Peoples Temple in San Francisco - The San Francisco Housing Authority Commission

The San Francisco Housing Authority Commission

In March 1976, Mayor Moscone appointed Jones to the Human Rights Commission. Without telling his aides, just minutes before being sworn in, Jones declined the appointment, feeling it was a lateral move since he had served on such a commission in Indiana in the 1960s. The aides of Moscone and Jones then scrambled to tell the media that Jones and Moscone were working on an alternative appointment.

Thereafter, Moscone appointed Jones as a member of the San Francisco Housing Authority Commission. After Jones' name appeared on the appointment list, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors requested that all potential appointees should receive background checks. Moscone then turned the matter over to a nominating committee that included Temple member Michael Prokes and Temple supporter Dr. Carlton Goodlett. The committee approved Jones' appointment. When potential resistance arose to Jones appointment, Willie Brown introduced legislation that would have stripped the Board of Supervisors of its power over the appointment. Wishing to maintain the status quo, the Board unanimously approved Jones' appointment.

After lobbying by Moscone's office, Jones was soon named Chairman of the Commission. At the time, Moscone stated that Jones was a "peacemaker . . . who had the ability to work with people." In July 1977, after investigations into the Temple had begun, Moscone defended the appointment stating Jones was "both sensitive and realistic. From everything I've seen, he's been a good chairman."

Jones' most notable accomplishment on the Commission was to lead the fight for a period against the eviction by the Four Seas Corporation of impoverished residents of the famous International Hotel. With Jones as Chairman, the Housing Authority voted to acquire the building using $1.3 million in federal funds in order to transfer ownership to tenants rights groups. When a federal court rejected that plan and ordered evictions in January 1977, the Temple provided two thousand of the five thousand people that surrounded the building, barricaded the doors and chanted "No, no, no evictions!" Sheriff Richard Hongisto, a political ally of Jones, refused to execute the eviction order, which resulted in Hongisto being held in contempt and serving five days in his own jail.