Pros and Cons of Props A & B Discussed

PROP A:  Garbage and Recycling

May's HANC general membership meeting featured representatives from both sides of Proposition A (on the ballot in June, calling for competitive bidding of San Francisco's garbage and recycling contracts) presenting their cases and taking questions from the community.  In attendance were Tony Kelly and Paul Zusky defending each side of Prop A.  Some of the points brought up by the attendees were as follows:  Is Recology against competitive bidding?  Who controls the trash rates in our city?  What is going to happen with the Yuba City Landfill?  Is it better to change the system through Prop A or leave things well enough alone?

The community comments, questions and elaborations allowed for a discussion, not just a political pitch.  The best part of this night was the fact that a real conversation on the state of our trash and our goals was had and many varying points of view were welcomed and addressed by Tony Kelly and Paul Zusky.  It was a clear indication that no matter where you fall on Prop A, we have much to sort through on the subject of trash in San Francisco.  This complicated part of our existence is in a major state of change and to better our future, we all need to get involved.  Check out video footage on this subject at the Kezar Gardens Blog.

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For more information about these workshops, or to become a GFE (Garden for the Environment) member, go to www.gardenfortheenvironment.org

INTRO TO ORGANIC GARDENING
PART III, GARDEN WATERING
Dates: Saturday, June 16th, 2012
Time: 10AM - 12:30PM
Location: Garden for the Environment, San Francisco
Cost: Free, (Registration Required)

INTRO TO ORGANIC GARDENING, Part III
Water is vital to garden health. But, when is enough, enough? Join us to learn earth-friendly ways to water the garden and the most efficient practices for the Bay Area’s Mediterranean climate.

Topics covered include:

• Hand watering and automatic sprinklers
• Year-round schedules that conserve
• Hand watering—is it efficient?
• Eliminating runoff
• Spray vs. Drip irrigation
• What kind of plants are you watering?
• Sprinkler lifetime and care

Click Here to Register

AVOIDING LEAD EXPOSURE FROM GARDENING

Date: Saturday, June 30th, 2012
Time: 1pm - 3pm
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Instructor: Instructors from the San Francisco Childhood Lead Prevention Program at the SF Department of Public Health
Cost: FREE (Sponsored by the SF Department of Public Health)

Human and childhood exposure to lead is a well-documented and preventable environmental health problem. In the context of urban gardens, exposure to lead is most likely to come from contaminated soil. In this accessible and practical 2-hour class you will learn how to reduce the health risks for you and your family from exposure to lead through from urban gardening.

You will learn:
- How and why lead exposure occurs in soil
- Best practices to reduce the risk of lead exposure through gardening
- How to assess the risk of lead exposure to you and your family
- How to have your soil tested for lead
- How to remediate lead paint and soil hazards

Click Here to Register

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Our Recycling Center has been transformed into a Community Garden, Native Plant Nursery, and yes, the Recycling Center is still open!  Stop by at 780 Frederick Street (near Arguello), and see how we have changed.

Recycling Center hours are 9 am to 4 pm Monday through Saturday for material drop-off; 10 am to 3 pm Monday through Saturday for cash redemption of CRV, and noon to 4 pm Sunday, with no cash redemption on Sunday.

Our Community Garden is up and running!  Plots were assigned by lottery on January 15, and our gardners have been growing their gardens.  Stop by and see how they grow . . .

Yes, we still have native plants.  Stop by and take home a plant from our complete selecion of San Francisco native plants.

For more information click here

The Planning Commission passed on to the Board of Supervisors the largest hospital development proposal in recent City history. The project would expand and centralize the Sutter/CPMC health center by building a new 555 bed hospital at Geary and Van Ness, building a new 80 bed facility at St. Lukes at Mission and Cesar Chavez, expand the Ralph K. Davies hospital at Duboce and Noe and close down the old Children’s Hospital in Laurel Heights. The biggest problems and impacts would occur at the Geary and Van Ness site where Sutter proposes a new hospital and two new office towers.

A coalition of over 60 community, neighborhood, labor and environmental organizations- San Franciscans for Healthcare, Housing, Jobs and Justice (SFHHJJ)- urged the Planning Commission to reject the Development Agreement (DA) for the deal negotiated by the Mayor as failing to meet minimal concerns around the financial impacts of the project. Two of the six voting Planning Commissioners agreed and voted no on the DA. The DA as well as the EIR on the project will now go to the Board of Supervisors where a majority vote is required to pass both. It seems clear that the EIR will be litigated as it used outdated data in assessing traffic impacts at the key Geary and Van Ness intersection and failed to address the impacts of allowing a hospital (with no housing) to be built in an area specially zoned for “transit oriented development” of joint residential/commercial uses.

The community coalition raised key questions about the housing, traffic, healthcare and employment impacts of the project. Basically the argument claimed that Sutter/CPMC. the most profitable health provider in the City was shifting substantial costs to San Francisco residents and taxpayers.

In housing, although the EIR showed that a demand would be created for some 1,500 new two bedroom homes, Sutter/CPMC agreed to only provide funds to build about 90 such homes. Such a massive shortfall will boost housing prices all other San Franciscans will pay. The healthcare implications of the deal are profound. The expansion will give Sutter/CPMC “market dominance” in health insurance, allowing them to set prices. The City sought a “cap” on how much Sutter/CPMC would shift costs to other users of the same insurance companies, such as the City. No such agreement was reached and the deep concern is that there will be a major spike in costs passed on to the City. Moreover, CPMC currently provides the least amount of free care for medically indigent San Franciscans. The DA will actually allow them to pay less than they do now, shifting that cost to San Francisco taxpayers.

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     The Sutter / CPMC plan to consolidate its current operation by building a new 555 bed hospital at Geary and Van Ness, building a new 80 bed facility at St. Luke's at Mission and Cesar Chavez, expanding the Ralph K. Davies hospital at Duboce and Noe, and closing down the old Children's Hospital in Laurel Heights is now before the Board of Supervisors and will be the subject of the June 14th HANC general meeting.  Recent changes in the district boundaries have placed the Geary-Van Ness site into our District 5.

     A coalition of over 60 community, neighborhood, labor and environmental organizations--San Franciscans for Healthcare, Housing, Jobs and Justice (SFHHJJ)--has urged the City to amend its current draft Development Agreement to secure employment opportunities for San Francisco residents, require Sutter/CPMC to fully mitigate the affordable housing demand of its projected new workforce, reduce its traffic impacts and bolster its commitment to public transit, and more fully address the large and long lasting impacts on the City's health care system this very large combined project will have.

     HANC's June meeting will be devoted to a discussion of the health care impacts of the proposed project.  Two experienced and knowledgeable panel members have agreed to "unwind" the complex "ball" of access, economic and health policy issues which rests at the heart of this project.  Bob Prentice, a former Health Department senior assistant director and a current health policy consultant, and Paul Kumar, former Director Government Affairs for SEIU West, and current consultant to the National Union of Health Care Workers (NUHW), have agreed to discuss with us this complex mix of issues.  Both served on the 2008 Health Department "Blue Ribbon Panel on the Future of St. Luke's" and both are current members of the SFHHJJ.

     At the request of SFHHJJ, the Board of Supervisors is slated to hold a series of hearings on this project in June and July.  On June 12th a hearing has been set on the SFHHJJ appeal of the project's Environmental Impact Report (EIR).  It is expected that the hearing will be moved to July, after the Board deals with the budget.

      On June 15th and again on June 25th, the Land Use Committee is expected to hold hearings on the Development Agreement and healthcare issues related to the development.  Additional Board hearings are slated for later in July as well.

     Combined with the Obama Affordable Health Care law perhaps being modified or outright repealed by the expected June ruling of the Supreme Court, the Board of Supervisors hearing on the Sutter / CPMC project will make June a banner month in health care, and understanding the role played by the proposed development will be of importance to all San Franciscans.

     Plan to attend HANC's June 14th meeting (7 PM, Park Branch Library, 1833 Page Street) as you will not have a better chance to hear an informed discussion on the real world and local impact of the largest hospital expansion plan in the City's history that will directly affect your health care costs and the availability of health care to tens of thousands of your San Francisco neighbors for decades to come.

Here's HANC's Ballot Argument in support of Proposition B (Coit Tower Policy):

Coit Tower and its murals have been loved by San Franciscans and visitors for almost 80 years.  We support maintaining and preserving Coit Tower and limiting commercial activities and private events.

The Recreation and Parks Commission and Department have been at war with the public.  The Commission ignores public comment and rubber-stamps the Department’s whims.  Commission decisions cannot be appealed to the Board of Supervisors.  Consider:

---Arboretum Fees

---Artificial Turf Soccer Fields

---Laying off Recreation Directors

---Leasing Recreation Centers instead of providing service

---Stow Lake Boathouse Lease

---Development with no plans for staffing or maintenance

RPD still plans to evict Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council’s (HANC’s) recycling center, community garden and native plant nursery and plans to replace them with a community garden, even though HANC has already saved the City $250,000 by developing the community garden at the site.  HANC, through its center, has been a fiscal sponsor for the Garden for the Environment, the 2008 Victory Garden at Civic Center Plaza, and the Hayes Valley Farm.  HANC’s native plant nursery has provided plants to parks and open spaces maintained by RPD.  Evicting HANC's center would also mean loss of ten green jobs, and loss of a place to get back the fees you pay for cans and bottles.  Your vote will not save HANC's Center, but it will show RPD and RPC that you are unhappy with the way they conduct the public’s business.

ACT NOW!  

1. Vote Yes on Proposition B to protect Coit Tower!

2. Ask Mayor Lee and the Board of Supervisors to keep HANC’s Recycling Center

In one of the briefest ballots in living memory, the June 5th Primary election will only have two local propositions: A and B. Both were placed on the ballot by citizen initiatives.

San Francisco is unique among major urban areas in having a totally privatized garbage collection and waste disposal system. A law passed in 1932 allows the Board of Supervisors to award a contact for garbage collection and the processing of that garbage to any permit holder. Only Recology has such a permit and so there is no real competitive bidding process for this contract.

Proposition A would require a competitive bid, or more correctly five competitive bids for :

• residential garbage collection
• commercial garbage collection
• recovery, processing, and transfer of recyclable materials
• transportation of processed garbage to conversion or disposal sites outside the City; and
• conversion or disposal of processed garbage

This is a great issue for urban and political wonks. HANC has invited both sides to the debate. Come and hear more about garbage than you ever thought you would know and become knowledgeable about a truly “only in San Francisco” issue.

The second item on the ballot is Proposition B, a policy statement governing the operation of Coit Tower. Proposition B would strictly limit commercial activity and private events at Coit Tower and require that all revenue generated by such events permitted at the 1933 landmark would go to its maintenance and to the surrounding Pioneer Park, not to the Recreation and Parks Department or the general fund.

The real concern behind the measure is not limited to Coit Tower--the more widespread concerns are the policies of commercialization and neo-privatization followed by the current Recreation and Parks Department and experienced by HANC, first hand, in the battle over the recycling center in Golden Gate Park. Just as Rec and Park (sometimes referred to as “Wreck the Park”) has added new commercial facilities to Golden Gate Park and sought the removal of non-chi-chi uses such as gritty recycling, so has it pushed for larger and larger commercial users at Coit Tower. The Tower's neighbors are now pushing back and the push back is important to us all.

HANC supported the petition and has submitted a Yes argument for the Voters Handbook. Come and learn how to help in this important campaign.

At the April HANC membership meeting on Thursday April 12th, HANC Vice President Joey Cain and Kezar Gardens and Ecology Center Community Gardening Coordinator, Matthew Downs, presented an update on the evolution of HANC's Recycling Center and Community Garden. 

Joey Cain recapitulated the context surrounding Recreation and Parks Department's (RPD's) intent to evict the Recycling Center and implement a community garden at an estimated phase I cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars.  He shared that, to date, no action has been taken pursuant to the March 8, 2011, Board of Supervisors resolution calling upon the City to work with HANC to “establish a comprehensive Parks recycling program utilizing the expertise, volunteer base and facilities of theHANC Recycling Center in Golden Gate Park, … to establish an Independent Recycling Center Master Plan” and to implement the Golden Gate Park Master Plan by integrating recycling and education programs into the park. The Resolution also called upon Mayor Lee to urge Recreation and Parks to negotiate in good faith to allow HANC to continue to serve Golden Gate Park.

Matthew Downs followed Joey's presentation to update the status of Kezar Gardens and Ecology Center showing photo slides which included images of over 50 raised beds constructed and filled with compost from Recology, thriving vegetation, happy gardeners, happy recyclers, unique vertical garden beds, new native plant tables and abundant crowds attending events produced by and funded by the Recycling Center. Eight of the more than 100 community gardeners working/playing at the Kezer Gardens and Ecology Center alsos hared their personal stories of gardening at the site, often connecting with other gardeners, expressing joy at having this opportunity and sharing their concern about RPD's intent to evict the Center. A group discussion emerged about what we can do as HANC membership to influence RPD's General Manager and/or Mayor Lee to drop the action to evict and, instead, work with HANC to help meet the needs of the neighborhood.