From the President
by Eric Andresen
Here we go again, on the brink of yet another election cycle. We should all be thinking about how we can take advantage of the available opportunities that will appear on the November ballot. This year, we have an incredible chance to change the makeup of the Board of Supervisors. We can easily vote in a group that will resemble a reputable leadership body. The time has come at last for this city to begin acting like the metropolitan mecca that it pretends to be.
On the ballot this November is an effort by Supervisor Chris Daly to stop the demolition of an eyesore property at Eighth and Market Streets. Never mind the fact that improvements are happening in the neighborhood already or that the new building slated for the Market Street lot is the cornerstone of the revitalization plan for the entire area.
The same ballot includes two taxation proposals: a new gross receipts tax and an increase in the sales tax. A job killer? Maybe. Only time will tell. Once again, there is another affordable housing bond that could seemingly pour more money into the housing abyss. Backward thinking? Yep. Surprised? Not at all. This has been the standard for many, many years. It will apparently take some really deep soul searching before enough property owners finally take on the required chore of restructuring how San Francisco governs its housing issues.
Soul searching is what we all have to do right now. As I stated earlier, we really have the potential to make dramatic improvements in the way business is done in our city. By voting for fresh faces on the board—people who are reasonable and responsive—we could find ourselves with a majority vote, something we have not experienced for what seems like decades.
Unfortunately, if history proves the determining factor, too many San Francisco property owners are going to sit on their hands or point fingers and do absolutely nothing. One of my biggest frustrations is the fact that there are only a few people who step up to the plate to help our fight, but plenty of people are quick to scream and holler when something does not go their way. This is so blatantly unfair that it disturbs me to even have to write about it.
So, what will happen in November and beyond? I really don't know. The answer lies with property owners in San Francisco who need to vote responsibly and support their own industry. Success will not be measured by the number of hours that the San Francisco Apartment Association's (SFAA's) staff will put into the fight. It will not be measured by how many dollars a few of us will contribute when called upon. Success will only be measured by the efforts that each of us put into the process of making our voices and actions count.
SFAA members and all property owners in San Francisco have an immense responsibility to this industry. It has provided many citizens with excellent investment opportunities and, in most cases, the housing market is their livelihood. The value of maintaining this livelihood is more than a hundredfold of what a majority of you actually donate to various housing causes. That, in itself, is what has defined today's housing market. It is time to invest in our future.
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. Eric Andresen is the current president of the SFAA, the vice president of the California Apartment Association, a past president of the PPMA and the original author of the PPMA Residential Tenancy Agreement. Eric owns and operates both West Coast Property Management and West Coast Property Maintenance Company. He can be reached at eric@wcpm.com. Copyright © 2004 by the San Francisco Apartment Magazine. All rights reserved.