When my family moved to Daly City in 2004 my son discovered a beautiful community garden within walking distance of our home. Growing fruits and vegetables with friends and neighbors helped teach my son and niece to respect and share earth's bounty. 

My mother and I are enrolled members of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California. Together we hold small ceremonies in the Daly City Community Garden and sing traditional Wašiw songs to honor Mother Earth and all her beauty. The garden has given my family a sense of peace and harmony.

Over the past two decades gardeners have nurtured the land and Mother Earth has responded by providing a second chance for indigenous plants, hummingbirds, hawks, bees, frogs, Mission Blue Butterflies, California Gartersnakes, and deer that drink from seasonal wetlands. Everything you see and touch in the garden is living and sacred. Please help me save it.

Here's the Problem: High School District Trustees Plan to Bulldoze Daly City’s Only Community Garden

Daly City, the second most populous city in San Mateo County, with a population of 104,901 according to the 2020 census, is home to only one community garden. However, this single food forest is under threat because Jefferson Union High School District (JUHSD) intends to demolish it. This community garden, an urban oasis and a vital food source for residents for over two decades, is located at 699 Serramonte Blvd in Daly City. Shockingly, the district's plan is to repurpose this sacred space into a dump site for asphalt and construction debris as part of a 15-year phased development project that includes the construction of five apartment buildings, eventually totaling 1,113 rental units. It's important to note that these units will be built on public school district property and leased to a private property management company.

The local Sierra Club chapter, along with various other community organizations including the NAACP, have communicated their concerns to the City, urging them to preserve this invaluable garden space. 

Spare the Garden: Don't Bulldoze It, Dump on It, Or Build Over It

The current site for the garden is ideal because the ridgeline above the garden protects a fruit orchard, vegetable plots and native plants from coastal fog and wind. JUHSD and their business partners have not agreed to modify the development to spare the garden and they have not offered an alternative site for a community garden.

The land where the project is situated holds historical significance as it once belonged to the Ramaytush Ohlone, the original inhabitants of the San Francisco Peninsula, who sustained themselves through hunting, fishing, and gathering. The garden and the surrounding trees not only provide valuable community resources but also contribute to preserving this green space with cultural and historical importance.

School District's Heavy-Handed Tactics Targeting Gardeners

District trustees who support demolishing the garden directed staff to implement an authoritarian culture of intimidation and fear. In 2020, as the Covid pandemic spiked JUHSD began ramping up harassment. School district tactics included verbally berating gardeners by telling them to stay away, erecting an 8’ cyclone fence with a padlocked gate, installing a video surveillance system near the gate, installing a loudspeaker, cutting off water from all garden spigots and removing redwood trees. Additionally, gardeners were required to pay for fingerprints and an FBI background check to access the garden by appointment. Staff said they were concerned about crime however when asked if the school district had reported any incidents to police administrators said no crime was reported. Toni Presta, Superintendent of JUHSD has not refunded the public's money for fingerprints and background checks. Presently, JUHSD has allocated resources to employ security guards tasked with overseeing the garden. Unfortunately, there have been reports of security personnel engaging in drug use, both within the garden and in the adjacent parking area, which concerns gardeners.

History of Ancestral and Cultural Genocide

In 1769, Spanish colonizers arrived in Northern California and constructed missions to Christianize my ancestors and take our land. Between the years 1769 and 1834, the number of Native Californians dropped from 300,000 to 250,000. After California entered into the Union in 1850, the state government perpetrated massacres against the Ohlone people. Many of the leaders of these massacres were rewarded with positions in state and federal government. These massacres have been described as genocide. During the 1940’s through the 1960’s the state disenrolled eight-hundred tribes including the Ohlone to gain control of their land and territory. Native Californians who were relocated during this era faced culture shock and discrimination. Today, many of us are leading the effort for cultural and historical recognition of our tribes. 

Privatization of Public Resources 

Bulldozing Daly City's only community garden and killing trees to develop market-rate housing on public land that once belonged to the Ramaytush Ohlone is unacceptable. The community garden is Daly City’s only public food producing garden and home to over 100 fruit trees protected by a coastal bluff, 27 redwood trees and an impressive collection of native plants, hundreds of trees, a seasonal wetland and wildlife including the Mission Blue Butterfly and the California Garter Snake.

The garden has a rich history of serving as a communal space for Indigenous families, Latinx families, and families of Color, allowing them to cultivate crops and raise chickens. Gardeners forage for plants that hold significance in the medicine and dietary practices of the Ramaytush Ohlone. Additionally, the garden serves as a site for multi-generational seasonal ceremonies led by Indigenous elders, encompassing approximately 2 acres of public land.

This garden is especially important because it's the only community garden in Daly City, where access to greenspace and parkland is extremely limited and underfunded. In recent years, the Daly City Council made the regrettable decision to defund Westmoor Park, a space they previously leased from JUHSD. Consequently, the park lease was terminated, and JUHSD is now utilizing the land to construct new office buildings for the elected board of trustees and administrators.

Regrettably, there appears to be a lack of accountability among locally elected officials who may not fully grasp the detrimental consequences of trading a public garden and park for market-rate housing. This shortsighted approach by the JUHSD Board of Trustees has resulted in detrimental policy decisions and an unwarranted focus on expansion that deviates from the District's stated mission of "Excellence Through Equity."

From the City of Daly City website:

• Daly City is the 9th most densely populated city in the entire country. And the City experiences one of the highest pollution burdens within the County of San Mateo.
• Overall, Daly City does not have a diverse urban forest, and this has much larger implications for long-term resilience. Forests that are not diverse succumb to external shocks quickly, like disease, drought, and storms.

Chronic Illness in San Mateo County

The 2013 San Mateo County Community Health Needs Assessment reported that the prevalence of asthma and diabetes increased significantly between 1998 and 2013. In only 15 years the asthma rate in San Mateo County jumped from 8% to 17.9% and chronic lung disease increased from 4.7% to 7.1%. Poor air quality in Daly City disproportionately impacts children and people of color and county asthma deaths rank above the state average. Diabetes is also on the rise. Between 1998 and 2013 the county diabetes rate more than doubled from 3.9% to 10%. Diabetes disproportionately impacts people of color and low-income families.

The Sierra Club sent Daly City officials a letter that included the following concerns:

Land owned by the Jefferson Union High School District currently represents a public use. It includes a well-used almost two acre community garden and orchard that improves air quality, increases access to fresh food, improves food security, improves dietary habits through education, increases fruit and vegetable intake, increases physical activity through garden maintenance activities, reduces the risk of obesity and obesity-related diseases, improves mental health, promotes relaxation, provides needed biodiversity, includes hundreds of plant species including native plants, provides wildlife habitat, includes trees and shrubs of different densities and heights giving birds a places of retreat and safety, includes a number of redwood trees and fruit trees, the garden includes a seasonal wetland, reduces erosion from runoff, provides natural flood control, improves water quality and serves as a vital component of effective adaptation and resilience to climate change. Children's toys within the garden point to widespread community use and the functioning of the garden like a park. 

There is a shortage of community gardens in Daly City unlike surrounding cities including Pacifica and San Francisco. Community gardens function as ecological green space, a gathering place for neighbors, as well as a place for solitude, reflection, and study. They also make a positive contribution to the community by reducing food insecurity, providing access to culturally relevant foods, promoting healthier eating through education programs, and providing access to gardening for those who otherwise could not have a garden, such as families with young children, the elderly, recent immigrants, multifamily dwellers, and the unhoused.

The garden was initially established many decades ago as a therapeutic school garden project but swiftly transformed into a beloved community garden. Today, it stands as a cherished source of immense public benefit and a point of pride for the community. This garden not only offers opportunities for both active and passive recreation but also promotes healthy nutrition, a crucial aspect given the concerns surrounding malnutrition and obesity, especially considering the limited availability of community gardens in Daly City.

Furthermore, considering the low ratio of counselors to students in JUHSD, the garden plays a significant role in supporting student mental health. The shortage of community gardens in Daly City has had a detrimental impact on its residents, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic when restrictions on team sports, gyms, and group exercise classes were imposed by state and local health authorities.

The demand for increased access to community gardens is particularly relevant in Daly City, given its significant population of minority families with deep-rooted traditions of actively tending to gardens, orchards, and farms. These practices are tied to food security and cultural traditions, making the presence of community gardens even more critical for the community's well-being.

Community gardens are examples of green infrastructure that are resilient adaptations to climate change. As global warming intensifies food costs will continue to increase and food scarcity will need to be addressed through community gardening. Gardens play a multifaceted role in mitigating climate change impacts by reducing urban heat islands, offering various ecosystem services, and improving stormwater retention.

From a socioeconomic standpoint, community gardens build trust, encourage community participation, improve responses to natural disasters, and bolster food security — all of which are pivotal elements in effectively adapting to and building resilience against the effects of climate change. Notably, unlike other green infrastructure solutions such as rain gardens, bioswales, and green roofs, community gardens are uniquely equipped to respond to a broader spectrum of stressors, encompassing economic, social, and political instabilities in addition to their environmental benefits.

Decades of tree removal, often to make way for both front yard and backyard paving, has increased impervious surfaces citywide. Now the highly urbanized population faces a new climate reality dominated by drought, rising temperatures, and limited but more intense storm events.

Stop Reducing Greenspace in Daly City

It is imperative that our elected representatives fulfill their responsibility to address nature-deficit disorder, a condition stemming from the chronic absence of community gardens, green spaces, and parks in Daly City. Nature-deficit disorder has far-reaching consequences, including elevated rates of physical and emotional illnesses, attention deficits, depression, substance abuse, sensory underutilization, and health issues related to poor dietary habits, insufficient physical activity, and acute asthma episodes triggered by unhealthy air quality. Extensive research indicates that nature-deficit disorder erodes ecological literacy and hinders stewardship of the natural world, fostering apathy in the face of climate change crises such as wildfires, sea level rise, and extreme heat – challenges that Daly City urgently needs to address.

Government Sponsored Segregation

The NAACP San Mateo County Branch reached out to Daily City Councilmembers, expressing significant concerns about JUHSD's endorsement of government-sponsored segregation on public lands. Economic segregation is particularly worrisome, given that only a minimal 10% allocation has been designated for affordable apartments within the project. Additionally, the School District's strategy of concentrating all 111 affordable/low-income units within a single "poor door" building while distributing 1002 market-rate apartments across four other buildings is inconsistent with the city's Inclusionary Housing Ordinance and is expected to perpetuate low socioeconomic status and racial segregation.

Economic Segregation and Racial Segregation are Intertwined

Economic segregation occurs when individuals or families with lower incomes are confined to certain neighborhoods, or a single building within a multi-building development, due to affordability constraints. This pattern often results in racially homogeneous housing, as people of similar economic backgrounds often share similar racial backgrounds. Consequently, when families are concentrated in poor buildings, it creates racially homogeneous social networks that limit access to educational and employment opportunities. This perpetuates a self-reinforcing cycle that sustains economic disparities, economic segregation, and racially segregated housing.

Low Socioeconomic Status

Socioeconomic status (SES) encompasses not just income but also educational attainment, financial security, and subjective perceptions of social status and social class. SES can encompass quality of life attributes as well as the opportunities and privileges afforded to people within society. The relationship between SES, race and ethnicity is intimately intertwined. Research has shown that in terms of socioeconomic stratification, race and ethnicity often play significant roles in determining a person's SES (U.S. Census Bureau, 2009). 

Communities affected by low SES, driven by factors like income-based housing segregation, share common experiences, including limited economic development, substandard health conditions, and fewer educational opportunities. Persistent low SES has been identified as a contributing risk factor that disproportionately affects communities of color residing in income-segregated housing. In contrast, affluent homeowners in predominantly white communities are less likely to experience low SES.

Social-Spatial Segregation

In addition to the project’s socioeconomic segregation, there is the problem of social-spatial segregation. Currently, funding has not been allocated to establish a connection between the pedestrian and bike trail and the BMR building, thereby depriving underserved children of a safe route to and from school. Social-spatial segregation is also apparent by the absence of a rooftop Jacuzzi spa for families in the affordable building, while it is provided to market-rate tenants on Parcel B. The proposed plans raise concerns of income-based discrimination, as emergency generators are exclusively installed in all market-rate buildings, with no provision for the low-income building. Additionally, placing an income segregated daycare center on Parcel C underscores its stigmatization as an income segregated area of the development.

Further Information Available Online

To access more information, please visit the Daly City Community Garden Alliance website. You can also stay updated on the garden's activities by following their Instagram account @themysticalgarden. Historic photos, recent photos and wetland photos and videos are also published online.

Your Support Matters

Join me in supporting community gardening in Daly City. By adding your signature to this petition, you are helping to ensure the preservation of Daly City's only community garden for generations to come. This is a comment on the Serramonte Del Rey Campus Redevelopment Project Draft Environmental Impact Report. This petition, addressing the Draft EIR (APN 091-211-230), is scheduled for delivery by 5:00 pm on Sept 8, 2023, to Daly City Planning Manager Michael Van Lonkhuysen, City of Daly City Councilmembers, and Jefferson Union High School District Trustees.

Thank you, Debbie Santiago

Community Garden Trees (hundreds of trees)

27 Redwoods
3 Madrone 
2 Buckeye 
4 California Coffee Bean 
1 Bay Laurel 
2 California elderberry 
1 Laurel 
2 Douglas Fir 
2 Hinoki Cypress 
5 Monterey Cypress 
(100) Monterey Pine 
1 Catalina ironwood (donated by city)
5 Willow 
20 Juncus patens  (Spreading Rush)
14 Juncus lescurii (San Francisco Rush)
2 Blue Spruce 
1 Potted Spruce 
1 Alpine Source 
1 Austrian Pine 
1 Live Oak 
1 Noble Fir 
3 Maple (big)
2 Japanese Maple 
1 Walking Stick Tree 
1 White oak
(100+) Acacia 

Community Garden Fruit Orchard (over 100 fruit trees)

3 Cherry 
2 Plum 
8 Nectarines 
22 Apple 
12 Currants, many varieties 
5 Avocado 
4 Pears 
3 Olive 
2 Loquat 
2 Kumquat 
2 Lemon
2 Buddha Hand Citrus Tree
1 Mexican Lime
1 Meyer Lemon
3 Banana Passion Fruit 
6 Blackberries without thorns 
1 Lemon Guava 
1 Pomegranate 
6 Blueberries Shrubs
4 Pineapple 
1 Fig
1 Mandarin Orange
2 Mandarin Clementine
3 Grape Vines
1 Prickly Pear Cactus
2 Dragon Fruit Cactus
2 Peach

Wildlife (partial list):

• California Garter Snake
• California Vole (rodent)
• Coyote
• Bald Eagle
• Red-Tailed Hawks
• Skunks
• Raccoons
• Ravens
• Woodpeckers
• Hummingbirds
• Lizards (Alligator Lizard and Blue Belly)
• Owls
• Bats
• Frogs
• Mountain Lion (SDR near Skyline Ridge - Seen droppings and track prints)
• Squirrels

Butterflies:

• Mission Blue
• Monarchs
• Tiger Swallowtail
• Red Admiral
• Painted Lady
• Regal Fritillary