- Tenants’ Rights, Eviction Defense & Affordable Housing
- Winning Elections and Building Working-Class Power
- Mutual Aid
Tenants’ Rights, Eviction Defense & Affordable Housing
(June 2018) No Eviction Without Representation
In 2017, DSA SF took a look at the thousands of eviction proceedings happening every year in San Francisco and noticed that, while 90% of landlords were represented by a lawyer, only 10% of tenants had legal representation. We knew that, to help stem the tide of displacement, we had to level the playing field and make sure that every tenant facing eviction had a lawyer on their side. To do that, we drafted legislation, gathered tens of thousands of signatures to get it on the ballot, and talked to every voter we could reach in order to pass Proposition F in June 2018. Ever since then, every tenant in San Francisco has had the right to a free lawyer provided by the city, and this has provided massive results – for tenants receiving full-scope representation, 63% were able to remain in their homes, and an additional 30% received time and relocation funds to avoid homelessness.
(April 2020) No Pandemic-Related Evictions
Early in the pandemic, we knew that we would have to move quickly to prevent people from having to choose between risking death by going to work or facing eviction from lacking an income. Led by our member in office Supervisor Dean Preston, evictions for non-payment of rent in San Francisco were banned from April 2020 all the way through August 2023.
(November 2020) Emergency Rent Relief
But we knew that wasn’t enough since rent money would still be owed and eventually come due. Working-class tenants would need help making up for months or years of lost income and we were going to make sure that the billionaires whose wealth increased dramatically over the course of the pandemic paid back some of what was rightfully ours. That’s why we passed Proposition I, a tax on huge real estate transactions. The Board of Supervisors earmarked that money for emergency rent relief and affordable housing and this resulted in a huge win for San Francisco’s working class – this measure has raised hundreds of millions of dollars and saved over 20,000 tenants from eviction!
(November 2022) Fill Empty Homes!
TKTK
Winning Elections and Building Working-Class Power
DSA SF runs candidates for local office because San Francisco needs leaders who will break with the status quo, confront corporate power, and refuse to sell out our city to the billionaire class. Working people deserve representatives who will take on the ruling class directly by introducing legislation that serves the public good, standing with workers on the job and on the picket line, and using public office as a platform to advance the vision of a socialist future.
Since our refounding, San Francisco voters have elected DSA members who fight unapologetically for the people, like tenant rights champion Dean Preston (District 5) and climate justice leader Jackie Fielder (District 9). They carry forward the legacy of founding DSA member Harry Britt, who was appointed to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1979 after the assassination of Harvey Milk and helped bring grassroots movements into City Hall. We’re proud that our members carry that tradition forward today.
We know that electing socialists isn’t the end goal, it’s a tool in the broader fight to build working-class power. By winning office and materially improving the lives of San Franciscans, we show that a different kind of politics is possible.
Mutual Aid
(2018) Delivering More N95 Masks Than City Hall During Wildfires
The 2018 wildfire season was the deadliest and most destructive in California history. As the Camp Fire tore through Butte County, San Francisco was blanketed in smokey, unbreathable air. City officials told people to stay indoors and use N95 masks, but offered no support to homeless people who couldn’t go inside, or masks to people who couldn’t access basic protection.
DSA SF members mobilized immediately to get masks into the hands of people who needed it. We raised funds, drove all over the Bay Area to secure masks, and walked through neighborhoods handing out masks directly to people. We distributed over 4,200 N95 masks in a matter of days, more than double the City’s inadequate response. We worked with organizations like the Coalition on Homelessness, Bay Resistance, and the League of Pissed Off Voters, and forced the City to open a major 24/7 shelter at the height of the fires. We created how-to guides on building air purifiers at home. [Should add in something about driving up supplies to Camp Fire?]
