Phil Wong describes being denied entry at Borden Avenue
Wong says he visited Borden with Julie Won, was told they needed DSS and mayor's office permission, entered anyway, and was told not to enter bathrooms or the library; he says problems were exposed because they did not sign NDAs.
Thank you, Chair.
By sitting in the Veterans Committee, members here have a charter-mandated duty for oversight.
And with that in my mind, that's why I visited the Borden Avenue shelter with Councilmember Julie Wan a couple weeks ago.
And with us were members of American Legions and members of VFWs and the press.
And they heard, and this was documented, that the person in the front desk told us that we cannot go in unless there's permission.
From the Department of Social Services and from the mayor's office.
And despite that, Councilmember Julie Wan and I decided to go in anyway.
And then there were several people following us, telling me, I'm going to quote, Councilmembers, you're not allowed to walk down that way.
Council members, you are not allowed to enter that bathroom.
Council member, you are not allowed to enter that bathroom.
allowed to open that door, that library door.
Those were the replies I got, and a lot of it was in video.
And what I wanted to say is it wasn't accommodating at all.
And certainly your office did not give the approval for Council Member Julie Wan and I to visit the place because we didn't make an appointment, we didn't sign an NDA and so forth.
And I can say for certainty,
We are talking about the problems right now because we did not sign any NDAs.
That's how these problems get exposed.
Those roof leaks did not start a couple months ago.
They've been leaking for years.
Veterans did not have enough food for years.
No one is talking about it because the people who visited had to sign NDAs.
So I want to, okay, we're here to get answers.
And that's why I serve here.
Otherwise, I have other committees to serve.
I care about the homeless shelters.
I care about the veterans.
And I serve in CAP meetings, the Pan Am, Pan Am shelter.
It's the end of my block.
I've been to their CAP meetings.
I know how it works.
These issues have been talked about again and again in CAP meetings.
And nothing got discussed openly.
Nothing got brought up until this hearing.
Now.