tv [untitled] January 31, 2012 7:18am-7:48am PST
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enthusiastic support of supervisor cohen's legislation which will allow our community to create the first-ever center for youth wellness and children's advocacy center. this partnership will help thousands of children across the city for generations to come. as you heard from the dean, our dream is that san francisco will ensure that kids across the city will stop being victims of violence in their homes in on their streets. this is a dream that dr. moses grossman, a pediatrician at general hospital, had nearly 40 years ago when he founded the child abuse council and in the san francisco etch out abuse prevention center. today, the dean and i, along with a dedicated team of public and private partners, many of whom are here today, are building a center to provide services for the safety, health, and will this for our cities children and their families. many folks are here today. they're not going to all speak. but i would like to see they can
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stand up to show our support? thank you. our dream, our hope, is to locate these services on 34 53rd street. at this location, we will provide a cover the spectrum of services to help kids, specifically the children's advocacy center, working with the city and county of san francisco to provide for an takoma investigation, an acute response in the case of a child sexual abuse, physical abuse, and exposure to domestic violence. every major city in america and a sister jurisdictions just across the bay, have a children's advocacy center, except san francisco. it is like not having a fire department. integrated with the children's advocacy center is the center for youth the wellness that will provide a list it will miss services, including mental health, community education, and advocacy. and the bayview child health
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center will continue to provide pediatric clinics for the bayview community. together, we truly are creating a one-stop shop to protect children's safety, justice, and welfare. we have many partners working together to make this a reality. lisa, a longtime advocate for our cities most vulnerable children, here in san francisco and throughout the country, the attorney general, along with our institutional partners, tipping point community, cpsc, and the baby child health center. the early life stress program, and the city and county of san francisco and its agencies, specifically ksar, general hospital, city attorney's office, the permit a public health, district attorneys of his, human services agency, police department, along with ucsf. thank you to these dinners supporters and friends, and as the dean said, we have community commitment to open our doors by the end of the year. i want to touch on one thing that the supervisor asked about
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dph's understanding, and as the doctor spoke about that commitment, we have been in long-term conversations with director barbara garcia. there is a letter in your packet on this support, which specifically addresses not only this particular use but is particular use at this particular location. supervisor cohen, thank you so much for your leadership in championing this legislation. we fully support and agree with your modification of reducing it to 7000 square feet. the entire land use committee, i respectfully urge you to approve this legislation and help us all fulfil a dream for children. thank you all very much. supervisor cohen: thank you. supervisor mar: the compromise from moving from 15,000 square feet to 7000 square feet, how does that impact the project itself? that is less than half of the square footage that was
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originally asked. >> the building that we're currently renting, the entire project will be 22,000 square feet. i have legal counsel here for more specifics. but the use for medical institutions concerned with in that building under 7000 square feet, so it does not negatively impact our project, but it meets community concern to create intensification of use in that area to ensure that future uses are compatible with the neighboring community. >> and i want to add that this compromise came from concerns from neighbors from india basin. there were concerned it was too large. i also would like to give -- matt, if you can come back up real quick. supervisor mar raised a question
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about the particular it s -- particulates and if this is the help the area to build such a center addressing health issues among the most vulnerable youth. could you talk about the planning department examination? >> the planning department, in our analysis under ceqa, they looked at the, sort of the land use changes generally, and found that there was no impacts under ceqa that this subject, the land uses, with impact. with the understanding that any specific project that came before the department may be further ceqa review. and what was before them under this review was the legislation for land use and the zoning change. supervisor mar: i know that the doctor mentioned that it is is successful area for many youths
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from the southeast of the city. so that location is a critical one for the clinic as well. that is in the balancing act of the potential negatives of being in an industrial area for a health clinic, but being buried sensible to families in the area. supervisor cohen: ok, we may begin public comment. the first card is ms. jackson. second speaker will be francisco da costa. and the third -- supervisor mar: we're going to limit it to two minutes per person. supervisor cohen: then it ruben santana. and then eric smith. >> thank you, supervisors piteously from bayview-interest point. too bad you have given me two minutes. this is a toxic area there. there is no bus stops there.
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there have been groups that want to build their across the street for many years, and we have opposed because of the sewage plant. there has not been in eir dun, environmental impact than in that area. when i tried to talk to about a month ago, to meet with you, i wanted to explain to you because i heard this was coming up, and wanted you to know about that area. i have lived there since 1948, so i know the community. i know what has been there over the years. this -- that is the most toxic areas. they have all the tracks running through there. there are other businesses based there. you might not even find a parking spot if you go to the meat company over there, because there's no parking. i do not understand why people always want, that do not know the committee, will not call for a community meeting, and have the community involved to see what they have to say about
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their children. that is not a good area for you to talk about having children, even adults, going into because -- are you going to have air monitors over there? there is a terrible wind tunnel over there. it even comes up -- toxins come from oakland in other areas. [bell rings] when i looked about this meeting today, then i saw for your board meeting tomorrow, this item, number 26, it shows you passing on this today and not really having a community input. that is sad, really said. thank you. [applause] supervisor mar: next speaker. >> supervisors, have been the
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director of environmental justice advocacy for 35 years. in all my 35 years, especially in the last 15 years, i have fought for our children off. i have heard some stickers, so- called policy people, come here and make statements, but i have never seen them in the community. i have seen one doctor who has recently come, they be in the last three or four years, attending some of our town hall meetings, but she did not support us against glenarden -- lennar, who has been instrumental in killing our children slowly and instrumental in killing our elders. so if somebody wants to put in the center, and somebody wants to do something like this, there are the areas. not one meeting was held in the public. and when i spoke here on monday and some people jump on me,
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that i got calls from various people saying, how come they do this? we have people sitting here in this room, not in the audience but on the other side, who always say they want to be transparent, but they are not transparent. so, chair person eric mar, i have known you for a long time, and i have always admired you when you stood for the rights, and you did support our community. [bell rings] ahmadinejad in this case, we cannot take our children to this area. there are millions of vehicles spots. millions of vehicles next to the tracks. single mothers cannot get easy access to this space. we can find another place, but not this place. and you should do the right thing. thank you very much. he>> commissioners, director of
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san francisco open government. i believe in need to pull this from the agenda based on the fact that it is not properly legendize. san francisco sunshine ordinance says a policy bodyshell posed an agenda containing a meaningful description of each item of business to be transacted or discussed at the meeting. it goes on to say that the description is meaningful if it is sufficiently clear and sufficient to alert a person of average intelligence and education whose interests are affected by the item that he or she may have reason to attend the meeting or seek more information on the item. i would say, by listening to the two prior speakers, that that was not done. also, if you go to your web site and you look at the maps that you're giving, which i saw the hand out to you, but of course none of the members of public, this is what you see on your web site. alabama is a member of the public going to look at that and tell anything about what is going on in this project?
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there is another matter that they gave. you cannot read any of the legends could you cannot tell what the heck is going on there. i think what people raised here are legitimate. i will be frank, this body was found in violation by the center and ordered its task force, all three of you, for europe mishandling of the parkmerced matters. denying public comment, denying meaningful public comment. the bayview area is a traditionally, historically, underserved area. it is also the home to a very, very different areas. [bell rings] i was in the u.s. navy for 12 years and at the vallejo naval shipyard for two years. i was at hunters point on the ship and saw the kind of things that the discharge into the water, and i know the kind of things the navy does and the cleanup these messes. and sometimes it cannot do very good job. all the complaints being listed here, i think would be done at 10 times over if these are
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publicly held meetings and aggrandized so that the members of the public would really understand that their interests are being impacted bu. supervisor cohen: thank you peter to the city attorney, was this item properly engine dies? >> today's meeting? supervisor cohen: yes. >> the clerk, i believe, posted the notice. supervisor cohen: is there room for discrepancy as to whether or not it has been properly noticed? >> as long as the clerk posted where she was required to do and send it to the appropriate people -- i did not do that activity, so i would need to defer to her. and it has been noticed supervisor mar: the description under item number three about what this ordinance is is very clear to me. regas three specific things that it does get to the clear enough to me, and i think a reasonable
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person would understand what the issue was. i think that is what he meant was not clear for him. but i think a reasonable person, in my opinion, would understand what this issue is. supervisor cohen: ok. is r sinceu bannon hereb? en ok, and after eric. >> good afternoon, and thank you for the opportunity. first, let me say that i really admire the work that the doctor is doing, and ms. albright. thank you to supervisor cohen, we did meet with them and members of the industrial community. we still had some concerns. we appreciate the compromise that was made with the 7000 square feet. we think that is important. in some of the folks in the committee have issues, as you have heard. and issues moving forward about the zoning of this parcel, hypothetically, after they are gone, with the industrial uses.
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i would like to show you one or two pictures, if i may. i heard the doctor from the department of public health. i do not know if they have ever come out there to see what we do other. i represent the san francisco railroad. these are a couple things we have a dress with your office and with the port and dr. burke and ms. albright. as you can see here, we get a locomotive from union pacific, which can contain as many as 50 cars a day. it comes in, and inhaul away the toxins. it is a closer in this area, until it reaches this point right by the building and comes right next to the building there. [bell rings] i want to mention that we have
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concerns about parking, the future of the zoning. i admire the work that they do. we hope to work with your office, supervisor cohen, to deal with parking, read striping, limiting the parking. i know this is a transit-first city. but one concern is what about later on? head -- heaven forbid anything happens to any child or parent, because these multi-ton locomotives come barreling down every day. we're very concerned about that. but i think this is an overdue project. i am just concerned about the location. supervisor cohen: once the locomotive passes this area, where does it go? >> the goes into our real yard at pier 96. your attendance of the port of san francisco. union pacific generally comes in in the morning. we are increasing our business, and the port is looking for more opportunities. we have got money for infrastructure, and we want to create more jobs in bayview.
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this is sort thisa pdr area with industrial stuff. we're concerned about the increase in our business, whether that will affected. we have had very fruitful meetings, and their commitment is wonderful. i believe in what they are doing. they're passionate about it. they're going to work with us and the india basin to deal with these issues of parking and safety. the port is planning a variety of different emperor for projects around the intersection. a tricky intersection when you have that kind of confluence of tonnage and the kind of thing. kind of scary. we are afraid of the president this said. other than that, i think this is long overdue. supervisor mar: i see the rail line around quint. i see some kind of a brick
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building. >> that is where they are. there will be on the third street side of that. building two. they're sort of away from that. not on the corner specifically. but we're concerned about parents and children coming they're looking for parking. i know there is no parking requirement. we were hoping for something like that. we want to work with your office to deal with that. i think dr. burke and ms. albright understand our concerns. i think they're going to work with us to try to contain parking so that folks do not put themselves in harm's way. >> good afternoon. ruben sanchez in them. i own to thousand square feet at 34 53rd street. if it had not been for my friend, francisco da costa, i would not have known that this issue was coming up to rezone my building. , and neither do i see my
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address on this article, number 3. so it really concerns me that something is going to be rezoned with my 10,000 square feet without my knowledge. so i do not see this to be sunshined in any way. i would never have owned this. i do see health issues. as an owner, i know of a lot of health issues. one, starting with my friend door. there is a sewer smell coming out of this tree that is extremely strong. i would never put a situation of children smelling that disgusting smell. i do not have children in my building. it is purely adults, a construction company. but it is a serious concern. that toxic smell. and of course, the parking, as everybody is in discussing here. there is none.
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and the cars flying by go anywhere from 50 to 80 miles per hour, sometimes with police behind them. it is a pretty dangerous location. thank you. supervisor cohen: thank you. did you fill out a speaker card? the court can give you one. cynthia, neo, linda, and danielle. cynthia williams, you are up. ms. williams, please. >> [inaudible] supervisor cohen: ms. williams,
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your turn. >> good afternoon. four years ago, i went to the bayview child health center to interview for a job. i am an american family therapist, and i went there to interview for a job of case manager. not knowing whether i would be hired or not, i was so impressed by the work that was it described in what they were doing. i was hired. i spent almost 17 years working with the city and county of the san francisco human service agency as a child welfare worker and then a supervisor. what i became aware of when i went to the bayview clinic to work is we are all serving the same children. what that clinic was doing for the children in that area was phenomenal.
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in that they were addressing issues that are not addressed in most most pediatric clinics. most pediatric clinics would not have mental health or any of those services that have been described to you. i agree with what ms. albright and the doctor were saying to you. the building that we are talking about is the same building where so turner truth -- so turner -- sojurner truth's foster agency was for years. children have been in and out of those buildings forever. i want to say that what the children in the bay view area need is a place with comprehensive services. otherwise, they are moving around from place to place. it is important for the community to realize that there are children with diagnoses that are identified by this clinic
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and have not been identified elsewhere. as a result, we have at least one child right now who is in hospice because of a misdiagnoses that had not been taking care of when she was a little girl. there are other children who have those same kinds of things. we need to have a comprehensive area where families can go to get the services that they need from all of these players. i do hope that you will please vote favorably on this. >> thank you. next we have [unintelligible] >> thank you, supervisors. i am a 30-year resident of the petition vallate. we do use the bayview child health center. my son has been going there for four years.
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technically speaking, he has been provided service that is very bell needed. i am here as a parent. i am not here as a technical advisor -- i do now even know what is going on. what i do know is that our children are always the last ones to get services. environmentalists are upset, but the only people that lose are the kids. my son has one more year at this center. the doctors have been great. the staff has been great. he is just flying. services were provided. what are we going to do? find a place for them to go to? people say that they will be hit by a truck. that they are breathing sewage error. as a parent, all that we want are healthy children. i do not know what the compromise is, but everyone
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needs to get together and hash it out. just act on it. that is what we need. healthy children. you all know that we are always the last ones to be served, and we should not be. our children are dynamic. let them shine. thank you very much. supervisor cohen: thank you. linda moore? >> thank you, commissioners. i am at 8 -- i am an attorney who has prosecuted child abuse cases for many years in san francisco. i am one of the five public agencies that signed the memorandum of understanding for the child advocacy center. we are all very much in support of this center. it will allow support for these services for the children who have been damaged by but they have gone through.
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they can get a forensic interview in a child appropriate setting, where all of the agencies that need to be there are behind one-way glass and feed them questions. any other social workers, the district attorney, they will all be in one place, so that the child is interviewed once, not over and over again. within the same building they can get the medical care that they need, crisis counseling, long-term counseling, their families can get counseling. the agency can make the determination necessary to decide whether there is a criminal case that can be prosecuted in whether or not the child can be safely returned home. what kind of counseling does everyone involved in the situation need? i have done many interviews of abused children. they are often so profoundly
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heartbreakingly damaged, this situation, the child advocacy center, is the best that we can do. the very best to make sure that they receive the services that they need. to make sure that they are safe and that they can go on with their lives, so they can heal physically, emotionally, and psychologically from this trauma. we wish they would support us. >> thank you. -- supervisor cohen: thank you. next we have [read names] >> i am danielle. i am an active community member there. i am currently working with their to dream through the bayview opera house. i have taught after-school programs at george washington carver. i am currently a student at
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charles. i am also a client of the san francisco child abuse prevention center at all,. -- center cloctalk line. and, um -- i have been there for the last five years. i am a single parent. my son is 7 years old. supervisor wiener: can i just say that talk line is so great and it is a wonderful service to the community. >> i am grateful to be here to support this on both sides. paul klein is a way to give back to the community -- talk line is a way to get back to the community. this center will help so many people. i cannot tell you how many
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students i have that come in and talk about seeing gun violence, drugs, family members in prison. they need this support there. coming at it from both sides, i strongly encourage you to support what they are doing and what is needed. thank you. supervisor cohen: thank you. [applause] >> hello. i feel like i am here to represent two roles. first of all, i am part of bcac. i am a social worker by training. i do child care and psychotherapy with the families in the clinic. in addition, i spent the first six years of my life in the bay view community. i am here in two roles. someone who grew up in the coit
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