Daly Move Watch 2K9: Daly and Wife Paid $545K Cash for Fairfield Homes
The man who has spent his local political career championing the rights of the Tenderloin poor, the SRO-dwelling, and the owners of property more likely to be made of cardboard than of concrete, Supervisor Chris Daly is facing further scrutiny by the SF Appeal and Chron yet being defended by the Weekly this week -- all relating to the recent revelation of the purchase of not one but two homes in Fairfield, far afield of the district Daly represents. This of course follows on much e-ink already spilt and spread around in the past week on this subject, which is obvious fodder for Daly's detractors and brings forth a flood of eager defenders.
The latest Chron "scoop" (technically, SF Appeal had first crack) has to do with the fact that the Dalys purchased cash for both the houses in Fairfield, one of which is two doors down from Daly's father-in-law, Russel Low. Low runs a one-man real estate operation in Fairfield and likely encouraged the couple to purchase the second house (at a deep, pre-foreclosure discount) as an investment property.
Writing in the Weekly's Snitch blog, Peter Jamison delves into the longstanding rumors that Daly's District 6 condo -- where he claims he will still be sleeping and showering throughout his work week -- was purchased at a below-market rate and would be able to be sold at market, something that is fairly illegal by all accounts. Jamison quotes Doug Shoemaker, director of the Mayor's Office of Housing as saying that this is not the case, and that Daly did, in fact, purchase the condo at market rate, despite there being some below-market units in the same building.