>> good afternoon. this would the deputy director of inner-city youth and the director of youth first, and i am here because i think to fully understand the concerns of the community, you have to understand the population. if you look at the staff, they represent what san francisco represents. we have different people and different ethnicities, and they're all coming together with one unified voice to say that this is an area of concern. this is an organization that is actually -- part of the community that they have reached out to to support this, and we also do violence prevention work. and is amazing, the commitment that we have not only to the mission, but the efforts, city-

wide. with regard to uplifting the support services, with the commitment to make a change. with these programs -- if this developer was really committed to having the mixed-use building, that would provide support to the community, this would have been established for before right now. my question is, what is your commitment to the community and the minorities, and the constituency. right now i do not see that commitment. speaking on behalf of the after- school programs, you cannot serve as a child without serving the family and that is the perspective that we take. when you look at those two programs and the state tax programs that provide services

-- that provide services for hundreds of kids. that makes it vibrant. for the condominium, the person who pays a half-million dollars, it is highly unlikely that this would be compatible. if you pay $500,000, you will not deal with the noise. you will not deal with the 800 people around the building when it is time for you to go home or go to work. and even entertain your guests. how can this be a good fit for this community and this program, and for the history that has been established in the mission? i strongly ask you to reconsider, giving this conditional permit until they are affecting this program.

>> good afternoon. i am tracy brown, a native of san francisco and the homeowner. in 1985, right after i graduated from mission high school, i had an internship with arriba juntos. this was a fun time. we were happy with this and i have been the chair of the northeast theater. i have made every opportunity to attend. i reached out to andrew and my daughter was sick and by this time he had met with those who share this with you already.

i do know that i did reach out. arriba juntos offers a flea market where people sell their items and this is the only way that these people make a living to live in san francisco. they talk about the food bank in the workforce development. i am a member of the investment community, and we had a meeting with over 100 people showing up to talk about jobs. one of the things was having a safe space that people feel comfortable coming to. this is not compatible project and not a good mix to use, this is not going good with the neighbors. there are people in the waiting room. we have no assurances that the condo owners will support these services including the flea market and all of the other services including violence

prevention. this year to -- we are here to tell you that we are against this permit and we would like the discussion and your intervention. at this time we are against the permit moving forward. we are prepared to go to the board of supervisors to appeal and this will impact our ability to serve our community. i am a long time mission advocate and you can see my newspaper articles. i will be here at every meeting and make certain that the community voice is brought here and we can continue to have dialogue. thank you for your time and consideration. i am hoping that we can look at ways to work together, to come to some resolution. in the environmental report that was submitted, this is located

prop -- practically on top of the property. thank you. >> i am lisa. i own -- with my husband and his partner. i worked in san francisco for a large retailer. i have lived here. he bought the property in 2004. this is a great deal of our equity and time and money invested in this property. we have done -- i am sari, i am bit nervous. we have been maintaining the property and following through with all of the communications and i can assure you that we have reached out and we have a

supportive response from arriba juntos. -- arriba juntos. this work would continue. the space that they use would not be compromised. we went into the project looking to build and submitted the application to the city quite a few years ago. we were told that this would be the eastern neighborhoods plan, to get to this stage. during the stages along the way, we communicated as we were required to. the outpouring is moving but i wish that we have this sooner. i support everything that arriba juntos does. i support children, first

graduates. i understand the mission. we're not developers, we have a small project. we are two working families, and over the last few years we have very few, modest-quality buildings. these projects employed 99% people from san francisco. we continue to want to build these, these buildings and in the past -- we have done a good job and we hope to continue to do this. i ask that you consider the project as proposed. >> thank you.

>> good afternoon. i am carolyn worth, president of arts management, that has performed the needs assessment study for this center, located in the mission armory. we conducted extensive market research, locally and nationally, going to similar venues to analyze the operation of 12 comparable armories. with great support and enthusiasm for the community center and others, the mission- based agency and cultural programs. the parks and recreation commission and professional and athletic organizations. the bay-area corporations and retailers, non-profits and

planners, promoters and caterers and fund-raisers. there was a clear need for a venue that could host a larger variety of events and activities including banquets and trade shows, exhibits and conferences, community youth and adult sports programming, concerts' and recitals and lectures, hiring halls, job fairs and community meetings. major upgrades to restore this to a place of public assembly are currently in progress and will be completed later this year including the installation of a fire detection system and upgrades, reconfigured lighting and electrical work. we intend to oppose monthly events, on a temporary use

basis. my firm has been asked for a full business plan which will ultimately result in a permanent change of use applications that we would present to the planning department next year. this includes for the restorations such as restoring the windows and adding attractive restrooms and amenities and restoring mezzanine seating. this will coalesce a richly- diverse community by offering programs and facilities not accessible to most of the district. it will enhance the quality of life, for social and economic growth.

>> i worked for arriba juntos. i am speaking in spanish. also, i have benicio castro in the english version. [speaking spanish]

>> thank you. >> good afternoon. i am just going to read the english of what you just heard. 45 years of service to the community, almost half of the century. what would it mean for the 1500 children to wait with so much effort but a lot of love -- what would it be, for the children and their parents, without their programs? with this give them a free and safe place for healthy recreation, to help them with their homework? let alone, what would happen for the is getting off track with their lives.

if it wasn't for the safe haven, that we offered to them, turning them into productive members of the society. what would it mean for the 85,000 families, to get employment and training. what would it mean for the 100 small-business families that work in the flea markets? for these people, this is the only income they have to support their families. because of the greed and benefit of one person, with the hopes of a better future for their families and the workforce. can anyone among the audience answer this question.

if this project passes, where will the children play? where will these small businesses find -- the services take place very early in the parking lot. the future residents will complain later, with the economy and the social consciousness. we cannot allow for this to happen. arriba juntos is willing to buy this so we can continue the human services mission. thank you. -- >> susanna -- -- >> i represent the russian community.

my family, when we came here -- we did not have any money. we didn't have a lot of resources. my parents were working -- they had to choose a shelter where they paid for the food. i started to volunteer, so my job was to come in at 5:00 in the morning and we would have people there to get the food. we would get the numbers to the people. we had 900 people just to get through. my job is to organize all those people. right now the economy is very bad and people don't have the money to buy food.

people with disabilities stay in the disabled blind. just to get a little bag of groceries, whenever they provide. arriba juntos prepares tax-free tax preparation, and we offer this even on the weekends. thank you very much. -- >> i am an architect, the architect of the mission armory. we have done a shad a study and it may be here. i showed this yesterday but --

>> just to clarify, the neighboring building is 51 feet at the avenue side. are there any questions? >> we may have a few to end the discussion but not at this moment. i have no more speaker cards. those who have not spoken, please come to the microphone, or if you want to show your support or opposition. >> i am charles and did not expect to speak to this issue, i came for another issue but i have been somewhat and involved with arriba juntos and

absolutely amazed and pleased with such wonderful work that they are doing for the community. i am a developer and a business owner, and i am property owner, and i feel, unfortunately, that this particular project is a misfit for the area that will impact hundreds of people and their services to the community which absolutely necessary. we are a service-oriented community and i feel that -- i am also the chairman of the council of armenian-american organizations but i am is speaking for myself. i would hope that you take this into consideration.

i do not want this organization or others in the service area to be impacted by a project such as this. thank you. -- >> good afternoon, commissioners. uni have something in common. i was helping you with your food pantry -- so we have something in common. i do my volunteer work with the food distribution, and we serve about 900 people. we have got up to 1000. cumbersome and overwhelming, it is my hope that each of you commissioners will take the time to come and visit so that you can see for yourself the tremendous work that these people have put together.

this is a business of 46 years, 46 years. i think it has established itself in the community, and for you to sit there and say, one more speaker -- i want to go home. i am tired, but can you imagine the people who have to leave their work to come here to present their opposition to what has been presented. i worked in the community for 54 years. my own zero in cultural center on third and mission, out in the historical building. i have given my life to the city because i believe in the people

can we serve the cross section of the people. we have asian and latino, and italian, antony -- antonini. >> lebanini, god bless you. you have to deal with the cross- section of people. we entertainers who came to us to support what we have been doing and this is commendable. you have to make some kind of a decision. i would not want to be in your shoes because this is very difficult. somebody has to win and someone has to lose. in this case we will not lose and let me tell you why. we have given such a tremendous.

of charity to the people in the community, establishing ourselves. this is something the commissioners should look upon. they should say that we're doing tremendous work at arriba juntos. make it a point to visit arriba juntos and you will appreciate the work that is being done for the community. in serving people, we do god's work. thank you. >> good afternoon. i work for arriba juntos. i am the resident of san francisco and i promote the community and is so tremendously against this project. this is about community and compatibility. there is no compatibility.

i was outraged with how this will impact a lot of the services by want to think about one service we offer. from 4:00 until 5:00. in the tae bo class, we have people from the community and children from the elementary school, in every friday. if these projects continue i can tell you that the first thing that will go is the friday afternoon class. not only in a community gathering but this is also promoting health among the residents. i asked you to please give the opportunity to further study

this project. i heard one of the speakers to say that this is not about community, this is not just about family. we are talking about two families against this who were not in here because of rules and regulations. how many are not here because they have to go work and their children are in the after-school program. i am a resident of san francisco. i hope that my opinion is worth something. i never spoke with them. this is about compatibility. and this is obviously not compatible. think about this carefully. thank you.