Protest against gentrification erupts in the Mission

A lively blend of percussion and anger roared through the Mission District, where some 400 people assembled on Oct. 12 in a historic protest amid an escalating housing crisis.

Organizers declared a state of emergency due to a record rate of evictions while evictees decried affluent newcomers, largely from Bay Area tech companies.Protesters joined in an uproar, reclaiming the neighborhood amid more frequent evictions.

“The tech bubble is going to pop, and the working class is going to take over,” said José Luis Pavón, a 35-year-old public health worker and lifelong Mission resident.

The parade of dancers, drummers and protesters commenced at 24th and Hampshire streets and snaked through 24th Street, from Potrero to Mission streets.

Nearly 20 speakers demanded more racial sensitivity, reformed tenant rights, an end to luxury condo developments in the Mission, and more affordable housing.

The protest stopped beside St. Peter’s Church, which may evict St. Peter’s Bookstore and G.G. Tukuy Indigenous Arts and Crafts in order to bring in a higher rent and an upscale restaurant.

The church has been made an offer of $100,000 by a prospective buyer, said Erick Arguello, founder of the Lower 24th Street Merchants Association.

“How dare they talk about evicting when the Bible says we should love and care for one another,” said speaker Brooke Oliver.

The march then stopped in front of an eatery at 23rd and Bryant streets called Local’s Corner. Sandy Cuadra, 48, recounted an episode of alleged discrimination that occurred on April 20— Cesar Chavez Day 2013. She and her family of five were allegedly told they couldn’t be accommodated though there were many open seats.

Rising evictions
Gloria Vasquez, a Mission homeowner since 1990, has seen friends harassed out of their homes by landlords eager to profit from the recent boom. She often receives mail from realtors offering four to five times the original price of the building.

“Since the new people are already here—our upscale neighbors—we need to come to the table to help balance what they love about this neighborhood and to keep it here,” Vasquez said.

“The dynamicism and eclecticism due to the mix of people that are being gentrified and homogenized, undermining what makes this neighborhood attractive,” said Rafael Mandelman, a lawyer and former City College trustee. Mandelman lives at 24th and Valencia streets.

The Ellis Act, which bypasses the 14 just causes for evicting unwanted tenants in San Francisco, essentially states that the owner is “going out of business,” opening the property for purchase. Units evicted under this act have increased by 55 percent since last year, according to August’s report by the San Francisco Rent Board.

Rene Yañez, who brought Dia de los Muertos to San Francisco in 1972 by establishing the Nov. 2 parade, was threatened with an Ellis Act eviction this year. Yañez and his wife, who are in their 70’s, are both diagnosed with cancer and have applied for a year postponement of their eviction due to their health conditions.

“I see them everyday, the hordes of iPad and iPhone texting zombies, oblivious to us and our lives, our inspirations and tribulations,” wrote Yañez’ friend, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, in an open letter on his blog. “I see them in my building and on the street, invading the city with an attitude of unchecked entitlement, taking over every square inch and squeezing out the last drops of otherness.”

Supervisor David Campos, who lives in Bernal Heights and represents the Mission, said he is drafting legislation that would protect tenants from harassment by landlords. He said it will be introduced within a month.

District 11 Supervisor John Avalos denounced new luxury condo developments.

“The only way we’re going to get out of this eviction and gentrification epidemic is to have demonstrations like this, bigger and bigger,” Avalos said on stage. “I’m so sick at heart to see luxury housing developments. There should be a call across the city. No luxury rate housing.”

A longer version of this article was originally published in the Bay Area Reporter.