Former sheriff's deputy Carolyn Gage brought a small portion of the Occupy movement to the Bayview yesterday, where she vowed to reclaim the home she lost to foreclosure. Gage led a group of about 50 protesters, including Supervisor John Avalos, members of Occupy SF and organizers from Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, on a march down a two-block stretch of Quesada Avenue where 11 homes are facing foreclosure and four families have already been evicted. Now she's back, occupying the house her father built (and a bank in Florida evicted her from), with no plans to leave.
Although she wouldn't divulge many details about her case, Gage admits she succumbed to a predatory loan after a workplace injury forced her to retire early on worker's compensation. ABC7 reports that she may have never actually made a payment on the mortgage.
Still, outspoken Occupy Movement supporter and D11 Supervisor John Avalos told ABC7 that the details of Gage's eviction were less important than the need to make changes to our current economic system. Which is a little vague, but Avalos continues:
What's wrong with our economic system is that you have 11 people in one block who are all facing foreclosure. That's not the fault of people, that's the fault of our economic system. The banks aren't doing enough at the macro level to support us against foreclosures.
Further complicating things, Gage's former lawyer was found guilty of attempted burglary after he tried to help another one of his clients break in to a foreclosed home.
ABC7 has the video report from the march on Quesada Ave:
A spokesperson for the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment told the Examiner that other neighborhood groups are planning similar protests, with one planned for Avalos' district in the Excelsior this Saturday.
