This is 4 hours of hearings at the Board of Supervisors City Operations & Neighborhood Services Committee, February 14, 2011, regarding the eviction of the Haight Ashbury Recycling Center on March 3, 20011. Among the testimony is formerly homeless people who have gotten jobs at the recycling center and are now stabilized. I worked at the recycling center in the 1980’s and also was homeless at the time and haven’t been homeless since then
There’s also a discussion about the HANC recycling center at ResetSF and HANC on facebook
get silverlight here if you can’t see the video
the second video continues where the first one stopped
according to City Insider, supervisor Ross Mirkarimi is expected to speak about the recycling center at the full Board of Supervisors today at 2pm
Recreation and Park Department chief Phil Ginsburg said Monday that he has no intention to back off a plan approved by his commission to oust the longtime recycling center from Golden Gate Park.
But that hasn’t deterred supporters from hoping that the decision will be reversed.
“It’s not a fait accompli,” Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi said after a four-hour City Hall hearing on the fate of the Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Center (HANC) recycling facility. Located in the southeast corner of the park, the recycling center has drawn both praise and criticism in the community.
Rec and Park officials plan to transform the property into a community garden, which, they say, would be a more appropriate use of the park site.
Mirkarimi, who called for the hearing, plans to introduce a non binding resolution at today’s Board of Supervisors meeting asking the Recreation and Park Department to allow the recycling center to stay, saying it serves an important role in San Francisco’s overall recycling efforts and as a partner with community organizations that it supports with grants. Should the center be forced to leave, Mirkarimi wants the city to help the center find an alternative place to operate in the area.
The nonprofit HANC received a 90-day eviction notice from the city to vacate the premises by March 2.
HANC representatives said they will wage a public relations and political battle to remain open. “This is far from over,” said Ed Dunn, executive director of the recycling center.
Ultimately, the decision may come down to Mayor Ed Lee, who recently met with HANC representatives. The mayor said Monday that he has not taken a position on the controversy.
– Rachel Gordon
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/02/14/BAVE1HN21J.DTL#ixzz1E3cImTD5