From the President
By Eric Andresen
In March, the San Francisco Apartment Association had an incredible meeting with Mayor Gavin Newsom. The mayor took an hour out of his busy schedule to speak with us about his recent accomplishments and future goals. I am very impressed and grateful that we have a mayor who is interested in taking the time to see us.
No question about it, Mayor Newsom is an incredible public speaker, but he’s not of the political ilk of many present-day politicians. Newsom is genuinely devoted to creating changes. He has already proven that he will live up to his promises. What a concept. Finally—somebody who gets it.
Look at the mayor’s very first veto. Supervisor Daly had introduced ridiculous legislation in a poorly veiled attempt to stop Trinity Properties from taking down an old eyesore—a 340-unit, rent-controlled building—and replacing it with more than 1,400 new apartments in the heart of the Market Street corridor. The legislation, inexplainably supported by seven members of the Board of Supervisors, would have outlawed the demolition of any building of 20 units or more. This proposal would have been so contrary to public policy that its consideration was totally embarrassing—and I still can’t believe that the supervisors passed it. Thankfully, our mayor saw through the political rhetoric and, recognizing the extreme need for housing in San Francisco, quickly vetoed the legislation, calling it absurd and unthinkable.
The mayor’s responsibilities are absolutely mind boggling. Newsom must deal with urgent issues, including a budget deficit of at least $350 million (and a reserve that’s now nonexistent, if not in the red), as well as crime, affordable housing and homelessness.
In his first 65 days in office, Mayor Newsom has initiated a plan to completely restructure and improve the Police and Fire Departments. As part of this plan, he has made a couple of awesome decisions in his choices for Fire Chief and Police Chief. He has even shaken up the homicide detail of our Police Department by personally appearing at murder scenes. He has also demanded a top-to-bottom review of these and other departments with a mandate that waste must be stopped and service improved. Clearly, he is taking a personal interest in improving the safety and protection of all the people who live and work in San Francisco.
For the first time in years, a mayor has pulled the various city department heads into regular meetings. Unbelievably, the various departments have not participated for some time in this most basic of management procedures. Now the head of the City’s Department of Health will actually have some idea who is over at the Office of Emergency Services. They just might get a chance to help each other out in the event of an emergency. All sarcasm aside, the job of getting these people to the table, let alone encouraging them to divulge what their departments do rather than holding their cards close to the vest, has been a monumental one and will continue to require extraordinary efforts from the mayor.
Mayor Newsom has also created and launched several diverse committees to deal with such issues as housing, homelessness and the cleanliness of our streets. In fact, Newsom created 21 highly detailed and specific policy papers during his campaign, and he is already taking steps toward implementing the goals and objectives of each one of them. He has set the bar extraordinarily high and is clearly determined to attain his objectives. If his current actions are any indication of the future, Mayor Newsom is going to make a substantial difference in San Francisco, one that we can all be proud of in the years and decades to come.
Thank you, Gavin, not only for the time you make available to us, but also for your devotion and commitment to all of us here in the city of St. Francis.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of the SFAA or the San Francisco Apartment Magazine. In addition to serving as the current President of SFAA, Eric is also the Vice President of Political Affairs for PPMA and is the original author of the PPMA Residential Tenancy Agreement. Eric also serves as Vice President of the California Apartment Association, and he is extensively involved in other industry organizations here in San Francisco and at the state level. He owns and operates West Coast Property Management and West Coast Property Maintenance Companies. He can be reached at eric@wcpm.com. Copyright © 2004.