and i really love community gardens. in fact, i'm involved with one, but i do not feel that this is a good trade off. we should not be swapping one green program for another. we can have both. there are other places to put community gardens, either in golden gate park or other scraps of land throughout the city. we have places to do that, and i hate to hanc see the to would be displaced. additionally, i'm concerned about the money that rec and park has of the moment and the budgetary issues we are all faced with. we think the money that has been suggested, money to be spent on a new recycling center, could be better used maintaining, supporting, and improving the existing community gardens we have throughout the city. many are not ada accessible. many need repairs, and many need the tender loving care that a few dollars could help them in

that process. i also feel that the conflicts arising from the neighbors in the recycling center could be addressed and resolved without evicting the recycling center. there has to be a way. this is a strong city, and we learn how to get along. thank you. supervisor mirkarimi: before i call it the next speaker, i want to read a few more names. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you. i wanted to read a few more names. [reads names] >> my name is [unintelligible] cunningham and i am here on behalf of the san francisco urban and agricultural alliance, issuing the statement that we are in support of the native plant nursery at 70 frederick street. an alliance of increasing food within san francisco, we are

clearly in the support of creating more community gardens on parking and buckland. however, we do not support displacing an active garden plant nursery that offers garden education workshops and classes that donates compost for vince like 10-10-10 and cardboard for organizations like the caves valley farm. this issue has been divisive lee framed as a choice between recycling and gardening. this is a false choice. we are in support of hanc and another community garden. >> your name again? >> [inaudible] cunningham. supervisor mirkarimi: next speaker. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i am a long time haight ashbury

resident and i wanted to speak on a personal basis about what this center means for me and my neighbors. i wanted to thank the supervisor for his careful questioning about the ramifications of this move. i guess i will leave it on the record. i would like to emphasize something that has not been spoken about a great deal. the importance of the center as a defacto community center. this is a homegrown, organic institution in the neighborhood that i think most of the people here are extremely proud of. it is a place where people can work in a hands-on way to get back to their community, meet their neighbors, work with their neighbors. particularly the grant program is one reason that many of us do

take our extra recyclables down to the center. the grant program has helped any number of local organizations through the years. the open hand age emergency fund and the co-op nursery school. the former hamilton family shelter. on and on. i have always chosen to take my materials to hanc, but it is important to say that i would have had too many ways because i lived in a three unit building ready other tenants take up all of the blue been space. i do not have room to deposit my cardboard and pay for the materials that is the bulk of my extra recycling. this recycling center cannot be said to be obsolete, because i need it to dispose of my materials.

thank you very much. supervisor mirkarimi: next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is jane murray and i am a resident of district 1. a few of us in 1970 got together to decide that we would think globally and act locally. we founded the richmond environmental action. it was in business until 1996 with a full-time staff on property at u.s. f that they've been needed for housing. after that i joined the san francisco community recycling board, which runs the market site. i am very proud of how hanc stayed in business and met the

needs of people that wanted to bring, let's say large items like cardboard, many small- business people come to those centers. as you heard before, probably they could do without it. also it has been around for 40 years in city plans pushed them to do the right thing with the bottle bill and less waste going to landfills. they were around when they pushed having a massive burner for all of the waste down in brisbane. we kind of watch out for what they are up to. the issues of community recycling redemption centers have generated a lot of heated rhetoric. you have seen the community centers and the for-profit centers finding people but

rightfully want to deposit money back into church and school groups seeking funds. but there are many elderly folks who are immigrants helping extended families. more and more lower income people. this is a very hard time for so many. [tone] supervisor mirkarimi: thank you. they will not go away, they will just be walking and driving farther. >>-- >> they will not go away, they will just be walking and driving farther. supervisor mirkarimi: i did call [reads names] please. >> good afternoon, supervisors. judy berkowitz, i represent 46 neighborhood associations.

the long term policy has been, for 10 years, it has been that the city has its own recycling program. since that is in place, privately owned recycling services only serve to divert direct revenues from the coffers of the city. director ginsberg has stated that golden gate park should adhere to its master plan to provide park appropriate uses. this is a non-conforming use, as is the proposed water treatment plant on the western side of the park. in the spirit of what is good for the goose being good for the gander and in the consistency of application of policy, i would venture that recycling centers should not be allowed in public parks and the dolores park recycling plant should also be

looked at for its lease termination. we encourage hanc's recycling efforts, however locations in city parks with master plans that specifically prohibits these activities are inappropriate. a more appropriate location for a recycling center would be the high school. thank you very much. supervisor mirkarimi: [unintelligible] come forward. >> my name is barbara sange. i was a resident in the mid- 80's, and have been around for about 30 years. my observations are kind of folksy. this is mean spirited. there are layers and layers of agenda and payback and corrupt positioning on different

positions. we have to remember that x marks the spot. if we cannot do it right in the heart of the city, what are we doing in a city that sets a precedent for the rest of the country? nationally we really shine for a lot of things. sometimes we take some heat for that. sometimes there is payback on that. but recycling is an important issue that goes back a long way. i am sure that the scavengers of the 1930's have their reasons as well. profit and trying to survive. part of that kicks in on this issue as well. but we have lost a lot of services in the upper haight. it is not easy to juggle all these different kinds of budget for these different programs of san francisco with all of their nonprofits.

there are many things that we are on the forefront of, but let's just try to keep that recycling center where it is because it will be a helluva time to relocate. it will not simply be as easy as going in relocating somewhere. this thing is working, let it be. let it do its thing. there are people in every neighborhood that go through your garbage no matter where you are. if people are doing that. it is a sign of the times. please try to be gentle with the rest of the planet. [tone] >> hello, my name is gail [unintelligible] i am here, hm, to speak in support of the haight ashbury

recycling center. i am recycling about -- passionate about it. when i drop -- when i dropped a can in my been, it is gone by morning. when i bring it to the recycling center, my donation brings resources to the community. i am one of those people that can after garbage collection to pick up the oversized cardboard, i take it and put it in my car and take it to the recycling center. sometimes i think my neighbors looked at me weird. [sigh] so. um. i like, um, the community of the haight ashbury recycling center.

it is very human. those 10 hardworking employees are my heroes. hm. when i go there and might meet someone and it breaks the isolation. >supervisor mirkarimi: i am going to call some more names. [namreads names] >> good afternoon, supervisors. catherine howard. i always find it helpful when the department talks about following the golden gate master plan. however, we are not seeing this. it is not being followed in the

concourse where contrary to the plan, trucks are being part daily behind the band shell. it is not being followed in the proposal to build a soccer complex at the golden gate park, an area designated in the master plan to remain wild and natural. seven makers of plastic grass, ground up fliers, and new concrete and asphalt with increased parking and 10 banks of 60 ft. flights that will remain open until 10:00 every night, i would say that those are neither wild boar natural. the third area where the master plan is not being followed is the proposal to build a 40,000 square foot water treatment factory in the western end of the park near the mercy wind mill. this is not a park appropriate project and is completely counter to the golden gate park

master plan. we encourage rethinking of the master plan in discussions. we are concerned that people will think that they are only using it when they want to justify their own internal decisions. thank you. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you. next speaker please. >> my name is sandra mackey. i live on haight street within two blocks of the school and community gardens, which i think it's wonderful to have. i would point out that wreck and park's focus is commendable. is what one would like to see from them. however, as the publicist in the presentation made clear, they are so focused on that, they do not see other city needs.

in that context, their focus becomes tunnel vision. only parkways and not household work. the other thing is community gardens. the implication was that somehow opening up the parks would shorten the waiting last ended is just not so. a community garden is wonderful but it will not have any effect. it will not change anything in places like argonne. i would point out that the city website, when it talks about gardens and household waste, i went there to find out where to take it. they had that big push about taking it somewhere. they do not want plastic on the

sidewalk. where should i go to deposit my greece? imagine me try to get in there with greece and cardboard. i do not think so. costco. the greece recycling their is a sink in front of the elevator. i do not think that that will take much either. hanc is accessible, clean, orderly, there are no loiterers. [tone] i can take what i have -- supervisor mirkarimi: thank you. >> let me finish my one sentence. this need has to be important enough so that hanc needs to stay where it is until the city itself finds a place for them to move to. in absence of that, they have to stay. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you. next speaker, please.

>> thank you, supervisors. i am a resident of san francisco and i worked as a recreation coordinator and a skilled nursing facility here in san francisco. i have been involved in the creation and implementation of community gardens and urban farm projects. i am strongly opposed to the eviction of the native plant nursery and recycling center. i am relieved, it is nice and lucky that the component of the plan proposes retaining the plant nursery. i cannot help but question the cost benefit formula, if any, that was used in the decision to evict this unique and important community resource. certainly the center is not obsolete when many of the

people utilizing the space to not have their own blue bins. i am one of those people that assumed that there were a lot of homeless people and i apologize for my assumption. that being said, people without blue bins of the rhone, this is a great resource for those people. if san francisco wants to maximize recycling goals, they need to provide tangible and diverse options, like the recycling center. in addition to those options, the center encourages a diversity of people, rather than hiding in ignoring the scavenger shopping carts with cohort of users, i respect them as

constructive activities and something that provides some level of income. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you. [tone] >> two more sentences? i am i nervous is? supervisor mirkarimi: 1 more. >> one sentence? supervisor mirkarimi: here please -- hurry, please. >> the center provides a far reaching cause that is just and -- please do not affect. -- evict. supervisor mirkarimi: i am going to call more names. [reads names] if i have called your names already -- walter, i did not call your name.

thank you. >> good afternoon. i am the director of the coalition on homelessness in san francisco. almost all poor people recycle for cash. it is a means for elderly, underpaid and underemployed family members to contribute to household expenses. but i will focus my comments on homeless recyclers. while it is a minuscule proportion, their presence has been a reason stated foreclosing hanc i recommend park. -- by rec and park. on average -- average these people work 10 hours per day and earn less than $1 per hour.

it is extremely hard work and is a monument to the spirit of individualism and ruggedness valued by american culture. this proximity to the recycling center has no bearing on the choice of camping locations for homeless recyclers. very few recyclers reside and side of golden gate park. that is not to say that they do not pass through across the city as they traverse. based on this evidence and our own information gathered at regular of reach, closing the center, located across the street from golden gate park, will have no impact on the presence of homeless people in golden gate park or the surrounding area. thank you. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you.

next speaker, please. >> good afternoon. my name is sam [unintelligible] and i am a gardener and landscaper here in the city, using native plants almost exclusively for ornamental work. i also do edible vegetable gardens for customers as well. i rely on hanc as a source of affordable and ecologically produced native plants. betsy, i brought a picture but i do not know if it will be very visible. is it possible to put this -- here we go. this is a garden is 500 yards from the nursery.

i have tried to circle and highlight all of the plants. those are all produced by hanc. i have specific criticisms on the proposal to put in a community garden. the photograph was shown of sunlight in the area. it was a reference to the amount of light. as someone who has been there frequently, there is not actually that much light available at the site. to make it viable for vegetable gardening a lot of trees would likely need to be cut along the south side, which would be a visual blight on the neighborhood. i also had concerns about the native plant nursery being kept there and who would staff report. it would likely cut out the heart of the native plant nursery as no one would be there on a regular basis. i can see that the centers do go

hand in hand in that respect. and [tone] supervisor mirkarimi: thank you very much. next speaker, please. >> hello, supervisors. in the closest neighbor to the resource center. every day we move from 10:00 to 11:00 at night for every conceivable moment. no one is better [unintelligible] than me. we have never seen any homelessness and i am surprised. if every company had three or four people over there, i know one lady who is supporting three kids.

last week we pulled the shelf with silver stickers. how many people were taking care of this stuff? picking up a used book from their, no one could compared to what we were doing right now. if all of the stuff on the border goes on the street over there, so many kids see a lot of the mess. and keeping the area clean from bottles and cans. [unintelligible] washing laundry and giving it to poor people. if this center is closed, who is

going to do this community work? nobody mentioned that. leaving the center over there, people are helping over there, people making the wash over there, let them. thank you. supervisor mirkarimi: i am going to call some quick names. [reads names] actually, can we have a two- minute resources -- recess for one of our colleagues? is that all right? we're going to take a quick to minute recess. sorry. we will be very prompt.