“But the Bay Area media isn’t holding the city and state responsible. That’s who really should get blame.”
I would be very careful before advocating that the Nanny State be held criminally responsible for property owners or tenants that fail to follow regulations.
If you do that, you are going to have inspectors at your front door every two weeks.
The artist isn’t a “property owner.” He was a squatter, and the place was abandoned. The city should have razed the building.
Ran a shop in Cali for 7 years. The fire department tried to get in their every year, but no one was there whenever they came by. They cannot force their way in right now, but you can bet your bottom dollar they would, if the city was help criminally responsible for possible fires. Oh, and every time they sent a letter asking for an appointment, I never responded. Had very few visitors. Was just me in there 95 % of the time