From readers
Send S.F. condo bills back

Published: Sunday, January 15, 2006 6:19 PM PST

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom should veto both of pieces of Supervisor Chris Daly's anti-homeownership legislation [Condo-conversion bills pass, but Newsom vote may loom,” Jan. 11]. Landlord-tenant issues are decided at the Rent Control Board, not the Planning Commission, whose decisions will be appealed to the Board of Supervisors.

This overused appeal process will allow the Board of Supervisors to make the decision on whether small owner-occupied buildings can be sold for full market value. After subsidizing tenants for years, property owners — especially those who own small buildings of two to five units — are forced, in order to receive full value, to sell their buildings empty due to San Francisco 's draconian over-regulation of residential rental property. Many owners are not able to navigate the complexities of emptying and subdividing their buildings themselves and sell to speculators. The evictions Daly speaks of are caused by legislation he and several current and former board members enacted into law.

A free housing market regulated by supply and demand and an efficient planning and permitting process would be far more effective in filling the need for home ownership opportunities without evictions than all of the regulations San Francisco 's supervisors can dream up.

Howard Epstein


Vice Chair, San Francisco Republican Party


The City