{"id":2429,"date":"2010-10-18T20:31:37","date_gmt":"2010-10-19T04:31:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fogcityjournal.com\/wordpress\/?p=2429"},"modified":"2022-06-27T10:03:29","modified_gmt":"2022-06-27T18:03:29","slug":"san-franciscos-outposts-of-dictatorship-and-what-you-can-do-if-you-live-in-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fogcityjournal.com\/wordpress\/2429\/san-franciscos-outposts-of-dictatorship-and-what-you-can-do-if-you-live-in-one\/","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco’s Outposts of Dictatorship,
and What You Can Do if You Live in One"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

By Greg Kamin<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Author’s Note: The following story is true, and may be very relevant to you, depending on where you live. Only the names of the individuals and businesses\u00a0involved have been changed -to protect the guilty. The names are not important. The principles are.<\/em><\/p>\n

October 18, 2010<\/p>\n

It’s been\u00a0four\u00a0days now since my settlement, and no one has firebombed my home yet. I don’t expect them to, because it would hurt their precious property values, so I think I’ll be OK in that regard. But let me back up and start from the beginning…<\/p>\n

I love this city. I love it for many reasons, not the least of which is that people participate in civic life to a degree to which you don’t find in many large cities. And yes, it’s a progressive city, like I am. But it’s not even about that. At some level, it’s less important which candidates or ballot initiatives you support, than the sheer fact that\u00a0you take the time to become informed about the political process, and express yourself as a participant. And we do. We protest, we fill up City Hall during Board of Supervisors meetings, we have mountains of political mail coming from more political clubs than the rest of California combined, we volunteer for campaigns, and everybody and their mother seems to have a campaign sign in their window around election time telling\u00a0their neighbors how\u00a0they\u00a0think they should vote.<\/p>\n

I’m no exception. So this year, I did what I have always done in every election since I moved to San Francisco. In late September I put up a couple of campaign signs in my windows -one for Michael Nava for Judge, and one for No on Sit\/Lie <\/a>(Prop L), two races which may be close and probably can use the attention. I admit I did it with a little bit of trepidation, because what is unusual in this condo complex where I moved to last year (as a tenant), is that unlike the rest of the city, no one here seems to do that. I’ve often wondered what kinds of people live in these squeaky clean condo complexes behind the locked gates and the bland walls where every unit looks the same. Do they care about the larger community in which they live? Or do they just drive their BMWs into their garages, lock the gates behind them, and watch TV, doing their best to lock themselves away in their own sheltered little enclave? Whatever, I thought. This is still San Francisco, and I’m going to go on participating in the exact same way I always have.<\/p>\n

Well, I soon found out exactly why no one puts up campaign signs here. It’s not that people are all that different here in this complex, which I’ll hereby call “Ourtopia” (not to be confused with U-topia). According to past voting patterns of my precinct, my neighbors are actually pretty decent folks right about in line with the rest of the city. It’s just that they don’t live in San Francisco. See, I was apparently mistaken about where I moved to. In fact, as I found out, apparently I no longer live in the Richmond district of San Francisco, or California, or the United States of America for that matter. Oh no. I live under one of the myriad of quasi-autonomous entities governed by little authoritarian\u00a0juntas known as HOAs (Home Owners Associations). And these HOAs make up all sorts of strange little laws <\/a>for subjects living under their rule, like the grandmother who got fined for kissing her date goodnight<\/a>. In my case, I soon found out that according to the Ourtopia Homeowners Association, the First Amendment does not apply within its hallowed grounds. And within 24 hours, I received an obnoxious, all-caps letter from the property manager, whom I will call Rueda Stickler, saying that “THE SIGNS YOU HAVE POSTED IN YOUR WINDOWS ARE A CLEAR VIOLATION OF THE RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE ASSOCIATION. PLEASE REMOVE THE SIGNS IMMEDIATELY… WE APPRECIATE YOUR COOPERATION IN THIS MATTER AND HOPE WE WILL NOT NEED TO FOLLOW UP REGARDING THIS INCIDENT IN THE FUTURE.”<\/p>\n

My reaction was the same as that of any ordinary human being under such circumstances -“What the…??? Can they do<\/em> that?” So I did some research, and the answer is… it depends on the state where you live. The Supreme Court has actually ruled that some of these laws are legal because you’re supposedly entering into a private, voluntary contract. Which is capitalist BULL**** as far as I’m concerned. But in some states… like California, there is a law designed specifically to protect residents’ rights to freedom of expression -section 1353.6<\/a> to be specific, which states:<\/p>\n

The governing documents, including the operating rules, may not prohibit posting or displaying of noncommercial signs, posters, flags, or banners on or in an owner’s separate interest, except as required for the protection of public health or safety or if the posting or display would violate a local, state, or federal law.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Translated into English: Hell No they can’t do that!<\/strong> So I took the signs down out of consideration\u00a0for my landlady, who said she was neutral on the sign issue but didn’t want to get the threatened $2000 per day fine (yikes!), but I also called Ms. Stickler to tell her that she really can’t tell me not to do this, per CA 1353.6. “So you’re going to fight this?” came the annoyed,\u00a0incredulous response on the other end.\u00a0I guess she never met anyone who cares about some\u00a0little old thing like constitutional rights? Um… yeah I’m going to fight it.<\/p>\n

And that’s when things got interesting. The 40-page book of “Rules” for the association technically have an exception for the law of the land, but also reference a whole other set of “rules” called CC&Rs (Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions), which I as a tenant apparently don’t have access to. I followed up with an email to Ms. Stickler asking her which rule I violated,\u00a0and got back only obstinance and hostility in return. She refused to tell me the rule I violated, but did offer by way of explanation, “Do you know what this complex would look like if we allowed political signs?” Well… it would look like the people who live here are involved in civic life! But this whole thing about violating some “rule” that I can’t see, which if it existed would be in complete contravention to the law… it was all beginning to sound like something out of Kafka.\u00a0So that’s when I called the local ACLU.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, still hoping to resolve the Kafka-esque nightmare on my own, I figured sometimes it’s better to go over the heads of the hired guns and have a dialogue with the HOA (Homeowner’s Association) board itself. Sometimes those guys are petty little fascists, but sometimes they can be reasonable. So I called up one of the Board members, Herb Flowerbed. Herb’s a nice enough fellow. A little bit of a stick up his rear end, but otherwise alright. But on this issue, though, the conversation\u00a0proved surreal. Herb explained that the Association had always tried to be “apolitical,” completely missing the irony that banning political speech was itself a political statement. He told me that if I wanted to elect this guy [Nava] then I should take an ad out in the paper, or contribute some money. Actually, I did. But of course that’s not the point! And “If you put up a sign for Nava, then why can’t I put up a sign for Osama Bin Laden?” Well, gosh Herb… I didn’t figure you to be an Islamic fundamentalist, but far be it for me to tell you who to support. The underlying issue, of course, was Herb’s idea of aesthetics (campaign signs look like “junk” to Mr. Flowerbed) and property values. Ah yes, money trumps everything.\u00a0Personally, I would argue that property values are actually depressed by disallowing signs. A lot of people like to post campaign signs in San Francisco, and stifling their free speech rights is a surefire way to limit the marketability of your condos to that huge block of potential buyers. But I didn’t want to belabor the point, because frankly it’s academic. The real issue is that I have a fundamental right to freedom of expression under the law.<\/em> When I explained the law to Mr. Flowerbed, he told me, “Maybe our association doesn’t recognize<\/em> that law.” I love that part. It’s as if the Ourtopia condo complex is not a part of San Francisco, California, but rather an independent fiefdom with the ability to choose which articles of the California constitution to “recognize,” and confer or deny privileges\u00a0upon\u00a0its subjects as they deem fit.<\/p>\n

But the part that really got my goat was the insistence, throughout the whole chain of conversations with both Mr. Flowerbed and Ms. Stickler, that I didn’t even have a right to appeal anything to them, because I am a tenant<\/em> and not an owner<\/em>. The argument being that I don’t have the same stake as they do, even though this is my home and there is one set of rules that govern everyone. Now if you really want to piss me off, just try and tell me that I’m not entitled to the same rights to freedom of speech as you are, because you’re a wealthy landowner, and I am not. If that’s the way it’s going to be, then I’ll see you guys in court.<\/p>\n

Well, as luck would have it, one of the attorneys working on my case had a hand in writing the law itself, so this was something they knew a thing or two about. Fundamentally, it’s not a tough case. The law is crystal clear that the condo association can’t do this. We thought that a letter would be enough. They ignored it. So we sent them another letter telling them that we’re going to court. At that point, the president of “Guarded\u00a0Moat Property Management Company,” “Mr. Wiley Fox,” Ms. Stickler’s boss, stepped in and offered a “settlement.” One sign, 8 1\/2″ by 11″. I said, “This is a joke, right?” Maybe they thought I <\/em>was joking when I told them that I was going to fight for my constitutional rights.<\/p>\n

I wasn’t. The hearing was scheduled for Friday morning. On Thursday afternoon, Mr. Wiley Fox, realizing that the proverbial feces would indeed hit the proverbial fan, finally relented on the campaign signs, and they promptly went back into the window.<\/p>\n

It’s almost a pity from\u00a0my\u00a0perspective. I’m not a confrontational guy, but when this couldn’t be solved with a simple conversation, it became more than about me and my right to put up campaign signs. There are literally of hundreds of thousands of Californians who live under these little regimes, and almost none of them know their rights. To illustrate the point, the volunteer at the ACLU <\/em>who I first talked to, told me that she lives in a condo complex too, and they told her the same thing -signs are banned, and their rules supersede the law<\/em>. And she believed them! This is a profound illustration of a principle of human psychology, that when someone presents themselves as an authority figure, that person is automatically\u00a0granted a certain level of deference and trust, even when the things coming out of their mouth are patently ridiculous! Such as “condo rules supersede California law.” The HOA of Ourtopia and Guarded\u00a0Moat Property Management should consider themselves lucky it didn’t actually go to trial. They would have lost, badly, and<\/em> the case would have received media attention informing people far and wide that they do have rights<\/em><\/strong> within these condo associations.<\/p>\n

I followed up with Mr. Flowerbed after the settlement. I wrote him an email expressing my satisfaction that reason had finally prevailed, albeit at the 11th hour, and also borrowed the language of Ms. Stickler: “We appreciate your cooperation in this matter and hope we will not need to follow up regarding this incident in the future.” I left out the all-caps. I did, however, ask for an apology. Thought they’d appreciate that.<\/p>\n

The next day, I got a letter back from one “Demi Draco” who identified herself as the president of Ourtopia HOA. Naturally no apology was forthcoming. Instead, I was treated to a lovely rant about how I’m a tenant and thus don’t have\u00a0the same\u00a0rights\u00a0as they, the landowners. This was followed by a tangential rant about how hard the owners work to make the place look clean and keep out the scruffy people in the neighborhood, how bikers always get flat tires from broken bottles, how they have to constantly clean up urine and feces, how they always have to call the police, how everyone gets panhandled walking around the neighborhood, and so on. I guess she’s in favor of Sit\/Lie then…<\/p>\n

I turned and asked my wife, “Have you ever been panhandled in this neighborhood?” She said, “No.” Funny, we both walk in this neighborhood too, even though we’re not of the Privileged Class of Landowners. And neither she nor I have ever been panhandled in this neighborhood. Not that we’d freak out if we were. We just haven’t been. Not even once. And yet to some people, it happens all the time. Funny how that is. Nor have I ever gotten a flat tire from a broken bottle. And 99% of the feces out there is dog feces, mostly from the dogs of the Privileged Class of Landowners. That’s because some of the dogs being walked, are owned by, well… pigs. But they don’t see it that way. When a privileged member of the landowning class leaves their dog feces lying around and then takes shelter behind the gates of their condo building, that’s just fine. But when a scruffy person sits around chatting and maybe having a beer… well now, we need to call the police so they can be arrested.<\/p>\n

Yes, I\u00a0can imagine that to someone like that, my “No on Sit\/Lie” sign is pretty offensive. But you know what? If the only speech we’re allowed to have is non-offensive speech, then there’s really no point to free speech at all. Might as well live in an authoritarian dictatorship. Just go to work, watch the TV, live quietly and don’t discuss politics, and you’ll be fine.<\/p>\n

But I can’t live that way. I guess I just don’t understand the way some folks think. There are people who honestly believe that their sense of aesthetics and ideas on property values trump our fundamental human rights? I don’t think I’ll ever understand that. But these people are out there. And that’s why I wrote this piece. I hope other people pick up on this all over San Francisco, all over California, all over America. And I hope they challenge them… again, and again, and again. Until everyone knows that they have rights. Because as the ACLU\u00a0folks are fond of saying, “Like muscles, rights atrophy unless they’re exercised.” Because what good are rights if they’re only on paper? What good is a law if it’s going to be ignored?<\/p>\n

But if you use the rights you have under the law, the law is there to protect you. And if any of these little dictatorships try to tell you otherwise, I know a couple of good attorneys who would love to clean their clocks in court.<\/strong>?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In late September I put up a couple of campaign signs in my windows -one for Michael Nava for Judge, and one for No on Sit\/Lie (Prop L), two races which may be close and probably can use the attention.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5879,"featured_media":2430,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nSan Francisco's Outposts of Dictatorship, and What You Can Do if You Live in One - Fog City Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fogcityjournal.com\/wordpress\/2429\/san-franciscos-outposts-of-dictatorship-and-what-you-can-do-if-you-live-in-one\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"San Francisco's Outposts of Dictatorship, and What You Can Do if You Live in One - 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