By Tim Redmond
AUGUST 12, 2014 — A few moments after tenant activist Erin McElroy stepped out of a Vanguard Properties office on Mission Street and began chanting “Stop the Evictions” into a bullhorn, a middle-aged man who apparently worked in the office followed her out.
“Go get a job,” he shouted at her.
Seriously?
That was hardly the only moment when I wondered what the Vanguard people were thinking. This was a peaceful demonstration, one of dozens that happen all the time in this city, with tenants calling on landlords to resist the quick profits of the Ellis Act and preserve affordable rental housing.
There were only about a dozen protesters. They entered the open doors of the Vanguard office, tried to deliver a letter in support of 64-year-old teacher Benito Santiago, and offered up a few chants.
A Vanguard partner named Michael Harrison, through a front company named Pinapple Boy LLC, is evicting Santiago.
Nobody at the demonstration threatened anyone. If the Vanguard people had just chilled out, the whole thing would have been over in about ten minutes.
But no: People in the office confronted the protesters, in some cases physically pushing them toward the doors. They sought to block and even snatch cameras. I was frankly relieved when the cops got there; someone could have gotten hurt.
The police did what you would expect – they made sure the office was secure, made sure nobody was blocking the sidewalk, and let the protest continue. No arrests, no big deal. It was all over pretty quickly.
But tensions are really high in the city right now. People like Santiago, whose way-below-market rent still sucks up nearly half the money he earns as a paraprofessional at SFUSD and a dance teacher, are getting tossed out everywhere. The landlords who are doing it can’t possibly expect that the tenants are going to sit by quietly and let it happen.
Again: I watched the whole thing, and saw no indication that any tenant activist was anything but peaceful – until the real-estate people started pushing and shoving – and even then, the demonstrators generally kept their cool.
“We don’t want to get arrested,” McElroy said before the event. “We are going to deliver our message, and then leave.”
From what I saw, though, the landlords are feeling the heat. And not reacting terribly well.
There’s some interesting video posted on YouTube here.
