News & Info Newsletters Spring Newsletter 2011
Spring Newsletter
2011
In This Issue
Meet SFCLT's New Board Members
Affordable Housing Crisis in Eastern Neighborhoods!
SFCLT Membership Committee Needs You!
Vacancy at Bakers Dozen Cooperative
Midtown Park Apartments
Here we are already in the spring of 2011! We have lots of exciting work underway in three different neighborhoods of San Francisco. Read below to find out what's going on with the San Francisco Community Land Trust and how you can support
2011 Annual Mtg. A Success!
Roy Recio of Manilatown Heritage Foundation welcomed SFCLT members
On March 26th thirty people came together to discuss the present and future of the San Francisco Community Land Trust. Meeting in the Historic I Hotel the members heard from Board President, Tracy Parent, Organizational Director, Fred Lambright; and also heard from the Columbus United Cooperative Board Vice President, Miao Yan Mei. Myrna Melgar also made an engaging presentation about how co-op conversion projects get funded and emphasized the point that conversion budgets are created with the residents, so that it is affordable for the current residents of buildings.
Mrs. Mei of the Columbus United Co-op
Members broke into small groups and discussed ways of increasing visibility and membership of the CLT. This proved to be very fruitful and some excellent ideas were produced including working to publish news articles in local neighborhood newspapers, organizing an annual dinner/fundraiser, placing a banner on each of our buildings to advertise the organization, and tabling at various community events. So members get ready to step up for some of these ideas to come to life!
Finally, new Board of Directors elections were held and we elected three new Board members and re-elected two incumbent directors. (See 2011 Board Article below).
Overall, the meeting was a good time to meet new people, re-connect with old friends and solidify our commitment to helping the SFCLT grow and strengthen in San Francisco. Thank you to all who attended and brought food to share. We look forward to seeing you all and many more at our next event...stay tuned!
Meet SFCLT's New Board Members
We have several new excellent Board Members at SFCLT. As a small grassroots organization, we rely heavily on our active and committed Board of Directors. Here is the scoop on each of them...
Jonathan Bonato
I am passionate about protecting, preserving and creating affordable housing and homeownership opportunities, especially for low to moderate income people in San Francisco. I am alarmed by the continued displacement of long time residents, especially seniors and immigrant households, as investors speculatively gamble with the buildings that are our homes, driving up costs while displacing and destroying hope and lives. I can fully relate to the struggle low to moderate income folks face with rising housing costs in the Bay area, having struggled for years after being displaced myself. When I learned of the 53 Columbus Avenue opportunity and the work of the San Francisco Community Land Trust to enable the tenants to purchase, it was a beacon of hope and light to me. Since joining the Coop, I have felt encouraged and inspired to become an affordable housing property manager. I look forward to learning more and using what I have learned to help the Coop and the Community Land Trust. I have volunteered as a housing counselor for the Human Services Agency at Project Homeless Connect and have helped raise money for AIDS Housing Alliance. I am committed to working hard to make the Coop and SFCLT model of affordable homeownership a success.
Val Sinckler
I'm a NYC native, transplanted in the Bay Area by a series of both fortunate and unfortunate events. I forge a similarly double-edged livelihood as an artist-educator with passion that fuels and frustrates me endlessly. I am grateful for this opportunity to channel my energy and efforts toward enlisting in the ranks of an organization with an inclination and commitment to combat an attitude that devalues
the priceless and makes it political, in hopes to change the course of SF's residential trajectory to one truly worth supporting. I can get behind that...so, I put my behind in a seat on the board!
Richard Birchard
Richard Birchard is an entrepreneur across the fields of business, education and the arts. As one of the leading thinkers in venture philanthropy, he has been at the forefront of the movement to rethink entrepreneurship benefiting local communities. Richard founded 888 Capital Partners in late 2009, a venture philanthropy organization, and brings significant experience in operations, finance and marketing to SFCLT. In addition to his over 20 years in business development experience, Richard has held several senior management positions with UCSF, Kimpton Hotels, Fog City Travel, and 5 Senses Corp. He currently is the producer for an upcoming independent documentary film about the collection of testimony from victims of the 1970s Khmer Rouge atrocities in the Cambodian refugee community for submission to the UN Tribunal.
Beverly Davis
Beverly was recently appointed to the Board of Directors and is our new Board Treasurer. Beverly G. Davis, a consultant with Resources Global, Inc., is an audit and financial services specialist. She has over 35 years experience working in the financial services and non-profit industries. Her expertise includes wholesale and retail banking, fund development, finance, accounting, auditing, information management systems, and general business processes. Over the years, she has had a consistent compassion for helping families and building communities to better service women, girls, and families. Her contributions are many but she is best at giving of her time, gifts, and talents to support her passions. She was instrumental in raising over $17 million to restore the YWCA of Oakland's Julia Morgan building, a regular contributor to support Breast Cancer projects in San Francisco and Oakland, a community organizer where she served as two term President of the Picardy Drive Neighborhood Association, and professionally has worked diligently with the San Francisco Chapter of the Information Systems Audit and Control Association. Beverly holds a Masters in Business Administration degree with an emphasis in Information Systems and a Bachelors of Science degree in Finance. She attended Golden GateUniversity in San Francisco and SpelmanCollege in Atlanta, GA. Committed to her family and community, Beverly is a resident of Oakland, CA, has two children; a daughter and son, and four grand children; two boys and two girls.
Finally, Myles Dixon is our other new Board Member, elected at our recent Annual Meeting. Myles is a resident at the Midtown Park apartments and a long-time resident and activist in the Western Addition neighborhood. Welcome all our new Board members, thank you all for your time and commitment to building our organization!
Affordable Housing Crisis in Eastern Neighborhoods!
As more construction projects move through the pipeline in the Eastern Neighborhoods of SoMa, Mission District and Bay View / Hunter's Point, the stress on existing affordable housing and local businesses heats up. As land values continue to increase, landlords are more willing to push tenants out to cash in on the real estate market. Even in times of a "depressed market", there are still millions of dollars to be made by selling your property to a willing developer. The need to stabilize existing affordable housing and protect it from predatory developers is more important than ever.
Check out this excellent article from the SF Bay Guardian, from October 19, 2005 and see how the development process affects local businesses and affordable housing. While this article is more than five years old, the processes it discusses are still happening today. Some of the projects discussed in the Eastern Neighborhoods Plan are just coming into existence today, and the affects are hitting low income San Franciscans today. Get involved in SFCLT to help us fight this displacement and make San Francisco a place for all income levels forever! Also, stay tuned to hear about ways to get involved in the upcoming Community Congress. Be part of the participatory planning process for a more equitable, just and thriving San Francisco.
SFCLT Membership Committee Needs You!
The Membership Committee of SFCLT is seeking new volunteers to help us increase our membership and visibility city-wide in San Francisco. We will be having a meeting on June 14th at 6:00pm in our offices at 55A Columbus Ave. to discuss some of the exciting ideas that came up at our annual meeting and to plan for a summer social. Call Jamie at 415-399-0943 for more information and to get involved.
Vacancy at Bakers Dozen Cooperative
There are currently vacancies at the Bakers Dozen Cooperative in the Western Addition neighborhood of San Francisco. SFCLT works to support this co-op by providing education and training for the residents and is in the process of working to acquire the property. If you are interested in collective living with some excellent people committed to social justice and consensus decision making, please check them out. Click on the link below to see the vacancy announcement. Please note that their deadline has been extended so please contact them if you are interested, or know someone who is.
Vacancy Flier from Bakers Dozen
Not a SFCLT Member? Join now!
Click here and become part of the movement to create resident controlled permanently affordable housing in San Francisco.
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