By Perla Ni
In a move that could affect thousands of Asian American property owners, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Monday approved an interim ban designed to make it harder for landlords to invoke a state law allowing them to yank all their units off the market.

The city must show "compassion... and send a message that we are concerned," said new Supervisor Alicia Becerril, who spoke along with sponsor Sue Bierman for the measure. In the past three years, she said, evictions under the state's Ellis Act have risen tenfold, adding to the city's already dire housing crunch. Bierman noted that the 1.5 percent vacancy rate already makes it difficult for tenants to find any available housing, even as the move-in rent for a two-bedroom apartment has soared $400, $500 or more in the past four years.

The state law, passed more than a decade ago in response to Santa Monica landlords who wanted out of the business, had rarely been used for most of its existence. San Francisco's crackdown on owner move-in evictions in 1997-first as an temporary measure to protect disabled or elderly tenants and then as an expanded and permanent ban OK'd by the voters-greatly increased the Ellis Act's use. In 1995, the law was invoked five times; in 1998, 65 buildings were "Ellised" out.

Though no one knows how many Asian Americans are among the landlords who took all their units off the market for 10 years, as the law demands, many observers estimate that they make up a significant fraction. As a group, Asian Americans comprise about 20 percent of San Francisco's small landlords, according to a study done for pro-landlord activists last year.

Though the Ellis Act had long been thought ironclad, tenant advocates have successfully chipped away at it in recent months. A judge recently ruled that landlords could not invoke it as a form of retaliation, and Bierman's legislation, if signed by Mayor Willie Brown, would for 18 months disallow owners of three-unit or larger buildings from converting them to non-rental use without permission from the Planning Commission. All supervisors except Leland Yee, Gavin Newsom and Barbara Kaufman, who recused themselves, voted in favor of the legislation.

Also at the meeting, Supervisor Michael Yaki fronted a proposal banning the use of laser pointers, which can cause eye injury and look to police like a gun's focus points. "This is a growing problem. New York and New Jersey are enacting similar laws," he said.

The pointers, designed for use in business presentations, can now be bought in toy stores, including in Chinatown, for less than $5, Yaki said in support of his legislation, which now heads to committee. "As soon as Toys 'R'Us gets a new shipment, they are sold out."

Also Monday, Becerril called on Governor Gray Davis and the state Legislature to repeal all immigrant verification measures, put in place by Gov. Pete Wilson three years ago to implement federal welfare reform.

"No other state has enacted such sudden and sweeping legislation," that impacts critical care, prenatal care, and services to seniors and children, she said. "It also impacts citizens who don't have the papers on them."