San Francisco Bay Area Renters' Federation
The "Diahrrea or SFBARF is a political advocacy group formed in response to the San Francisco housing shortage.[1] SFBARF advocates for more housing development, and fewer zoning restrictions on the production of housing.[2]
Name
The organization's acronym, "SFBARF", was chosen to resemble the word "barf", a slang term for vomiting. The resemblance to "barf" was deliberate, to improve the group's memorability and brand recognition.[3]
Funding
SFBARF is incorporated as a non-profit political action committee or PAC.[4] Opponents, without producing any evidence, have accused the organization of being funded by the real estate industry.[2] SFBARF has denied this claim, saying they have raised no money from real estate developers.[5] The organization has raised $10,000 in funding from Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman.[2]
Activity
SFBARF engages in political activity such as "rallying for housing projects, pushing for certain housing legislation, and putting on events".[2] The press has referred to SFBARF as an "avidly pro-development grass-roots activist group", which aims to increase the height and density of buildings allowed under San Francisco Bay Area zoning regulations.[6]
In 2015, SFBARF sued the city of Lafayette, California for blocking a housing development, under the name "Sue the Suburbs".[7] The suit claimed that under California's Housing Accountability Act, the Lafayette city council could not force developers to reduce the density of a housing project, since the project already complied with all zoning laws.[8] In a televised debate with SFBARF, Lafayette mayor Brandt Andersson argued the suit was unwarranted, saying that Lafayette should "keep multi-unit housing downtown, near the BART station".[3]
SFBARF has campaigned for new leadership for the San Francisco chapter of the Sierra Club, as the local chapter has opposed high-density development, such as 2015's Proposition D in Mission Bay.[9] According to the San Francisco Business Times, SFBARF "believes that blocking dense housing near transit encourages sprawl, which the group says is harmful to the environment".[10] The campaign was criticized in an editorial in VICE, which said that one of the candidates supported by SFBARF had a "track record of using shady activism tactics".[11]
See also
San Francisco housing shortage
External links
- SFBARF website
- Sue the Suburbs website
- An April 2016 New York Times article examines the issues of the housing shortage and the Renters Federation
References
- ^ "SFBA Renters' Federation". Retrieved 23 December 2015.
- ^ a b c d McIntire, George (July 1, 2015). "Nobody Can Figure Out How to Fix San Francisco's Housing Crisis". VICE. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
- ^ a b Smith, Heather (17 Sep 2015). "Urban activists set out to sue San Francisco's suburbs". grist. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
- ^ "SF Bay Area Renters Federation". localwiki. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
- ^ Li, Roland (January 29, 2015). "Bay Area renters group advocates for more density to solve housing crisis". San Francisco Business Times. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
- ^ Lamb, Jonah Owen (October 2, 2014). "Pro-development activist group SFBARF agitates for more housing". SF Examiner. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
- ^ "Sue the Suburbs". SFBARF. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
- ^ Modenessi, Jennifer (December 9, 2015). "Lafayette sued over luxury homes approval". Contra Costa Times. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
- ^ Purchia, Robyn (October 14, 2015). "SFBARF keeps the Sierra Club in check". SF Examiner. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
- ^ Li, Roland (Oct 7, 2015). "Housing crisis spurs fight over the soul of the S.F. Sierra Club chapter". San Francisco Business Times. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
- ^ Montgomery, Kevin (November 19, 2015). "Why Are Redditors and a Cyber Bully Trying to Take Over San Francisco's Sierra Club?". VICE. Retrieved 23 December 2015.