Whose mission?
Two visions for housing split nonprofit

By Rachel Brahinsky

It's been a few years since the Mission District brimmed with an almost daily public presence of housing activists, whose direct action tactics brought public attention to the hallmark displacement of the dot-com boom.

Staffers of the Mission Housing Development Corp., a nonprofit affordable-housing group, were central in the struggle. For them, the fight against the dot-com incursion was just the latest chapter in the MHDC's three decades of work to preserve and expand low-income housing in the neighborhood.

Now, a fight between the group's board of directors and staff over a range of important issues – including whether the MHDC should develop middle-class housing – has exposed a rift that some say could damage that legacy (see "Mission Statement," on the sfbg.com politics blog).

Mission residents testified for more than two hours at a Feb. 17 board meeting that the political disagreement over the organization's goals is rooted in the fact that board members are too entrenched and aren't representative of the community they serve.

They demanded that the entire panel resign and called for the return of executive director Carlos Romero, who was suspended in January after clashes with the board. Two board members said they were inclined to cede power, but the majority of the board voted to stay on.

Many of the speakers included current staff members who are embroiled in a labor dispute with the board. The staff, which joined the Service Employees International Union, Local 790, three years ago calling for greater board democracy and community representation, has yet to receive its first union contract.

Aside from community pressure, the MHDC is getting hit from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors as well. Six supervisors signed a letter asking board chair Larry Del Carlo to step down from his post, and Sup. Tom Ammiano is likely to schedule a public hearing on the MHDC's troubles in the coming weeks. The organization receives about $660,000 in city funds, out of its approximately $6.4 million budget, Romero said.

"What the city looks for is a democratic process and a community process," Ammiano said at the Feb. 17 meeting. "We urge you to really strongly honor that."

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