REP-SF Planning to the People Newsletter: Nov. 2025
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Our REP-SF Planning to the People newsletter 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! Read our full newsletter here!
Take Action: Join us this Thursday, Nov. 6 for the introduction of Supervisor Chen's Tenant Protection Ordinance at the Planning Commission! And join us on Nov. 17 for an important hearing on the TPO and the final upzoning hearing at the Board's Land Use Committee.
In community,
The REP-SF Team
Race & Equity in all Planning Coalition
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We Keep Us Safe: REP-SF Community Resource Guide
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In response to the federal attacks on our immigrant communities, we’ve compiled a list of community-based resources from our REP-SF members, as well as city resources, focused on protecting our communities. Now more than ever, it's critical to know our rights and help protect each other's rights. We keep us safe! Let’s spread power, not panic!
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Recent Upzoning Hearings at Board's Land Use Committee: Community Rallies for Truly Affordable Housing!
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On Oct. 20, the REP-SF coalition rallied in support of truly affordable housing with tenant advocates, small business owners, affordable housing groups, labor, families, and Supervisors Connie Chan, Chyanne Chen, Jackie Fielder, and Shamann Walton!
We appreciate Supervisor Chan and Supervisor Chen's leadership in introducing critical amendments to the Mayor's upzoning plan, focused on strengthening tenant protections, prioritizing affordable housing, supporting small businesses, creating real family-sized housing, and ensuring sustainable, affordable development. Read our press release.
On Monday, Nov. 3, REP-SF members and our allies delivered public comment in support of truly affordable housing at the Board of Supervisors’ Land Use Committee hearing about Mayor Lurie’s dangerous upzoning plan. We urge the Committee to move forward Supervisor Chan and Supervisor Chen's amendments to protect tenants, support small businesses, and prioritize truly affordable housing. Read our latest press release.
And read our blog post to learn more about the upzonings: bit.ly/REP_Blog_Rezone
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November Hearings on Tenant Protections & Upzoning
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Thursday, November 6: Planning Commission Hearing (starts at noon in City Hall, Room 400): This Thursday, join REP-SF and our allied coalition, the San Francisco Anti-Displacement Coalition (SFADC) at the Planning Commission to speak in support of Supervisor Chen's Tenant Protection Ordinance (TPO), legislation to create, clarify, and implement systems of support for tenants that have become necessary because of state laws and local programs that put tenants at increasing risk of displacement. Talking points will be provided for public comment!
Monday, November 17: TPO & Final Upzoning Hearing at Board's Land Use Committee (starts at 1:30 pm in City Hall, Room 250): Join us for this important hearing on tenant protections and the final hearing about the upzonings at the Board's Land Use Committee. Talking points will be provided for public comment!
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Protect Rent-Controlled Homes from SF Upzoning
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Join our call-in campaign to stop the demolition of rent-controlled housing in the city's upzoning plan! Call your supervisor today to protect San Francisco! Learn more.
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Nov. 5: No Tows Without Homes! Protect RV Residents
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TODAY: Wednesday, Nov. 5 at 11 am, join REP-SF member, the Coalition on Homelessness (COH), in collaboration with RV residents, housing rights, immigrant rights, and homeless rights advocates, for a press conference to demand that the city protect RV residents from displacement and tows. As of Oct. 28, the city’s permitting process to allow temporary exemption to RV residents as they seek alternatives has failed, with only half of over 500 RV residents getting permits as a Nov. 1st enforcement date looms over their heads. Join us to demand No Homes, No Tows! And participate in the letter campaign to send letters directly to the Board of Supervisors opposing RV Ban displacement!
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REP-SF Members: Community Heroes
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Mint Mall & Hall Recognized as a City Landmark, Honoring Significant Filipino American History
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REP-SF members SOMA Pilipinas and the South of Market Community Action Network (SOMCAN) spearheaded a successful community initiative to designate the culturally and historically significant Mint Mall and Hall, located at 951-957 Mission St, as a city landmark. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the Mint Mall and Hall’s landmark designation on October 7, 2025, just in time for Filipino American History Month. The building’s landmark designation report will also be the first of its kind written in both English and Filipino languages.
“The Mint Mall and Hall is not just a building located within South of Market, it represents the pulse of Filipino life in SOMA—serving as a site of struggle and a space of creativity and community-building. Since the 1990s, the Mint Mall has served as a 'nerve center' for Filipino arts, culture, commerce, and activism in San Francisco,” says Raquel Redondiez, SOMA Pilipinas Director.
Filipino residents living in the Mint Hall, the upper floors of the building, supported the numerous Filipino businesses and non-profits in the Mint Mall retail space. The Mint Hall and Mall functioned like a self-contained barangay in a single building, cultivating mutual community support by design.
“The Mint Mall definitely is a symbol of our efforts of advocacy and organizing and resilience to stopping being displaced and gentrified out of San Francisco,” says Angelica Cabande, Executive Director of SOMCAN. “It’s where a lot of things started in our efforts to coordinate and to work together collectively. That spirit of bayanihan is still there, all of us connecting and organizing together.”
Read more about SOMCAN, SOMA Pilipinas, and the Legacy of Anti-Displacement Advocacy in the South of Market in SF Heritage and Positively Filipino!
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HUD Tenant Assembly Recap
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Upzoning Interview with Owner of SF Legacy Business
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REP-SF member Housing Rights Committee (HRCSF) asked Phyllis, SF native and owner of the legacy business, Gaslights and Shadows Antiques, why she is terrified of the city's proposed upzoning plan. Phyllis highlights the need to protect small businesses and tenants from displacement. Watch the interview!
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Nov. 8: Tenant Organizing Toolkit Release Party!
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San Francisco made history as one of the first cities in the nation to recognize a Right to Organize in your building through the Union at Home ordinance. Now, REP-SF members SFADC and the San Francisco Community Land Trust (SFCLT) are teaming up to launch the Union at Home Tenant Organizing Toolkit – a resource to help tenants form more unions, build collective power, and take the next step toward community ownership.
Saturday, Nov. 8, 12–2 pm | Standard Deviant Brewing: Join SFADC and SFCLT to celebrate the launch of the toolkit! Hear from tenants across San Francisco who have organized with their neighbors to stop evictions and win millions of dollars, essential repairs, basic respect, and more from their landlords. Share a meal, celebrate our collective power, and take home the tools to up your own organizing game. RSVP!
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Nov. 12: KALW Town Hall Conversation on Upzoning
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Wednesday, Nov. 12, 7 pm | 220 Montgomery St: REP-SF member Sharon Ng of the Chinatown Community Development Center (CCDC) will be representing the REP-SF coalition in a live Town Hall conversation hosted by KALW Public Media, focused on the Mayor's upzoning plan. The event is free with an RSVP! Register now!
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Nov. 18: State Budget Process Training
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Tuesday, Nov. 18, 3:30–5 pm | Zoom Meeting: Join REP-SF member SOMCAN, in partnership with Jobs With Justice SF and Ugnay Filipino, for a State Budget Process Training led by the California Budget & Policy Center. As the State continues to forego crucial investments in affordable housing production and preservation, we hope you don’t miss this opportunity to deepen your understanding of how California’s state budget works — and how communities can engage effectively in the process! RSVP/Register! If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to Angelica Cabande acabande@somcan.org or Maria Moreno maria@jwjsf.org.
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Dec. 13: 23rd Annual Parol Lantern Festival
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Saturday, December 13, 3–8 pm | Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (701 Mission St.)
The 23rd Annual Parol Lantern Festival & Parade returns to light up the heart of SOMA Pilipinas with hope, joy, and bayanihan. Presented by REP-SF members SOMA Pilipinas & SOMCAN, and the Filipino American Development Foundation, this free, family-friendly celebration honors the parol, a radiant symbol of light and resilience in Filipino culture. Join SOMA Pilipinas for this year’s Parol-Making Workshops, Nov. 2–Dec. 7!
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MAKIBAKA: A Living Legacy Exhibit
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Presented by SOMA Pilipinas in collaboration with YBCA | Open through Jan. 4, 2026
MAKIBAKA: A Living Legacy boldly celebrates the culture, contributions, and presence of the Filipino community in the South of Market (SoMa) neighborhood and Bay Area. Presented by REP-SF member SOMA Pilipinas in collaboration with YBCA, and inspired by the Filipino term for collective resistance, MAKIBAKA brings together contemporary artworks alongside community-held objects, memories, and movements. It traces the presence of a people who have shaped – and continue to shape – San Francisco through survival and the labor of building culture, kinship, and home. MAKIBAKA: A Living Legacy understands legacy as ongoing struggle, carried forward by artists, elders, mothers, tenants, workers, and youth. Come and see REP-SF member SOMCAN's installation as a featured organization in the exhibition. Get your tickets now!
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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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