Their families are entitled to learn why Oakland officials, well aware that this unsafe building was being used as a domicile and a site for large parties, was never vacated and sealed. Oakland officials did not enforce the law and people died. Begs the question who was making money and who was receiving “political donations”.
Begs for the question to be asked.
Not the same as the older “begs the question” which means a purported reasoned argument that uses the presumed answer as a premise, too.
Maybe this city was almost as bohemian as the warehouse.
Arrangements like this would have been common in the early 20th century, and fire codes forbidding it came later. That’s one part of history we would not want to revisit. Why do lefties, who would want to nanny everything else, not want a joint like this to at least have working fire protection even if nothing else was legal. Better for the art and artist to burn than to get soaked?
Probably nobody was doing anything ravingly illegal or even collecting bribes. That’s a marginal part of town, lots of warehouses and substandard or at least very modest housing, so anything that went in there (and the artists did improve the neighborhood) was tolerated or at any rate given many warnings before enforcement took over, if it ever did. Mostly they seem to have ignored citations.
Many now high-end neighborhoods in NY - such as SOHO - started thus, so the authorities probably slightly looked the other way. However, the person who knew all about this was the owner of the property, who was a slumlord and should spend the rest of his days in jail.
I am so disgusted by some of the comments on FR. Okay, maybe these young people were nasty, gross, had tattoos, hated Trump (but they probably hated Hillary, too, and in any case, 80% of them didn’t even vote) but that doesn’t mean it’s okay for them to burn to death.
There’s a reason for building codes and it’s not just authoritarian intrusion.
I just got rid of squatters next door, what a nightmare. Constant stream of “alternative” homeless drifters. Drugs, porn, child abuse. All the same ingredients.
13 cop cars finally showed up to boot them. They had hotwired the electrical, could have burned the block down.
Personally, I never expect the best when top officials are the result of PC and AA. (But that’s just me; I could be wrong.)
California feels they don't need to enforce laws - unless it benefits them.
Which code officials live in homes and drive vehicles that appear beyond their means on a municipal wage? Which of them have unexplained bank deposits or spend cash more frequently than a typical resident?