Universally in the neighborhood would like to see that developed as housing. I mean, we have a housing crisis in this city. And the parking lot itself, you know, in the long run, isnt what the community, i think, is going to want or need. The communitys becoming more tech focused. I think well see a decline in cars. Unless somethings done with the traffic situation there, i mean but tigers will be there forever. Tigers and glen park station, and la corneta, i think, will never go away. You know, this is a dilemma that im probably going to ask the department to explain, but you know, my auntie rosa owned the dry cleaner on the corner for years that had all the Police Uniforms on it. Yeah, thats my dry cleaner. Yeah. Yeah, i really think and to the degree that the five years im here, this is something i would push aggressively to see housing develop, because we do have a crisis, and for me personally, the more we can fill around the glen park b. A. R. T. Station, these are units that dont need cars. Maybe you can help your fellow comrads help the Planning Department write some legislation that would help us do this. Yeah, ill do that. Thank you. Okay. Is there any other Public Comment on this item . Come on up. Dont be shy. Good evening. Welcome. Hi. My name is joel campos, jr. , and im i wrote my speech on the phone, if its okay. Im the manager of the la corneta restaurant in the glen park neighborhood. We have been open for a little bit over 22 years, and our restaurant and other Small Businesses depend on the existence of that parking lot, whether its the market down the street or the Hardware Store on the corner, or other Small Businesses. The parking lot definitely needs improvements. The changes that the hayes family wants to implement, i think it would help the whole area significantly, because its not just customers, and you know businesses and employees that park in that area. Its residents. Many residents, they use it to stop by their housing and stuff, and im the one that operates security cameras that are aimed at that parking lot, and we have a lot of breakins. Theres certain permits that need to make lighting and all the other stuff that they dont give you because its just basically a grofl lot. And the sfpd officers are constantly calling me because theres always breakins in that area. And we believe that making that area more professional with asphalt and better lighting, it would help defer those individuals that are coming. Just like two weeks ago, in five minutes, three cars were broken into. Police cars were broken into. Its an ongoing thing in that parking lot, and i think it would help. The gravel is a problem. With the cars going in and out, it goes into the street, and theres ae all these dump trucks going in constantly, and theres potholes when it rains, and i think just putting concrete asphalt there im not asking for much. Just a temporary thing until they do their housing project. And having said that, i think if they do decide to turn it into housing in the future, i think the neighborhood would welcome it. That area im not sure if you guys are from the neighborhood. Yeah. I remember olympic savings. Theres some houses that are being renovated across from it. And with the traffic, there can be temporary parking on diamond street to alleviate parking for the merchants, people just trying to make a quick stop. So if they do want to build a hows in the future, its fine. Its not going to be affected, and i would implore you to please take into account theres no negative kops consequences in the area putting it into a parking lot. Its already a parking lot. Just let them put some asphalt, paint some lines, and some lighting. I dont think thats an issue. Your question, if theyre entitled to build a parking lot, and your customers love it, and then, seven years down the road, they want to build a unit, arent you going to be mad about that. I think theres several options that can be taken into consideration. I think you said youre supportive but i think theres options. Right now, they need the money to obviously develop it. Once they do that, i think theres some options for us merchants in the area that we can do. Other areas, they have this temporary parking. Thats fine. Or you know, the meters, instead of putting it for two hours, you can put it for 15 minutes or 30 minutes, well the bulk of the all right. Thank you sir. Any other Public Comment . No other Public Comment, we can take you look like no, no, you have rebuttal, so if no one else wants to speak under Public Comment. Well give you rebuttal after Public Comment, okay . Trying to be shy with us . Dont be coy. Welcome. My name is 4 oy campos. Ive known this hayes family for over 20 years. I came to the united states, and know this family since. You cannot find better lenders than them. They help you, they listen to you, and we are we are very happy if you succeed by allowing you to work with the property. For me, the parking lot is crucial. They stated already, patty stated already, and i just imagine that if i if they took the same thought that i was going to take with my property years ago, if the Planning Commission didnt allow me to put what we needed for that site, i was going to close it, and leave it there for my children or my grandchildren to develop it. Finally, they were sensitive. They agreed. I remember those great commissioners, like mike antonini, and all of them that allowed me to do it, and now, that building is going to be finished in a couple of months. I know the Planning Department takes forever to grant you a permit, but why not take the chance and allow this family to use it, to improve it. And later on, we will see. And finally, in other cases that i hear, the previous cases, one side was going to hurt if the other situation was going to be taken. In this case, in this particular case, the hayes family is hurting nobody. So if they decided to close it, its going to be less sales, less taxes, and probably less employees. So take the chance. Give them the chance. We are here to help them and you are supposed to help them, too. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Any other Public Comment . Seeing no Public Comment, we can take rebuttal with the appellant first. Yeah. I just wanted to comment on when we mentioned the longer Term Development plans, that certainly, as we talked with the community and planning, that we would theres options here. We could incorporate parking within whatever Development Plan that is, whether there would be some parking aside, that we could continue to support the community and the businesses. And as supervisor sheehy said, a lot of the feedback that ive gotten is from glen Park Community is that they do want to see housing there. Its a transit rich area, right across from b. A. R. T. , but with some parking. And so we do think they would be supportive of down the line of a Development Plan for residential and commercial. Any other. And were only talking about 20 parking spaces. Were not talking about, you know, a double or triple structure. Its, you know, a reasonable number, 19. And the ones weve talked to have said yeah, it would be great to clean it up, make it look nice. Weve got that green path thats right alongside it, parallel, and you know, put a sunset date on it, if you can, or a commitment that after so many years, well give you time to work on a longer term plan that incorporates parking and housing and commercial. We just wanted to make those comments. Thank you. Anybody else . I guess, just to follow up on the process that you your name, sir. Im sorry . Your name. Im sorry. Im dan hayes. Just to follow up on the process taking as long as it would if there is no, you know code or sentence or paragraph that you can lean on, can you create it . Is there something you can do so that if you kind of have some empathy for this situation, is there something that could be legislated in a decent amount of time that would allow that window, or to answer that question, if the process takes that long, thats a legitimate the legitimate thing to bring up. And but if something could be legislated in the meantime, instead of just sitting there, in the time it takes to develop. I have a question, whoever would like to answer. Have you charged for parking there before . Im sorry . No. In the over time, with the you know, my father and the breefs busineprevious busi there we there were periods of time where they did private parking, 12, 15, but once we took ownership, there was no paid. That was a while back. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Okay. Mr. Teague, rebuttal. Boy, scott leaves you the easy night, huh . Oh, sure, sure. You know, all the talk of process and timelines and current events, i think it is worth pointing out that one of the major initiatives mayor lee was working on was asking our departments and oc departments to develop plans for additional process improvements on top of what weve done in the past, and we worked really hard on that and actually submitted a plan to the Mayors Office december 1st, so hopefully in the future, the process times will go down even more. I know that is a big deal to him. We appreciated that. Specifically to this case, i would just provide one request, which is if you do decide to move towards overturning the letter, i would i would advise to think about whether or not you want to use the rationale of well, its been there for a certain amount of time, so it should be considered legal. This is a fairly feelgood use. The community likes it. Ive been tangential review of the Planning Departments use of this over time. The owners seem like good people. Theyre good people. This is kind of a good scenario for that type of event, but there are other scenarios with other uses and other people where that you know, that principle does not exist in the planning code. Theres no statute of limitations for how long you go operating without permits that you automatically become a legal use, so i would just maybe advise that if you go that route, that maybe if theres another rationale, whether give us some guidance. I mean, theres other things in there in in the public documents for this site. I mean, it was a parking it was basically being used as unauthorized parking when the city owned it, and they sold it to the private to a private member of the public, so that doesnt for the code to really convey that land use legality there, but the statute the statute of limitations kind of concept would be a little concerning, so if you do go that route, i would just advise to maybe consider another rationale if you can. What do you mean what do you mean, the statute of limitations. Im saying theres no statute of limitations in the code for how long a parking lot can operate without permits, and then be considered for legal use for a period of time. The statute is clear, public use has to be legally permitted. There was the argument its been here for 40 years, so it should just be considered legal, and i was making the point in this situation, this is a feel good situation but your point is [ inaudible ] that would not always feel at good in other situations, and so thats the only advice that i would give. That it would create a dangerous precedent. Yeah. Sure. Can i get further clarification on this. So so if we were to find for the letter of determination, we could find it based on the that the that the letter of determination was issued in error or if and what youre saying is that if we, again, found for the appellant on the on the basis that because the city historically had had authorized and or had used this space as parking, therefore, it should be authorized for that use in in the future, is that the slippery slope that youre referring to . Well, actually, first of all, i mean, i dont want to recommend a specific basis, obviously, to overturn the Zoning Administrators decision, but the slippery slope was the other, which is if you overturned it on the basis that its been operating for 40 years, so might as well call it legal, that would be more of a precedent issue, and slippery slope, so to speak. So im still confused about whats the hook . Theres no statutory provision. You cant just makeup a statutory provision. Thats the legislative responsibility. Sure, and that is and that gets to the basis of its been here a long time. If you go on another basis. Thats not a relevant issue. Its been there before b. A. R. T. I remember when the glen park station opened. It was so cool. I was like in the fourth grade. Awesome. Except the danger there is there are other situations and other contexts where weve said and others have said that just because its been there a long time, does that make it legal, and so i worry about us doing Something Like that without some right, and thats my recommendation, is to not have that be the sole basis, if you make that decision, because theres so what other recommendation for a basis he said he didnt want to. Not really. Pretend youre on michael. Give it up. I want something. Mr. Teague. Yes. The literature has certain references of potential master plan referrals back in the early 70s. Did that that never occurred, then. Im not sure i understand what you mean. The general plan referrals, the one thats specifically cited in the letter of determination is the one that was cited for the sale of the property. But theyre referencing not so specific, but they were alluding to there were other referrals that are forth coming, but im not seeing anything else. Im sorry. Not specifically in your search. Not specifically to referrals, and that was the general plan at the time of the sale of the property. Okay. Actually, i have a supervisor question. You look like you have a solution or a request from the public. Yeah. I think what were talking about is the city established the use. Thats the reason. They didnt establish the use, so the city established the use years ago, so were not really talking about the city being, you know that gets to i think his question of having a having the nonconforming use, but now having to conform. Its really like the city, years ago, established the use solely to the Property Owners having established the use, and then, you know, thats why were here today. Okay. So just to acknowledge that the city established the use, and reject the letter of determination as being in error, i think that could be a way to cut the knot. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Now, the matters been submitted. So id like id like to make that motion, that we would you like to talk about it before you make the motion . Well, i think thats the answer that we just heard, is is that the city established the use of this parking the use of this parking lot. The city authorized and the use of this space as a parking lot and operated it as a parking lot, and that sets the precedent. Not the ongoing use over the last 30 or 40 years or whatever, but the city itself authorized the use and then operated it as a parking lot historically. So that thats a i dont i dont find that a slippery slope, and that would be the the intent of my motion if i were able to make it or anybody else. I would concur with that. Im in the neighborhood quite frequently. Thats a pretty dark, dark space, to be honest. Like i said, just if we could get to a space where were not setting huge precedent here, right . I would add an amendment, if i may. I have made the motion. You can make the motion. Yeah, you can make the motion. Can i Say Something first . Yes. Since were about to make a motion. I am completely sympathetic, empathetic, whatever term you wish to use. I would very much like to see this happen. I have not been persuaded that there are problems with the letter of determination, so im a little stuck on that. I totally can envision what it is youre trying to do, but i dont know if i can get there. Okay. Well, hopefully, frank will have some problem solving skills. Well, if you have a motion, go ahead. No. Im going to let you make the motion. Id just like to respond to commissioner lazarus. I think the problem with the letter of determination is that it does not recognize the citys authorization of this space as and use as a parking lot, and therefore, its denying that if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck, because they saw it as a duck historically. So thats the problem in the letter of determination is that they didnt recognize that it was an authorized use, it was a practiced use, and therefore, the practice of using it as a parking lot in the future should be authorized. Well, its already established already. Its already established. Thats, i think my response to yours. Since were all on the same side. Well, im not i think the language is a little bit different than that in the sense that, you know, the basis in terms of what the city authorized is one thing. But the continued usage of it as a paid parking lot created a legal nonconforming use. That makes sense. I would also add that to if we were to overturn the lod that on that basis, i would add to oh, whats the right word . Not necessarily confirm, but to substantiate that legal nonconforming use, i would submit a time frame of five years for them to permit that substantiate that legal nonconforming use. Commissioners, i would recommend thats outside the scope of the letter of determinations before you, putting conditions on what can happen here in the future. Youre just here determining if the Zoning Administrator abused or reached his conclusions based on the letter. Youre saying only only that . I dont whats before you is not whether there could be a time limit placed on the future. Its whether the za has found correctly that the use that theyve have asked about is a legal nonconforming use, and has found that its not a legal nonconforming use. Do you have a comment, mr. Teague . Just to reinforce the city attorney, i mean, all of our all of our letters of determination that specifically state that, you know, this is just an interpretation of the use of the code. Its not a permit, its not anything else to comply. We dont apply conditions to letters of determination. Its simply a question, is this a legal nonconforming Public Parking lot or is it not, and the Zoning Administrator said its not. So the real the decision. But hes not here. Im sorry . Im going to leave it with no condition. So was that a motion . Thats my motion. I would need you to please restate your motion, to grant the appeal and overturn the letter of determination that the Zoning Administrator erred. Because one that the city zoning preempted its use as a parking lot prior to the sale of the lot. And secondly, the usage of the lot after the sale as a paid Public Parking lot established the legal nonconform is use. Nonconforming use. Yeah, i agree. Just because they didnt establish and continue it doesnt mean it hasnt been established already. It was a parking lot. So the basis is because the city authorized the use of the property for parking before it was sold by the city and that the use of the lot after the sale has continued as a paid Public Parking lot. Is that right . To establish the legal nonconforming clause. Okay. On that motion, commissioner lazarus. Commissioner lazarus no. President honda aye. Commissioner wilson e [ inaudible ] okay. And commissioner. Commissioner swig no. Okay. Im going to move to continue this case. Oh, good. So that Additional Information related to the citys authorized use can be provided. Takes three. Okay. Vice president , do you want to pick a date for that . One month . January 17th, commissioner swig. Hows our schedule . Well, commissioner swig wont be there that night. Id like to be there. Perhaps if you want to look at a later date. You could do the 31st. January 31st . And are you accepting submissions from both sides . Yes. Okay. Do you want them at the same time or same time would be acceptable. Okay. So the motion, then, from the Vice President is to move this continue this item to allow Additional Information related to the citys authorized use and this would be to move it to january 31st, 2018. Both sides would be allowed to submit additional submittals. Do you want briefing or do you want to set a page limit . I think they should be able to do it within five pages. Okay. With just five pages of additional briefing allowed, plus exhibit, both to be submitted the thursday prior to the hearing, okay . On that motion, commissioner lazarus. Commissioner lazarus aye. President honda aye. Commissioner wilson aye. Commissioner swig aye. Okay. That motion passes, and that moti matter is continued to that evening. Next item is withdrawn, so commissioner honda, theres no further oh, you scared me for a second. [ gavel ] good morning. This is a busy part of the block. We have lunch goers, construction so we will be efficient and as loud as we can so you can hear us. My name is debbie raffle the director of the department of environment. I want to thank you for coming out today to hear the announcement and share in the excitement about the next step towards a green and clean San Francisco. Three years ago i started as director of this department. Within the first few weeks, the issue of the closing every cycling centres came across my desk. I understood the importance of this issue as a priority for the city because i understood the value every cycling centres in meeting the city goals. The law that allowed us to have redemption, to have monetary value for the bottles and cans in our recycling stream was passed in 1989. We call it the bottle bill. If you were to look at any number of plastic containers today, you would see ca cash refund. California redemption refund value. That is because bottles and cans have a 5cent or 1 10cent redemption value. They are worth something. There is a reason. It is important to have this redemption value even though San Francisco has the best occur side collection in the nation. If we are doing such a good job of curb side why do we need recycling and redeems centres . The answer is twofold. When you put a cash value on something that otherwise would be a waste stream, it is incentive for collection. All of a sudden there is a reason for people to look at the litter on the ground and say, what has value there . They will pick it up and collect it. Having a cash value actually helps our litter problem. The second and more interesting goal and value of this kind of system is that the stream, the material that come into these redemption centres are very clean, they are high value. The bottles and cans that come into the centres are helping the end use of the recycling market. We need to have high value clean materials to make the whole system function. It is good for collection and the recycling system as a whole. Convenient, accessible places to bring bottles and cans are a key to have high value materials and keep our city green and clean. But if you look at what has happened over the last 30 years since the bottle bill passed, you see a startling statistic. San francisco is one of the lowest performers in the state when it comes to the number and convenience of these recycling and redemption centers. The loss has been felt in neighborhoods and Small Businesses across our city. But the solution was not within our ability and our grasp. We have this 1989 law is so rigid and outofdate that it is getting in the way of us finding solutions. For San Francisco, we needed a legislative fix in order to fix the problem. It also turned out this legislative fix was no easy feat. It took someone within credible tenacity and determination and commitment to the issue to get this law passed over the finish line and signed by the governor. It took senator scott wiener who cares about this to see it over the finish line. It took sb458 to give us the flexibility we need t get San Francisco to solve the issue and create accessible and distributed opportunities for people to get rid of and redeem their recyclables. With that let us welcome and thank the leadership of senator scott. [applause. ] thank you, debbie. I want to thank debbie for her incredible leadership at department of environment. She has done tremendous work. I am thrilled to take this step today to initiate the citys effort for a new innovative an prop to recycling redemption so people can bring in bottles and cans and get paid for the bottles and cans, but we can do it in a way that doesnt just impact a few neighborhoods with large recycling centers and doesnt harm the small groceries that are harmed by accepting a large amount every cycling because of the closure of the centers. That is what sb458 is about. This is a statewide issue. Land has become more valuable. It is harder and harder for the centers to make ends meet. The economics of change and we have seen a mass closing every cycling centers. 80 of the centers shut down in the last several decades. I learned from colleagues it is happening all over the state. I got involved four or five years ago when the recycling center on Market Street by church and market safe way closed down. There were a lot of people happy it closed down because that center had created real challenges for the surrounding neighborhood, but there were a lot of people unhappy balls it was going because it was going to make it harder to find a place to bring in recycling if you are a low income senior, homeless person who is trying to get cash together to survive, people rely on the services. At the time i worked with the department of environment. We are going to start the mobile recycling program. We dont need an Industrial Recycling center we can travel around the city to take in recycling. We got down the path and realized it was a violation of state law. We needed to change the law to allow us to do it. I promised going to the state senate that i would pursue that legislative fix. That is how sb45 came about. I introduced that and moved it through the legislator with unanimous strong support from democrats and republicans. We worked with Environmental Community and state offers and got it to Governor Brown and i want to sign Governor Brown for signing the bill into law. It is not easy to get changes to the bottle bill signed into law. There are so many different interests at stake and most bills die. We were thrilled to get it signed into law. I want to thank mayor lee for moving quickly to initiate the process to have mobile units to travel around the city on a fixed schedule so people have a calendar where they know where the mobile recycling unit is going to be on a particular day and they can bring the recycling in so we can try out reverse vending machines where people insert recycling into the machine that pays them this redemption money. It will allow San Francisco to do what we do best, which is innovate, try new forward looking approaches to old problems that is what this is about today. I want to thank everyone who made this a reality. Thank you. [applause. ] thanks. Wonderful. Yes, we are a city that innovates and it gets frustrating when the state says, no, use outofdate technologies and ideas. I am thrilled to have this flexibility. Our next speaker truly understands the link between recycling and climate change. Mayor lee has been advocating with us for three years on trying to get the state to allow San Francisco to do what it does best, to find solutions that serve the environment, local business community, and our residents. It is his leadership and his advocacy that enables senator weaner to get to get sb458 signed. With that i would like to thank mayor lee and his staff and personally thank the mayor for his commitment and never giving up. Mayor lee. [applause. ] thank you everybody. I am here to ask senator weaner to make nor promises. I know when he makes a promise it will get carried out. Can i do that over christmas . Sure i want to thank debbie and the department of environment. We have a department dedicated to something we care about that is the environment. Not only in the city, but we are a waterfront city. Our coastline, mountains, parks, we are trying to carryout this vision that i know governor jerry brown is articulating will be in a big way next september for the entire world. That is our commitment to our climate. The city is wonderful to work for, not only in the capacity of may or but alongside scott and the board of supervisors per visors that are 100 committed. We are the only city in the country with an 85 recycling done already with all of our garbage. Why not do better than that . Why not be 100 recycling city . Why cant we have a goal to set the standard for everyone. I am here with all of you today. Every day hundreds of people wind up in front of this store because they want a great sandwich. They are patrons of teds market. So am i. I am here like everybody else crowding the sidewalk to get one of the best sandwiches in the world. Guess what . A great time is sent towards sorting plastics people are bringing in. They didnt want the 100 each day fine the state in 1989 thought was appropriate to innocent people to do the right thing. We need to do better than punish people or have their time doing recycling here when they could be making great sandwiches for all of us. We are here to also alleviate stores liketeds and so many others struggling with the fact there are no longer these very large and sometimes nuisanceprone recycling centers. We havent given up the commitment to recycle. We are not giving one inch. We are advancing the commitment by doing what the senator says, what we do. Uses new ideas. Dont let old laws constrain us, and this is why we work with the Small Business commission to make sure members know we are not ever giving up the environmental goals. We need better pathways, smart and innovative pathways. The idea of the mobility to pick up where people have traditionally spent time delivering the plastics is one thing. Machines and Technology Help us with a reverse machine to take it in and give you the cash that you need, particularly for those that are low income and on the margins, that is another great idea. I suspect there are at least several more ideas that pilot cities across this state will be able to have in order not to lessen the commitment, to increase the commitment. This is a city where i was the public works director and i had the silence of introducing the green and blue and black bin. I had a headache. Look at today. We are reducing the black bin and increasing the blue bin in everybodys house and Small Businesses. To me, that is pretty exciting. I was in chicago last week at the invitation of may or raum manuel. 50 cities including the city of paris, the city of vancouver, the city of toronto, of montreal, mexico city were all there joined by 50 other u. S. Cities. Why . Because north America Needs to do better on the climate change. We are coming together as city mayors to help each other. When i announced we were 85 , gosh, we got Standing Ovations among the other mayors. They want to do the same thing. They are committed to having a planet where all of us have these wonderful opportunities to be government leaders and the obligation to lead this planet and regions better than day one of representing them. All of these mayor and especially the mayor of paris because of paris accords are coming to San Francisco next september when we host Governor Browns Climate Summit for the entire world. We are going to create leadership right here atteds with the smallest of businesses. We represent that all to the rest of the city because it is a city that still knows how. We are a city where leaders make promises and carry them all the way out even if they go to sacramento and we reunite everybody in doing it. I love this about the city. I will continue to pick up the trash knowing everybody else will do the same but we have smarter ways to recycle everything we touch. Let us continue to make the commitment we have made to the next generation. We will lead this city and this planet in better condition than when we first became obligated to serve it. Thank you. [applause. ] wow. Yes, indeed. That is our challenge to leave this planet and this city in a better shape. That is open of our responsibilities. It takes Political Leadership to make things happen. It takes advocacy from the community. Mayor lee and our department have been working for three years with a large supermarket to have them come together to troubleshoot and find a solution to move forward, and i am so pleased to say that with sb458 and the Pilot Program those supermarkets are still at the table and we are going to Work Together to find the Innovative Solutions to create joint accountability of the large markets working together to find solutions. The department is working very hard with the smaller businesses, with the small beverage dealers, grocers, teds delis impacted by this outofdate law. As the mayor said, the way the law was designed in 1989, Small Businesses have two choices. If there is no supermarket around them taking back the beverage containers, then they have the choice of either taking back the beverage containers and giving people money or paying 100 each day to the state of california. That is 36,000 each year thatteds deli would have to give to the state to not collect the beverage containers and give out that money. I would predict that 36,000 would put a huge dent in the profit margin of any Small Business in San Francisco. Frankly, it is a silly way for them to spend money and resources and time. We must find a comprehensive solution that addresses the quality of life issues, that addresses the needs of Small Businesses and addresses the needs of people who depend on this revenue they get from collecting litter, from collecting and redeeming these materials. We are lucky to have such strong advocates in our Small Business world. I want to call out regina from the office of Small Business. Thank you for your leadership. She is a tire less advocate. The citys Small Business commission and council of district merchants. They are at the table with the mayor and at the table with the department trying to find solutions every day. I want to welcome our time speaker which is the commissioner who is on our Small Business commission. She has worked tirelessly on this issue for days, months, years leading up to sb458. I know she is going to continue to work with us until we get our pilot in place and make sure that we have a solution that serves her constituents and all of San Francisco. [applause. ] hello. Thank you. I am miriam. I am Third Generation and the American Grocery association represents 400 businesses in the city and on the Small Business commission. I would like to say the corner store is facing extension. Redone dent means which we pay for Public Health and environmental codes are rarely assessed. We must start asking if the laws are applied to big line resourcers. How do immigrant owned businesses not scapegoated for the larger picture changes. I would also like to say a thank you to senator weaner. We hope this alleviates a huge burdep. The next state is to hold the state accountable forgiving the giant invoices the stores are receiving and working to collect and on a local level coming up with work force programming that can alleviate these burdens we pay for not just collection of cans and bottles but other types of Public Health and environmental collection fees. There is a lot of opportunity for Work Force Building as opposed to more responsibilities to Small Businesses. I look forward to work on that. Thank you. [applause. ] in closing i want to thank senator weaner, mayor lee, my staff at the department of environment, kevin drew. I want to thank the commissioner and teds deli and itch vityou all to get a sandwich. I want to call tom wright who is helping us work with the supermarkets. Let us all thank the construction workers for their patience in allowing us to have this event while they are waiting to get back to work. With that, thank you all for coming. I look forward to seeing what is possible and what we can do in San Francisco. Thank you. [applause. ] welcome to culturewire. Today we are at recology. They are celebrate 20 years of one of the most incredibly unique Artist Residency programs. We are here to learn more from one of the resident artists. Welcome to the show, deborah. Tell us how this Program Began 20 years ago. The Program Began 20 years ago. Our founder was an environmentalist and an activist and an artist in the 1970s. She started these street sweeping campaigns in the city. She started with kids. They had an exhibition at city hall. City officials heard about her efforts and they invited her to this facility. We thought it would coincide with our efforts to get folks to recycle, it is a great educational tool. Since then, we have had 95 professional artists come through. How has the Program Changed over the years . How has the program what can the public has an artist engage with . For the most part, we worked with metal and wood, what you would expect from a program like ours. Over the years, we tried to include artists and all types of mediums. Conceptual artists, at installation, photographers, videographers. That has really expanded the program out. It is becoming so dynamic right now with your vision of interesting artists in gauging here. Why would an artist when to come here . Mainly, access to the materials. We also give them a lot of support. When they start, it is an empty studio. They go out to the public area and we call it the big store. They go out shopping, take the materials that, and get to work. It is kind of like a reprieve, so they can really focus on their body of work. When you are talking about recology, do you have the only Sculpture Garden at the top . It is based on work that was done many years ago in new york. It is the only kind of structured, artist program. Weit is beautiful. A lot of the plants you see were pulled out of the garbage, and we use our compost to transplant them. The pathway is lined with rubble from the earthquake from the freeways we tour about 5000 people a year to our facility, adults and children. We talk about recycling and conservation. They can meet the artists. Fantastic. Lets go meet some of your current artists. Here we are with lauren. Can you tell us how long have been here so far and what youre working on . We started our residency on june 1, so we came into the studio then and spent most of the first couple weeks just digging around in the trash. I am continuing my body of work, kind of making these hand embroidered objects from our daytoday life. Can you describe some of the things you have been making here . This is amazing. I think i started a lot of my work about the qualities of light is in the weight. I have been thinking a lot about things floating through the air. It is also very windy down here. There is a piece of sheet music up there that i have embroidered third. There is a pamphlet about hearing dea nearing death. This is a dead rabbit. This is what i am working on now. This is a greeting card that i found, making it embroidered. It is for a very special friend. While we were looking at this, i glanced down and this is amazing, and it is on top of a book, it is ridiculous and amazing. I am interested in the serendipity of these still life compositions. When he got to the garbage and to see the arrangement of objects that is completely spontaneous. It is probably one of the least thought of compositions. People are getting rid of this stuff. It holds no real value to them, because theyre disposing of it. Were here in another recology studio with abel. What attracted you to apply for this special program . Who would not want to come to the dump . But is the first question. For me, being in a situation that youre not comfortable in has always been the best. What materials were you immediately attracted to when you started and so what was available here . There are a lot of books. That is one of the thing that hits me the most. Books are good for understanding, language, and art in general. Also being a graphic designer, going straight to the magazines and seeing all this printed material being discarded has also been part of my work. Of course, always wood or any kind of plastic form or anything like that. Job mr. Some of the pieces you have made while you have been here. Taught me through some of the pieces you have made while you have been here. The first thing that attracted me to this was the printed surface. It was actually a poster. It was a silk screen watercolor, about 8 feet long. In terms of the flatwork, i work with a lot of cloddish. So being able to cut into it come at into it, removed parts, it is part of the process of negotiating the final form. How do you jump from the two dimensional work that you create to the threedimensional . Maybe going back from the 3f to 2d. Everything is in the process of becoming. Things are never said or settled. The sculptures are being made while i am doing the collages, and vice versa. It becomes a part of something else. Theres always this figuring out of where things belong or where they could parapets something else. At the end goal is to possibly see one of these collage plans be built out and create a structure that reflects back into the flat work. Thank you so much for allowing culturewire to visit this amazing facility and to learn more about the artists in residence program. Is there anything you like our viewers to know . We have art exhibitions every four months, and a win by the public to come out. Everybody is welcome to come out. We have food. Sometimes we have gains and bands. It is great time. From june to september, we from june to september, we accept applications from bay