In light of the recent news that the corner building on Mission and 22nd was ordered to be demolished — and the worry that dozens of rent-controlled tenants would be unable to return to their old units — we asked candidates this week what they could do to prevent deterioration of fire-damaged buildings.
How would you incentivize or penalize landlords so that they repair buildings quickly following a disaster, rather than waiting until be building is condemned?
Respuestas en español aquí.
Iswari España, Training Officer with the San Francisco Human Services Agency
We have to recognize that the Department of Building Inspection does not have the staff and the enforcement power to regulate their recommendations. Therefore, I will propose comprehensive legislature to allow city inspectors more power to penalize non-compliant cases and fast forward cases to the City Attorney.
There needs to be harsher penalties imposed to property owners that create a nuisance for neighborhoods; my proposed increase in monetary penalties will send a strong message that there are consequences for neglect and avoidance. We need more staff in the DBI to enforce this process quickly and efficiently.
I have management experience and records of accomplishment on building solutions in city government, nonprofit and the private industry to lead these efforts. I understand the needs of reforming legislation to support agencies that do the fieldwork and create real solutions to improve the process and systems.
Edwin Lindo, Vice-President of External Affairs at the Latino Democratic Club
We must require that action be taken within one year of a property being burned down. We must pass legislation that prohibits loss of rent-controlled units as a result of a fire.
Seeing what is happening with 22nd Street, we must prohibit tenants from losing their right to return. Finally, to curb any incentive there might be to commit arson for future profit, we should explore giving either the city or community developers the first right to purchase affordable housing.
Hillary Ronen, Chief of Staff for Supervisor David Campos
59 Mission residents were displaced by the 22nd St. fire on January 28th, 2015. Working with community immediately after the tragedy our office was able to find shelter and then housing for all of the residents who requested help from the city, totalling 51 residents, many of which planned to return to their homes once the building was restored. Allowing a historic building that housed, people and businesses to become uninhabitable through intentional neglect is frankly immoral and does serious damage to the neighborhood and community. I’m currently working to find legal remedies to allow these residents the right to return to any future development on the site. And this month our office will be introducing legislation that makes substantive changes to the fire and building inspection code so that we can stop the rash of fires that have been claiming lives and homes in the Mission.
Joshua Arce, civil rights attorney and Community Liaison for Laborers Local 261
We need to do drastically better to protect our families from avoidable disasters like the 22nd and Mission fire. Last week, I was at a community meeting in which the current Supervisor and his staff explained that they have no idea whether the landlord’s other buildings have been safety inspected in the year since the fire.
I’ve already announced my support for an ordinance requiring these types of Mission District apartment buildings to be retrofitted with modern sprinkler systems, and as Supervisor I will work closely with tenants, building owners and housing providers to make sure these catastrophes aren’t repeated.
43 Questions is a weekly series — started 43 weeks before Election Day — to question the candidates running for District 9 supervisor. Send us your questions to info@missionlocal.com and let us know in comments or in an e-mail if you think candidates have answered as asked.