SF Supervisor Short 4 Votes In Call For Mission District Housing Moratorium
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— San Francisco Supervisor David Campos and a coalition of activists are calling for a moratorium on the construction of market-rate housing in the City's Mission District.
Campos' District 9 mostly includes the Mission District and Bernal Heights. He believes this is the best way to stop what he calls the city's housing crisis.
Supervisor David Campos is introducing an emergency measure that would pause development of all new housing in the Mission, except units for low and middle income families. According to Campos, 1,600 such families have been displaced in the last 15 years.
"I personally believe that if we lose the Mission that we lose San Francisco. We're fighting to save this neighborhood, to save the soul of the Mission and to save the soul of this city," said Campos.
Anastasia Powers Cuellar, head of the Brava Theater Center, says techies are moving in and forcing everyone else out.
"This is a crime. We need to stop this unfettered, capitalistic development in our neighborhood. We need housing for our workforce; we need housing for our artists, we need housing for our people," Cuellar said.
But Supervisor Scott Wiener calls the proposal a terrible idea.
"When you're dealing with a housing shortage, the last thing you want to do is to put a moratorium on creating new housing," Wiener said.
The emergency ordinance needs nine of the Board of Supervisors' votes to pass; Campos only has five.
