"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.

Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has"


Margaret Mead, Anthropologist
(used with permission)



"If you don't like the news .... go out and make some of your own !!"

Wes "Scoop" Nisker, Newscaster



INTRODUCTION

Government is a slow and tedious process. While it often includes citizen and neighborhood involvement, non-governmental, private organizations have created movements and interesting groups which can create positive change in our cities and towns.

I am fascinated by the way groups are created and how they influence public decision making. This blog merely recognizes them and forwards the description of these groups from their own websites.

Sunday, June 2, 2013

San Francisco Housing Coalition

Location: San Francisco, CA,

Website: www.sfhc.org

The SFHAC is a small, lean operation with a staff of two, an executive director and a project manager. From the start, our work has largely been done by the amazing community of volunteers and activists from our member organizations in three long-running committees as dictated in our bylaws.

The Endorsement Committee reviews and discusses proposed projects to see how they match up with our endorsement guidelines. If we endorse a project, the SFHAC becomes one of the few groups to advocate for it at public hearings and in the entitlement process. This is not a small service in a city with such strong NIMBY views.

The Regulatory Committee addresses housing and land use policy and legislation. In a city like ours, there are always policy proposals. Where they advance SFHAC’s mission we support them and push to get them enacted. Where they are harmful to our mission, we work to modify them to cause the least harm possible to our mission. We also work to influence housing policies in a proactive, inclusive fashion from the beginning, such as our work with then-Supervisor Mark Leno on an affordable housing ordinance or our current advocacy on the creation of student housing legislation.

The Outreach Committee manages SFHAC’s interface with the public. It helps craft our messages, plan our public events and help with membership recruitment.

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