The irony is that Sup. Amos Brown's housing/rent control study will never count the illegal eviction which he did—and which he never reported to the Rent Board—just so he could move into a district more favorable to his re-election. Nor will the study analyze the impact on the evicted senior and her disabled grandchild, such as what happens to them. Nor will the study determine whether or not he moves into the home or just keeps at as a politically expedient address. Nor will the study categorize this "owner move in" eviction as one where the landlord has ulterior motives or is simply a struggling first-time-home-owner who felt he had no choice but to evict.

Given that this "study" was proposed by the real estate community and championed by a landlord-Supervisor previously known mainly for his personal war on poor people, but now known mainly as a callous evictor of old people, that tenants are suspicious of this "study" is quite reasonable.

It is hard to believe that the conclusions have not already been written by the real estate industry and their politician-puppets and—surprise—"Conclusion: Study Says Letting Landlords Raise Rents Will Actually Lower Rents."

It's too bad that that's what will probably be the outcome of any housing study because tenants and politicians could certainly benefit from a real and unbiased analysis of our housing market.

From the outset, the call for a study of rent control in San Francisco was an undisguised staging of an attack on rent control. The proposal surfaced from the offices of landlord groups and was first embraced by Amos Brown and then by Mayor Brown, who noted that such a study should determine if rent control should be repealed for middle and upper income tenants. The Mayor's support stemmed not just from his own anti-tenant sentiments but also from deals he made during his campaign to support such a study in exchange for backing from the real estate industry (which was given to him big-time).

Given that what Mayor Brown wants he gets, Sups. Bierman and Ammiano gamely sought to bring some objectivity and sense to the study. Bringing the various factions together, they were able to get Sup. Brown to re-draft the legislation so that its scope was a comprehensive look at all aspects of housing policy in San Francisco (from public housing to private housing, from planning issues to habitability issues, etc.). The legislation also was rewritten to include a study protocol which included a laundry list of items which tenants want to see researched (as opposed to the initial legislation which would look only at what landlords wanted).

As noted, tenants can actually benefit from a comprehensive and unbiased study. The Tenants Union does more research on rent control, eviction and conversion issues than anyone and we know pretty much what the facts are (they are not facts which make one think of scaling back the regulation of the real estate industry).

A true study is likely to reveal how much the real estate industry has profiteered off the housing crisis here. A comparison of huge profits gained via rent increases on vacant units of 25%+ a year and increases in landlord equity assets of 25%+ a year at a time when inflation is virtually nonexistent will be eye-opening. And this profiteering will be even more eye-opening when contrasted to what happens to people who are evicted and how gentrification and displacement are changing San Francisco.

But that may be naive. This is Willie Brown's San Francisco and he will pretty much do what he can to make sure it stays friendly to people who make millions off real estate speculation (and in his thinking if poor and middle income people are driven from San Francisco as a result, then that's just an added bonus).

The study will now be put out for bid. The way it's supposed to work will be that an unbiased researcher will get the bid. The way it seems to work in San Francisco is that a friend of Willie's will get the bid (if we're lucky, it's just cause the Mayor wants to send some money to his friend; if we're unlucky it's cause the friend needs the money and also has Willie's anti-tenant beliefs).

Tenant groups will continue to monitor the process and hope for some real unbiased study. But that will be a challenge in a city where white males get certified as minority contractors and evicted tenants have to bribe Housing Authority workers in order to get Section 8 housing.