Kind of proves my initial point, no?
I don’t think that arose out of a Liberal ideology but an even greater ideology for many public officials and that is “Never let yourself be a victim of a hostile press.” And trust me the press would have spun any shut-down and strict enforcement to stoke up sympathy for the building’s occupants (if not the tenant in charge or owner). Why? Because headlines like, “No Place To Go, City Officials Leave Struggling Artists Homeless.” sell more papers than “Code Violations Found at Ghost Ship Building.”
Heads should roll. Unfortunately officials are protected against personal liability and proving gross negligence and malfeasance in violation of their public duties is not that easy. Those who are not protected by sovereign immunity or “No duty of care” laws should face heavy fines and long prison sentences.
I have also read that several tenets saw the building was a fire hazard but elected to stay. I’m going to guess they did so because they figured if anything happened there would be time to get out. Most people have no idea how fast fire spreads and that the way fires are depicted in movies or TV shows is BS. In addition to the horror of the flames there would have been a lot of toxic smoke from artists’ work and supplies. The people who died did not die easy. God rest their souls.