Friends,

Unfortunately, our effort to build affordable housing at 3400 Cesar Chavez, site of the closed Kelly Moore Paint Store, has been blocked.  In a close 5-6 vote on Tuesday, July 31, 2007, the Board of Supervisors approved the project to build expensive condominiums & a Walgreens.

Their decision was a blow against the community planning process, and it flew in the face of the amazing community response. Their decision contradicts the City’s General Plan which demands more affordable housing in the eastern neighborhoods of San Francisco. It also contradicts a previous Board of Supervisors’ decision in which they required study of the socio-economic impact of condo developments.  

Despite this set back, our efforts were well worth it!  Now the Board of Supervisors and officials at City Hall know better than ever that we will not let the wrong kind of development happen in our neighborhood without strong resistance.

Our alternative proposal for affordable housing at the site also demonstrated that we have the vision, the creativity, and the capacity to meet our community’s needs ourselves — if we are given the chance.  Our campaign was stronger than ever — many participated for the first time. 

We strengthened our ties city-wide working with allies from different neighborhoods, and we even did civil disobedience together. The creativity of this campaign was inspiring. We clearly demonstrated to the Board of Supervisors and City Hall that we are strong. We will not stop until we get affordable housing and community input into the planning process.  Our show of strength should help push the city government to take action so we don’t get stuck in this kind of situation again.

We must stay engaged to make sure the city government listens to the community’s needs.
We must stay strong to have a voice in future development! 

Thank you to everyone who came to the hearings, came to the rallies, wrote letters, wrote e-mails, met with the Supervisors, and distributed information.

Please check back to our news section, we will let you know about the next steps.

Thanks again for all your participation.  It is great to be part of a neighborhood and a city where so many people come together to work on such important issues together.  ¡Si Se Puede!

Some Press:

Beyond Chron - 3400 Cesar Chavez action

Happening Here - July 9 3400 Cesar Chavez action

Joseph Smooke on 3400 Cesar Chavez: Bay Guardian, Left in SF

San Francisco Chronicle article on the Board of Supervisors decision

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/08/01/BAU0RAKSO2.DTL&hw=3400+cesar+chavez&sn=002&sc=867

San Francisco Chronicle article on Supervisor McGoldrick’s vote

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/08/02/MNTQRBGEK2.DTL