Does NIMBY also stand for “Attack and Intimidate People to Suppress Views We Don’t Like”? In Sausalito it does.

The issue I’ve been targeted for is homesharing, which still remains super-controversial in world-reknowned Sausalito, believe it or not. The city considers it illegal and has high fines (up to $5,000 a day), which has pretty much put pushed everyone underground…except me.

I’ve always felt “safe” speaking up because I don’t homeshare with our house here.

But during an off-cycle city council election, with the main contenders being a candidate from the old-school NIMBY camp (wants no change to zoning, has downzoned areas zoned for housing into open space, would like to see parts of our commercial district returned to marshland by letting it crumble into the bay) and a moderate candidate who would like a more balanced land-use approach, as to keep the city from stagnating (or crumbling into the bay!).

When the topic of homesharing was raised on NextDoor by a former city councilor campaigning for Sausalito’s NIMBY candidate, I responded with arguments for why their scare tactic view on homesharing (that ALL of Sausalito’s homes will become hotels) was unreasonable. I was met with a tide of trolling and personal attacks against me as an “Airbnb lobbyist” trying to kick little old ladies out of their houses.

That pisses me off to no end, because…per above…I don’t make money in Sausalito. And I certainly don’t get paid by Airbnb for my local advocacy (which is on behalf of our residents and not the company).

But what really connected the dots for me was that while getting harangued and cyber-stalked on the public thread, so many Sausalitans were private messaging me saying “This is what THEY always do”…“We don’t speak up because THEY will come after you”…“Her group is known for this.” The messages were not from people who care that much one way or another about homesharing, but about myriad issues facing our city, from tourist bikes to refurbishing our ferry landing.

In each instance, the NIMBY camp’s point of view was about shutting down USE and ACCESS: shutting off access for people biking into Sausalito, shutting of access for people to be able to take the ferry in and out, hanging on to old laws that make it hard for businesses and people to maintain their properties, and stopping people from carrying out certain activities in their own homes.

The fact that this happened to me in the context of an election–where the “anti” side was ensuring that simple facts weren’t circulated–made me realize something: not only can you not make reasonable change on urban issues in cities like Sausalito…you can’t even talk about them without the thought police coming after you.

I’d love to hear from others who may be experiencing a similar climate of fear in their own cities.

(An extended original version of this article can be found on The Market Urbanism Report’s newly-launched Facebook group.)