Diego's Reflection, and Eviction

(Photo: Megan Wolfe, taken on August 15, 2012)

Diego sat at the table next to me, and introduced himself by giving me a poem. Spending most of his nights alone in his North Beach apartment, he had ventured into the cafe for dinner. Sharing his poetry was a great excuse to connect with new people.

He wrote this one in particular to express the love he felt for his wife, and the lingering sorrow of her passing. They were married for 36 years. I was surprised when he told me he had married late, at age 40. He told me he had immigrated to the US at 17 from Italy, so most of his twenties were spent acquiring citizenship. His thirties were then dedicated to helping his family back home, financially. His wife, whom he met in the city, was an American.

The poem is as follows:

Reflection, by Diego DeLeo

From day one I needed someone 

The same for everyone: 

The need extends throughout our lives

to fill the void, I with loving wife

completed that which itself is depleted 

When loved ones leave us early

the love we lose can cost us dearly 

To help, love each other was our goal

Her sweet image remains in my soul

Time of youth too brief

seems too long when we grieve 

Our ancestors stars do not care

how we deal with our affairs

Looking at the sky to soothe our hurt

The sky embracing earth 

I'm optimistic for my tomorrow

To ward away unwanted sorrow

I take my dream to bed tonight

Inside I find the brightest light: 

Though the world gets small and dark

I'm with my love at Stony Park

I think about Diego whenever I see articles about the latest round of evictions in San Francisco. He's one of several people I worry about - including the dozen or so elderly that lived in the building I oversaw as a property manager downtown. I never know if things are ok with them, and sometimes, I hesitate to ask if anyone knows. Frankly, I'm afraid of the answer.

I just happened to see this article on Facebook today about Diego, and how there was an attempt to evict him out of his North Beach apartment last year using the Ellis Act. The article, published by Beyond Chron, states:

"DeLeo received an Ellis Act eviction notice from Zacks Freedman, the law firm representing his landlord, Martin Coyne, in August 2013. Zacks Freedman is one of the City’s most notorious Ellis Act evictors."

And, the good news..

"The Superior Court ruled that DeLeo’s eviction notice was “fatally defective” because it identified DeLeo’s unit as being in the wrong building on the property. It also failed to state that the landlord was withdrawing all the buildings on the property from the rental market. Commenting on DeLeo’s victory, his attorney Steve Collier of the Tenderloin Housing Clinic said, “tenants should realize that they can defeat Ellis evictions. The more tenants challenge these evictions, the more speculators will realize that they cannot make a quick profit off San Francisco’s red hot real estate market.”"

I'm so happy to see that Diego won the fight for his home. I hope his story inspires more San Francisco residents to stand up for themselves. 

Read the full article about Diego DeLeo on Beyond Chron.