On July 30, Michael Steinberg Writes:, "Today San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom hid in his office and locked the door on a crowd of tenants who came to petition him to support a package of renter relief measures. The SF Board of Supervisors passed the package earlier this month, but not by a veto proof margin, and Newsom has said he will veto it."

Today, as a crowd of tenants from across San Francisco chanted, “Let Us In!” San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom hid in his office and locked the door on them. Over 50 renters from the Tenderloin, Chinatown, South of Market, the Mission, Bayview and other city neighborhoods gathered on the steps of City Hall at noon to protest Newsom’s promise to veto a package of renter relief measures passed by the Board of Supervisors earlier this month.

One measure would provide for limiting a tenant’s rent to 33% of income. A second would make it easier to add roommates to help pay the rent. And the third would limit “banked” rent increases (those saved up from previous years) to 8% a year. All three measures, sponsored by Supervisor Chris Daly, are intended to provide economic relief to tenants hard hit by the current economic crisis.

Though the measures passed, the margin was not enough to overcome a mayoral veto. And Newsom has announced that he will veto them. At noon a line of tenants stood holding signs and wearing tee shirts reading “Where’s Our Relief?”

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