From the President

We Did Make a Difference

by Eric Andresen

By Eric Andresen

I am writing this commentary one week after the first committee hearing on the Gonzalez Amendments to the Rent Ordinance. I have to admit that, while I’m gratified we have received some favorable press coverage over the issue, I am disappointed there hasn’t been more said by representatives at city hall.

I had hoped that our industry leaders would have been invited by now to meet with Supervisor Gonzalez in an attempt to make acceptable changes to his proposal. On the other hand, perhaps he already realizes that there is no way to make any of it even remotely tolerable, so he’s just going to let the thing run its course. In either case, there is still much more work to be done, and I hope you all stay on board for the duration of the fight.

I definitely want to take this opportunity to give a huge thank you to all the SFAA members who attended the hearing. There were more than 300 of you! I also want to express my appreciation to hundreds more of you who wrote emails, letters and faxes in support of our organized opposition. While Supervisor Gonzalez’ tactics of rescheduling and reformatting the meeting were irritating, the fact that he felt compelled to make such changes cannot be understated or ignored.

There is no doubt that Supervisor Gonzalez got wind of how many of us would be at the hearing. His last-minute scheme to postpone the meeting from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. with little warning was supposed to cause our numbers to dwindle. Clearly, that was not the case.

Supervisor Gonzalez then came up with plan two, which was to allow only two representatives from each side to review each point of the legislation. On our side, we were ready to testify on the ramifications of the legislation. Again, this tactic of delay did not work, although we certainly found plenty of opportunities to be specific in our adamant abhorrence of the legislation.

Also quite telling was the public testimony portion of the hearing which extended beyond 7 p.m. that night. A majority of the speakers were landlords with plenty of reasons for their opposition to this legislation. We had stories from all types of landlord representatives—from big to small, from those somehow managing to survive on their rental income to those who are suffering losses each month.

The point to be considered here is that our numbers and testimony did make a big difference. The changes to the schedule and the structure of the meeting were a direct result of our strong representation. All of you should be proud of the results. We made our case known, we clearly indicated we are in this fight big time and we demonstrated we would not rest until the proposal is defeated.

I was very proud of those of you who showed up for the hearing and the incredible number of members who wrote to the supervisors and the mayor. I am also pleased that, for a change, the industry “leaders” didn’t have to go it alone—to the point where I was able to give up my time slot for testifying so that one of you instead, had a chance to speak your mind. Your efforts, patience and support were extraordinary and I want to thank each of you who got involved. Please, keep up the good work and keep showing your support of our efforts in the protection of our industry. Thank you all!

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of the SFAA or the SF Apartment Magazine.
Eric Andresen owns West Coast Property Management and West Coast Property maintenance Companies. He is also the treasurer of the California Apartment Association's Executive Board and serves on the boards of many other leading housing industry organizations. Questions or concerns should be directed to SFAA at 415-255-2288. You can email him at erci@wcpm.com