i'm the president of friends of mclaren park. it is one of the oldest neighborhood community park groups in san francisco. i give a lot of tours through the park. during those tours, a lot of the folks in the group will think of the park as very scary. it has a lot of hills, there's a lot of dense groves. once you get towards the center of the park you really lose your orientation. you are very much in a remote area. there are a lot of trees that shield your view from the urban setting. you would simply see different groves that gives you a sense of freedom, of being outdoors, not being burdened by the worries of city life. john mclaren had said that golden gate park was too far away. he proposed that we have a park in the south end of the city. the campaign slogan was, people need this open space. one of the things that had to open is there were a lot of people who did a homestead here, about 25 different families. their property had to be bought up. so it took from 1928 to 1957 to buy up all the parcels of land that ended up in

john mclaren had said that golden gate park was too far away.e proposed that we have a park in the south end of the city. the campaign slogan was, people need this open space. one of the things that had to open is there were a lot of people who did a homestead here, about 25 different families. their property had to be bought up. so it took from 1928 to 1957 to buy up all the parcels of land that ended up in this 317 acres. the park, as a general rule, is heavily used in the mornings and the evenings. one of the favorite places is up by the upper reservoir because dogs get to go swim. it's extremely popular. many fights in the city, as you know, about dogs in parks. we have 317 acres and god knows there's plenty of room for both of us. man and his best friend. early in the morning people before they go to work will walk their dogs or go on a jog themselves with their dogs. joggers love the park, there's 7 miles of hiking trails and there's off trail paths that hikers can take. all the recreational areas are heavily used on weekends. we have the

the perfect place for the community garden is near mclaren lodge. that's been established.communin lodge. that's been established. what this really is about is an attack on poor people. people who have no compassion who are out of touch with the spirit of san francisco, respect and love for every human being. the people who come to the recycling center, there are hundreds, even thousands of people who benefit from it and are relatively small minority are homeless. and these homeless people are working very hard, ten hours a day, to make 15 or $20, most of them to eat. some of them may use drugs, but some of us use drugs too. i mean in the general -- in the general population. the point is the homeless are not going to get away. the homeless are not going to go away if you get rid of the recycling center. keep it open. thank you. >> i don't think my humor will top that one. good afternoon. i'm a native san franciscoan, homeowner from the richmond district. have i been visiting the hanc recycling center more than three decades. my neighborhood is serv

i don't know if any of you are aware of food john -- who john mclaren was, but he used to drive his buddy in the park, which the recreation and park department wants to call the music encores. not to modernize transportation of the future of places. this is a historical area. for over 185 years, it has been a horse park. in the last 10 years, our famous mayor introduced legislation saying he was going to renew, developed, and t

on october 15, one of the lines says, the commission approved funding for community garden outside mclaren lot. that is a far better site than the recycling center. the soil was better. you would remove the lawn and you could put a garden right outside the general managers window. >> i will read a few more names. [reading names] >> hello. my name is richard. i have lived in san francisco for 40 years. my wife and i have been going to hanc for 30. it is a wonderful piece of the fabric of san francisco. i am proud of the job they have done in terms of organizing things. the thing we really value as a community resource is it is an interface between people. it is a chance to be with people who are disadvantaged who can help of the organization. if there are objections to things like noise, there are ways to alleviate that. if you want a community garden, i have nothing against that. it seems to me there is a parcel of land that is just to the west of the site. it is probably about the same area. maybe it gets more son. -- sun. hanc should be commended for the things they do. i urge you to kee

mclaren park has seen increases over the past several years thanks to active support from the at the theater and regular volunteer work parties with mounted park patrols through activation and presence. we are attempting to cultivate this type of activity across the city. special vents in the plaza makes the park safer by giving people a reason to use it. daytime park safety in particular is reinforced and enabled by positive park activation through sports, regular uses -- uses and star -- strong our biggest challenges, in my view, are at night. in my view, nothing good happens in our parks at 2:00 in the morning. overall, we have been successfully vigilant in our approach to enforcement of illegal campers. it is something which we still struggle with. since july, and golden gate park, we have had two homicides, a stabbing, the bull attack, and a sexual assault. in all of these cases, either the victim or perpetrator was in a camper illegally in the park. what is incidences have caught our attention, we struggle routinely with incidences of the vandalism in the parks. in golden gate

in october of 2009, this commission approved funding for a community garden in front of mclaren lodge and yet there's been no response as to the status of that. that was over a year ago. unfortunately, the administration and the department has made a very clear choice to take what was a controversial and historical issue within this neighborhood and made it a family decisive issue that has separated every neighborhood around the recycling c

in october of 2009, this commission approved funding for a community garden in front of mclaren lodge and yet there's been no response as to the status of that. that was over a year ago. unfortunately, the administration and the department has made a very clear choice to take what was a controversial and historical issue within this neighborhood and made it a family decisive issue that has separated every neighborhood around the recycling center. it's unfortunate and quite frankly didn't actually have to happen like this. not only was your outreach policy not followed, it was generally ignored. there have been no community meetings that we have been taken a part of or invited to attend. in closing we ask you to reject this proposal and keep hanc where its site is. >> good evening. i'm on the board of directors of san francisco community recyclers. i want to thank the commission for working with hanc for so long. would i suggest you consider renewing the lease for five years. that might be in order. thank you. good evening, commissioners. my name is mark martin. i have worked in the ar

a tree lighting ceremony took place yesterday in front of mclaren lodge.-foot monterey cypress is now covered in multicolored lights. there was a giants theme this year among the special guests lucille the team's mascot and, of course, santa. >> looks like -- go ahead. >> the santa fired from the macy's in union square for telling a naughty joke starts his new job today. santa john soon will be at lefty o'doul's tonight at 5:00 and will be there 7 days a week from 3 to 8 p.m. visiters are being asked to bring along a new unwrapped toy to donate to the firefighters sponsored holiday toy drive. >> sorry about that. i was all excited about weather and talk about the sunshine that's ahead but first we got to get you there a misty morning. tracy, good morning. >> misty morning out there again, sydnie. we also have reports of fog again this morning. and something else of course. cloudy conditions for the morning outside of the fog. for the afternoon, a mix of sun and clouds. and still a small chance of a passing shower. highs today in the upper 50s to the mid-60

mclaren park has seen increases over the past several years thanks to active support from the at the theater and regular volunteer work parties with mounted park patrols through activation and presence. we are attempting to cultivate this type of activity across the city. special vents in the plaza makes the park safer by giving people a reason to use it. daytime park safety in particular is reinforced and enabled by positive park activation through sports, regular