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Overheard in Fog City:
Nation confirms opposition to Prop 98

Written by Luke Thomas. Posted in News, Politics

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Published on May 08, 2008 with 5 Comments


Senate District 3 candidate Joe Nation
Photo by Luke Thomas

By Luke Thomas

May 8, 2008

Senate District 3 candidate Joe Nation today confirmed his opposition to Proposition 98, a controversial measure on the California June ballot that would repeal rent control and limit government authority to implement mandatory inclusionary housing.

“We’ve had debate after debate and I have been clear on my position,” Nation told Fog City Journal. “I am opposed to Proposition 98 and I support Proposition 99.”

Nation said he is actively working to protect mobile home tenants facing eviction in Marin County from park owners who have tripled rents with the intent of squeezing out tenants to make way for the development of privately owned condos.

Sam Zell, chairman of Equity Lifestyle Properties Inc., a Chicago-based company that owns 112,000 residential units across the United States and Canada, and a dozen rent-controlled mobile home parks in California, stands to gain $15 million if Proposition 98 passes.

Zell has contributed $50,000 to the Yes on 98 campaign, according to documents filed with the Secretary of State.

Nation called news reports suggesting he supports Proposition 98, “a total fabrication.”

Luke Thomas

Luke Thomas

Luke Thomas is former software developer and computer consultant who proudly hails from London, England. In 2001, Thomas took a yearlong sabbatical to travel and develop a photographic portfolio. Upon his return to the US, Thomas studied photojournalism to pursue a career in journalism. In 2004, Thomas worked for several neighborhood newspapers in San Francisco before accepting a partnership agreement with the SanFranciscoSentinel.com, a news website formerly covering local, state and national politics. In September 2006, Thomas launched FogCityJournal.com. The BBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, New York Times, Der Spiegel, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Magazine, 7x7, San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco Bay Guardian and the San Francisco Weekly, among other publications and news outlets, has published his work. Thomas is a member of the Freelance Unit of the Pacific Media Workers Guild, TNG-CWA Local 39521.

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  • http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/patmonkrn patrick monk rn

    Has he announced his position on Prop F ?

  • wherespaul

    Hrm didn’t the Leno Lovers at beyondchron.org say Joe Nation is for Prop 98? I can’t find a mention of it on their website, so maybe they quietly retracted it. Nice journalism guys!

    If it wasn’t Beyond Chron, who are the other news reports suggesting Nation supports Prop 98??

  • njudahchronicles.com

    Sam Zell is also the new owner of the LA Times!

  • paulhogarth

    Beyond Chron *NEVER* said that Joe Nation supports Prop 98. I did talk to him a couple of times and asked him to come out against it. He said at the time that he probably would, but did not want to go on the record at that point.

    We did report that he was the only candidate to not publicly oppose Prop 98 (which was true until Fog City Journal broke the news that he come out against it). We also reported that San Francisco landlords were holding a fundraiser for Joe Nation (which is also true.)

    That Joe Nation now publicly opposes Prop 98 is a fact, and nobody has ever denied that. But it’s also a fact that he took a while to oppose it — while Mark Leno and Carole Migden had publicly opposed it for months and had passionately spoken out against it at rallies — and that landlords who oppose rent control are siding with Joe Nation’s campaign.

  • paulhogarth

    I should also point out that Joe Nation hasn’t really taken a position on rent control. Opposing Prop 98 is good, but to not oppose it you have to be to right of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Pete Wilson, George Radanovich and the Chamber of Commerce. You don’ t have to support rent control to oppose Prop 98 — you just have to drink tap water.

    So where does Joe Nation stand on rent control? Repealing the Ellis Act? Repealing Costa-Hawkins?