the president's report
Honoring Our Best
By David Wasserman
On November 29, 2007, the San Francisco Apartment Association celebrated its ninetieth year of operation in the city. For those of you who attended the Trophy Awards, you not only witnessed a spectacular evening, but you also helped to pay tribute to many in the industry who excel in their field. Indeed, November 29 marked the first of what will hopefully become SFAA’s annual award ceremony.
As SFAA president, I had the honor of bestowing three awards to persons that uniquely contributed to the housing business. All three awards were easy selections. The first is the Committee Chairperson’s Award, given to the individual who made the birthday bash possible. The second is an In Memoriam Tribute to someone special that we lost in 2007. The third, the President’s Award, is the local industry’s highest honor, and this year it was delivered to a professional whose contributions are unmatched. Below are excerpts from my speech at our celebration.
Committee Chairperson’s Award
Tonight’s events reflect the hard work and dedication of many. SFAA staff and board members donated much of their time to ensure that we could come together at this beautiful hotel to reflect upon our many accomplishments, and to unite ourselves for the inevitable future challenges.
Tonight is also special because we are here to congratulate those who have worked exceedingly hard in their fields, and whose efforts have paid off by benefiting everyone. For the award recipients, property management and ownership is not just a job, but also a talent. Ironically, the person who made this award show possible embodies the very essence of this energy. Born and raised on the Peninsula, his collegiate passion lay in the dramatic arts. After graduation, he was lured into this business by his father, Robert, who co-owned one of the city’s finest management companies.
It did not take long after he began his career for his father to feel comfortable letting him take charge. Once at the helm, he tripled the size of the company in less than 15 years. In addition to general property management, he grew his organization’s services to include maintenance, construction and brokerage. To that end, his company today is the only full-service real-estate entity of its kind in San Francisco.
More amazingly, this man has served as president of SFAA, as well as the California Apartment Association. When he retired after his three-year term at SFAA in order to lead CAA, I remarked at our holiday party that year that there was not one member in the room who had not financially benefited from this man’s efforts. As the CAA president, he grew the statewide organization into a formidable player at the State Capitol.
His energy level rivals that of a teenager. When he is not running his company, or leading one of our interest groups, he is attentive to his most important asset, his family. As the father of three, he runs his son’s Boy Scout Company and never misses a beat with his two daughters’ schooling. Like many of us should do, but don’t, he spends quality time with his family on a regular basis, going to Clear Lake when the weather is good and taking regular holidays, from Mexico to Hawaii. Above all else, he is a sincere, moral and honorable human being, and I am pleased to call him my friend. This year’s Committee Chairperson’s Award goes to someone who never stops giving to all that is important to him, Eric R. Andresen.
In Memoriam Tribute
While 2007 was a year with much to celebrate, one event was truly saddening. In the fall, we lost one of the industry’s most successful entrepreneurs to cancer. A self-made man in every respect, Charles Mosser defined the “American Dream.” Through hard work and dedication, he started with one building and ended with many. As an exemplary landlord, even the tenants’ rights groups paid tribute to his passing.
His life, however, was not just about the industry. He was an accomplished song and play writer, and he was a philanthropist. He was also a father and devoted family man, as is evidenced today by his son’s unending service to our industry. Fortunately, I was able to meet and spend some time with this legend during the past few years, and I have heard stories from my father’s generation about the way Charles invented his version of the art of the deal. Always generous with SFAA and our industry partners, and the epitome of an exceptional landlord, this man will truly be missed.
The President’s Award
Eric Andresen asked me in July, when the initial stages of planning this event began, to bestow an honor on a person who has made a contribution above and beyond anyone else. It took me only ten minutes to select this year’s recipient.
Born in Brooklyn, he migrated, like the Dodgers, to Los Angeles, where he grew up. He graduated from UC-Berkeley and then USF Law School. After law school, he decided to make the Bay Area his home. He soon started working in the area of landlord-tenant law. Today, when I introduce him at events, I say that he needs no introduction. My comment is derived from the indisputable fact that this individual has done more for our industry in the courts than anyone else.
To name just a few of the highlights, we can do Ellis Act evictions now without the myriad of tenant defenses formerly used to thwart an owner’s statutory right to go out of business. No longer do we have to rent replacement units to tenants evicted for legitimate owner and relative move-ins at their rent-controlled rates. The ridiculous “Daly Amendments” prohibiting landlords from talking to their tenants were shot down by his litigation. In addition, this attorney has cast real doubt on the city’s unconstitutional moratorium on evicting elderly and disabled tenants when the owner needs the unit for good-faith owner and relative occupancy.
As a husband and father of two, he has been involved with the Bay Area Children’s Theatre Company and the Piedmont Baseball and Softball Foundation. He is a prolific writer and lecturer, donating his wisdom to all who will listen. For those of you who know him, you enjoy his wit and sense of humor. As a colleague, he is never too busy, or pretentious, to aid and assist other attorneys. What I find most admirable is that he champions the industry’s causes year after year, but he does not profit from his successes. Rather, his motivation is truly a passion to check the government’s infringement on property rights because he sees the injustice that has become too commonplace and prevalent both in San Francisco and throughout the state.
Never one to say no, and despite the fact that he has demands from almost every property owner in town for his services, this lawyer is the first to volunteer when we need the SFAA lease revised, the first to say yes when we need an instructor for our courses, and always the first to volunteer much of his time, and his firm’s resources, to the ongoing and never-ending legal battles that must be fought every year in this town.
No one deserves the 2007 President’s Award more than Clifford E. Fried. If there were 10 Cliffords, there would be no rent control. Not surprisingly, there is only one Clifford, and I hope he continues with us for many, many years to come.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of SFAA or SF Apartment Magazine. David Wasserman is the president of SFAA. He can be reached at Wasserman-Stern Law Offices, 415-567-9600. Copyright © 2008 by SF Apartment Magazine. All rights reserved.