dr. jonathan [indiscernible] chair of ramaytush oholone and executive director of the ramaytush oholone. dr. cor dero. >> greetings everyone. in partnership with the city of san francisco department of public works, the ramaytush oholone humbly supported grant applications for tree plantings for the greening of marginalized communities which is our name for the city of san francisco. we now stand here in support of the realization of that vision, the opening of the street tree nursery. as native peoples our primarily responsibilities are care for the natural world and care for the people who reside in our ancestral homeland, especially marginalized communities. any project at intersection of ecology and equity counts as high priority for us so it was

easy to offer our unwavering support for this project. first, we know that marginalized communities have less open space and greenery then others by greenery, i am referring to tree, parks, greenbelts, community gardens. scientific studies continue to show a strong correlation between greenery and race and between greenery and socio economic status. second, we know that being with nature has a positive impact on one's physical mental emotional health. the street tree nursey makes contribution to addressing these kinds of ecological injustices present in city of san francisco and it provides green job opportunities to members of the marginalized communities it actually serves.

we want to thank especially john sway from it department of public works who shepherded the project through to fruition. mayor breed and the city of san francisco, governor newsom and state of california and numerous other supporters and granters who made this incredible vision a realty. thank you. >> thank you dr. cordero. our guiding vision for the street tree nursery is in the large circular graphic you can't see, but is behind you. justice, jobs, climate and trees. our mission embodies public works holistic approach to serving the people of san francisco. by planting trees and providing green jobs for residents in underserved neighborhoods lacking tree cover, the nursery will be a hub for elevating environmental and economic justice. this project was built on

amazing partnerships that only continue to grow. thank you to the public works team that designed, managed and helped build the nursery, our hard working contractor crews lead by yerba buena engineering and construction and friends of the urban forest which will run the workforce development component of the nursery. the project would not have moved forward without the partnership and commitment of the state of california lead by governor newsom. now it is my pleasure to introduce san francisco mayor london breed, another staunch supporter of this nursery. she is someone who fights for her city every day with optimism and purpose. mayor breed. [applause] >> thank you carla. it is so great to finally be here after i think we had a discussion about this project maybe two, three years ago and we talked about what is possible. i want to step back a moment, because great things are

happening in san francisco right now! we got dream forest returning, the nba all star weekend in 2025, apec next week and in fact the entire purpose of apec is climate, and what they are focused on is building a more resilient and sustainable future for all. so, this is perfect timing to open a space like this where san francisco is going to be growing its own trees, working with community, working with rec and park and the department of public works and community as a whole to make it possible for us to do what our goal is by 2024 under our climate action plan. in san francisco, we are committed to planting 155 thousand trees and this is how we are going to get there! and i got to tell you, a

partnership of this nature does not happen easily. it happens because your former mayor governor now of city and county of san francisco gavin newsom to continues to support the projects and things we do here in san francisco and this is no different. the department of transportation for the state, providing a opportunity for us as a city and county to actually lease the land and they gave us-usually they do it for $1 a month, but it turned out to be about $500. maybe you is can adjust our rent, who knows. never the less, it is still a really good deal for the state of california and so exciting to be here today to celebrate with all of you and i really want to thank our amazing partner, friends of the urban forest for all their commitment and making--i see brian over there. i was wondering where you were.

for so many years people all over this city continue to plants trees and neighborhoods throughout san francisco and often times we are not able to grow those trees in san francisco but the nursery has given us a opportunity to do so much more. i want to thank so many great folks that are here today that helped make this possible. as i said, started with our governor gavin newsom who is committed to clean and green california, but also with financial resources to really put the icing on the cake and to get this project started sooner rather then later. i want to thank caltrans, cal fire, the california natural resource agency, the san francisco public works department and again, thank you all so much for being here to celebrate this incredible milestone. this property has been pretty much not used for most of nothing and now it will be made

into something. something exciting, something sustainable and something open and available for the community. with that, i want to take this opportunity to introduce the secretary of transportation. >> good afternoon san francisco! how is everybody doing? good. good. good. i want to start off mostly with thanks. before i talk any--give you details about how important this project is and how important the clean california program division for it has been for california. number one, i want to thank mayor breed for the partnership. she has just a little bit of activity going on in the city. a small gathering of world leaders happening in a few days, so i want to commend her

first of all for the partnership and for turning the city into what it has become more and more so thank you mayor breed for the partnership. director short, thank you as well for the partnership with our caltrans team to make a day like today happen and for the years and history you were sharing with me to make things like today happen so thank you as well director short for all the work you've done. director tavaresand his cal tran team. appreciate the work you have done. where is dina? district director. thank you as well. give them a hand for all the work both the teams for everything they have been doing to get to a day like today. and by the way, the folks in orange and neon jackets behind us, those are folks that really do the work. please give them a hand as well.

[applause] public works staff, caltrans maintenance staff, really appreciate all the work that they've been doing. so, before i get into the project just a little bit and i'll try to be as brief as i can be, a day like today happens because of vision. i got a call in the spring of 2021, march or april 2021 from a guy name jason elliot, some may know who that guy is. he says hey, governor wants you-i was public works director at the time. governor wants to take on increased maintenance activities in the state to brighten the look of the state right away and highways and our budget at the time to clean up the entire state of california was $19 million a year. that was it. for the whole state of california. when jason called me and i talked to the governor, my proposal back to him was, maybe like $110, 120million with to

bump it up by 20 or $30 million and jason was laughing on the phone and he was like no, the governor wants you to have a vision. he wants you to dream about the upmost you could be for the state. turned into a program called clean california. more then tripled our budget to clean up the states right of way. more then $300 million a year. a hand for that for clean california. [applause] the part i liked the most about it is the transformative nature. not just pick up litter, but to do programs like this, beautification efforts, landscaping, art and communities. very importantly, providing opportunities for people. jobs being created. there are more 300 people formally homeless experiencing homelessness that have been hired by the clean california

project just because of that vision. yeah, please. [applause] more then 300 people. it is amazing what that vision can do. what happened since 154 total projects across the state? again, not just to pick up litter, but transformative efforts. we recently just this year the governor approved us moving forward with 15 additional million dollar for transit project, so bart, muni also getting funding. not just this right of way, but transit stations across the state getting funding and support as well. 28 projects just in this district alone and city of san francisco four projects and $9 million in the city, so kudos to the mayor for that as well. [applause] on this project specifically, as i close, when i think about a day like today, this project is about people. this is about families, this is

about children. having access to things that they traditionally in a urban setting wouldn't have access to. they wouldn't be able to get to it. they would have to go out into nature to get access like this, but here in the middle of downtown, 500 trees will be planted, 500 trees and room for up to a thousand additional trees planted right here. they will be able to engage with arborist. please, a hand for--nearly a thousand trees potentially room for families to engage with arbalest and learn more about nature and that is quhat this is all about, people and our planet. exciting exciting to be a part of today. as i close, i mentioned the importance of vision and one of my favorite sayings is, where there is no vision, the people parish. where there is no vision, the people parish and the same goes for communities.

if a community doesn't have a vision, they likely that community fails and perishes increases. a person with a vision that have been so glad to have a opportunity to work for has been a guy named gavin newsom. his vision for the state on issues related to equity, climate and projects like this, the clean california program is transforming the state. please give a warm welcome on a chilly evening, give a warm welcome to our governor of the great state of california, governor gavin newsom. [applause] >> thank you everybody. thanks for everybody taking--i like the cheering section over here. you should all be working, but that's for the mayor to decide but i know how hard you work to get here so here to celebrate your extraordinary contribution to this moment and look, i hear

about vision. this is about the vision of every person that is struck in traffic that looks down on this spot and has been looking down on this spot for quite literally decades. well before my time here. wondering what the hell is going on. this is about addressing one of those mysteries of life, why the hell didn't we do this 25 years ago? it is a frustration that we all have about our state. you drive around and wonder who is responsible? why isn't that cleaned up? why is that graffiti there? why all the encampments? i spend more money on every taxes every year, clean it up, do your job. people are frustrated. we are here mindful of that mindset. i'm here mindful of that mindset and that is what brought us here a few years ago when we announced this project.

especially when i realized that i had to look in the mirror and realize that this happened on my watch not someone else's watch. cal tran had a role to play in this and a responsibility to address this and really this is the spot, no exaggeration, talking about what happened in 2021, it was literally out of the frustration of coming in and out of the city at this particular spot that lead to clean california. $1.2 billion program. three year commitment. we set aside $1.2 billion. it was less then $90 million year for the entire state. $1.2 billion for three years. $200 million is matching grants with cities and counties to stretch the dollars and not just about cleaning things up, it is about beautification and leaving something behind more meaningful and also about the process of renewal and rebirth as it relaitss to a workforce program that now includes get

this, 8700 folks that have worked through the clean california initiative since we launched this. [applause] wisely highlighted formally homeless but we have veterans, folks previously incarceratesed and folks we prioritize and also use as a recruitment tool to address the vacancies in the cal trans team. they saw the arts and nature component and something different then just throwing rocks or putting a bunch of chain link fences up. there was a true commitment to community so excited about this because--i get it, california is the size of 21 state population combined and even a billion dollars is a drop in the bucket, but the most significant commitment we have known of any state in the nation even on percapita basis to begin the process to turn it around. we get local artists, folks

committed to long-term because what happens you have--how manyy have we been do and three weeks later it is completely abandoned and destroyed and then you get demoralized and the commitment here is to do something that is sustainable. literally and figatively and why we love the idea of a thousand or so trees that will be here that will be part of this renew and rebirth of san francisco and i can't just thank you enough mayor breed. she and i have been on the phone. so much--[indiscernible] sunshine request, get e-mails back and forth on just basic stuff, like what can i do on 7th and 5th and 6th street? i don't care about the jurisdictional non sense. how can we help? what do you need? 90 percent of the time, it is literally time. we have been waiting for a answer for a year and cant get

a return phone call and it drives you crazy. it isn't about money, all this isn't about money, it really isn't. we put 3 and a half million bucks up for this, that isn't insignificant but the money is out there. it is about initiative, it is about commitment, about accountability, about leadership and about collaboration and it is about breaking down silos and all these stupid jurisdictions. i love and appreciate the mayor's comments about how many different state agencies are part of this, but each of those has their own damn process that can take weekends takes years and years and years of the process. if you haven't paid attention in sacramento, we have been blowing past all the old rules. we just got massive permitting reforms done in the state of california to move projects. it is time to deliver for the taxpayers of california. you deserve it. look, that is my emphasize. i see what you see and we all

want and see a brighter future as well, so i'm really excited. i know folks say, they are just cleaning up this place because all the fancy leader are coming into town. that is true, because it's true, but it is also true for months and months and months prior to apec we had different conversations and raised the bar of expectation between the city, county and state and federal partners we all have to do more is and do better so that is the spirit of this. this is momentum, this is directional. i want folks to know, you see a lot more of this all around town and all around the bay area. there is 15 projects like this all around the bay area that are funded and happening. we are cleaning up this state and i'll close on this, because we love talking about the golden gate bridge as the iconic gateway to california, not just san francisco. we cleaned up the equivalent--i

hate when they talk tons. i'm a public school kid, i don't know that metric talk. one thing i with know is how long the golden gate bridge is. they put it in language i can understand. since we announced this july 2021, they have as much garbage that fill the entire golden gate bridge 670 times that has been cleaned up because of the clean california initiative so i think that is pretty good. at least i get my arms around that, and yes, there is about 6,000 more that we need to actually do and so we are mindful of what we have to do going forward. thank you mr. chairman for beginning this. thank you caltrans and the leadership, madam director. thank you to jason elliot. once chief of staff of former mayor always chief of staff. once a mayor always a mayor. thank you to the mayor for allowing us to do all this and

hur desire to see so many more of these projects done and we are seeing it. san francisco, don't count yourself out. the city, the state is resilient. i'm really proud of what's been happening here and so excited about showing this off to 21 fancly foreign leaderss around the world, 10s of thousands of people that come in and wonder what the hell fox news has been talking about all these years. thank you very very much. [applause] >> alright, are we ready? 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! [applause]

>> this has been a important initiative. we are seeing a lot of progress. i think we-clean california has many different components, this is one component. traditional cleaning up the garbage and graffiti up and down the state of california is one component part of it. we now removed just as a component part of this over 3300 encampment as part of clean california initiative and of course, the beautification components which are a big part of the budget and what we are promoting as a component part here today. we want to see a lot more of these. i think universally these are the kind of projects people want to see. you can see behind me what this looked like. we have a large shelter next door. that is the image i have seen probably 20, 30 years. again, well before my time as mayor. even a county supervisor, so it is really nice that to know that hundreds of thousands of people will come into the city

and the first thing they will see is this project and as they leave the city, they will have the opportunity to see this project and been talking to the mayor about other projects entrances and exits to the city to beautify together and amplify the work being done locally. we can find resources and then break down any barriers in terms of getting these projects done. as i said, this pre-dates apec but apec is a forcing function and that is a positive thing. any time there is a positive event it focuses the minds, keeps everybody's on the same agenda. the goal here is it isn't a situational commitment. this is long-term strategy beginning in july 2021 and momentumally and directionally we want to continue to see these projects up and down the state. with that, here to answer any questions. jrkss >> thank you governor. a it question about downtown revitalization. what can the state do for

downtown san francisco so many officers are vacant and shuttered businesses. some called for the state to offer incentives to convert office building to residential? >> we have a work group we got a task force of sorts that is looking at downtown revitalization and best practices. not just throughout the state of california but working in partnership with experts from richard florida who has written a lot about downtown around the rest of the world, best practices across the globe not just the united states. this isn't a unique funomnm to san francisco. san francisco still has a lot of work to do, but none the less, we are recognizing that downtown is changing, it isn't just stacking people in offices, it is stacking people and that forces a function of reimagining future of downtown and looking at zoning issues and state components in terms of zoning. we have done a lot, probably more then any administration in modern times in terms of

supporting local to break down barriers a relates to zoning and land use and the commitment is work with locals to do the same to move the downtown in a different direction. we formalized the work group, been meeting a year. have a lot of legislative leaders from the bay area eager to engage in the process and imagine you will see movement in the legislative session as it relates to tax incentives and the like and increments. those are more challenging. a lot of rules and regulations but those are component part of the discussion. >> governor newsom, urban california dealt with a image problem nationallyly for years and you talk briefly about that. why did this take so long and how far is this funded to keep going? a lot are saying this should have been happening years ago. >> it was. we started july 2021. we didn't wait for everybody to pile on and we recognize the need to do a lot more and we

invested unprecedented funds in these kinds of projects and efforts and the end of the day we can't do it alone and why a component part of this is the matching grants that are also critical. we want everybody to have skin in the game and the challenge always with these projects is who maintains them after they are done and those are ongoing costs and that is always a burden in the past for locals say no, we are good or you commit to that and you get jurisdictional issues and finger pointer so we are trying to break the issues down. one of the first things we did back in 2019 one thing i was eager to do as a former mayor was address some of the legal issues and jurisdictional issues on caltrans sites that are directly in cities and allow for cities to take over the state sites without issues regarding liability. we changed the memorandum of understanding and legal rules and regulations to allow more

collaboration. there is structural things that were done, unprecedented funding now in the space and as i said this is one of hundreds of projects complete or underway throughout the state of california. >> this is question for mayor breed. in light of apec coming what is done or already been done to clean up the city? >> just to be clear, we clean up the city every day. we have people who work for the department of public works. they are out in the middle of the night often times power washing the streets, picking up trash, getting what they need to out of the trash cans on a regular basis. they are still out there doing the work they have always done and we'll continue to do everything we can to maintain cleanliness in our streets. i'll give you one example, early in the morning whether un plaza, places in the tenderloin department of public works

employees out there doing everything they can to keep the streets clean and we'll continue to do that throughout apec as well. >> this project we didn't know apec was coming. we had a press conference a few years back to announce this. wasn't considered in the context of apec, it was considered in improving the quality of life for all californians. here at this site first and sites in southern california off the freeway and near the 405 in los angeles. >> thank you. megan, i is a clarification on the number of encampments you said cleared. was that the state or right here, the 3300? >> it is just shy of 3270, but those are just--there are many

component parts. clean california. when we initiated this you may not have fallowed this or written about it, maybe one of you did, we announced a goal of a thousand and exceeded it. we more then doubled that so we want to continue in that effort. we have a separate fund and this is unprecedented. when i started as governor, wasn't $1 the state provided for cities to deal with encampments, not a dollar. we put up two years in the administration, $52 million. wildly over subscribed and huge success. $750 million in that budget. $750 million. that is the encampment resolution grants that require a component part, which is we have to resolve the underlying issue in the first place. it isn't whama mole out of site

out of mind and cleaning folks up and hope they disappear, this is hard work solving it and why it is substantively funded program so that is the second component. the billion dollars a year i provide cities and counties for homelessness generally where they have discretion, where i hope it is a priority and know it is for this mayor to address the issue of encampments and together working on the most frustrating subtext, the whole issue and that is what happened in the courts and the proversion of what happens as it relates to court orders that created a lot of the problems that persist. that isn't a excuse, we are not using that to advocate responsibility, it is a fundamental fact and been a impediment and why the state joined the cities and others with a brief to the supreme court to address some of those rules that have been made in the past. >> let me just add today, san francisco was awarded the 7th project home key grant, so

these are also options that we have worked with the governor to provide housing for people who unfortunately are unhoused. in fact, since 2018 san francisco helped over 10 thousand people exit homelessness and any given night we are housing in the shelters and permanent housing units over 16 thousand people so we are getting a lot of state help including project home key to make sure there are options for people to live with dignity in places in san francisco and all over the state. there are a lot of solution out there, there is a lot of work being done and i'm really proud of the work we are not only doing in the city, but the support we can continue to get through the state under the governor's leadership. >> i don't want to belabor this, but look, year and a half ago or so the mayor and i started--different conversations.

the usual partnerships were not enough. the usual back and 4th and grants. we increased funding but had to do something at a different level and innateed how can the california highway support. work with the federal government to do the same. those were difficult conversations that got into jurisdictional issue and values issues. a lot have strong opinions in this space and well reported and discussed. bottom line is status quo isn't acceptable and so we got chp 560 hours a week. component part with the guard dealing with cross jurisdictional issues with intelligence issue. working with federal government, dea never in the past. focus on retail threft. san francisco has out-performed many parts of the state. we still have problem s in the state. mindful of that. we put $800 million into the crime program.

hire another thousand chp officers and provide grants to help jurisdictions with prosecution and investigations. all of these are component parts of addressing the issues i hear more often then any other issues, quality of life and the need to partner with new vigor and intentionality and i just think we are at a different place now then we have ever been and i say that as a former mayor, worked with governors and currently working with the legislature and partnership with them with cities like san francisco. i'm really encouraged directionally of the progress we are seeing. >> how important is it for the city to look when these leaders get here for apec? >> i have been in the city a lot and seen improvement consistantsly. we are not just waking up and say we should hire someone to clean the streets. this is what you do. this is the [indiscernible] everything has to get dialed up

generally just generally and i think obviously any time you put on an event by definition, you have people over your house, you clean up the house. you make sure the kids make their beds. take the socks. put them in the drawer and hamper and that's 21 world leaders, 10s of thousands of people coming around the globe. what a opportunity to showcase the world's most extraordinary place, san francisco. this is a crown jewel. i was just with president xi. first thing he talked btd is san francisco. this place is beloved. and the bests are in front of it, not behind it and all the dooms dayer and negative folks, they haven't offered anything. they offered nothing, now counsel, advice, direction or support and one thing we are doing is offering hope to folks

that we are going to get to the next level and i see it every day. those are tough years, covid. a lot of things happening across the country and we are working our way through that and i feel really good about this. this is small drop in the bucket but symbolic and one of many things happening. you don't want to ask the mayor--we talk about stop signs and things like that? >> they know it is looking good in the city. report that. >> report tha

>> good morning, everyone. >> thank you for joining us on this beautiful thursday morning am my name is carl the interim director and delighted it welcome you to the opening ceremony of the newly painted pedestrian bridge this links japantown and the fillmore community a couple of notes after the program invite everyone to go on the bridge and have a photo opportunity with the beautiful view and i utilize this color of the japantown bridge. so with that, i would love to introduce our mayor the leader of information who

inspires us to think creatively and come up with beautiful projects and work with the community and really is the woman behind all of this like to introduce a mayor london breed (clapping.) i want to take this opportunity to restriction we have some wonderful community gifts and first start with our general of thank you for joining us, we are honored by your presence. (clapping.) now you'll be hearing in the council generally and the amazing community members this is also great to come home everyone i get a chance to come to fillmore or japantown this is a homecoming for me so many of the people joining us are people who have been colors in this community for decades the ones

whenever and a broaden challenge the first one to raise the hand and to assure that the quacks of 24 neighborhood when the city comes in and those impacts are positive for the people who live here and the welcome addition no japantown this is a a deep he rich history in challenges and struggle and sneak before the redevelopment agency took hold to have neighborhood geary bridge is not the same it is a road but a highway divided our community in ways we couldn't have imaged it was really what started up afterthought advocacy to make sure the community is a part of this when we are proposing the give and take bus rapid transit are dedicated to

the munching to make sure that muni is moving efficient and low as a fast as he came in the streets of san francisco we need the see with the community in mind and navenlt we worked with with the japantown community to make adjustments were not talked about. and initially the plan called for tearing down in bridge behind us so many people felt this bridge was about bridging gaps and bridging community to the though not only proposed department since the last fire commission meeting, including budget, academies, special events, on to this wonderful bridge this seniors and kids use and elementary school but folks cross this bridge next year safety to get on give and take we didn't want to see that amazing bridge torn down and within the middle of block within laguna and western a crossway honest we crossed the

street in the middle of the road putting our lives in our hands to get to japantown and walk under the plaza and then down to the bowl now it is safe passage and one of the creations of the folks from the community who saw is this was so many kids and folks using this as a cross we wanted to make that satisfy that's what we need the and today 317 celebrating why are we celebrating the bridge but the symbolism of what it representatives the connections between folks farther part of western community and the people part of japantown those ties that bind us help to maintain that bond that is unbreakable because of the challenges of the past and so today as we

celebrate the beauty of this bridge and the beauty of japantown and the western addition we reminded o communities are here because of people who 0 that live and struggle and the people that remainy silent despite the brooks thank you, everyone for being here but thank you, department of public works and carl and her team to make that more beautiful a than i've ever seen and tenderloin one on our community members and steve and greg from the so many people and james from hud this is a community effort and i'm looking forward to not only continuing to walk across this bridge by it

see it continued to be used for folks to be connected and with that, at this time, i want to introduce the council general of japantown. >> (clapping) good morning, everyone. thank you very much for inviting me today a block event i think the theme today, this morning is the bridge. bridging the community with the japantown and western addition and reaching the bridging san francisco to japan bridging to to the world i came here 5 weeks ago but i have already heard the mayor brooedz so many times every time i'm

excited 0 here that mayor breeding it is the enrollment of the bridging between the western addition and a japantown san francisco and japan and to the world. so in two weeks ago time will be a guy garlic event gathering 21 applies here. i celebrate and i congratulate mayor breed and the people of san francisco to hold such an event introducing san francisco to the world and, and, and rendering tuned for that having that event possible in san francisco. and we hope that we can have this kind of mature bridge again in japan and in

other parts of the world thank you, again, for today and congratulations. thank you. (clapping.) i also want to give a shout out to some of our community members of the squares deputy city attorney i can't and connie for the record and economic development want to shout out to another one who works there and japan and i see patrick who is here. thank you very much for joining us really is a close comment community that work closely together and at this time, i want to ask is grace or steve. >> okay. we're to ask fire commissioner steve to come up and say a few words (clapping).

>>. thank you very much. mayor breed and council germany want to give a real recognition to mayor breed in terms of our presence and support in the western addition yeah fillmore and japantown for our responsibility as mayor of the san francisco. i need to recognize the repetitive of our community which are many folks behind me make up the mayor's office and support but the partnerships with dpw and michelle and carla and all the dpw team because without that combines and collaboration 24/7 us the mayor office and more importantly the fillmore community i am full of emotion

standing in the stood shadow of japantown and can't stop thinking about all we didn't need in the old days to combine fillmore. we simply wobbled across the street so through the evidence of history and what happened and highway and free with that beautiful rendition of the bridge and the colors with the aspirations of apec i feel that our journey is moving forward and time to heal japantown and the fillmore with that history and dedication we maintain that bridge and that relationship that goes beyond to japan as well thank you, mayor breed and department of public

works. thank you. (clapping.) thank you so much steve i know that sandy is not here but shout out to all the work she's been doing over the years and at this time, i want to recognize andy to say a few words (clapping.) thank you, ma'am mayor. and concrete before i've been a preacher all my life and to the consul generally i'm excited to be here preliminarily to illustrate to talk about how this bridge representatives our connections between two communities and time is trying to separate us and managed to stay today an example of this.

the association and steve will do a great documentary between those two communities. many, many years ago, i was invited to be on panel of um, that commemoration of the japanese when we were sent away to the camps i didn't know why i was invited but went because of japantown called they and i was so grateful there was a elder woman that talked about the day they were leaving she said of the only people that seem to miss they're leaving where black people in the philadelphia more today they left the only people that showed up to say goodbye were the black christian folks

from the fillmore and brought brown patricia of chicken and that's the way we used to travel across country because of, of course, because of jim we didn't know we tried a restaurant would serve us and fried chicken would last longer out of rerefrigerator and something that fits in a shoe box you know what i'm talking about that's the kind of relationship those communities have always had and notice that while our association location japantown you fillmore it is really more separated since this bridge than that was ever was in reality

because our relationship was a relationship of location by of the heart. and while they can pit this in to separate us they couldn't separate our hearts from one another that's why we're still together and i see a lot of people in filling more and japantown serving that and make sure that i let nothing happens we've always been together and determined to stay together no-brainier what happens in gearing boulevard i want to tell you and let you know that we are psa this relationship togetherness on to the next generation and on to the next generation every in san francisco, california learn how

you be can be distinct in the community. >> be together contaminate what a beautiful lesson to thank you, everyone for giving us to chance to glover any in our friendship. thank you very much. >> thank you rendering attain send and toy everybody for coming here we're going to do a ceremony i can't tell walk across this bridge and, yes. so we're going. >> here's what we do in a community coming together and hanging out one another and uplifting afternoon this is was it will be and also be. thank you very much for being here

today. >> oh, wow, look at the colors i love it. and wow. >> i know; right? >> uh-huh. >> when i was a >> (clapping). >> happy anniversary sfgov you have been providing access to

public meetings to keep folks connected and our original programming highlights the best of information and makes the city proud >> asian-american pacific heritage month is about taking a moment to think about who you are and where you come from and appreciating the wealth and diversity that we bring to our community. >> it's about celebrating tlc, bringing in new years by visiting temple and giving to the monks. >> it's about inclusivity. >> it's about keeping family traditions. >> it's about hindi culture. >> it's about your heritage and knowing your roots. >> it's about culture sharing. >> about thes it reconnecting with my past. >> it's about celebrating heritage for api. >> it's about learning the culture differences and finding

ways to celebrate them. >> it's about being proud of yourself. >> it's about keeping tradition alive from my parents to my son from chinese new year to celebrating the holidays. >> it's about recognizing and celebrating our culture richness and the importance of inclusion. >> for a brighter and just future. >> let's celebrate aapi heritage month by writing our own history for the future and remembering our past. [♪♪♪] [♪♪♪] >> so i grew up in cambridge, massachusetts and i was very fortunate to meet my future wife, now my wife while we were both attending graduate school at m.i.t., studying urban planning. so this is her hometown. so, we fell in love and moved to her city.

[♪♪♪] [♪♪♪] >> i was introduced to this part of town while working on a campaign for gavin, who is running for mayor. i was one of the organizers out here and i met the people and i fell in love with them in the neighborhood. so it also was a place in the city that at the time that i could afford to buy a home and i wanted to own my own home. this is where we laid down our roots like many people in this neighborhood and we started our family and this is where we are going to be. i mean we are the part of san francisco. it's the two neighborhoods with the most children under the age of 18. everybody likes to talk about how san francisco is not family-friendly, there are not a lot of children and families. we have predominately single family homes.

as i said, people move here to buy their first home, maybe with multiple family members or multiple families in the same home and they laid down their roots. [♪♪♪] >> it's different because again, we have little small storefronts. we don't have light industrial space or space where you can build high-rises or large office buildings. so the tech boom will never hit our neighborhood in that way when it comes to jobs. >> turkey, cheddar, avocado, lettuce and mayo, and little bit of mustard. that's my usual. >> mike is the owner, born and bred in the neighborhood.

he worked in the drugstore forever. he saved his money and opened up his own spot. we're always going to support home grown businesses and he spent generations living in this part of town, focusing on the family, and the vibe is great and people feel at home. it's like a little community gathering spot. >> this is the part of the city with a small town feel. a lot of mom and pop businesses, a lot of family run businesses. there is a conversation on whether starbucks would come in. i think there are some people that would embrace that. i think there are others that would prefer that not to be. i think we moved beyond that conversation. i think where we are now, we really want to enhance and embrace and encourage the businesses and small businesses that we have here.

in fact, it's more of a mom and pop style business. i think at the end of the day, what we're really trying to do is encourage and embrace the diversity and enhance that diversity of businesses we already have. we're the only supervisor in the city that has a permanent district office. a lot of folks use cafes or use offices or different places, but i want out and was able to raise money and open up a spot that we could pay for. i'm very fortunate to have that. >> hi, good to see you. just wanted to say hi, hi to the owner, see how he's doing. everything okay? >> yeah. >> good. >> we spend the entire day in the district so we can talk to constituents and talk to small

businesses. we put money in the budget so you guys could be out here. this is like a commercial corridor, so they focus on cleaning the streets and it made a significant impact as you can see. what an improvement it has made to have you guys out here. >> for sure. >> we have a significantly diverse neighborhood and population. so i think that's the richness of the mission and it always has been. it's what made me fall in love with this neighborhood and why i love it so much.

this meeting will come to order. welcome to the monday december 4, 2023 meeting of rules of san francisco board of supervisors. i'm supervisor dorsey chair and i'm joined by walton our committee member safai is on his way. like to express gratitude to our clerk mr. victor young and the team at sfgovtv for broadcasting meeting and our producer today. mr. clerk do you have announcements. >> public comment taken on each item when your item come up line up to speak on your right. alternateively you may submit comment in