GUILTY CA - Massive fire at Oakland warehouse party, 36 dead, 2 Dec 2016 #3

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Something else interesting is that the large door on the side wasn't there as of October 2016. In 2011 there was not door at all on the side. By 2014 there was a small door - I believe a resident said he had cut one in.

It's really sad to see the junk accrue around the GS over the years. To me it seems like Derick Ion was more of a budding hoarder than an artist.

GS Side Jun2011.jpgGS Side Aug2014.jpgGS Side Oct2016.jpgGS Side Dec2016.jpg
 
I've been wondering why we haven't heard from Derick Ion and Micah Allison for the last few days. He's hired a famous attorney to represent him even though no charges have been filed against him. I suppose when you make a nice profit monthly by subletting to artists in your death trap of a warehouse you can afford such services.

OAKLAND — Derick Almena, the leader of the Ghost Ship warehouse where 36 people died earlier this month in a fast-moving blaze, has retained the services of famed attorney Tony Serra, along with two other lawyers who work in the same San Francisco office.
...
Serra has defended a number of high-profile clients over the decades, including Huey Newton, Ellie Nesler, Sarah Jane Olson and the Hells Angels. Most recently, he represented Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow in a major federal racketeering case.
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http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2016/12...oy-chows-attorney-representing-derick-almena/

Serra may be one of the most famous and colorful defense attorneys in the Bay Area.
...
The facility was not equipped with sprinklers, had not been permitted as a music event site and was also not permitted to allow artists to live in the building.

Authorities have said the makeshift construction of artist live/work spaces in the first floor of the building made it nearly impossible for firefighters to battle the fire and for partygoers to escape.
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http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/20...-to-represent-ghost-ship-cooperative-founder/

I was doing a little math... most sources say that there were 20 to 25 residents living in the Ghostship. The rents have been posted as anywhere from $300/mo. to $750/mo. Taking an average monthly rent of $550 and the number of renters at 20, Ion was collecting a minimum of $11,000 a month. Subtracting his rent to Ng and about $400/mo for his share of electricity, Ion was making at least $5,600 a month in profits. Not bad for someone who did nothing.

That doesn't even count the additional money Ion collected that was supposed to go towards improvements in the GS that were never done. And it doesn't include the money he charged for the use of the warehouse for parties, which averaged once or twice a month at the cost of at least another $1,000.

For that kind of money Ion could have installed sprinklers, even if Ng refused to pay part of the cost. Instead, he and his wife traveled the world and bought junk that nobody really needed.

Will somebody explain to me how that isn't the ultimate abuse of the artist community? How can any of these people support Ion, who clearly used them for his own financial gain? And now the money he got from them is going to defend him? It makes me sick.
 
This may be a really dumb question, but for some reason I don't imagine Derrick Ion as one to use a bank ---- if not, where did he keep all that money he had coming in monthly? And all those renters probably had their money burned up, too --- is it even possible to recover that loss?
 
Spellbound said:
This may be a really dumb question, but for some reason I don't imagine Derrick Ion as one to use a bank ---- if not, where did he keep all that money he had coming in monthly? And all those renters probably had their money burned up, too --- is it even possible to recover that loss?
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He would have to have some kind of insurance . And even then getting cash civered is nearly impossible, People could make up any sum.
 
Here's info about his attorney Tony Serra. Kind of "far out" as attorneys go. He has taken a vow of poverty! He has also spent time in prison for refusing to pay income taxes protesting the war in Iraq. I would love to be a fly on the wall when he and DIA meet to discuss things. He and Almena march to two entirely different drummers. Can you imagine trying to communicate with DIA in a rational way?! Serra seems to love challenging cases. He won the lottery with this one!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Serra
 
Lilibet said:
Here's info about his attorney Tony Serra. Kind of "far out" as attorneys go. He has taken a vow of poverty! He has also spent time in prison for refusing to pay income taxes protesting the war in Iraq. I would love to be a fly on the wall when he and DIA meet to discuss things. He and Almena march to two entirely different drummers. Can you imagine trying to communicate with DIA in a rational way?! Serra seems to love challenging cases. He won the lottery with this one!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Serra
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Sounds like they will get along. Serra sounds like he represented some good causes and some not so good.

They are both outside of the mainstream but Derick thinks he is a guru.

I suppose Serra is taking the case for free or a tiny bit of money.

Serra seems like he believes in helping people while Derick believes in helping himself
 
Spellbound said:
This may be a really dumb question, but for some reason I don't imagine Derrick Ion as one to use a bank ---- if not, where did he keep all that money he had coming in monthly? And all those renters probably had their money burned up, too --- is it even possible to recover that loss?
Click to expand...

Ion was importing goods from Indonesia - it's likely he had to cut checks for payment and customs. I dunno, I get the feeling that many, if not most did have bank accounts, as opposed to stuffing bills under their mattresses. While the artists considered themselves fringe or underground, many of them nevertheless promoted their work in mainstream ways where they would have needed a bank account in order to receive checks from clients and sales.

For example, Cash Askew's album can be purchased on Amazon. Remember, these people were for the most part artists who worked for a living, not homeless people. Well, except for greedy Derick and his rental scam.
 
I wonder if Derick paid taxes on what he made. I hope he is facing IRS issues as well.
 
MsMarple said:
Ion was importing goods from Indonesia - it's likely he had to cut checks for payment and customs. I dunno, I get the feeling that many, if not most did have bank accounts, as opposed to stuffing bills under their mattresses. While the artists considered themselves fringe or underground, many of them nevertheless promoted their work in mainstream ways where they would have needed a bank account in order to receive checks from clients and sales.

For example, Cash Askew's album can be purchased on Amazon. Remember, these people were for the most part artists who worked for a living, not homeless people. Well, except for greedy Derick and his rental scam.
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Cash didn't live in the warehouse. She attended the show with her close friend Feral Pines.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
 
JaimeSommers said:
Cash didn't live in the warehouse. She attended the show with her close friend Feral Pines.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
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Yeah, I know - I should have named one of the residents since that was who Spellbound was talking about. Cash just came to mind. My bad. She's a good example of an underground artist who was okay with working in mainstream promotion but you're right, she didn't live in the GS.

But I think many of the artists who did live in the GS also were comfortable working that way even though they lived on the fringe. Peter Wadsworth, who died in the fire, had studied at Harvard. Max Ohr does tattoos but he also makes jewelry. Bob Mule does photography. Carmen Brito is a teacher.

IOW, they're all working to earn a living. And as such IMO they probably have some sort of bank account that enables them to make sales, cash checks and pay bills. That's all I really wanted to say... using a whole lot of words, lol.
 
MsMarple said:
Ion was importing goods from Indonesia - it's likely he had to cut checks for payment and customs. I dunno, I get the feeling that many, if not most did have bank accounts, as opposed to stuffing bills under their mattresses. While the artists considered themselves fringe or underground, many of them nevertheless promoted their work in mainstream ways where they would have needed a bank account in order to receive checks from clients and sales.

For example, Cash Askew's album can be purchased on Amazon. Remember, these people were for the most part artists who worked for a living, not homeless people. Well, except for greedy Derick and his rental scam.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the reply. If I hadn't been so tired I may have realized why my question was on the wrong track. Indeed, they mostly seem to be hard workers and many had other good jobs, so bank accounts were likely. And since Customs was likely involved with DIA's overseas purchases, he must also. Makes more sense now.



human said:
I wonder if Derick paid taxes on what he made. I hope he is facing IRS issues as well.
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It will be interesting to know whether he paid taxes at all, or was honest with his filings.
 
Let the games began

[FONT=&amp]OAKLAND — Derick Almena, the leader of the Ghost Ship warehouse where 36 people died earlier this month in a fast-moving blaze, has retained the services of famed attorney Tony Serra, along with two other lawyers who work in the same San Francisco office.

[/FONT][FONT=&amp]“I can only confirm that we are representing him in a pre-charge capacity,”

[/FONT]Serra won the Trial Lawyer of the Year award in 2003 (by the organization Trial Lawyers for Public Justice), for his successful litigation of Judi Bari against the FBI.[SUP][2]

[/SUP]Serra has taken a vow of poverty and is known for living a frugal lifestyle and driving a run-down car.[SUP][3][/SUP] All income from his cases is distributed to other lawyers except for a very small portion that he uses to pay rent and gas.[SUP][citation needed][/SUP] All of his clothes (including suits, briefcases, shoes etc.) are bought secondhand.[SUP][4]

[/SUP]
Serra has been in trouble with the law several times for failure to pay income taxes. He refused to pay taxes in protest of the War in Iraq, based on his conviction that the Bush administration was leading the country in the wrong direction and that he would therefore not contribute any money to fund what he saw as Bush's corrupt politics.

[SUP][citation needed][/SUP] On July 29, 2005, he was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison, to be served at Lompoc, and ordered to pay $100,000 in restitution for a misdemeanor conviction of willful failure to pay taxes.[SUP][5][/SUP]

Serra was released from the federal camp in Lompoc, California, in mid-February 2007, reporting immediately to a San Franciscohalfway house. He was released from federal custody, and the halfway house, on March 13, 2007,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Serra

Colorful he is !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YggRWBPhdTE
tony-serra-attorney-for-sara-olson-waves-his-finger-at-prosecution-picture-id569156617
 
in action

[video=youtube;eMkcrMQcYao]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMkcrMQcYao[/video]
 
Spellbound said:
Thank you for the reply. If I hadn't been so tired I may have realized why my question was on the wrong track. Indeed, they mostly seem to be hard workers and many had other good jobs, so bank accounts were likely. And since Customs was likely involved with DIA's overseas purchases, he must also. Makes more sense now.






It will be interesting to know whether he paid taxes at all, or was honest with his filings.
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I think your question was a reasonable one. TBH at first I kind of saw the GS residents as one step up from homeless or young runaways or people with issues. To learn that for the most part they are simply artists trying to make a living and looking for affordable housing in an insane property market was a shock.

I came across a website that calls out some of the extreme housing offerings - meaning people taking advantage of people - and boy did my eyes pop!

http://sfist.com/tags/apartmentsadness

Housing in my little town is on the brink of being overpriced - an ADU around the corner goes for $740/mo, it's new and clean, heated and has a tiny kitchen but hell, it's only about 200 square feet. As a result a lot of young people and families can't live here. Many take on jobs that they're overqualified for while others work two, sometimes three jobs - all because the town is a great place to live. But the end result is that the average age is climbing and eventually we'll just be a big retirement community.

Looking at the dichotomy that appears to exist in Oakland between the struggling artists and the extremely wealthy IMO should be a wake up call for other growing communities to put measures in place for all kinds of people to live together before it's too late.
 
CARIIS said:
http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2016/12...tf-to-address-oakland-inferno-that-killed-36/



cct-ghosttues-1214-34.jpg

cct-ghosttues-1214-17.jpg
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Some people hate govt and rules and regulations.

Even with this fire, there are those that still do not understand .

Often when there are property issues, someone needs to report it. Manty people are loathe to say anything . We are taught that tattling is wrong. Mind your own business. That kind of attitude.

Then people get enraged because nothing was done. Interesting to observe
 
Soulsad said:
Best picture I've seen of the staircase to the second story. Thank You Cariis
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In the back doesn't that look like an overhead garage door? It is obviously blocked with junk.

Also that chain in the photo looks too flimsy to have opened that door so I wonder what the chain was used for.

Now that I think about it could these be the back stairs?
 
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