Supervisor Aaron Peskin’s proposed ordinance banning condominium conversions in buildings where multiple tenants, senior citizens, disabled, or catastrophically ill people were evicted passed a Board of Supervisors committee last night and now heads to final voting for passage. Not too surprising.
What is surprising, however, is that the mayor’s office seems to be hinting that a veto, should the ordinance get passed, is not imminent.
The mayor’s office would not say whether Newsom — whose allies in the business and real estate communities are staunchly opposed to the legislation — would sign the ordinance if it reaches his desk. But Matt Franklin, director of the mayor’s office of housing, hinted Newsom is open to working with Peskin.
Expect the biggest sticking point to be the retroactive date of the ordinance (as proposed, retroactive back to 1999).
∙ TIC eviction legislation progresses [SFGate]
I believe this ordinance will be tossed out in court. This would represent the city taking away a right (even though limited by lottery) that the prior purchasers have every reason to expect. This could be why Newsom is not going to veto. He doesn’t waste too much political capital by upsetting the unreasonable tenants union AND it never takes effect. The tenants union needs to be careful of a backlash. Yes, there are lots of renters in this city but the tenants union is making it harder and harder for these same renters to ever have a hope of buying. They may be overestimating the number of renters happy to stay renters forever.