{"id":391189,"date":"2026-07-08T22:22:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T22:22:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/391189\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T22:22:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T22:22:19","slug":"sf-supervisor-to-call-hearing-on-western-addition-housing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/391189\/","title":{"rendered":"SF Supervisor to call hearing on Western Addition Housing"},"content":{"rendered":"

District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood announced Tuesday that the Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing\u00a0this fall about the Thomas Paine Square Apartments, a low-income housing complex in the Fillmore owned by the historically Black church<\/a> Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church.<\/p>\n

The 98-unit complex, bounded by Golden Gate Avenue, Turk Street, Laguna Street and Webster Street, is run day-to-day by Domus Management, a Lodi-based firm in Central Valley.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The hearing is a result of multiple meetings tenants had with Mahmood over the past year, raising concerns over dangerous housing conditions<\/a>, violent incidents and harassments<\/a>, alleged security failures<\/a> and alleged misconducts by management<\/a>, Mahmood said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter meeting with tenants and hearing firsthand accounts of ongoing safety concerns and a lack of response from property management,\u201d Mahmood said. \u201cIt\u2019s clear there are accountability questions that need answers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hearing will also look into Martin Luther King-Marcus Garvey Square Cooperative Apartments, an affordable housing complex in the Fillmore that is also managed by Domus. The co-op reportedly<\/a> issued mass eviction notices to 16 Black residents due to alleged back rent.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mahmood intends to seek testimony from Domus Management, leadership from Bethel AME Church and the MLK Garvey co-op board, relevant city departments, tenants and their advocates and legal service providers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mahmood noted that if necessary, the Board\u2019s Government Accountability and Oversight Committee, where the hearing will be held, will \u201cconsider using its subpoena authority to ensure key stakeholders participate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are exploring a hearing to better understand what is happening and ensure residents\u2019 concerns are addressed,\u201d Mahmood said.<\/p>\n

Since the complex is privately owned, HUD-subsidized housing, said Anne Stanley, the communications manager of the San Francisco mayor\u2019s office of housing and community development, \u201cthe city\u2019s authority is limited.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA Board hearing can gather testimony, request information, surface concerns, and help identify gaps in oversight,\u201d Stanley continued. \u201cBut it does not give the City authority over the property.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mahmood, for his part, said the hearing is about \u201caccountability and solutions.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEven where the city\u2019s authority may be limited,\u201d Mahmood said. \u201cWe have a responsibility to elevate residents\u2019 experiences, examine gaps in oversight, and identify legislative opportunities that can better protect tenants and affordable housing communities across San Francisco.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PeopleDistrict 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood listening to Thomas Paine tenants telling their stories in front of the Board of Supervisors on April 22, 2025. Photo by Xueer Lu. <\/p>\n

The City Attorney\u2019s Office confirmed that the office is still looking into Thomas Paine Apartments, but declined to comment on what measures it might take. \u201cIt\u2019s still on the radar,\u201d said Jen Kwart, a spokesperson for the office. \u201cBut we don\u2019t have any updates to share at the moment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Anthony Sandoval, president of Domus Management, said he has \u201cno comments regarding Supervisor Mahmood\u2019s hearing on Thomas Paine.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bobby Sisk, the steward of the church, the board chair and president of the church-run nonprofit that owns the complex, did not respond to a request for comment regarding the hearing. Sisk is also the owner of W.S.B. & Associates, Inc., a security company that is contracted at Thomas Paine.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To many residents, whose detailed complaints have gone public through media reports from Mission Local<\/a> and The San Francisco Standard<\/a> over the past year, just getting a hearing feels like a win.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the most we\u2019ve ever gotten out of a District 5 supervisor for us. It\u2019s really surprising,\u201d said Jesica Salinas, a single mother living at the complex with her two sons. \u201cIt feels like he cares about us, like he cares about his job\u2026 And I feel there\u2019s hope because of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Media attention resulted in little change<\/p>\n

For many residents, media coverage of conditions at Thomas Paine has yet to result in any substantial changes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After Mission Local published<\/a> the initial story detailing residents\u2019 complaints on Thomas Paine in May 2025, Salinas said, Domus Management began to send her repeated notices that Domus workers needed to access her apartment for repairs.<\/p>\n

These appointments, which happened about three times a week, Salinas said, were mostly no-shows. But still, she had to take time off work just to be in her unit in case the maintenance happened. To this day, Salinas said, the mold and water damage in her unit, which she said aggravates her younger son\u2019s asthma, remains unrepaired.<\/p>\n

The notices \u2014 and lack of repairs \u2014 made Salinas feel she was being targeted for speaking to\u00a0 the media. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s stress. It\u2019s anxiety. Depression,\u201d Salinas said. \u201cIt\u2019s not a fun thing to live here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sandoval, Domus\u2019 president, said he was unaware of such notices being posted. \u201cDomus would only post if there was an emergency or a scheduled inspection by HUD or a Lender.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anona Lee, a 30-year resident and co-chair of the Thomas Paine tenants association who also spoke to the press, said that her unit was also awaiting repairs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey need to be investigated because they are messing up people\u2019s lives,\u201d Lee said. \u201cWe\u2019re low-income people. It\u2019s already hard enough to pay our rent.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood announced Tuesday that the Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing\u00a0this fall…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":391190,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[380,49115,1011,101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-391189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-affordable-housing","tag-bilal-mahmood","tag-housing","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/391190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=391189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=391189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}