COMMISSION ON THE ENVIRONMENT RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE CREATION AND SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY IMPACT OF THE CALLE 24 LATINO CULTURAL DISTRICT.
[SUPPORT FOR THE CALLE 24 LATINO CULTURAL DISTRICT]
COMMISSION ON THE ENVIRONMENT RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE CREATION AND SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY IMPACT OF THE CALLE 24 LATINO CULTURAL DISTRICT.
WHEREAS, The environmental movement grows stronger when it embraces, supports, and learns from communities of color and limited English speakers that may not be part of the traditional environment movement; and,
WHEREAS, The Commission on the Environment and San Francisco Department of Environment seek to promote environmental justice across all program areas by identifying opportunities to ensure that the work of the Commission and the Department promotes putting an end to disproportionate pollution in vulnerable communities as an integral part of our environmental stewardship mission; and, WHEREAS, A November 2013 report by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Center for Advanced Urbanism highlighted that a disproportionate share of pollution has caused the Mission District to suffer from the worst health conditions among all San Francisco neighborhoods, in part due to the increased diversion of traffic from congested freeways to neighborhood streets; and,
WHEREAS, Over the past two years , the Calle 24 Council, a collaboration of Mission District residents, merchants, youth, artists, and non-profit service providers, has worked with the San Francisco Latino Historical Society, San Francisco Heritage, Mayor Edwin Lee, and Supervisor David Campos to establish the Calle 24 Latino Cultural District; and,
WHEREAS, The Calle 24 Latino Cultural District is an effort to sustain the community culture, history, and entrepreneurship of the neighborhood on and around 24th Street in the Mission District by preserving Latino cultural landmarks and institutions, stabilizing the displacement of Latino residents and businesses, and promoting local job creation for a diverse economy; and,
WHEREAS, The neighborhoods outlined in the proposed Calle 24 Latino Cultural District also have a rich history of promoting community-driven environmentalism and conservation, whether through efforts initiated by families to remove waste that had once piled up in Balmy Alley so as to provide a more efficient means for local students to walk to school, local merchant-sponsored efforts to keep 24th Street clean and litter-free, neighborhood-based tree-planting and community gardening initiatives that promote cleaner air and healthy food, or community health clinics that provide services to local families impacted by environmental health hazards; and,
WHEREAS, The Calle 24 Latino Cultural District will not only deliver on the goals of sustaining the neighborhood’s culture, history, residents, businesses, and jobs but will enhance the ability to continue community-based environmental initiatives and provide community health services as a means of addressing the environmental health disparities cited in the November 2013 MIT report; and,
WHEREAS, Achievement of these goals through the creation of the Calle 24 Latino Cultural District is a means of promoting environmental justice in the City and County of San Francisco; and,
WHEREAS, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors expressed its support for the establishment of the Calle 24 Latino Cultural District in a resolution unanimously adopted on May 20, 2014; now, therefore, be it,
RESOLVED, That the San Francisco Commission on the Environment supports the establishment of the Calle 24 Latino Cultural District as a Latino cultural, commercial, and environmental justice district in San Francisco; and, be it,
FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Commission commends the efforts of the Latino community and the Calle 24 Council and its partners on their efforts, and offers its support and assistance to successfully establish the Calle 24 Latino Cultural District.
I hereby certify that this Resolution was adopted at the Commission on the Environment’s Meeting on September 30, 2014.
Monica Fish, Commission Secretary
VOTE: 6-0 Approved; 1 Vacant
AYES: Commissioners Arce, Gravanis, King, Stephenson, Wald, and Wan
NOES: None
ABSENT: None