This Monday and Tuesday, January 23 and 24, the Board of Supervisors will vote whether to adopt a new housing element of the general plan. The housing element is an eight-year plan which lays out how San Francisco will accommodate over 82,000 new homes by 2031. Every city in California writes a new housing element each year, and the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) approves these plans. This important vote takes place once every eight years.

San Francisco has made many modifications to the proposed housing element, especially between October to December of last year. The final draft as proposed would dramatically change many aspects of the city's politicized and maze-like process: endless hearings, punishing rules, and exclusionary zoning.

But there's a catch—this plan won't change anything by itself. Change will only happen if the Board of Supervisors and the mayor come together. This is your chance to let them know you want real change. There is almost no time left before the Board votes on January 24. Let them know what we are watching and that we are tired of watching rents rise and watching the people we love get displaced from San Francisco. Please take one minute to send an email filled in for you.

There is also a chance to give public comment in person or over the phone. Monday's meeting of the Land Use and Transportation Committee starts at 1:30 PM and the housing element is item 4 on the agenda. The phone number to call in is 415-655-0001, using access code 2484 534 2047.