Councilmember's Housing Project Hit by Vandalism

The Lincoln Court housing project that councilmember Jean Quan pushed through City Hall over heavy neighborhood criticism has been hit by major vandalism.

Quan is noted for her anti-police stance. In the Dimond district, where the housing project is located, she went along with the police department's withdrawal of the area's walking officer.

In her Oct. 27, 2005 weekly newsletter, Quan reports, "The Lincoln Courts senior residence currently under construction at Lincoln and MacArthur has recently been the victim of large-scale vandalism. In the past tools and supplies have been stolen, but this loss, while constant, has been relatively minor. Now, on the weekend of October 22, vandals broke into the site and caused over $20,000 worth of damage when they cut phone and data wires and pulled them out of walls, affecting 42 different apartments."

Quan pushed the City into a multi-million dollar giveaway to the for-profit developer of Lincoln Court – Meea Kang, operating as Domus Development. Kang lined up a series of loans, including a sweetheart $3.5 million handout from the City. The loan requires no repayment of interest or principal for the first 14 years! Kang hardly had to put up equity cash, yet the City allowed her a million dollars of profit, called a "Deferred Developer Fee."

Adding insult to injury, after year 14, Domus and its so-called non-profit partner, SHE (Self Help for the Elderly), will take out $25,000 every year for a so-called partnership asset management fee, separate from the property management company's charges.

Quan claims credit for razing the infamous prostitution-ridden Hillcrest Motel that stood on the site, but the real work was done by neighbors who put in ten years of activism and legal action before Quan arrived. Quan blessed purchase of the land from the motel owner for $2.2 million. This was an inflated price for a lot that would hold about ten single-family homes or townhomes.

In addition to spiking the Dimond district's walking officer, Quan is against funding for adequate public safety in general. Less than a month after she persuaded voters to pass Measure Y taxes in Nov. 2004, she insisted at an all-day City budget meeting, "Police may be a priority, but not to give more money." She has postponed the 802 police that Measure Y requires into the distant future, but she and the rest of the city council ordered immediate collection of the violence prevention parcel tax (see your recently arrived tax bill for 2005-2006).

Quan wants the community to help stop the vandalism at Meea Kang's project. Quan's weekly newsletter pleads, "Domus Development, who is building Lincoln Courts, has fenced the site and hired extra security, but they need help. Please be on the alert for suspicious activity in this area, and report it to the police immediately."

It is something of a contradiction when councilmember Quan, who for years has shifted money out of the police department and into her pork barrel programs, expects immediate police response. But Quan has never been noted for rigorous thinking.