note opens, it is going to draw more people -- if this pharmacy opens, it is going to draw more people. every time police bust people for drugs, every time someone gets busted for drugs, we have new people come in from the east bay. i live there. i will have to deal with whatever is left behind. i do not want to deal with any more people killing people over drugs. we have had two teenage kids killed in that area within the last three months. that is two too many. it is always over drugs. president peterson: thank you. next speaker, please.

>> thank you. i am very unhappy to hear there is going to be one more pharmacy with drugs for sale in the neighborhood. it is not very nice that we at our old age have to be afraid of going out on the street and be unable to do whatever we have to do because we are afraid that people that do not belong in the neighborhood will be there, trying to see what they can get. please accept our request. i am sure that we are all going to be very grateful that you are going to give us safety instead of more drugs.

there are more than seven pharmacies around us from here to van ess. that would be like nine walgreen's. i do not think we need any pharmacy nearby. please listen to us and do what we can. there are a lot of old people like me around the neighborhood and we need some kind of safety so that we can come and go as we need to. thank you very much for listening and please consider this seriously. thank you. president peterson: thank you. next speaker, please. >> good evening. my name is david elliot louis. i am here representing myself and central city democrats. i live in the neighborhood. our organization is based in the neighborhood. this business, mom's, is a

business i think we need. the so-called seven other pharmacies is a walgreen's. that is increasingly a monopoly all over the country, state, and city. i think we need a little push back against walgreen's from small business, one that would provide a higher quality of customer service and more customer attentiveness then a large corporation. we have let walgreen's make their profit, but why keep up the small businessman, who would create jobs, provide vital services to the neighborhood , and i think overall improve the quality of life? on behalf of central city democrats, i hope you will consider this appeal and allow mom's pharmacy to proceed. commissioner garcia: i do not

mean to correct you, but you understand this is not about mom's pharmacy, right? >> if we can strike the record and change it to the right name, the one at 281 turk. that is the one i was referring to. thank you for correcting me. president peterson: thank you. next speaker, please. please step forward. >> my name is chris fisher. i have had two cases of cancer in the last two years and lived in the tenderloin to route them. even at my tender age of 60 i have never had a problem having drugs of any kind delivered to me. to have another pharmacy put in place right there on that block

would seem to me to be only inviting more problems. time after time, members of the community around leavenworth and turk go to programs and jails to address their drug problems. on release, they find the rents they can afford are four buildings right back in the area they left. to increase the availability of pharmaceutical products for resale on that street is simply hypocritical and foolish. i would like to request the deepest consideration of the social considerations of this signal to the neighborhood. thank you. president peterson: thank you. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon. i am a new resident of this area but i have lived in san

francisco for 20 years. i was living on south beach. so i am not new to san francisco. i thought i knew the tenderloin until i moved there. my commute is from turk st. -- where do i live? john street. my commute is right on golden gate, right on turk, left on leavenworth. this is in the morning and afternoon, and sometimes i go home for lunch. at every pharmacy i pass, there is a crowd of people upside. some seem to have hand signals for their customers. they are an intimidating group of people. i have to cross the street or work -- or walk on the street to walk to work or get home. i do not understand how people can understand the neighborhood.

i can claim sheer ignorance on my part. i lived less than 2 miles away and had been in the area. i volunteer. i had no idea what it is really like on a daily basis. i would like you to take that in consideration. thank you for your time. president peterson: would you care to state your name for the record? thank you. next speaker, please. >> good evening. my name is dina hillyard. we provide enhanced cleaning services to 605 properties in the tenderloin and work to bring positive improvements in benefits to the neighborhood. we welcome and support mr. forte in his request to open a pharmacy on turk street.

we hope the community meeting attended by more than 50 community members which allowed him the opportunity to engage with residents and hear their concerns and feedback regarding his business. he also attended a board meeting where he discussed this project with our members. several business owners on our board offered support and consultation are around the various challenges they have overcome as small business owners. i would like to present a letter of support from our board for the pharmacy. mr. forte recognizes the need for an independent pharmacy in the tenderloin. there are many seniors and disabled people who need medication for cancer, diabetes, heart conditions, and compromised immune systems. these types of medications are not sold illegally. there is no market for them. it would be unfair to prevent access to these medications because of a few persons who

abuse the system. selling prescription pills is a major problem in the tenderloin. however, it is not his single responsibility to address this problem. that is a community problem and our entire community should collaborate with law enforcement and community stakeholders. mr. forte has made every attempt to accommodate neighborhood concerns. he has agreed to post security guards, lighting, a security system. there are many agencies and businesses in the neighborhood that refuse to take responsibility. we feel you should support him. vice president goh: you mentioned there was a meeting with the community. what was the date of that meeting? >> i can look it up on my calendar. i know it was in september. i believe it was september 22. vice president goh: thank you. president peterson: next

speaker, please. >> my name is david villalobos. i am a member of the community alliance which serves the central city. originally, i spoke on behalf of our organization in support of jurisdiction. there was a lot of misinformation regarding the business plan for 281 turk. there have been e-mails going around that indicated this would be a drug dispensary for those with substance abuse problems. our organization has had several meetings with the appellant and several meetings with project sponsors in the same room together. we have had meetings with the tenderloin police captain, who indicated he had no opposition to the pharmacy. the only thing he wanted to recommend was security features such as cameras, lighting,

security guards, and to lower the trees up side by putting them down. our organization is in support of this pharmacy. it will be a great benefit to the seniors and disabled folks in the tenderloin. most folks have to go to market street to walgreen's. i am one of those people. this would0q0 real full-service pharmacy in the tenderloin. there have been studies done which indicated desired businesses. a post office, a pharmacy, and a full-service crews restore were among the three high priorities for the tenderloin. i urge you to -- and a full- service grocery stowere among the three high priorities for the tenderloin. i urge you to support this. commissioner fung: where are you located? >> we were at 201 turk.

we moved last month to taylor st., two blocks away. >> vice president goh, the speaker before mr. villalobos told me the community meeting was september 8, not september 2. vice president goh: thank you. >> my name is mark blackwood. i have been a resident of the neighborhood for over 17 years. regardless to what everyone's feelings are, my primary concern is the effect on the neighborhood. when the mom's pharmacy opened up i noticed a major increase in drug trafficking. while i am sure it was not their intention, it is an effect of the pharmacy going in. that is a wide corner around

leavenworth. the corner across from the pharmacy is where they all congregate. i cannot see how putting another pharmacy in, regardless of intentions or what they say they are going to try to control is going to do but bring the neighborhood down further. there is no way they can control it. i have seen the effect that a pharmacy of any kind of nature has. i have lived there and watched the changes. again, i am sure they did not intend to have a dramatic -- to have a detrimental effect, but they did. there is no way around it. the more pills are available, the more people are going to come looking for them. the fact that there are expensive medications does not necessarily mean everyone is going to use them. if people want money for their own use medications, they are going to hit the street. they are not going to voluntarily turn them over to a pharmacy, regardless of their

reputation. it makes no difference. president peterson: thank you. next speaker, please. >> my name is kelly strickland. i currently live at 235 turk. i noticed that a lot of people were saying that we want to have small businesses instead of walgreen's, but there is a bigger problem than the crime the security guards are hoping to solve. that is the problem of addiction. it is running rampant in this society. there is a pharmacy right down the street at mcalester and leavenworth. there are so many. there were some in the community members speaking out, saying they do not need a pharmacy, one of them being an elderly woman. security guards would not serve to make this beneficial to the community. i do not see in any way how this

could benefit a community so riddled with addiction. we have so many societal problems. it is a wide reaching problem this is causing. the last thing we need as a community is another pharmacy, regardless of how many trees we tramp. why are we trimming trees to put in another pharmacy? president peterson: thank you. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is bobby lopez. we are part of tenderloin housing clinic. i would like to bring you a petition of tenants on that block, about 80 people, within the last two days. we only found out about this promise you last week. we are an incredibly diverse community in the tenderloin. we love that. we have folks with hiv, seniors, everything. the pharmacy could be the best

possible pharmacy, but one of the things i am going to introduce is an article by the new york times. even some of the providers in the neighborhood say they have no control. is somebody grabs legal medication and sells it in the street, they have no control. it could be the best possible pharmacy. the issue is the location. the particular location -- i put -- i looked at an encyclopedia of the tenderloin that names the area. it is a reality of what our families have to put up with, the situation of drug dealing. legal and prescription drugs and illegal drugs. there is tension in the community. we are diverse, but there is an unspoken tension between families and some of the service positions. there is not a community planning project that brings it forward. you have this explosion. that block has a lot of

families. 275 turk is mostly families. 201 turk is mostly families. 281 turk is mostly families. around one corner is a family center. it is not just a corner. a lot of families walk to and from school and after-school programs. we have a serious concern about the ability of yet another pharmacy. you have an opportunity to have another vision, making it safer. when you ask tenants what they want, they want safety. here is the petition. thank you. commissioner fung: miss lopez? >> yes, sir. commissioner fung: has your organization done anything related to either a moratorium or -- to this effect? >> we worked on campaigns that pushed for foot patrols.

we do a lot of safety. we did work around one of the liquor stores that was at the corner of turk and taylor. we have worked on individual campaigns for different issues. the bigger issue of community planning is something we want to take on, but we are still getting there. we do with immigration, education, and safety. those are the issues of our families bring to us to carry. commissioner fung: thank you. president peterson: next speaker? i would ask the folks standing on the right side of the room to please take a seat and clear the doorway. thank you. >> [speaking spanish]

>> good afternoon, commissioners. i am here as a concerned mom. we are very concerned about this project. i live on the block. there is so much drug dealing. i feel like the folks who are coming in to build this pharmacy are not people who live in the tenderloin. they would know, walking through the tenderloin, it is a very difficult thing to do. >> [speaking spanish] >> truly, what we are asking you is to consider our petition to

not put this pharmacy there. consider other locations where there is not such a concentration of families, schools sites, and projects for children. president peterson: does the speaker care to say her name? next speaker, please. >> [speaking spanish]

>> good evening. my name is magdalena. i am the mother of three girls. i am incredibly concerned about the opening of this pharmacy. walking through the tenderloin, you find a lot of folks consuming and using drugs. it is impossible to walk through. it is hard to explain to your children my people are thrown on the ground and why they are dried up. it is difficult for me to answer to them. >> [speaking spanish]

>> more than anything, we are concerned because we live there. i live on the 200 block of turk. i am worried the impact of this pharmacy opening will result in the increase of people consuming drugs on the street. >> [speaking spanish] >> so i want you to please speak of the tenderloin and the things we face every day and how the opening of this pharmacy will increase that. please think of our children. president peterson: please step forward, next speaker.

>> [speaking spanish]

>> my name is norman. i am also from the 200 block of turk. i want to share some of the concerns i have as a mother. i am going to try to speak from my heart even though i wrote everything down. some of the things i want to share with you is that it hits my heart when i hear folks have long-term illness and cancer. i understand the need of folks who have that. but i think we have to balance needs. why can't we also push for open space for children, libraries, or a senior center? >> i want to speak a little bit

of english. it is so so, but i want to try. i do not understand why the people think about the people who are over 40 or 50. why don't we think about the future? why don't we think about the children? you concede there are a lot of babies. what will happen with their future? i have one in the university and i have one in the middle school. they walk around the block. they go to the army. what happened to the security of the children? we worked so hard for help the passengers. what happens when we call to the police? they have a lot to do. [unintelligible]

what are they doing? why do they do like this? we need to ask them. they need it. but it is a little bit tricky. we need to think about the security. this is the most important. we walk around and we walk in front. sometimes they are very, very, very angry. i worry a little bit about the security. i live at 201 turk. i want to say please think about the children. thank you. president peterson: thank you. next speaker, please. sir, please step forward. >> my name is michael nulty.

can i have the overhead? this shows the commercial use of the tenderloin. this is the block that is being referenced. it shows that we have a lot of commercial space on this end. this is why it is killed hill. there is no security going on -- this is why it is pill hill. there is no security here. that is where it tends to happen. it comes into the rest of the neighborhood. i am the president of central city democrats. this organization is in favor of them getting their permit today. i am also a founding member of north of market business association. they are also in favor of the permit today. i am also the executive director of alliance for a better district 6, which deals with the land use issues of the tenderloin in particular.

half of our members are residents of the tenderloin. we are neutral on this. we would be one of the organizations that would deal with the issue of land use. this kind of permit does not have any kind of notice. since we are membership-based, we did not get any notice. we walked by and saw a posting. we only saw the posting -- we found out later about the hearing. i also chaired the meeting of tenderloin futures collaborative, where there were two outreach meetings in september and october. we heard one side in september and in august we heard the other side. you are asking about community outreach. we did that. at the tender land pitchers collective meeting, we had the service providers attend, the merchants attend, as well as the residence. this has been ongoing since

1991. president peterson: thank you, sir. >> i wanted to give you a better outlook. president peterson: next speaker, please. >> if they have already spoken, maybe they could sit down. it is a little distracting. >> [speaking spanish]