compiled by the El Reportero’s staff
After gobbling up half the rental housing stock of East Palo Alto and aggressively raising rents, Page Mill Properties has invoked the controversial Ellis Act to evict tenants in the small city of East Palo Alto, according to news release. Page Mill has targeted buildings with outspoken local activists, prompting accusations that the evictions are retaliatory.
Those familiar with the Ellis Act were not surprised to see it used in this way. “This is how the Ellis Act is used — it’s a horrible law that needs to be repealed,” said Ted Gullicksen, director of the San Francisco Tenants Union. Originally justifi ed as a way for small landlords to get out of the rental business, the Ellis Act has become a favorite tool of real estate speculators to turn a quick profi t by buying rent controlled housing, evicting all tenants and reselling the units.
Page Mill’s activities in East Palo Alto received signifi cant fi nancing, to the tune of $100 million, from CalPERS, California’s public employee pension fund. Tenant and labor advocates have criticized CalPERS’ involvement, noting that the pension fund’s members are effectively funding a scheme to displace CalPERS’ members from their affordable homes. SEIU Local 521 passed a resolution condemning Page Mill’s conduct, as did the City Council of East Palo Alto.
Howard girdlestone gives $1 million for new Sequoia Hospital
REDWOOD CITY, CA- June 11, 2009 – The Sequoia Hospital announced that Howard Girdlestone has pledged $1 million to help build and equip Redwood City’s new Sequoia Hospital. The gift was made to The New Sequoia Hospital Campaign, which has raised $7.5 million of its $20 million goal.
A former member of both the United States Navy and Marine Corps, Mr. Girdlestone moved to San Carlos in 1953 and purchased his home for just $19,000. In the years since, he has become a prominent fi gure in the community, as the founding President of the Parks and Recreation Foundation of San Carlos, Citizen of the Year in 2001, and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s Outstanding Philanthropist for 2008. Mr. Girdlestone became active with Sequoia Hospital in the early 1990’s and publicly credits Sequoia’s physicians and staff with curing his prostate cancer with radiation. He has served on the Sequoia Hospital Foundation’s Board of Directors since 2004.
“Realizing the importance of Sequoia Hospital to our community, I am very proud to join with others in being a part of its development,” said Mr. Girdlestone. “I know this facility will im- prove the quality of life for the people on the Peninsula and the surrounding region for decades to come.”
Sequoia is building a new hospital at its historic site in Redwood City, at the intersection of Alameda de las Pulgas and Whipple Avenue. The new hospital will be a full-service, 148,000 square foot, four-story building located in the center of the Sequoia campus adjacent to the existing hospital facility.
Two floors of the new hospital, approximately 50% of the entire new hospital, will be dedicated to cardiac and vascular services. Plans for the new hospital also include an inpatient surgery center with two suites designed to accommo-date open-heart surgery and a 16-bed intensive care unit. Virtually all of the patient rooms will be private rooms and they will have sleeping accommodations for family members.
