there are assaults in the area constantly. there are threats to employees that we have to deal with every day. they never did anything positive. >> next speaker, please. >> i am ed dunn. i wanted to speak against proposal for a preliminary concept design for the garden resources center. hanc is the best recycling center in the city because we're the only one to support community garden. we have a native plant nursery on site. we support community gardening projects around the city. the recycling center is out front on the community gardening issue. it shows what kind of a smokescreen this proposal is. that is one point. the other point is that

recycling centers are still necessary. curbside recycling does not replace recycling centers. there is a requirement to have centers located conveniently around town. this recycling center serves our neighborhood. it is the convenient location for our area. if you get rid of hanc, the grocery stores will have to redeem and store. they do not want to do that. they do not have the resources to handle the demands. thank you very much. >> next speaker. >> i am so nervous. i am about to drop. happy holidays, commissioners. my name is marilyn. i have lived at the same residence for 40 years. i dealt with homeless

encampments miles away from redemption centers. i understand this is not a democratic process. the people with all the power to make decisions regarding our park were all appointed by the mayor. there is no real accountability, except that you do his bidding, regardless of what is good for the community. in this unjust process, i am asking for your mercy. please don't close the hanc recycling center. it provides a valuable service to the communities. i have been recycling there since the 1970's. that was before it was green to recycle. closing the center won't get rid of homeless people in the park. the services on a park planned are as valid as parking lot. president buell: thank you. >> i will read a few more. you can come forward. [reading names]

>> my name is pam. i am an avid organic gardener for the last 22 years. i have the luxury of my own backyard. i take my international house guests -- i have been hosting a bed-and-breakfast for 22 years. i take them with me. they have enthusiasm for recycling and organic gardening. it is a shame this says, between recyclers and gardners. the process has been abysmal. this is a functional non-profit that serves the 10 employees and a vast number of others that do the count a sustainable living

from the servicing their -- that do eke out a sustainable living from the servicing there. we are boosting them when we should salute them. -- we are booting them when we should salute them. president buell: thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> my name is keith. i am here to support the recycling center, doing the vital work it is doing, has done, and hopefully will continue to do. there are other people who have more knowledgeably talked about issues. i want to point out broad themes. one is the stealthy and just bad, not transparent process as

far as public outrage goes to deciding this vital issue. i think some of the comments from the city staff were disingenuous at best, and dishonest at worst. the real information is out there if you care to see it and hear it straight from the source. it is a vital service that they provide. there is a way it can be fine- tuned. there is a better site already that has been picked out by this very body. do the right thing, please. president buell: thank you. >> good afternoon. my name is events with the labor union. we represent the majority of the maintenance workers at the recreation and parks department. i live across the street from the recycling center. one of the reasons we came here today was to talk about something most people are not talking about. that is safe working conditions

for the people in the parks. they are gardeners, teamsters, carpenters, and a lot of times, they are confronted, not by members of the community. you could not find a group of workers that work better with the community than the gardening staff. there are folks that come in that are attracted to the recycling center that causes trouble. it is a dangerous situation to be in, especially for the females, but for all of us, when it is dark in the morning. we have to have the courage to address that. it is not that we are opposing anything more supporting anything. we believe that as a factor, the safety of the staff. these folks go to school. they're professionals. they want to garden. they don't want to pick up after people or hide until it gets light out.

>> next speaker, please. >> good evening. my name is jonathan and i am speaking on behalf of san francisco -- our mission is to create, and hands, and protect the livability of san francisco. we recognize local activists through annual rewards. by a vote of the committee upon recommendation of our public affairs committee, san francisco beautiful support the proposal by the department to bring the site of bucks hanc recycling center in line with the golden gate park national -- master plan. we support turning the area into a neighborhood-friendly site that will produce fruits and vegetables and the tool library. the current recycling center

strayed from the master plan's objective. we support recycling, but every resident now has curbside recycling. we do not agree with the industrial uses. president buell: thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> good afternoon. my name is jennifer. i'm the director of the coalition on homelessness. a very small percentage of the 3000 people who utilize the center every month are homeless. what most affluent people don't realize is that almost all low- income people retain their recycling for cash returns. i will center my comments around homeless people, as that seems to be the true impetus come as illustrated by the insensitive comments by staff. according to theresa, who released and ethnology on

homeless recyclers, homeless recycle spend an average of 10 hours per day and earn less than $2 an hour. their sources are various. they tend to cross the city multiple times per day in 10 hours. they draw material -- >> we're getting a big sign. sorry. [tone] you may have to speak over the hiss. you are welcome to continue. >> as i was saying, according to theresa, who did an ethnography on recyclers that was released

this summer, san francisco recyclers who are homeless spend on average 10 hours a day with the recycling work. across the city multiple times in 10 hours. they draw from various sources. they have regular customers and businesses. furthermore, the study found that proximity to a recycling center has no bearing on the location of the residents of the homeless person. what was the bearing on where homeless people reside is access to privacy. recycling is hard work. what it means for working recyclers is a kind of blue- collar resurrection. there are 12 times more unemployed people. this is the kind of economic activity we should be encouraging. closing hanc would cut off access to supplemental income in a very large geographic area during a recession. it would not meet the stated goal of reducing the presence of homeless people in the park.

thank you. >> [reading names] if you are here, could you come forward, please? >> my name is jerry. i am a 30-year resident of san francisco and a property owner. i use the recycling center all the time. every time i have a turnover, i have tons of material that goes there. it helps me keep the rent low. i don't have to hire someone to take it to hunters point. taking away the recycling center seems very unfair, especially with no notice. the community garden is a bad location. bad soil, that sun -- bad sun,

it is a bad location for a garden center. you knew that to begin with. it has been a very divisive issue for us in the neighborhood. if you wanted to divide the neighborhood, you have been very successful. this myth about a community garden being a great thing to replace the recycling center is wrong and it has divided us. president buell: thank you. >> good afternoon. my name and sean. i have lived in the area for 24 years. i live 100 yards from the recycling center. i am here to speak against the proposed change. i would like to address one of the negative comments that was made earlier about homeless people being attracted to the recycling center. that whole issue was actually

created by a previous mayor of san francisco, who ordered a police sweep of downtown san francisco in the late 1990's. he took a homeless problem that was downtown and moved it into the park and into the neighborhoods. i think the positives of the recycling center far outweigh any negatives. the recycling center was one of the recycling -- first recycling centers of the world. it started a movement that has gone around the world. it has become a resource. i have brought my children there. they have learned to recycle. >> thank you for this opportunity to speak. my name is dennis. there is a really big, serious misunderstanding in this room. it is among all the people involved in this problem. that is that state law requires

a redemption center in this neighborhood. we would be out of compliance with state law if we don't have a redemption center in the immediate zone. so, if this is moved out of golden gate park, it has to be relocated somewhere in the neighborhood. whatever problem that facility has are going to be replicated wherever this is located. this is just a move of location. it is not achieving anything. secondly, and i raised this the last time there was an attempt to leave it to the center many years ago, that was that golden gate park does not have a recycling program. this department should be ashamed of that. they should be working with hanc. they should be working with them to form a recycling program. thank you. >> i am chain.

i would like to thank the commissioners for sifting through this all afternoon with all of the issues you have to decide about. you're wonderful to do that, even if i may not agree with your results. it was a real surprise today. i heard about this recently. i think the people in my neighborhood only seemed to hear about it last week. i think it would be good if you could conduct some meetings in the district where they could be informed about the issues. they seem to be divided on whether to have it. some people are for the changes you will make. a lot of people are opposed. i know that community gardens are very popular. i wondered why public land would be used that way. maybe they should give the food they raise to st. anthony's and the food banks.

i don't understand. that is a personal thing. jennifer of san francisco tomorrow asked me to tell you that they support the recycling center. thank you very much. >> i live at 62 woodland avenue, about three blocks away from the recycling center. i am for the recycling center. i'm opposed to the plan before you. hanc went through 10 years ago what you're going through right now. the issue is not the

presentation. it is not the issues that have been presented here today. it is about hanc. i am an old politician. i recognize power when it is sitting there. i understand the haight ashbury neighborhood has effectively organized and worked. there are many people who are disapproving of it. i thank you for the presentation. >> i will call off a few more names. [reading names] >> good afternoon. my name is blare. i'm the director of the gardens for the internment. if the urban gardening movement is the future of this department, as your staff has said, you should know the urban gardening movement is united against this garden. that seems very odd.

i think you should take note of the testimony today. located within the service area of frederick street is gardens for the internment, which has offered educational garden programs that are successful and have been of great use to almost every garden in san francisco. this plan represents a duplication of the services offered at a garden for the internment. -- environment. we have worked to establish these types of services in this neighborhood. rpd prides itself on world-class garden. thank you. president buell: thank you. >> next speaker. >> greetings, commissioners.

thanks for giving me an opportunity to speak. i am with nature in the city. we have had an ongoing relationship with hanc to promote and manage the new plant nursery -- new plant nursery. we promote what is going on there. we get people to go and buy a plant. we even promote a little bit of staff time. we get plants for our projects. our primary concern is for the native plant nursery, an incomparable community resource. we are concerned about the potential loss of recycling and that 10 green jobs. we understand the concern about the recycling center in golden gate park. we are very sympathetic to the

need for proper community dialogue. that is a strong theme of today. i think that is your main message. with that, above all, please save the nursery and keep that at full operation. thank you. >> my name is wanda and i am here to ask you to please -- it has been in operation for 36 years. that is not something to be discarded lightly. that is an impressive record. people need options. if you need more than one option for recycling, they're probably coming up with ideas that other recycling centers could use if they know about them. the native plant nursery that gregg has started is extremely

important. we have other nurseries, but this is one focusing on the san francisco gene pool. we cannot lose that. it is important that people know that these plants are still there, and how they can create habitat for insects, for birds, and everything. i live on a cable car line. i don't think getting rid of the recycling center will cut down on the noise. as somebody pointed out, it is a commercial corridor. there will be a lot of traffic. please keep the recycling center and the nursery. thank you. president buell: thank you. >> [reading names] >> commissioners, good afternoon. i am richard from the steering

committee of the buena vista association. we have 400 paying members. we serve a 4500 households. we are part of a coalition of six or seven, almost all the neighborhood organizations in the area. we respectfully urge you to support your staff's proposal for the community garden. it is an on-target use of prime property. it conforms with the master plan. it will provide additional guard in spaces. there's plenty of room for the native plant nursery. the recycling was once an extremely innovative and great neighborhood service. that is obsolete, thanks to citywide recycling. now it is an industrial activity. it does not belong in the residential neighborhood, certainly not in the crown jewel of golden gate park. it to be relocated to an

industrial location where the recycling can continue, the jobs can continue, but it is in an appropriate location. thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners, for providing this opportunity to speak. my name is andrea and i am co- presidents of inner sunset park neighbors. we have approximately 1300 households. our members have been advocating for a refusal hanc recycling site. they have been advocating for more park use. people think that because golden gate park is on lincoln boulevard that it fulfills all of the president' -- residents' wishes. what people want is a community gathering place and a community

garden would fulfill that. i am a community gardener. in richmond, there is one community garden. in sunset, there are two gardens. south of market, there are over 30 community gardens. we are not over-served in the sunset or the richmond community gardens. one last thing. i would urge you to do community outreach if this concept is adopted, not to finalize the garden plan, but to be in on the front with the people who are gathered here today. thank you. >> good afternoon. my name is dale. i'm a resident of the north panhandle area and have worked with neighbors to help organize stewardship activities. i am saying my own opinions about this issue. one thing i have learned from neighbors is their interest and

their need for community gardens. we don't have any sort of a nearby community gardens. the location would be convenient for people in the panhandle. also, i found the remarks extremely blunt this afternoon. they did show us something about the difficulty and persistent work the gardners and the staff have to do to keep our parks clean. i am proud to stand with them because of the work they do. it makes it possible for a neighbor in their -- neighbors to enjoy the park. thank you. >> good evening. i am the president of the north

panhandle member association. i appreciate the opportunity to voice our support for the garden. it is simple. parks are for people to enjoy. they should not be used for industrial use. i would stress that if planned to move forward for this project that every consideration be given to the employees affected by the repurchasing of the site. -- the repurposing of the site. >> hello. i am president of an association. i come here as a long-term resident. i come mostly to support the community garden concept. it is time to do the right thing and take this land back into the park. however, all of these talks about how nothing is going to grow there, the native plants seem to be doing fine. that is a red herring. 10 years ago, we went through

this same thing. this is not an immediate thing. they have had many years of being on a 30-day notice situation. if you have a business on a month-to-month lease, you should be looking for a new location. let's do the right thing and get this industrial use out of the park. put the land back to the people. president buell: thank you. >> hello. i would like to say "go, giants." first of all, i have lived in the haight ashbury for 22 years. i have recycled and i have worked at the recycling center. i have worked with the native plants. i have gotten tickets for parking that i have had to work off through the recycling center. i really appreciate the people that work hard in the park.

you are not going to get rid of the homeless people by getting rid of the recycling center. i believe that we still need the cops on horses, the walking -- and the walking police in our neighborhoods. the homeless thing and the recycling thing are two different things. i am sorry that people are not happy with the way that people recycle, but it is important. it is something we have been striving for for many years. hanc has already been doing that. thank you. president buell: thank you. >> a few more names. [reading names] >> my name is robert. i am representing a community garden.

i am a membership coordinator. i look forward to this transition. it could be a tremendous benefit for all of the community gardens out there. the one thing we have a difficulty with as having a location where we can have resources for community gardens, to enable them to do their function very well. there is nothing more empowering in this economy than for people to be able to grow their own food, their own health become organic food. the second thing is that berkeley has a tremendous program of tool-lending. in addition to helping community gardens function by having resources locally, having access to tools for gardens and private individuals is something that should not be overlooked. it is a very valuable resource. it would be nice to have it here. thank you for your time. >> next speaker, please.