall.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Fairfax recall organizers received guidance from Chris Moore and Edward Escobar, who helped lead the recalls of Price and Thao. Fitzgerald said they sought their advice after their initial petition was rejected by the town clerk and town attorney over technical errors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They came out, they shared with us what they had done successfully for free,” Fitzgerald said. “We’ve done this all 100% grassroots.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moore said he spent a few hours with recall organizers in the spring, advising them on messaging strategies, how to gather signatures and volunteers and recommending an attorney. Since then, he’s answered one or two questions a month over text.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wasn’t active in day-to-day activity,” Moore said. “I just kind of say, ‘OK, here’s what we did in that scenario.’ But largely they’ve run it up there themselves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In July, recall supporters held a rally, which Moore and Escobar attended. Escobar said he helped “orchestrate” a press conference, reaching out to reporters to cover the event.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All we do is amplify the voice of the people,” Escobar said. “These folks are, they’re weeds that need to be pulled out of office.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A shift in housing policy\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Recall organizers often meet at Nave’s Bar, a downtown pub managed by recall leader Candace Neal-Ricker, which they jokingly call their “newsroom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am your local, ultra-low-income, born and raised Fairfaxian that could not afford what they are proposing there,” Neal-Ricker said as she poured drinks and rang up customers on a 1967 vintage cash register. If the development had included “truly affordable” housing with fewer stories, she said she would’ve supported it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neal-Ricker believes the mayor and vice mayor are out of touch with their constituents’ desires. In 2022, the town council approved a rent stabilization ordinance and its “just cause” eviction ordinance, which aimed to protect tenants from arbitrary evictions. At the time, Hellman was on the council, but Blash had not yet been elected. Voters \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12012553/californians-appear-to-reject-many-rent-control-measures\">repealed the law\u003c/a> in last year’s election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12060485\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12060485\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-25-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-25-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-25-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-25-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fairfax Citizens Coalition Lead Candace Neal-Ricker works at Nave’s Bar and Grill in Fairfax on Oct. 15, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Council members are not gods,” Neal-Ricker said. “They’ve forgotten who they work for and what they were elected to represent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s also critical of the development receiving “ministerial approval,” which fast-tracks developments by bypassing public hearings and review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hellman defended her handling of the housing proposal, saying she followed state laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All of my actions have been to protect the town from litigation, penalties and fines,” Hellman said. “I’m not happy about a lot of these laws, but I didn’t run for office to break the law. And if I have to fall on my sword for that, that’s perfectly fine.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In July, Hellman said the town council received \u003ca href=\"https://townoffairfaxca.gov/documents/yimby-law-letter-06-18-25/\">letters from Yes In My Backyard\u003c/a> (YIMBY) groups and “threatening communications” from the enforcement arm of the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), \u003ca href=\"https://storage.googleapis.com/proudcity/fairfaxca/2025/09/4-95-Broadway-City-letter_ministerial-process-clarification-with-exhibits_9-8-25.pdf\">reminding them that they could face enforcement action\u003c/a> if they failed to process the School Street project under ministerial approval.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I truly believe that the state and lots of jurisdictions are looking at Fairfax right now as a test case,” Hellman said. “I also believe that they would love to make an example out of Marin County due to their perception that we haven’t kept up with housing demand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://assets.marincounty.gov/marincounty-prod/public/2025-06/The%20Worrisome%20Future%20of%20Marin%20Housing.pdf\">Marin County Grand Jury report\u003c/a> in June noted that since 2017, lawmakers have passed over 100 pieces of legislation to shift power over housing policy to the state. “New state laws significantly reduce the ability of local jurisdictions to deny housing projects that meet objective requirements, even if there is community opposition,” the report said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawmakers passed many of these laws in response to years of Not In My Backyard (NIMBY) communities interfering with state efforts to ease California’s housing crunch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Blash said recall supporters don’t understand how much power the state has taken from local governments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12061504\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12061504 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FairfaxRecall-06-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FairfaxRecall-06-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FairfaxRecall-06-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FairfaxRecall-06-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign supporting the recall of Fairfax Mayor Lisel Blash and Vice Mayor Stephanie Hellman hangs in a coffee shop in Fairfax on Oct. 15, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“They’ve chipped away at most of our local control,” Blash said. “It used to be possible to object to something and either force the developer to give a little bit or to stop the project altogether. And that power isn’t there as much as it used to be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The grand jury report determined that the state’s requirement for the whole county to issue 14,405 permits by 2031 is “unrealistic and unlikely to be achieved.” The report cites community resistance as a major obstacle to new housing in Marin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The town has a really famous reputation for fighting development,” Blash said. “People are very proud of the small town atmosphere and very protective of it, so it’s often been hard to get just about anything built.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the threat of lawsuits and fines, recall proponents feel their city leaders caved to state demands too readily.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can’t let the fear of financial penalties be the deciding factor in what’s right for a town,” Fitzgerald said. “Do I think the state’s gonna come in and bankrupt every small town because we don’t meet their housing numbers? I doubt it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recall organizers know their town has a reputation for being NIMBY. But Fitzgerald said, actually, they consider themselves more “MIMBY” — maybe in my backyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12060486\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12060486\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-29-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-29-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-29-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251015-FAIRFAXRECALL-29-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(From left) Kathy Flores, Michael Mackintosh and Sean Fitzgerald, supporters of the recall of Mayor Lisel Blash and Vice Mayor Stephanie Hellman, talk at Nave’s Bar and Grill in Fairfax on Oct. 15, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There’s all these elements that go into why we don’t want that particular building in its current form, so I think being called NIMBY is lazy,” Fitzgerald said. “It prevents people from having constructive dialogue.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hurd, the developer’s attorney, pointed out that the School Street proposal only represents about half of Fairfax’s housing allocation, and there are currently no other multi-family housing applications in the town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If doing just half of what was allotted results in this level of outcry, I think it’s pretty clear that doing all or meeting the goal was never really on the table,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Less than three weeks before the election, Fairfax’s planning department sent a \u003ca href=\"https://storage.googleapis.com/proudcity/fairfaxca/2025/10/ec4f9313-95-broadway-application-consistency-review-10-16-25.pdf\">letter to the developer\u003c/a> requiring major changes to the housing proposal. The letter cited 25 deficiencies that, if not addressed in 30 days, will result in the project’s denial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hurd said he does not expect the developer to make any project changes, nor will they abandon ship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That letter violates numerous, numerous laws,” he said. He expects HCD to weigh in and “inform the town that that letter is illegal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if the recall fails, both Blash and Hellman said they will not seek reelection when their terms expire next November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "wieners-run-for-pelosis-seat-marks-a-new-phase-for-californias-housing-politics",
"title": "Wiener’s Run for Pelosi’s Seat Marks a New Phase for California’s Housing Politics",
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"headTitle": "Wiener’s Run for Pelosi’s Seat Marks a New Phase for California’s Housing Politics | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[This column was reported for Political Breakdown, a bimonthly newsletter offering analysis and context on Bay Area and California political news. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/newsletters/political-breakdown\">Click here to subscribe\u003c/a>.]\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scott Wiener has represented San Francisco in the state Senate since 2017. In those eight years, the 55-year-old Democrat has become one of the most prolific and effective lawmakers, particularly on housing issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Wiener’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12059533/newsom-signs-ambitious-bill-to-boost-housing-density-near-public-transit\">landmark SB 79\u003c/a>, which allows greater housing density — up to nine stories — along public transit corridors and major bus stops statewide, even in neighborhoods where local zoning restricts development to single-family homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I fight hard and I can be stubborn about it, but I’m being stubborn because people need housing and the system is broken,” Wiener said Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wiener has been a leading advocate for removing barriers to housing construction, including the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, which has often been used to stop, delay or scale down housing projects since its passage in the 1970s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s authored some really big, really consequential bills — including bills that have a lot of opposition,” said Brian Hanlon, founder of the pro-housing group \u003ca href=\"https://cayimby.org/\">California YIMBY\u003c/a> (Yes in My Backyard). Hanlon called Wiener “one of our strongest housing champions,” and said he often goes the extra mile to get controversial bills over the finish line. “He’s just not afraid to stand up for what’s right.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wiener also seems to relish taking on contentious issues, including legislation to regulate artificial intelligence, protect gay and trans youth and to prohibit federal immigration agents from concealing their faces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His political courage has won him plenty of admirers — and more than a few enemies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been in a lot of different situations where I’ve been willing to break glass and sometimes piss people off, but it was the right thing to do. And so I want to take that approach to Congress,” Wiener said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said he has faced “thousands of death threats,” primarily from “the MAGA hard right,” over his bills supporting LGBT youth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042675\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042675\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/002_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3417_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/002_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3417_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/002_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3417_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/002_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3417_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/002_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3417_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/002_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3417_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/002_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3417_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Apartment buildings under construction near Macarthur BART station in Oakland, on Feb. 21, 2020. SB 79 from San Francisco state Sen. Scott Wiener builds on years of advocacy to add more housing stock in California’s biggest metro areas, overriding local zoning laws. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It was widely assumed that Wiener, who has long expressed interest in running for Congress, would wait until Rep. Nancy Pelosi announced her retirement before entering the race. But he said this week \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12060826/state-sen-scott-wiener-is-running-for-pelosis-house-seat-saying-it-was-time\">he could no longer wait\u003c/a> to see whether the 85-year-old Democrat will retire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This really isn’t about Nancy Pelosi,” Wiener said. “Nancy Pelosi has moved mountains for the country and for San Francisco and I think the world of her. She’s not said whether she’s running again and we’re now to the point where we’re just a few months out from the filing deadline. And so it was time to enter the race.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pelosi’s spokesperson Ian Krager declined to comment directly on Wiener’s announcement, though he confirmed Wiener called the speaker emerita before declaring his candidacy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Speaker Pelosi is fully focused on her mission to win the Yes on 50 special election in California on November 4th,” Krager said in a statement. “She urges all Californians to join in that mission on the path to Democrats taking back the House.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pelosi is likely to clarify her political plans after next month’s election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12024946\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12024946\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250130_Pelosi_DB_01540.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250130_Pelosi_DB_01540.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250130_Pelosi_DB_01540-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250130_Pelosi_DB_01540-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250130_Pelosi_DB_01540-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250130_Pelosi_DB_01540-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250130_Pelosi_DB_01540-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi meets with KQED in her office at the San Francisco Federal Building on Jan. 30, 2025. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>An advisor to Wiener said his decision to move forward was partly prompted by the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12033097/hes-challenging-nancy-pelosi-and-the-democratic-party\">candidacy of Saikat Chakrabarti\u003c/a>, a wealthy software engineer capable of self-funding his campaign. Chakrabarti has generated buzz for his insurgent campaign against a San Francisco icon he says should step aside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chakrabarti knows something about knocking off entrenched incumbents. In 2018, he managed the upstart congressional campaign of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who unexpectedly defeated incumbent New York Democrat Rep. Joe Crowley. He later served as Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff in the House, helping draft the Green New Deal.[aside postID=news_12033097 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250326-SAIKAT-CHAKRABARTI-ON-PB-MD-01-KQED-1.jpg']According to his \u003ca href=\"https://disclosures-clerk.house.gov/public_disc/financial-pdfs/2025/10063516.pdf\">economic disclosure form\u003c/a>, Chakrabarti, who officially launched his campaign against Pelosi earlier this year, is worth at least $167 million, much of it equity in Stripe, the payment processing company where he was a founding engineer. If elected, he would be one of the wealthiest members of Congress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wiener, who opened his congressional campaign committee last year, reported raising more than $1 million in his \u003ca href=\"https://www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00909283/\">most recent filing\u003c/a> with the Federal Election Commission, with $867,105 cash on hand at the end of September.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By comparison, Chakrabarti’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.fec.gov/data/candidate/H6CA11219/\">FEC filing\u003c/a> shows total contributions of just under $1 million, about half from personal loans to his campaign. After spending on infrastructure, he reported $95,384 cash on hand and $755,000 in outstanding loans and debts. But given his net worth, he can presumably self-fund this campaign going forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pelosi, long one of the Democratic Party’s most prolific fundraisers, \u003ca href=\"https://www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00213512/\">reported contributions\u003c/a> of just over $2 million for 2025, including at least $450,000 transferred to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. She reported $1.5 million cash on hand through September.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Expect Wiener to cast Chakrabarti as a kind of political dilettante with weak ties to San Francisco and little experience governing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not enough just to say, ‘Oh I want to challenge the establishment and do all these things,’ when you don’t necessarily have the track record of showing that you know how to do that,” Wiener said, without mentioning Chakrabarti by name.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chakrabarti responded in a statement: “I have experience turning big ideas into reality even in a gridlocked Congress. Scott has experience tinkering with regulations in an overwhelmingly Democratic Sacramento.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12056792\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12056792\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/OaklandGazaProtest1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/OaklandGazaProtest1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/OaklandGazaProtest1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/OaklandGazaProtest1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pro-Palestinian activists attempt to block access to the Port of Oakland in September. A bill languishing in the House would block the sale or transfer of certain bombs and other weapons to Israel. \u003ccite>(Juan Carlos Lara/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One issue that could separate Chakrabarti from Wiener, who is Jewish, is Gaza. Israel’s war there has drawn widespread condemnation for the devastation and deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on a music festival in southern Israel that killed hundreds and took about 240 civilians hostage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A bill currently languishing in the House, \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/3565/text\">H.R. 3565\u003c/a>, would block the sale or transfer of certain bombs and other weapons to Israel. Chakrabarti has \u003ca href=\"https://www.saikat.us/en/blockthebombs\">aired ads\u003c/a> calling on Pelosi to support the bill, which has not passed out of committee. Interviewed this week, Wiener twice declined to say how he’d vote on H.R. 3565, but said, “I do not think that we should be selling offensive arms to Israel under this government or any government like it. We need to get a government that’s committed both to democracy and to peace and not to this devastation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Veteran San Francisco political consultant Eric Jaye said while he disagrees with many of Wiener’s policy positions, he acknowledges his effectiveness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Scott Wiener has been one of the most productive legislators we’ve ever seen in San Francisco, and in many respects he’s the Nancy Pelosi of his generation. He’s the Willie Brown of his generation. He’s the Phil Burton of his generation,” Jaye said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When this congressional seat became vacant after the death of Rep. Sala Burton, Pelosi received a deathbed endorsement from Burton’s widow but she was relatively unknown beyond Democratic Party insiders. More than a dozen people ran including four San Francisco supervisors. Jaye doubts there will be that kind of candidate stampede this time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“(Pelosi) didn’t scare anybody out. Now, if it’s Wiener and Pelosi, I don’t think others will look at that and say, ‘I could beat one of those two,’” Jaye said. At the same time, he added that Pelosi “suffers from a suspicion that grew in the American electorate about octogenarian leaders, based on what happened with former President Biden.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, an open House seat is too enticing for politicians to ignore. Supervisor Connie Chan is reportedly considering a run. Pelosi’s daughter, Christine, has also considered running.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whoever enters the race, Jaye said, will face “a moment in San Francisco politics, California politics, national politics where voters are pretty frustrated with the slow pace of change. So it’s a very, very roiled political environment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Scott Wiener’s entry into the race for Nancy Pelosi’s seat highlights how California’s housing agenda — and his role as its chief architect — could shape San Francisco’s next era of political power.",
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"title": "Wiener’s Run for Pelosi’s Seat Marks a New Phase for California’s Housing Politics | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[This column was reported for Political Breakdown, a bimonthly newsletter offering analysis and context on Bay Area and California political news. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/newsletters/political-breakdown\">Click here to subscribe\u003c/a>.]\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scott Wiener has represented San Francisco in the state Senate since 2017. In those eight years, the 55-year-old Democrat has become one of the most prolific and effective lawmakers, particularly on housing issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Wiener’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12059533/newsom-signs-ambitious-bill-to-boost-housing-density-near-public-transit\">landmark SB 79\u003c/a>, which allows greater housing density — up to nine stories — along public transit corridors and major bus stops statewide, even in neighborhoods where local zoning restricts development to single-family homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I fight hard and I can be stubborn about it, but I’m being stubborn because people need housing and the system is broken,” Wiener said Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wiener has been a leading advocate for removing barriers to housing construction, including the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, which has often been used to stop, delay or scale down housing projects since its passage in the 1970s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s authored some really big, really consequential bills — including bills that have a lot of opposition,” said Brian Hanlon, founder of the pro-housing group \u003ca href=\"https://cayimby.org/\">California YIMBY\u003c/a> (Yes in My Backyard). Hanlon called Wiener “one of our strongest housing champions,” and said he often goes the extra mile to get controversial bills over the finish line. “He’s just not afraid to stand up for what’s right.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wiener also seems to relish taking on contentious issues, including legislation to regulate artificial intelligence, protect gay and trans youth and to prohibit federal immigration agents from concealing their faces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His political courage has won him plenty of admirers — and more than a few enemies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been in a lot of different situations where I’ve been willing to break glass and sometimes piss people off, but it was the right thing to do. And so I want to take that approach to Congress,” Wiener said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said he has faced “thousands of death threats,” primarily from “the MAGA hard right,” over his bills supporting LGBT youth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042675\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042675\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/002_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3417_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/002_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3417_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/002_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3417_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/002_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3417_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/002_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3417_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/002_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3417_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/002_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3417_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Apartment buildings under construction near Macarthur BART station in Oakland, on Feb. 21, 2020. SB 79 from San Francisco state Sen. Scott Wiener builds on years of advocacy to add more housing stock in California’s biggest metro areas, overriding local zoning laws. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It was widely assumed that Wiener, who has long expressed interest in running for Congress, would wait until Rep. Nancy Pelosi announced her retirement before entering the race. But he said this week \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12060826/state-sen-scott-wiener-is-running-for-pelosis-house-seat-saying-it-was-time\">he could no longer wait\u003c/a> to see whether the 85-year-old Democrat will retire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This really isn’t about Nancy Pelosi,” Wiener said. “Nancy Pelosi has moved mountains for the country and for San Francisco and I think the world of her. She’s not said whether she’s running again and we’re now to the point where we’re just a few months out from the filing deadline. And so it was time to enter the race.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pelosi’s spokesperson Ian Krager declined to comment directly on Wiener’s announcement, though he confirmed Wiener called the speaker emerita before declaring his candidacy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Speaker Pelosi is fully focused on her mission to win the Yes on 50 special election in California on November 4th,” Krager said in a statement. “She urges all Californians to join in that mission on the path to Democrats taking back the House.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pelosi is likely to clarify her political plans after next month’s election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12024946\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12024946\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250130_Pelosi_DB_01540.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250130_Pelosi_DB_01540.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250130_Pelosi_DB_01540-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250130_Pelosi_DB_01540-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250130_Pelosi_DB_01540-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250130_Pelosi_DB_01540-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250130_Pelosi_DB_01540-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi meets with KQED in her office at the San Francisco Federal Building on Jan. 30, 2025. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>An advisor to Wiener said his decision to move forward was partly prompted by the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12033097/hes-challenging-nancy-pelosi-and-the-democratic-party\">candidacy of Saikat Chakrabarti\u003c/a>, a wealthy software engineer capable of self-funding his campaign. Chakrabarti has generated buzz for his insurgent campaign against a San Francisco icon he says should step aside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chakrabarti knows something about knocking off entrenched incumbents. In 2018, he managed the upstart congressional campaign of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who unexpectedly defeated incumbent New York Democrat Rep. Joe Crowley. He later served as Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff in the House, helping draft the Green New Deal.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>According to his \u003ca href=\"https://disclosures-clerk.house.gov/public_disc/financial-pdfs/2025/10063516.pdf\">economic disclosure form\u003c/a>, Chakrabarti, who officially launched his campaign against Pelosi earlier this year, is worth at least $167 million, much of it equity in Stripe, the payment processing company where he was a founding engineer. If elected, he would be one of the wealthiest members of Congress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wiener, who opened his congressional campaign committee last year, reported raising more than $1 million in his \u003ca href=\"https://www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00909283/\">most recent filing\u003c/a> with the Federal Election Commission, with $867,105 cash on hand at the end of September.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By comparison, Chakrabarti’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.fec.gov/data/candidate/H6CA11219/\">FEC filing\u003c/a> shows total contributions of just under $1 million, about half from personal loans to his campaign. After spending on infrastructure, he reported $95,384 cash on hand and $755,000 in outstanding loans and debts. But given his net worth, he can presumably self-fund this campaign going forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pelosi, long one of the Democratic Party’s most prolific fundraisers, \u003ca href=\"https://www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00213512/\">reported contributions\u003c/a> of just over $2 million for 2025, including at least $450,000 transferred to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. She reported $1.5 million cash on hand through September.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Expect Wiener to cast Chakrabarti as a kind of political dilettante with weak ties to San Francisco and little experience governing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not enough just to say, ‘Oh I want to challenge the establishment and do all these things,’ when you don’t necessarily have the track record of showing that you know how to do that,” Wiener said, without mentioning Chakrabarti by name.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chakrabarti responded in a statement: “I have experience turning big ideas into reality even in a gridlocked Congress. Scott has experience tinkering with regulations in an overwhelmingly Democratic Sacramento.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12056792\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12056792\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/OaklandGazaProtest1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/OaklandGazaProtest1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/OaklandGazaProtest1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/OaklandGazaProtest1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pro-Palestinian activists attempt to block access to the Port of Oakland in September. A bill languishing in the House would block the sale or transfer of certain bombs and other weapons to Israel. \u003ccite>(Juan Carlos Lara/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One issue that could separate Chakrabarti from Wiener, who is Jewish, is Gaza. Israel’s war there has drawn widespread condemnation for the devastation and deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on a music festival in southern Israel that killed hundreds and took about 240 civilians hostage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A bill currently languishing in the House, \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/3565/text\">H.R. 3565\u003c/a>, would block the sale or transfer of certain bombs and other weapons to Israel. Chakrabarti has \u003ca href=\"https://www.saikat.us/en/blockthebombs\">aired ads\u003c/a> calling on Pelosi to support the bill, which has not passed out of committee. Interviewed this week, Wiener twice declined to say how he’d vote on H.R. 3565, but said, “I do not think that we should be selling offensive arms to Israel under this government or any government like it. We need to get a government that’s committed both to democracy and to peace and not to this devastation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Veteran San Francisco political consultant Eric Jaye said while he disagrees with many of Wiener’s policy positions, he acknowledges his effectiveness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Scott Wiener has been one of the most productive legislators we’ve ever seen in San Francisco, and in many respects he’s the Nancy Pelosi of his generation. He’s the Willie Brown of his generation. He’s the Phil Burton of his generation,” Jaye said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When this congressional seat became vacant after the death of Rep. Sala Burton, Pelosi received a deathbed endorsement from Burton’s widow but she was relatively unknown beyond Democratic Party insiders. More than a dozen people ran including four San Francisco supervisors. Jaye doubts there will be that kind of candidate stampede this time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“(Pelosi) didn’t scare anybody out. Now, if it’s Wiener and Pelosi, I don’t think others will look at that and say, ‘I could beat one of those two,’” Jaye said. At the same time, he added that Pelosi “suffers from a suspicion that grew in the American electorate about octogenarian leaders, based on what happened with former President Biden.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, an open House seat is too enticing for politicians to ignore. Supervisor Connie Chan is reportedly considering a run. Pelosi’s daughter, Christine, has also considered running.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whoever enters the race, Jaye said, will face “a moment in San Francisco politics, California politics, national politics where voters are pretty frustrated with the slow pace of change. So it’s a very, very roiled political environment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "How a Bay Area Program Helps Unhoused Residents Become Protectors of Their Environment",
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"headTitle": "How a Bay Area Program Helps Unhoused Residents Become Protectors of Their Environment | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Outside his tent, among the dead leaves and saplings, Eric Adams keeps a neat stack of bags stuffed with garbage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just try to pick it up and try to do the best that I can,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adams is one of twenty-some people who live on a wooded strip of land tucked between a freeway and a busy street in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/el-sobrante\">El Sobrante\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 48-year-old keeps his patch tidy, but all around him the ground is strewn with plastic bags, food wrappers, even a mattress and a tire. He’s so fed up that he’s started confronting his neighbors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m like, ‘This is nasty,’” he said. “‘I don’t want to pick up this mess for you to throw it all back.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adams doesn’t just pick up garbage. He pulls debris from the creek nearby and yanks out invasive ivy, “because I enjoy it,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He wasn’t always like this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I never thought I would give a damn,” he said. “I’m aware now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044675\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044675\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-34-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-34-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-34-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-34-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Participants of the Pinole Creek Unhoused Stewards Pilot Program remove English Ivy, an invasive species, along Pinole Creek, in Pinole on June 16, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That changed after Adams joined a pilot program teaching unhoused residents ecological literacy and creek restoration. It’s a novel approach to addressing the environmental harms brought on by the growing number of people setting up camp along creeks and canals as homelessness surges in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The eight-week program was put on this summer by the Contra Costa Resource Conservation District, the nonprofit \u003ca href=\"https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/05/sos-richmond-housing-crisis-california-homelessness/\">Safe Organized Spaces Richmond\u003c/a> and a pair of researchers. It’s part of \u003ca href=\"https://pasternack.ucdavis.edu/research/projects/stream-side-encampments\">a larger study\u003c/a> examining the intersection of homelessness, climate change, and urban streams across the Bay Area’s nine counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The researchers estimate 10% of California’s unhoused population — about 18,700 people — lives along waterways. In the absence of enough affordable housing and shelter, it feels like the best of bad options for many.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044669\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12044669 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-13-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-13-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-13-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-13-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign reading “Pinole Creek don’t trash it” is posted by Pinole Creek in Pinole on June 16, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“People like to be along streams because they’re out of sight, out of mind,” said Costanza Rampini, an environmental studies professor at San José State University and one of the study leads. She and her students interviewed more than 300 people living along waterways. “They’re not on our sidewalks where they’re going to be confronted more with local residents, with local law enforcement.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s even more true since cities started cracking down on encampments last year. But people are also seeking out water for drinking, bathing and washing clothes, and for shade and softer ground to sleep on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The problem is it’s polluting the water,” said Eileen White, executive officer of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board. “We want to protect our waterways, for the beauty, for the environment, for the wildlife.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Stewards of their streams\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The pilot program Adams joined was designed to test whether encampment residents could become partners in protecting streams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rampini’s hope is that the program can benefit the environment while improving people’s well-being and helping them stabilize their lives. “Can we provide opportunities for them to maybe make some income and feel a sense of usefulness and agency?” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044672\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044672\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-20-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-20-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-20-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-20-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ronnie Walker, a participant of the Pinole Creek Unhoused Stewards Pilot Program, pulls out English Ivy, an invasive species, along Pinole Creek in Pinole on June 16, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On a Friday afternoon this summer, Adams and a group of unhoused and formerly homeless men and women gathered along a stream behind the Pinole Library. They had just finished a class on erosion control and were putting it into practice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Standing in the shade of tall trees, they trimmed willow branches into stakes and hammered them into the soil to stabilize the banks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ooh! This is the kid in me now,” Adams said, scrambling down to the water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Knee-deep in the creek, he and classmates Brianni Peters and Ronnie Walker scouted spots to drive the stakes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hey, Eric! Look where I put mine,” Peters shouted. “I did it!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044674\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044674\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-31-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-31-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-31-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-31-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brianni Peters, a participant of the Pinole Creek Unhoused Stewards Pilot Program, right, speaks during a classroom session, outside of the Pinole Library, in Pinole on June 16, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>They laughed as water splashed into Walker’s boots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My bad!” Adams said with a mischievous grin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m having fun, man,” Walker said. “I’m here for the journey.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group has also learned about steelhead trout and their habitat, studied invasive and native plants, and practiced other restoration techniques.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel like I’m halfway a botanist right now,” said Walker, who’s 36 and has been homeless for three years. “I love the environment. I love being outside.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A dire need for cleanups\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As more encampments spring up along streams and canals, trash, human waste and chemicals are taking a toll on water quality, drawing pressure from regulators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nowhere in the Bay Area is this challenge more evident than in San José, where \u003ca href=\"https://sanjose.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=14775079&GUID=75AEB53E-EE69-472A-AF32-C23354EC09CA\">at least 1,200 people\u003c/a> were living along streams earlier this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044671\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044671\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-18-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-18-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-18-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-18-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Participants of the Pinole Creek Unhoused Stewards Pilot Program remove English Ivy, an invasive species, along Pinole Creek, in Pinole on June 16, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It was just unmanageable,” said Rajani Nair, deputy director of the Watershed Protection Division of the city’s Environmental Services Department. “The best solution was really to ensure these encampments are not living in the waterways.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under pressure from regulators, the \u003ca href=\"https://sanjose.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7652910&GUID=D042E67C-69C8-4595-9BD6-00019551F223&Options=&Search=\">city cleared encampments\u003c/a> from 16 miles of waterways last fiscal year. Workers hauled away almost 2,000 tons of trash and set up no-encampment zones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It cost the city nearly $64 million, including the cost of building new shelters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials say their efforts have led to healthier streams. But despite new shelter investments, there are still \u003ca href=\"https://news.santaclaracounty.gov/county-santa-clara-releases-preliminary-results-2025-point-time-homeless-count\">far more unsheltered people\u003c/a> than \u003ca href=\"https://sanjosespotlight.com/santa-clara-county-has-1-shelter-bed-for-every-3-homeless-people/\">beds in San José\u003c/a> and across the state. And, advocates say, what is available doesn’t work for everyone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For some, the city’s tiny homes, motel shelters and sanctioned campgrounds offer a welcome alternative to creekside life. For others, giving up their belongings for a short-term placement is a losing bet, said Tristia Bauman, directing attorney of housing at the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley. “There are also many people who are in far worse situations, who will be far less able to be self-sufficient, who lost a lot of money and lost a lot of trust in the system,” Bauman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044668\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044668\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-10-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-10-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-10-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-10-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adam Gelfand, Habitat Restoration Manager at Contra Costa Resource Conservation District, center, leads a classroom session for Pinole Creek Unhoused Stewards Pilot Program participants, outside of the Pinole Library, in Pinole on June 16, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As long as that’s the case, the researchers say people will find their way back to waterways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People are voting with their feet where they want to be,” UC Davis hydrology professor and study co-lead Greg Pasternack said. That’s why he and Rampini are looking for a way to work with encampment residents where they are.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to find a way that the environmental goals of our society and the social goals of our society can coexist,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a scientist who’s spent nearly three decades working in environmental restoration, Pasternack admits he didn’t always see things this way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve dedicated my life — made major sacrifices — to try to help support the environment,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The time he’s spent studying encampments and talking with the people who live in them, shifted his perspective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I can’t look at the suffering of people and say that we should just ignore that, that the stream in and of itself is more important,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Restoration as recovery\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There’s plenty of evidence that spending time in nature improves mental and physical health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, Rampini pointed out, “We haven’t really extended that idea to people experiencing homelessness, who may actually be dealing with … more mental and physical health issues than a majority of housed folks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said the goal isn’t to turn restoration into a career track out of homelessness, but to test whether it can be beneficial for those living along waterways and at the fringes of society.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044670\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044670\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-14-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-14-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-14-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-14-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Participants of the Pinole Creek Unhoused Stewards Pilot Program do a group activity during a classroom session, outside of the Pinole Library, in Pinole on June 16, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Walker and Adams say it has.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I never thought in a million years I’d be out here doing what I’m doing now. It’s so surreal. And it’s so relaxing,” Adams said. “There are a lot of things that went on in my lifetime, and I just get to sit here and just think about it and realize everything’s not all that bad.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few years ago, Adams said he was working as a substitute teacher. He has a college degree, a teenage son and he had a partner. Then his life unraveled. He said he got shot, his relationship fell apart, and he lost his closest family members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I lost my crutch, my grandmother, and I lost my dad, who was my best friend,” he said. His father had himself been homeless for much of Adams’ life.[aside postID=news_12054270 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250820-HOUSINGFIRST_02100_TV-KQED.jpg']After his father’s death, Adams began spending more time on the streets with people who’d known him. He went from couch surfing to sleeping in his car to pitching a tent. He stopped working, and his drug problem got worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I literally just gave up. I sat down,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After five years of homelessness and often-debilitating depression, he said the creek restoration program has given him motivation again. He was one of three participants kept on after the initial training and now earns $19 an hour doing part-time restoration work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They saw something inside of us, regardless of our living situation,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far, the part-time work isn’t enough to get Adams out of his tent. But it’s given him something else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel like I got a purpose now in life,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adams said he wants to keep learning ecology. He knows jobs in the field aren’t easy to come by, but if he could, he’d work full-time for the county conservation district — restoring the same creek he lives beside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I want this to be my creek,” he said. “I want to take pride in cleaning up this creek.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Thousands of unhoused Californians live along streams, creeks and canals, often in conflict with environmental goals. A Bay Area program is betting it can be part of the solution.",
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"title": "How a Bay Area Program Helps Unhoused Residents Become Protectors of Their Environment | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Outside his tent, among the dead leaves and saplings, Eric Adams keeps a neat stack of bags stuffed with garbage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just try to pick it up and try to do the best that I can,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adams is one of twenty-some people who live on a wooded strip of land tucked between a freeway and a busy street in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/el-sobrante\">El Sobrante\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 48-year-old keeps his patch tidy, but all around him the ground is strewn with plastic bags, food wrappers, even a mattress and a tire. He’s so fed up that he’s started confronting his neighbors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m like, ‘This is nasty,’” he said. “‘I don’t want to pick up this mess for you to throw it all back.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adams doesn’t just pick up garbage. He pulls debris from the creek nearby and yanks out invasive ivy, “because I enjoy it,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He wasn’t always like this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I never thought I would give a damn,” he said. “I’m aware now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044675\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044675\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-34-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-34-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-34-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-34-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Participants of the Pinole Creek Unhoused Stewards Pilot Program remove English Ivy, an invasive species, along Pinole Creek, in Pinole on June 16, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That changed after Adams joined a pilot program teaching unhoused residents ecological literacy and creek restoration. It’s a novel approach to addressing the environmental harms brought on by the growing number of people setting up camp along creeks and canals as homelessness surges in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The eight-week program was put on this summer by the Contra Costa Resource Conservation District, the nonprofit \u003ca href=\"https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/05/sos-richmond-housing-crisis-california-homelessness/\">Safe Organized Spaces Richmond\u003c/a> and a pair of researchers. It’s part of \u003ca href=\"https://pasternack.ucdavis.edu/research/projects/stream-side-encampments\">a larger study\u003c/a> examining the intersection of homelessness, climate change, and urban streams across the Bay Area’s nine counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The researchers estimate 10% of California’s unhoused population — about 18,700 people — lives along waterways. In the absence of enough affordable housing and shelter, it feels like the best of bad options for many.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044669\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12044669 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-13-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-13-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-13-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-13-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign reading “Pinole Creek don’t trash it” is posted by Pinole Creek in Pinole on June 16, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“People like to be along streams because they’re out of sight, out of mind,” said Costanza Rampini, an environmental studies professor at San José State University and one of the study leads. She and her students interviewed more than 300 people living along waterways. “They’re not on our sidewalks where they’re going to be confronted more with local residents, with local law enforcement.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s even more true since cities started cracking down on encampments last year. But people are also seeking out water for drinking, bathing and washing clothes, and for shade and softer ground to sleep on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The problem is it’s polluting the water,” said Eileen White, executive officer of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board. “We want to protect our waterways, for the beauty, for the environment, for the wildlife.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Stewards of their streams\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The pilot program Adams joined was designed to test whether encampment residents could become partners in protecting streams.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rampini’s hope is that the program can benefit the environment while improving people’s well-being and helping them stabilize their lives. “Can we provide opportunities for them to maybe make some income and feel a sense of usefulness and agency?” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044672\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044672\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-20-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-20-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-20-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-20-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ronnie Walker, a participant of the Pinole Creek Unhoused Stewards Pilot Program, pulls out English Ivy, an invasive species, along Pinole Creek in Pinole on June 16, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On a Friday afternoon this summer, Adams and a group of unhoused and formerly homeless men and women gathered along a stream behind the Pinole Library. They had just finished a class on erosion control and were putting it into practice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Standing in the shade of tall trees, they trimmed willow branches into stakes and hammered them into the soil to stabilize the banks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ooh! This is the kid in me now,” Adams said, scrambling down to the water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Knee-deep in the creek, he and classmates Brianni Peters and Ronnie Walker scouted spots to drive the stakes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hey, Eric! Look where I put mine,” Peters shouted. “I did it!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044674\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044674\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-31-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-31-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-31-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-31-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brianni Peters, a participant of the Pinole Creek Unhoused Stewards Pilot Program, right, speaks during a classroom session, outside of the Pinole Library, in Pinole on June 16, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>They laughed as water splashed into Walker’s boots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My bad!” Adams said with a mischievous grin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m having fun, man,” Walker said. “I’m here for the journey.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group has also learned about steelhead trout and their habitat, studied invasive and native plants, and practiced other restoration techniques.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel like I’m halfway a botanist right now,” said Walker, who’s 36 and has been homeless for three years. “I love the environment. I love being outside.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A dire need for cleanups\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As more encampments spring up along streams and canals, trash, human waste and chemicals are taking a toll on water quality, drawing pressure from regulators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nowhere in the Bay Area is this challenge more evident than in San José, where \u003ca href=\"https://sanjose.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=14775079&GUID=75AEB53E-EE69-472A-AF32-C23354EC09CA\">at least 1,200 people\u003c/a> were living along streams earlier this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044671\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044671\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-18-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-18-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-18-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-18-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Participants of the Pinole Creek Unhoused Stewards Pilot Program remove English Ivy, an invasive species, along Pinole Creek, in Pinole on June 16, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It was just unmanageable,” said Rajani Nair, deputy director of the Watershed Protection Division of the city’s Environmental Services Department. “The best solution was really to ensure these encampments are not living in the waterways.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under pressure from regulators, the \u003ca href=\"https://sanjose.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7652910&GUID=D042E67C-69C8-4595-9BD6-00019551F223&Options=&Search=\">city cleared encampments\u003c/a> from 16 miles of waterways last fiscal year. Workers hauled away almost 2,000 tons of trash and set up no-encampment zones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It cost the city nearly $64 million, including the cost of building new shelters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials say their efforts have led to healthier streams. But despite new shelter investments, there are still \u003ca href=\"https://news.santaclaracounty.gov/county-santa-clara-releases-preliminary-results-2025-point-time-homeless-count\">far more unsheltered people\u003c/a> than \u003ca href=\"https://sanjosespotlight.com/santa-clara-county-has-1-shelter-bed-for-every-3-homeless-people/\">beds in San José\u003c/a> and across the state. And, advocates say, what is available doesn’t work for everyone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For some, the city’s tiny homes, motel shelters and sanctioned campgrounds offer a welcome alternative to creekside life. For others, giving up their belongings for a short-term placement is a losing bet, said Tristia Bauman, directing attorney of housing at the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley. “There are also many people who are in far worse situations, who will be far less able to be self-sufficient, who lost a lot of money and lost a lot of trust in the system,” Bauman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044668\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044668\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-10-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-10-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-10-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-10-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adam Gelfand, Habitat Restoration Manager at Contra Costa Resource Conservation District, center, leads a classroom session for Pinole Creek Unhoused Stewards Pilot Program participants, outside of the Pinole Library, in Pinole on June 16, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As long as that’s the case, the researchers say people will find their way back to waterways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People are voting with their feet where they want to be,” UC Davis hydrology professor and study co-lead Greg Pasternack said. That’s why he and Rampini are looking for a way to work with encampment residents where they are.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to find a way that the environmental goals of our society and the social goals of our society can coexist,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a scientist who’s spent nearly three decades working in environmental restoration, Pasternack admits he didn’t always see things this way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve dedicated my life — made major sacrifices — to try to help support the environment,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The time he’s spent studying encampments and talking with the people who live in them, shifted his perspective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I can’t look at the suffering of people and say that we should just ignore that, that the stream in and of itself is more important,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Restoration as recovery\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There’s plenty of evidence that spending time in nature improves mental and physical health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, Rampini pointed out, “We haven’t really extended that idea to people experiencing homelessness, who may actually be dealing with … more mental and physical health issues than a majority of housed folks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said the goal isn’t to turn restoration into a career track out of homelessness, but to test whether it can be beneficial for those living along waterways and at the fringes of society.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044670\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044670\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-14-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-14-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-14-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/20250616_UNHOUSEDCREEKRESTORATION_GC-14-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Participants of the Pinole Creek Unhoused Stewards Pilot Program do a group activity during a classroom session, outside of the Pinole Library, in Pinole on June 16, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Walker and Adams say it has.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I never thought in a million years I’d be out here doing what I’m doing now. It’s so surreal. And it’s so relaxing,” Adams said. “There are a lot of things that went on in my lifetime, and I just get to sit here and just think about it and realize everything’s not all that bad.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few years ago, Adams said he was working as a substitute teacher. He has a college degree, a teenage son and he had a partner. Then his life unraveled. He said he got shot, his relationship fell apart, and he lost his closest family members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I lost my crutch, my grandmother, and I lost my dad, who was my best friend,” he said. His father had himself been homeless for much of Adams’ life.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>After his father’s death, Adams began spending more time on the streets with people who’d known him. He went from couch surfing to sleeping in his car to pitching a tent. He stopped working, and his drug problem got worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I literally just gave up. I sat down,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After five years of homelessness and often-debilitating depression, he said the creek restoration program has given him motivation again. He was one of three participants kept on after the initial training and now earns $19 an hour doing part-time restoration work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They saw something inside of us, regardless of our living situation,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far, the part-time work isn’t enough to get Adams out of his tent. But it’s given him something else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I feel like I got a purpose now in life,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adams said he wants to keep learning ecology. He knows jobs in the field aren’t easy to come by, but if he could, he’d work full-time for the county conservation district — restoring the same creek he lives beside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I want this to be my creek,” he said. “I want to take pride in cleaning up this creek.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "California Forever Clears First Hurdle in Suisun City Annexation",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california-forever\">California Forever\u003c/a>’s proposed mega-development has crossed its first hurdle in its bid for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12043295/suisun-city-proposes-annexing-most-of-california-forevers-new-city\">annexation\u003c/a> by Suisun City. After receiving the company’s development application earlier this month, City Manager Bret Prebula said Tuesday he and other officials deemed it complete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, city staff will prepare for the next step in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12040357/2-solano-cities-could-annex-some-california-forevers-land-heres-how\">lengthy annexation process\u003c/a>: the environmental impact report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve been having really high-level conversations with [California Forever] about our interests with jobs and housing and transportation and the need to have open space,” Prebula said \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/SuisunCity/status/1978155118785610144\">in a video posted on the social media platform X\u003c/a>. “They’ve really listened, and we expect this continued dialog and negotiation as the project evolves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The announcement means California Forever likely won’t bring its plan before voters, as it \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11996747/california-forever-pulls-bid-to-build-new-city-from-this-years-ballot\">initially proposed last year\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it was first introduced, residents received the proposal with mixed reactions. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11996888/after-ballot-measure-for-new-city-is-delayed-solano-residents-breathe-a-sigh-of-relief\">Some were excited\u003c/a> at the prospect of more jobs and homes, while \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11996536/farmers-are-divided-over-california-forevers-plan-in-solano-county\">others remained skeptical\u003c/a> about the company’s intentions and the project’s viability. Many were confused as to why California Forever wanted to build a new city, instead of developing a project within an existing one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12060008\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12060008\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-17-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-17-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-17-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-17-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The intersection of Highway 12 and Highway 113 in Solano County outside of Suisun City on May 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In an \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/jansramek/status/1978161081928572975\">X thread\u003c/a> posted Tuesday, CEO Jan Sramek said the Suisun Expansion Plan would solve those problems by connecting the original 2024 plan to an existing city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Last year, the community was clear — ‘We like the plan, but in Solano County, “what is urban shall be municipal,” — so make this an extension of an existing city, not a new community,’” Sramek said in his post. “Suisun City stepped up and proposed building the city as part of the Suisun Expansion Project. They’re now on the way to becoming California’s best example of the Abundance Agenda.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company’s application remains largely similar to its original plan, but instead of the project becoming a new city in unincorporated Solano County, the mega-development could now be located largely within Suisun City, if city and county leaders eventually approve the annexation deal. Rio Vista leaders have also expressed interest in annexing a portion of California Forever’s plan, but those details have yet to be publicly unveiled.[aside postID=news_12043295 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-38-BL_qed.jpg']\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031818/another-solano-county-city-wants-annex-some-california-forevers-land\">Suisun City leaders\u003c/a> have said they are exploring annexation to grow the city’s tax base and solve a structural deficit. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12029950/rio-vista-explores-annexing-some-california-forevers-land\">Officials in Rio Vista\u003c/a> also want to expand their tax base, but aim to preserve the city’s character as a quaint, river-side town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.suisun.com/files/sharedassets/suisuncity/v/1/training/resources/images/michaels-images/documents/cover-letter.pdf\">The project\u003c/a> would be built in two phases: Over 20 years, the company would focus on development west of Highway 113 and would build 65,217 new homes, the majority of its advanced manufacturing park called the “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12048321/california-forever-wants-to-build-a-manufacturing-town\">Solano Foundry\u003c/a>,” along with a downtown and entertainment district. In its application, California Forever anticipates that the first phase would be able to support around 150,000 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Later, around 2050, the company would start development east of the highway and fully build out the community, which could eventually support 400,000 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sramek called it “the next great American city.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Suisun Expansion Plan is a story of a small city that is dreaming big and tackling some of California’s biggest challenges head on,” he said \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/jansramek/status/1978161120889442519\">in the X post\u003c/a>. “It’s something that should be applauded and is worthy of the greatest support from people who care about abundance, urbanism and housing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now that the application is complete, Prebula said he will spend the next month holding meetings with staff and Suisun City officials to start an environmental impact report, and eventually, the public will be able to read and comment on it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Suisun City leaders announced Tuesday they approved the company’s official application for a controversial mega-development, which could become part of their city.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california-forever\">California Forever\u003c/a>’s proposed mega-development has crossed its first hurdle in its bid for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12043295/suisun-city-proposes-annexing-most-of-california-forevers-new-city\">annexation\u003c/a> by Suisun City. After receiving the company’s development application earlier this month, City Manager Bret Prebula said Tuesday he and other officials deemed it complete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, city staff will prepare for the next step in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12040357/2-solano-cities-could-annex-some-california-forevers-land-heres-how\">lengthy annexation process\u003c/a>: the environmental impact report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve been having really high-level conversations with [California Forever] about our interests with jobs and housing and transportation and the need to have open space,” Prebula said \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/SuisunCity/status/1978155118785610144\">in a video posted on the social media platform X\u003c/a>. “They’ve really listened, and we expect this continued dialog and negotiation as the project evolves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The announcement means California Forever likely won’t bring its plan before voters, as it \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11996747/california-forever-pulls-bid-to-build-new-city-from-this-years-ballot\">initially proposed last year\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it was first introduced, residents received the proposal with mixed reactions. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11996888/after-ballot-measure-for-new-city-is-delayed-solano-residents-breathe-a-sigh-of-relief\">Some were excited\u003c/a> at the prospect of more jobs and homes, while \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11996536/farmers-are-divided-over-california-forevers-plan-in-solano-county\">others remained skeptical\u003c/a> about the company’s intentions and the project’s viability. Many were confused as to why California Forever wanted to build a new city, instead of developing a project within an existing one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12060008\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12060008\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-17-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-17-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-17-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/250513-CaliforniaForeverAnnexExplainer-17-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The intersection of Highway 12 and Highway 113 in Solano County outside of Suisun City on May 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In an \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/jansramek/status/1978161081928572975\">X thread\u003c/a> posted Tuesday, CEO Jan Sramek said the Suisun Expansion Plan would solve those problems by connecting the original 2024 plan to an existing city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Last year, the community was clear — ‘We like the plan, but in Solano County, “what is urban shall be municipal,” — so make this an extension of an existing city, not a new community,’” Sramek said in his post. “Suisun City stepped up and proposed building the city as part of the Suisun Expansion Project. They’re now on the way to becoming California’s best example of the Abundance Agenda.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company’s application remains largely similar to its original plan, but instead of the project becoming a new city in unincorporated Solano County, the mega-development could now be located largely within Suisun City, if city and county leaders eventually approve the annexation deal. Rio Vista leaders have also expressed interest in annexing a portion of California Forever’s plan, but those details have yet to be publicly unveiled.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031818/another-solano-county-city-wants-annex-some-california-forevers-land\">Suisun City leaders\u003c/a> have said they are exploring annexation to grow the city’s tax base and solve a structural deficit. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12029950/rio-vista-explores-annexing-some-california-forevers-land\">Officials in Rio Vista\u003c/a> also want to expand their tax base, but aim to preserve the city’s character as a quaint, river-side town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.suisun.com/files/sharedassets/suisuncity/v/1/training/resources/images/michaels-images/documents/cover-letter.pdf\">The project\u003c/a> would be built in two phases: Over 20 years, the company would focus on development west of Highway 113 and would build 65,217 new homes, the majority of its advanced manufacturing park called the “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12048321/california-forever-wants-to-build-a-manufacturing-town\">Solano Foundry\u003c/a>,” along with a downtown and entertainment district. In its application, California Forever anticipates that the first phase would be able to support around 150,000 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Later, around 2050, the company would start development east of the highway and fully build out the community, which could eventually support 400,000 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sramek called it “the next great American city.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Suisun Expansion Plan is a story of a small city that is dreaming big and tackling some of California’s biggest challenges head on,” he said \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/jansramek/status/1978161120889442519\">in the X post\u003c/a>. “It’s something that should be applauded and is worthy of the greatest support from people who care about abundance, urbanism and housing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now that the application is complete, Prebula said he will spend the next month holding meetings with staff and Suisun City officials to start an environmental impact report, and eventually, the public will be able to read and comment on it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> has taken a major step to clear the way for developers across the state to build new, taller apartments near\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/public-transit\"> transit hubs\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation on Friday that would allow for the construction of denser multi-family housing in neighborhoods within a half-mile of bustling train and bus stops on major transit networks like BART, Caltrain or the L.A. Metro rail system, overriding local zoning laws. Buildings closest to the transit hubs could go up to nine stories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12042670/controversial-housing-near-transit-bill-advances-to-next-stop-in-legislature\">SB 79\u003c/a>, has been viewed as one of the most significant \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/housing\">housing bills in decades\u003c/a>. It’s state Sen. Scott Wiener’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031302/wieners-controversial-bill-to-allow-housing-near-transit-is-back\">latest of several attempts\u003c/a> to spur new housing construction, a movement that has made \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12057068/are-yimbys-winning-the-housing-debate\">political gains this year\u003c/a> — and, at the same time, to increase public transit’s revenue by drawing new ridership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“SB 79 is a historic step toward tackling the root cause of California’s affordability crisis — our profound shortage of homes and too few people having access to transit,” Wiener, D-San Francisco, said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill, which will apply only to eight urbanized California counties with 16 or more passenger rail stations, also allows zoning for five- to eight-story buildings adjacent to light rail lines, as well as daily trains and rapid bus transit or streets with dedicated bus lanes. It takes effect July 1, 2026, in San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties, absent cities’ alternative plans for transit-oriented upzoning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12010450\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12010450\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-09-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-09-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-09-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-09-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-09-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-09-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-09-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">State Sen. Scott Wiener speaks at a press event in front of the SFUSD offices in San Francisco on Oct. 21, 2024. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It will also allow transit agencies to set their own zoning rules on properties they own adjacent to transit-oriented development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Proponents argue that a shortage of affordable housing has ensnared the state in an unaffordability crisis, exacerbated by “permitting, rezoning, and public funding barriers to build” affordable housing in the state, according to Wiener.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have [now] undone decades of housing prohibitions in our cities near the transit stations that we’ve all paid for, and we’ll start to see hopefully soon a [return] to the way California was envisioning its growth when we built these transit stations,” said Matt Lewis, a spokesperson for California YIMBY, a group that advocates for accelerating housing development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cities must meet the housing targets outlined in the state’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101885996/california-cities-struggle-to-meet-new-housing-planning-guidelines\">Regional Housing Needs Assessment\u003c/a> to avoid lawsuits, losses in funding and other consequences, including what’s known as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11945744/california-building-boom-a-new-law-promised-big-but-has-yet-to-deliver-in-the-bay-area\">the “builder’s remedy,”\u003c/a> which allows developers to sidestep local zoning restrictions if the city is out of compliance with state housing law.[aside postID=news_12042670 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/008_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3485_qed-1020x680.jpg']Yet, how to achieve ambitious housing goals has caused controversy in a state where how and what to build is a touchy subject.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San Francisco, city leaders are working on a plan to add more than 36,000 homes to the city’s west side and northern neighborhoods as part of\u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/news/12057448/on-sfs-west-side-a-push-to-protect-historic-landmarks-amid-plans-for-more-housing\"> a new “family zoning” push\u003c/a> that would exempt these parts of the city from SB 79. If the Board of Supervisors doesn’t approve that plan by January, the state will start to impose fines and withhold critical funding for the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are real consequences if we fail to pass family zoning,” San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said Friday in an \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DPo2PTUEoEc/?hl=en\">Instagram post\u003c/a> about the carveouts in SB 79. “The state is ready with what they call the builder’s remedy, which means unlimited height and density on every block and stripping the city of all decision-making power on new projects.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In discussions in the Capitol, equity groups \u003ca href=\"https://wclp.org/sb79-oppose-unless-amended-to-protect-housing-input-affordability/\">argued\u003c/a> that the bill does not enshrine affordability requirements for new housing. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass \u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/los-angeles-sb-79-map-neighborhoods-address-housing-california-bill-bass-newsom\">urged Newsom to veto the bill\u003c/a>, saying that it would “erode local control, diminish community input on planning and zoning and disproportionately impact low-resource neighborhoods.” And homeowner groups have said they \u003ca href=\"https://archive.ph/MIOix#selection-3119.0-3134.0\">fear\u003c/a> the bill will \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/people-take-to-the-streets-of-south-park-to-protest-california-housing-bill/3897316/\">affect\u003c/a> the character of their neighborhoods and price out small businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the bill cleared political hurdles and narrowly passed both houses of the Legislature after adding provisions for labor unions, and by exempting areas that are already covered by local housing policy that promotes transit. That allowed it to avoid the fate of Wiener’s previous three attempts in the last seven years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom’s decision was highly anticipated for weeks. His signing represents a significant step in California’s housing experiment, alongside several other housing bills signed Friday — including one to slash red tape around converting office buildings into residences and multiple bills meant to streamline the construction of accessory dwelling units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/abandlamudi\">\u003cem>Adhiti Bandlamudi\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> has taken a major step to clear the way for developers across the state to build new, taller apartments near\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/public-transit\"> transit hubs\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation on Friday that would allow for the construction of denser multi-family housing in neighborhoods within a half-mile of bustling train and bus stops on major transit networks like BART, Caltrain or the L.A. Metro rail system, overriding local zoning laws. Buildings closest to the transit hubs could go up to nine stories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12042670/controversial-housing-near-transit-bill-advances-to-next-stop-in-legislature\">SB 79\u003c/a>, has been viewed as one of the most significant \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/housing\">housing bills in decades\u003c/a>. It’s state Sen. Scott Wiener’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031302/wieners-controversial-bill-to-allow-housing-near-transit-is-back\">latest of several attempts\u003c/a> to spur new housing construction, a movement that has made \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12057068/are-yimbys-winning-the-housing-debate\">political gains this year\u003c/a> — and, at the same time, to increase public transit’s revenue by drawing new ridership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“SB 79 is a historic step toward tackling the root cause of California’s affordability crisis — our profound shortage of homes and too few people having access to transit,” Wiener, D-San Francisco, said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill, which will apply only to eight urbanized California counties with 16 or more passenger rail stations, also allows zoning for five- to eight-story buildings adjacent to light rail lines, as well as daily trains and rapid bus transit or streets with dedicated bus lanes. It takes effect July 1, 2026, in San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties, absent cities’ alternative plans for transit-oriented upzoning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12010450\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12010450\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-09-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-09-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-09-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-09-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-09-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-09-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-SFUSD-BREED-STATE-PRESSER-MD-09-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">State Sen. Scott Wiener speaks at a press event in front of the SFUSD offices in San Francisco on Oct. 21, 2024. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It will also allow transit agencies to set their own zoning rules on properties they own adjacent to transit-oriented development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Proponents argue that a shortage of affordable housing has ensnared the state in an unaffordability crisis, exacerbated by “permitting, rezoning, and public funding barriers to build” affordable housing in the state, according to Wiener.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have [now] undone decades of housing prohibitions in our cities near the transit stations that we’ve all paid for, and we’ll start to see hopefully soon a [return] to the way California was envisioning its growth when we built these transit stations,” said Matt Lewis, a spokesperson for California YIMBY, a group that advocates for accelerating housing development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cities must meet the housing targets outlined in the state’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101885996/california-cities-struggle-to-meet-new-housing-planning-guidelines\">Regional Housing Needs Assessment\u003c/a> to avoid lawsuits, losses in funding and other consequences, including what’s known as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11945744/california-building-boom-a-new-law-promised-big-but-has-yet-to-deliver-in-the-bay-area\">the “builder’s remedy,”\u003c/a> which allows developers to sidestep local zoning restrictions if the city is out of compliance with state housing law.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Yet, how to achieve ambitious housing goals has caused controversy in a state where how and what to build is a touchy subject.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San Francisco, city leaders are working on a plan to add more than 36,000 homes to the city’s west side and northern neighborhoods as part of\u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/news/12057448/on-sfs-west-side-a-push-to-protect-historic-landmarks-amid-plans-for-more-housing\"> a new “family zoning” push\u003c/a> that would exempt these parts of the city from SB 79. If the Board of Supervisors doesn’t approve that plan by January, the state will start to impose fines and withhold critical funding for the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are real consequences if we fail to pass family zoning,” San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said Friday in an \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DPo2PTUEoEc/?hl=en\">Instagram post\u003c/a> about the carveouts in SB 79. “The state is ready with what they call the builder’s remedy, which means unlimited height and density on every block and stripping the city of all decision-making power on new projects.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In discussions in the Capitol, equity groups \u003ca href=\"https://wclp.org/sb79-oppose-unless-amended-to-protect-housing-input-affordability/\">argued\u003c/a> that the bill does not enshrine affordability requirements for new housing. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass \u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/los-angeles-sb-79-map-neighborhoods-address-housing-california-bill-bass-newsom\">urged Newsom to veto the bill\u003c/a>, saying that it would “erode local control, diminish community input on planning and zoning and disproportionately impact low-resource neighborhoods.” And homeowner groups have said they \u003ca href=\"https://archive.ph/MIOix#selection-3119.0-3134.0\">fear\u003c/a> the bill will \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/people-take-to-the-streets-of-south-park-to-protest-california-housing-bill/3897316/\">affect\u003c/a> the character of their neighborhoods and price out small businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the bill cleared political hurdles and narrowly passed both houses of the Legislature after adding provisions for labor unions, and by exempting areas that are already covered by local housing policy that promotes transit. That allowed it to avoid the fate of Wiener’s previous three attempts in the last seven years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom’s decision was highly anticipated for weeks. His signing represents a significant step in California’s housing experiment, alongside several other housing bills signed Friday — including one to slash red tape around converting office buildings into residences and multiple bills meant to streamline the construction of accessory dwelling units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/abandlamudi\">\u003cem>Adhiti Bandlamudi\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a> officials plan to move 60 now-vacant cabins for homeless people from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11637875/new-program-pitches-tiny-homes-as-solution-to-s-f-homelessness\">a former shelter site in the Mission District\u003c/a> to Jerrold Commons, a temporary shelter site in the Bayview neighborhood. While the cabins aren’t slated to be occupied anytime soon, the decision has drawn ire from Bayview leaders who say it takes advantage of their community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jerrold Commons is part of a broader debate over where to locate services for homeless people as the city seeks to expand transitional housing and shelters across the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supervisor Shamann Walton, who represents the historically Black neighborhood on the southeast edge of the city, blasted the decision to store the unused cabins at Jerrold Commons, saying he was not notified and that the move goes against agreements the Board of Supervisors made earlier this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“First, the mayor tried to turn Jerrold into a 200-bed shelter site with no RV parking and no community input. Now, he’s trying to quietly drop in cabins from the Mission and talk about expansion later,” Walton said. “At no point has this administration come back to the community in good faith for this decision.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 60 tiny home cabins are currently housing residents at Jerrold Commons, according to Emily Cohen, deputy director for communications and legislative affairs at the city’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10483076\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10483076\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/04/BART-e1428532843522.jpg\" alt=\"The BART station at 16th and Mission streets in San Francisco.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The BART station at 16th and Mission streets in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Deborah Svoboda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The city is now planning to relocate 60 empty cabins from a former shelter site near the 16th Street BART station because the parcel is slated to be developed into affordable housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With thousands of people sleeping on the streets every night, we need these cabins available to offer those people somewhere inside to sleep,” Cohen said. “But until these cabins have a long-term site, we have a simple choice: dispose of them entirely, delay a critical affordable housing project in the Mission, or store them temporarily.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials said they are working to identify a long-term site and use for the now-empty cabins, which Cohen said will remain unused while they are stored at Jerrold Commons. It’s unclear how long they will be stored at the site.[aside postID=news_12050263 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250722-ShelterFamilies-09-BL_qed.jpg']The department said it intends to notify and work with current residents at Jerrold Commons and community members for any future efforts to fill the cabins or make other changes to the site.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The city will conduct a robust community engagement process before activating the cabins at any future site or making any changes to the operations at Jerrold,” Cohen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mayor’s office declined to provide a comment for this story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walton’s district has been \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/lawmaker-blasts-mayor-over-bayview-homeless-plan-20246317.php\">at the center of much debate\u003c/a> over where the city should build out new shelters and transitional housing. The supervisor earlier this year \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12050263/a-new-san-francisco-plan-would-spread-out-homeless-shelters-more-evenly\">supported legislation\u003c/a> that would require the city to build new facilities in neighborhoods where data shows there are more unhoused people than services available, and avoid over-concentrating services in a few communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>District 10 is home to a large portion of the city’s unhoused population as well as residents living in cars and RVs. But the supervisor and residents say their community hosts a disproportionate amount of the city’s homeless facilities and resources, while other neighborhoods lack services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11999676\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11999676\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/020_KQED_OneLoveBlackCommunity_11132022_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/020_KQED_OneLoveBlackCommunity_11132022_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/020_KQED_OneLoveBlackCommunity_11132022_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/020_KQED_OneLoveBlackCommunity_11132022_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/020_KQED_OneLoveBlackCommunity_11132022_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/020_KQED_OneLoveBlackCommunity_11132022_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/020_KQED_OneLoveBlackCommunity_11132022_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">View of the San Francisco skyline in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood on Nov. 13, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We have three navigation centers in District 10. Two are in the Bayview,” Walton said. “We had a safe sleeping site. We have the site at Jerrold now. So we’ve been working hard to obviously address the concerns and needs of the unhoused community. But most certainly, you have to have conversations that include the community about the best way to do anything, particularly when we’re bringing in more sites because services are needed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walton has supported a plan developed over a year with community members and HSH to use Jerrold Avenue to house 68 cabins and 20 RV parking sites, after the city closed the Candlestick safe parking site during the pandemic.[aside postID=news_12057616 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250826_SFHARMREDUCTION00437_TV-KQED-1.jpg']During this year’s budget negotiations, supervisors agreed on legislation that would allow PG&E to expand services for additional shelter at the Jerrold site. According to Walton, “the mayor and his team agreed that if we allow the PG&E expansion, that anything they did at the Jerrold site moving forward would be a community conversation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city has also moved to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12007425/san-francisco-bans-overnight-parking-for-rvs-on-most-city-streets\">ban overnight RV parking\u003c/a> and is initiating a two-hour parking limit \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/large-vehicle-refuge-permit-program\">beginning in November\u003c/a>, scattering many families and RV dwellers across the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The supervisor said the city’s decision to move the cabins for storage to Jerrold Commons “directly contradicts every promise made by the mayor and his administration to the Bayview community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials defended the cabin relocation, saying it utilizes storage space on land that the city leases and that no new residents are moving in at this time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walton is now calling for the city to halt the relocation of the empty cabins to Jerrold Avenue and work with the community there before any changes to the site are announced. The city plans to begin moving the cabins over the next few weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a> officials plan to move 60 now-vacant cabins for homeless people from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11637875/new-program-pitches-tiny-homes-as-solution-to-s-f-homelessness\">a former shelter site in the Mission District\u003c/a> to Jerrold Commons, a temporary shelter site in the Bayview neighborhood. While the cabins aren’t slated to be occupied anytime soon, the decision has drawn ire from Bayview leaders who say it takes advantage of their community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jerrold Commons is part of a broader debate over where to locate services for homeless people as the city seeks to expand transitional housing and shelters across the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supervisor Shamann Walton, who represents the historically Black neighborhood on the southeast edge of the city, blasted the decision to store the unused cabins at Jerrold Commons, saying he was not notified and that the move goes against agreements the Board of Supervisors made earlier this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“First, the mayor tried to turn Jerrold into a 200-bed shelter site with no RV parking and no community input. Now, he’s trying to quietly drop in cabins from the Mission and talk about expansion later,” Walton said. “At no point has this administration come back to the community in good faith for this decision.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 60 tiny home cabins are currently housing residents at Jerrold Commons, according to Emily Cohen, deputy director for communications and legislative affairs at the city’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10483076\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10483076\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/04/BART-e1428532843522.jpg\" alt=\"The BART station at 16th and Mission streets in San Francisco.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The BART station at 16th and Mission streets in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Deborah Svoboda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The city is now planning to relocate 60 empty cabins from a former shelter site near the 16th Street BART station because the parcel is slated to be developed into affordable housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With thousands of people sleeping on the streets every night, we need these cabins available to offer those people somewhere inside to sleep,” Cohen said. “But until these cabins have a long-term site, we have a simple choice: dispose of them entirely, delay a critical affordable housing project in the Mission, or store them temporarily.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials said they are working to identify a long-term site and use for the now-empty cabins, which Cohen said will remain unused while they are stored at Jerrold Commons. It’s unclear how long they will be stored at the site.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The department said it intends to notify and work with current residents at Jerrold Commons and community members for any future efforts to fill the cabins or make other changes to the site.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The city will conduct a robust community engagement process before activating the cabins at any future site or making any changes to the operations at Jerrold,” Cohen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mayor’s office declined to provide a comment for this story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walton’s district has been \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/lawmaker-blasts-mayor-over-bayview-homeless-plan-20246317.php\">at the center of much debate\u003c/a> over where the city should build out new shelters and transitional housing. The supervisor earlier this year \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12050263/a-new-san-francisco-plan-would-spread-out-homeless-shelters-more-evenly\">supported legislation\u003c/a> that would require the city to build new facilities in neighborhoods where data shows there are more unhoused people than services available, and avoid over-concentrating services in a few communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>District 10 is home to a large portion of the city’s unhoused population as well as residents living in cars and RVs. But the supervisor and residents say their community hosts a disproportionate amount of the city’s homeless facilities and resources, while other neighborhoods lack services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11999676\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11999676\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/020_KQED_OneLoveBlackCommunity_11132022_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/020_KQED_OneLoveBlackCommunity_11132022_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/020_KQED_OneLoveBlackCommunity_11132022_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/020_KQED_OneLoveBlackCommunity_11132022_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/020_KQED_OneLoveBlackCommunity_11132022_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/020_KQED_OneLoveBlackCommunity_11132022_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/020_KQED_OneLoveBlackCommunity_11132022_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">View of the San Francisco skyline in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood on Nov. 13, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We have three navigation centers in District 10. Two are in the Bayview,” Walton said. “We had a safe sleeping site. We have the site at Jerrold now. So we’ve been working hard to obviously address the concerns and needs of the unhoused community. But most certainly, you have to have conversations that include the community about the best way to do anything, particularly when we’re bringing in more sites because services are needed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walton has supported a plan developed over a year with community members and HSH to use Jerrold Avenue to house 68 cabins and 20 RV parking sites, after the city closed the Candlestick safe parking site during the pandemic.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>During this year’s budget negotiations, supervisors agreed on legislation that would allow PG&E to expand services for additional shelter at the Jerrold site. According to Walton, “the mayor and his team agreed that if we allow the PG&E expansion, that anything they did at the Jerrold site moving forward would be a community conversation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city has also moved to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12007425/san-francisco-bans-overnight-parking-for-rvs-on-most-city-streets\">ban overnight RV parking\u003c/a> and is initiating a two-hour parking limit \u003ca href=\"https://www.sf.gov/large-vehicle-refuge-permit-program\">beginning in November\u003c/a>, scattering many families and RV dwellers across the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The supervisor said the city’s decision to move the cabins for storage to Jerrold Commons “directly contradicts every promise made by the mayor and his administration to the Bayview community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials defended the cabin relocation, saying it utilizes storage space on land that the city leases and that no new residents are moving in at this time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walton is now calling for the city to halt the relocation of the empty cabins to Jerrold Avenue and work with the community there before any changes to the site are announced. The city plans to begin moving the cabins over the next few weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003c!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ -->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of Gov. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/gavin-newsom\">Gavin Newsom\u003c/a>’s marquee mental health programs may broaden its reach despite persistent questions about the number of people it’s helping and whether it’s achieving the goals he set out for it \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12007175/care-court-was-supposed-to-help-those-hardest-to-treat-heres-how-its-going\">when it launched\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom today signed a law that expands eligibility for CARE Court to include people who experience psychotic symptoms as a result of bipolar disorder. Under the law’s previous constraints, only people with schizophrenia and other limited psychotic disorders were eligible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom, in a written statement, called the law and its expansion an important part of his administration’s efforts to bring people with serious \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/mental-health\">mental illness\u003c/a> into treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California doesn’t sit on the sidelines while people fall through the cracks,” he said. “We don’t stand by while people spiral on our sidewalks or cycle through emergency rooms and jail cells — we step up. We built CARE Court to connect people to treatment, dignity, and accountability — because care and accountability belong at the center of how we serve our communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2022/03/newsom-california-mental-illness-treatment/\">introduced CARE Court in 2022\u003c/a>, creating a program that allows family members, first responders, doctors and others to petition the courts on behalf of people with severe psychosis who couldn’t care for themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12047982\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12047982\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/230707-ORANGE-COUNTY-CARE-COURT-AD-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/230707-ORANGE-COUNTY-CARE-COURT-AD-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/230707-ORANGE-COUNTY-CARE-COURT-AD-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/230707-ORANGE-COUNTY-CARE-COURT-AD-02-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Orange County Superior Court will technically house the local CARE Court, though judges say they will more likely hold meetings with patients at a more neutral site, like a conference room at the county health office. \u003ccite>(April Dembosky/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Once a petition is accepted, individuals are presented with a voluntary treatment plan, which can include counseling, medication and housing. If they refuse, a judge can, in theory, order them to participate in a treatment plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Almost two years in, CARE Court has struggled to fulfill Newsom’s initial promises. A recent \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2025/09/care-court-2025-data/\">CalMatters investigation\u003c/a> found that the program has so far reached a few hundred people, far short of the thousands originally projected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new law, by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/thomas-umberg-165043\">Sen. Tom Umberg,\u003c/a> a Santa Ana Democrat, sailed through the Legislature with \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb27\">nearly unanimous bipartisan support,\u003c/a> no votes against and just a handful of abstentions.[aside postID=news_12048062 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/Rodriguez_CARE_07_07_2025-1.jpg']“The beauty of CARE Court is that it holds both institutions and individuals accountable, ensures individuals get the care they need and gives judges a clear role in overseeing and guiding the process,” Umberg said in a written statement today. “This bill focuses on implementation by listening to and learning from counties about what’s working and what’s not, in order to meet the goals of the original CARE Court legislation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the bill faced plenty of criticism in the community, with counties \u003ca href=\"https://www.abridged.org/news/low-use-program-mental-illness-homelessness/\">questioning how they will implement\u003c/a> an expanded program on a tight timeline and disability rights advocates raising concerns about the effectiveness of a program they consider “unimplementable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to tell the truth,” said Lex Steppling, a founding member of All People’s Health Collective. “This is not workable. It’s not going to be workable. And I personally believe the cracks in the foundation are getting bigger and bigger and it’s going to collapse.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steppling saved his harshest criticism for “the state’s self-described ‘liberal and progressive’ politicians,” who he said were too afraid of the Newsom administration to oppose the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Wide estimates on CARE Court expansion\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Umberg’s legislation could expand CARE Court enrollment, though it’s unclear by how much. Umberg’s office doesn’t have an estimate of how many more people will be eligible for the program under the new parameters. San Diego County said the new rules could increase its numbers by anywhere from 3.5% to 48.1%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re trying to focus on the right populations,” Umberg said. “I do think it will expand it, but not dramatically.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11983393\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11983393\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/GettyImages-1244278587-scaled-e1713477910867.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1319\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California State Sen. Tom Umberg during the opening of Hope Center in Fullerton, California, on Oct. 27, 2022. \u003ccite>(Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Monica Porter Gilbert, a mental health policy advocate with Disability Rights California, said the lack of clear information from the state about how the program has been implemented thus far is a big part of the problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It feels concerning to massively open the gates to expand eligibility for the program when we really have no evidence that the program is having a positive impact,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Umberg initially wanted to expand CARE Court in a way that would have made even more people eligible for it. An earlier draft of his legislation would have included all mood disorders with psychotic features. But critics, including the County Behavioral Health Directors Association, warned that “massive expansion” would lead to people flooding into CARE Court faster than counties could provide services. As a concession, Umberg eventually limited his bill to bipolar disorder.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Newsom’s mental health overhaul\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In addition to expanding eligibility, Umberg’s bill also eliminates what he said are some “inefficiencies” from the CARE Court process. That includes combining two early court hearings into one, he said, thereby reducing the amount of time participants have to spend in court and saving administrative resources.[aside postID=news_12007420 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/GettyImages-1612098398-1020x691.jpg']The legislation also allows the criminal justice system to refer someone directly into CARE Court if they are charged with a crime and are deemed incompetent to stand trial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michelle Doty Cabrera, executive director of the California Behavioral Health Directors Association, said her organization opposed the new law. She worries that counties won’t have the staffing or housing resources necessary to handle an influx of people. And they are still working out kinks in a system that is still relatively new, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, she said, county behavioral health departments are also pivoting to address dozens of other new initiatives, including Newsom’s 2024 \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2025/06/prop-1-mental-health-awards/\">mental health housing bond\u003c/a> known as Proposition 1 as well as CalAIM, the governor’s overhaul of \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/12/calaim-federal-waivers/\">Medi-Cal for mental health services\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to allow counties to implement the very many things that have been put on the table,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2025/10/care-court-expansion-new-law/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Gov. Newsom introduced CARE Court to bring more people experiencing severe mental illness into treatment. It has helped fewer people than he projected, but a new law will make more people eligible for it.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ -->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of Gov. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/gavin-newsom\">Gavin Newsom\u003c/a>’s marquee mental health programs may broaden its reach despite persistent questions about the number of people it’s helping and whether it’s achieving the goals he set out for it \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12007175/care-court-was-supposed-to-help-those-hardest-to-treat-heres-how-its-going\">when it launched\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom today signed a law that expands eligibility for CARE Court to include people who experience psychotic symptoms as a result of bipolar disorder. Under the law’s previous constraints, only people with schizophrenia and other limited psychotic disorders were eligible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom, in a written statement, called the law and its expansion an important part of his administration’s efforts to bring people with serious \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/mental-health\">mental illness\u003c/a> into treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California doesn’t sit on the sidelines while people fall through the cracks,” he said. “We don’t stand by while people spiral on our sidewalks or cycle through emergency rooms and jail cells — we step up. We built CARE Court to connect people to treatment, dignity, and accountability — because care and accountability belong at the center of how we serve our communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2022/03/newsom-california-mental-illness-treatment/\">introduced CARE Court in 2022\u003c/a>, creating a program that allows family members, first responders, doctors and others to petition the courts on behalf of people with severe psychosis who couldn’t care for themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12047982\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12047982\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/230707-ORANGE-COUNTY-CARE-COURT-AD-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/230707-ORANGE-COUNTY-CARE-COURT-AD-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/230707-ORANGE-COUNTY-CARE-COURT-AD-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/230707-ORANGE-COUNTY-CARE-COURT-AD-02-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Orange County Superior Court will technically house the local CARE Court, though judges say they will more likely hold meetings with patients at a more neutral site, like a conference room at the county health office. \u003ccite>(April Dembosky/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Once a petition is accepted, individuals are presented with a voluntary treatment plan, which can include counseling, medication and housing. If they refuse, a judge can, in theory, order them to participate in a treatment plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Almost two years in, CARE Court has struggled to fulfill Newsom’s initial promises. A recent \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2025/09/care-court-2025-data/\">CalMatters investigation\u003c/a> found that the program has so far reached a few hundred people, far short of the thousands originally projected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new law, by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/thomas-umberg-165043\">Sen. Tom Umberg,\u003c/a> a Santa Ana Democrat, sailed through the Legislature with \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb27\">nearly unanimous bipartisan support,\u003c/a> no votes against and just a handful of abstentions.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“The beauty of CARE Court is that it holds both institutions and individuals accountable, ensures individuals get the care they need and gives judges a clear role in overseeing and guiding the process,” Umberg said in a written statement today. “This bill focuses on implementation by listening to and learning from counties about what’s working and what’s not, in order to meet the goals of the original CARE Court legislation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the bill faced plenty of criticism in the community, with counties \u003ca href=\"https://www.abridged.org/news/low-use-program-mental-illness-homelessness/\">questioning how they will implement\u003c/a> an expanded program on a tight timeline and disability rights advocates raising concerns about the effectiveness of a program they consider “unimplementable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to tell the truth,” said Lex Steppling, a founding member of All People’s Health Collective. “This is not workable. It’s not going to be workable. And I personally believe the cracks in the foundation are getting bigger and bigger and it’s going to collapse.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steppling saved his harshest criticism for “the state’s self-described ‘liberal and progressive’ politicians,” who he said were too afraid of the Newsom administration to oppose the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Wide estimates on CARE Court expansion\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Umberg’s legislation could expand CARE Court enrollment, though it’s unclear by how much. Umberg’s office doesn’t have an estimate of how many more people will be eligible for the program under the new parameters. San Diego County said the new rules could increase its numbers by anywhere from 3.5% to 48.1%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re trying to focus on the right populations,” Umberg said. “I do think it will expand it, but not dramatically.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11983393\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11983393\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/GettyImages-1244278587-scaled-e1713477910867.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1319\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California State Sen. Tom Umberg during the opening of Hope Center in Fullerton, California, on Oct. 27, 2022. \u003ccite>(Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Monica Porter Gilbert, a mental health policy advocate with Disability Rights California, said the lack of clear information from the state about how the program has been implemented thus far is a big part of the problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It feels concerning to massively open the gates to expand eligibility for the program when we really have no evidence that the program is having a positive impact,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Umberg initially wanted to expand CARE Court in a way that would have made even more people eligible for it. An earlier draft of his legislation would have included all mood disorders with psychotic features. But critics, including the County Behavioral Health Directors Association, warned that “massive expansion” would lead to people flooding into CARE Court faster than counties could provide services. As a concession, Umberg eventually limited his bill to bipolar disorder.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Newsom’s mental health overhaul\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In addition to expanding eligibility, Umberg’s bill also eliminates what he said are some “inefficiencies” from the CARE Court process. That includes combining two early court hearings into one, he said, thereby reducing the amount of time participants have to spend in court and saving administrative resources.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The legislation also allows the criminal justice system to refer someone directly into CARE Court if they are charged with a crime and are deemed incompetent to stand trial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michelle Doty Cabrera, executive director of the California Behavioral Health Directors Association, said her organization opposed the new law. She worries that counties won’t have the staffing or housing resources necessary to handle an influx of people. And they are still working out kinks in a system that is still relatively new, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, she said, county behavioral health departments are also pivoting to address dozens of other new initiatives, including Newsom’s 2024 \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2025/06/prop-1-mental-health-awards/\">mental health housing bond\u003c/a> known as Proposition 1 as well as CalAIM, the governor’s overhaul of \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/12/calaim-federal-waivers/\">Medi-Cal for mental health services\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to allow counties to implement the very many things that have been put on the table,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2025/10/care-court-expansion-new-law/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "sf-unions-call-for-boycott-of-airbnb-as-it-tries-to-claw-back-120-million-in-taxes",
"title": "SF Unions Call for Boycott of Airbnb as It Tries to Claw Back $120 Million in Taxes",
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"headTitle": "SF Unions Call for Boycott of Airbnb as It Tries to Claw Back $120 Million in Taxes | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a> labor unions, advocacy groups and elected officials on Wednesday called for a boycott of Airbnb over the short-term rental company’s legal battle seeking a massive \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12041773/san-francisco-mayor-daniel-lurie-plans-to-cut-1400-jobs-in-city-budget-proposal\">business tax refund\u003c/a> from the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The boycott campaign is the latest escalation in an effort to get Airbnb to drop the lawsuit it filed late last year, which aims to claw back $120 million that the company alleges it overpaid in business taxes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Organized labor representatives and some Democrats have blamed the lawsuit, along with similar litigation from other major San Francisco tech companies, for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12042690/sf-labor-unions-community-groups-decry-budget-cuts-at-city-hall\">compounding a budget crunch\u003c/a> that saw some of the city’s most significant spending cuts in years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When a city that has given them so much now is facing a budget deficit of $800 million in the next two fiscal years, what did Airbnb do? They filed lawsuits against us so they don’t have to pay their fair share,” San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan said, speaking in front of the company’s headquarters at a Wednesday press conference announcing the boycott campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Boycott supporters say two-thirds of the money Airbnb wants returned is now tied up while the lawsuit plays out, meaning it can’t be used on city services and leaves San Francisco with less leeway to fill gaps left by President Trump’s funding cuts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11982523\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11982523\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240409-SF-LIBRARY-RALLY-MD-19-KQED-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240409-SF-LIBRARY-RALLY-MD-19-KQED-4.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240409-SF-LIBRARY-RALLY-MD-19-KQED-4-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240409-SF-LIBRARY-RALLY-MD-19-KQED-4-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240409-SF-LIBRARY-RALLY-MD-19-KQED-4-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240409-SF-LIBRARY-RALLY-MD-19-KQED-4-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240409-SF-LIBRARY-RALLY-MD-19-KQED-4-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan speaks at a rally in front of San Francisco’s Main Library on Larkin Street on April 9, 2024. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Because of your lawsuits, you’re further cutting our services like Muni, like libraries,” Chan said. “But most importantly, as we’re fighting Trump, we need money to safeguard the Medicaid cuts that [are] going to hurt our families. We need to safeguard those food security programs that many of our families desperately need.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.boycott-airbnb.org/home#why\">Organizers are asking residents\u003c/a> and visitors not to book rentals through Airbnb and, if they run a rental property, to remove it from the website.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Speakers at Wednesday’s boycott announcement also took the opportunity to call out Airbnb for past misdeeds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company and other short-term rental platforms have come under intense criticism for contributing to the housing affordability crisis and operating on the fringes of regulation in many cities. Following complaints from residents and others, San Francisco \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11734283/a-\">began regulating short-term rentals\u003c/a> in 2015.[aside postID=news_12057448 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250519-AffordableHousingFile-24-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg']“Ten and 15 years ago, there were a lot of companies that were coming in — technology companies that were disrupting marketplaces — and many of them were pursuing a business model of ‘ask forgiveness, not permission,’” Supervisor Matt Dorsey said Wednesday. “The worst offender was Airbnb.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fred Sherburn-Zimmer, the Housing Rights Committee’s director of policy and campaigns, said she also remembered Airbnb’s early impact on the city’s housing market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I over and over saw apartment after apartment evicted — long-term tenants in every neighborhood of this city whose landlords kicked them out because they could, then Airbnb’d the properties,” Sherburn-Zimmer said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Organizers said they’re also boycotting the company due to Airbnb cofounder and board member Joe Gebbia’s ties to the Trump administration. Gebbia announced in February that he had joined the DOGE team led by Elon Musk that advocated for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12038026/san-francisco-santa-clara-counties-sue-trump-over-mass-doge-led-firings\">mass firings of federal employees\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Airbnb said Gebbia left his operating role at the company in 2022, but he remains on the company’s board of directors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12059163\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12059163\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/AirbnbSFKQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/AirbnbSFKQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/AirbnbSFKQED-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/AirbnbSFKQED-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Activists, unions, advocacy groups and officials — including San Francisco Supervisor Matt Dorsey — rallied on Oct. 8, 2025, calling for a boycott of Airbnb over its ties to President Donald Trump’s anti-worker agenda, local business tax avoidance and its role in the housing crisis. \u003ccite>(Juan Carlos Lara/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Airbnb declined to comment on its ongoing litigation against San Francisco, but in a statement, the company said it pays its taxes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In 2024, the company contributed more than $3.8 billion in total tax revenue to the state alone,” Airbnb wrote. “We will continue to work closely with local leaders to work towards the post-pandemic revitalization of the city we call home.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the company’s lawsuit, the tax error stems from city officials misclassifying the type of business Airbnb is. The city denied Airbnb’s appeal of the classification.[aside postID=news_12057798 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-2003719181-1020x680.jpg']“In every tax matter, we strive to make sure taxes are levied correctly,” the San Francisco city attorney’s office wrote in a statement. “We work diligently to protect the City’s resources and ensure all taxpayers are following the law. This case is no different.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Representatives for Airbnb and San Francisco met this week to discuss a possible trial schedule, with the trial currently set to begin in February.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Airbnb pointed out that they’re also not the only company suing to get back what they say were overpaid taxes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Microsoft, Lyft and others filed similar lawsuits in the last year, saying San Francisco’s complicated tax laws resulted in incorrectly calculated business taxes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last November, San Francisco politicians and business leaders successfully pushed for the passage of Proposition M, which reworked and in some cases simplified the city’s tax codes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Groups, including the Service Employees International Union Local 1021, say those changes benefitted major companies like Airbnb and Google, making the ongoing effort to recover some tax dollars more egregious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Airbnb is a guest and they must operate accordingly. They get to be in our city, they get to use our resources,” SEIU Local 1021 President Theresa Rutherford said. “And if they are not going to pay their fair share, then like all bad guests, you kick them out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a> labor unions, advocacy groups and elected officials on Wednesday called for a boycott of Airbnb over the short-term rental company’s legal battle seeking a massive \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12041773/san-francisco-mayor-daniel-lurie-plans-to-cut-1400-jobs-in-city-budget-proposal\">business tax refund\u003c/a> from the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The boycott campaign is the latest escalation in an effort to get Airbnb to drop the lawsuit it filed late last year, which aims to claw back $120 million that the company alleges it overpaid in business taxes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Organized labor representatives and some Democrats have blamed the lawsuit, along with similar litigation from other major San Francisco tech companies, for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12042690/sf-labor-unions-community-groups-decry-budget-cuts-at-city-hall\">compounding a budget crunch\u003c/a> that saw some of the city’s most significant spending cuts in years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When a city that has given them so much now is facing a budget deficit of $800 million in the next two fiscal years, what did Airbnb do? They filed lawsuits against us so they don’t have to pay their fair share,” San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan said, speaking in front of the company’s headquarters at a Wednesday press conference announcing the boycott campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Boycott supporters say two-thirds of the money Airbnb wants returned is now tied up while the lawsuit plays out, meaning it can’t be used on city services and leaves San Francisco with less leeway to fill gaps left by President Trump’s funding cuts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11982523\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11982523\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240409-SF-LIBRARY-RALLY-MD-19-KQED-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240409-SF-LIBRARY-RALLY-MD-19-KQED-4.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240409-SF-LIBRARY-RALLY-MD-19-KQED-4-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240409-SF-LIBRARY-RALLY-MD-19-KQED-4-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240409-SF-LIBRARY-RALLY-MD-19-KQED-4-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240409-SF-LIBRARY-RALLY-MD-19-KQED-4-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240409-SF-LIBRARY-RALLY-MD-19-KQED-4-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan speaks at a rally in front of San Francisco’s Main Library on Larkin Street on April 9, 2024. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Because of your lawsuits, you’re further cutting our services like Muni, like libraries,” Chan said. “But most importantly, as we’re fighting Trump, we need money to safeguard the Medicaid cuts that [are] going to hurt our families. We need to safeguard those food security programs that many of our families desperately need.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.boycott-airbnb.org/home#why\">Organizers are asking residents\u003c/a> and visitors not to book rentals through Airbnb and, if they run a rental property, to remove it from the website.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Speakers at Wednesday’s boycott announcement also took the opportunity to call out Airbnb for past misdeeds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company and other short-term rental platforms have come under intense criticism for contributing to the housing affordability crisis and operating on the fringes of regulation in many cities. Following complaints from residents and others, San Francisco \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11734283/a-\">began regulating short-term rentals\u003c/a> in 2015.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Ten and 15 years ago, there were a lot of companies that were coming in — technology companies that were disrupting marketplaces — and many of them were pursuing a business model of ‘ask forgiveness, not permission,’” Supervisor Matt Dorsey said Wednesday. “The worst offender was Airbnb.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fred Sherburn-Zimmer, the Housing Rights Committee’s director of policy and campaigns, said she also remembered Airbnb’s early impact on the city’s housing market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I over and over saw apartment after apartment evicted — long-term tenants in every neighborhood of this city whose landlords kicked them out because they could, then Airbnb’d the properties,” Sherburn-Zimmer said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Organizers said they’re also boycotting the company due to Airbnb cofounder and board member Joe Gebbia’s ties to the Trump administration. Gebbia announced in February that he had joined the DOGE team led by Elon Musk that advocated for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12038026/san-francisco-santa-clara-counties-sue-trump-over-mass-doge-led-firings\">mass firings of federal employees\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Airbnb said Gebbia left his operating role at the company in 2022, but he remains on the company’s board of directors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12059163\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12059163\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/AirbnbSFKQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/AirbnbSFKQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/AirbnbSFKQED-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/AirbnbSFKQED-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Activists, unions, advocacy groups and officials — including San Francisco Supervisor Matt Dorsey — rallied on Oct. 8, 2025, calling for a boycott of Airbnb over its ties to President Donald Trump’s anti-worker agenda, local business tax avoidance and its role in the housing crisis. \u003ccite>(Juan Carlos Lara/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Airbnb declined to comment on its ongoing litigation against San Francisco, but in a statement, the company said it pays its taxes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In 2024, the company contributed more than $3.8 billion in total tax revenue to the state alone,” Airbnb wrote. “We will continue to work closely with local leaders to work towards the post-pandemic revitalization of the city we call home.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the company’s lawsuit, the tax error stems from city officials misclassifying the type of business Airbnb is. The city denied Airbnb’s appeal of the classification.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“In every tax matter, we strive to make sure taxes are levied correctly,” the San Francisco city attorney’s office wrote in a statement. “We work diligently to protect the City’s resources and ensure all taxpayers are following the law. This case is no different.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Representatives for Airbnb and San Francisco met this week to discuss a possible trial schedule, with the trial currently set to begin in February.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Airbnb pointed out that they’re also not the only company suing to get back what they say were overpaid taxes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Microsoft, Lyft and others filed similar lawsuits in the last year, saying San Francisco’s complicated tax laws resulted in incorrectly calculated business taxes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last November, San Francisco politicians and business leaders successfully pushed for the passage of Proposition M, which reworked and in some cases simplified the city’s tax codes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Groups, including the Service Employees International Union Local 1021, say those changes benefitted major companies like Airbnb and Google, making the ongoing effort to recover some tax dollars more egregious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Airbnb is a guest and they must operate accordingly. They get to be in our city, they get to use our resources,” SEIU Local 1021 President Theresa Rutherford said. “And if they are not going to pay their fair share, then like all bad guests, you kick them out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>After Gov. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/gavin-newsom\">Gavin Newsom\u003c/a> last week vetoed an initiative aimed at expanding sober housing in California, San Francisco supervisors are proposing new legislation that would all but bar new city money from funding supportive housing developments that don’t \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12034006/san-francisco-mans-housing-struggle-relapse-put-him-back-on-streets\">require residents to be drug-free\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Today, San Francisco’s exclusively drug-tolerant [permanent supportive housing] model is blamed for disproportionate rates of fatal overdoses, chaotic and too often violent\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>neighborhood conditions, and a wide range of drug-driven public safety challenges,” Supervisor Matt Dorsey said in a statement. “It’s time to deliver the drug-free options [permanent supportive housing] residents have long been asking for.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For about a decade, California has required supportive housing programs that utilize state funding to follow a “Housing First” framework, which aims to remove barriers to housing by requiring programs to accept tenants regardless of their credit score, criminal history or drug use, among other conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Francisco legislation, co-sponsored by Board President Rafael Mandelman, aims to expand the availability of drug-free supportive housing in the city, despite Newsom’s veto of the state bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12027566\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12027566\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Assemblymember Matt Haney speaks during a press conference announcing legislation to increase nightlife in Downtown San Francisco to help the recovery of the neighborhood, in Union Square, San Francisco, on Feb. 18, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Matt Haney’s \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB255\">AB 255\u003c/a>, which would have allowed cities and counties to use up to 10% of state supportive housing dollars to fund sober living centers, was returned unsigned by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 30.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haney and other San Francisco leaders have long \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11990693/san-francisco-lawmakers-want-sober-housing-to-be-part-of-homelessness-plan\">advocated for the expansion of state-funded sober living programs\u003c/a>, which many believe are prohibited by California’s Housing First framework.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Interagency Council on Homelessness, which oversees the implementation of those guidelines in the state, said the intention is to provide housing as a starting place for all people, including those who want to seek recovery, instead of using housing as a “reward” for achieving recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many housing providers have interpreted the framework to mean they could not bar a new tenant, or evict an existing one, if they were not sober — which Haney said creates living environments that make it difficult for many people trying to get sober.[aside postID=news_12057616 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/250826_SFHARMREDUCTION00437_TV-KQED-1.jpg']“If you know you need to get off of and away from drugs, you shouldn’t be forced into housing where drug use is allowed and where recovery is not supported,” he said. “Some folks won’t go into housing because they know that it actually is dangerous for them because they’re still experiencing an addiction. … This isn’t about having zero tolerance to drug use. It’s about having environments where recovery is explicitly supported, and that is the goal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But according to Newsom, jurisdictions can already use state dollars to “support recovery housing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That was news to most cities and counties,” Haney said after \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB255\">AB 255\u003c/a> was vetoed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom said in his veto message that he believes “recovery-focused” housing is essential, but that Haney’s legislation would require the state to establish a separate — and costly — certification and oversight process. The Senate Appropriations Committee estimated that creating the new regulatory system would have cost more than $4 million in its first year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, he pointed to guidance the California Interagency Council on Homelessness published in July, which allows jurisdictions to access state funding for recovery housing already.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11962415\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11962415\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230925-ENCAMPMENT-SAN-FRANCISCO-GETTY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A series of tents lined up along a city sidewalk.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230925-ENCAMPMENT-SAN-FRANCISCO-GETTY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230925-ENCAMPMENT-SAN-FRANCISCO-GETTY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230925-ENCAMPMENT-SAN-FRANCISCO-GETTY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230925-ENCAMPMENT-SAN-FRANCISCO-GETTY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230925-ENCAMPMENT-SAN-FRANCISCO-GETTY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230925-ENCAMPMENT-SAN-FRANCISCO-GETTY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A homeless encampment on a sidewalk in San Francisco on Sept. 2, 2023. \u003ccite>(Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>According to the guidance, recovery housing programs “may include sobriety requirements; however, the decision to pursue sobriety must be made by the participant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The idea, it said, is that choice is central to the Housing First framework — “This includes the choice to participate in recovery housing and sober living programs, programs with a focus on implementing harm reduction methods, or other programs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People using substances or in recovery from substance use disorders have diverse needs, goals, and interests and should be provided with meaningful choice within the housing and services options available to them,” the guidance continues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the veto, Haney and San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, who co-sponsored the bill, both said they were disappointed but would continue to create housing “across the spectrum” at the city level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The legislation announced Tuesday appears poised to do just that.[aside postID=news_12057448 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/250519-AffordableHousingFile-24-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg']Dorsey said he and Mandelman — with support from Supervisors Stephen Sherrill and Danny Sauter — would propose legislation to prevent San Francisco officials from using city dollars to open new non-sober housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city already generates independent revenue for sober housing through Proposition C, which voters passed in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lurie said that since he took office, “We’ve stood up over 300 new beds, the right kind of beds, treatment beds, recovery beds.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s not offered a new drug-free supportive program that provides the sort of permanent housing that Dorsey’s proposal would apply to, though.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If passed, it would prohibit the use of city funds for drug-tolerant permanent supportive housing sites and more clearly separate the models of permanent supportive housing projects in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Dorsey’s office, there would be three: state-funded housing that prohibits evictions of tenants found using illegal drugs; drug-free sites that disallow use of illegal drugs but allow legal substances like alcohol and marijuana; and sober, recovery-oriented housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The effort — and sobriety restrictions on housing in general — could invite more pushback from homelessness advocates, like Coalition on Homelessness Executive Director Jennifer Friedenbach, who opposed the less-restrictive Assembly bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some people are at a place where they would love to have sober housing, so let’s do that, but let’s not rob Peter to pay Paul,” she said. “Let’s find funding for that and expand it so there are those options available for people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haney pushed back on Friedenbach’s assertion that his state bill would have carved out a portion of already-thin funding exclusively for those in recovery. Dorsey’s forthcoming city legislation, on the other hand, would appear to do so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/abandlamudi\">\u003cem>Adhiti Bandlamudi\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>After Gov. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/gavin-newsom\">Gavin Newsom\u003c/a> last week vetoed an initiative aimed at expanding sober housing in California, San Francisco supervisors are proposing new legislation that would all but bar new city money from funding supportive housing developments that don’t \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12034006/san-francisco-mans-housing-struggle-relapse-put-him-back-on-streets\">require residents to be drug-free\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Today, San Francisco’s exclusively drug-tolerant [permanent supportive housing] model is blamed for disproportionate rates of fatal overdoses, chaotic and too often violent\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>neighborhood conditions, and a wide range of drug-driven public safety challenges,” Supervisor Matt Dorsey said in a statement. “It’s time to deliver the drug-free options [permanent supportive housing] residents have long been asking for.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For about a decade, California has required supportive housing programs that utilize state funding to follow a “Housing First” framework, which aims to remove barriers to housing by requiring programs to accept tenants regardless of their credit score, criminal history or drug use, among other conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Francisco legislation, co-sponsored by Board President Rafael Mandelman, aims to expand the availability of drug-free supportive housing in the city, despite Newsom’s veto of the state bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12027566\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12027566\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Assemblymember Matt Haney speaks during a press conference announcing legislation to increase nightlife in Downtown San Francisco to help the recovery of the neighborhood, in Union Square, San Francisco, on Feb. 18, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Matt Haney’s \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB255\">AB 255\u003c/a>, which would have allowed cities and counties to use up to 10% of state supportive housing dollars to fund sober living centers, was returned unsigned by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 30.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haney and other San Francisco leaders have long \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11990693/san-francisco-lawmakers-want-sober-housing-to-be-part-of-homelessness-plan\">advocated for the expansion of state-funded sober living programs\u003c/a>, which many believe are prohibited by California’s Housing First framework.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Interagency Council on Homelessness, which oversees the implementation of those guidelines in the state, said the intention is to provide housing as a starting place for all people, including those who want to seek recovery, instead of using housing as a “reward” for achieving recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many housing providers have interpreted the framework to mean they could not bar a new tenant, or evict an existing one, if they were not sober — which Haney said creates living environments that make it difficult for many people trying to get sober.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“If you know you need to get off of and away from drugs, you shouldn’t be forced into housing where drug use is allowed and where recovery is not supported,” he said. “Some folks won’t go into housing because they know that it actually is dangerous for them because they’re still experiencing an addiction. … This isn’t about having zero tolerance to drug use. It’s about having environments where recovery is explicitly supported, and that is the goal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But according to Newsom, jurisdictions can already use state dollars to “support recovery housing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That was news to most cities and counties,” Haney said after \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB255\">AB 255\u003c/a> was vetoed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom said in his veto message that he believes “recovery-focused” housing is essential, but that Haney’s legislation would require the state to establish a separate — and costly — certification and oversight process. The Senate Appropriations Committee estimated that creating the new regulatory system would have cost more than $4 million in its first year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, he pointed to guidance the California Interagency Council on Homelessness published in July, which allows jurisdictions to access state funding for recovery housing already.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11962415\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11962415\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230925-ENCAMPMENT-SAN-FRANCISCO-GETTY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A series of tents lined up along a city sidewalk.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230925-ENCAMPMENT-SAN-FRANCISCO-GETTY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230925-ENCAMPMENT-SAN-FRANCISCO-GETTY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230925-ENCAMPMENT-SAN-FRANCISCO-GETTY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230925-ENCAMPMENT-SAN-FRANCISCO-GETTY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230925-ENCAMPMENT-SAN-FRANCISCO-GETTY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230925-ENCAMPMENT-SAN-FRANCISCO-GETTY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A homeless encampment on a sidewalk in San Francisco on Sept. 2, 2023. \u003ccite>(Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>According to the guidance, recovery housing programs “may include sobriety requirements; however, the decision to pursue sobriety must be made by the participant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The idea, it said, is that choice is central to the Housing First framework — “This includes the choice to participate in recovery housing and sober living programs, programs with a focus on implementing harm reduction methods, or other programs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People using substances or in recovery from substance use disorders have diverse needs, goals, and interests and should be provided with meaningful choice within the housing and services options available to them,” the guidance continues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the veto, Haney and San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, who co-sponsored the bill, both said they were disappointed but would continue to create housing “across the spectrum” at the city level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The legislation announced Tuesday appears poised to do just that.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Dorsey said he and Mandelman — with support from Supervisors Stephen Sherrill and Danny Sauter — would propose legislation to prevent San Francisco officials from using city dollars to open new non-sober housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city already generates independent revenue for sober housing through Proposition C, which voters passed in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lurie said that since he took office, “We’ve stood up over 300 new beds, the right kind of beds, treatment beds, recovery beds.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s not offered a new drug-free supportive program that provides the sort of permanent housing that Dorsey’s proposal would apply to, though.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If passed, it would prohibit the use of city funds for drug-tolerant permanent supportive housing sites and more clearly separate the models of permanent supportive housing projects in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Dorsey’s office, there would be three: state-funded housing that prohibits evictions of tenants found using illegal drugs; drug-free sites that disallow use of illegal drugs but allow legal substances like alcohol and marijuana; and sober, recovery-oriented housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The effort — and sobriety restrictions on housing in general — could invite more pushback from homelessness advocates, like Coalition on Homelessness Executive Director Jennifer Friedenbach, who opposed the less-restrictive Assembly bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some people are at a place where they would love to have sober housing, so let’s do that, but let’s not rob Peter to pay Paul,” she said. “Let’s find funding for that and expand it so there are those options available for people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haney pushed back on Friedenbach’s assertion that his state bill would have carved out a portion of already-thin funding exclusively for those in recovery. Dorsey’s forthcoming city legislation, on the other hand, would appear to do so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/abandlamudi\">\u003cem>Adhiti Bandlamudi\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"tagline": "The flip side of gentrification, told through one town",
"info": "Gentrification is changing cities across America, forcing people from neighborhoods they have long called home. Call them the displaced. Now those priced out of the Bay Area are looking for a better life in an unlikely place. American Suburb follows this migration to one California town along the Delta, 45 miles from San Francisco. But is this once sleepy suburb ready for them?",
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},
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"tagline": "Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time",
"info": "KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.",
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},
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"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
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"order": 8
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"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
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"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
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"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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"order": 1
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"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
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"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 9
},
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"hidden-brain": {
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"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
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"source": "NPR"
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"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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"hyphenacion": {
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"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"jerrybrown": {
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"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"order": 18
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},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
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},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
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},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
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"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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}
