entity came to the cbd prior to the meeting. i do not see that as under their jurisdiction, under how it was formed. i am also bring to your attention today's paper about how nine persons were indicted by a federal grand jury for drug dealing in the tenderloin. that is in "the examiner" today. the neighborhood has enough pharmacies, retail clinics, hospitals, support services to defense -- to dispense drugs. we are in the center of the city. also through the mail, you can get pharmaceuticals. the permit should be denied for the lack of zoning to cover this in the neighborhood planning code. that is the problem. unfortunately, our special use district does not include this

type of permit in it. that will be rectified probably later. we have too many pharmacies in our neighborhood. this is totally ridiculous. this is unfortunately what happens when something goes out of whack. there is a knee-jerk reaction. this is what is going on with this situation, a knee-jerk reaction of overconcentration of dispensing of drugs in our neighborhood by too many entities. and the majority of the entities are the ones on the board of the cbd. ashy was listing the names of those entities that were on the board. commissioner hwang: i'm sorry. i did not follow the last. >> the attorney read off names

of the people that were on the board at the time. those entities she was reading off their website, what they do and what they provide -- they dispense drugs in the facilities they own and operate in the neighborhood. therefore, they have a vested interest in what was being said and done. i say a vested interest, because the have properties. they represent the property owners. the community -- the community benefit district. commissioner hwang: the person who spoke prior to you was a representative of that group. >> right. there were other meetings. i am a founding member of the cbd.

i was there five years ago as the interim director for the cbd. we did not form it to be planning for the tenderloin. it was to represent -- the things she outlined in her little brief are what the cbd does for the neighborhood, but it is a non-profit. it is not to plan. >> thank you very much. >> next speaker. >> good evening, commissioners. i am the general secretariat and board member of the mosque at 48 golden gate, right there in the tenderloin. basically, i represent a whole community and congregation of worshipers in san francisco. they could not be here because

they are attending to their children and their family community center, as well as the evening prayers. i represent all of their concerns. i have signatures i can put on the overhead here. that represents a lot of those who live in the bay area, live in the tenderloin, worked in the tenderloin, as well as raise their children in the tenderloin. this case has been -- i am not here to do an emotional plea. the facts are that the children, the families everyday use the tenderloin. they walked back and forth to actually get their life into place. i'm want to emphasize important things. sean has no benefit in opposing they drugs.

the fact that she worked maintaining two buildings that i know of, a hearing to people's complaints all the way down to leaks that come from the roof. her concern is what the people's concern is about. there is no benefit in saying it is her case. this is a community case. the second thing. the provide drugs for the elderly, as the last speaker spoke for the defense. that is their claim. that is not true. as you saw in the video in the last hearing, the videos clearly show that once someone purchases drugs, as soon as they step out, the same legal drugs are sold illegally, right up the door. the video was presented and is

in the record from the last hearing. the community on and off -- the also mentioned -- the defense also mentioned the impact, if i could piggyback on the next speaker, the wonderful things on the cbd website. that is what they represent, whether it is the development commission or the low-income housing. but they are not the ones. they would want to see anything profitable. they are not the one seeing the drugs and the way they are sold. in the and, i wanted to finalize by saying one of the vacant spots is right in front of the mosque. it was turned into a beautiful moral -- merrill -- mural. vacant places do not bring

crime. people hanging around does. thank you so much. the signatures are here. thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> my name is mark blackwood. i am a tenant and resident manager of 50 golden gate. a lot of impact is felt in the neighborhood by the pharmacy that is already there. i have lived there for 16 years. we are not trying to blame a drugs. -- blame bay drugs. but the pharmacies have an impact. maybe the drugs are coming from out of the neighborhood. but all of the most intense drug traffic is down in front of those promises. -- those pharmacies.

people loiter on the corner. i cannot imagine it is going to be any different. i am sure they are going to take safety measures. i do not think the can pull it off. -- they can pull it off. i am sure they have done things in seattle, but we have no idea whether the neighborhood worked in is anything like the neighborhood we are talking about now. we know they worked out the permit. but apparently that is a moot point that they are doing that legally. no one seems to care. everyone is going on about the impact is when to have on the neighborhood and how the community organizations are for it. the community itself showed up here at all the previous hearings in force, definitely stating they did not want this in their neighborhood. they do not want to see another outlet for drugs, or even just a

potentially gathering place for people selling drugs. there are people on the street using and selling in front of apartment buildings. i have seen people shooting up, blood dripping down their arms, right in front of a residential entrance. they do not care. they are there because the drugs are there. regardless of how they feel that our point to protect us, the camp. -- they can't. >> next speaker, please. >> i have talked to you before.

i have talked to you before and i tell you that i live in the tenderloin and i have a group of other friends that together and maybe we want to go to the movies together. sometimes, we have to go back and walk on the street. it is difficult not to miss the amount of people who are there, just waiting for you to buy drugs from them. you can tell the are no good. -- they are no good. another four opened, two toward the north and two toward the embarcadero. we are not safe.

we have to walk. we do not have the luxury of an automobile. please be aware that those things happen. we are very old and cannot defend ourselves. we have no way to keep explaining to you each time when we go through all the times of encountering this type of people near us. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker. >> my name is michael nulty. i appreciate the compassion and the patients of the commissioners. i know this has been a drawn out set of hearings. anyway. i am the director of the tenants' association of san francisco, which is made up of 100 low-income buildings, many of them in the tenderloin. our tenant leaders have troubles because we meet on turk

street, the same block as this pharmacy. we have sent in a letter stating that we do not want to see more problems be exacerbated on the block. now i am finding out that an entity i was a founding member of, the community benefit district -- i was on the steering committee, which makes him one of the incorporators of the organization. it has a management plan. that plan says certain things it is supposed to do. it is not supposed to be the council of the neighborhood. it is not supposed to be the planning on the neighborhood. it is only supposed to do what its management plan says. it is not supposed to write letters saying that it represents the tenderloin. if it does do that, we should

have a video tape so we know exactly what is being said and done. they just found out they had to be under the sunshine ordinance because they were having meetings that are not done properly. i sat on the board for five years. i had to keep reminding the board members how to do things in their meetings which they were not doing. so i have concerns about an entity speaking for the neighborhood when they should not. they are not planning organization. so i am sorry that the letter was written, because that is what the neighborhood wants. there are many community groups that have to do with residents,

and they understand the impact of what goes on in the neighborhood. the community benefit district is not wanted. also, and want to address the issue of safety. it is very important that safety exist in our community in the tenderloin. i also wanted to mention about the store fronts. there is an initiative trying to get more people to go to the store fronts in san francisco, particularly in the tenderloin. the economy is probably part of the problem. thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> my name is susan brian. i am a resident of the tenderloin. i am a member of the alliance for district 6. i was a board member of north of market planning coalition. i also was in a committee, a task force in the late 90's and.

we raised funds to start the first such vote cleaning program, which has now been taken over by the cbd. i attended many of their first meetings, and dropped in on them occasionally. unfortunately, the slots for residents from when i was observing them. the other thing is that, like i say, they did not have planning as part of their original agenda. thank you. >> next speaker. >> good evening, commissioners. i guess i and the reason that these meetings have been going on, because i am the landlord of

this particular building. i come to you as the fourth generation san consistent and the second generation to own this building. i wanted to put a face with the name landlord to the problems we have been discussing. i have to say i agree with what i have heard in this commission hearings. i do not want drugs on the streets of san francisco, not only because i am and landlord, not only because i have spent 12 years volunteering for the sheriff's department, but it is not appropriate if we are going to turn around the tenderloin, until we have irresponsible landlords who install responsible tenants in responsible businesses. i had sam's locks as a tenant for 10 years. he finally had to come to me and said he was afraid for the safety of his mother, that he

needed to close the shop. there was not anything i could say. i understand. we have had such a good relationship, i allow you out of your lease. that space and stayed vacant for about a year. i am very aware of the amount of drug-trafficking that takes place, because i also have a hardware store on the corner. the family that has run that business for about 20 years has approached with the problems they have had with having their children be able to leave the premises without having to deal with the drug traffic on the street. i have personally sat down with the tenderloin police department to discuss how we change it, and unfortunately no answers came about. when i was presented with the option of a drugs, i had the same concerns. i do not wish to put a tenant in my building that is going to add to the problems of the street. i personally called the seattle

police department. i spoke with the narcotics unit and asked them -- tell me about them. are they responsible? do they add to the problems of low-income areas in seattle? they assured me they were exemplary. i then went to the website and contacted each of the organization's they support. the only one i could not get a hold of is the lesbian-gay alliance. i spoke to everyone of those organizations. everyone said it was exemplary. i then sat with captain verity -- garrity and the owner and went through this with my own lawyer. i said i do not want to hear if you are going to add to the drugs problem. -- i do not want you here if

you are going to add to the drugs problem. i have a history of responsibility in this building. if i found out this tenant was drug trafficking, i would cancel the lease, and i have the authority to do that. i think you for your time. >> is there any other public comment? >> good evening, commissioners. >> i served as a district manager to the cbd for its first five years. i am well aware of the challenges of doing business in

our neighborhood. of was a founder of the north the market community benefits corporation. we have brought many neighborhood improvements to the tenderloin, including the narrow reference earlier this evening, while engaging property and business owners as well as residents. i attended the board meeting where the owner of bay drug met with the community. i voted for them to come to our neighborhood. this was after a long discussion about the kind of products that would be selling. unfortunately, some people have promise he is negative in and of itself. much of this is a reaction to the many challenges that drug abuse present to the tenderloin. however, well-run pharmacies do not dispense drugs illegally or irresponsibly. the pharmacy is an important and to commit contribution of the small business to the tenderloin.

mr. ortega is a responsible business person who will be a valuable additional asset to the neighborhood. many things will revitalize the tenderloin. neighborhood small businesses are part of that process. we thank you for that consideration. >> other public comment? we will move into rebuttal. president goh: is that captain garrity? did you come for this case? just to listen for it? you did not come to speak? i am curious to hear what you have to say. someone called your name and

mentioned you were here. do you have a position about a new pharmacy being on pill hill? >> in the police department, we do not work on the building permit issue. we do not deal with variances and other things with the building of the property. i have met with both sides over security concerns and public safety concerns. i voiced my opinion to both sides. that is we have to be fair and balanced on this matter. we encourage small business and are concerned with public safety. a large corporation has a pharmacy downtown and want to expand. i talked to them about retail theft. this is a permit issue. it is up to you to decide.

we have concerns in that area like other areas. any kind of business that comes in that is going to affect our deployment or our staffing, which was 91 officers july 1 last year and is down to 70, does have a bearing on us. i want to be informed of what is going on in the neighborhood. they are very gracious people, the business owner and the people from the neighborhood. i understand their concerns on both sides. we cannot take a stand on a building permit issue. that is not what we do. i think i learned a lot today about the law and the constitution. [laughter] i heard a discussion of

philosophy and st. thomas aquinas. herb king said the tenderloin is full of saints and full of sinners. there are a lot of good people in that area who need services, whatever they may be. but this is a building permit issue. we have concerns on both sides. we have to be fair. i spoke to the people who want the facility and the people who do not want the facility. it is up to you to use common sense for any kind of permit that comes before you, by the rules of law that govern your commission. president goh: you mentioned safety and deployment of officers. would a facility like this increase the need for deployment in the area? >> i do not know. the facility is not built. vice president garcia: not to

jump ahead, but it seems to me that i remember the first time that this case came before us that you or someone in the police department had recommended certain measures be taken to ensure security and safety and those types of things, having to do with cameras on the front keeping people away from immediately in front of the pharmacy, those types of things. we still have the right to place a notice of special restriction. we could incorporate the measures you recommended. >> our permit officer was here before that. i recommended to both sides -- we have concerns about the security issues. security is not cheap.

it is up to you if you decide to put extra restrictions on that. i gave you the list of what we are concerned about with extra security and cameras. that is not up to me to decide. it is up to the building code. vice president garcia: we no longer have that in front of us. if this were to be approved this evening, i would want to try to get the other commissioners to agree to special combat -- to special restrictions in order for this permit to go forward. >> i think the pharmacy people already have that. vice president garcia: they have a list? >> you can add that if it is up to you. whatever commissioners decide, the police department will abide by it. but it is up to you people to make the decision. vice president garcia: it is. commissioner hwang: along the

lines of president goh's question on staffing, is one of the reasons you are here out of concern that you're diminishing staff would have to -- your diminishing staff would have to be more watchful in monitoring what is going on,? should be a pill be denied,-- the appeal be denied, would you monitor closely? >> we monitor all new businesses that opened. we do not want any blight. it does not matter if it is a barbecue. the same thing. we monitor all businesses. small business, we want to thrive in that area. commissioner hwang: do you have to conserves in this area?

-- different concerns in this area? >> it does not matter if it is a liquor store or a day care. there are a lot of service providers on that block. there are the people in the self-help center. commissioner hwang: i think you. -- thank you. >> thank you. >> you can start your rebuttal now, mr. waggoner. you have three minutes. >> just a few points. one is earlier some of the commissioners touched on the discrepancy i raised in my brief tonight, between $40,000, 103 puzzlers. -- $103,000. mr. forte drafted a business plan.

he estimated construction costs of $100,000. exhibit 16 in the april 16 contract, costs were estimated at $103,000. i would respectfully suggest to you that was definitely not undervaluing. the have a very specific idea and were only off by a few thousand dollars. i do not how you undervalue from 40 to 106. vice-president garcia asked me earlier -- if ms. morgan had complained prior to may 24 -- the answer to that, i can be more specific. she did in fact call dbi prior to may 24, and was told that the permit was already in existence at that time. but that permit was for the laundry. so she got that information. she was told she must be mistaken because there was already a permit. the third