that so many people have come forward to defend the national grocery chains. it is not our job to redeem, to make sure they fulfil their equipment -- fulfill their obligation. that is their problem. they're very capable of doing it. hanc has been on a 30-day lease. that is an order of the eviction. kevin was looking for alternative places 10 years ago, and was reporting to us regularly. they knew they were being evicted. they kept going on and on. i am delighted about the community garden. so many social services have been dumped in the haight in the last 20 years. this is the first time the city has really given us something, assuming that we get it. now we can be for something.

>> hello, commissioners. i am related to that woman. i am a longtime resident of the haight-ashbury neighborhood. i am a member in good standing of hanc and the improvement association. i am not talking about -- as a representative of those groups. i am a member of the graffiti advisory board. i enthusiastically support the establishment of the community garden and the relocation of the recycling center, and the hopeful extension of the nursery. thank you. president buell: thank you. >> next speaker, please.

>> my name is denise. i want to ask you to please reconsider the proposal that is going to, you know, harm hanc. i want to support the recycling center and the native plant nursery. listening to the arguments, i want to add a suggestion. if the concern is that the homeless are attracted and the park workers are in danger, why don't we ask hanc to accept the recyclables only from people with a driver's license or some idea that shows they are not homeless? right? also, i think the audience really needs to hear from you that, yes, you are aware of the sunshine ordinance. thank you. >> the sun shine ordinance.

>> my name is sue. i am in instructor of history at the city college of san francisco. i was here to speak recently. i have been recruited to the hanc cause. in this morning's paper, commissioner buell, you said we are talking about change. there will always be? -- be people who like it. change just is. it is the way of the universe. you guys are smack up against that right now. however, it is how a change occurs that is crucial when it comes to these changes and the policies that directly affect us. the changes you propose to do directly affect me. i do oppose the community garden and the negation of the

recycling center. finally, we leave tribute to our pioneers. hanc is a pioneer of recycling. honor it by maintaining its 40- year space at the edge of the park. thank you. president buell: thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> my name is john. i will offer a perspective of somebody who has lived across the street from this recycling centers since its inception. we won't get into the thousands of dollars caused by damage from pigeons. we will not talk about the break-in's related to the client. in terms of the neighborhood recycling center, i would like to address the trucking. hanc as trucks that go in and out constantly. there is a caravan of cars and

trucks bringing in obviously stolen materials. large commercial ventures come in and drop off their materials. in addition to that, hanc has another commercial business. they store their trucks on the property. they come in and out. you hear a thebeep of the critics -- you hear the beep of the trucks. i support to the recycling center when it was started 30- some years ago. it is now not a neighborhood recycling center, but a large- scale commercial transfer station. thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> i am christine, a longtime hanc member.

as much as i hate to contradict my old adversary, john, i think this is veryvery importantly a neighborhood organization that many of us have deep roots in and take great pride in. have i been recycling at hanc all of these years specifically because of the grants that it funnels back into the community and which gives me a sense that i am directly able to affect the welfare of many people in my community whom i don't even know. so ripping hanc out of our midst, especially on short notice, i think would be an extreme trauma and shock to this community, and on that -- in that regard, i would also like to object very strainously to

the lack of any dialogue, any notice despite your highly touted new outreach policy. i wonder why that doesn't apply to the haight-ashbury? and i hope you will answer, does that only apply to certain neighborhoods and certain people? >> next speaker. >> good evening, commissioners. my name is greg gar. i ran the recycling center in the mid-80's and started the native plant nursery about seven years ago. this whole process has been very divisive in the neighborhood. there was not enough public process. paffs a big -- that was a big mistake. it's a unique facility because it propagates only san francisco native plants. these are adaptive to san francisco's environmental conditions that are habitat for our local wildlife.

the nursery staff and volunteers have planted over an acre of gnative plant gardens adjacent to the stadium. the garden supplied seed for propagation of more native plants. all of the potting soil is made on site. we supply plants to the natural areas, programs, green hair street quarter, green school yards program, mount sutro stewards. the nursery should remain as a valuable and appropriate use of golden gate park. thank you. >> about afternoon, commissioners. my name is tess wellborn, a long time resident of the ashbury. i recycle at the haight-ashbury recycling center and buy native plants there. i would like to address location, first of all, of community gardens.

you have already approved a site at the top of this picture. secondly, there is a triangle at fred wick that is much, much larger size, probably an acre and a half. that gets full sun and would be an excellent garden site if you need a second one. as far as the industrial, if you look at what it says in the golden gate master plan, it says stopping an industrial use at this center would mean stopping pickup around the city. the fact is that we only pick up in the immediate neighborhood and most of our donations and buybacks are from people who live in the immediate neighborhood. we get 3,000 people a month at that recycling center. most of them come in cars or on foot and obviously, our address showing they live in the vicinity. so don't be fooled by what they say about industrial.

we have the -- the center has complied with what it says in the golden gate master plan. >> a few more names. antonio ramon, elizabeth martin craig philip, steph any, pat green, nicholas bellny. bruno waltner. quentin mechanicy. mark marden and janet rogers. >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is suze yes and i'm the program director for garden for the environment, a fiscally sponsored product of the haight-ashbury council. i also served as a stakeholder representing the urban agriculture specter. i'm a community garden advocate but i oppose the plan for the garden at 780 frederick street. while i applaud rec and park for allocating a quarter of a million dollars to create a community garden and resource center, considering the deep budget cuts for the department, a contradiction lies in the

displacement of hanc to create a community garden. over the year hanc has supported the san francisco urban agriculture community by providing grant funding for community gardens for compost bins, material and divorces for new garden as well as serving as the fiscal sponsor for garden for the environment for last seven years. last year per the request of the mayor and san francisco food policy council, all city departments and agencies were asked to conduct an audit of the land suitable for urban agriculture purposes. not only did 780 frederick street not appear on the citywind land audit, another location did. commissioners, i urge you to take a step back and initiate a public process that is transparent, participatory and inclusive. a comprehensive process that addresses the current associated concerns with hanc as well as the community garden and urban farming communities in san francisco. thank you.

>> thank you, commissioners. my name is kevin hart. i'm a resident of the neighborhood and have been for 18 years. and i support the community garden proposal before you. it seems to be an excellent use as far as i know enjoys a great deal of support of the immediate neighborhood. i would also like to commend the process. we've been there for 18 years. this is discussion has been being had for ten of those years among neighbors, i believe in this room and thanks also to the press. i would also like to commend hanc. for its obvious and exemplary early leadership in building the recycling center and i would like to ask them to recognize that, that function is now obsolete, especially when it's located as it is an industrial use on public land, public park land, which is a value to all of us in the city.

thank you. >> thank you. >> good evening, commissioners. my name is paul green. i'm a member of the board of the neighborhood association. i have also been a resident of the area for 25 years. hanc has been a great resource in the early days in recycling. that resource is now superfluous with curbside recycling for the fast majority of people. i have visited many of the world's great parks and i know no other park in the world that has a recycling center in it. it was classified golden gate park say great park. having a recycling center in there is inconsistent with its use as place of recreation and i hope that hanc can continue its function in a more appropriate location. thank you. >> thank you. >> name is antonio romano, and

i'm a lifetime native san franciscoan and urban farmer and co-founder of the san francisco agriculture alliance, which opposes this measure. the main reason why i oppose this measure is because it just doesn't make sense. the site is not appropriate. someone tried to equate growing native plants with growing food plants and that's just ignorant. there's a big difference in the amount of food food plants need to native plants. that is a factor. there's plenty of available sites that have been explained and i would say yes, we want community gardens in that space. i live in the mission. i don't live in the neighborhood but i can imagine there's a lack of community gardens and i support making community gardens but that's not the right part. to me it seems like a railroad process, very undemocratic and made in the sense to demonize the poor yet again. for rec and park to participate in the process of demonizing the poor and trying to with hanc. some people don't like homeless

people and that's inappropriate. if you don't like homeless people, you should do something else about it besides evict hanc. >> good evening, commissioners. i just want to say i'm supportive of the community garden because we're taking a space that's being used now for profit and turning it into an open space area and that's something we need to look at here too, that we're always talking about the department being greedy and taking money left and right from everybody and this is a situation where we're actually taking something where we are getting money and going. let us -- let's give it back to the community. this is something that might be -- this is a very good point, and i think everybody needs to pay attention to that as well. also, one quick other point issy live in the lower richmond district as most of you know. i basically kind of scared the hell out of the people taking our recyclables this week and i talked to them a little bit. everybody i asked that was

taking recyclables basically said we're going to golden gate park. so that's something to look at in the outlying districts that they basically are getting them that way. so there you guys go. >> good evening, commissioners. my name is quentin mechanicy. i believe our office in addition to senator mark leno's office have submitted letters to this commission. and i should be clear about the intent of both of those letters in conversation with senator lengio's office, it's not to oppose community gardens. it's to oppose the decision and process by which you have now chosen to evict hanc. we are in favor of community gardens as i'm sure if you took a hand raising exercise here in this room right now, you would find the majority of people raising their hand in favor of community gardens. in october of 2009, this commission approved funding for a community garden in front of mclaren lodge and yet there's been no response as to the status of that. that was over a year ago.

unfortunately, the administration and the department has made a very clear choice to take what was a controversial and historical issue within this neighborhood and made it a family decisive issue that has separated every neighborhood around the recycling center. it's unfortunate and quite frankly didn't actually have to happen like this. not only was your outreach policy not followed, it was generally ignored. there have been no community meetings that we have been taken a part of or invited to attend. in closing we ask you to reject this proposal and keep hanc where its site is. >> good evening. i'm on the board of directors of san francisco community recyclers. i want to thank the commission for working with hanc for so long. would i suggest you consider renewing the lease for five years. that might be in order. thank you.

good evening, commissioners. my name is mark martin. i have worked in the area for years, and my great friend, late friend david brouwer might remind you that the environmental movement is not about ue taupen ideas but the future of the environmental movement is environmental justice, which involves dealing with people of all classes and all races. and i happen to have worked for hanc for a couple of years too. there is nothing like hanc on the planet. i have covered environmental issues for many years as a journalist. the meeting of races and classes at hanc is like nothing else in san francisco or anywhere that i know of where people from all levels of society come and participate in something that they love. this is a great, great social

benefit that hanc does and i -- and i support the mezzureb. thank you. >> thank you. >> i will read a few more names. marcus major, gary delaineous, karen fishkin, susan carasoft, anna cho, martha offman and matthew leviscay. >> good evening, my name is james. i'm a resident of the haight-ashbury since 1984. i have dedicated my career to parks and rec and actually work next to a community garden currently. i think that many people in this room have stated things that are quite misguided and i'm in support of hanc recycling program and native plant nursery. being next to a community garden. very few of those gardens are actually native plants. and i think many people have pointed out some good stuff thus far. it's amazing how you stand in front and get really nervous. so i do want to support hanc and

i'm against this proposal. i think there are many better places for community gardens in the city as somebody rec creates or used to rec create in the parks as well. i think that park and rec needs to build better community relations and not separate them. so, again, i'm in support of hanc and the recycling center. thanks. >> good evening, commissioners. my name is janet rogers and i'm a longtime resident, over 20 years. i'm here today to urge you to remove the recycling center and replace it with a community garden. clearly hanc should be commended for its pioneering efforts in recycling movement. however, it has outlived its usefulness now that we have a curbside recycling program. a community garden would be an asset to the neighborhood as it would be a lovely place for

residents to gather to meet each other and to do community gardening together. thank you. thank you. >> thank you. >> good evening, i'm elizabeth martin craig. one one of the cocoordinators of the agriculture coalition urban alliance. the san francisco agriculture alliance is firmly in support of garden resource centers and in support of the continued operation of hanc recycling center and native plant nursery. we do not think hanc should be closed in order toin stall a community garden. the hanc recycling center at that location is already providing an enormous benefit to the gardening and agriculture community by fully funding and operating the nursery dorks nating tons of card bore for mulch and projects like hay valley farms, agriculture workshops and classes and by acting as a garden resource

distribute post for compost. they support equal access to production and believes a new garden resource center would best serve san francisco if in a location that did not currently have a garden resource center. in conclusion we strongly support community gardens but not at the expense of hanc. thank you. >> hi. my name is stephanie. i'm just coming forward today. i'm a resident of the haight-ashbury community and i'm coming forward to express my im coming forward to express my concern i'm coming forward to express my concern regarding the potentialm coming forward to express my concern regarding the potential eviction of hanc. i think that i would be very disappointed to see hanc go. think from the clearance site for the garden would be awesome. i'm totally for community gardens. i don't think this is the appropriate place and i don't really think that rec and park really went about it appropriately. completely ignoring all of the policies and procedures that they put in place. i don't think that there's enough time to make a decision.

especially a decision that will affect so many people in the community the way this would affect us with hanc closed. and, yeah, that's pretty much it. i'm in support of hanc and i really hope you can really think about this before you make a decision. and think about what everyone here came to say. so that's all. thank you. >> hi, commissioners. i'm martha hoffman. i'm a homeowner on wall street near the hanc recycling center and nursery. the center is not the cause of camping in the park and not the cause of crime in the park and it's a very safe place. i have resided by hanc recycling center for years. it's popular, successful environmental center, outstanding operation and it should continue. i recycle there to support neighborhood green jobs, volunteers and because the

center gives regular grants to the community, including at one time helping to restore the carousel. rec and park has handled this effort in a really dishonest, disrespectful way and i appeal to you commissioners to put the brakes on this effort and to work towards the process to maintain the center improved at its location. >> next speaker please. >> good evening. i work with building resources in support of hanc. opposed to your motion. i am all in favor of garden centers. i would like to see gary boulevard ripped end to end and planted with trees but i don't think i will get it. what i would like is honesty. what this policy boils down to is the let's kill the buffalo. that's what we did to the native indians so we could make farms. that's what you guys are doing.

we're blaming hanc for the homeless problem and i think it's appalling. thank you. >> thank you. >> good evening, commissioners, the pleasure to be here. name is marcus major. i'm an urban farmer and pride myself as being openly clear urban farmer and part of the rainbow chart alliance, which is a group of farmers and gardners internationally known, mind you. i think it's really important to bring up issues here. rec park, this is a stellar park system. it is world class and i invite you if you act world classly in opening communication space with the community. as an urban gardener here, we need more community gardens. it's not an issue. i think it's a red herring. i invite all of you to look at this as a multiagency approach. if we lose the ten green jobs, what will happen with the health care? they will not happen. they will not have it. so let's call d.p.h.

why is d.p.h. here? we will need them to help take care of some of the loss of health care and not only the ten jobs, but the partial hundreds of jobs that people will lose. i think the important thing is about empowerment. if people feel empowered, they're able to have jobs and they're more likely to make positive health choices and i think we can all make positive health choices in helping support community gardens and recycling centers as well. thank you very much. i oppose the ordinance. >> my name -- >> linda, duncan cavy, carol glausening, linda stark, brian hornbeck, gilbert johnson and kathy belan. >> hi, i'm karen siskin. disclosure, i'm on the hanc board and on the hanc recycling committee. i was going to come in here and talk about integrity but i think we've heard a lot about that. but decided instead i would

focus on the issue of smell. this gentleman segued me right into it. i want to talk about red herrings because we've had so many red herrings thrown out here during the course of this meeting. the first one was smell and calvin welsch addressed that. that's never been hanc or the advisory committee. red herring. noise, captain newellen at his request we had professionals come in and test the sound from the recycling center within limits. red herring. crime, captain newellen again in several other people pointing to the crime directly related to the recycling center and around the recycling center brfment you take that on face value, check out the crime stats we have. what you're facing here is neighborhood politics, agar jakes called it. you're being asked to participate in a really dirty process and i hope you will look

into all of this more thoroughly. thank you. >> hello, commissioners. my name is linda stark and i'm speaking today just for myself, not representing any group, but i wanted you to know that i was a volunteer coordinator at hanc way back in the beginning and i completely support their program. i don't want to repeat what anyone else has been saying but hanc has over the last 36 years been "the expendables" particularry what they have done for bringing in jobs. what i wanted to mention today is the $250,000 that has been talked about as possible money for this new community garden. we weren't aware there was any money available for community gardens. i would really like you to consider the fact that our existing community gardens all over the city of san francisco are in desperate need of funding and money. we also have a number of plots available in the southern part of the city.

i know the commissioner said you saw the entrances to the park. we know there's need there. we have money available. if it's there, i think we need to think seriously about taking care of what we already have. thank you. >> my name is carol glossinger. i'm a longtime resident of the haight-ashbury, 36 years. i live near the recycling center. 20 years ago i was president of the coal val yim provement association and at that time we were concerned that the recycling centers, the large trucks coming in and it was becoming industrial site and we were talking with members of the park and rec department and here i have in my old files a letter from park planner debra learner to mary burns, the current