SAN FRANCISCO (KRON)—Nearly 10,000 people have signed a Care2 petition designed to curb artist evictions following the Ghost Ship warehouse fire.
The petition urges San Francisco and Oakland officials to put a moratorium on unsolicited fire inspections.
It was started by a San Francisco resident and the signatures were delivered at City Hall during the San Francisco Department of Building Inspections meeting Wednesday morning.
“I was grateful for the chance to deliver nearly 10,000 Care2 petition signatures to the San Francisco Department of Building Inspections today, asking them not to take a punitive approach to artist building safety,” said petition author and San Francisco resident Julie Mastrine. “I personally handed a stack of roughly 200 pages of petition signatures to the president of the board, and she was very sympathetic. She said she is 100% on board with my requests, so I will continue to keep a close eye on this issue. I hope the Board implements the three requests I made on my Care2 petition for the welfare of Bay Area artists.”
The petition calls for stopping unsolicited artist building inspections until artists are able to bring their buildings up to code in an affordable way or access affordable housing.
It also asks for permit fees to be waived that have to do with building upgrades like sprinkler systems and exits.