Squatters Embassy (squatter@dds.nl)
Wed, 03 Nov 1999 20:46:12 +0100
onderstaande link werkt wel, soms moet je de zin eronder er nog aan plakken, is onze digibetenervaring >*********************************************************** >HOMELESS PEOPLE'S VIEWS, News, Alerts, Actions & Research >5,000+ ONLINE posts by or via homeless & ex-homeless people >HOMELESS PEOPLE'S NETWORK http://aspin.asu.edu/hpn >*********************************************************** > >http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/examiner/hotnews/stories/17/sq uatti >ng.dtl&type=printable >FWD San Francisco Examiner Saturday, July 17, 1999 > > LIFESTYLE UPGRADE: FROM HOMELESS TO SQUATTER > > Group urges unused S.F. buildings > be taken over by those who need them > > By Kathleen Sullivan > of The Examiner Staff > >At first glance, the announcement looks like a real estate advertisement: >"2126 Steiner. 6 large units -- all vacant since October of 1998 when >landlord "Ellised' the building. Steiner at California. Great neighborhood; >near stores, MUNI." > >But the notice on the Web site of the San Francisco Tenants Union isn't >aimed at potential renters or home buyers. > >"Squatters!" it says. "Ellis Buildings Available Now!" > >The month-old campaign is a project of Homes Not Jails, a San Francisco >group -- affiliated with the tenants union -- that helps homeless people >move into vacant buildings. > >The Web site lists the addresses of five buildings vacated under the Ellis >Act, a state law that allows landlords to take their property off the >rental market, evict tenants and move into the vacant units, sell them as >condominiums or demolish them. > >The buildings listed on the Web site have been empty for nine months to two >years. > >Even though it's legal to get rid of tenants under the Ellis Act, Ted >Gullicksen, office manager of the tenants union and a founder of Homes Not >Jails, finds it loathsome. > >"It is particularly nefarious to evict people under the Ellis Act when >there are already so many homeless people living on the street," Gullicksen >said. "Where there are vacant and abandoned buildings, people should be >allowed to live in them. Squatting is a form of civil disobedience. It can >be a matter of life and death for someone who is homeless." > >He said most of the homes listed on the Web site were located in marginal >neighborhoods that were on the verge of being gentrified. > >The property owners, Gullicksen said, may be evicting tenants to get around >The City's rent control law, which limits rent increases that can be >imposed on existing tenants. > >He also alleged that owners had left the buildings vacant because they >planned to re-rent them later at a higher rent -- a violation of the Ellis >Act -- or sell them in the future when their values rose. > >Under the Ellis Act, owners must charge the old rents if they put the >buildings back on the rental market. > >Homes Not Jails has helped some homeless people squat in some of the >buildings listed on the Web site, said Gullicksen, but no one is in them >now. > >Those who do respond to the call by Homes Not Jails to squat in the vacant >buildings may find themselves a new home of sorts -- behind bars. > >"Folks who squat would be subject to arrest on misdemeanor charges of >trespassing or loitering on private property," said Clarence Johnson, a >spokesman in the San Francisco district attorney's office. "They could get >a maximum of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine." > >Edward Conner, owner of the Steiner Street building, could not be reached >for comment on the squatting campaign. > >Another one of the targeted buildings is a single-family home known as >Black House, at 6114 California St. > >The dilapidated house once served as the worldwide headquarters of Anton >LaVey and his Church of Satan. > >"What a charming service they're providing," laughed Todd Werby, a >spokesman for owner Cass-Bagley Corp., when he learned of the Homes Not >Jails campaign. Werby said the company was considering the property as a >development site for condominiums. > >Aaron Peskin, president of the Telegraph Hill neighborhood association, >also got a laugh out of the campaign, because one of the targeted buildings >is owned by Charlie Crocker, a descendant of railroad and banking baron >Charles Crock er. > >The neighborhood group was recently foiled in its attempt to block >Crocker's plan to build a "mega-mansion" on Telegraph Hill. Crocker plans >to merge the four-unit apartment building at 1403 Montgomery St., from >which he evicted tenants, and the house he bought next door. > >"As president of the Telegraph Hill Dwellers Neighborhood Association, I'm >not encouraging people to squat anywhere on Telegraph Hill or in the >building that will become Charlie Crocker's mansion," Peskin said. "But >that's an entertaining thought." > >Homes Not Jails is also encouraging people to squat in a two-unit building >located at 144-146 Shot well St. > >Owner Ken Burge said the building was sitting in the middle of an equipment >rental yard. He had hoped to demolish the house and expand the commercial >space on his property, but he was denied a permit because it is a >historical building. > >"We would like to turn it into a commercial space because everything around >it is commercial," he said. > >He'd be happy if someone wanted to move the building, but he discouraged >people from squatting. > >"There are drugs going through there every night, right in front of it," he >said. "It's a bad area." > >END FORWARD > >**In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is >distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior >interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and >educational purposes only.** > > >HOMELESS PEOPLE'S NETWORK <http://aspin.asu.edu/hpn> >5,000+ POSTS by or via homeless & ex-homeless people >Nothing About Us Without Us - Democratize Public Policy > ******************************krakenmail************************************ *** Voor automatisch afmelden klik / to unsubscribe use: mailto:majordomoNotApllicable?body=unsubscribe%20kraken Beheer: mailto:speculan@dds.nl (the administrator) Oude berichten op / old mailmessages at: <HttpNoTaPplicable?/ascii/kraken/index.html> Post-vragen: mailto:postmasterNotApllicable Let op: wij sturen email via deze lijst automatisch door. Er is geen controle. Het openen van een meegstuurde attachment is voor uw eigen risico. Ons advies: lees de tekst en open geen attachment. Voor vragen mail de postmaster.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b3 on Wed 03 Nov 1999 - 22:52:14 CET