>> good morning, thed meeting will come to order. this is the january 22, 2023 i'm supervisor hillary ronen, chair of the committee. i'm joined by supervisor walton and soon be joined by supervisor safai. do you have any announcements? >> clerk: yes, public comment will be taken on each item of the agenda wh. your item of up to speak on the right. alternatively, you may commit in writing in the following ways, email them to me. if you submit public comment by email it will be forwarded to the supervisor and included as

part of the file. you may also send written comment by u.s. mail to our ofat city hall, room 244, san francisco california 94102. please make sure to silence devices. documents should be submitted to the clerk. items acted today, unless otherwise noted. >> thank call item number 1. >> clerk: item number 1 is the motion approving objecting the controller for city of san francisco ten-year term. there is a request that this matter be sent out as a committee report. >> thank you very much and before we hear from mr. wagoner, i want to say notice that

our extraordinary controller is going to leave his post in february, my heart sunk to the ground #dand i've never really honestly have not been more worried for san francisco. because ben, you really have kept us going. have maintained the trust of every one that i know. i don't know a single person who does not respect and trust you. and really are the adults in the room figuring out,000 solve problem wz no political agendas underlining your judgment. so i thought how are we going to survive without you? and the pit of my stomach remained until the mayor

brilliantly chose to pick mr. wagoner. i've been working with you, mr. wagoner as a legislative aid for the past four years, at the time you were budget director working for then mayor now, govern gavin newsom. and when i started this job, it was during an era, i guess that was not changed. there was a lot of friction between the board and mayor newsom at the time. and i remember being in a battle information, i was also brand new a lot xhunger and came from the world of being an accountist so i was addressing my job in this way.

i expected to be embattled and it was e biggest pleasure to work with. you never played games, you were straight and honest and brilliant and helpful and when you then moved to the department of public health, the department that i worked with more than any other department in the city, you just continued to come up very similarly to, controller rosenfelt with the good ideas to solve the problems really for the people. i could not be more excited about your nomination. i want to thank mayor breed for the perfect choice as far as i'm concerned. and just say that, i now have faith that our city will continue to be in good hands because you're willing to take this leadership position and i have no doubt we'll, which will be approved bit board of supervisors. so with that, unless you want

to make any opening statements, please mr, wagoner, join us. >> thank you so much chair ronen, i appreciate those comments so thank you. i really deeply honored to be nominated for this position and considered by this board for approval. it is an inspiring and unique opportunity for me to serve the city that i love, the city i live in and we are raising a family. and i'll give everything to the position if i'm approved. i spent the last 14 years working in financial management and other efforts to improve public services in san francisco, as you said, chair ronen, formerly as the mayor's budget director and for the last 12 years as the chief

financial officer and chief operating officer in the department of public health, the city's largest department. i hope that work has prepared me for this position. controller has a number of roles, as the chief financial officer and auditor for the city and county. the discharge of those duties and confident and affective manner as an affective stone of government. but the office is also a voice for integrity, ethics and accountabilities and a steward of the city's best interest. it is a voice for the use of to decision making about our critical public policy and operational issues and it's of course a partner to leaders throughout the city government. many other cities across the

country, we're facing a challenging financial and economic moment. and, it's true that there are probably some difficult decisions and times ahead but i am truly optimistic about the future of san francisco. and i'm optimistic about our collective ability to work together and solve these problems. like, all of you, i've been around through previous challenges that includes the years of the great recession, that includes the late 20 teens when we had a fed cal administration that attempt today dismantle our financial safety net through covid and many other ways. those were tough but i took from that experience the path to resolve is to have all the

stakeholders working together, mayor's office, the community, our department heads, our advocates our business community and that is not always easy but we keep our north star on our eye on the north star of providing the best and most efficient services to the public. and thats my cause for op at this sifm. --optimism. if i have the honor of being confirmed for this position i'll do everything i can to take those experiences and values into my work. i'm definitely eager to get to work in the controllers office among those using, the teams and the controller's office to analyze their teams to tackle some of the big problems and

big issues facing our city, homelessness and behavioral health improving the streets and others. we're in a moment of economic transition, i'm eager to jump into that conversation and work on a data driven strategies and option to see present to policy mainingers fwe can navigate this change into the next phase of our city's economy. we also need to work and i'm anxious of continuing the work guiding light throughout our city government and i very seriously. i had the privilege of working with two great controllers, ben rosenfield and before him, ed herrington, i learned a lot by watching them do the job. they both approached it in different way to see a certain extent but there was a core common denominator which was competence, integrity,

independence, accountability and focusing on using data to improve through government services. i'll take that into my job. i'm aeg tore get to work and to work with the absolutely remarkable team in the controllers' office it truly is a special group of public servants. i would like to thank my colleagues at public health who have supported me through this process and over the years and with that, i will stop talking and i'm happy to hear thoughts from the board members here and answer any questions that you may have. thank you very much for the honor of being considered for this position. >> thank you so much. supervisor walton. >> thank you, chair ronen and thank you so much mr. wagoner for being willing to step up and move in a different direction. i know you already have a good

job, so taking a leap to another role is a positive. i know i have a couple of questions, one want to hear just on record because we know the role of controllers independent, but the appointment is not, so just want to know how you would deal if your job entails the >> thank you very much, supervisor walton, very good question. it's true, the controllers information is appointed by the mayor, confirmed by the board and serves for a term of ten years. and independence is critical in the nature of the work. there are a lot of things that i can say in answer to that question. the most important point though, is it comes back to rooting your decision making and your conct in the office in the city charter, with the

city charter defines the role to be and the ordinances and the admin code and otherwise that describe the discharge of those duties. so reading the charter which eveb rereading the sections related to the office of the controller, is clear to me that their roles for the controller must independently make decisions. for example when there is a over spending projected in of the city's accounts, the controllers office must step in. but it's also clear to me that independence means, you're not isolated and the charter requires the controller's office to have an on going relationship and conversation with both, the mayor's office, the board of supervisors or other elected officials and city departments. so take that role seriously and

use the, use the language inresponsibility outlined in the cheater as my guide for navigating those decisions. >> thank you, and then, just curious what would be your focus on improving the ability for nonprofits to be successful but also make sure that they're contracts and of course, making sure that they benefit the city in a matter where they can do their job and execute contracts, but also make sure that the city is able to be on top of the work? >> thank you, that is a question that is close to my heart coming from public health which has both depends on contracts with our private organization to see deliver our services but also where i've heard a lot of the frustration and challenges of working with the city from our partners in

the nonprofit sector. there is a process that has started to show some tangible gains that is lead by the controller's office working with the group of community base organization sxz that is looking at some things like how do we treat the cola, the compensation, the cola's for nonprofits in a more consistent way and how do we do a better job of having stream lined and coordinated monitoring? i think it would be a priority for me to work on taking that work to the next stage. you mentioned a couple of key issues, there is challenges with the city to officially administrator contracts. i believe that we can do a better job broadening the pool

of potential applicants for rfps and other city contracts and supporting organizations as they come in and express a willingness to do work for the city. and also providing support where our partners need capacity building and trying to develop that system of support. you mentioned, which is also a priority for me, is working on how do we do a better job of being clear about metric that's we're using to evaluate success under our city contracts and i th in a position to help facilitate some city wide conversations, it's a tricky topic, but there is a lot of our work that depends on successful relationships with our contractors. is a opportunity to spend quite a bit of time on developing tools and data and option to see bring to policy makers for how we can improve in that area.

so i'm excite today work on that topic. and i also think, i will mention, there is an opportunity to expand or change the compositions of that group that is working on that process that we have a an inclusive perspectnk you. supervisor safai?thank you, supervisor walton asked a question that i was asking.helpful for some flt organizations to kind of guide them and i'm talking about auditing from the controllers office, i'm thinking about the department of public health. i'm thinking about some of the programs in-ho some of it intended to guide and road map to strengthen

organizations but we found some instances where there is been a significant problem, can you talk about that a little bit in the role that the controller's office plays in that? >> yes, absolutely, supervisor, and you're correct, controller's office audit role is one of the fundamental responsibilities of the office under the charter. there is a team that controls those audits, there are, there are challenges in delivering city services, i think it's critical to have active and where things are not working well and we're not getting value for public dollars. and even when there may be misuse of public funds. so that is certainly a critical role the controllers office. i have started digging in with

the team on the work planning, i would like to spend quite a bit of time for the audit function. i've he to cult with members of this board, where they think opportunities may be. but, i'm absolutely, committed to carrying out that role and making sure that we a process for ensuring that public funds are used effectively and the programs are being successful. >> we started that program current controller with the department on the supportive housing that was about a measure that i lead last year. and some of that work is beginning, i think that's an important work between controller and yourself. just at the beginning of auditing showed some significant deficiencies and some problem within that department.

so we need to prioritize as a goal for your transition. a second thing i want to talk about at least from my term on the board and i think my colleagues will agree. the position the controller plays is one of solutions and problem solving and helping the guide a us in an independent way when we have policy debates or looking for solutions in can you talk about how you will embrace that and how the role that the controller plays in those positions? >> yes, thank you, supervisor. i think i view the role of the controllers office as a not a decision maker about those challenging issues but as you described voice that can support, can provide data to policy makers, that can bounce ideas off of members of the id bo and take those ideas and put

our analytical capacity to work to create options that may be available to the board. regularly with the members of the board, to talk through the issues that they're concerned with, the areas where they need support and using the teams to my best of the best of my ability to do so. the controllers office is in that special role and this goes back to the role and the charter of it stands outside the board of supervisors and outside the mayor's office and that role of helping facilitate conversation and using data i think is core to how the office needs to conduct itself and that is one of have watched from our

former two controllers and learned lesson and i will continue to cult with our former controllers and all of you to learn how to do that, well and better if i'm given the opportunity to have this position. >> i would take it a step further, i feel that when a controller puts stamp of approval on idea, it helps all the stakeholders in the city. so i think that's a really important role. >> absolutely, supervisor, there are times when the board or the mayor says to the controller, we don't just want data, we want to you give us a memberation. i understand that point. >> so the last thing i want to talk about is coming this year, in particular you're stepping, you'll be stepping into this role in a very

tenuous time in the city, about 800 million dollars deficit, i think hat number will keep growing as we get closer to budget negotiations and potentially have potentially grow further with that amount. some of that has to do with the 40 million empty office space in the downtown. some of the tourist industry, transfer tax, not as robust as it once was because of the deflation and devaluation of property, property owners are going to foreclose more rapidly or hold until the economy comes back. all of that plays into a larger and larger deficit and yet, we have a significant number of services and positions in this city, city positions that the

mayor chose to not fill over the last five years, whether it was 911 call operators, nurses, paramedics, a whole host of our kind of social safety net all over the city. just wanted your thoughts about the structural deficit that is upcoming the amount of services that will be impacted and some of the ideas that you have in terms of recommendations going forward. >> thank you supervisor, that is the i guess it's the build question. i have a lot of thoughts and i spent a lot of years tackling questions of this nature but a few to share here at this so number 1, as you described, the shape of the projected deficit includes a short-term

deficit but also a structural, structural imbalance between structures an we have a short-term problem to solve in this two-year budget but we also have a growth in the deficit in the out years think that's going to take multiple years of layering on solutions. there is some things that we can look at in the current year, and in the short-term, there are other things that will take a longer lead time to develop ideas and analysis, flush out some of the ideas so we'll next year's budget or the year after to put those on the table or into play for decision making and the budget process. i think a few things that we can certainly do, the short-term things that the controllers office will help with that are in the technical financial analysis things like looking at the city's debt

portfolio, looking at the general fund, things at the rate where we can draw our fema reimbursement, we will certainly do those. the other piece of this is, at your, you described that economic transition that we're in. i think the current state of our is, we have a good forecast but we also have an and so, there is going to be both short-term and long term work for the controllers office and much of that has started in partnership with the treasure and tax collector to continue to get a better handle on what those projections look like as more data becomes available so. projecting out what the economic situation means for

property and property base taxes, so that we can have a clearer picture of deficit. but lastly and i think, importantly to your underlying question, i think there are opportunities that the controller's office can support decision making by this body and by the mayor's office. for as i understand, the first time and quite sometime, iwe have a nearly fully staffed city performance unit, which is the team that you're often reading reports and hearing analysis from. and in that capacity is something that we can use to flush out some these concepts or ideas both short-term and long term. things are there opportunities and consolidated city services. how can we analyze programs where there is overlap and look for, savings, opportunities,

opportunities to deliver services more efficiency. those things take time and thought and complicated to implement, i at the team at the controllers office is already, working on some of that work think through, leading into this process. how we can use the office to help with and flush out some city priority options leading into the budget and that could include things like looking at vacant positions, looking at what is going on in our contracted spendi or otthat nature. so we will be supporting to the best of our ability in that regard. >> so, i ñ44just want to ask you directly something that i know a lot of us with thinking about. i heard consolidation savings, vacant positions and contracted

adjustment of contract spending. but i don't know if at gets us to 1.4 billion in terms of deficit. and unlike, probably in the last 75-80 years, this downtown recovery in this downtown vacancy will continue to have a significant impact in the short and medium term. how do you, how do you think about the overall service delivery and that's what i started with in terms of the basic important services. how do you approach that without thinking about revenue? thinking about where our revenue sources are? and how we adjust those sources. i think it's one that we have not seen in a very very long time. >> yeah, absolutely. and the question about revenue goes to the earlier discussion

about about that on going analysis of the economic drivers which translate into our tax base. so there has been a lot of base line work that has been happened on that but i think there are multiple. the controllers office has the office of city economist.

the toint say a couple of things, i will not ask questions, i promise. as somebody that has worked with greg in a number of years and the number of roles that he's held and i've held around the government, it's important to mention some of my experiences with his approach and the qualities, i think he would bring to the job and i'll mention a couple of areas that are important for the role. first, i think it's absolutely critical that whoever hold the role be an honest broker and under in their approach to the work. and i know greg will do that, having seen him in his approach in tricky situations in the past as mayor's budget director's and other roles, he

has held in the city. i think the respect that comes for the office comes in part because it's understood that, when we're kind of saying something as a controller's office it comes with thought t comes from analysis from a tremendous group of people and the answer is the same, regardless of who is asking but that would be a mayor, a board of supervisor member, it would be a mber of labor union a nonprofit organization, you are an honest and straightforward broker of information and often contentious situation and i witnessed greg doing that over the many times over the years. other, i think it's critical that whoever hold the role have a belief in the power to place to do good in the importance of government. so while the control and the controllers improving that you're saying no, a lot. and you are.

you really want somebody in the role that wants to be helpful that understand what is wanted and identify issues and try to help people get there. you know, seeing greg troubleshoot tricky situations have seen him, kind of work through complicated issues listen carefully and bring his knowledge and the knowledge of those around him to troubleshoot problems. so just a couple of my perspectives as i step out of role and look for this body approve to work with greg on a clean transition. >> thank you so much, i appreciate that. and now if we can open this item up for public comment. >> clerk: yes, members who wish to speak on this item, should line up to speak at this time. each speaker will be allowed two minutes there will be a chime when there is 30 seconds left and a louder chime when

your time has expired. would anybody like to make any public comment on this matter? is there does not appear to be public comment. >> public comment is now closed. so, the advise of the city attorney, i want today offer an amendment to the item, if we could amend the language basically to clarify when, greg would take over as controller. so the language would read moved that the board of supervisors approves the appointment of greg wagoner for the terms of 10 years which shall be the latter affective date of the motion or resignation of controller ben grossenfeld. >> second. >> would you also like to

include deleting rejecting. >> oh sure, i can do it in one. and then it's my great pleasure to make a motion to remove the word rejects, is that the language? >> clerk: i believe it is. >> i have not been on this committee for a while. remove the word rejects, from from this motion. can i have a roll call. >> clerk: voice chair walton. >> aye. >> clerk: supervisor safai. >> aye. >> clerk: chair ronen. >> aye. jaot motion passes without objection. >> and now i make a motion to send the amended item to the full board with positive recommendation. >> clerk: as a committee report. >> as a committee report. >> clerk: s recommended as committee report, vice chair walton. >> aye. >> clerk: supervisor safai. >> aye. >> clerk: chair ronen. >> aye.

>> clerk: the motion passes without objection. >> passes unanimously. congratulations, thank you. mr. clerk, can you please read item number 2. >> clerk: item number 2 is a÷% a appointment of food security task force. >> we have two vacant seats. i would like to bring up hannah if you can tell us about yourself and why you're interested on serving in the seat. >> speaker: i'm the associated directer on meals on wheels in san francisco and i would like to be a member of the food security task force because i think that food security is a essential to moving the needle on health equity and social

justice in our city, in my position, i interact with members of the community everyday who are, managing chronic conditions and experiencing food insecurities. so i think that i'm well positioned to provide good feedback and to advocate for members of our community to the task force and help make the recommendations to you and the other supervisors. it's a topic that is really important to me, i love san francisco and i just want to be part of making it a healthier place for members of our community to live. >> wonderful, thank you so much. any questions? i have one quick question for you. because we're heading into a difficult budget year and because in the past food security has been, you know, on the chopping block several times, something that many

members of the board have fought very hard to protect. do you have any thoughts about what the task force may be able to do to sort of lift up the importance of food security as an item? >> yeah. >> and that should not be cut? >> absolutely. one thing that i task force is working on right now is the biannual report. and what the food securities means for the community and down streams, i think illustrating that with personal stories from people in our community and paring that up with data to illustrate how important topic it is.

something that the food security task force does tries to do. i think i can help advocate for that, our organization serves every zip code in san francisco. and i talked to people from all over the community all the time. i think that paring those things can try to, you know, drive home the importance. >> i appreciate that a lot. thank you so much. thank you so much. for not only applying for this position but for the work that you do every single day, it's so important and crucial and really appreciate you. it's a pleasure having you. thank you. that's all thank you. and next, we'll hear from laura jones. >> good morning, i'm laura jones i'm the program manager

for lea's pantry in san francisco and we're a non prove thait does trauma informed initiative in san francisco imanage our community base programs. we work with the department of disability and aging to provide education with older adults and adults with disability and a cal fresh living grant to need assessment in specific areas in the city that has the highest need and to do community engagement to try to lift up the voices for older adults and adults with disabilities. >> thank you. any questions? no? i'll just, i'll take the opportunity to ask you one question, can you talk about the impacts of covid and the end of the covid emergency on food security in san francisco? >> well there were so many extra supports, i was not here during the lock down in the

pandemic i was living in oregon but arriving and seeing all the, the extra money that was going into cal fresh benefits and the extra support that the city was providing to the foodbank, and now seeing all of those things cut and the longer lines all around the city of people needing food and families struggling and knowing that the direct relationship and how children are going to perform in school, the possibility of people losing their homes because they have to choose between feeding their children and paying their rent, just undering how critical food security is to the well being of people in the city. so. >> thank you, thank you, i appreciate you taking the time to apply. mr. clerk, can we open this item up for public comment? >> clerk: yes, members of the public wish to speak on this item, should line up to speak at this time. each speaker will be allowed two minutes. >> speaker: thank you, for letting me allowing me to speak

on this item. it's very important, i think food security task force and i'm glad i was able to catch this item. my time is going out, i don't to take too many of your time. i just want to applaud this board and body for, for being mindful of this task force. and knowing how important their job is. especially when you consider the population like the homeless population that really relies on the pantries and 0the city support the dietician sxz nutritionist and the foodbanks, making sure the food is safe to consume. because anybody can just walk in and serve you. --i tried to eat at anthony, i

was at dorothy day at berkeley, it's awful, people push you around. so we can have a more strict proses for allowing people to volunteer and serve, being in charge of food, and serving a really sensitive population. because the homeless population that i'm a part of right now, is really vulnerable. sol thank you guys and i appreciate you. >> thanks tore your testimony. >> clerk: are there any other speakers in this matter. there are no more speakers for public comment. >> public comment is now closed. is would like to make a motion to recommend seat 18 and laura jones for seat 19 and send that item to the full board with positive recommendation. >> clerk: vice chair walton. >> aye.

>> clerk: safai. >> aye. >> clerk: chair ronen. >> aye. motion passes unanimously. congratulation sxz thanks again. mr. clerk, can you please call item number 3 jao. item 3 is a appointment electric commission appointee. >> thank you and we have one seat and two applicants. first i would like to call out ruth, good morning, hi. thanks so much. tell us about your qualifications and interest in serving. >> speaker: yeah, for those i have not met, i'm ruth kowitz, i first got interested when i spent sometime in 2019 volunteering in supervisor stefani's office when i was between jobs. and i loved engaging with the constituents and being here in

city hall and also the volunteers that i got to work with was a wonderful community. since then i went back to work full-time and i was not able to come back and then i had a baby, my daughter is two and a half now so i'm excited to come back and tribute to the community again. and specifically why i thought this was a good opportunity for me, i don't have a ton of experience in civic policy or elections policy, but i feel that i have strong experience from my professional career that i can bring to the commission and contribute in that way. so i'm a product manager in the tech industry and there is two real skills i can bring from that to this commission. the first is data analytics, as we heard from our speakers, it's really critical that we both set appropriate metrics that are measuring the right thing. measure them in the best way

possible so we get good data and then analyze it to understand what it's really telling us and take the right actions so i would love, i've been doing that for my entire career and i would love to work with the team and help support them in any way i can. and secondly, stakeholder management. product manager is a really key central role that has a lot of responsibilities but very little direct. so it's part of my job to bring groups of people who don't have the same agenda, who don't have the same point of view and get them working on the same goal and mission. it's engineers and marketers and data scientists and designers and executive in getting around them altogether and i can take that same skill set and apply it to the teams here with my fellow

commissioners, with the, with the department members of the department of elections and the other department that's we would need to work with to achieve our goals. i'm really excited about the opportunity. i'm happy to answer your questions. >> thank you so much. any questions? supervisor walton? >> thank you, chair, and i'll ask this to ever applicant how important do you think for voting to be made accessible to anyone and do you have any ideas on how to get people registered and to the polls? >> that's a great question. and i think it's critical that we get as many people to vote as possible. i think that's probably the most important thing that the commission does and the that the commission can contribute. in terms of specific ideas of how to get people to the polls, i'm sure there is a lot of programs already that are doing out reach, i just received my pam let yesterday to anyone that can vote to this address

which i really appreciate it. so there is a lot that is happening already. and i think, there are probably opportunities as i mentioned that is not really my area of expertise and somewhere where i have a ton of experience. so i would be looking to my fellow commissioners and department of elections to come, to come with those initial ideas and be able to help bring me along to learn what those key things are and i can contribute in other ways on constitution and things like that. >> thank you. >> supervisor safai. >> and it says here, you hosted polling station at your resident? >> i did yes, in 2022, yeah. so i live on the same block with the mission campus of city college. so during the pandemic, that location is closed that's usually where they have a huge polling station. so instead we had a smaller one in my garage.

i just got a letter in my mail that said, we identified that you may have space, i was so excited and called them back immediately. i only got to do it once, after that, the city college opened back up again and that's a much more better suited than my garage but i was really sad i want today get a bunch of americana day core but i didn't get to it. >> thank you so much. and then, just last question, what would be your priorities if you served? >> yeah, what supervisor walton mentioned about getting as many people to the polls as possible would be a really really high priority. and also just ensuring that we're creating a collaborative environment between the department of elections and commission.

you don't want that relationship to be advosaryial, let's get these people together and coming back with the best ideas and doing as efficient as possible. >> thank you so much, thank you for applying for this position and your willingness to serve. >> thanks. >> next and next we'll hear from kelly wong. >> good morning, i'm kelly i stand here to seek your support for my nomination to the elections commission. i believe this position will not only allow me to promote aoek al access for voting but for me to uplift the voices of immigrant communities.

i have to start that my background may be uncommon compared to those who have historically served on elections. i'm a non a broad sit en born in hong kong. many may wonder why a newcomer like myself would seek this position. it is exactly because i'm an immigrant that i understand how it feels to be left out of important policy decisions and conversation that i am packets my life. for a long time after moving to the u.s., i felt defeated and struggled to hear my own voice. but rather than staying in violence or working in washington after graduation like many did, i moved to san francisco to serve my communities. through my work of chinese for affirmative action, i saw how low income immigrants face

barriers that prevents them to vote. to breach this communication gap, i host and produce podcast to voting rights, in a creative way that is not accessible but understand by mon lingual votes. to me, access is not just about translation but understanding. of course, these issues don't stand in isolation among chinese immigrants but also apply to the broader immigrants group that i have had the privilege to work with, across san francisco immigrant legal and education network.of them are here today to vouch for my support on behalf of their n, i'm sorry, their own organizations. over the--sorry, over the past three months, i work to dr. angs from the department of elections as well as commissioner preston and three esteemed members of the

commission. we all share the same vision of empowering individuals to exercise the fundamental right to vote.udes community of color, low income graourntionz number efficient voters and immigrants and people with disability and hopeful and committed to make sure that every one has an equal voice that impacts their well being and of their children. in closing, i take pride in rediscovering my voice so i ask for your support today where my voice will not only be amplified but also the voices that i'm proud to represent in the elections commission. thank you for your consideration. >> thank you so much. supervisor walton. >> thank you so much chair ronen, and thank you so much for being applicant. same question, how important is it to you that voting be

accessible to every one and do you have any ideas of how to get >> speaker: totally, like i mentioned in my opening statement, would i like to stud collaborate with trusted organizations. because of my network with multi racial coalitions, i would like to talk to them and identify and address the specific needs of under represented communities and try to find a why the communities have lower disproportionately lower registration rates. and as i mentioned also, i love to you know, language and cultural skills to examine the voting materials. on a mixture that those materials is not only available in multiple languages compliance with all access ordinance but also done in a way that is competent for

immigrants voters. knowledge is power, without that, i'm mono lingual would not have access to ballot box sxz make important positions with informed materials and knowledge. so these are the tentative things that i'm going to work on and things that i have compliance to that i'm already working to. thank you. >> thank you. supervisor safai do you have any questions? and i have the same question, what would be your priority? >> i think for the most part i talked about, but i can do, at that, i spoke to commission president and dr. earns and commission stones and commissioner sigh and parker and i think sense that everybody is on board with tha. i also know that the president

try to create a committee to cultivate agencies so we can have more information on our registration data and how to engage with data, sorry from diverse back grounds. and i think i can be the person on that committee, you know hopefully to solicit inputs from my communities and also be that person that people can reach out because of the trust already built with the groups. thank you. >> thank you, thank you for applying. thank you. >> thank you. >> mr. clerk, can we open th item up for public comment jao. yes, i would like to clarify before i make my statement, that zentecia withdrew their application. members of the public who wish to speak, each speaker will

have two minutes. our first speaker. >> speaker: good morning, every one. thank you for operating for open space for people to comment. i'm tim, i'm here in support of kelly wong's application for this position. throughout my work with kelly, i've been able to see her operate in various group making spaces, coalitions as she mentioned, multi racial, multi ethnic coalitions and i've been struck by her commitment to you know, the democratic process to putting her efforts where her mouth is and actually uplifting, you know, these believes that many of us have but not all of us have the opportunity to actually you know follow through with. i also want to mention that itshe is from hong kong not only for

communities that speak cantonese, when we uplift voices, we're able to see the gaps in our system. and i have personally from work ining los angeles and other states th voting process is not just accessible for immigrants but many, and i think, when we uplift voices from specific groups, that see those barriers, we make it for accessible for people and the immigrant community in the san francisco is a massive part of the community. thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> speaker: my name is vincent pan, i'm the coexecutive of chinese affirmative action caa. it's a community civil rights organization head quart erred in san francisco china town and we support the appointment of kelly wong to the san francisco elections commission. we advocate for systemic change

that protects immigrant rights and remedies racial and social injustice. demo cot i can processes and civic participation. kelly has been on staff since august 2022 as a immigrant rights advocate. she has demonstrated track record for migrant populations both in san francisco and abroad. she has a commitment and expertise about how to create more access for those who are marginized due to class stat uts, race and migrant experiences. this would make her an invaluable member of the elections commission. caa has reviewed the rules of elections commissioners and incompatible activities. we will ensure that kelly's work will not include any of these activities to exclude kelly from involvement from my

election work. kelly's role is to conducting community education on available service sxz resources for the same population. we respectfully support kelly wong candidacy for the elections commission of san francisco. thank you. >> thank you. >> speaker: good morning, i'm brent turner i've been involved with the elections commission for quite a few years advocating for open source software elections system. on behalf of the public, i want to first and for most thank chris as being a great cad list for this effort as well as the local effort that was brought forward here by supervisor tom amiano.

the budget cuts that we're con templating for the elections department and the mayor has mandated can be accomplished by following mr. jerdonic's direction regarding deploying open source elections in san francisco. unfortunately, we've been frozen in place here in san francisco bye-bye lobbyist pleasure. so if we could make sure that the incoming commissionr is well versed in open source and understand the issue as a national security issue that can also be fiscally responsibility in the work of san francisco, i think that

would be smart and i appreciate your time today. thank you. >> speaker: good morning, i the program manager of leadership at urban habitat. a 30-year-old organization that works through power and lifting the voisz of low and low income and color as well as supporting, leaders in these communities in our board and commission which kelly is currently a a fellow. i want to speak in support of kelly wong, the voters passed prop n. and that was just upheld by the court in august. as a san franciscan and in my professional role i think it's important to move that forward and hopefully, non citizens will be able to vote on all of their elected officials.

and talk about the tax that's they have to pay. we believe that language justice is component of racial and class justice. and to have that voice on this commission is reaitical. those who's language, first language is not english, or notice not dominant language has something that understand them and has that lived experience. given that there is no current immigrant in that commission, kelly would be the perfect for tha. i also want to say that kelly shows just a great level of solidarity, she does not only represent her community, of cantonese but all immigrants in the city. we have seen people be divided in the pandemic especially communities of color and i think her bringing a voice of

accountability and solidarity of others, is important. we hope that you support this as well. >> speaker: my name is indicate--caden, i'm here to support my support for kelly wong. i know ms. wong personally and i know her to be a very bright and moral and ethical person. and i believe she has applied for this position for this commission solely because she wants to serve the entire community of san francisco. in my brief statement i want to provide my support here and my expression and my belief that ms. wong would be an excellent commissioner. >> thank you. >> clerk: are there any other speakers who wish to give public comment? no additional speakers.

>> public comment is now closed. supervisor watson. >> thank you, i want to say first thank you to both candidates. thank you both for stepping up and i want to en shaourj all of you to continue to pursue a way to participate and the work here in san francisco. i appreciate boasting you for applying. >> supervisor safai. >> thank you, and thank you for saying that supervisor walton. it's a tough job to make a decision when there is multiple applicants. and sometimes we get very qualified and motivated and engaged citizens and resident of san francisco that want to

participate. so i appreciate both people for coming out. i did want to say, i think one of the things that, that we have not done well in san francisco and need to do better is fighting for advocating for immigrant communities that have language as a barrier to participating in the elections process. and i think that having somebody from that community that strangely can't even vote themselves but is that motivated to be part of the process, i think in this public time, in this public moment is the right person for this opportunity. it's no knock on ruth and the work that she has done. i think she would make a phenomenal commissioner as well. but given where we are with

increasing amount of immigrant communities moving to san francisco as supervisor walton said, engaging and encouraging more people existing to participate in the elections process, i think is an important thing. we made a very important decision in san francisco, much to the chagrin that wanted the status quo to move our mayoral election to november. and just that move itself will increase the participation by almost 30 percent of voters in san francisco in the most important election here locally. so appreciate both of the applicants, but, i thinwe should at this moment, support kelly wong for this position and i would make a motion to put her into the seat.

>> thank you, supervisor safai. i would agree and almost for all of the reasons that had you laid forward, so i will not repeat those. but i will say that is it wouldcowits or kowitz, i had a great time talking to you. your willingness and enthusiasm about serving the city is so, infectious that we're not going to let that go to waste, we will be in touch from my office, i really really want to express my gratitude to you for not only applying for this position but, ázfor doing it so

thoughtfully and so enthusiastickly want to go serve the city. clerk: yes on the motion to appoint kelly wong to seat 1. vice chair walton. >> aye. >> clerk: supervisor safai. >> aye. >> clerk: chair ronen. >> aye. jaot motion passes without objection. >> passes unanimously. thank you to you both, we'll be in touch. mr. clerk, can you please read item number 4. >> clerk: item number 4 is mayoral appointment to mus caltrans portation agency board of directors, janet tarlov. >> hello.

good morning, hello. >> speaker: good morning, good moansinger chair ronen, supervisor walton and supervisor safai. i'm $every braitful for the opportunity to discuss my candidacy for the directer of msf transportation board. i appreciate your consideration of my nomination to the seat that was recently vacanted by manny for his term completing on march 1 of this year. in 2006, i founded canyon market with my husband. and we rant store for over 16 years still late 2022. we were proud to employ 100 employees, support 250 active vendors and serve an average

6700 customers a day. road construction, commercial loading sxen forcement issues were part of our daily conversation. my presidency of glen mark merchant association and my service as vice president and chair of the legislative committee for the san francisco council of district merchant association, thought me that i have a passion for public service. last yae, i spent some months considering what my next professional step might be. and i began to research opportunities to serve on a city commission. i believe strongly that mta has a fundamental impact on anyone who visits, works and lives in san francisco and merchants play an integral role in that system. i'm supportive of the practice of filling one seat of the mta board with somebody like myself from the merchant community.

san francisco must have safe, reliable and clean, and affordable public transit and soundly engineer system of roys and parking if we are to be an equitable vibrant and environmentally sustainable city. ifi will work to expand my understanding and the many urgent issues it's facing. i'm eager to represent independent voice for the mer xhant community, while at the same time, taking holistic approach to making decisions that profoundly impact so many people. finally, i would like to thank you, chair ronen and supervisor walt and supervisor safai for your work on behalf of all san franciscans. i know the challenge of making decisions on behalf of others and i admire and respect your efforts. thank you and i'll gladly take my questions you may have.

>> thank you, supervisor walton. >> thank you, chair ronen, thank you so much for being willing to serve. i have a couple of questions, once the only vehicle triaage center that we have in district 10. and curious, your approach to addressing the side of people who live in cars and in railroad vs and vehicles. >> yes, so that's a very very difficult topic, vehicularly housed, this is a term that i recently learned. it's important that i maintain a kena wareness that this population is the most vulnerable to becoming homelessness. and there is a significant number of families with children in this represented in this population.

i think the only way to solve this problem is for the agencies to collaborate with one another. mta plays a role, certainly, but we need to work together to solve this issue which is incredible urgent for both the people who are living in those circumstances and the, the neighborhoods where this is happening. there is an urgent need for appropriate parking that is secure and provides basic services like sanitation, water and power. i look forward d being part of the solution. i'm not, i'm not i have so much empathy for every one on all sides of this problem.

and, and i looked forward to doing what i can to help. >> how do you feel about mta raising fares? >> i think that the budget is a very important part, we have to have a sustainable system, i think we need to be looking at the revenue sources carefully and critically all the time. fares are very in and out part of it, it goes to the services being provide. the answers that i've heard from the staff side have been that, you know, revenue needs to stay at a certain level in order for services to remain at a same level. what i've been told is not as simplistic as that and message

is not as simplistic as that, but, we've been very fortunate to receive a bit of a stay on the urgency around raising fares in the immediate future, but there needs to be a lot of work in order to avoid that, if the services are not going to be impacted. and i think that's work that needs to be done and it's not an impossible problem to solve. afford sablt tremendous important particularly for, for communities where or students, affordable muni and we need to do what we can to protect and preserve

them. >> are you familiar with family tolls and what would be your vision on preventing them. >> i don't know i'm familiar, but the name seems to tell 34e that it's people's vehicles that are maybe non functional, maybe you can tell me a little bit more about that. >> it's the premise for folks getting fined for parking i willy but they don't have the ability to pay for them. so they lose their vehicle. and fines can increase and continue to grow and really puts low income community members in a position where they may not be able to get their vehicles back. >> right, and then there is the cascading, series of issues for folks that. so, i, i think that the staff needs to be working very very

hard to have to identify those situations. and find ways to help people out of those situations. that the level of the fines, you know just having received some myself, they don't seem to be compensatory or appropriate to the infraction sometimes, $100 is a lot of money. and that's, those are the fines that i've seen. so that's something that i think about a lot. at my business there were a lot of students and people from low income households who worked for us and and whenever there was a ticket, it was a big issue. and we as employees had to step in many times to help people in

those and similar circumstances. where they didn't have enough money. so i'm very sensitive to it. i don't know the solutionds today but i think it's very important issue and i appreciate you bringing it up. >> there are some policies that work to alleviate the burden on low income from members of the comtynes. i hope you read up on some of those and come up with some items to come up. >> and sorry to, but, you know, towing is a vehicle is a drastic step. drastic for the person who's vehicle is getting towed and it should not be taken lightly. so thank you.

>> supervisor safai. >> thank you, chair. and thank you ms. tarlov for a good discussion this morning. how often do you ride public transit? and did you ride public transit here today? and what lines do you ride? >> i ride public transit not infrequently, my preferred way is by bike. i do own a car and i use it several times a week. and in terms of, arriving today, i took the m, i got it at castro station and got off here. since being appointed or, nominated for this role, i made

it a point to leave my bike at home and ride muni more frequently than i have in resent years. i would like to say that i've been pleasantly surprised at the cleanliness and the operation of the vehicles that i encountered. it was, encouraged to use muni more. and particularly, it came in very handy today because it was raining cats and dogs and i wanted to dress well aring and, wearing rain pants was not part of my idea. so that's my answer. >> the reason i ask that question is for the seat in this particular, they look for people that are regular riders

of public transportation, so that's one of the qualifications. >> yeah, i believe there is a certain number of seats that are required to have regular riders of the public transportation system it's not a requirement for all of the commissioners. >> and then, the other thing is, we talked a little bit this morning, supervisor walton talked about one of the questions i had on impact on low income communities, so i appreciate you asked that question. my next question is there is not technically a seat for perspective of small business owner, if you read the charter, it's not written that way, but i think they reserved in a seat to appoint with that perspective, so i want to give you an opportunity to talk about that. i know you spoke about founding

canon market, big fan of that establishment i've been going there for 15 years, since you opened. can you talk a little bit about how, over the last few years in particular, there is been a lot of conflict between small businesses, commercial corridors and many of the decisions that the mta has made. i want to give you an opportunity to talk about that. >> sure, so, your question is specifically about the last few years in conflict with the merchant community. >> small business owners, merchant community and how they have interacted with them? >> as you might have imagined, i have given this a lot of thought. particularly the community that i, that i have the most importance with is is our businesses with employees and

who operate 7 days a week. and have a public facing component the. and owner operator are if you, think about it as a section of the whole population of san francisco, it's an incredibly small number of people. you know, maybe there is 2000 of us, i'm really not sure, i would be interested in data related to that. however, we have an enormous impact on the quality of life for the people in our communities. and so, the one of the reasons that i'm so interested in taking position, is i feel with mta in particular. there is a nrs a real urgency

around having somebody with that experience having a strong voice. and then at the same time, i don't want to forget that the job of a directer as it is of any board is to take the tote alts of the issues before her and and make prudent decisions that take into account all the points of view. but i do come from that merchant background speaking for myself, i have certainly felt felt the the measure of making decisions that impact my business by mta and other city businesses, frankly very keenly.

in particular, when i was in my business, we would divide our time so we were divide our time to always be there and we were closed 3 times a year and we were there on those days. and to have antion say we could not get ahold of you, was a little discouraging. as we talked about on the phone, i feel like that lived experience of that out reach that did not live up to its promise, just to put it kindly is something that i would like to see.

and just in the last few months that have had a lot of input at this several of level at the hearing level from members from the mer xhant community. and if they come down and make their voice heard, it means that something has gone wrong before then, if they're coming down, it should be, i understand what the decision that has been, that's being considered is, and while i may not agree with every part of it, i want to, you know, just recognize that there is been out reach. and i don't see that happening. does that answer your question. >> a bit.

i like the part that you've under scored and we're concerned about the out reach job that mta does when decisions are made and how they impact communities and merchants. i gave you multiple examples, we were talking about on the phone that the mta. one of the things that the mta has said in the past, at least to me, i don't know if they said that to my colleague was that they were intended to have a point person, maybe they would overlap with multiple districts but at least there would be some to handle those problem and be as an interface. that will has never been realized.

so i think that's an important thing to carry. i think you said to me, that would be one of your top priority would be engaging and improving out reach. >> yes, and i appreciate what you're saying about the direct link because, because the as resident and as a business owner, that's my point of contact. so if there is strong communication with the supervisors offices, there is a link. the supervisors know who the loudest voices are and what the points are. they also know the people who are quietly working in the background.

and are doing good work but maybe not as vocal about it. hearing that as our experience as supervisor, i think that's an area to pay strong attention to. and you're right, that that is what i'm passionate about. i think i told you that running my business one of the things that hi learned is that employees and customers and vendors, they just want things to work. there is a lot 6 leadership. that people understand and if,

and you don't get everything you want, you at least know that you were heard and you got some of what you want. that's a really important faoes and that's something that i would bring to the board. >> one of the things that i noticed about the mt a, it's very top heavy, it's very managerial heavy in terms of the amount of positions. if i ask a question, i want to meet and discuss this, ten people will show up. so i had to turn back and say, i'm only going to interface with the director and director of libable streets. what i'm talking about in terms of community out reach and those on the ground, one of the

biggest frustrations for many people is that the way the charter is set up, the mayor appoints all of the commissioners and all the decisions are board of the body but we receive a significant amount of requests and concerns about the mta. so anything that you can do to prioritize is important in which the operations. to try to anticipate concerns that may come. i would just end with i think it's important that have somebody with your perspective that is interface with both potentially the good and the

bad from this agency. i did ask you and i'll just end with this, why you would want to be a commissioner for this commission? i think you're going to make a lot of enemies and disappoint a lot of people and understand, probably will be the only commission that you ever serve on in the city. very very infrequently, so going with that with eyes wide open, i'm not trying to be a downer but trying to be very realistic about the endeavor you're about to take on. >> all right, thank you. >> you can say that about any role in the city where. you go and serve on the commission, but mta, you made a lost people upset.

>> in fact, every one, if your bus is late, your day is ruined.ere is a pothole in the street in front of your house, you hate the seed humps,has got a lot of passionate opinions. and to respond very briefly. i know the dinner parties would change and the and the inner actions would change. you would like to believe that, there are a lot of people who have interacted with me over the years who appreciate i'm a person of integrity and that you know, do my best and i'm very transparent in my communications possibly too transparent sometimes. but i really want to do well by the city and bit people.

i think it's important if people think that the, the board, the directors have some kind of elevated group. we are san franciscans and i think that very basic understanding is important. i'm aeg tore saefsh and i'm not disuaded by your questions. >> good answer. >> i have just one question, when we spoke on the phone, i want to talk about vision zero for a moment.l=v! we did better last year than the year before, which was one of the deadliest years that we had for traffic fatality but it continues to be a major challenge for us. i would love to hear any thoughts you have on vision

zero and the importance it would hold for you, et cetera. >> thank you, thank you for that question. we got cut off before having another chance.as mentioned before, i get around on my like, primarily and know, i get sternd talking to, it's great to wear a helmet and your safety vest and all of these things, but you know, a neck injury, you're life is forever altered. so when i'm a driver, the thought of causing injury to somebody else is haunting and frankly terrifying, that's one of the reasons that i do cycle is it reduces the risk that i

could ever hurt somebody that badly or cause a death. san francisco for our level of population has higher incidents of these issues. and i really appreciate that we made a commitment to work on it as a city and i've had an opportunity to meet with a number of the you know, nonprofit organizations that are working hard on this issue. related to trying to further vision zero mission that our, you know, deeply unpopular.

i mentioned the speed humps, the prohi bysing on right turns on read that are coming in slowly slowly.t9 and recently the state requiring the daylighting of intersections. all of those have fans and attract orers. but i believe the safety has to be the number one priority, and it's a little harder to find a parking spot for its it takes 5 minutes longer for where you're going. that's just, how i feel about that, that's not a merchant point of view, that's a human

point of view and i cannot stress enough the importance of that. i, i guess, that's all i really want to say about that. >> thank you, thank you so much for being willing to serve in this role. mr. clerk, w open this item up for public comment. >> clerk: yes, members of the public who wish to speak on this item, should line up to speak at this time. each speaker will be allowed two minutes. there will be a small chime when you have 30 seconds left. and a louder chime when your time is expired. >> speaker: thank you very much. i'm paul terry i'm a small business advisory in san francisco and have lived in glen park for about 35 years. when janet and her husband took over, she was immediately involved in working with the community that we were cleaning up the community and dealing

with off-ramps and on ramps, and as i spent more time in the community, and got to know her more, she recruited me to the board which is influential, she was nones me to do that. and i worked with her over a year while we were on the board and i think, what i wanted to say about janet is that i know a lot about small businesses because i work with them all the time and having a business of a certain sito you see a large perspective on the impact that you have in the community. and when her and her husband are working with 50-60 employees, a lot impact the business and the community. so she didn't just stick to the small of the business but looked at community at large. also how the impact of being a business of a certain size impact on travel or community or the population that they serve.

you to look at the clients you serve and employees that you maintain and she of handling things. so, for those reasons and many more, i support janet's approval on this board.hello i'm flow kelly and i lived in district 9. and i work with the coalition on and i'm really thankful to the requests that the rules committee members have been asking of janet tarlov, i admit, i knew nothing about her, but because of your que,z learned a lot and i'm very happy. i'm very happy by what i heard. i appreciate her openness and

her empathy towards people that have such tight budgets that any huge thing like having to pay a ticket, having to pay registration even are things that they can't possibly predict like you know, yeah. yeah, all kinds of expenses that come up whether it be, medical expenses or what you have you, things that you cannot predict. and it throws everybody for a loop and it may mean that they end up living in their vehicle. and i appreciate that, janet tarlov sounds very empathetic towards that situation. and very happy to learn more and has an open mind and asked questions. sso i would like her statement that towing a vehicle is drastic.

i really appreciate that. i think this is a janet would be a good person. thq>k you. >> speaker: good morning, chair and supervisors, thank you for the opportunity to speak to the committee on behalf of janet tarlov. i'm a 28-year resident in san francisco and 266 those in district 9. i've known janet for nine years through our children's work and more recently where i work. i'm a frequent shopper at canyon market that janet and her husband started. she i'm so excited that she is appointed, she has done a lot of work, building up the

membership and services in the area. and helping steward the organization throughout of the covid pandemic. she is trust i partner and cares deeply about lladers and neighborhood residents. her work through the council associations has given her a city wide perspective of the businesses in san francisco. and her voice on the board will be an important one as they navigate opportunities and challenges in the years to come.](wf janet is devoted through service through san francisco, its resident sxz its future.a willingness to serve her community in multiple capacity and works collaborative to seek solutions. one example, we recently had a rat problem and janet worked with a wide variety of city department, neighbors and business owners and others to work towards solutions. she is always organized and prepared. finally, i believe janet will

serve san francisco well, she listens and cure yu, principaled and she will approach the issues and concerns that will come to the boateder with equity and forbearance. i enthusiastickly support janet's nomination. thank you so much. >> speaker: hello supervisors shark' here to speak on behalf of janet. >> i went canyon market is my local market. i went down to go frao myself. i'm a small business owner myself, i've always been impressed how she ran. if you walk in the connection to both the community and the

employees, it's self evident, when she joined cdma, she would come to the small business meetings, she would often be the only person there. quietly listening, asking thoughtful questions and i would always listen very carefully carefully thought through the issues and was a really thoughtful partner in trying to advance in city's interest. what, you would experienced just now talk to go janet is the janet that i've come to know. she is thoughtful, she is kind, she is empathetic, she is diplomatic. i support her with all of my soul and anybody that wants to volunteer with the city with those characteristics, we need so much more of that, and i

urge you to vote her to the board. thank you. >> speaker: good morning, supervisors thank you so much for taking the time to listen to all of is sam, and i'm the founder and one of the owners of the business here in san francisco. and i've known janet for well over 20 years. as a fellow and business owner and fellow citizen of san francisco, janet has one of the highest levels of inat thingity of any person that i know. her genuine concern for san francisco is at the highest level, she talked a little bit about the challenge of being a business owner.

our staff who we need to care for. we have our employers that are trying to sell the food people's livelihood are dependent on the commerce. general neighborhood in the community, that also have to serve in janet's perspective has always been one of compassion and care for every single the stakeholders and she cares about her micro community but cares about the larger region of san francisco. i couldn't think of anyone better to serve on the board and i encourage you to vote her through. thank you so much. >> clerk: are there any other speakers for this matter? no additional speakers. >> public comment is now closed. any last comment?

well, thank you for coming out and giving testimony and thank you for would like to make a motion to remove the word project, i guess. and send the motion as a community with positive recommendations. >> clerk: yes the motion to attend the motion to deplete rejecting throughout legislation and recommend as a committee report. vice chair, walton? walton aye. supervisor safai. safai aye. chair ronen. >> aye. >> clerk: ronen aye, the motion passes unanimously. >> glazesing. and mr. clerk, do we have any other items on the agendthere are no other items on the agenda today. >> the meeting is adjourned.

>> >> >> my name is alex sinclair of willow on the green in san francisco. we are the only british tea shop on the west coast and focused on high quality luxury u.k. and we have teas and baked goods. we came up with the name because willow is made with baskets and the parklett a willow green and that is a picnic in the park.

i have come up with the idea because i have lived in the neighborhood for a year. seven years ago we had a tea shop. during covid we needed to have a new flavor and rejuvenate the business. we are between two beautiful businesses. i realized with the shop opening next to the bakery we had a beautiful tea shop in the area. we started with british teas and want to support local tea makers in the local area. and once you have cheese and biscuits need tea and lemon curd and chocolate and all of these parts basically imported from the u.k. our most popular products come from wales. it's an extra cheddar and next

popular product is a jam made with alpine strawberry. so you get a taste of a nice strawberry. this is about supporting cheese makers and business in the area and women-owned businesses around the world and always want to support the community. we support concerts, we support charities and come to the aid to those in need such as the british society and the san francisco society and the -- >> if you have never had british cheese i recommend you come in on weekend. all of our staff are highly knowledgeable of all of our products and we are really passionate about what we do here and gives you a chance to

explore our culture and food and our values. i encourage you to come to the inner sunset with a beautiful park to be young and academy of sciences here. come to the shop. we have beautiful baskets and blankets so you can enjoy this wonderful nature and you can support these wonderful businesses out here. >>

i'm anthony i'm owner of scoop ice cream in the bayview. >> the environment sit down environment to enjoy a bananasplit. root beer floot. shake, et cetera . just creating that environment for people to come and enjoy. they can experience this is cultural driven. we pretty much replicate what our culture means in the bayview. >> a back story me and my siplings my aunt took us out for ice cream all the time. spend hours eating ice cream and talking and catching up with friends and family of came with an idea. why don't you bring the ice cream shop back has not been one

here in a time since the 90's. i thought it would be good to bring something back to a community where i grew up and something with me in business community. fate is the apple pie flavor made from french cashew milk it is vegan. homemade cashew milk and cocoa nut milk. apples upon cinnamon and nutmeg and create a great desert. my great grand mother made it from scratch. made ice cream for kids in the neighborhood and made different flavors. sugar free and dairy free. got passion to do it being here in the community and from my family.%p

>> good morning, good morning, good morning and welcome the urban alchemy oasis. we are excited to be here and thank everyone for time to come and to celebrate with us. we are here to discus the results somewhere outcomes of a study in the work of tenderloin and midmarket community, supported and launched by mayor breeds office. the work done by urban alchemy practitioner, the community safety work, the goals for the program are to provide servicess to our unhoused neighbors in san francisco to reduce crime and struggling

neighborhoods and to provide an alternative community based public safety where folks from the community, folks with lived experience can do the work of restoration and healing and support for some of our most vuliable neighbors. this study was carried out by stanford university, lead by dr. stuart, the director of stanford's ethnology lab and they have studied the results of this program and are happy discuss the findings and so we are really grateful you all grathered here to talk about this work, to hear about the phenomenal impact we hamake in these communities and as you can imagine, the results you will hear today you probably have seen them. you probably have felt them and today we are just really excited to not just have to rely on what we see and what we feel, but ta to back up what we know we are experience igin our community. to kick off this morning i want

to welcome cofounder and ceo dr. miller to greet you and bring you remarks. why don't you receive her. [applause] >> today is a really good day. today we have some good news. we have been hearing a lot of bad news about san francisco and the conditions on our street, but really good news. we are here to talk about the exciting initial results of stanford university study that shows presence in the tenderloin caused a significant reduction in total crime and drug crime. i think the important thing to know about urban can't read obour website is urban alchemy was born and bred and grew right here in the

cracks of this concrete in the streets of san francisco. in this grit and grime, we grew and i want to thank you mayor breed for seeing us [applause] and allowing us to grow and not plucking us out before we really have a chance to show our beauty and our brilliance to the world. we know what we feel on these streets. the residents of the tenderloin know what they feel on these streets. businesses, universities, they know what the difference is when urban alchemy has been on these streets. but it seems more like a political conversation then it does a reality.

when dr. stuart came to me and asked for permission to studresults of urban alchemy or what was happening with urban alchemy out on these streets, i on the condition that you look at our impact on crime in the streets that we are, because i know we are making a difference. i know we are changing the environment. thats why urban alchemy has grown so much and been in demand, but i don't have any data. i can't prove it, so i feel i'm out here trying to scream to the world, what is happening here? ! one is listening. but today we got that data. crime rates are dropping

throughout san francisco. in here in the tenderloin, dr. stuart's research shows that crime rates have dropped by 52 percent in the tenderloin on the streets where urban alchemy we have saved the lives of a average of over 200 people a year . during the pandemic it was up to 4 or 500. through not only narcan reversals, but first aid procedures. our results show the difference between social service programs built by and for the people in our own neighborhoods and people who are looking from the outside in and making opinions and conjecture about how it

should be done. we grew organically in response to the conditions that we saw. using common sense approach to the realties we were engaging with every day to create this unique model that is urban alchemy. we talk a lot about san francisco being the heart of tech, but what a lot of people don't understand about san francisco is it is a always been a boom or bust city. this city has always been gritty and grimy. we are beautiful too and have a lot of things going on, but the grit, and grime, the wind that shaped the topography that shaped san francisco, there ithe people. we have this creativity to deal with stuff in a way that unique to this place and that kyis what

gave birth to urban alchemy. that is the invasion that we are going to export throughoutwe have already began exporting throughout this country. los angeles, our circle program, response connected to the 911 system. this has also been replicated in san francisco throughout the heart program. we are also going to be launching it in austin and portland. what we are demonstrating is this is not a fluke. there is something special happening here. my dad used to say to me and so grateful to him for instilling this in my mind and my soul lana, dont tell me what you don't want, tell me what you do want. if we want something different, we d@ed to start focusing on

the things that are working and to start naming what it is that we want. to our practitioners this data is proof that what you are doing is working. i know it is heartful when people say stuff like, all you are doing is standing around. we are responding too much money. day to day you know you are out here making a difference. you are watching these miracles unfold. you are connecting with people and i know you know because you feel the love from the people. if you were not doing that work, that wouldn't allow you to be here, but the fact you are embraced and loved, you know the difference you are making. but now we got the data and it

is from stanford university. you are those heroes and i see you, i thank you and next i want to introduce our alustrous mayor, mayor london breed who allowed us to to thrive, and who allowed this miracle to grow in san francisco. [applause] >> alright. thank you dr. miller and welcome to the tl everybody! if let me just say, as someone who was born and raised in this city and someone who grew up in san francisco not too far from +y the tenderloin we always knew that this neighborhood had challenges, but i will tell you community filled with people.

filled with families, filled with immigrants, filled with people from all parts of san e view to the bayview to fillmore, all kinds of people from all walks of life live and grow and thrive in the tenderloin. but we also know there are real challenges here as well and we also know that police alone can't just be the solution. part of what i appreciate so much about today is many of us like dr. miller and folks who work with urban alchemy, they understand an icdotally what is going on in the tenderloin and how much an impact that the people who work for urban alchemy who are out there putting their lives on the line when other s won't even walk through the tenderloin, they understand the significance of the impact because every single day, can you imagine confronting someone with a knife or someone who is about to overdose or someone

who is in and out of the streets and they are trying to save lives and this is happening regular basis with the people of urban alchemy every si have instead of folks criticizing urban alchemy, instead of people saying it is too much money and they ain't doing nothing and being mad and political about it, stanford came, dr. stuart came and said we want to come because we want to help and see and notice a difference and we want to work with you. we don't want to be on the outside analyzing and telling whautyou are doing and not doing, we want to work as a partner with you to really analyze the data and really understand what is happening and on the places as dr. mill er said,en othe areas where urban alchemy is located, there is 52 percent reduction in crime in the tenderloin and

those particular areas. how significant is that? it is significant because the people that would have been attacked, the people who would have died from drug overdose, the people in other situations are no longer in those situations because of urban alchemy and urbaalone. that is significant in and of itself and that is why we are here today, because this is a important institution filled with people who care about community. filled with people who may have had their own challenges with the criminal justice system or with addiction or other issues they see people on the streets are cpfacing. the empathy comes from a place of experience and understanding and a desire to see something better for those who are struggling. that's what urban alchemy represents for the tenderloin community. that is the work they do times goes

unnoticed and thankless from leaders of the city, about not from this one. [applause] so, today as you hear the data and get a better understanding of what urban alchemy is about and what they do, it is about the data. it is about the people. it is about the relationships. it is about that person that says, just because that individual like louie is talking for urban alchemy they are agreeing to treatment and they are cleansober for a year. it is about the person that did want die on the streets of san francisco from a drug overdose. we talk about how amazing and how beautiful this city is and this is a beautiful city. this is incredible city filled with opportunity. i understand and i'm the beneficiary of that opportunity, but too often people who suffer in this community are not and the fact is, without urban alchemy it

will be far worse. i feel it is getting better. now, we are be but we are definitely in a better place then what we used to be. in the tenderloin we have seen overall 11 percent drop in crime and again, that attributed to the relationship that exists based on the work of our police rtment, our ambassadors and especially urban alchemy. thank you all for being here today to report on this ta, but more importantly let's report on the facts and various situations and incidents occur where no one talks about it or sees it. those are the stories of lives saved and changed that need to be told more and that is why we are here today, to talk about the data and talk about the stories and make sure people understand we will continue to do all the work necessary, all the investment necessary to continue to support urban

alchemy, to continue to invest in the tenderloin community to make sure every person who lives and works here is safe. thank you all so much. [applause] >> thank you so much dr. miller. thank you so much mayor breed. the relationship to academia j can never be under-stated. the importance shape our young brilliant minds. they give us benchmarks to hold us accountable and today they provide the data that makes the things we see on the streets and in our communities data, so don't want to take up a lot of time. i want to invite dr. stuart from stanford university to come and share the data th have all gathered together to hear, so if you all welcome dr. stuart to talk about the impact report that has come from their study. thank you. [applause]

>> good morning, i'm forest stuart professor of sociology at stan ford joined by nab nob ph.d candidate spear hp heading the analysis and stats i want to share today. for the last decade or so i across the country so cities like los angeles chicago and seattle focusing on how to issues like urban disorder violence and homelessness and last year i trained focus obtenderloin and midmarket with cilen more and patrick [indiscernible] professor at the northwestern medical school. we just finished the study where we evaluate whether or not the urban alchemy street practitioner program has indeed reduced crime in san francisco and i want to point out origins of the story. some of the origins of the

study. a lots of these evaluations are typically commissioned by cities. often commissioned contracted out by organizations. we have done ours differently. we have done differently funded and run through stanford university and wurlth noting the study came as a coincidence. i had been walking down hyde in the summer 2021 as a part of different project in the city and had time to kill and hit the corner of eddie and hyde and notice two very different scenes on both sides of the street. on the northern side unfortunately there was a active drug market, people sell ing on the sidewalk, the sidewalk wa's so full i had to walk in the street and when i are hit eddie i looked across the street and it was peaceful and no crime and the big difference was besides the conditions there were people wearing green vests. with this urban alchemy logo on it.

i started to talk to residents and business owners over the next few weeks and they said that urban alchemy, those folks standing out there made them feel safer and they were convinced urban alchemy was reducing crime, but it is one thing to feel safer, it is another to be safer. this is nigh job to parse out the difference to the two. we put the question to the test. all the crime stats availability from the san francisco police department and analyzed them and design we did i'm not getting too technical called a quasi-experimental design and pretty standard in policy analysis if you want to evaluate a policy has effect and borrowed from experimental drug trials. we grabbed every intersection with urban alchemy is stationed and treat as the experimental group and match a intersection where there is no practitioner and make sure they

are matcheds a well as they can. we have a experimental group and control group and then we start the clock and look to see how the urban alchemy intersections, the experimental intersections differ from the control intersection8s and we watch them over proceeding 12 months and we found that in urban alme went down 52 percent. there were about 320 crimes per week in those 40 intersections, this falls to about 150 crimes per week once urban alchemy comes on the scene. we found a larger graup in drug crime which fell 80 percent in the urban al scaem intersections. when you see the big results you wantto make sure anything else isn't pushing reductions. there are lingering things that could be responsible. what is neat by ica quasi-experimental design, it is called a causal design so we can say urban alchemy caused

the changes, but we have to include other pote theories and explanations as to why crime dropped. the 1st we tested was covid. covid caused drop in crime all over the place so was the reduction attributed to urban alchemy or covid? according to the the analysis this isn't attributed to covid. was urban alchemy displacing the crime in the 40 intersections to nearby intersections. we include this in the model and determined 52 percent reduction is not attributed to displacement to other intersections, so this is pretty confidently redurkz caused by urban alchemy. so, moving forward some things we have done over the last year and a half members of the research team have been shadowing urban alchemy prday watching what they do trying to figure the secret sauce and mechanism

responsible for reducing éñthese crimes. things like building trust, creating social debt, providing resources. these are the kinds of things we will be integrating into analysis as the next step is write up the findings and begin submitting for scientific peer review so those will be done in the next couple weeks. i want to conclude describing the study sharing gratitude and thanks to the team at urban alchemy. subjecting to these kinds of rigorous evamuations can put you in hot waters if the results todon't turn up but urban alchemy approached with a confidence and transparency that allowed us to come in and hold them accountable and a model how we can do academic and organizational collaboration and accountability in the future so thank you all for being such a outstanding partner for us. [applause] >> thank you dr. stuart.

thank you and your team and thank you to stanford university. next up is mr. arket foundation. this type of work nation wide is not possible in a vacuum. it means we have to be partners with our academic partners, with civic partners and also with our business improvement partners and are so we want to invite mr. steve gibson up to talk a bit about their role in our partnership and how it contributed to our success. thank you. [applause] >> steve gibson, executive director of midmarket foundation, midmarket business association. i want to say a couple of things. one, we recognize urban alchemy in the talents quite a way back. in 2019 we teamed with urban alchemy with a pilot project on 6th and market and that is the idea of the community based safety program began.

we were asked by businesses on the intersection to make change bought it was chaotic at the time. we teamed with urban alchemy and did a small pilot project and that proved the n alchemy approach could make a difference. from this pilot project, with the blessing and financial support of the mayor and her office of economic workforce development, we were able to grow this program. we are now entering our fourth year of the community based safety program working with urban alchemy and you heard about the change, the data behind it, the statistics, it is all true. we can give you stories about businesses that were saved, about certainly saved hundreds of lives on the street and they have made a incredible difference. the biggest thing we have is

that, where they are not people begging us to extend the program and are now it is throughout all midmarket, most of the tenderloin and has grown from this one intersection to all of that area and been very successful and continuing to be successful and before i leave i want to bring up one thing that has not been mentioned here, but incredibly important to this whole program is the fact-it chokes me up a bit, but the lives of the practitioners and how their lives have changed by doing this work. the people on the street as we call them, the guests on the street, they lives have been saved and changed, but so have the practitioners and they have gone on to other jobs to college degrees and number of things, but 2 or 300 practitioners passed through

this program and really changed their lives through this and that's-urban alchemy does not get enough credit for that part of this, so i want to thank stanford for recognizing this, for validating what we knew and have seen on the street, the positive changes. thank the mayor again for supporting us and for continuing to support us and this program and thank you for caring enough to be here to record this event and to spread the good positive news about tenderloin, midmarket and about urban alchemy and their program. thank you very much. [applause] >> thanks so much steven. a perfect segue to our final speaker for this morning to represent the men and women who spend countless hours in the tenderloin and midmarket community who do this work every day and support of our most vulnerable neighbors and those who pass through the streets. i want to introduce our

director of operations for san francisco, mr. arty gilbert who will come and talk to us on behalf of the practitioners that you see around you. come on, arty. [applause] >> thank you kp. i want to share two stories. the first story i want to share is about when received our first office on 72 6th street and when we received our office over there, i was walking down stevenson alley and a guy approached me how had got off drugs and stopped drinking and asked me withed it be possible for him to become a employee for urban alchemy. i said of course. he plied and begain a employee 3, 4 days after that. a week after that, or two years after that he became a

supervisor for urban alchemy. two years after that he became a director for urban alchemy, he is currently a director for one of our bigs program, the bar sfmta program. the second story i have to share is about 54th mcallister street. if anyone know about 54 mcallister street there fsh a lot of negative brhavior. a lot of people selling drugs, using drugs, sleeping in tent, blocking the doorway where the senior citizens couldn't go inside their homes and also they had a truck that come and drop them off irn the wheelchair to get fl to the senior citizen home. upon to go over there and see could we address the issue, one thing about urban alchemy, we are kind, so when we say we are kind znand have empathy and compassion that includes avenue over everyone.

we went a week in advance to share with them is we will be here in a week and in a week that when we arrive the next week we arrive this behavior and negative selling drugs and sleeping in front of the establishment cannot go only claung. the week after that we arrived and the place in front of 54 mcallister is clean and able to walk the senior citizens can come in and out of the establishment in their wheelchairs. thank you for your undivided attention. back to kp. [applause] >> so, we heard from the folks doing the work, our stakeholder partners, we heard from our amazing mayor, we heard from the leader ership of the organization. we heard the data. now we have a question to answer. when we walk out of here, do we

go back and continue in the course of dispair? saying there is no hope, nothing is changing, or do we take the data that we hold so valuable, do we take the narratives we heard, do we do what our mayor said and recognize that while we are not where we want to be, that we are not where we were and take that to encourage us to move forward. to double down on interventions that have been proven by data to work. to continue to support and speak up for the men and women that do this work. or do we just go back to business as usual? do we decide that we actually want to continue pushing a message that says nothing is getting better? i think we all know the answer to that. i think we all know our intellectual responsibility. our responsibility to the city and our responsibility to the people that we all have been tasked to serve in one way or another and we have the

responsibility message that says, there are options. there is opportunity. there is hope and when we all pull together, when we are willing to be honest with one another, we can make changes throughout the communities that we hold so dear. thank you all for being here today. thank you for taking this time. thank you for spreading the message and are sharing the news. while we won't do question and answers,l speakers today are willing to be available for step asides at the conclusion of the program and so, without further ado, thank you all and have a fantastic day. [applause]

>> i don't want to be involved in the process after it happens. i want to be there at the front end to help people w something in my mind from a very early age. our community is the important way to look at things even now. george floyd was huge. it opened up wounds and a discussion on something festering for a long time. before rodney king. you can look at all the instances where there are calls for change.

i think we are involved in change right now in this moment that is going to be long lasting. it is very challenging. i was the victim of a crime when i was in middle school. some kids at recess came around at pe class and came to the locker room and tried to steamy watch and physically assaulted me. the officer that helped afterwards went out of his way to check the time to see how i was. that is the kind of work, the kind of perspective i like to have in our sheriff's office regardless of circumstance. that influenced me a lot. some of the storefronts have changed. what is mys is that i still see some things that trigger memories. the barbershop and the shoe store is another one that i remember buying shoestrings and

getting my dad's old army boots fixed. we would see movies after the first run. my brother and i would go there. itit is nice. if you keep walking down sacramento. the nice think about the city it takes you to japan town. that is where my were brought up. that is the traditional foods or movies. they were able to celebrate the my family also had a dry-cleaning business. very hard work. the family grew up with apartments above the business. we have a built-in work force. 19 had 1 as -- 1941 as soon as that happened the entire community was fixed. >> determined to do the job as democracy should with real consideration for the people involved.

>> the decision to take every one of japan niece american -- o japanese from their homes. my family went to the mountains and experienced winte they tried to make their home a home. the community came together to share. they tried to infuse each home are little things. they created things. i remember my grand mother saying they were very scared. they were worried. they also felt the great pride. >> japanese americans. >> my grand granduncle joined the 442nd. when the opportunity came when

the time that was not right. they were in the campaign in italy. they were there the way. >> president truman pays tribute. >> that was the most decorated unit in the history of the united states army. commitment and loyal the country despite that their families were in the camp at that time. they chose to come back to san francisco even after all of that. my father was a civil servant as well and served the state of california workers' compensation attorney and judge and appellate board. my parents influenced me to look at civil service s.i applied to police and sheriff's department at the same time. e sffme first. it was unique. it was not just me in that

moment it was everyone. it wasn't me looking at the crowd. it was all of us being together. i was standing there alone. i felt everyone standing next to me. the only way to describe it. it is not about me. it is from my father. my father couldn't be there. he was sick. the first person i saw was him. i still sometimes am surprised by the fact i see my name as the sheriff. i am happy to be in the position i am in to honor their memory doing what i am doin help the larger comment. when i say that we want to be especially focused on marginalized communities that have been wronged. coming from my background and my family experienced what they

did. that didn't happen in a vacuum. it was a decision made by the government. nobody raised their voice. now, i think we are in a better place as country and community. when we see something wrong we have change agents step up to help the community affected. that is a important thing to continue to do. you talk about change and being a leader in change and not knowing whether you have successes or results. the fact of the matter is by choosing to push for change you have already changed things. through inspiration for others, take up the matter or whether it is through actual functional change as a result of your voice being heard. i think you have already started on a path to that path. in doing that in april of itself creates change. i continue in that type of

service for my family. somhing i hope to see in my children. i have a pretty good chance with five children one will go into some sort of civil service. i hope that happens to continue that legacy. >> i am paul sheriff of san francisco. [ music ]

fire department ems at station 49. i was born raise in the oak land my dad is mexican my mom is

black i was playing soft ball thishayward and directly behind our soft ball field is an empty field. and almost every day at practice i saw this tiny woman leading the big people in work outs and eventual low i look in the and found out she was teaching how to do physical trin to get people red to work in the fire department. that peeked my interest. the oak lan fire department was the first fire department i did. i did a firefighter one training program there. that got me into fire whim start the paramedic school i went to city college and fell in love with the i did nile internship at station 49. it was wonder. . i learned the san francisco wave doing things. like the wild, wild west every day. i loved it was a family environment here.

that made mow say san fan fire department that's i didn't want to be. i avoided science my entire education up to becoming a paramedic. i failed my first time taking my emt registry. i hope well is nobody out there that gets discouraged if this happens. you have opportunity to take again. i d. i came back. took it passed and continued to paramedic and pass the my registry the first time. being a woman in the fire department i am a minority here. a minority in multiple aspects. i'm a woman. biracial i'm the only black paramedic in the ems position. it is insane and i hope i encourage other women to join this profession that does not represent the city of san francisco.

i love to show up on a scene and i can see the comfort in member who men looks like me or my family members they see me and they are comforts. i hope there are women that see me and see themselves in me and know they can do this job limp i have a 20 month old daughter at home. i would like to teach my daughter it is okay to say no as a woman and have and voice that opinion. and i did a good job of that already. >> i really hope that anybody considering this field schedule a ride along. go to your local deputy or knock on an ambulance window can ask to schedule a ride along. that is irrelevant how my first couple ride alongs i saw things that blew my mind and said that's what i want to do

with my life. [music](music).

>> happy 30th non-sfgovtv i'm rap and i want to take a moment to thank you thank you to sfgovtv and congratulate the staff for reaching the milestone we're grateful that sfgovtv work with our commission over the years and provided us with a citywide platform that allows us to highlight and showcase all of the residents what they do >> item 50 is resolution calling on department of public health to provide medically necessary transition related care for transgender related people and remove restrictions. >> in 2012 gender health sf was born out of advocacy

from community stakeholders and local leaders. really as response to providing quality, accessible jnder aaffirming care for the most under-served. (indiscernible) the way i see it, there is two ways of folks we serve at our program. the first wave of folks who never imagined surgery access was accessible to them. many folks who had to save money or par ticipate in underground economy to access the surgery outside the country. (indiscernible) really to make something real in terms of being able to connect with the gender identity and external (indiscernible) and so transform so many lives of many of trans folks who never imagined it was accessible to them. now we are in the different era and time where transrights is in the social political and general (indiscernible) and now we are serving

young folks to support them and making sure their gender identity is connected to who they are, so providing a space to support transfolks to live authentically and that is the goal to provide the level of care trans folks deserve. >> when it comes to access to healthcare, while we all believe in cost control and make sure we deliver healthcare in a cost effective manner, i dont think that cost is a reason or legitinate rational to exclude people from healthcare (indiscernible) colleagues i ask for your support. >> thank you supervisor wiener. colleagues on this item can we do this without role call? same house same call, without objection the resolution is adopted. [applause]

>> (music). >> (multiple voices.) >> landing at leidesdorff is as the new public school in downtown san francisco for people to come together for 0 lunch and weekends a new place to enjoy the architect and our culture. >> landing at leidesdorff one of several initiatives to the road map for the initiatives all about using your public space and network for now environments to 0 invite people adopted not just to the but any time of the day. >> it shows there is excitement and energy and people

wore looking forward to enjoying the space that people may want to end up in downtown. >> we've been operating in the financial district since 2016 with the treasury and coming up we had a small surge in business in the leidesdorff . >> as a small business the leidesdorff is making us being part of it as being part of in project. for me makes we want to be part of san francisco. >> so landing at leidesdorff for me represents hope for san francisco and the sense that this is become such a safe welcoming area. >> we local artists coming in and exercise boxes and live music but the hub of culture. >> the downtown partnerships

has a studio in san francisco. they identified 6 locations throughout the downtown area we come together with new activity and spaces. >> is between us a place to tell our own story and history. >> it was named after a captain one the black leaders of san francisco before that was called san francisco he was the first treasurer of the city and commercial street a cross street the hifblg original shoreline of san francisco was a few feet behind where we're 12357b8z around opportunity to bring people to locations we have an opportunity to tell stories and for local businesses. >>

[music] >> san francisco is known as yerba buena, good herb after a mint that used to grow here. at this time there were 3 settlements one was mission delores. one the presidio and one was yerba buena which was urban centjxer. there were 800 people in 1848 it was small. a lot of historic buildings were here including pony express headquarters. wells fargo. hudson bay trading company and famous early settlers one of whom william leaderdorph who lived blocks from here a successful business person.

african-american decent and the first million airin california. >> wilwoman was the founders of san francisco. here during the gold rush came in the early 1840s. he spent time stake himself as a merchant seaman and a business person. his father and brother in new orleans. we know him for san francisco's history. establishing himself here arnold 18 twoochl he did one of many things the first to do in yerba buena. was not california yet and was not fully san francisco yet. >> because he was an american citizen but spoke spanish he was able to during the time when america was taking over california from mexico there was annexations that happened and conflict emerging and war, of course.

he was part of the peek deliberations and am bas doorship to create the state of california a vice council to mexico. mexico granted him citizenship. he loaned the government of san francisco money. to funds some of the war efforts to establish the city itself and the state of course. he established the first hotel here the person people turned to often to receive dignitaries or hold large gatherings established the first public school here and helped start the public school system. he piloted the first steam ship on the bay. a big event for san francisco and depict instead state seal the ship was the sitk a. there is a small 4 block long length of street owned much of

that runs essentially where the transamerica building is to it ends at california. i walk today before am a cute side street. at this point t is the center what was all his property. he was t to be the city's first treasurer. that is i big deal of itself to have that legacy part of an african-american the city's first banker. he was not only a forefather of the establishment of san francisco and california as a state but a leader in industry. he had a direct hahn in so many things that we look at in san francisco. part of our dna. you know you don't hear his anymore in the context of those. representation matters. you need to uplift this so people know him but people like him like me. like you. like anyone who looks like him to be i can do this, too.

to have the city's first banker and a street in the middle of financial district. that alone is powerful. [music] 2024.) >> okay. good afternoon, everyone this meeting county of san francisco landuse & transportation committee meeting this afternoon at 1:30 pm., monday, january 22, 2024. of tan francisco board of supervisors i'm supervisor

melgar chair joined by president peskin and supervisor peskin the clerk is john carol and like to acknowledge the folks at sfgovtv susan for staffing this meeting and mr. clerk any announcements. >> yes. thank you, ma'am be sure to silence your devices and