Tenants telling the government to leave them alone, city officials denying responsibility, landlords ignoring fire codes and illegal residences, master tenants breaking the law with no concern for the safety of those entering the GS. This may be the best example of what SNAFU means that I've ever seen. :facepalm:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/22/us/why-the-ghost-ship-was-invisible-in-oakland-until-36-died.html
Makes my blood boil. Crappy electrical system, no sprinklers, shoddy "stairway" to hell - all of that could have/should have been corrected. Derick Ion collected money from the tenants supposedly for improvements - which he never made. Where did that money go?
The landlord, Ng, has a properties portfolio of 5 million dollars. She's paid over 26k in fines over the years. Clearly this is a situation where it's cheaper to pay fines than take care of the problems. According to online records the building is only assessed at 43k, with a property tax of about $1300 a year. She's getting more than the property value in rent so how hard would it be to make some improvements?
And the city has some 'splainin to do too: