have to take public transit, and a lot of the times i am stuck down there on the t line at that intersection and as you know mta's t line is very slow, so i'm standing there and have to breathe in all that funk. now, as you know people spent plenty of money. it was a fad years ago on a roma therapy? why because they thought things that made you feel good and smelled good and the people acting so bad. maybe it's the smell and the stench. i'm not against a wellness center because i'm not only a member of the black human rights leadership of san francisco founded by dr. espinola

jackson. i am also a member of rafeqi wellness and we believe in wellness and i believe it's the wrong location and i would like you to let that doctor know find another location, and i understand that she was with dr. coleman's doctor. well, i have a medical condition and i went up to that center trying to find a doctor in my community to see my condition. the place is closed. money i understand was spent trying to get in down there. so much for wellness in the community. and whoever said the whole place is polluted. it can go anywhere. it might as well go anywhere. if you know that person god heard it too

and they have a karmic debt to pay. thank you. >> next speaker please. >> good afternoon everyone. my name is theresa ballard. to the commission and the audience i am a lifelong resident of bay view hunter's point and up to this date i have chronic asthma. i have fieb ramiaga and lupus. to this day they don't understand why all of these auto immune diseases are attacking the minorities and the black community, but i am here to tell you that on a daily basis i struggled with breathing, not

just from the sewer plant, but from the toxins, from the shipyard and everywhere else. you know i know like she said before our whole community is toxic but why there? and we -- like she said we are not opposed to wellness. we need the services that will come there for not only children but the adults as well. we need to have an outlet where we can go and destress, and have a place where we can have a positive social element for not only ourselves but our children as well, so we applaud those that have been working to bring such a center to bay view. we just oppose

the location. thank you. >> next speaker. >> are there any other speakers in favor of the dr request? >> shalom to you in hebrew means peace. i am ms. chandler. i lived in bay view for 10 years and my son and daughter both were and are under the care of dr. naidin berks. i met when she came to recruit at martin luther king for her practice, but when i found out about the location of the wellness center i was appalled. i would like to read this information to you if you could pass this on and this

is what it says "the southeast wastewater treatment plant, the wastewater treatment plant located near third and jerad avenue treats 80% of the city's sewage and storm water from the san francisco system in addition to 100% of the waters of brisbane and san francisco and daly city. this facility is one of the only wastewater in the nation to fit directly across the street from residents without a physical barrier in place. most of the residents who live directly across the street from this facilities they rent the homes and are also homeowners. there are five digesters, lot vat waters with

bacteria and the storm water and once it's digested the solids are siphoned off and piped across the street. the remaining solids are trucked to a waste facility located in merced california. the digesters have an old out dated and environmental unjust design. one reason for this is the floating unsealed top which allows the smell of the sewage to emanate throughout the neighborhood. what is more there is history of the sewage leaking out during the rainy seasons. they have received complaipts about this and they are chemicals used in the

process and according to the usda these are the nitrogen oxides at 1.5 9 tons per year. this nitrogen oxide exposure causes respiratory exposure and harmful to the vegetation and human beings. this is just a few blocks down from third. anyone who have knowledge of bay view hunter's point know this is a very toxic -- >> ma'am, your time is up. >> i also want to say the water flows. >> thank you. >> and it is contaminated. >> everyone gets three minutes. thank you very much. your time is up. >> [inaudible] >> thank you very much. to keep this fair everyone gets three minutes. i'm going to keep talking while you keep talking.

thank you very much. thank you. (calling speaker names). >> hi. i am lilla nelson and i am too are a long-term resident of bay view bay view hunter's point. i have two small children and one has a respiratory problem who likes to sing. i am too not opposed to wellness. i am all for wellness especially when it comes to our children in the bay view hunter's point area. i do not understand why would you put a facility in a toxic area that will cause more harm to our small children? we are to say we are for wellness. i have two children who would like to live

longer and live life happily and run and jump and breathe freely. why do we get second best? why can't we get the best? we know -- everyone knows that place is toxic. that shouldn't be the dispute. the dispute is the location in which we're placing this location. why do our children have to be placed in an environment that is not well, that will not benefit them in the long run? as my children get older and as they grow older we want them to be well and we want for them to be treated -- no, let me finish talking okay. i know you want to speak. in short i am really just asking that we consider a new location. that we consider the children of the bay view hunter's point area. that we sit here and really acknowledge the fact that

this place is a toxic environment and why would you want to send children who are defenseless against the toxicity there. i am asking for all of you on the panel and sitting behind me to reconsider putting anything that would be for the use of children in that area. thank you. >> excuse me. those of you standing at the door i have to ask you again to move to this side of the room and clear that space. >> good afternoon commissioners. my name is veronica shepherd. i work with the bay view wellness center and born and raised in the bay view. sorry. i also want to reiterate what the previous speaker just spoke.

this is not about the services of wellness. as you look behind us and you see all the people with the bright green labels saying about wellness. we want wellness. that is not an issue. i don't think everybody in this room especially those that came from the bay view are really clear on our statement. we want the services. it is the location. i have a map of the toxic sites in the community i would like to leave with you so you can see what has been done and identified and shows this area as a very toxic site. as well i have -- we've had numerous conversations with the staff at the center for youth wellness and the doctor this past monday. she understands we want the service. it's the location. i don't want -- and this is my grandchildren here because dr. burke can't promise anybody in this room that

opening the doors at 3450 would hinder any type of physical, mental or emotional development in that environment she wants to go. she can't prove -- she can't assure me that my grandchildren can't be affected. i don't want my grandson -- come here please. i don't want to take my son to a clinic like this so he can get a service. that is ridiculous. that is not fair to him or anybody in this room for a child to go to a wellness center like this to get a service. we're talking about -- >> speak into the mic please. >> this is what we want for our children. in the bay view we have

disparities and why should we add more. we're talking about moving a location and we have talked about other options having satellites, do whatever she can until she gets the funds raised to to be in an appropriate facility. we ask you to support this. we ask you on the sake of our children, on these children and babies sitting behind me who have been asked to come and speak for her wellness center and we want that and we know she called them and asked them to come down and speak on her behalf and we respect that. we understand. we want those children to be as safe as well. >> thank you. are there other speakers in favor of the dr? one more time. are there other speakers in favor of the dr?

okay. project sponsor you have five minutes. >> hi good afternoon. i am dr. nadine burke and the ceo for the center of wellness. i speak on behalf of my organization, the bay view child center and advocacy center which is part of the prevention center. we have come together to bring resources under one roof to bring desperately needed best in class services to the children and families of bay view hunter's point and san francisco. we respectfully request that the commission denies the request so we can move forward. the children of bay view hunter's point and san francisco cannot wait any longer. violence is the leading cause of early

mortality in bay view and in my previous position as pediatrician of the bay view center i had the opportunity to see it everyday what the impact is on our kids. our access to mental health services that recognize and treat the repeated trauma that so many of our kids experience and we have an opportunity to do some real healing. we have all of these amazing resources ready to be connected under one roof, but when i am in clinic i have to write down names and put them on a waiting list because we can't get our doors open. this vision was born out of the voices of the families that we serve everyday and we have worked hard to engage with the bay view hunter's point community around all aspects of our project and we have a summary in your

packets but i want to speak to the concerns about the building. when we heard there was a concern that the site was toxic we took those issues seriously because we don't want to work or bring children to a toxic site so we get togetherred, the concerned folks and we met and they gave us the concerns. we conducted environmental testing and got the recommendations and the testing showed no cause for concerned and we shared these results with the community. the other concern we hnlt looked enough and fixed on this one building and my katie albright can talk about the other sites. we need to get our doors open. we cannot keep putting names on waiting list instead of doing the work. it is our mission to serve and strengthen this community and we feel that --

>> excuse me. ma'am i'm sorry. if you persist to yell out of order you're going to have to leave the proceedings. >> i think i have to leave and she's going to lose a million dollars and keep the doors open and i refuse to sit here and bay view -- everyone knows that is one of the most toxic areas in bay view in california. everyone knows it and you know it too and you -- >> thank you. thank you. would you like to please continue. >> i just -- we believe that this site at this location will help us serve that community. there is urgency. we can't keep kids waiting any longer and i will turn it over to my colleague. >> honorable commissioners. i

am katie albright and work with the community based organization with four years of programming in san francisco to protect our children. for disclosure purposes i am a member of the juvenile probation commission. i am here to request that you deny the discretionary review before you. as the doctor said we conducted a search for two years looked at over 20 sites including the coleman medical center until we concluded this was the only site available to us and for our needs and accessibility for families and partners. this project is one that will allow for state of the art programming for children and our community. additionally this property was rezoned. i won't go into it any further. the matter is before and you

legal counsel is here if you have questions about it. finally we have experts that conducted the phase one report as well as soil reports to ensure it was appropriate and no concerns were raised and we had the department of health come in for environmental concerns. we deeply respect dr. jackson and feel terribly sorry for her loss today and respect the other members advocating for justice. i want to assure you there is broad support for the project. i would like others to stand behind me showing the support. additionally you have 200 letters of support in your files from our neighbors in the

community, the southeast center facilities, and five department heads including district attorney gaston and supervisor cohen supporting this projefnlght i urge you to save a dream for children in san francisco. >> thank you very much. i will call names for speakers in favor of the project and you get three minutes. (calling speakers). >> thank you commissioners. my name is sharon [inaudible]. i was here a year ago battling the same thing over and over again.

i am in here support of the wellness center at 3450 third street. i am an employee at bay view health center and i tell you center stories and they walked down because they needed help in the community. we talk about decreasing health disparities. how about the amount of money they spend in the emergency rooms and they walk down because there wasn't help in their community. i am a parent and i believe i was put there for my husband and my kids. two of them are special needs. they have suffered trauma in the past and i came to the center and i learned how to be a better

parent to deal with the traumas and everything that came as a result of the traumas. they didn't ask for it. we don't have a magic wand to wrap up up from the bay view district and put them in a better neighborhood. i think the problem is you're focused on the smell and the stench. let's focus on fixing that issue and fix that issue to bring the services to the community. don't bring the people out of the community. bring the services to the community. that's what needs to be done. on an open spot just this weekend alone, three days, this past weekend in the bay view district there were 37 adults, 16 thefts, nine shootings, 33 others, three of the others were suicidal attempts. that is just within this past weekend, not

even seven days ago. 52 weekends in a year. you do the math. how many kids are out there that need these services? a year past since i was last year. how many lives have been traumatized without resources? a lot of the parents i speak to one of the biggest challenges are not able to follow up, not having continuity care. you know why? because it's too far away. because there are not people in the community that understand what they go through. it's easy to say wrap it up. the smell is good. let's not bring this. what about everyone that lives there? i have been a victim of a community. a gun to my forehead. you can't undo what happened in the past but

you the opportunity to redo -- >> ma'am, i'm sorry your time is up. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> folks i would like to remind everyone. i understand this is an emotional item on both sides but please refrain from out bursts and it will make the proceedings that much longer. next person please. >> good afternoon. i am bevan latmore. i am a long-term resident. i am to support the opening of the wellness center at 3450. my grandson receives center from bay view health center for six years. the care he's received is excellent and the doctors and the staff have worked with me to identify health and mental issues he has. he is now a thriving 13 year old. because of the care he

received from dr. burke and dr. harris and the staff. as a parent that lives in the area i have spoken to parents and people in the school system and families in crises and some of the organizations that need the services. they all express an urgency for help. the question i have to ask is how long, how long before help arrives? next year is too long. we are losing our kids now. families are limited in resources such as transportation so having someplace closer for them to reach means a lot to them. many of the children live with violence in one form or fashion everyday. it could be gun violence, exposure to drugs or violence within the home. all of them live with this toxic

environment for 365 days a year. the hour to get help is very short. think of how toxic it is and how many more kids we will lose if we wait. accept the center that will help us with the children. the families that seeks services allows them to have no insurance and getting help. because of the help my son got the teacher said how well the work improved and she was happy because now he's talking. his behavior increased and communicating with her his needs how to work with him within the classroom. she said that he's now touching him and her now to work with others. can't we

have this for all of our children? thank you. we need your help. >> thank you. >> if everyone lined up to speak at this side of the room and you are creating a fire hazard and we can't continue with the proceedings. i see seats so please take a seat. >> my name is lonnie [inaudible]. i am a resident of the community for 18 years now. in that time the community has had more violence than any other area in the city which has traumatized our babies, all of our babies. we have fought against bad things in our community but this wellness center is not one of them. the center for youth wellness is something that we all should be fighting for. the community has said yes. the mayor has said

yes. district 10 supervisor has said yes. the board of supervisors has said yes. the public health department has said yes. environmental experts have said yes. the southeast commission has said yes. families with children who need this center have said yes also. i ask you to say yes today. what does it take for the city to do the right thing by the bayview community? i am confused. a few people have said that the location is toxic but i have seen all the papers by outside experts and the city public health saying it's not. they said they're worried about the air quality but 100-yards away from the digester system there is a head start where children go everyday all day. i just want this center to be approved. please approve this

center because our children need the services. we are counting on you. thank you. [applause] >> folks please, please. >> thank you commissioners for hearing me. my name is mildred clark. i am known in the community as ms. mili. i am a patient and i support the opening of the center at 3450 third street. i am a resident of bay view all of my life. i raised my children there and grandchildren there. in 2005 i was blessed to have temporary custody of two of my grandchildren. i was introduced to dr. burke and her supportive staff. my grandson at the age of nine was over weight and headed towards diabetes. dr. burke along with her staff helped us to lose 40 pounds a piece. my