at the hanc recycling center. i would like to thank all of the customers that came in spoke. i am speaking from a different side. we talked about the material that was recycled, but if i listed like credentials it would show that i learned the hard way, rather than the easy way, of how to do things. before hanc i was recently released, looking for work. it came to the point where i was married with two kids. it looks like that would be living in my car in getting to where it was time to make tough decisions. i wound up talking to ed. i learned about composting, cantonese, spanish. almost fluently. i can direct anyone around the center in those languages. others that are just like me that work there, others that come there, it has changed their life. it is not just for cycling for material, it recycles people. if they could be represented here, i would want to be the one to represent them. i have been working there for three years and in two months away from my bachelor's in philosophy. i would like to thank those

i have a friend who uses hanc, and i used hanc, so if you close them, i have no cycling, and i am a big recycler. all over san francisco, they are the environment's guardian angels. if you remove hanc recycling center, i will was the possibility of recycling. this will harm the environment. over the years, i have observed the part does no recycling bottles, and you know we do not trust that they will put in a competent to cycling process. scavengers remove recyclables in order to redeem them, thus saving the environment. some at the park are so critical of this, maybe they could pay the scavengers' for sorting the recyclables and split the redemption fee with them. just a thought. community gardens, of course a good idea, but not at this site. recycling is more important for our society and birth. i'm always hearing about these budget issues, but we are going to spend $250,000 on moving a company that is already working and giving the city money. san francisco is number one in recycling in united states, and hanc is part of the reason for this. please keep it where it is. [applause] sup

i am the current president hanc -- president of hanc and i am speaking in support of keeping the center at its current location. maintaining the recycling center, contributing somewhere between 1,000,001.5 million to the local economy each year, the proposed community garden is going to cost the city $250,000. a large portion of which is going to architectural design. rec and park put up a sign saying that there's a waiting list of 700 for community gardens. but there was only a waiting list of four at white springs, the closest community garden to the hanc recycling center. as far as the buyback machine, $1,600 per month comes up to $19,000 per year * 27, $518,000, it is not clear if the city or the merchants of the ones that have to pay for that. there were a couple of comments about 1992 and 1995 actions. the golden gate master plan was finalized well after those years. so, thank you. supervisor mirkarimi: next speaker, please. there was one more card. ellen epstein. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i served as a stakeholder of the san francisco food policy council representing the ur

, thank god for hanc. hanc i still go -- i still go over to hanc because my neighbor has tons of cardboard and all these fantastically big boxes, and there is no way that the curbside is going to pick them up, so i have a car, and i offered to bring them to hanc. nobody has talked about the cardboard issue. by the way, i happen to be disabled right now, and i go over there, and within five minutes, they empty out my car. i do not have to do anything. they come over and help me move this cardboard out of my car because it is very difficult for me to do that, so i'm very happy to have that center, and i hope it stays there forever because my neighbor keeps on buying new furniture. thank you. >> good afternoon, supervisors. thank you so much for having this hearing. i think it is very informative. this is an issue that has been around for a very long time, so i will be brief. i support the relocation of the recycling center, the establishment of a community garden, and i strongly support the rec and park depa

many people feel that hanc recycling center is an invaluable resource. others feel that it is a problem. and yet, that is not something that i think should be hastily rendered a verdict on, by the way, by the wreck and park commission had cast it. again, i think there process is something that was not well suited to the kind of standards we would normally abide by here in city hall. i want to hear from rec and park department, and we will hear from the department of the environment and then others, of course, where we have substantial speakers on all sides that submitted cards to us. if the rec and park department would like to make a presentation, unless, colleagues, you have questions or concerns. are you representing rec and park? yes. >> good afternoon, supervisors. happy valentine's day. on december 2, 2010, the recreation and park commission unanimously endorsed the proposal to create a community garden on 2/3 of an acre plot attached to the stadium. 780 frederick is the current location for the hanc recycling center, which has been operating since

hanc has been an invaluable resource. have concluded that the time has come to terminate 10 employees and close a fully functional service. the recreational recycling facility. for no reason other than to push against the progressive stance, generally. in the eviction of low-income folks, beyond that issues should not be confused. typically the folks that are defecating in our entryways and living in our driveways, lying on our sidewalks, are not those the one -- are not the ones working tirelessly. as a society we need to provide to the homes more affordable housing, solving our mental health service issues. recyclers are tirelessly collecting bottles and cans. they need to be separated. so many people are bumping. we have been at work with homeless people for least 20 years. recyclers are clearly a part of the solution. the closure of the recycling center will clearly cause hardship for the people who, for a multitude of reasons, have come to rely on the meager redemption funds to supplement their income. i want to conc

member of the hanc recycling center council. it is clear this is not about community garden spirit to do the retrofit at frederick and make it a community garden, you would have to remove asphalt, soil testing for chemicals and tens of thousands of dollars of additional cost, which you would not have to do any of the other applications approved already by the commission. in terms of being fiscally responsible, i would answer questions about that. it is also important to mention, the hanc recycling center already provide additional services to the agricultural community. that would be provided by rec and parks proposed community gardens urban agriculture site such as the ability to pick up mulch and compost. hanc is providing those services at no cost to the city. it has already been proposed that they will not be able to use the capital budget that they have been allocated. hanc is able to provide those services today at no cost to the city. something very important to consider. in terms of money spent,

moving on to the site, this is an area showing the hanc site. it could drop people from a further distance than a half mile radius, and it is about a 2/3 acre of a site. in terms of site condition, this photograph is showing the amount of sun at the site. this is a recent photograph, so you can see that it gets filtered light. also, just a reminder, it contains a plant nursery so there is sufficient light. this is just an example of a nearby community garden, which has a very similar environment to what is being proposed. it is a largely shaded side, but they grow in abundance -- an abundance of vegetables and a variety of plants. in terms of stability, they will be tested at the site. all of our garden plots will be in rates, and they will be filled with clean soil, and there will also be go for barrier underneath it. this is also a community garden , and this site also was found to have high levels of contaminants, and we were able to develop a community garden on the site with consultation from the department of public health. in developing a

those are all produced by hanc. i have specific criticisms on the proposal to put in a community garden. the photograph was shown of sunlight in the area. it was a reference to the amount of light. as someone who has been there frequently, there is not actually that much light available at the site. to make it viable for vegetable gardening a lot of trees would likely need to be cut along the south side, which would be a visual blight on the neighborhood. i also had concerns about the native plant nursery being kept there and who would staff report. it would likely cut out the heart of the native plant nursery as no one would be there on a regular basis. i can see that the centers do go hand in hand in that respect. and [tone] supervisor mirkarimi: thank you very much. next speaker, please. >> hello, supervisors. in the closest neighbor to the resource center. every day we move from 10:00 to 11:00 at night for every conceivable moment. no one is better [unintelligible] than me. we have never seen any homelessness an

the hanc center does not actually perform parks serving activities. prior to 2008, they did pick up paper at mclaren large, which is where the administrative staff is, but have not since then served the part in terms of recycling. supervisor mirkarimi: who assigned the 96% figure? where did that come from? >> the department of the environment. the last piece is that, as we know, and this is true in public hands, whether they are on park property or any other property, that many of the cans, the redeemables are taken from the cans and brought to redemption centers. >> there is one satellite part that has recycling. how many parks do we have in the aggregate in the city? >> 224 neighborhood parks. >> 1 park city why does discipling outside, we will say. we have 224 parks. in golden gate park, there is the statement that there is a 96% diversion rate, so i a total of all the parks, what with the diversion rate be then? >> i have asked that question already of the department of the environment. i do not know if they have it with them. >> they can think ab

the hanc center does not actually perform parks serving activities. prior to 2008, they did pick up paper

>> i will say again that we definitely support the relocation of hanc. supervisor mirkarimi: answer the question, please. what would the dollar amount be. i am learning this as we go along. none of this discussion took place that i was able to see or read from at the hearing. i am not trying to put you on the spot, but this information has not come out in this setting before. >> i do not know the answer off the top of my head, we will get those numbers to you. supervisor mirkarimi: there is a chance that the elimination of this recycling center is proportional to the amount of money received from the state in terms of being qualified for redemption centers. correct? a simple yes or no will suffice. [laughter] >> i am getting a lot of numbers here. it is not a yes or no question. supervisor mirkarimi: c'mon. >> good morning, supervisors. the money from the state is not based on the proportionality from the birth cycling centers. the question is -- do we risk losing funding? the answer is that the department can risk that this rejiggers but -- and risk los

>> i will say again that we definitely support the relocation of hanc. supervisor mirkarimi: answer the question, please. what would the dollar amount be