From the President
By Eric Andresen
Twenty-five years ago, then-acting Mayor Gordon Lau signed into law a supposed one-year emergency measure limiting rent increases in San Francisco. What came out of that was what we now have to suffer every day: rent control. Rent control has changed dramatically since then and has been bastardized by so many amendments that it takes a law degree to begin to fully understand the complexities and intricacies of the program. What is worse, rent control has spawned a whole cadre of activists who have found comfort in their government-financed roles as tenant representatives.
Without rent control, leading housing activists would neither have jobs right now nor fancy homes. Groups like the St. Peter’s Housing Clinic would probably not exist, and the folks who really need and deserve more affordable housing would probably have decent homes rather than fighting for a room in a run-down hotel.
Study after study has proven, beyond a doubt, that rent control does absolutely nothing to protect the people it is intended to serve: those in the low-income category. For example, a recent survey found that 72 percent of those enjoying rent-control protections are white, many of whom make more money than their own landlords.
In fact, rent control has exacerbated the problems for needy renters by negatively impacting the housing market and dramatically reducing the needed production of new apartments and other housing units. There is no question that forcing landlords to maintain below-market rents has fueled steep increases in rents on turnover units, and this has been assisted by a tightly constricted new construction market. Time and again, we have been told by property developers that the threat of rent control applied to new construction has made San Francisco just about the last place where they would like to build.
Unfortunately, a dramatic amount of the damage probably cannot be undone, and a total elimination of rent control is probably never going to be attainable. I would venture to say that those publicly funded tenant activists probably take comfort in their government-mandated job security. Their recent actions, though, reflect that their true motivation is to keep these secure and lucrative jobs by focusing their demands on us, urging us to maintain rent-controlled apartments rather than creating an atmosphere conducive to providing more and/or better housing. However, at some point, level heads have got to prevail if San Francisco is ever to regain its footing and recover from decades of abuse. There is little doubt that rent control is bad public policy. I am heartened to see more and more people—tenants and homeowners, as well as landlords—understand and appreciate the extreme need to fix the system before it’s too late. To make this change a reality will require a concerted effort to improve the representation of our elected officials and to get away from the dismally poor leadership that has overwhelmed us for the past several years. What it all really means is that at last we will put San Francisco back on track as The City That Knows How, rather than The City That Just Doesn’t Get It.
You can help make this happen by giving substantial support to our local and state political action committees, to reasonable local and state candidates and to our various campaigns and legal activities. We are not only talking about a few more dollars, but also about a substantial commitment to make a difference—certainly more than SFAA members have committed in the past. Change is possible, and it would definitely be for the better. However, it takes more than a shovel to move a mountain, and the sooner we understand and appreciate this, the better off we will all be down the road.
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.