Participating in the political process can be difficult. San Francisco residents with jobs or family obligations find it challenging to get to City Hall to have their say on issues that are important to them. SFHAC’s job as housing advocates is to find ways to bring people to City Hall to express their views, even if they can’t physically be there.
On Friday, May 8th, the SF Housing Action Coalition held a Virtual Twitter Rally to collect the voices of folks opposed to Supervisor Campos’ proposed moratorium on market-rate housing in the Mission. Hundreds of people participated in real-time from from their desks, MUNI buses and lunch tables across the City, while countless more followed the conversation using our hashtag #NoHousingHalt.
Using data and facts, and partnering with the Bay Area Council and SFYIMBY, the SF Housing Action Coalition used a 1-hour lunch break to engage a new audience to rally against the moratorium and coalesce around the fact that stopping building new housing will only worsen our housing affordability crisis.
Since 2005, SF has added 130,000 residents and only 20,000 new homes. Rents have doubled. Let’s get building @DavidCamposSF #NoHousingHalt
— SFHAC (@SFHAC) May 8, 2015
LAO report says CA’s housing shortage hits poor families the hardest. http://t.co/i2VlMpgsgR #NoHousingHalt @DavidCamposSF — Bay Area Council (@BayAreaCouncil) May 8, 2015
Last year the Mission built just 75 new homes, one of the lowest #s in the City. End this madness: http://t.co/CZa9Tk9OAk #NoHousingHalt
— SFHAC (@SFHAC) May 8, 2015
SF permitted just 193 new units for every 1000 new residents from 2012 to 2013. Isn’t this the REAL problem? @DavidCamposSF #NoHousingHalt — Bay Area Council (@BayAreaCouncil) May 8, 2015
The Twitter Rally allowed individuals to express their personal beliefs on the proposed moratorium.
.@DavidCamposSF *Every* other city in the US is more affordable and you’re doubling down on what got us into this mess. #NoHousingHalt
— Brad (@BradWilliford) May 8, 2015
#NoHousingHalt @DavidCamposSF A moratorium benefits only homeowners and landlords at renters expense. That’s not progressive, it’s crazy. — Mc Allen (@that_mc) May 8, 2015
Please do not support the moratorium. It’s not a solution #NoHousingHalt @SupeJaneKim @ericmar415 @SupervisorTang @Scott_Wiener @NormanYeeSF — Tango Juliet Hotel (@tjhunsaker) May 8, 2015
Some directed tweets to their own Supervisors:
Dear @londonbreed, Stop the moratorium. #NoHousingHalt SF (and the region) needs a bold plan to ad dramatically more housing—and fast.
— Andy Bosselman (@andybosselman) May 8, 2015
Besides bombarding the recipient’s Twitter feeds, the #NoHousingHalt urged Tweeters to take action using this email petition to get people to join hundreds of others in opposing the Mission Moratorium. During the Twitter Virtual Rally, we collected over 80 new signers to our petition. In just one week, over 1,100 San Francisco residents and business owners –20% of them current residents of the Mission District– have signed the petition, flooding the email inboxes of Supervisor Campos, the Board of Supervisors, the Mayor’s office of Housing and Mayor Lee.
Real solutions to providing affordability in SF: http://t.co/dyZ362315z Say no to the moratorium: http://t.co/wZOAGml4n3 #NoHousingHalt
— Mark Hogan (@markasaurus) May 8, 2015
Tell @DavidCamposSF & other SF Supervisors that a housing moratorium is the WRONG ANSWER #NoHousingHalt http://t.co/GaSuEFdrRD — Erik Weber (@vebah) May 11, 2015
Other Supervisors joined our conversation. District 2 Supervisor, Mark Farrell, voiced his opposition to a moratorium.
@vjon @londonbreed @NormanYeeSF @sfhac @sfyimby I’m opposed to the moratorium – we need more housing in SF at all levels. #NoHousingHalt
— Mark Farrell (@MarkFarrellSF) May 8, 2015
During that one hour Twitter Rally, our hashtag #NoHousingHalt was a top 10 trending topic in San Francisco (above Tina Fey!)
So awesome to see #NoHousingHalt as the top trending topic in SF — David Kissling (@xtdave) May 8, 2015
Since the Virtual Rally, the hashtag #NoHousingHalt has continued to build momentum. In addition to the SF Housing Action Coalition’s tweets, over 350 tweets have been tracked using the #NoHousingHalt hashtag.
Supervisor Campos has since responded, and will be joining the SF Housing Action Coalition’s June Monthly Membership Meeting as our guest speaker on June 3rd. Join us to hear Supervisor Campos’ rationale behind the moratorium. RSVP necessary. You must be a current SF Housing Action Coalition member to come.
