We attended the annual meeting of the Rockridge Community Planning Council (RCPC) on April 23. The concerns of many attendees about the just-announced proposal for skyscraper towers on College Avenue, replacing Trader Joe’s in the process, not to mention other controversial proposals facing Rockridge like the Blood Bank project, were tamped down by the board members leading the meeting.
The current board appears to be promoting strict adherence to the new state law, SB79, pushed by State Senator Scott Wiener for years, narrowly passed by the legislature and signed into law by Governor Newsom. SB79 encountered fierce opposition (LA Mayor Karen Bass, for one) over several years, despite developer/builder money and the YIMBY lobby behind it. The board insists SB79 ties the hands of opponents objecting to density, heights, and other aspects of new projects. The State has spoken — get over it, resistance is futile.
In my years of experience of being involved in community/land use organizations, including helping to form several, I have never before encountered leaders of a neighborhood group advocating immediate surrender. In my experience, which included significant losses and victories, many obstacles can thwart or delay egregious projects—petitions, meetings, media, political pressure and elections, finding allies in other organizations and government agencies, even just the threat of litigation. Buying time.
As stated by Mayor Lee in a recent ABC7 News report about the project, “Key to this is learning what the community feels is most important, and their priorities.”
The more people learn about the hulking senior center proposal, the more opposition will grow, time is on our side. Was it just a coincidence that Council Member Zac Unger was advertised as attending the meeting but was a no-show, with none of his aides in attendance? Surely his phone was ringing off the hook from constituents.
Wiener and Assemblyperson Buffy Wicks have been pushing legislation like SB79 and AB130 for years, and are stars of the new “Abundance” boomlet—reviving the infrastructure mania of the Eisenhower 1950s. Both Wiener and Wicks belong to the pro-development Democrat wing of the party—“progressive” on social issues, but totally in sync with the developer/builder lobby, so no qualms about accepting their financial support. Wiener is now seeking a promotion to Congress, replacing Nancy Pelosi.
But there’s a golden opportunity right now to send a message to Wiener by supporting his worthy opponent, Connie Chan, in the race. Her opponents have big bucks behind them, including Wiener with millions in developer backing and former tech engineer Saikat Chakrabarti, underwriting his campaign.
Chan is a San Francisco Supervisor with years of legislative experience and a humble start as the child of a single immigrant mother growing up in San Francisco’s Chinatown. She supports truly affordable housing, community participation, standing up to ICE, reproductive and LGBTQ rights, etc. Nancy Pelosi has yet to endorse, but Adam Schiff, Tom Ammiano, Aaron Peskin, Art Agnos, and Willie Brown have all endorsed Chan.
As the cliché goes, all politics is local. Trader Joe's is on the ballot, too.
— Robert Brokl, Guest Author
