The House That Gavin Razed
Last Friday, Mayor Gavin Newsom vetoed an anti-demolition ordinance, passed by the Board of Supervisors, that forbids property owners from demolishing habitable buildings containing 20 or more residential units.
Newsom said the legislation would "stifle our ability to build new affordable housing.'' That's an argument he's making on behalf of developers, of course. What voters should know is that every time "a rent-controlled building is torn down, the city forever loses units in which rents only can be raised a small percentage annually until a tenant moves out. Housing built after 1979 is not subject to rent control."
It looked like Supervisor Chris Daly had a veto-proof majority of eight supervisors until Bevan Dufty switched his vote to "no" on February 23, joining supervisors Michela Alioto-Pier, Tony Hall and Fiona Ma in opposing the law.
Newsom has been getting a lot of much-deserved attention since he took office January 8, first for appointing women to the posts of police chief and fire chief, and an African-American lesbian to the school board, then for authorizing gay marriages in the City. (Lest we forget, Matt Gonzalez supported gay marriage during the campaign, while Newsom did not. In fact, Gonzalez cited his support for gay marriage as just one of many issues that led him to turn Green in November 2000. "I decided I am not going to vote for candidates who support the death penalty or oppose gay marriage.")
These issues are telling, but ultimately just window-dressing for the house that Newsom will build for himself as mayor. It's on issues like housing, homelessness and big business that Newsom will show himself to be what we were afraid of, just another neo-liberal gentrifier.
Last Friday, Mayor Gavin Newsom vetoed an anti-demolition ordinance, passed by the Board of Supervisors, that forbids property owners from demolishing habitable buildings containing 20 or more residential units.
The immediate target of the legislation was Trinity Plaza, a 377-unit, rent-controlled building at Eighth and Market streets that is home to a group of primarily low-income tenants. Owner Angelo Sangiacomo wants to raze the building and replace it with five high-rise buildings containing 1,410 rentals.Guess who gave money to the Newsom campaign? That's right, Angelo "Father of Rent Control" Sangiacomo.
Newsom said the legislation would "stifle our ability to build new affordable housing.'' That's an argument he's making on behalf of developers, of course. What voters should know is that every time "a rent-controlled building is torn down, the city forever loses units in which rents only can be raised a small percentage annually until a tenant moves out. Housing built after 1979 is not subject to rent control."
It looked like Supervisor Chris Daly had a veto-proof majority of eight supervisors until Bevan Dufty switched his vote to "no" on February 23, joining supervisors Michela Alioto-Pier, Tony Hall and Fiona Ma in opposing the law.
Newsom has been getting a lot of much-deserved attention since he took office January 8, first for appointing women to the posts of police chief and fire chief, and an African-American lesbian to the school board, then for authorizing gay marriages in the City. (Lest we forget, Matt Gonzalez supported gay marriage during the campaign, while Newsom did not. In fact, Gonzalez cited his support for gay marriage as just one of many issues that led him to turn Green in November 2000. "I decided I am not going to vote for candidates who support the death penalty or oppose gay marriage.")
These issues are telling, but ultimately just window-dressing for the house that Newsom will build for himself as mayor. It's on issues like housing, homelessness and big business that Newsom will show himself to be what we were afraid of, just another neo-liberal gentrifier.
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