we house in alameda county because of the difficulty of finding affordable housing for transitional housing. it is something we're working on. this project is genius in its idea. you have the players together to make sure the execution is eloquent and effective. [tone!] supervisor mirkarimi: next speaker, please. >> good afternoon. my name is ruth clay. i was born to a drug-addicted mother and father whose whereabouts is unknown. and was placed in foster care system of birth. throughout my life in foster care, there were some good times and bad times. after leaving the foster care system, i was bouncing from house to house. i knew someday i wanted to become owners. without support and placement, i

knew that my career would be placed on hold. moving back to san francisco independent skills living program referred me to first place you. after entering the program, first place taught me how to manage my time, money, pay bills on time, and the job searching. it got me back into school. after leaving first place for years, i maintained a 3.5 gpa, started nursing school in the fall, and continue living on my own. i am also keeping a job. without first place, i would still be sleeping from couch to couch with my career put on hold. first place is a great program for all youth to exit out of care to achieve their dreams. thank you. supervisor mirkarimi: next speaker, please come forward. >> i am kathy peck.

and the executive director and founder of a nonprofit organization that provides free hearing screening to youth in the san francisco bay area and in oakland and many other school districts. i am also a neighbor in the area on lance st. we own a home. it is in 1880 victorian. the neighborhood traditionally was one of the new rule is that survived the 1906 earthquake. we have some of the oldest victorians in the area. some date back to 1853. that was the border of san francisco. when i look at my neighbors' homes, it is a dynamic -- gigantic building. we love booker t. and the kids.

we are a neighborhood. we all want to work together. we're hoping they will consider not change in the neighborhood. supervisor mar: please come forward. >> good afternoon. my name is and corey. i am with a national nonprofit organization that creates housing for people with challenges. i am here to speak in support of the 55-foot height for the project. i am also here to speak for the larger number of units. we have a serious need for housing for transition-aged youths. this has proved to be an effective intervention with emancipated foster used to help them get on their feet and stay on their feet. one aspect of the project that

is of interest to us is the transit-oriented development. we are a project in the new affordable housing fund. we are considering financial support for this project as part of the fund. it is close to transit. we really believe that even with the lower number of parking spaces, it will not be a burden on the neighborhood because transit is so good in that neighborhood. i appreciate your consideration of this and want to express my support. supervisor mar: i am going to call some other names. please. >> good afternoon. i am steve williams. i do not live within the 300 feet, but i do live nearby. you have been given a lot of wrong information about the neighborhood in order to justify

a project that is too big for the neighborhood. this is out of the final eir. i pointed this out in the draft. they still have a completely wrong. they do not identify any two- story buildings in the neighborhood. the 25 buildings circled are wrongly identified as three stories. they are two stories. there are 31-story buildings. there are 73-story and four four-story. the predominance on the block is two-stories. you were given completely wrong information. when it was first submitted to the mayor's office of housing, it was 39 units, 40 feet tall on presidio and 57,000 square feet. the old developer submitted it. here is the project submitted by

the executive director. it was submitted at 40, 39 units, 57,000 square feet for the building. in january of 2010. the building got larger. every time the neighbors got together and said it was too large, they simply made it larger. this is not the correct way to do development. the neighbors have gotten together with the neighborhood associations and supervisor as described in the general plan and the better had the run the program to decide what fits in with in a prepared a compromise was worked out, a compromise that the neighbors do not like. it is still too large for the neighborhood even with a compromise. [tone!] i urge you to look at the materials and realize you have been given a lot of misinformation.

>> thank you. next speaker, please. >> my name is dennis a conrad. -- vanessa conrad. we've lived here 27 years. it is a victorian down the block from booker t.. i understand the root projects result in a compromise. i urge you to consider the compromise submitted before the earlier some middle -- earlier one. that is of compromise i believe everyone can live with. i urge you to consider that support supervisor farrell's compromise. >> next speaker. parmy name is charles ferguson. i am currently the district two

representative on the citizens' advisory group for advice in the planning department on housing. our position is that we support the use of the building. our problem is with the size and bulk. we believe it is your job to balance the societal interests in the building of this size against the interests of the surrounding neighborhood in preserving its character and environment. i have lived there a long time. it is truly an historical area. each one of us learned with balancing means an average of food -- in our childhood on a se esaw. it is creating equilibrium between two opposing forces. it means on either side, there is the least amount of harm done while the greatest possible amount of good is done on the other side.

this is not an easy job. i realize that. it takes time and effort. you cannot just pick one value or side and favor that one. it does not produce any balance. supervisor farrell has spent a lot of time with us individually and as groups and with the interested parties. he has studied the financing. i recommend before you reach any conclusions, you consult with him and have him explain to you the hard work he has done, which i think is excellent. thank you very much. >> i am going to call some other names to speak. jon kaufman, ronald wi, richard wu. >> i am a member of the jordan

park improvement association. i have nothing against the booker t. washington project. the public benefit overshadows some of the neighborhood benefit. in a good compromise, nobody wins 100%. what i would like to understand is that the mayor's office of housing has stated the financials and a deficit of $500,000 for operating costs. if the operating costs are going up with 50 units, i would think with less units, there would be less operating costs. if the ceiling level were dropped, the building could still be lower and have the same number of units there. i do not think this has been considered. we did not have all the players altogether at one time. we're hearing different stories parking spaces and bicycles

bases. i do not think some of the parking spaces are for the affordable housing units or the ms spaded -- in as a bid adieu. there for the faculty and booker t. washington staff. -- emancipated youth. there are all of these buses. i am having some issues here. we could solve this better. there are other options i gave. [tone!] this could come to a good ending it would all be together and sculpt it better. they make it sound like it is for the transitional youth units that will disappear. the nine units are for the rest of -- regular forego housing. there are other units coming in as well. >> next speaker, please.

>> my name is ron. i live on sutter st. with my wife. we bought a house in 1991. i support the compromise by supervisor farrell. i want to reiterate what rose just said. the nine units subtracted would be from the affordable component and not be the youth component. we support the booker t. washington addition, the community center, affordable housing, and youth housing. i am on the record for that. i do support a compromise. contrary to what has been stated, there is an impact. i live in a house right behind the community center. the building props are around us. it takes away light. i have announced for mitigation

-- asked for mitigation having to do with the colors of the walt or cutting down a tree on our neighbor's property. the neighbor has approved it. there are also certain issues of whether printing. the building wrapping around our property devalues our property. i never asked for any financial consideration or remuneration. i have announced that the building be built in context with the neighborhood -- asked that the building be built in context with the neighborhood. i ask that you support the compromise with supervisor farrell. >> next speaker, please. >> my name is john kaufman. i am representing the neighbors of this project. we support wholeheartedly the

mission of the booker t. washington center and the need for a transitional housing. that is not the subject before us today. the subject before us today is simply the scale of the project. it is too big. there are no units of housing on this side. it is zoned for 20 units. 50 are proposed. -- 28 units. we support the compromise with supervisor farrell that would reduce this to 41 units. you have heard discussion about 110 units. that project was dropped. that proposal went away. the sponsor of the project went away. it was not even considered. that is not even on the table and never has been. the project compromise that supervisor farrell has offered

was something he spent a lot of time working on. it is a compromise. the idea of compromise is that no one wins and is in the middle ground. we urge you to consider that. it does have the additional support you heard about from the mayor's office of housing. [tone!] 9 units are there for transitional and low income would go away. the rights of the homeowners and people in the neighborhood would be protected. i am going to give you a list of over 100 households of people who live in the area who would benefit and support this compromise. i am also going to give you letters from five or six neighborhood associations also support a compromise. [tone!] i urge you to think about everybody in the spirit of compromise and not just about the young people, but also the people who live in the

neighborhood. >> thank you. you have been retained to represent the neighbors? >> that is correct. >> was that the case for mr. williams? >> no. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> my name is margie. and here to support the compromise by supervisor farrell. the building is too large for the neighborhood. i do not know the terminology, but for the planning department to amend the code so that it allows for this building of such scale and height -- i think is wrong for the neighborhood. i urge you to support the compromise by supervisor

farrell. thank you. >> i am going to read some more names. please come on up. >> my name is ronald li. i am a long-term member of the community. i do support booker t. washington. i think the proposed measure should help the community center. the height of the building is not the issue. the young people who are trying to be in the apartments, to not think of the height of the building, think of the well- being of the community and the

young people who are going to stay in these apartments. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker please. >> my name is richard wu. i am the executive director of a nonprofit. we work wito support people with training and employment with companies like google that are growing. i come from a background of 20 years in the i.t. department. i am also a senior engineer for a company. we have been working with them. i strongly support this project as a nonprofit organization and a native of san francisco who has lived here for 20 years. i see the need for affordable housing. i am hearing all of these things about these nine units.

we have to understand that these units are very valuable for these people. we are affecting their lives. we always have economic concern for the neighborhood. you have a decision to make. it really impacts their lives and future. how is it going to affect the future of san francisco. to i grew up in the neighborhood. i have seen the changes. i want to support a project like this. i think it will benefit us. i worked in the bar. -- barcadero. do not own a car. i make over $60,000. i do not want to deal with parking. think about public

transportation. think about other uses. this project is a solution for many problems for housing and for sentences coke itself. [tone!] we could create a hardship for our city. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon. my name is kevin sinclair. i am a resident of the presidio. i am here in support of the compromise that supervisor farrell laid out for you. i think this is a question of physical integration in the neighborhood. living on the street, i can tell you rebuilding of this size would overtake the streetscape of the east side of presidio ave. i have a deck on the roof of my house.

i am on the far end of presidio. he would be towering over my residence. it does affect more than the height. it affects where people live and how they live in their residences. this would represent at least 10% of the allocated seats you would be looking to fill. i think that is a good percentage of this city of san francisco to represent 10%. i would like to say that there has been plans put forth in previous years. they did zone in. i think this would be going over the zoning too far. i think the compromise laid out would go along with with the neighborhood feels would be good. we're all in support of booker t. washington. that has never been an issue. we think the community is great. there's nothing but community support. the neighborhood wants to say we feel like this would be more in line with our values as well. [tone!]

>> thank you. next speaker, please. >> my name is sam. i have been the head of a school. for blocks from the site. -- four blocks from the side. i live about seven blocks from the site. drew school and booker t. have actively engaged in partnerships during my 20 years there. my students and faculty have been able to engage with community members. they have grown a lot from our side of it. our kids and families have grown enormously from the partnership. i believe this project, which i support in many members of the school community support, is really about to the fundamental things. one is the very real needs that have been articulated. the other is the leadership for

this project for the greater good of san francisco. we're all aware of the huge number of young people transitioning out of foster care on an annual basis. this project will help address some of the need. by no means will address all the needs articulated. i think the financial needs as articulated by the chair of the board are very real. the needs of the community and the needs of this particular service center are real. about the integrity, i can only say that there is a 100-year track record of historical integrity. they have served the community. there is a huge thing to be said about the integrity of the governing structure there. the current executive leadership and hands on faculty and staff as low as the board -- as well as the board have been amazing in both settings.

they have a vision for the center to keep alive as well as managing the day-to-day realities. [tone!] this project injures our neighborhood in an attractively. i urge you to support it. -- this project interest our neighborhood in an attractive way. i urge you to support it. >> could you talk about the use of the gym community center and the benefits you get from the new building. >> in terms of the gymnasium, i am pleased to say that several years ago, we partnered with them. we are a tenant. we pay market rates for gymnasium time. the partnership involved at a time of mutual need. my school was looking to share facilities with some community entity. we needed space. we still do so that our children can participate in physical education and sports.

i believe there is still a desperate need by the community center for a guaranteed cash flow. we have worked with booker t. to purchase a certain number of hours per year so that we can get our gymnasium time as much as they can flex their scheduled to meet our needs. it has been a win-win situation for both. my students have had the opportunity to be mentors in tutoring and home work situations as well as helping -- they've been able to help the teachers and faculty mentor and summer programs. we have provided some athletic and fun trips for them as well. it is beyond the classroom. >> it was not that long ago that drew asked for permission to

demolish a residential unit building so that there would be an extension of the facilities. what came before us was under the planning code under demolition of a tenant unit building. is that correct? >> yes. >> i am curious. >> it is in the vicinity of this area. >> it is about a five-block walk. >> what kind of support did you get from the community for the demolition of the building for the expansion of the school facility? >> the extended community was overwhelmingly in favor of us. we have been an active partner in the community. the planning commission voted 7-

0 in favor. the board of supervisors upheld an appeal. i think there were two parts. both of them were supported by the board of supervisors. wonderfully, the building has now been completed. i think the neighbors and extended community and grown to appreciate it. it came largely as a result of the fact we've worked hard to be engaged and active partner with the community and understand its needs. supervisor mirkarimi: i think drew has demonstrated that. it is a well-known private school. >> is a well-known independent school. supervisor mirkarimi: it is fair resourceful. is that the case as well? >> over 40% of the students are in financial aid partnerships with us. we work hard to provide access to nearly 50% of the kids who go there. we have been fortunate that a fepercentage of our families tht

have the ability to get beyond tuition have supported us in efforts to go directly to financial aid and this particular building project. we have also had to borrow quite a bit. we have quite and mortgage debt in essence. supervisor mirkarimi: think you for your public service. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon. i am speaking on behalf of the housing action coalition. we followed this project for a long time. i want to state plainly that we strongly support the scd. we think it is an excellent project. it is entirely in context with the neighborhood. this is a neighborhood in transition as stated previously. for goodness sakes, is across the street from a large bus parking lot. this is not going park or no year rally -- glen park or noe

valley. this is affordable housing. we see again and again that indeed is oceanic and the supply is a trickle. in the best of worlds, it is painfully difficult to find affordable housing. we know this is not the best of times. we think in a real and perverse way, a compromise is saying that a community service -- center that provides service in a real way is expected to subsidize a neighborhood of much higher economic status. that is a perverse use of the land. this is a great project. you have heard from the mayor's office of housing that the office of housing that the reduction in the number of units