>> next speaker, please. >> hello. good evening, commissioners. my name is greg, and i am a lifelong native. i have been here all my life, born and raised, native of san francisco's mission district. i'm here to explain to you how i support this project. but first, i do want to mention that a lot of mission residents to resist new construction due to gentrification and displacement, but that fear is based on anecdotal data that was put out by our project opposition. recently, mission local has reported -- has reported on a study that shows -- >> i'm sorry. we are going to stop the? please keep the comments down. we can get through and everyone can get a chance to speak. [speaking spanish]

>> go ahead. >> i'm sorry. unfortunately, for the past six years, the project opposition has relied on their anecdotal data to make the fourth argument >> we will give you 20 more seconds. go ahead. >> thank you. >> on the side too, please keep it down. go ahead. >> and virtually for the past six years, the opposition has relied on anecdotal data to make false arguments. i support this project because i believe in a need for housing for all in the mission, and the benefits of this project far outweigh the rhetorical falsehood or project opposition. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> please if you could keep the

comments down, we can get through this. thank you. >> good evening, everybody. i was born and raised in san francisco. i'm part of the arab resource and organizing centre we have been real supporting communities in the mission since the eighties. they are part of the mission. we live here, we go to school here, we go to school here, and this is a community that makes the mission beautiful. san francisco supposed to be a sanctuary city, but there is no sanctuary if we are not here. i also want to say, if you want to see what a trump rally resembles, it is a bunch of folks who are shouting the slogan, build it. i want to point that out. thank you for your time. we are definitely against the monster. you can stand on the side of the people today. thank you. >> thank you very much. next speaker from the middle aisle. [speaking spanish]

[cheering] >> good evening. i am here with the coalition of

plaza 16 and just because. i am opposed to the monster here in the mission. i was displaced here in the mission many years ago. but right now i am working in the area, and i am realizing that the renters, working-class renters also being displaced. for the high rents. it is for these reasons, and these people should be listening to the decisions of the developments in the mission. they should be listening to the community, not to the developers and to the speculators. for them, all they really care about is the money. it is very painful to see all the people that i have known throughout the years who have been fighting and defending their rental space here in the mission, and now these are under threat of the monster. i ask for the commissioners and

the people working in the planning department that you stop the monster and construct the marvel. >> next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is willie, and i have lived in the mission district for 23 years. i believe it is important the 1979 mission project be built. i am about to tell you. i believe the mission project should be built because i have improved the safety of the 16th street art station plaza. certain members of the community have chosen to cause just call this building the monster, but all i can see is a developer that has taken many years considering the best outcomes for the plaza. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. [cheering]

>> i am here with plaza 16 coalition. i am a youth advocate and i am here today fighting for our future generations and for my people. i was born and raised in the mission, sipping a mission native, i have seen a lot of gentrification, racism, and results. drastic changes have been made in my community. somehow leaving the voices and the opinions out. i hope this time i have a voice that is heard. there should be 100% affordable housing, and it is possible, no monster in the mission, build the marvel. >> my name is maria. i am here for the plaza 16 coalition because i oppose the monster in the mission. my family and i have had to move four times because of rent increase and no affordable housing. though i live in excelsior, i have seen both neighborhoods be affected.

walking in the mission, i see developments being built the ark supporting the community. the marvel as part of the solution though keep families and communities routed to. >> thank you. next speaker, please. [speaking spanish]

[speaking spanish] >> sorry. >> my name is gloria. i am here with the project 16 coalition and just cause. i am here realizing that the great poverty in san francisco -- i am here representing the residence here that i love, and i want everybody here to know

that i love the people of color, and i also wanted to say to my brothers and sisters, there is only 3% of african-americans here. they too can't afford the housing here, and i think we need to build more affordable housing here. the developers really don't care about our families, and they don't care about your kids. i think it is time to build the marvel and say no to the monster. they came in, they lied, and the only cared about themselves. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, commissioners. i am a mission district resident and native. san francisco is in a very progressive state right now and we are working towards being the best modern example of what living in america should look like pick up 16th and mission, there are many issues that are bigger than this.

we have the nba champions coming up in mission bay, and it is critical at this station be presentable for the fans, for the thousands of fans that are -- for the thousands of fans that are coming to you for their games. building this project would be great for making the lower mission a better place. this is a beautiful city, but we love -- we have to step it up. we have the workhorse making our troubled areas better. this is no monster, there is no such thing as monsters in real life. we deal with real life monsters. not you guys. >> thank you. next, please. okay, keep the comments down. >> excuse me, focus, let's keep

the disruptions down, or let's eliminate them entirely. >> good afternoon, commissioners of -- >> we need to be able to hear the commenters. please keep it down or you will be asked to leave. >> good evening, commissioners. my name is mario. i come here with a heavy heart. i learned recently that several of our employees are homeless. they are living in their cars. and if you met them, he would never know that. they come each day to work, with smiles in their faces, ready to support and do their job to help our children and families are facing the same issues. this no longer is a planning issue. it is a moral issue. i implore you to support a project that will build a maximum amount of affordable housing in san francisco this is

no longer a planning issue. it truly is a moral issue. my heart is heavy. we are doing everything we can for these employees they are wonderful human beings. they deserve to live in the city that they love. thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, commissioners. thank you for this presentation of both sides. i think it's pretty clear that you listen to the community. you have heard their passionate testimony and the evidence points to the fact that we need affordable housing. there is no talked what ways about it. maximus proposes 331 units. only 46 affordable, leaving 275 unaffordable, luxury,, whatever they will be units. how many people will be displaced from their homes on

account of what is going on with the project squat you have a choice. either you can accept or deny the project. i think it is pretty clear from what you have heard tonight that the choice will be in favor of the community, and for commissioner koppel, people will still have jobs to build it. >> next speaker, please. >> hello. good afternoon, chair and members of the planning commission. thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak. i am a member of the local 22 carpenter's union and a san francisco local as well.

i am here to speak in favor of the project at 1979 mission for the benefit it brings the surrounding communities through housing and the union and job creation. i have been here all my life watching the city change, as i want to take part in making it better. during -- doing this creates jobs for the union, and builds opportunity for me to provide for my family i am in full support of the 19 mission project. i urge you to consider the positive benefits to the community center, responsibility develop developer that it brings to the city, just build it. >> thank you. next speaker, please. [cheering] >> good i -- good evening, commissioners, staff, community. my name is gabriel.

i'm speaking on behalf of mission neighborhood centers. mission neighborhood centers provides community-based services or the low income communities in san francisco, hispanic, latino, and the largest provider of head start in early services. i can tell you that it does not support the maximus proposal. we are following internal process to state our position publicly. we also think the proposal is apartheid. the concerns for this project are they want to build a court order. they want to offsite all the affordable housing. they don't want to work with community about what community's vision is. this is an affordability crisis, not a housing unit count crisis. my grandfather worked at 16th and mission for almost 20 years.

he taught me compassion in working with the community on the plaza. >> thank you, your time is up. >> i would say, please, do not support this proposal. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> hello. a park between 15th and 16th sty mission and van ness would be on top of a building where the kids could go to school, and the senior centers would be there so they could get plenty of sunshine. a swimming pool on top of this building. the cafeteria underneath, where you are going to the cafeteria, you can see the swimmers through a glass ceiling.

it would be affordable housing for people in need, and underneath there, it would be businesses. i have been here since 58, my kids went to school here. they were born here. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon chair, and members of the planning commission. thank you for allowing me to speak. i'm a member of the local 22. i'm here to speak in favor of the project at 1979 mission for the benefits it brings to surrounding keen communities for job creation. i am first here to practice. a big job like this could get built and i could spend my entire apprenticeship at that job, which is basically working

for four full years, no breaks, that would be huge for me and any other apprentice that would get on that job. this development will help me continue my career as a carpenter working towards retirement. it would provide me with the necessary benefits and income to provide for myself and my family. i'm in full support of the 1979 mission project and urge -- it brings san francisco certain. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> good evening, commissioners. i am the policy director of services. we help homeless and at-risk families -- achieve self-sufficiency. san francisco -- as you all

know, one of the best solutions to address the homelessness crisis is by providing affordable housing opportunities. how many current homeless families do you think we'll get to live in the maximus mansion? the answer is very simple. it is zero. [speaking spanish] >> the seats that you occupy are one of the most important tools that we have to address the homelessness crisis in san francisco, but our land is scarce. and with every new market rate project that you approve, that is one less affordable housing developments that we have to be able to place homeless families into. with every new market rate project that you approve, it gets us further and further of our goals at addressing homelessness in san francisco. affordable as possible. thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> hi, my name is dylan, and i have been a mission resident for six years and counting.

i'm in support of this project. i think more housing seems like a better idea, especially where there isn't any housing right now, all these commercial single-story developments. i am really excited to see housing right next to a safer bard plaza. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker please. >> good afternoon. i represent local 22. this project will bring jobs to veterans and to our local brotherhood and sisterhood. i am in full support of 1979 projects. thank you. build it. >> thank you. next speaker please. >> hello.

thank you for your time today and for having this hearing public. my name is kevin ortiz. i'm with the san francisco democratic club. i am in s.f. native. my grandparents came in the fifties, and i remember the 16th street plaza as long as i can remember, as long as i could walk. just a quick question, as a show of hands, how many of you are getting paid to be here while how many of you are not? i think it is very clear that the community voices out here for this reason. unions, mission for all, and the developers are the ones getting paid to. not the overwhelming community a voice that has been here today against this project. since 2008, 8,000 latinos have been displaced. my family was one of them. i came back, i live, work and play in the mission. gentrification is violence. you build this project, it will raise the cost of rent, and people will be displaced. the examiner put out an article that shows displacement leads to

death in seniors. we must protect our most vulnerable communities. mission for all, or we should call it maximus, has taken a play into the colonizer 101 handbook. >> thank you. >> okay. thank you. thank you. next speaker, please. [cheers and applause] >> my name is fran taylor. i am also a proud union member, retiree of the international graphical union. so i definitely support my union brothers and sisters getting jobs, building housing that they can afford to live in themselves. noticed that everyone needing translation tonight opposed the monster. that says something about where the community stands.

seattle has figured this out. they are building a light rail line, with new stations, and every station they are building affordable housing because they realize they are building market rate housing. transit hub, transit hub, transit hub, it means cars, cars, cars. rich people bring their cars. they will not be -- how many rich people do you see on the 14? >> thank you very much. next speaker, please. >> good evening, chair, members of the board his. thank you for allowing me to speak today. i'm representative for the carpenter touch a union, representing 38,000 women --dash men and women kick many of which live in the community and will have a chance to work on this beautiful project. the local union, and members in san francisco and the surrounding area strongly support the 1979 mission development which will create

men --dash many union jobs or members in the community. they will pay it living wages and be a gateway for apprentices will furthermore, will provide 331 much-needed units and 300 affordable units right here in the mission and in the city and county of san francisco. individuals who are long-term residents find long-term housing the ground floor retail will bring a new business and increase revenue. creating a sense of community. this development -- >> thank you. no members of the carpenter touch a union repaid to be here. they understand the need for smart development. >> thank you very much. your time is up. next speaker please.

>> i graduated from mission high school as an esl student. i understand what it is like to face financial barriers, and i am here to express my concern about the developments. building up market rate housing will not solve the housing crisis. this is an affordability crisis. we must be on the right side of history. advocate for -- advocate for families to stay here. i implore you, implore you to oppose the developments. let's work together and find a solution so the community can stay here. i am tired of seeing the cute community hearings, and at the end, you vote with a developer. i implore you again, please vote for us for the community.

we need you. thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you commissioners. i have been sick for a couple of weeks so thank you for taking -- letting me take the centreline. i am one of the hundreds of artists who was displaced from the mission over the last four or five years, and i kept coming, and kept imploring. do not let us be displaced by illegal occupation of offices for p.d.r. and blue-collar businesses. we are in this position because things keep going on the same and the 2%, or the zero-point 1% have to stop dictating how the rest of us live. if we are going to lead the country, we have to stop, not only -- we have to stop making our homeless bike keeping displacing them. we need to make sure that we can

lead the country, not just in sanctuary, but in building for the people who live here, instead of the people who will displace s. it is disingenuous to put token art in a place and say that you are supporting the arts when you are displacing the artist. it is disingenuous to say you want this because you are supporting the millions of -- >> thank you, your time is up. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> good evening. i am the president of ppm general building and a current employer of all the employees. yes, i am here to clarify

something that was stated earlier. i was responsible for negotiating this operation, and the withdrawal of the janitorial and handyman employee. there was a period of two years in which we agreed, and myself, we agreed that we will have an agreement in which we will separate, and the union will receive a payment, and a health package for the period of time in exchange for the resignation because i was moving out of the business of janitorial and handyman at that location. i am a field employer of union employees. i still have former painters and landscapers. >> thank you. next speaker, please.

>> thank you. >> hello, just being here was very interesting. i feel like it is black and brown folks, and i was chatting it up with someone in the back, and they said, yeah, they will never pay the union folks to be here. everyone says they are speaking on this side and they are getting paid. it is my moment to speak, so i will say what i want. and we were just chopping it up and i said it would be very powerful for you to say something. i said how do you feel about it? >> i was not even with the monster. people are getting paid to be here. we are feeding community spirit

we are eating the burritos that we serve. that is community. community that stands together regardless of politics, of developers. i have been -- at the end of the day, we are all eating together. that is what we are trying to create. >> thank you very much. [please stand by]

>> i have a whole list of people who have died soon after their eviction or during the eviction process. 100% affordable housing will help stanch this huge problem of suffering. thank you. >> president melgar: thank you. next speaker, please. >> hi. good evening, commissioners. my name's sherman king and i'm prettying better housing -- presenting better housing opportunities that work. earlier, we had some 50 people

upstairs, but they're gone. so we also find the housing crisis in san francisco. so we are encouraging -- the mission project is needed to solve this crisis. therefore, it will eventually lower the rents, so we will enjoy more units available, and also, this project will improve the environment. so we are strongly encouraging the commission to approve this project. thank you very much. >> president melgar: thank you. next speaker, please. >> hello, commissioners. david wu with the south of market community action network. i'm here today to stand? solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the mission who are standing again this

project. we are all familiar with projects like the monster in the mission that come into our neighbor and wreak havoc, displacing and gentrifying our community, bringing in luxury housing that is not for our community and not for our residents. we don't want this profit driven development in the south of market, and we don't support it in the mission. the community here is demanding 100% affordable housing on the site, not the monster. listen to the people in this neighborhood. thank you. >> president melgar: thank you. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, everyone. my name is elizabeth d. young. i live right across the street. i've been living there almost 20 years. i am a proud union member. i can't tell you how many of my buddies at work that have been evicted who have had to live the city, who now live in antioch or who knows where who used to be my neighbors, also.

[singing "where have all my neighbors gone"] >> not only my neighbors, but my neighbors are not only zuckerberg, and apple number two in design, but i've got some big developer that are building it up from the studs. my neighborhood is gone, my community stores are gone, their churches, their doctors, their schools, preschools for their children have all been disrupted. thank you very much. please. take it to heart. listen to the people of this neighborhood. >> president melgar: thank you. thank you very much. next speaker, please. >> good evening, planning commissioners. my name is angelica santiago and a district native.

i am the organizing director for mission for all. growing up in my neighborhood over the past 20 years i've seen the many changes that have come to our community, and now as a parent, i believe that some of these changes have actually benefited our children and the opportunities to our young people. i know that change is sometimes scary and intimidating, but it's how we adapt to those changes and how we allow them to affect us. i believe that we need to be a part of the change, that we need to let change happen with us and not to us. for the past six years, maximum has not only worked with city leaders and the planning commission and, you know, but the community, as well to try to truly design a community design benefits package for this project, and i believe that they've accomplished that. i support this project for many reasons, not only will it bring much needed housing, but it'll be bring lots of jobs. my mother is a union worker and it will provide her --

>> president melgar: thank you. thank you. your time is up. next speaker, please. >> hello, hello, hello. my name is tion rodriguez. for most of my life, i have been raised in the mission. the mission is not just my neighborhood, but the community's struggling and dreams make the mission home. having that monster will make that dream away for me and many others. we the people deserve better than to be kicked and displaced from their own home. my father deserves more than a hotel room and shared bathroom with ten other people. i know for a fact that 100% affordable housing is sustainable. i stand with the marvel. >> president melgar: thank you. next speaker, please. >> my name is layla monseur.

am i doing this right? we were almost displaced in 2000, and radi havana would never have existed were it not for a landlord that had to drink whiskey in order to choose between 40 different tenants, and that was right across the street from marshall elementary school. i spent years call the police so that children who spent their days being escorted to class by parents didn't have to look at drunks. they started their day with needles from the hotel. where was the planning commission then? you have a duty and a moral imperative to plan for the people who live here, who have contributed to this city. it's simple. a shadow, displacement.

>> clerk: thank you, ma'am. your time is up. >> president melgar: thank you, miss monseur. next speaker, please. >> hello, commissioners. my name is raphael picazzo. i am the president of seiu 51's san francisco chapter. i am 51 years old, and born and raised in this district. not 20 years, about 30 years, not five, okay? what i'm trying to say is there's people on this side and this side who i grew up with, who i know with heart. at first i was on this side where i was against the monster. now i'm on this side because i think we need housing now. we need people on the streets --

[inaudible] >> me personally, no i can't. but the housing that they will give to us, 191 affordable housing, i'm sorry, i see people sleeping on the streets in their cars, right now, they're my friends. we can't clianymore houses from being built. >> president melgar: thank you. [inaudible] >> president melgar: thank you, mr. picazzo, my time is up. [inaudible] >> president melgar: thank you. next speaker, please. >> i don't give a fuck about no -- >> president melgar: okay. we're going to have to stop the meeting if we can't just please keep it down. [inaudibl [inaudible] >> president melgar: mr. picazzo, please keep it down. next speaker, please. [inaudible] >> president melgar: okay. please keep it down out of respect for our next speaker.

yes, go ahead. >> hello. my name is erica, and i'm with somcan. as an ally, i'm supporting the plaza 16 opposition to the project. in the soma neighborhood, we face a lot of common issues, same issues as the mission does, including community and cultural displacement. in order to confront these items as a city and particularly in the mission, we just prioritize arts and cultural spaces, public open space, public transit, affordable housing and not luxury housing. it is vital that the existing community that is most impacted by a project should have a voice in the decision making process. this process for planning always needs to be a public and accessible process. i urge you to listen to the vast community input and reject this support and support 100% community planned affordable housing for 1979 mission street. thank you.

>> president melgar: thank you. next speaker, please. >> hello, everyone. i am the president of the youth commission but here as a private -- as a private resident. i want to make something very clear to our union members and leaders who have to work their asses off to live in this city, my beef is not with you. my beef is with maximum who has time and time again dehumanized our communities and decommodified my housing. it is frustrating how dehumanizing this whole process has been, be it the developers and union leaders and members, and residents who have to deal with the situation. [speaking spanish language] >> thank you.

>> president melgar: thank you. next speaker, please. >> hello, commissioners. my name is lori llano. i'm a proud san francisco native. i'm a former sfusd teacher. i saw firsthand the effects of displacement and poverty on our children. i want to urge you to say no to the monster. i want to urge you to vote on behalf of our community, on behalf of our children, on behalf of our elders. please side with us on this. we see on 16th street there are numerous homeless people, and it's been proven that many of those people are san francisco natives just like me and most of us here -- or at least money of us. and i want to search your hearts on behalf of the people that you have heard, the people what are marginalized, the people who were the most right lane -- who are the most

vulnerable in our community, please say no to the monster. >> president melgar: okay. you have one more speaker on your side. okay. go ahead. >> good evening, planning commissioners. my name is mitchell salazar. i've lived, like many of us that showed up this evening, we've lived and played in this community for the last 40 years. we've seen the changes, gentrification and everything that's occurred. 16th and mission needs something desperately done. i do believe that maximum development will change that -- maximus development will change that. i believe the project will help with housing, and i think that mario paz, listening to him, he was one of the most rational ones this evening, he said we have to build affordable housing. he didn't bash this group or

bash that other group. so i strongly urge you to move forward and go low-income housing built to this community. thank you. >> president melgar: thank you. next speaker from this side, please. can you please keep it down? thank you. >> hello. my name is leann laria, and i am a community engagement organizer at somcan, the south of market community action network. there are so many things about this project that are a negative proposal for the mission. observe how devising and scheming the developers are, strategizing, and getting people who look like us to side

with them and side with building to destroy communities for profit. our message is simple. we are saying no to 1979 mission street by the maximus. we are saying yes to marvel which did a community planning process, and we are saying yes to 100% affordable housing. thank you. >> president melgar: thank you. next speaker, please. >> good evening, commissioners -- can you hear me? >> president melgar: pull up the mic, please. >> good evening, commissioners. there's one thing that i have to bring up different. so the financial impact on existing businesses and the landscape of the neighborhood would change if the project was approved. there's a few things that we know. we know that long-term leases for commercial properties are far rare -- they really don't happen. and then, the biggest thing is that there is no rent control for commercial properties. therefore, if this project were to be approved, a lot of the

small, local serving businesses are at risk of eviction because there is no protection. this could lead to more empty storefronts, and we know that with new developments, ground floor retail is mostly have a can't. it's an issue where the board of supervisors are looking to attack empty storefronts. so we ask follow what's right, follow your gut. >> president melgar: thank you. are there any other public commenters on the pro project side? all right. with that, we will -- go ahead. >> clerk: and i would like to remind members of the public that the middle aisle is for persons with disabilities or that need translation services only. thank you. >> good evening. my name is chris, and i'm a third year medical student at ucsf and a second generation san franciscan and here representing the do no harm coalition. i want to echo what's already

been said here tonight is that gentrification is a public health crisis in the bay area. this is not a stretch, this cannot be overstated. their studies coming out all over the country showing that gentrification risks preterm birth, homelessness, and exposure to toxins. you shouldn't know study to tell you what you've been hearing all night, that gentrification are hurting the people of san francisco. when someone's displaced from their neighborhood, they have a higher rate of ending up in the homt. this crisis is not caused by infection or heart disease or anything we can address, but it's caused by gentrification and that is something that you can address, please vote no on monster in the mission. the public effects will be felt for generations. no on monster in the mission.

>> president melgar: okay. next speaker, please. [speaking spanish language]

[through the interpreter] >> hello. my name is maria. i want to say to you i am a member of the parent council at mira, also with the student council at city college. what i'm here to say is that as a student, i see lots of people being displaced. a lot of them are living in the streets now, a lot of my students. a project like this is not helping the community, it's helping people just in the interest of money. 25% of affordable housing is not the solution. i think you need to listen to the community, you need to listen and have respect for the community, not -- we shouldn't

have people who are making the money make the decisions for our community. i say no to the man centonsters to the marvel. thank you. i also have a three-year-old child and i want to be able to say here. [end of translation] >> president melgar: thank you. next speaker, please. >> hello, hello. how you doing? my name's edward humphrey, and i'm a current student here at mission high school. no, it's good, it's good. i'm tired of seeing people laying down in the street, begging for homes for no reason. they need homes. where were thee people when they had the crack epidemic? we don't need no art right there, we need jobs and we need no equity. we need jobs here, not white

people who want to bring us up like they're in gangs. i i'm sick of this shit. they do what they got to do to get it done, meaning, take care of their families. when you put these white boys right here, all you going to do it make is so big companies think it's okay to do this, and fuck up our lives. this is our city, our culture, and our home. believe that. >> president melgar: thank you. next speaker, please. >> good evening. my name's jose mariscal. i've been working here in the mission for a while. for starters off, i want to thank you for your time. you all have a passion and really love san francisco. the mission is one of those cultural hearts of san francisco, and the way i see it, if we allow something like this to be built, we're attacking our culture heart, so

san francisco. and if we let this happen here, we're also going to get it happen to other cultural hearts offi of san francisco. people come here because they love our identity. if we want to actually help people and stop reducing displacement, let's focus more on the income divide that exists between the higher percentage people and the lower income people. let's create more jobs that are higher paying, let's create more job trainings for our community where they can actually be able to sustain themselves and stay within our community. thank you very much. >> president melgar: thank you. next speaker, please. >> clerk: can i see hands of how many people still need translation services? okay. it's going to be the last one from one aisle. >> good evening, commissioners. >> president melgar: hold on just a second. hold on just a second.

[speaking spanish language] >> president melgar: okay. thank you. >> hi. my name is chanti singh, and i'm the president of the san francisco chapter of the democratic socialists of america. we will never solve our housing crisis without empowering the working class communities of color that we have betrayed and build the communities that they need to thrive. we need to also talk about what the real housing shortage is. reallocation for low-income housing is did i ssmally runni

behind. by bobm by -- maximus has already fooled us once, please don't let them fool us again. thank you. >> president melgar: thank you. next speaker, please. [speaking spanish language] [through the interpreter] >> hello. my name is ingrid figueroa, and

i'm here to say that i'm not in agreement to the monster that's being built on 16th and mission. i have 20 years living here on 14th and mission, and quite frankly, it's unjust of what's happening here. we have so little, and you guys keep wanting to take more. [end of translation] >> president melgar: thank you. next speaker, please. >> hi. my name is brandon hirami. i'm here representing the san francisco berniecrats. we're the local our revolution group. it's been kind of a heartbreaking evening for me? i've seen a lot of working class communities and unions fighting each other. i grew up in california. my stepfather was working in the building trades, and i lived in public and subsidized housing my entire life. you know, we recently discovered that san francisco

bay area has the third largest population of billionaires in the world, that's 70 billionaires. this is a gross supporting of resources. we have seven by seven square miles of land, and we have to decide what we want to do with that. do we want to build housing in the community? i think we should build a marvel in the mission, not a monster. thank you. >> president melgar: thank you so much. next speaker, please. >> hi. my name is simone manganelli, and i live a few blocks from here in the mission street b.a.r.t. station. first of all, i want to state we're on stolen land, the

ohlone land here in san francisco. i've been here in san francisco for the last ten years, and i see development after development going up in the neighborhood, and it's 80, 90% luxury housing. when we talk about housing, we need affordable housing for all. we need 100% affordable housing. secondly, look around. you have this line here that is stretching out to the back, and it's -- composed exclusively of opponents to this project. so look at the proportion of people in the neighborhood of people who need translation who are 95% against the project, two thirds of everybody speaking were against the project. i think that says all you need to know. thank you. >> clerk: i want to take this opportunity to remind folks that this middle aisle is for translation services only, so this is the aisle that we're taking commenters.

okay. and i'm also going to remind folks that we're going to stop taking public comment at 7:30, which is about 30 minutes away from now, so we've got room for about 30 more speakers. [inaudible] >> my name is carmen, and i'm a tenant organizers. we're here with the plaza 16 coalition to oppose the monster in the mission. every day, i see long-term and low-income elderly tenants who live in the low-income units who walk into our office with low value buyout offers because they are tenancies equal developments. these speculators do not care about the livelihoods and

quality of housing of the tenants they create. story after story, the deep impacts of the cycles of displacement on my community and i urge you, the planning commission to interrupt this violent cycle. use your power to protect what's left of the vibrant mission community. gentrification is not inevitable, it is a choice. make the right one and build the marvel. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> hi -- hi. good afternoon. my name is jessica yoon. i'm here with the plaza 16 coalition and poder. i live in a home with five people in my family, housing me. rent is real expensive so we can't move somewhere else bigger. i would like to see affordable housing so the community has a roof to sleep. also, i demand the commissioners and the planning

commission staff present an amendment that you can make a better choice for the community. this is your chance to stand with the community. estop the monster and build the marvel. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> hi, everyone. my name is ana avalos. i grew up here in the mission. i graduated from mission high school, and i still remember when my friends and i would walk down to mission because our family lived and worked in the mission. and about two years ago, i came back to mission high school, and i worked here, and i was surprised and shocked and angry to see that about 40% of our students have to commute from either oakland and even vallejo and sacramento. i think that it's a lot, and i would please beg you to consider all