Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson’s Abundance made a splash after its March release, earning a spot on the New York Times’ best seller list, a rarity for a book steeped in political wonkery. As weeks passed, it earned its share of critics — the Phoenix Project, among them — who rightly see it as right-wing Reaganomic policies slickly re-packaged.

The YIMBY-ism espoused in Abundance should be familiar to San Franciscans. The YIMBY (Yes in My Backyard) movement began right here in San Francisco and has, to date, spawned a handful of political organizations – GrowSF, Housing Action Coalition, YIMBY Law – that are richly funded by those who stand to benefit from the rampant de-regulation they espouse. These local YIMBY organizations are closely tied to and a part of the Astroturf groups that have spent millions to move San Francisco in a dangerously rightward direction.

None have been more active than the Abundance Network started in San Francisco and now expanding to Oakland, Santa Monica and with affiliated Abundance groups in New York City. 

The Abundance Network first made waves with the 2024 takeover of the San Francisco Democratic Party. By outspending a competing progressive slate by a factor of nearly 4-1, the Abundance-backed slate – the so-called Democrats for Change – grabbed 18 of the 24 seats on the local party’s influential governing body. The money came from familiar sources: Venture capital, tech and real-estate. Crypto-billionaire Chris Larsen was its largest backer, funneling $250,000 through Abundance’s political action committee, Families for a Vibrant San Francisco.

Abundance Network co-founder Zach Rosen was previously covered in the Phoenix Review’s May 2024 blog. In this article, I’ll focus on Abundance’s other key players, policy director Todd David and co-founder Misha Chellam.

David has a long history promoting the interests of California’s powerful real estate industry. He had a hand in former San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener’s winning 2016 run for the State Senate. Wiener’s campaign was largely bankrolled by the real estate industry ($574,276), giving David invaluable access to moneyed interests that would prove extraordinarily useful as he climbed the political ladder. Since arriving in Sacramento in 2017, Wiener has been an outspoken advocate for big real estate.

David went on to serve as executive director for Housing Action Coalition, a nonprofit that promotes the same YIMBY deregulatory measures promoted by Klein and Thompson. The benefactors of those policies would be the same real estate interests that funded Wiener’s successful campaign. Somehow, David found time to play a key role in the 2022 recall of three members of the San Francisco School Board, corralling his friends in the real estate industry to fund Concerned Parents Supporting the Recall of Collins, Lopez, and Molliga. The independent expenditure committee was among the leading donors to the successful effort to oust Trustees Alison Collins, Gabriela Lopez and Fauuga Moliga. 

Like Rosen, Abundance co-founder Misha Chellam hails from the tech industry, founding several venture-funded projects. Chellam is Abundance’s resident policy wonk, sharing his beliefs on the virtues of de-regulation on Substack and an active X/Twitter account. In a recent Substack article titled, “Why Organized Labor Has Sided With NIMBYs to Restrict Housing Supply In California,” Chellam claimed that “the norms of labor have thus far prevented other unions from supporting policy that would seem to benefit the majority of their members.”

Chellam believes that discretionary review, which allows unions to better advocate for decent pay and safe working conditions, is ultimately detrimental since it raises the price of housing, placing home ownership out of reach for most middle class workers. What he ignores is that nonunionized construction workers earn less than their peers, are often victims of 

wage theft, making it far less likely that they will ever be able to afford a home. Further, the trickle-down housing policies he promotes have failed to produce housing “at all price points,” leaving cities like San Francisco with a glut of luxury homes, thousands of empty units and a desperate shortage of affordable ones.

The Abundance Network’s recently opened Oakland chapter quickly tapped into a web of real estate and tech funding that mirrors the mega-donor influence in San Francisco. Crypto-evangelist and Coinbase executive Jesse Pollak started the Oakland chapter with an initial donation of $145,000 and established a related independent expenditure committee, Families for a Vibrant Oakland.

Other donors to Vibrant Oakland include the Oakland Police Officer’s Union which contributed $50,000, crypto-mogul Konstantin Richter who donated $60,000, and landlord Chris Moore, who gave $100,000. It’s worth noting that Pollak has a history of contribution to pro-crypto causes. In 2023/2024, he gave a combined $10,000 to the Coinbase and Fairshake political action committees, committees that went on to spend heavily to elect pro-crypto Republicans and oppose progressive Democrats.

The Vibrant Oakland Committee put $100,000 towards conservative candidate Warren Logan’s 2024 campaign for City Council. Logan lost to progressive Carroll Fife, despite the real estate industry’s generous financial support. 

For Oakland’s April special election, Abundance allied with Empower Oakland, started by former City Councilman and Mayoral candidate Loren Taylor. Empower’s current head Gagan Biyani stated, “Abundance shares the same goals as Empower Oakland.” Their alliance should come as no surprise. Isaac Abid, a member of Empower’s endorsement committee, heads Lakeside Group, a real estate investment and development company. Abid and fellow real estate developer Philip Dreyfuss started Revitalize East Bay which was the second largest contributor to Taylor’s recent campaign for mayor ($92,000).

In recent elections, the Abundance Network has suffered some stinging defeats. Its favored candidate Mayor London Breed lost her re-election bid to newcomer Daniel Lurie. More recently, Taylor fell to Barbara Lee. Regardless, Abundance is unlikely to throw in the towel, at least not any time soon. The potential payoff is far too tempting.