San Francisco’s LGBT Community Center, which the city spent some $5.8 million to help create, and which needs a $1 million bailout (updated; see below) from the city to continue operations, Wednesday night was summarily denied any cash by the Board of Supervisors. Well, for now anyways. “Supervisors Bevan Dufty and David Campos, the board’s two gay supervisors, have proposed helping the nonprofit community center meet its mortgage obligations so it doesn’t face foreclosure. … Members of the budget committee said while the center plays an important civic, cultural and social role, they fear the arrangement could open the floodgate for other cash-strapped nonprofits seeking city aid.” [SF Chron]
The Center responds to media reports with a statement (PDF): “The San Francisco LGBT Community Center serves over 9,000 people each month and hosts over 3,000 programs and workshops each year; we pilot groundbreaking programs, serve LGBT community members most in need, and provide information and referral
services to link community members to critical services. What we are not is in foreclosure – nor are we asking the City for a $1 million bailout. … We do have $3.2 million in outstanding debt related to the construction of the building, which has been carried in a loan with First Republic Bank. After almost a year of very difficult bargaining, we have achieved a loan modification that financially benefits the
Center. This includes a reduction our interest rate, which will save $200,000 over the next five years, and a modification of principle payments to help cash flow. The bank is requiring that we create a reserve account, with a balance of $157,500 – reserves which we do not have. The City have been involved in the discussions from the beginning and Supervisors Bevan Dufty and David Campos are sponsoring legislation to provide a loan from the City to the Center. This is a loan and not a grant. It is also $157,500 – not over $1 million as is reported in some sources.”
Close the Center
As a transgender woman who has lived in San Francisco since 1995, I oppose giving the LGBT Center a dime of taxpayers money.
When the Center was first proposed, its advocates ignored complaints that the center would be funded out of money currently donated to low-income LGBTs and People with AIDS.
Later, the LGBT community and progressives objected to the Center (and its backers at City Hall) forcing, through threats of eminent domain proceedings, the closure, sale, and physical removal of existing businesses so that the Center could be built. The Center’s board responded by hiring security guards to disrupt protests outside its meetings.
During and shortly after the building’s construction, the Centers board dismissed the concerns of transgender people about their bathroom policy, at one point suggesting that TGs be restricted to a bathroom in the basement. Rumor has it that some of the board also objected to children sharing bathrooms with people with HIV.
Subsequently, the Center seems to have no business plan and acts as a sinecure for GBLT and AIDS bureaucrats in need of a job. Why its managers need to make over $100K per year is beyond me.
Perhaps the Center should strategically default, and allow a more viable organization to purchase it at auction.
EWE
The NY LGBT community center was purchased for one dollar i believe. I was extremely disappointed with the reception i received when i visited the center in SF. I rationalized it by saying it was only those certain employees not the center itself and its message. Maybe San Francisco residents don’t really feel they need to have a center? Who knows? I don’t live there anymore and have the best and worst of memories of so many years in that town. It’s in my past and i plan to keep it there.
Colin V. Gallagher
Judging from the light turnout at last Wednesday’s meeting of the Board of Supervisor’s Budget Committee (many of the people speaking in favor had identified themselves as directors or employees of the Center or related nonprofit groups), there doesn’t seem to be lot of community suport for the loan guarantees for the Center. It would be better if the site were to go into foreclosure & a more economically viable use for the parcel is realized than the City throw good money after bad. . .
Anonymous
The keyword in the center’s statement is “hosts.” Yes, they “host” a lot of programs, but they have little to nothing to offer of their own, except a building to rent out to the organizations in the city that do actual programming and work. The center should be a place where anyone can hang out, go get tested, find housing, etc. at anytime. The local LGBTQ orgs should be housed inside of the center, at the very least – but it’s not big enough.
Erik
I posted the following comment on the Queerty’s updated post on this (http://www.queerty.com/san-francisco-bails-out-lgbt-community-centers-mortgage-20100330/comment-page-1/#comment-287583) but I think it’s is also worth reposting here:
As a Youth Program Coordinator at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center, I want to thank those on this board that are showing support for our programs and to the tremendous help that the SF board of supes has given us. This loan will allow is to focus more of our engery fundraising for our programs, especially our Youth Program @ the Center.
If you are unfamiliar with our Youth Program I want to invite you to check out a summary on our website (sfcenter.org/youth.php) or become friends with us on facebook or myspace (username: sfcenteryouth) or youtube (youtube.com/lgbtyouth) to see our work and how we engage San Francisco queer youth.
Truth is our program is small but we do a lot of work with what we have. We have an active partnership with San Francisco Unified to provide an LGBTQ studies class to high school students, facilitate a community service learning course at a local academy, serve hot meals to homeless and marginally housed youth every week, have creative and performance art programming and put on San Francisco’s only queer prom every June.
These programs are necessary and I want to dispell the myth that San Francisco is a safe haven for all queer young people. Sure, San Francisco may be ‘safer’ than say some places in the mid-west but there are still many problems. Homophobia is pervasive in all our cities and San Francisco is not immune. If you look at stats come from SFUSD, 80% of high school students still hear anti-gay language used frequently and LGBTQ youth are still more likely to be suicidal than their heterosexual peers and have poorer physical/mental health outcomes. And this doesn’t even touch on research on homeless SF LGBT youth… And yes, 80% to 90% of the youth that we serve are queer youth of color.
If you have questions or concerns regarding our Youth Program, I would be happy to speak to you. You can contact me via email: [email protected] If you want to know more about the city loan I want to direct you to our response to the misinformation spread by various news sources: http://gltnewsnow.com/2010/03/11/san-francisco-lgbt-center-responds-not-in-foreclosure-no-bailout-sought/
Sydney
I thought that the Charles Holmes Foundation run by one of the founders of the HRC, Terry Bean was supposed to have given 3 million? I heard that Terry Bean hasn’t paid the center his commitment for over 2 years! Wonder how Mr. Bean can show his face in SF after not living up to his financial commitments, hum?