I hope you receive this letter in the spirit of camaraderie with which it is being sent. My name is Rachel Sierra. I am a 54 year old Chicana that became a member of The Green Cross earlier this year after a car accident left me with incredible back pain. A couple of weeks ago I became aware of the challenges faced by the club as a small but vocal minority group of neighborhood residents insist the club be closed. Never mind that the Green Cross is one of 2 or 3 clubs in SF that operates as a non-profit. Never mind that it is one of 2 or 3 clubs in SF that has gone thru all of the steps to secure legal permits, following the instructions provided about providing notices to neighbors as required. Never mind that the club has addressed/remedied every

• single one of the concerns raised by neighbors. Never mind the club has their staff clean-up the surrounding area, and has increased security measures in order to ensure members respect neighbors and avoid problems such as double-parking.

At some point during the last few weeks you may have sent Kevin a copy of a letter of support that you wrote on behalf of the Green Cross. When I asked Kevin to whom we could send out an SOS asking pleading for neighbors and club members to attend the Public Hearing on Friday, July 15th scheduled for 9:00 am at SF City Hall, Room 400, Carlton B. Goodlett Place, formerly 310 Polk Street he gave me a copy of your email. Although 9:00 am is a difficult time for working people, I hope you will consider attending this critical meeting. The purpose of the hearing is to consider revoking The Green Cross€TM permit altogether, even though The Green Cross has appealed the suspension and has been granted a hearing to hear the appeal on August 17th at 5:00 pm (same location as above). According to an email that I received today from Dan Sider, staff person of the Planning Department, It is important to stress that this hearing is being held in order to address particular land use issues unique to this particular commercial establishment. It is not in any way intended to be an assessment or forum on the broader issue of medical marijuana or establishments that dispense it. (Dan Sider)

It’s clear that The Green Cross needs its supporters to come to the public hearing and be prepared to make a strong statement that summarizes why the Green Cross should not have its permit revoked. We are likely to be limited to somewhere between 1-3 minutes. I spoke to a representative from NORML who suggested 3 types of people that are ideal for making a statement at the hearing:

issues that warrant revoking the permit. The club has made significant changes since they ivere made aware of the problems effectively addressing all of the major complaints. I live in the neighborhood and support The Green Cross.

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