JUSTICE FOR TRINITY PLAZA TENANTS: Chris Daly, Defender of the Disenfranchised

Granted we took off a few weeks to lick our wounds. When you're passionate and determined to save low-cost, affordable, rent-controlled housing for senior citizens, the disabled, people of color, our children, those striving for citizenship, people who are low-income workers and the backbone of San Francisco, Warren might as well have swung a sledge hammer into our guts -- it would have been less painful than the manner in which he became a traitor to human rights. (see The Death of Prop M)

Victory Is Near?

Members of our Coalition worked on a number of campaigns in this past election including focusing on local races particularly Prop A.

We all know George Bush plans to trash Section 8, so the passage of affordable housing bonds was a high priority. But true to his ring-wing leaning, after promising to campaign for Prop A, Mayor Gavin Newsom disappeared. I had personally thought about calling 9-1-1 and reporting his disappearance but changed my mind; nobody in San Francisco really cares enough about Newsom to search for him, except for other right-wingers like the Hearsts, owners of The San Francisco Chronicle. The California Hearsts are notorious for donating to Republicans; the Federal Election Commission database reveals the Hearsts showering more than $395,000 on right-wingers but giving only spare change to Democrats: a little over $23,000.

While Newsom broke his promise to and failed the people of San Francisco, members of the Trinity Plaza Tenants Association are considering a tentative "affordable" housing project that would be funded by real estate magnate and the Father of Rent Control, Angelo Sangiacomo, for approximately $100,000,000.

While we would eventually lose the beautiful architectural facade of Trinity Plaza Apartments, Sangiacomo has tentatively proposed replacing the rent-controlled apartments one-for-one and capping it off with an additional 12% "subsidized" units -- a staggering, history-making 34% inclusionary housing ON-SITE.

As well, Trinity Plaza tenants would receive lifetime leases at our current rents with annual increases only as allowed by the Rent Ordinance; the remainder of 60% AMI affordable units would be preserved for 50 years or the life of the building, whichever is longer. In other words, we would stop gentrification of Civic Center!

Sangiacomo sent his letter-proposal/development contract to our District 6 Supervisor and friend, the Honorable Chris Daly. Details would be worked out over the next few months and will be reported at IndyBay if and when an agreement is reached.

Flashback: Attempted Censure

Downtown right-wingers recently responded to Supervisor Daly in their almost predictable and despicable manner.

At the 11/08/2004 Land Use Committee, one unscrupulous "paid lobbyist for real estate interests" (Jim Meko, 11/29/2004 San Francisco Sentinel) in Michela Alioto-Pier's district harassed Chris forcing him to respond in a manner that was mild compared to how I would have responded; Chris told the stalker to shut the f*** up. I personally would have had the stalker handcuffed and forcibly removed from the supervisors chambers by a Deputy Sheriff.

So how did that right-wing Republican rag San Francisco Chronicle report the story? It used Cold War Communist-style propaganda from the notoriously-reactionary Ken Garcia with phrases like "lefty minions" and "long-time pro-tenant puppet." Garcia further promoted his lies that those at the hearing were "overwhelmingly opposed to the proposal" to limit TIC conversions when in fact it was only a handful of property owners/landlords and their paid lobbyists in opposition; most at the hearing favored limiting TIC conversions.

Chronicle columnist Suzanne Herel added her own distortions to the right-wing assault on the Honorable Chris Daly. Herel used the word "many" to describe the sparse number of property owners at the hearing opposed to Chris' attempt to protect the most vulnerable San Franciscans from evictions. Herel, acting like an evangelist, then proceeded to quote paragraph eight of Alioto-Pier's motion for censure: "...Verbally abusing members of the public who have come to petition their government is an abuse of office and authority by a member of the Board of Supervisors...."

However, Alioto-Pier herself distorted the facts of the encounter in true-to-form right-wing style: it was one of her own constituents who harassed and stalked Supervisor Daly. But she conveniently omitted any such reference in her motion, and Herel in true-to-form parrot style squawked Alioto-Pier's attempt to silence the defender of the disenfranchised, Chris Daly.

On 11/23/2004, we the people, we the tenants, we the vast majority, we the progressives put Alioto-Pier in her place with public testimony that lasted almost two hours, most of which favored our city government friend, Chris Daly. With Bevan Dufty absent from the vote, it was a slam-dunk of 8-2, with Gavin Newsom's other right-wing parrot, Sean Elsbernd, siding with Alioto-Pier.

But the right-wing Republican Chronicle didn't stop there: as Jim Meko reported in the 11/29/2004 San Francisco Sentinel: "...it was amusing to watch Chronicle city hall beat reporter Rachel Gordon on cable news recently, trying to explain the failure of censure. 'Daly brought dozens of supporters,' she began, and the Examiner's Adriel Hampton snapped back, 'I counted 70 of them.'"

With that said, there's one more thing I must write.

I spend considerable time researching campaign contributions and I have uncovered proof that Michela Alioto-Pier accepted illegal contributions. The "Real Estate Executive" who donated the cash is listed as "Thomas Sullivan" of "Wilson Meany Sullivan" and "Tom Sullivan" of "Wilson, Meany & Sullivan, LP".

My research at the San Francisco Ethics Commission database will continue. Not only will I dig for more possible discrepancies into Alioto-Pier's campaign, but Sean Elsbernd will also be investigated.