A group of homeless people and housing activists broke into and occupied a privately owned duplex in the Mission District of San Francisco on Easter Sunday \u201cin what served as the climax of a protest designed to promote use of San Francisco\u2019s vacant buildings as shelters for the needy,\u201d reports James Temple of the San Francisco Chronicle.<\/p>\n
The owner of the property — who was targeted over his eviction of a tenant who had remained on the property illegally after being given more than a year\u2019s notice and relocation fees — said the demonstration was nothing more than breaking and entering.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not actually vacant. I use it for my own personal uses,\u201d Ara Tehlirian of Daly City said in an interview, adding that he was in contact with the San Francisco Police Department. \u201cI know nothing other than my property was apparently broken into.\u201d<\/p>\n
More than 50 people marched in rain through the Mission District, hoisting picket signs that read \u201cHouse keys not handcuffs\u201d and chanting \u201cWhose city? Our city.\u201d The action was organized by Homes Not Jails, a 20-year-old Marxist group affiliated with the San Francisco Tenants Union. The group\u2019s posters and other propaganda contend the rights of squatters should be given preference over the so-called \u201cproperty rights\u201d of those who buy and manage real estate in search of profit.<\/p>\n
By the time the tail of the procession reached the duplex on the 500 block of San Jose Street, at least eight people were inside, the Chronicle reported, holding banners from second-story windows. It wasn\u2019t clear how they gained entry, and Ted Gullicksen, leader of the tenant organization, declined to provide details.<\/p>\n
More than a dozen municipal police officers were on hand, most standing on the sidewalk on the other side of the street. Asked earlier whether they would take action if protesters occupied the property, officers declined to comment. One said, \u201cWe\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n
By 3 p.m., all but one police officer had left the scene — with the home invaders still in possession of the property. The single officer remained outside the building to ensure that \u201cnobody is out of hand,\u201d said a police official, Sgt. William Escobar. No arrests were made.<\/p>\n
Jose Morales, 80, lived in the San Jose Street building for 43 years before he was forced to leave in 2008 through the Ellis Act, which allows property owners to get out of the rental business.<\/p>\n
Did you catch that? A \u201cproperty owner\u201d in San Fransisco can\u2019t evict a tenant — even with substantial notice — just because he wants to, or because he thinks someone else might pay a higher rent. He can only evict a tenant if he \u201cgets out of the rental business\u201d entirely. (Check out the movie “Pacific Heights.” It’s based on a real case.)<\/p>\n
Mr. Morales said he now lives in a small space in an office building in the Mission District. \u201cThe city should have protected me,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s like they don\u2019t see me. It\u2019s like I\u2019m a ghost to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
But attorney Andrew Zacks, who represented property owner Tehlirian, said the landlord resorted to the Ellis Act only after Morales remained on the property illegally, after being given more than a year\u2019s notice and relocation fees.<\/p>\n
The Marxists complain about a shortage of rental housing in San Francisco. But why on earth would anyone continue to invest in the upkeep of rental properties in such an environment, where even the police, duly paid by a property owner\u2019s taxes, won\u2019t intervene to block or punish an act of trespass and property seizure happening in broad daylight, right before their eyes?<\/p>\n
This is the San Francisco of Dianne Feinstein and Nancy Pelosi. Is this the future for capitalism and property rights in the United States?<\/p>\n
Some, evidently, will say \u201cYes,\u201d and cheer.<\/p>\n
No time machine is available to send them to Leningrad, circa 1921, to see the kind of happy workers\u2019 paradise created when the state takes over provision of such goods, making everything \u201cmore efficient\u201d by barring the provision of housing (or anything else) by \u201cgreedy capitalists seeking profit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perhaps they\u2019d like to visit Cuba, North Korea, Venezuela, or Zimbabwe for awhile. At the very least — as it\u2019s clearly too much to expect them to read \u201cThe Road to Serfdom\u201d — a screening of \u201c1984\u201d or \u201cEscape from New York\u201d may be in order.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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