the mission. there would be a very positive impact of having the infrastructure to reserve these parks and who has them at what time and adopted in realtime. youth is extremely tech-savvy. so innovative solutions i think will help here in addition, to the demands made and innovative business models. i'm very supportive of the fact -- let's just think outside of the box and not charge the folks who have the least revenue. >> thank you. >> thank you. [ applause ] >> before you go, just a few more times one more time. julian ball, denise dory. guillermo alvez, nancky

mcnerney, tony kelly, alfredo golyingo [ reading speakers' names ] >> good morning. thank you for the opportunity to speak. before anything else, i want to congratulate the kids who stand to up for the community. the reason i'm here today, when i saw the video, it encouraged me i have been in the mission district for over 33 years. and i have been working with kids. when i start coaching kids in soccer, when they were 7 years old, at the age of 12 years old, i heard the rumors why are we wasting fields on kids from the mission district? let's be realistic, how many of them are going to graduate from

high school? when i hear those rumors, i said this can't happen. so i spent a lot of time sharing notes on this issue, starting from 7 years old and finished when they were 18 years old and we went back and forth, back and forth, we were back on the fields when franklin was dirt. it was sand. i have to rent lights for us to practice on the fields when no one was interest and then after that, it got fixed and started renting it and we got kicked out and we had no place to go. we continued. i didn't stop. i continued because i knew that it can be changed. when they turned 18, we

finished the program and now two kids in san francisco state, two in san josé state, two in chico state and two in east bay. [ applause ] >> so it can happen. it can be done. [ applause ] >> we continue working because there is a light, there is a trend that can happen. so kids from the community can graduate, they can be mayors tomorrow. they can be the president tomorrow, if they continue working and have faith. back in the 80s at dolores park they useded to have a place kids could play and people to guide them. in the mission district, by valencia, it used to be a place

that the kids would do their homework and after their homework, they would go and play and now there is no one in the park that can do that. there used to be a person that could talk to them and explain to them and guide them the right way, and on the right track. >> thank you. >> that they don't have to be involved with drug and alcohol. i request and ask that you please put people in the parks. thank you [ applause ]. >> thank you. >> hello my name is theresa and i'm a youth coordinator. our experience has been that as an environmental justice organization in the mission, when i first started working there at 15 years ago we had less than 1% of the paragraphs

parks and highest number of kids in the neighborhood. i'm very blessed and honored to have these kids stand and we're going to keep coming until the changes are done. we built the park with a lot of community members and i think it was a really big victory, but then at the same time, you know, like we're in this space right now where it's like a lot of us who have been here for a lot of generations, our grandparents and parents have built pretty much the infrastructure of san francisco with our tax dollars and now we're being excluded from a structure because we don't have the money or we don't even have the internet access to rent a field; right? so what are the ways that you a community commission could be accountable to the community and here

clearly there is a council, and how can we have a say what goes on in the neighborhood? we just heard the heartfelt testimony ofs what happens to our kids -- i guess i don't want to be here and be angry and talk to you that we have access to our public parks and that we have organized to build. nobody from parks and rec came and said do you want a park on 23rd and folsom? a lot of people here and their family members are the ones who organized and get it. how can we ep[shrao-ur/] that we have access to it after we have built it. [ applause ].

>> julian ball, denise dory, guillermo alvez, nancy mcnery, katherine howard, et cetera. ? >> good morning commissioners, catherine howard and we support the kids and their efforts to open the playing fields to all players. it's important for city kids to have the opportunity to enjoy nature and also enjoying active recreation and this happens now in golden gate park. golden gate park has a special place in san francisco. that is why we have asked people to vote yes on h. i also want to talk about privatization, because this is

what everyone is really here about today. if you think that the privatization of the mission playground is bad, just wait until proposition i passes. it's being described as "good for kids." that is not true. it was written to take away control of our parks from the neighborhoods. you don't have to take my word for it. i will read you the statement of a former superior court judge and supervisor who said "proposition i arguably denies the recreation and park commission, that is you folk, who have signed on to this and taking rights away from yourselves -- the discretion to consider other policies before approving a project. it clearly limits the powers of citizenss and their board of supervisors ." i encourage everybody to

read your voter booklets. the judge goes on to say, "this is a trick and i do not like politicians' tricks." i encourage everyone to do the same and stop the privatization of our parks of >> [ applause ]. >> next. roberto hernandez with no eviction. 4,000 households have been evicked from san francisco. our seniors and our artists and youth and our disabled and familis are being evicted. we have been fighting to stop the evictions. when you look at these young people who are my heroes today, because i remember being their age and some of you know me, we fought to get a recreation center built in the mission.

mission rec center and fought to get rosa park built and fought to rehab garfield park and it's civil that these young people are subjected to that and not only them, but how many young folks and families have we heard of asked to leave a park because they don't have a permit? the reality is that you talk about money. why is it that the city spent $8 million for america's cup? $8 million. so don't tell us you ain't got money. don't tell us that you wish that you could have the money to do it, because when this city wants to get something done, it gets done. the giant's stadium got built because the mayor said let's built a stadium. you all know what i'm talking about. so it's about time you

stand up and represent not only these children and these youth, but if you look at the mission, we have had over 500 young people that we have had to bury, bury because they have died from gang and gun violence. just imagine in there were people working at these parks that could take our young people and guide them, just like so many people have testified. that is the right thing to do. [ applause ] >> thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> good day. i'm representing the former mission beacon, where i know a lot of these students from. i just want to make connections between the bravery and the

independence and the will that these young men showed to stand up for a community that adult and leaders have either given up on standing up for or scared to stand up for and besides the community being here today to support these young people, the people in charge are not showing the care and the love and the respect and responsibility that these youth have shown on this field. i just want to talk about the ways in which the man who spoke a couple of people before me, saying that kids in the mission this and kids in mission that and when the tech companies come in and decide to take these things away from these kids and the parks and recreation try to sell back these spaces that we have fought for, i just can't -- looking at these students and looking at these young people, like many people in here today have said they are heroes for us today. when we're talking about

staffing parks, staffing schools, staffing communities with people actually from the community, providing access to people actually from here, we're talking about helping more and more and more young people be able to make the stand that these young people made today. and having them next to me and having support that i have had in the mission, working in the mission, i know it's possible for us to come together and find something reasonable and something equitable and accessible to present because when they are in schools the school teachers are making connects with the communitis and issues that they are facing. the schools are making connections to the things that these youth care about and instead of saying these youth are not prepared for college -- yeah, they know. they are out everyday standing up for what they are going to do in their own community and standing up for what needs to be done across the bay area,

san francisco and oakland and other areas being gentrified. >> thank you. i'm sorry, we gave everybody two minutes. if we give you three, we have to give everybody three. thank you very much. >> i'm just going to finish -- in terms of the community today, i want to say thank you to you all, but thank you to the community for standing with these kids to show what we can do with our power. [ applause ] >> thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> good morning commissioners. i am here on behalf of supervisor kim, who has been following closely the discussion that has arisen out of the viral video of a scenario that has played out not just in the mission district or mission playground, but frankly across the city. thanks to commissioners bonilla

and mcdonnell for pushing for meetings with the neighborhood youth and general manager ginsburg. clearly the amazing community advocacy warrants a response and with my want to recognize the positive outcomes that have come from having a public dialogue. we think we still have a long way to go and the city can play a critical role in fostering public play and community building. we hope that this public dialogue and action doesn't stop here with mission playground, but continues to the other low-income and impacted neighborhoods struggling to use the limited parks. the south of market neighborhood is an example of a community fighting for for years to engage in public play and organized sportss in their own neighborhoods. those students have grown up to be youth organizers and a new generation of kids have been asked to be prioritize over corporate teams. the youth have repeated asked

to play baseball -- even the residents who have tried to go the permitting route have gotten no response or transparent communication from our rec and park department. our office was recently told that when the soma youth collaborative tried to apply for a permit to use the baseball diamondback in september, for baseball, that he this - they [speaker not understood] we ask for commitment to ensure that the community is not displaced from the public spaces. we heard from staff permits are not designed to generate revenue, but as atool for the community and we're asking for a transparent, clear and uniform process that rays out how we can access the space that the community has fought for. thank you and thank you for continuing dialogue. [ applause ] >> thank you.

>> good afternoon commissioners. i'm with latino culture district. we have four parks, garfield, rolf park, larossa park, et cetera. we have been hearing rumbles for quite a few years now regarding those parks and access. it started with when the parks we're being rehabilitated. one thing i want to say, too, i have been hearing people say this is a rule -- you know, that people have to follow rules, but rules are not always right. rules sometimes don't work. so we have to have the power to be able to look at those rules and look at those laws and see how they are working or not work and like now it's not working. there was one family that i heard about that was at the park and asked to leave by a woman with a permit.

the next day they checked to see if that particular hour and time was reserved and it was not. so the park sat there without being used. this is evidently a system that is not working and it's not utilizing that space. another instance is where -- i'm going to speak for rita alvarar. rita has been working with that park for decades, making sure that the park is activity and safe and making sure that park has everything that these kids need and for somebody to come in and tell them you have to leave because you don't have a permit is insulting. and tech doesn't solve problem, but humans do, with interfacing and dialogue and this person wasn't able to have that

dialogue with the person who has been in the neighborhood for over 50 years to find out who she is and what is working or not? [ applause ]. >> thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> hi. name is sarah souza. first i would like to thank the youth for their leadership. i'm here to ask for your support. please consider the youth demands. all they are asking is for equity and access among neighborhood parks. privatizing neighborhoods parks will not have a positive impact in our community. more parks and schools and creator incentives to keep kids in a safe environment.

our kids should not have to pay and our parks should be open for everyone. we want our youth in an environment where they learn social skills. we need to provide resources and think and consider long-term impacts and goals that will benefit our future, the future of san francisco. thank you. >> thank you. [ applause ]. >> once again before you start, if you are not -- we really need you to take your seats. thank you. >> hi, good morning and thank you for having me. my name is gonzalez and i'm here with the san francisco democratic club and also a member of da democrats of san francisco. i have dealted with parks and rec system for ten years, playing rugby with various

clubs in the city. today i do stand with these boys for having the courage to not to deescalate a situation. i do want to talk about the culturable competency that these air b&b and jute box employees. they carried themselves in a bad way and that is why i'm standing with these boys. the one thing that i do believe is privatizing the field is going to make it a lot worse for the community. i mean, if you guys need money, why is the city giving big tax breaks to air b&b and twitter? i mean, 20% of the latinos in the mission districts have been displaced and it's disgusting

to see this. a lot of these boys go to these communitis to play soccer to keep them away from gangs and to keep them in a safe environment. thank you. [ applause ] >> if there is anyone downstairs that did not fill out a blue card and would you like to speak, could you please come up. we are opening it up to anyone who did not speak and would like to speak on item no. 4. thank you. >> hello my name is elisa moss and have been a resident of the mission for nine years. i checked out all of san francisco and i really liked all of the diversity that was there and the community and the families. and this the first time i have

come out to be part of the community and stand here with these young men. it's wonderful to see them stand up for their parks and have time where they feel safe. i had that as a kid and saved me -- i would be dead if i didn't have that. and i am going to continue to fight and to hope to keep this -- not fight, but to work together with the community and figure out what we can do to bring everyone together, so it's not me against you or them against us, but everyone working together and playing together, and trying to be a community. that is why i came to san francisco. thank you. [ applause ]

>> thank you. [ reading speakers' names ] anyone who would like to speak that has not filled out a blue card, whether you are upstairs or in this room if you could line up against the wall here and we'll make sure that you get to speak. >> hi. my name is anastasia, and it's ties up nicely with the main thought of today. it's a waste of money by natural area program and if theycopt plan a natural resource area management plan is going to be approved, certified and go forward, it

would be at least $5 million this year and if maximum restoration is approved, it probably would be twice as much. and [speaker not understood] to start with main thing i wanted to say, shortly after the election, this plan is coming up for your certification. i want to urge you to have san francisco to present -- usually it's just a rec and park department with the preparation and whoever manages to come over speak for two minutes and that is it. the plan is really awful and cut trees and it costs a lot and does nothing good. it's not science-based. it used toxic herbicides.

it was supposed to preserve existing places where nature -- [speaker not understood] recently i was told mcclaren park 100 tree were felled. thank you very much. [ applause ]. >> thank you. >> hello my name is judith and i'm a resident of bernal heights. i know about the mission playground. i have two kids. also there are other playgrounds in the neighborhood and some have had a lot of violence recently. i wanted to talk about the jackson park and the eastern neighborhoods' eir that

basically in 2008 there was supposed to be open space and housing for families and what has result is a lot of housing. a lot of it is micro apartments, one-bedrooms. i have a handout for you in terms of crowding out jackson park. it's being -- it's new surrounded by proposed buildings which would basically shade it. and there are three schools right adjacent to it. there is live oaks school, right next to one of the big buildings. its play yard would be shaded by the building. the city opens a road, because it was the old wisconsin street. it has so i think this would be an excellent block that could be made into more open space

for potrero hill that really needs it. there is a charter school next to it on 18th street and the international academy. thanks. [ applause ]. >> thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> good afternoon. my name is rita alevar. i work for a non-profit, which is called mission education project; we're a block from garfield park. beginning in september when we had our program taking the kids to the park, ala woman came up

and said can i see your permit? i said we don't have a permit. she said we have a permit so you will have to go. so we said okay because we didn't know process. we have a new captain at mission station and i talked to the captain and told him that we like to take our kids to the park. it gives them exercise and things to do. he said with a permit? i said no, i don't have a permit, so we can't bring them to play on the field. he said okay, he had a meeting with parks and rec. and rec.

[a-ufrpbg/] we went back to the field. [phra*-ut/]. >> thank you very much. >> i'm a resident of district 10 and i'm here in support of what the youngsters did in and attempt to stand for something that they have known for so long. i want to acknowledge that unfortunately san francisco is changing for the worse. we all know change is good, but unfortunately, the diversity of the city is exiting the city because we can't afford to be