REP-SF Planning to the People Newsletter: Jan. 2026
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Supervisors Pass Landmark Tenant Protection Ordinance!
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On Dec. 16, the Board of Supervisors unanimously passed the landmark Tenant Protection Ordinance (TPO)! The TPO gives tenants a fighting chance to keep their homes. The TPO prevents wrongful evictions and mitigates harms to tenants facing displacement due to the demolition and redevelopment of their homes. These protections are long overdue, and have become even more necessary because of state laws and local programs that incentivize landlord harassment, illegal buyouts, and unlawful evictions.
REP-SF & SF Anti-Displacement Coalition (SFADC) are grateful to Supervisor Chyanne Chen, as well as Supervisor Myrna Melgar and Malena Leon-Farrera from SF Planning, for working collaboratively with our coalitions and for all their hard work to make the TPO the strongest piece of legislation possible to protect tenants within the limitations of state law.
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REP-SF & SFADC featured! Mission Local reported on our advocacy to advance the TPO, which is now our City's strongest defense to protect tenants from the displacement that recent state laws allow. Meg Heisler, policy director at SFADC said: “Tenant rights rely on tenants enforcing their rights. And they can only enforce their rights if they know about them.”
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Small Schools Coalition Defends Public Schools
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On Dec. 16, the Small Schools Coalition held a rally and mobilization for public comment at the Board of Education. Students, parents, educators, and community members shared powerful testimonies against proposed school closures, urging the Board to reject the misleading “Strong Schools” Resolution, budget cuts, and staffing model. Thank you to the hundreds of people who turned out to defend public schools! Together, we defeated this decision temporarily, but we will be ready to return in 2026 to continue oversight over decision-making that impacts our children and youth! Update from the SF Education Alliance: Huge Win for San Francisco Education: "Thankfully, due to the efforts of the San Francisco Education Alliance in coalition with 5 Elements Youth Program, PODER, HOMEY (Homies Organizing the Mission to Empower Youth), Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth, and the Race & Equity in All Planning Coalition, the school board unanimously voted NO on this plan...It is thanks to everyone who showed up that we were able to stop the school board from moving forward with dramatic and harmful cuts to our students’ resources. This win shows the school board that they can’t take away our essential services that students rely on."
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Small Schools Coalition members featured on KTVU Fox 2! Watch the segment for footage of the rally and public comment, and an interview with Reina Tello, a parent, community organizer at PODER SF, and member of the Small Schools Coalition. The coverage also features Alan Tello, a Senior at June Jordan School for Equity and a member of the Small Schools Coalition.
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Petition: We Must Invest & Build Affordable Housing!
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Support the Affordable Rent Act!
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As a San Francisco tenant, if you live in a building that is not covered under rent control, did you know that you benefit from statewide rent control? Rent increases in California are limited to 10% per year, but that could end! The Affordable Rent Act (AB 1157) makes these limits on rent increases permanent and lowers the cap from 10% to 5%, which would make the statewide cap closer to SF's rent control cap on rent increases. Do you support stronger renter protections? Call your representative & sign SFADC's petition: bit.ly/SF1157 To learn more, watch this video created by REP-SF member South of Market Community Action Network (SOMCAN).
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Support the Affordable California Campaign
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Do you think rent in California is too high? Join REP-SF, SOMCAN, & SFADC in supporting six bills that will protect renters and promote affordable housing. Check out our slide deck to learn more about the Affordable CA policy campaign! Call your CA State representative and tell them that if they support tenants, they will support these bills!
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The Dangerous Fantasy of Upzoning
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In an op-ed for 48Hills, community architect, artist, and affordable housing advocate Fernando Martí discusses the dangerous fantasy of upzoning.
Martí explains that Mayor Lurie’s “Family Zoning Plan” is “politicians pretending to be doing something, because the real things they should be focusing on — interest rates, costs, and financing, they either can’t impact (interest rates), don’t want to (costs), or it’s too hard (financing).”
Fernando Martí discusses what a real FAMILY zoning plan would do to encourage development, including excluding all rent-controlled buildings; creating real family-sized units; and land banking sites for truly affordable housing and social housing.
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In 2026, Let’s Not Follow Failed Housing Policies in Progressive San Francisco
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In an op-ed for 48Hills, REP-SF member Jennifer Friedenbach, director of the Coalition on Homelessness discusses the need for Housing First policy.
"High rents are the greatest determiner of homeless rates. The antidote is not that complicated: Invest in housing that is affordable to the bottom third of the income ladder," writes Jennifer Friedenbach. And yet due to senseless federal policy decisions, the homelessness crisis is about to get so much worse. "San Francisco could lose an estimated $35 million in housing operating funds, a loss that will plunge hundreds of San Franciscans back into homelessness.”
Friedenbach writes, "Our leaders should stop copying the Trump Administration style of pitting communities against each other, and figure out how to save working models we have and invest in more. Unhoused people do not need to be further marginalized and scapegoated by controversial measures demonizing their existence."
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REP-SF Members: Heroes for Housing Justice
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Huge Win for Affordable Housing!
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Big news! REP-SF member SF Community Land Trust (SFCLT) celebrated a huge win for affordable housing! As reported in Mission Local, "Christmas came just about a week early for tenants of 3235 16th St., a five-unit apartment building two blocks from Dolores Park. The San Francisco Community Land Trust officially acquired their building last week, retaining rent-controlled units and dissipating tenants’ fears of displacement." In a KQED article, Kyle Smeallie, SFCLT policy & communications director, said, “Our residents are at the heart of everything we do, and this acquisition is about making sure they can stay rooted in the neighborhoods they’ve shaped for decades. Preserving affordable housing is about keeping what makes San Francisco special: the people, the culture, and the communities that give this city its soul.” Watch SFCLT's video to learn more!
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Advocating for The Affordable Rent Act
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Invite Your Communities to Subscribe to Our Newsletter!
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Our monthly Planning to the People newsletter (that you are reading now!) provides the latest news and ways to take action on behalf of grassroots communities for housing justice and equitable city planning – all in one place! Help us build our momentum by encouraging your networks and communities to subscribe to our newsletter: Share our subscription form!
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