In the midst of economic boom, it’s rare to find a businessman who’s more interested in human consequences than the bottom line. In the San Francisco Bay Area, it’s even more rare. But gay Benicia landlord Gene Pedrotti, 58, is showing there’s a viable alternative to greed called compassion. Go figure.
As is the case in many major metro areas across the country, the Bay Area is going through major growing pains. As property values continue to rise and new housing construction doesn’t meet demand, it’s the lower-income, often long-time tenants that get the short end of the stick. That’s if they’re lucky enough to get a stick at all — evictions have become as common as fog in July (aka very common).
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Pedrotti, a hardware store owner, had plans to build a new shop on the site of the trailer park he owns. But he withdrew the permit when he learned the personal stories of the mostly senior tenants and the fate he’d be assigning them if they were forced to move.
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Pedrotti originally intended to do right by the tenants. He would offer buyouts to the residents, pay for relocation costs and subsidize their new housing for the next two years.
It seemed like a great idea. New, nicer homes for the tenants, improved commercial development for the neighborhood, and a spot for Pedrotti, who currently leases a space at the Southampton Shopping Center, to call his own.
But then he found out that eight senior citizens living in the park were told it could take “several” years to find replacement housing. In the meantime, they’d be on their own with nowhere to live in Benicia, where many had resided for years.
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“I cannot proceed to close the park at this time when the assurance of replacement affordable housing is so vague,” he told the city council.
“I know what it feels like to be excluded,” he added in a SF Chronicle profile.
Pedrotti also decided to go one step further. He’s pledged $100,000 to the Benicia Community Action Council over the next decade, a nonprofit organization that provides assistance to residents struggling to meet basic human needs.
In a housing climate where the dollar is heralded as the ultimate endgame, Pedrotti shows how human costs can be factored into the equation.
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Giancarlo85
He’s a good guy with a lot of compassion. Now if we only had more people like him in this country (would mean republicans have no chance at winning an election for example)…
Glücklich
Well that’s nice. Benicia’s a cute little town. Bit of trivia: Benicia was one of the early state capitals of California before they settled on Sacramento.
Sand Nierenberg
God bless him not nice to do that to people who have nothing
Brian JC Kneeland
I could not get any page with the article on it to open up!
Billy Budd
Wonderful person.
jwtraveler
Must be a Communist!
seaguy
This man is setting an example for other landlords to follow but sadly most won’t as they are mostly greedy, uncaring developers who only only care about one thing, money!
Kevin J Desmond
The page is blocked some how
ChutneyGray
@jwtraveler: Bigoted, just a little maybe?
ChutneyGray
I wish there were more Christians that acted the way this landlord has acted. The world would be a better place.
james_in_cambridge
Clearly this guy is not a Republican. Amazing guy!!
1EqualityUSA
Republicans would not only boot them off of the property, but work to take their health care away.
Goforit
@ChutneyGray: Hey Chutney….. You must be new to the comments section. @jwtraveler: (s) post was ( if I may ) meant to be sarcastic. Got a chuckle out of me.
jwtraveler
@seaguy: The U.S. is about capitalism; capitalism is about making money without regard for human consequences. It’s not just landlords. That’s the way business works. This guy is a very rare individual who equates his own difficulties as a gay man with those of other marginalized, powerless people. One would like to see this perspective from other gay people, but unfortunately most of them are just trying to be as much like straight capitalists as possible.
Giancarlo85
@ChutneyGray: I wish there were more PEOPLE who acted the way this guy did. Not just one group of people, but everyone!
@jwtraveler:
http://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/welcome-to-beautiful-parkersburg/
Yes. Most don’t give a shit about others. The above is proof.
rand503
More Proof how horrible the “homosexual lifestyle” is.
scotty
good form, sir!