Mission Community Planning Session

Mission Community Planning Session

This is intended as a preliminary description; please
give your own perspective and add some of the details
I missed.

MAC (Mission Anti-Displacement Coalition) and possibly
another group (BUMP or something like that) organized a
community planning session for 6pm Tuesday night. The
SF Planning Department was invited before a packed
theater of at least 400 community residents. Several
people spoke of their own experiences; the planning
department gave a Powerpoint presentation; the
organizers presented a few transparencies; questions
were taken from the audience and a few answers from
members of the planning department and a couple of the
organizers.

The planning department basically said that their tool
was zoning laws; these "rules" would shape the pattern
of development.

One point of open contradiction: the planning department
claimed that the previous zoning laws were "bad" and
had resulted in live-work loft construction; the
audience vocally disagreed, saying "what good are
rules if you (the planning department) are the ones that
break them?". They seemed to be alleging that the
permission for loft construction was in violation of
then-existing zoning laws.

Audience members asked for affordable housing for
families, extended families, and singles; good jobs
in local businesses that serve local needs; and creative
approaches to allowing more people to own their own
homes. A group of kids had worked on their own
statements; they asked for no gang or police violence,
gardens and parks, no homeless people in the Mission,
and no more evictions.

This is pretty bare-bones, but I'm tired. Please add to
it; I may add more tomorrow.

I will say it was inspirational to see the community
organize itself and demand real dialogue with power.
Although never *too* strident, the attitude was clear:
"We're not asking you, we're telling you what we want."
It was emphasized that this is the first of many
meetings and opportunities for people to make their
voices heard.

Anarchists, get your shit together and watch
"working-class", "oppressed" people get real organizing
done. This is where it's at.

Free beans and rice, too. Yum.