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Archbishop John Quinn Archdiocese of San Francisco 445 Church Street San Francisco, CA. 94114 Dear Your Excellency Archbishop Quinn: On behalf of the Saint Brigid's Young Adult Group, I would like to present to you some of our concerns regarding the closure of St. Brigid's Church. First, you have said in the press that the archdiocese is "land rich, yet cash poor." If this is the case, why isn't some land sold or mortgaged to save our churches or better yet, why is it that some of the land is not used to it's potential? Secifically, the property the archdiocese owns at Green and Van Ness Avenue (the old KPIX building) and the property at Van Ness and California Streets (the old Volkswagen dealership) has either been under-utilized or vacant for years. If there is a problem in leasing these properties to potential tenants perhaps they should be sold or have a professional commercial real estate firm manage these properties. If the property was sold or mortgaged, the archdiocese can easily raise the 5 million to seismlcally upgrade our parish church. Secondly, we dispute your estimate of 5 million to seismically upgrade St. Brigid's. Do you have documentation to support this figure and can you send our pastor a copy of the proposed work that needs to be done? This information would be most helpful to the parishoners and to those involved in fundraising. Some parishoners who are professional engineers have disputed your 5 million dollar figure and perhaps a competitive bidding process would even lower the price. Finally, our group of young adults has grown over the past few years and many members are angered about the threat of our organization closing. We feel left out in the cold since we were not treated as responsible adults. We were never informed of the parish closing process nor were we treated with respect and honesty on how decisions were made. The shock of learning about our fate has been a major blow since we along with the other parish organizations were never consulted or told that the church may close. Young people are faced with critical issues concerning relationships, sexuality, family, the economy, dignity among all people and especially dialogue and collaboration with the-church. Young adults attend our spiritual and social gatherings to voice their concerns and learn to live as Christian adults in a supportive environment. We are not merley a "singles" organization that exist at other parishes where people are looking for potential partners. We are unique in that our organization is made up of married, divorced and single persons who experince God in community and find support in their struggle to live and work as disciples of Christ in a world that challenges Christian values. We look forward to your response regarding our concerns. We are grateful of your leadership and willingness to listen. Sincerely,
J.V.
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