>> government audit and oversight committee meeting this morning at 10:00 am., thursday, march 7,

2024.) >> good morning this meeting will come to county of san francisco government audit and oversight committee meeting this morning at 10:00 am., thursday, march 7, 2024. board of supervisors i'm commissioner preston chair joined by vice chair supervisor stefani and supervisor chan

madam clerk is mo he can and thank you, sfgovtv. >> madam clerk any announcements. >> a couple of announcements as follows: public comment excuse me - will be taken on each item had your item 6 interest comes up please line up on the right and have comment cards are submit in writing and either little following ways e-mail to the government audit & oversight committee clerk if you submit by e-mail forwarded to the supervisors and included as part of the initial files and sent a written communications to our office at dr. cal to room 244 san francisco, california 941 owe 2. >> downtown support special

use district please submit them to me before the end of meeting and silence all cell phones to prevent in any interruptions of today's proceeding and items are expected to appear on the board of supervisors on march 19th unless otherwise stated thank you you madam clerk call item agreement with a nonprofit owners' association for administration/management of the established property-based community benefit district community benefit district community benefit district highways code, section 36651, for a period effective upon approval of this resolution,through december 31, 2033. >> thank you um, and this item is sponsored by legislative audits and supervisor is here to

welcome sir. >> supervisor preston thank you, supervisor stefani and xhvrndz i want to offer brief remarks this item before you a continuation of work that supervisors savvy has been involve since his first day danish or establishing the excelsior one of the top priorities when he first took office and frankly was an issue that has consisted within the communities and to get it going and happy to see that as stage it is now and the effort within the excelsior outer mission neighborhood storm drain that was established in 2017 and it was worked on up to the pandemic

period unfortunately, that was put on ice for period during the pandemic but picked up nearly two years and we're excited that is the board hsa had itself first meeting an february 12th and the residents are excited for the results of that and i'm here also i want to recollect the work of the folks within my office getting to this place and wouldn't have done it without her and want to see recognition here and recognize chris as well as jackie for their incredible work and lastly recognize the excelsior action group been in place for many years and crucial

organization had heels us under the vibrancy of the corridor we appreciate your consideration. >> spca of ms. hazel wood the floor is yours. >> thank you, xheshgd and good morning. >> today before the resolution for the excelsior excelsior community benefit district and the board of supervisors adopted the resolution established the district in july of city a 10 year term and expired 31st 2023 and the district will be managed by the association as the excelsior group and provide the day to day operations for the management plan and the excelsior action group a

nonprofit organization that is diligent in supporting this over two decades and here today with the director and in getting the cvd to the finish line and in order for them order for them to serve as the owners' association for administration/management of the established property-based community benefit district inclination with state and local law preventing the anniversary property business owners in order off a corin woods recognize of the contract period must enter the contract with a cvd and it is developed by deputy city attorney and adjust for each cvd and at noted the committee in february this contract and the cvd was a whole were updated to highlighted the

prohibition of legislation that is in action. the contract formally established the oc d to make sure they are meeting the plan and providing services outlined and looting the assessment bond if approved this will allow the fund to be sdrersz in april. >> thank you, ms. hal he will wood thank you for the fund position the standard for all cvd downtown support special use district that is important to me and other colleagues and appreciate that added in this not in this amendment but. thank you very much. and next, we will hear from ms. ramos the director

of the excelsior action group welcome. >> iementz i didn't prepare any comments but elaborate obtain about jackie and jeff presented here really excited to bring the funds i'm and this opportunity for the excelsior in the outer mission we have a general commercial corridor and investing those dollars button cleanliness to so vibrancy and supporting the small businesses in the community really excited and um, grateful for this opportunity. thank you very much. and thank you for your work on this so i see no questions or comments from colleagues open up for public

comment. >> yes. members of the public wish to speak line up on the side by the window and all 13shgz have two minutes to speak and the first speaker please come forward and begin your comments. >> mr. chair comment. >> public comment is closed. (gavel) and i would like to go ahead and make a motion to send this yes, ma'am to the full board with positive recommendation. >> on that motion to the full board with a positive recommendation vice president supervisor stefani and supervisor preston and supervisor chan three i's that passed with everyone that has referenced thank you for your work appreciate it and madam clerk call item 2 through 5

together. >> >> 2 through >> 2 through and highways code,sections 36600, et seq.), section 36650, and the district's management agreement with the city, section (california streets and highways code,sections 36600, et seq.), section 36650, and the district's management agreement with the city, section with the city, section with the city, section approving an annual report for the east cut community benefit district for fiscal year (fy) 2021-2022, submitted as required by the property and approving an annual report for the north of market/tenderloin community benefit district for fiscal year (fy) 2021-2022, submitted as required by the - >> thank you madam clerk and um, we i have - i want to

recognize and thank oewd for the legislative aid and been working with oewd in reviewing those downtown support special use district and any questions? answered before the hearing spend our thanks and recognition to her and i'm going to turn it over to jackie has he will wood with the oewd and if you could kickoff with addressing the items and introduce the various directors with us today and whatever order you choose thank you,- >> (multiple voices). >> thank you, combhergd and oxen that to our staff md 5 legal. thank you. >> and i'll introducing those on behalf of oewd as you

my be aware they are combfrndz by the legislation with the (california streets and highways code,sections 36600, et seq.), section 36650 and second tax regulation article 15 and oewd is charged with making sure that all cvd are providing services at outlined in the plan for the assessment. those finding with tallied in the memo in today's presentation and this slide provides an overview they have sra budget i want to recognize they're all positions to the organizations. >> as part of the memo oewd reviewed did following benchmarks for each cvd benchmark with the current

fiscal year budget and two is none of the budget obligation were met and it three compared to actuals and 4 identified in the projects in their annual report and going to start off the cvd met all they're benchmarks and cvd leading the pilot and in this reporting period they drafted the tickets and in addition the organization services they focused on running businesses through a variety of event and cvd led throughout the service area and the cvd a strong partner for the downtown

corridor and conference center and this period saw a leadership transition during the - by kathy and after a robust search beginning in fy2022-23 and the executive director prior served as yerba buena center for a decade about scott and the technology did apply with the technology and not reported violations during the brown act and moving to the next cvd so japantown met 2, three and 4 in the benchmark one and in terms of that benchmark um, the benchmark one compares this to the management budget and japantown cvd met the

requirements enhancement category that covers the services largely and in the economies beyond the small business the environmental enhancement category of the categorytion of their contract block by block in reality and provide hospitality for those categories cabaret located to those fy2022-23 report. >> so in terms of looking forward cvd should monitor this benchmark with the budgeted back in line with the management plan and had thereby a problem in the future reporting they should request cvd to assist them or address this as

(unintelligible). >> in terms of japantown service delivery the cvd was focused on offering and helping small businesses and community at large recovery from covid and in fiscal year (fy) 2021-2022 respond to the tickets generated and in compliance with the cvd and no reported violations from the backseat records act and mccormick to the east cvd met all benchmarks in the reporting period and in terms of period the cvd launched successfully for the application of temporary transbay terminal site and walking toughest councilmember

david ryu privately owned open spaces and also a key component of the funding to one has and 34 though serve requests and didn't employ service technology and no violations and last but not least the tenderloin cvd met all the benchmarks during this period except for benchmark 4 and benchmark 4 was next due to reporting and didn't or the are on moving forward they're carrying forward and the oewd recommendations that the organization includes that information in the report which

they did in fy2022-23 and do want to note as noted here that in terms of their reporting have had consisting been late in their official report starting in fy2022-23 when directly it will be helpful on time with this mission and that is um, a habit moving forward. and in terms of their service deliver cvd addresses that and i'm sorry continues to address the objectives and partners with the community at large for end goals including the passage the incredible program that cvd with the programs and closed out 55.65 percent of those generated and the cvd saw the transition benchmark final year by the

director simon and what is hired on in fy2022-23. and was innovates straggler to this program co-founder of safe passage program and this cvd employs the technology but no technology in the cvd didn't include the information on um, key pieces of the program, however, followed u followed up with that information for 2021-2022 and complied for fy2022-23 no reported violations oewd to oewd of the brown act or the california public records act. that concludes my presentation. on the cvd at this time open for questions from the committee or go ahead and have the cvd -

okay. ppf so i'd like to. >> go ahead and for the directors. >> (unintelligible). >> from the yerba buena cvd. >> welcome. >> thank you. >> thank you for having us. i'm scott the executive director for the yerba buena community benefit district and happy to present the 2021-2022 and. >> couple high-level um, i think you're aware of this but the organization for cvd for the quality of life for the residents in our neighborhood and queens and community spaces and reinforce the economic we clean and streetscape programs and martin anticipate our community benefits so i'll highlight that one for you, we do a regranting program for

public safety and community programs we reinvest back in the nonprofit and culture organizations to spreading the work throughout the community we're proud of that program and want to highlight that for i today. um, i think you're aware but on our neighborhood in the downtown core we're on market street under the highway from second street and with a little um, on the west side of 5th street as well and um, yerba buena is diverse and sort of a showcase neighborhood for san francisco we're proud of that and south of market what is happening there have amazing array of organizations that are 16 culture institutions and museums and nonprofit high profile organizations and have 12 hotels large tourism in the district and mentorship an amazing district one had the and

three 0 small restaurants and bars and multiple open spaces we have 11 thousand residents in the district we're proud of that and obviously including the central san bernardino county subway with the diversity community really the beautiful showcase neighborhoods so we're very proud of a couple of highlights from the greater with an hundred and 13 - 10 thousand of graffiti have been removed and cleaning regular and on demand for each of those a him waste was removed seven hundred and plus times and multiple calls 16 hundred and 71 calls through the 311 we respond to and multiple bike racks one of the great programs created yerba

buena cvd artist and so all the bike racks that are raptd are art designed and did murals throughout the neighborhood as well and had community guys on the street this year and out there from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. every day of the week and respond for services throughout the year and have a special hired m b sf police on duty in the neighborhoods and in addition to the various locations in the neighborhood. we brand ourselves as the artist district museum districts obviously works well, for us and campaign highlighted in the year which was experienced the art of campaign but highlighted the yerba buena and again, this is back on art a quick culture

festival kickoffs on the website and you can walk the tour through the neighborhood and see the amazing work and have um, sf tours, etc. a positive community and regave me our community and business community we secure with one of the organizations with $70,000 for public spaces and beautifuling around the convention center to the garner in this fiscal year and held forums for supervisors the raise that happened too years ago and had a director retirement an amazing director my procedure and i was on the board prior but honored to be the new director and we served as a team in the community with advisory board

and i mentioned the community based a list of organizations supported in that that fiscal year and um, amazing organizations with the children museums and have foundation called the lab and sf mo ma and yerba buena among other things great organizations in our communities doing great work and jackie talked about the financials our budget to actuals within the threshold um, just high-level we have our actuals at 36 percent of our services on the scene and scraping and three 4 percent of security. um, 16 percent in management and on branding so management plan with our budget numbers but proud of those numbers that 36, three 4 and 14 serves beyond our modification and supporting the

services. come see the art that's our presentation. >> appreciate your presentation and work and i've seen on the roster commissioner chan. >> about the spending on safety and security would you walk you through about through the through the chair what baa say is public safety spending. >> sure we um, have multiple buckets westbound that as i mentioned earlier have a officer and hiring a police officer a large portion of that safety and security we hire them to - with the availability and have a 10

heir shift every year each day and we have ambassadors four ambassadors on the street intart with the community and providing a safe space for the community and our population and so we have those two pieces and then at this point have the social services specialist to context the service members those are the three large finland's in fact, i don't have any breakdown but the majority i'll see can be the second tier is um, the ambassador program this year is our social services. >> understood so what i'm seeing in this more of a report you called a community guide. >> yes. >> and in this is you different from - to our overlapping i understand you're

over laura pena the sf travels and not part of that. >> not part of welcome master plan the master is advisory committee visitors and greeting ours are a different level of service and amazing services that complement each other. >> how many do you have people up to two. >> up to two we had three if that fiscal year but two on the average and mentioned the officers that is great and i said literally 10 hours per day. >> that's our goal we don't - i mean san francisco has a second challenge with the program and officers in general and filters down to the program. so we in the period seeing better retention in terms of selection and seeing pretty good

potentially amazing officers who support our community on a regular basis and i'm curious, you know, have the aid program as well. >> not they not have a shortage but suffering. and not right now but like to learn more about that in terms of hiring and sounds like you know about the i could shift three around can be but - >> we've looked at and other solutions we're not hiring a private security the programs are the best effort to get cash in the community and connect the connection to southern station and the police force helps to implement and supports our team we're aware. >> but again, this

interesting, you know, we have retired police officers program and at least i want to say that is working out real really well, so it is good to see you're hiring officers. >> and kind of an additional investment (unintelligible) and types of (unintelligible). >> yeah. >> thank you. >>. thank you. >> thank you. xhvrndz and no more questions let's move to the japantown cvd welcome. >> great. >> great to see you in city hall i'll say before i get started when i saw the one benchmark didn't have something about small business i was baffled i couldn't imagine a v d not i providing services within

the japantown cvd during that specific times glad to learn that was a budgeting allocation and technical issues glad that has worked out and thank you for your support in small businesses in japantown and the floor is yours. >> good morning and thank you, supervisor preston supervisor stefani and supervisor chan thank you for your giving me the opportunity to give give a summary about the fiscal year japantown i had to say that feels like many moons good i have my newsletter we did in that fiscal year, you know, of course we were coming out of

covid and focused on covid and testing and providing at home test kits by to help the small businesses. um, and on top, of course, japantown clean and safe is was is always will be a priority too to slowly a lot of the seniors are coming out of their dwellings and i think you see in the district ambassador al keeping our eye on that on the seniors to make sure they cross safely on the streets dangerous crosswalk and, of course, we started the community clean up and, of course, our great way to keep the trash out of the way and as our cleaning

staff that's the way it is can't believe how many cigarette bulths within the city blocks have two o two shopping centers and theatre and two grocery stores and 200 small businesses so it, you know, we see a lot of foot traffic during covid saw a lot of foot traffic that is what you see here um, safe and secure to make sure on the small businesses for staying alert on safety issues in japantown and brevend my staff regularly put out safeguard 2010 of break in

car issues and during 2021-2022 we saw a huge jump in break ins in japantown and you were ambassadors were cleaning as you know all throughout the day has been luckily has been improved and - but, you know, keeping i am the news on what is happening in japantown and our surrounding neighborhoods that really when our folks met with the surrounding neighborhoods and part of that work is part of a northern district station board and that kept us in tune what is going on in the surrounding area we created a crisis plan for the

district and for their annual event that was a good wake up call for us in japantown one thing we don't have in japantown a plan so this was a big step into the right direction really great that we don't have currently and promoting santa any background is marketing and communication in japantown and it is always a fun thing to do and this is for the fiscal year (fy) 2021-2022 we partnered with the cvd and sf office of small business for fleet week and shop and dine for the - we also were fortunate to meet to introduce to a japanese company if tokyo

and active art exhibits and brought that here to japantown i think that december we say over 15 thousand people evolving that was a great partnerships and to let you know, we continue that partnering today. could putting together visitor friendly maps and with the quality of life and adding temporary murals were all part of and fun part of promoting japantown and making it lively as well and you'll see the street centers were created we also participated in a lot of webinars to help to promote jpa and going back to supporting the small businesses a lot of grant were available for small

businesses during fiscal year (fy) 2021-2022 a as you know japantown we have a lot of small businesses that are not english speaking first language that is where we stepped in to assist them making sure they knew about that one for thing to help to guide them through the month of time online application process. um, and also supporting small businesses meant we had to keep them updated with covid rolled news providing them with post covid testing again test kits as well. and then our budget as jackie mentioned as well as supervisor preston that we had a little over budget for the environmental and in japantown we met with the two community

ambassadors and looking at the block by block contractor block by block you're contract was one hundred and 53 for a small cvd was a small biggest put a dent we tried to figure out what else can we do and later on we figured beauties of the hospitality portion and the small businesses indeed working towards the economic funds of the budget. and um, it is what it is one thing oh, i wanted to say in previous fiscal year we need the raise half a million dollars from the resilient fund that fund helps us purchase masks whatever throughout the fiscal year (fy) 2021-2022. and being a smaller cvd was the small budget we are constantly

looking for opportunities and always seeking support from our bigger businesses in the japantown with too so i mind also thing oewd chris, of course, and commissioner adams me, me part of the team and it is what it is. >> thank you supervisor chan. >> um. thank you. >> for all the work you've done in japantown really one of my frankly my i like japantown my favorite spot and virtually can name all the doors doughnuts but have - you know, you fill up some store funds with the shop calls kettle to for my kid but

great to see kids enjoying those spaces i really appreciate it and i can't say enough all the shops and during a tough time in the pandemic and what i find you've done during the pandemic and was curious if you're because of (unintelligible) some great combinations of outdoor space and in door space in the middle for people between the one side and the other and bridges the entire space for japantown. and make that robust because you really have proclaimed the piece like so many things over the weekend i'm curious like i have calendar out and basically on the market that you put out on the calendar and again, which was happening will

you be doing that for the year 2024. >> definitely and we received certain cannot we're waiting to hear from for the small businesses or will be a way finding to make sure that people know which entry they can come in and partnering with the director and i personally asked them for the support buses out there to show japantown is on a lot of things in the planning mode. >> so which is the construction done? >> piece plaza after the cherry. >> in may and how long will the construction last. >> they said 18 months. >> yeah. and about two years.

>> great. (laughter) (unintelligible) and so during the time the construction time what will be the plan for the small businesses like especially i'm thinking will the construction been happening in the garage parking? >> from what i know the garage will not be effected and maybe under construction but no mention of closures for garages. as far as, how we're going to help small businesses is really making sure that we have activations in the other areas working closely with like the boutique and the japantown task force and church, i think has garnered the pays for u.s. bank property and utilized that to mc

it comfortable and, you know, just spread the love for the east-west community. and for the construction is focused on (unintelligible) and correct. >> will you move some of the committees to - space? >> (unintelligible). >> so much of the outdoor activations is happening i think a lot of the organizations will utilize like i mentioned the hotel boutique and the japanese community center in california fortunate we have those buildings organizations around that with i know utilities. >> thanks to chair, i had the opportunity to join him in the community with a (unintelligible) and, you know, renovation and just really i'm so excited for japantown and in

the future that comes, you know, what in step with the theatre adjacent all of the in moa of of any thinking about that conversation immediately adjacent to that. >> not this year we stay close with the property planners family so i think when the time is right will reach out to us and letting us know what is go on we're a small cvd so- >> we'll keep you posted. >> i know the president can help you. >> yes. optimistic (laughter) and i'm sure that supervisor preston and i will tag team to make sure that especially, when construction begins you'll need

space to activate and happy to support you another alternative i see, you know, a couple of hotels and can activate for festivals and many other things for the activists in japantown and glad to help you with that. >> thank you supervisor chan and definitely is pretty amazing how i think that japantown has um, come from a period during the pandemic where that was really a real question of survival of japantown and what was happening to the businesses and occurring for the subjective this reported a period like coming back and reopening and i think the cvd and all the neighborhoods really california together to really overcome a

lot of adversity and show resilience and encourage japantown back and strong and want to recognition um, supervisor chan mentioned that the investments and you mentioned some of the various investments but around from the voters and investing in bonds and the peace placing the state money on that as well and (unintelligible) renovation and celebration of that kickoff a bunch of money from san francisco and as well as from community and great to all celebrate that together so it's good to see and hope to be more in terms of investments in the community as well as celebrate a lot of the businesses around for a while and have actively you work with and the status around

the bridge recently is celebrated and just one other thing that is really relevant this the topic how active many of the businesses and the neighborhood groups were if not just advocating for japantown but one of the things i think that get a lot of attention how japantown businesses um, and neighborhood organizations and chinatown organizations advocates came together with our office with my colleague peskin around protection passed for small businesses i i guess evictions during the pandemic and again, providing some defenses for businesses around

it's been a long time coming. debt and championed but what is significant about those they were helpful in protecting the businesses in the area that we're advocating but protection benefited small businesses all across san francisco so wanted to recognize that and thank i and a lot of the businesses i work with that are still involved and also before i give up the mic for the next person i wanted to say everyone listening and watching to come and celebrate it is coming up and in april so, please join us. >> and supervisor stefani. >> i want to thank you for your good work and japantown thriving all the time and someone that lived in japan for over a year

so nice to be able to invite and go to the marketed and then go to the restaurants and just feel that um, sense of japan here in san francisco it is important and just love is so much. thank you very much for all your work for the continued success. thank you. >> thank you. and next up on the east cuts cvd robin. >> thank you very much. supervisor preston and supervisor stefani and supervisor chan thank you for having me here today here we go so i'm robinson the deputy director to give you a report on fiscal year (fy) 2021-2022 and it is interesting and a challenge to remember what we need the but.

>> great. experience just from the east side of second street yerba buena to constituting street south market in fiscal year (fy) 2021-20224 thousand parcels plus in the last report 4 thousand 5 hundred parcels and increased by 4 hundreds and one of the interesting aspects we're building residential housing at a really impressive rate especially in san francisco the challenges for development here we currently are 200 percent affordable projects and looking for affordable housing in the next week or two happening in the terminal and um, like most of my peers do public

stewardship we provide twenty-four hours from 5:30 to 10:00 p.m. and overnight security and throughout the day. and in commissioner adams nearly 800 needles and 120 tons of trash and on top up the trash cut to the chase trash cans and my team regularly connects folks to shelters and every day duty of our team and a few action hostile before and after cleaning up garbage and we have a man to take care of the park

and we have mo park at harrison and doing the first park and maintained the funding for the microscopes and landscaping programming that happens in the park and partner with rec and park on mini park a small pocket park and small streets in the neighborhood it is just really an amazing oasis away from the hustle and business he will we have and landscaping and precovid three three programs a week few we're getting close back to thirty from tuesday to

lunchtime music to fitness classes and the target sort of teenagers and started after school dj program. and a shameless plug on the easter egg hunt an amazing that event and then have two future parks one acre a temporary terminal sites and the other is the dog park and the project is under the dog park to get more attention to it but cvd is raising funds for the dog park and 1932 that entirely and participating with the rec and park department on the pelican park and lastly, a

really now we have 15 thousand residents we have over 8 thousand housing in the neighborhood and 20 of how do we in the neighborhoods how we develop an identity and a place of pride a picture of a silence disco with the sales force park and as mentioned by jackie even before the terminal closed we negotiated with the dj to and ccii three acres and have two acres and affordable housing project as i mentioned, and brought in two soccer programs for the affordable housing and have pencil or pickle ball

courts and has become the communities crossroads the center that has been an amazing source of pride for our organization but for the neighborhood. um, and in to be a pretty hard streetscape we look for opportunities to sort of improve and enhance the community in amend opened the east community garner 20 community garner 7 are dedicated to part of our housing building in the picture and that are for community beds and multiple people work together and the other 10 are awarded to a lottery the property is owned by ccii we magazine this community garden and have getting my peers through the newsletters we do a

quarterly property management with 50 project managers representing millions of tenants and view community events tonight to office on 28 fulton with a happy hour and if you want to come and social media and banners we're trying to finally as you'll see on the screen overwhelmed chair screening safety that limit sliver the pink sliver the communication building we are screwing every ounce of those dollars out that's my last slide any questions?. thank you. mr. robertson and supervisor chan. >> thank you supervisor preston

i think in our more detailed kind of really pertain that and wanted to understand and look at both again, just sections you mentioned about the parks and screens just the maintenance work that you said i think that is what - i also think that in our last year was that last year? the year before you tabbed the earnings that you - the cvd made can you walk through that. >> i'll use sales force but a center that is operated and we are joined by j p members for the cvd board members for the oversight and stewardship of our finances and partner with the

staff and the ventures to participant in the landscape walks for the programming calendar for the year. who are we reaching? or not reaching and better be reaching? and one of our goals for sunsets and years going forward how to make people more aware of sales force park innovative and the everything else this san francisco should be coming to beautify and a beer garden and that is i think does that answer your question? >> i think so because you're in collaboration so is it for promotion because you're talking about the marketing and how does that overlap. >> for parks will be for the stewardship and maintenance for

the park is paying for the grass and the trees and pcia for the park and in the case of guide place community park our money on the closing decorative gate. >> vp. >> it is staffing yeah we do stewardship. >> i think i know the answer i think that is some of our yerba buena but i saw the photo with the really in his pink jacket but walk through more in details about the plan for like public safety? >> yeah. sure we do not have the resources or not a program we don't have a camera program with that said, one of the features a tremendous (unintelligible) we are on the streets twenty-four hours and have people out there i have a staff member on the southern

police station and do meeting with the project manager property managers and ambassadors doing all sort of things with the eyes and ears with the - and elevating to non-emergency or two emergencies and circumstances but really just hours staffed. >> remind me quarrel maybe a different cvd in terms of - the cvd have a special hotline and you we don't i mean, i guess we do twenty-four hours i think all of us have it so we don't but, yes, i called them on my way here wanted to address- >> (multiple voices).

>> has. >> (multiple voices.) >> and a number. >> (multiple voices). >> actually call for assistance. i think that was one of our reports. >> actually is on my report i think a little card has a anybody on that. >> how is that going? >> i think people look to the et al. my peers like the really nimble to the solutions so if there is graffiti or someone having a mental health issue there is someone there. >> thank you. >> i had a question as you're talking for ms. hazel wood one of the things in the different cvd reports that we have some

cvd mr. robertson said don't have surveillance cameras and others don't; right? we have some cvd choose to work with the programs with bringing on the that don't. um, and i think so the circumstances of the neighborhoods different cvd are working in, you know, call for or, you know, different approaches but i'm curious like is oewd generally kind of neutral on the choices and i imagine that in the technical assistance role with the different cvd are asking about some of the people we contact with the ambassadors for example, lots of options and just yeah, i'm wondering if shed a light on how oewd approaches

and suggestions around those different issues or um, yep or have recommendations how does that work? >> yeah. i can speak to it and also i do benchmark (unintelligible) deputy director who has been in the role for a number of years but to speak quickly in terms of where we're at in terms of where we're moving forward and a lot of their efforts and limiting budget is identified whether cleaning or safety services or economic services that guy's in terms of where potentially that tonnage comes from and in terms of conversation will turn to chris in terms of the guidance.

>> welcome, sir. >> any light you shed on that i'm curious about a range of options like up to 5 or 10 places; right? and that is the decision the cvd maintains i'm curious what if any roll oewd places in laying out the options or making recommendations or an approach. >> thank you that's a great question. vice mayor perkins economic development that is a fantastic quell i wish i had three hours by generally speaking when a neighborhood row 92 or cvd renewing or forming a cvd they voep an management and that plan has generally what the

services will look like and sometimes a higher degree of specificity for example, the tenderloin is incredible in their management plan and what kind of services they'll be presiding and others are more vague and up to their owners association/board of directors and we are neutral during the conversations but a by the end partner in terms of the planning we need a long term 10 to 15 years and for example, if someone is talking about safety services and have you talked about to talked to another cvd what works and what does but we'll not say good idea or bad idea but not legal and they

can't do something. >> okay. i'm wondering like cvd is could go that plan? are we satisfied or something and come to oewd for technical assistance and they get like okay. here's the list of the 5 or 10 cvd and before a recommendation of work with this group or work with that group and the same on, you know, whoufg it comes to cameras the owners are involved funding did cameras we don't know if on the other hand, recommended do or don't have surveillance cameras; right? or here's the way the land is and creating the

plan for the group. >> just to be clear, we have never i tell all the cvd we don't provide names of contractors if they have questions about contractors they can talk to their colleagues and get recommendation from other cvd we don't do that if this he ask if we know of their works to they didn't work with cvd that's all we provide if cvd want us to provide recommendations we tell them no that's not something we're in the business of doing and on their board of directors to typically issue competitive excelsior is going through right now. solicit those and review

those. >> thank you for clarification that's helpful and echo actual the last three talking to kate about vendors and not just cameras but rely on each other. and in in any effort to be brief i would be remiss to not thank jackie and chris and oewd they really play an amazing roll in playing making sure we are doing what we are to do and stewards of the public funds and issue an rfq by being good surprises when you wanted to see who is doing cameras or the options (unintelligible). >> thank you very much. yeah and i appreciate that clarification and entirely appropriate role; right? and

what the gentleman said about encouraging the partnership and options which is organizations around what is working and what is not then having oewd do sort of a neutral is an important analysis. so unless there are other questions for mr. robertson i'm not seeing any at the for your work and presentation and want to thank you for um, the pride if which you are talking about the affordable housing communities i know that is really important and i think it is just great you are you feature that in your report and it is point of. >> i apologize for interrupting but never received an ami from anybody in the neighborhood we're built over 1,000 units and

how do we build it climate change and. >> (multiple voices.) >> and may it be a others take note of what i think a lot of us have talked about affordable housing in our communities and just did want to note thank you for that as well and advocacy for open space community gardens and the neighborhoods that is a challenge and so with those thanks i'm going to turn it over to last but definitely not least tenderloin and executive director only been this time period you have been the cvd because of the district it happened like the sum of increased involvement and knowledge that your work is since you're the the direction

but hard to mention the cvd before you but i guess the first you're coming on board. >> this is the year i almost want to skip this year this is the year i worked for a different county and bring me back to the tenderloin please (laughter). >> welcome (laughter) and the floor is yours. >>. thank you. >> thank you. supervisor preston and really i'm so amazed by what was presented today and just thinking about that time though i was not in the city that year but knowing that um, this was really partnerships and leadership coming out of the toughest time for our city and our cvd were really in the for the most part of direct response work and amazed by collectively all the work um, that was

accomplished if year and um, the true partnership and support from oewd and other cities partners. um, so, yes, i had my coworkers help me with this prediction for fiscal year (fy) 2021-2022 where i was not my gap year out of tenderloin the work continued and i worked with the community and um, and my coworkers during this time so just to start, you know, as you likely know our neighborhood and the toifrnd is so densely residents have the most concentration of affordable housing protected housing and that brings um, many immigrants and refugee and teachers and

individuals living in sros over three 5 hundred children call the tenderloins home and have 6 thousand seven hundred and 50 um, seniors and have the e-cigarette highest density of seniors living in the tenderloin and medium income of $38,000 a low income neighborhoods of people of color and we have over three hundred small businesses that are largely women and immigrant owned and really the most rationale kur89 neighborhood in the city and also host the largest open air drug trade in the city as well and have to mention that um, so your i'll start with the camera

program a program that is not covered under the assessment we'll talk about this more when he go into the budget but tlc communities are above the tax assessment none of the programs with covered and we do significant fundraiser every year as a nonprofit to grow and manage our all of our programs so we um, that's of pa year of significant growth for the camera network and just to be clear, a camera retreatal system no live monitor of our cameras and we work with i'm the police department the public defender's office, the district attorney and even unprivate citizens to seek justice for violent

assaulted crimes and two staff members read into the record to h responding to the from tone per coverage to 60 percent. um, your safe passage program this is a big transitional year for i'm our team our safe passage what happened started as a volunteer program volunteers and up until this year so fiscal year (fy) 2021-2022 was the year is transitioned into non-exempt hourly employees all the team members run the program all within the tenderloin the tenderloin residents. um, you know this during this year our safe program was focused on emergency responses a lot of food access, you know, we

switched to delivering meals to housing sites. um, and helping provide escorts working safe walking escorts to it food pantries throughout the neighborhood that was children went back to school and it was, you know, really challenging our streets deteriorated significantly during the pandemic and if not for the presence and support of urban (unintelligible) i really fear what that would have been like to be a corner captain if phase it was dhainl for our corner captains to help kids again to and from school and a lot of focus under and different activations and fence a lot of street closures and we did play

streets a lot of activities to help get the seniors and children out of their homes where they really were um, you know, still sheltering in place and coming outside for supportive resources and activities including covid testing i want to mention that is the year we're celebrating 15 years of programs i want to thank you, supervisor preston for honoring the podium in the 15 year for me and really is the best investment of a tax investment right back into the neighborhood through jobs and employment and, you know, the program itself really came direct from neighborhoods and a

direct response to their voices. um, that's also the year that um, we shifted from the prior year our team was asked to expand our safe passage program to the parks the parks were closed and macula park and others parks. two of the three parks had just been renovated and i remember having the opening celebration and the next week was sheltering in place and those parks closed all three in them during the early stages of the project and the city asked us to have a presence in the parks it to reactivate them to open them back up it is the year question um, really solidified this is a the program built out

the program of having statedship and cleaning at the parks every day we also had a lot of different activations and services in all the park on daily basis we coordinated with covid testing and today, we employ 20 residents as parking stewards and open to close every single day. >> so this is also the year our both our youth boys and neighborhood pride efforts deepened as we built the capacity direct the direct advising of the from tenderloin youth, residents, small business all were suffering greatly during the pandemic and november

of 2021 was a resident march to city hall for young girls attacked trying to get to school and really sparked, you know, really the same thing this sparked the safe passage among the mother a sense of who is taken care of of our children and how do we keep them safe? this was really residents and a lot of small business owners coming together and saying, you know, we need immediate action we need immediate intervention and p lc v d has built that for direct voices really a funnel of organizations getting the needs met directly. so, you know,

today we're seeing, you know, the results of some of those collective efforts including the tenderloins action plan that brought $4 million to the toifrnd an incredible partnering that the planning department. our clean team wisp under contract in the past year brought them in house and this was the corresponding app brought the 311 apps to the tlc for a quick rapid response during the toughest years of pandemic i can't say enough about the team and how they remained potential workers throughout the entire pandemic

every single day out there from exempt one day of the year. >> as i mentioned before our budget, you know, we ended up significantly raising money over our tax assessments this was the year of significant growth for tlc v d to $5 million above the assessments and the park because we were front line workers in many ways and staffed up significantly. i kind of surprises me when i starred at tlc v d i was was on the boards before that thereof one board member and today 70 staff members and most of them around

50 are tenderloin residents that is really my commitment and into leading this organization we believe that tlc v d should be led by residents of the neighborhoods um, i digress this was a significant year of growth for the organization and um, and, you know, our at large focused on cleaning again, our assessment dollars don't cover the cleaning needs. um, and so we through the state continue to um, work towards building out a more robust biscuit for cleaning and for our parks and big passage programs. um, i want to say simon this growth was really under his time at tlc v d expanded our grant making

efforts and brought us in $5 million above our assessments. those funds really went directly to daily initiatives on improvements in the stabilization of the neighborhoods and up to 4 years of the growth and led a strategic planning process somewhat where the board and staff underwent a three year strategic plan. um, through significant lose victories and changes and challenges simon served as steadfast leader up until he left as executive director in 2022 we're grateful for all he gave to the tenderloin and we're a stronger organization because he was there so at the and shout out

for simon. i'm so honored to be the tlc v d i can't building it's been a year about a year and a half now and i guess want to share our values our team is really guide by our organizational courage and connections responsibility and just added the belonging. and i couldn't be more proud of this work and team really the favored we love and fight for everyday and so grateful for all the partnerships we receive, you know, day after day at tlc v d i'll be happy to answer any questions you may have. >>. thank you for your time. >> thank you, very much. and for the presentation and for all your work and definitely want to echo the congratulations and

comments throughout the 15 year anniversary of the passage i want to say after toifrnd tenderloins was added to our district we went there the passage team and meeting the employees and volunteers it is incredible described many aspects not just about functionally about safer passage for kids to and from school by people in the neighborhood and caliber ac should be informational for others out on the streets and a enter acting with folks on a crisis in the

street and whether a drug issue or i've seen this multiple times and aging with folks that are struggling and who was striking how effectively the safe passage program has been engaging folks in a safe environment and resulting in a safer place can't thank that team enough and congratulations for the 15 years of that work and then, you know, a lot of the other work you've mentioned around the activations it is important people are landmarking what is long term solutions and ways to keep the

neighborhood stronger with the challenges so important to have not just the mentality of dealing with problems but what are the positive things we're bringing to the neighborhood? i feel like the activation referencing and others are such. >> march 14th and- >> (multiple voices). >> yeah. yeah absolutely and i guess one final thing i want to say i noticed in the tenderloin um, i think there is an overall under investment by the city life talk about equity and how - under investment in many ways in the tenderloin. not just this mayor or the board this is a generation of under

investments. in the community. so often we see that thing we would expect for core government services why cleaning and operating parks and staffing parks and having um, a safe passage service things that one might hope will come a from the government; right? are often limited and the policy discussions beyond that's what it's all about. talking about the cvd but the reality in in environment we see the cvd and other groups rely upon to provide a lot of service that better, more equitable would be provided not necessarily pushed

on to the cvd i want to recognize that ongoing challenge that i think you all operate under you and i have talked about that with the partnerships for example, and in some ways cvd has helped people in a, you know, any violation of the city the parks would have the staff in there; right? but we know staffing is not possible right now. if i really want to activate the singularly part of tenderloin for hours and more availability of parks and so the cvd has stepped into some of those roles i want to thank you for that partnership and that willingness to sometimes it is frustrating. are not prior by the city or may have to do those

on a shoe string while the demands on our time i want to recognize that and i want to put that out there for the partners. >> with that, colleagues let's go ahead and open up all the items for public comment and members of the public with wish to speak on those items should line up now by the windows all speakers have two minutes to speak can the first speaker come forward? >> mr. chair comment. >> public comment is closed. (gavel). >> and i would like to again thank mr. c and hazel wood for their work and the directors we heard from and they're team. so

thank you and for your prediction and work and at the point send item 2 through 5 to the full board with recommendations. >> on the motion to recommend recommend 2 through 5 to the full board supervisor stefani, aye. >> supervisor chan, aye. >> supervisor preston, aye. >> i have three >> to silence your phones and other electronic devices. public comment during the meeting is limited to 3 minutes and let's call item 6 to extend the resolution to the city and force chevron and usa as which

parties has responsibility for the contamination of the property located in kern county california and on the usa holding upcoming eric without litigation to extend to authorize the city attorney for the modification to the agreement not materially increase the obligations and a necessary to have the total agreement or resolution like to note this item has been agendized in the committee report. >> thank you madam clerk and after open up for public comment and i want to note that it is my intention to let the colleagues

unless they want to have a selection to act on that without kwooefrn in closed session go ahead and open up for public comment at this time a members of the public should line up by the windows and all speakers have two minutes to speak can the first speaker come forward and mr. chair no public comment. >> public comment is closed on this closed a while this i want to go into closed session and discuss this before i do i relatively have buffoon straightforward with the agreement i have no questions that require closed session thank you to the city attorney's office for this information and colleagues anyone want to go

into closed session before we act on that no comments and questions from colleagues so let's we will stay in open session and i'd like to make a motion to forward this with recommendation to the full board as committee report and on the motion for this forward to the full board. >> supervisor stefani, aye. >> supervisor chan, aye. >> supervisor preston, aye. >> i have three i's at the that motion carries. and madam clerk any other business before us and no other business today. >> thank you we are adjourned (gavel)

[meeting adjourned]

welcome, all of you to gakuen. it's. we're extremely happy and honored that you're here to join us today. despite the change of weather that we're experiencing. my name is diane matsuda, and i will serve as your emcee today. i am also one of the board members of kimono gakuin. so, folks, this has been a long time

in coming, and we're just so excited to get this project from where it sat for many years. as paper plans on our hands to where we are today to bring him back to being fully utilized by our community and i just wanted to, ask you, after our official program, to take a take a look at the renderings that have been created by our, wonderful historic preservation architects at trainer angel. and they are here today, and, they have been with us through thick and thin. and we really appreciate their their patience and their support and their confidence of us being able to move on. so as you know, no project gets off the ground without the support of many. and we have many, many people to thank here today. but before we get to that, we want to make sure that we continue to stay in

the good thoughts of the many ancestors who made this building possible for us to preserve and use and enjoy for many generations, to help us with our appreciation. we are grateful to the members of the japanese american religious federation or by its acronym jaaf, who are here today to share a blessing, prayer and chant to thank those before us, those here today, and those who will come tomorrow. so i'd like to introduce all of them and they will all come up individually. starting with reverend rodney yano of konko church of san francisco, reverend elaine donlon of buddhist church of san francisco, and reverend hiroko suzuki of christ united presbyterian church .

good morning everyone. my name is rodney yano from the church of san francisco, just one block away. we're in the corner of laguna, and there's a long history within japantown community. and today is. it's a prayer in solidarity. it's a prayer for safety and well wishes and for success. for this whole project, this interest. okay for folks together . let's all bow our heads .

say okinawan community center restoration project. and. friday, march 1st, 2020. for dear divine parent of the universe, tenkai i, reverend yano of the konko church of san francisco, humbly recite the following prayer. we humbly gather before you with hearts filled with gratitude and hope as we embark on the sacred journey of restoring the kingdom community center, a place that has been a beacon of education, culture, and community spirit. i bless this noble endeavor as we strive to revive the historic building at 2031 bush street, in the heart of japantown. with your divine guidance, may this

restoration project flourish, transforming the kimono gakuin into a vibrant hub that echoes the rich history and traditions of our beloved community. we invoke your divine presence, kami sama, to shower your blessings upon this sacred space. may the renovated kimono community center be a sanctuary for learning, a haven for community services, and a stage for cultural celebrations. let us, wallace, resonate with the echoes of the past, celebrating the legacy of king gakuin since its inception in 1911. as we honor the history of kimono gakuen, we acknowledge the struggles of the past, the discrimination faced by japanese immigrants and their children. we seek your divine guidance to ensure that this restored center becomes a symbol of inclusivity, breaking down barriers and fostering unity among all our members of our community. bless the hands and minds of those who work tirelessly on this project. from architects and builders to volunteers and supporters, may their efforts be infused with divine energy, bring forth the

renovated space that exceeds expectations and its inclusivity and accessibility. dear kami sama, we pray for the success and safety of this endeavor to create a space where cultural activities, educational pursuits , and community services can converge. may the kimono and community center stand as a testament to the resilience and strength of the aapi communities for generations to come. in your divine light, kami sama, we entrust this restoration project with your care. may it be a source of joy, inspiration and unity for the entire japantown community. ikigami odeion sama no kami sama! thank you very much. those images. for the ceratopsian .

good morning. i'm reverend elaine donlon from the buddhist church of san francisco. for the buddha, learning was the endless pursuit of knowledge. he constantly told his disciples one should never be satisfied with the teachings of a single teacher or master, but to constantly be on a quest for even greater knowledge. what we're celebrating today is so important, and a quest for that greater knowledge. we all gather here today in friendship and community, taking a moment out of our busy lives to recognize and celebrate this noble endeavor of renovating the kingman island. from fundraising to the architectural plans to the actual reconstruction, may all involved in this renovation project be granted the patience to persevere through challenges

as the strength to overcome obstacles that may come along, and the satisfaction and joy in the completion of this project. may this continue to be a place where future students discover the joys of learning, the empathy of connection, and the wisdom of community. may minds be open to new ideas and perspectives. cultivating fresh insights filled with learning in the quest for greater knowledge. lastly, may all through their kind support of this very noble goal, endeavor to build meaningful connections and share warm fellowship in cultivating the positive seeds from the past. it allows for the wisdom, resilience, and strength of this community to flourish within this school. thank you. good

morning. my name is hiroko suzuki from christ united presbyterian church. i'm pastor for japanese speaking ministries . ohayo gozaimasu. cristo godo, nihon gobu o tanto suzuki hirakata oshima's. kono hontoni tomo ni kono bungaku no kai koji or hajimeru miyazato tomoni kono kalakaua décimas tomo kono kimochi wa sankyaku kuju ni hyaku sanjou sanae no wo atsumete. dai sekai taisetsu. domo sono ni mata. sekai soshite american sumu. oku no tokuni. yo kara kokosei ni ni. nihon no

kotoba. nihon no bunka o. showcase ni okina. america. toyokuni wa na gengo sama. zamana bunka o motsu. kitakata no kuni. this. watashi ga onishi. jibun no enka. jibun no koto ga ichiban natto. omo soy kimochi kara sama. soy nishi o mas. watashi wa honto ni inochi. okita kyodai shimai bunka kotoba wa. jinrui to tomo ni watashitachi tomo ni xiao icu's honto ni. kono chinmoku no ni. nihon no bunka. nihon no kotoba. jibun ga ni. jibun ga bunka

kotoba. jibun ni sekai wa hontoni. kono sekai ni icu okuno no jibun ni wa da so you koto. kono kimochi wa honto ni okina hataraki. conchi preston, california. so san francisco no shigeichi no kano communication kogyo. hajime madamada kara no. zynga tai cities. dodo, miyazaki . kono. taisetsu na kono community, okinawa. atsuma bunka otagai ni hontoni kyo sono kono kimochi gakuen mata. sarani. tsuzuku daca. kono minasan

dekiru sukoshi. kara kara. kono kimi ni kyoroku. sono would you please bow your heads and pray with me? gracious god, thank you for this time. thank you for this gathering. we give you thanks that you have been. you have blessed kimono gakuin that has been offering us so many programs to many people, especially kindergartens and high school students, to learn japanese language and japanese culture. we pray that you will bless us and guide us as we begin this capital campaign to rehabilitate kim mongaku and building kamisama watashi, kokoro hiraku kono, kim mongaku and keisuke koji honto ni anata no kokoro ni canal. monotone

animation. watashi hitori no kokoro hiraki. anata. in jesus name we pray, amen. thank you very much. members of jaaf for your kind words. blessings and prayers for us, i realize, if you could look out and look at one another like kim jong un hasn't seen as many people in a long, long time. and it's just so wonderful to see this auditorium once again being used, and i realize that many of you are visiting ki moon gakuen for the first time, but we definitely hope it will not be your last. so i wanted to share a few facts about this building. this very beautiful and very

important building. it was created or built in 1926 by architect william c hayes, a professor of architecture at uc berkeley. and for those of you who are architects or historians or preservationists, the building was designed in the mediterranean revival style, a style popular during this period for educational facilities in the bay area. the estimate, which i have right here in front of me, written by mr. hayes, indicates that the total cost of this building was $48,118.50, even though that's can't even buy you a car today. that was a lot of money back then for this community to raise, and at its zenith, kim moon gakuen had a student body of approximately 500 students composed of nisei, second generation japanese americans, mainly, who resided

in the 30 blocks of pre-world war ii japantown. parents knew where their children were after attending regular school and was also a way to keep young people safe from what was happening outside of japantown. and as we know, world war two changed the lives of japanese americans forever. with the signing of a document by president roosevelt in 1942, japanese americans went from being productive and vital members of society to an id number and sent off to u.s. concentration camps located in desolate parts of the united states. only allowed to take what they could carry, they left behind so many things they worked so hard to build and left a community that they called their own, adding to the misery was what happened after the war. japanese americans moved back to

japantown and they were faced with another government removal called redevelopment. this forced displacement and disruption of our community caused a permanent hole in japantown town, and definitely an impact on enrollment here at kimon. kimon was not only a language school, it was a hub for performing is for speech contests, for dance recitals, and to watch old time japanese movies. it was the weekend spot, but instead of talking about what it was back in the day, we are also here to talk about what it can be tomorrow. we are very, very thankful to have a leader in the california state assembly who recognized this, and i'm going to ask a member of our japan town community and a former alumnus of kumonga to introduce him. may i introduce to all of you paul ozaki, the executive director of the

japanese cultural and community center of northern california. good morning. you know, being in this auditorium brings back a lot of fond memories of my time here at, kimon. unfortunately, one of them isn't being able to speak in japanese. you know, i remember my first day of class here. i was six years old, and the teacher got up and said something in japanese, and then each of the students students would say, stand up and say something in japanese. and it went row by row by row. and i was in the very last seat and i was listening, trying to figure out, what are they saying? this is the first day of class and they could speak japanese. so when it came to my time, i stood up. i hadn't figured out what they were saying and i remember i just started crying, like crying, like really hard, to the

point where the teacher took my hand and walked me down the hallway, my grandmother was principal here, and led me to the my grandmother's office to just stay, later, i found out what they were saying was their last name in japanese. i used to sing in recitals here, every class had their ceremonial song, i sing the same song for three years straight. i still remember that song, but, you know, i have other fond memories of growing up here, locking the teacher and the supply cabinet, playing tag in the hallway, going up to the roof, throwing paper planes down the, to the kids playing in the playground. and, but, you know, most of all, my fondest memories

here is actually coming to this auditorium with my father as a child, watching samurai movies. and i still have that love today of watching those movies, actually. so the series shogun is, something very exciting to me. but i, i learned and had my love coming here with my father today. we're just not here to kick off the, capital campaign to rehabilitate kimono gakuin. we're here also to recognize assembly member phil ting for his incredible and historic support of japantown. you know, phil has always been a friend and supporter of japantown. he has, this is like been his second home. he's always attended events, come to festivals, he played basketball at the community center. even busy as an elected official, he would come and play basketball ball. but it was his historic

support that began began in 2021 that we will always be indebted and grateful to him, including 5 million to renovate to buchanan mall, 6 million to help renovate and redesign the peace plaza, and in 4.5 million to begin the rehab and renovation of this very school. this totals $15.5 million in just the last three years, and so, he will always be remembered. for not just, the, the contributing of money, but really for the permanent and lasting effect of how this is going to shape up and revive japantown for generations to come. so we are eternally grateful. i, known phil since he

actually was the executive director at the asian law caucus and served with him on the, the first california commission on asian pacific islander affairs, which was formed to help change the political climate of social issues for asian americans. but soon after that, phil was appointed, by then mayor gavin newsom, to be assessor, recorder of san francisco. and this really propelled his political career, winning each reelection by 80% of the vote. and then moving to the state assembly. which again, on on the very first day is leadership. he was appointed chair, caucus chair, by the speaker. and he again won an election by 80% of the vote. i wish he would take that 80% of the votes for other aspirations.

but we know, his political career is not ended. but as chair of the powerful assembly budget committee, it's where he started to really make an impact with by being the first asian american to hold that position. phil has led the efforts in everything that has impacted our lives, gun safety and environmental anti-hate homelessness, affordable affordable housing, health care, student support, public safety. you know, phil, unfortunately, will be turned out, i've never agreed with time limits. my feeling is if you don't like someone, then vote them out. but if they're good, you keep them in. unfortunately, we will be losing one of our best. but his contributions will be lasting,

his legacy will be his dedication to public welfare that has shaped the policies of the state and the city of san francisco and, of course, japantown. he has served as one of the most powerful asian american to ever serve the state and local government. but i was looking at jack chatgpt and it said phil tang's lasting political career is still unfolding. ladies and gentlemen, can i have a standing ovation for assembly member phil ting? thank you. paul it's a great honor for me to get introduced by my good friend paul ozaki, i think. i think when diane told my team that i was getting introduced, by a former student at the school, i was a little bit surprised that it was paul. not. not, to be honest. and i think now i know why. i can

imagine the five ozaki brothers here, or at least the four of them, you know, here at the same time. and i imagine out of all of them, john, i know john's here somewhere, that john probably is the best because he's got the best japanese out of all of them. that that. no, no. john's john shaking his head . no, not not not not not me either. you know, this is really exciting for me. i was here for, a couple months ago to do a tour of kimono gakuen, and it brings back my personal memories. i did, chinese school on the weekends. sort of similar to japanese school. and my dad was. my dad was the principal for a year as well. so that's always a very scary experiences when you're when your parent is actually involved in the school, because everyone sort of looks at how well you can speak the language as to how good the school is and so to me, you know, this is this is an amazing cultural place. i think diane

put the context very well that this was a community that was extraordinarily vibrant for decades before it got devastated during world war two, we've seen how hard it is and how hard the community has really fought to keep it together, to make it, the heart that it has been. and of course, as our community has grown and which is a good thing, you know, before we could only live in certain certain parts of san francisco. now that we've been able to grow and live all around the bay area, all around the state, our community has blossomed and been in many, many places. but having said this, this is still one of only three japan towns in the entire state. and this is a this to me is the center of not just japanese america, but this is a center of asian america. this is so important for us to be able to preserve our culture, to be able to come together as a community, but then also so to make sure that we are, holding each other

accountable for how we are going to continue to grow the next generation, how we are going to build future leaders. i look at paul, i even i know, you know, with, with with john moving forward, there's a lot of leadership that needs to step forward. and i think you need places like kimon gakuen to make sure that we are coming together, that we're organizing, that we are sharing our culture with others, but that really our kami that our communities are convening. and to me, that is extraordinarily, extraordinarily important. so when i had a chance to tour this facility with diane a few months ago and, you know, we talked about sort of what, what we could do at the state level and to be able to do $4.5 million in this last state budget was was a huge honor to me, because to me, i just see look at this. incredible. i mean, look at this incredible space, this incredible space that really is completely underutilized. but this historic

space in the heart of japantown town that really isn't just going to be for the gay community. it's going to be really for the asian-american community and really for the western addition community. right. and so that's something that we are extraordinarily proud to be part of. as paul mentioned, i was happy to also assist with buchanan mall, and i can't wait till that fountain, until that ruth asawa fountain gets turned back on. that's going to be very, very exciting to me. and paul's right. this is like i remember, paul talking to me, every time, i was running for something or thinking about running for something. he's like, you know, he's like, phil, you know, like, i mean, i'll support you, but you gotta you have to remain committed. you have to make sure that you, you know, i don't i don't want to just support you, and then you're going to disappear. and i think about that because i mentioned that to so many other candidates who asked for my support. and so i look at i look at my good friend paul osaki

and, and to me, you know, being elected isn't just about, you know, getting the support from the community. it's making sure that you remember what communities you come from. and to me, while i'm not j.r, this this community is very much part of me. it's part of my history in san francisco. and it means a lot to me, to be able to give back just a little bit and to support the community, the way the community has supported me. so again, thank you so much for, being here today. and i can't wait, till we get all the fundraising done so we can really reopen it fully and make it the hub of the community that it really deserves to be. thank you. thank you. and as a token of our appreciation, we'd like to ask our honorary chair, kinko sakamoto, to present a gift to you.

today, to help us. thank you, thank you, thank you. thank you. so it's a it's a gold origami lei. and as all of you probably know, the symbolic symbol of a crane, the origami crane means longevity. so we wish you, many, many years in elected office. assembly member in whatever capacity, and then for the big photo moment, if we could ask the assembly member to step back up again. and then with sakamoto and sano san, who is the president of our board, our check. we all kind of wish that this was written to us, but we are very honored to show you the

check from the state of california for 54. $5 million to kim mongaku. so. thank you so much, assembly member. and we're taking, things a little bit out of order because we are so lucky today that, we have mayor breed here

to join us and to introduce our mayor is richard hashimoto. a board member of kumon gakuen. thank you very much, once again, richard hashimoto. i've been a board member here for about 13 years. and when we first discussed this, plan, it was just a pipe dream. and while 13 years later, this pipe dream is coming to, to fruition. so thank you very much, state assembly member phil ting. and it gives me my humble, humble, to announce our next speaker, my esteemed, humble honor to announce mayor london breed. thank you, mayor. and, you know, just like paul did, a standing ovation for assembly member phil ting. madam mayor, could you all

join me for standing ovation for mayor london breed? thank you. thank. hello, everyone. it is so great to be here to celebrate this extraordinary milestone known. it's a bit of a homecoming for me, and i wanted to take an opportunity to really appreciate the history of this institution and what it is not only meant to the japanese community in the western addition, but also what it is meant to the african american community. in fact, we remember, unfortunately, what happened during world war two and the concentration camps and how so many japanese-americans who lived and built this community, were sent to those concentration camps. and at the same time, there was a huge migration of african americans into san francisco, working in the

shipyard. this place was used as a place where people would register and were assigned to places like the shipyard. but this institution also represented something very important to the african american community. it was once the booker t washington community center, and it was the booker t washington community center. when there was a need and desire to help support the african american community, in a way that allowed for job opportunities, business opportunities, growth and development. and the stories are, i'm sure some people here, including people like alan and sandy maury and others may have stories of that time, but we remember when people were coming home in 1945 from those same concentration camps and how the relationship between the japanese and african american community, became a bit more of a bond in recognizing our

struggles, our challenges, our issues. and in fact, this community came together to help raise money for the existing location of where booker t washington community center is and serves the community to this very day. so i'm really grateful to be here, and really grateful that through, the fund that has been created under the leadership of supervisor connie chan, working together, that it provided an opportunity for $5 million from the city and county of san francisco to add to the support from our assembly member, phil ting, to reach that extraordinary milestone of almost all of the money to renovate this space. and so i appreciate, being here today to celebrate and to, really see and experience the community firsthand, there are so many

people in this community that went to nihonmachi little friends, i didn't realize paul was one of them. and it's good to know that so many people who might be here today might have had that that great experience, including many of the friends that i grew up with who came to nihonmachi when it was here, through scholarships, through advocacy, through the raising of funds from so many of the board members who wanted to create a diverse group of students who can learn and grow with one another's culture. and that's what this community has always represented, an opportunity to learn, to grow and to continue the relationship and the commitment that we all enjoy with supporting one another. so it is great to be here. it's great to see each and every one of you here. and i want to say congratulations on this, this extraordinary milestone, we know that this is an historic building, and a lot of work will need to go into ensuring that through this process, it is

supported and protected. and i see a number of folks who have been involved in making sure that the resources are available to create the kind of institution that's going to serve this community for generations to come. thank you all so much for being here today . thank you very much, mayor reed. and we really appreciate the support from the city and county of san francisco. i hope that you will come back and come back often to see how we continue to rehabilitate, not only this auditorium, but the entire building. so to present to you as the mayor for the city and county of san francisco, we're going to ask, sakamoto san, our honorary chair for kimono gakuin, to present to you a origami. i'm sorry, i forgot

my big check . how we do. okay. oh yeah. i'm like. i didn't realize i signed the checks. okay okay. didn't know i had this money in

my bank account. alright thank you . thank you again, mayor breed. japantown has not seen this kind of money in a long, long time. i hope, though, it's not going to be the last, we're taking things a little bit out of order, but i know that all of you are very polished speakers, and you can speak at any time. so i'm going to ask, mr. sano, who is our president of the kimono gakuin

board, to introduce consul general ohsumi. thank you. diane, my name is shinichi sano. i'm the president of the kingman gakuin, it's my greatest pleasure to welcome, you all so that i may ask for your support for kim mongaku. we will renovate the building and maintain it so that we may continue to offer japanese language classes and to offer the japantown community a place they can use for the various events. the project will start here today and will continue until our goal is met, this project was started by my predecessor, miss kinko sakamoto , she proposed the renovation to

the building in 2016. at that time, she was, told it would cost, us 7 to $8 million, she read the board and received in 2019, landmark designation. and the legacy business, recognition for us. so we are receiving the, mcrd grant, this year. so we may be ready to start a project right now. we will, bring the history, to our future. now it is my honor to introduce our next speaker, the consul general of japan. or your ohsumi. thank you. hello, everyone. i'm glad

to be here. the opening of the mongolian capital campaign. and thank you to everyone involved in making this event possible, including today's speakers, of course, mayor breed, assemblymember, ten supervisors, preston and chen, and miss carly wong and the entire board of directors. so i'd like to talk about the value of connections today between the past and present, between countries and between communities. so i first visited this auditorium last september, right after i arrived in san francisco. the moment i entered, i stepped into this old auditorium. what i felt was history. the history of generations of japanese americans. so i almost heard tears of nisei, nisei, kids who

for whom this school presented the only opportunity to get a japanese education in the 1920s and 30s. and for nervous murmurs of families who were ordered to be present at the start of the war and the applause and letters of the gathering crowds, in the 50s and 60s, who came here to watch japanese movies. i realized polosak was one of them. and but in stead of laughing, he was crying all the time. he confessed he. but that sense of history are so palpable , and it speaks to this school's deep significance. this place has been a symbol for generations of nikkei for in san francisco. the second connection is between two countries, japan, the us and it. this is also

central to this story. last fall, during epic foreign minister kamikawa visited jk and c just a block from here, she met with japanese american community leaders and showed her appreciation and respect for nikkei community, who overcame historical hardships and have brought together japanese and american culture from the us side. they are having many similar appreciations from people including mayor breed and assembly member tim and all others who are here today. one of them is speaker emerita nancy pelosi, whom i welcomed last week at the consulate's annual reception in honor of emperor naruhito's birthday. she has been a lifelong supporter of japantown and japanese american community. she and her words

underscored the value of japanese americans unique role in our country. s relationship. for her great contribution in 2015, she was decorated by the current emperor's father, the emperor emeritus akihito, in tokyo. personally, and you know what? the emperor emeritus akiko hulton, a spry 91 years old this year, visit san francisco in 1960, and when she was a crown prince along with the then crown princess. and he was right here in this building at that time, the final type of connections that i'd like to mention is the connection between communities. on november 4th last year, refurbished the webster street village was opened. so go arm in arm along with mayor breed and

reverend arnold townsend. we crossed the bridge which is connecting western addition and japantown, that kind of thing that is a connection of communities today. king mongkut welcomes not just nikkei children, but children from all backgrounds. they come due to their interest in japan, its culture, its language, and study them from scratch so king mongkut can continue to nurture the communities connection to japanese culture, while also sharing japanese language and culture with known nikkei community in an inclusive way, and give back to the non-japanese communities, including api black and latino communities that have shown their support for over the years . so i see great things in store

for the future king moon gakuen and this is thanks in no small part to the efforts of lots of people already mentioned assembly member tim, whose initial support was critical and may have breed and the city who have lent great support to the school. with their support, king gakuen will be reborn as a hub for the nikkei community to share and promote japanese culture and as a center of contributing to connections both local and international. today, you likely passed the pagoda in peace plaza. it was donated by the city of osaka in 1968 and osaka, kansai will host a world expo in 2025. the expo theme is very much related to this ceremony. that is a design

designing future societies for our lives. this project at king mongkut is meant to design our future own future and the future of japantown. the city of san francisco. so the title of this groundbreaking event is sensibly titled bring history to our future. i look forward to seeing that vision that the vision of the future come to fruition. thank you very much. thank you very much. council jono, for your kind words. i'm sure some of you are wondering how we've been able to receive the gifts that we are honoring today. and let me tell you, it doesn't happen without a lot of

work to make sure that people know who you are and that you should receive the support. and fortunately for kim mongaku and we had a representative do the heavy lifting for us, get us into gear to submit these applications. he led us through the process, and he continues to use his first hand experience to make sure we make it across the finish line. i do not say these nice things just because he's my boss, but he is really a person with a strong conviction for community, community preservation and making sure community is here for the next generation. so i'd like to introduce dean taylor, executive director of the asian pacific islander legal outreach, who will then introduce supervisors preston and chen. thank you. so it's, pretty cold in here, you know, that we're going to spend the first dollars on new heating here. wow. so, i don't know if

you this is kind of a long program. if you want to stand up for a second and stretch, get the blood circulating. since it's so cold in here, i see kelly is. okay, fine. i gave you a chance. so, it's my pleasure to really introduce folks to get introduced to all the time, but for this program, this project for japantown, for the western addition community, these folks really are essential to this movement, for, community infrastructure, and so i want to first start out, by introducing the other dean in this district. i don't know if you know the other dean, but he's our supervisor, for the japantown area. and it's not just that he's been a supervisor, representing, the japantown,

community, but he's gone out of his way every step of the way with every single issue that we've asked him to, support us with. he's gone out of his way to come down here, talk to us about those issues, and step up. and that is very unusual for, i hate to say it, for a politician, for an elected official. so we extremely appreciative of dean preston's support and the value that he places for our community. please welcome supervisor preston. thank you so much, dean. and it is, it is only in japantown where i have to explain to people which dean i am. it's the only place i go. it's a very. my whole life, i never encounter another dean. and then now it's. i'm the other dean because of

this incredible man, but look, it is. i am so filled with joy today. it is great not just seeing this room. so full. being here with consul general, with assembly member ting, with the mayor, with my colleague, supervisor chan, with all these amazing advocates, diane and dean and paul and so many of you who have come together to, not just here in this essential and important renovation project, but in so many of the projects we've talked about, a lot of them, to really invest in japantown. and i can't tell you what an honor it is to represent the oldest japantown in the entire country and then to be standing here in a packed room in the oldest institution and building here within the oldest japantown. it's very humbling. i will say that. and i'm going to take you a little behind the

scenes. i won't be too long, i promise, but i'm going to take you a little behind the scenes because the money that comes to these kind of projects doesn't just happen. and i cannot sing the praises. enough of our assembly member, phil ting, and my colleague connie chan, and so i'm going to pop the hood a little and talk about how this happens, because it happens to me all the time when i'm in japantown and people come and they thank me for money for all these different things, and i have to sit there sometimes now, sometimes it's something i went to bat for. we had to fight to get this funding in the bond for the piece, other things like that. and sometimes i barely had to lift a finger because this man in sacramento was five steps ahead and either i called to ask for something, and before i finished the sentence, when it's about japantown, he says it's done or sometimes his staff is reaching out to tell me the

supervisor of the district, that they've already done the work. and i just that is so rare. i want to say i, you know, everywhere else in my district and i think for most of my colleagues, you have to fight tooth and nail, especially to get people at the state level or any other level of government to pay attention to something in your district. and it is the exact opposite and has been since the day i took office four years ago in dealing with phil tang. so i was thrilled not just to be here to celebrate the investments in this very special place, but to come and be part of celebrating phil ting's leadership. and i'm going to tell you, the local side of it. yeah, you can clap, please, again for phil chan. so, similar experience in getting these local funds and very much appreciate the partnership, from the mayor and from the entire board of supervisors, but i was trying to push, a kind of crazy amount of affordable housing funding in 2022. and my

colleagues were looking at me like i had three heads. and connie chan was trying to push the aapi equity fund with carly and everyone. a lot of people in city hall were looking at them like they had three heads and connie and i joined forces in a very innovative, i think the first time it had been done in the budget process, a $112 million using long terme debt financing, stuff that i barely understand. but thank god the controller understood it, but we fought for it, and that is what created that. and connie, i'm sure, will speak more about it, but that is what created the city side of these funds. and i want to say it didn't come easy, and it was the last thing to be negotiated in the 2022 budget, and everyone was up late. and that was the piece. and we're just so thrilled that that happened. and i just want to say without question, while i'm very

proud of all these investments, and i look forward to this work being done here and this incredible school and community center being, re-envisioned. and better than ever. i just want to make very, very clear, that this would not be happening without the incredible leadership at the state level of filtering and locally, of my friend and colleague connie chan. thank you all so much. so, supervisor connie chan, district one, has a large population of aapi folks, a lot of jazz moved out of the japantown area because of forced relocation and ended up in, in district one, but that has nothing to do with connie chan's commitment to the aapi community and san francisco in general, under her leadership as the

budget chair, not only has she pushed forward the aapi equity fund, but and i remember having to meet with her on a sunday afternoon or something out in the richmond district to talk about how we're going to get this done, that's a type of commitment that she has to building the infrastructure of all the aapi communities, especially serving the disadvantage of san francisco. but connie, not only has been the spearhead for this project, but is always there when community services need support. and she understands the needs of for, for, you know, culturally competent community services across, the, the city. and so we really appreciate her ongoing support. and i just have to mention that these two supervisors are up for reelection. so, you know what what we have to do. please welcome connie chan. thank you.

you're all too kind, i'm keeping my mask on. i'm. i'm just getting over a cold, but i'm just so honored and grateful to be with all of you here, let me just say this. that as a first generation immigrant, i came to san francisco as chinatown when i was 13 years old. and so that's my experience as immigrant and growing up here. everything that i can get my hands on, you know, coming back from hong kong or taiwan or china and just thinking about food, music, you know, film. and so for sure, just like paul, my son is looking forward to the next like shogun. but i said, i'm not going to cover your eyes on the racist scenes, so watch out, so while us as immigrants and even generations of immigrants, those are born here, like my son, we grabs on to our

roots and we want to know our roots. but nothing, nothing compares to a space where our community can actually gather in person. physically, nothing compared to a space where i have said this before, but being able to speak our language, eat our food, enjoy our music with each other in a very safe space is amazing thing. and i think that is what this space is represents . and i'm so grateful to see the slogan of bringing history to our future as a mom that i want to say, that's exactly what i look forward to see all the spaces serving our aapi community. that's exactly that. that we bring the history to our future. but most importantly, what i'm grateful for, is that we're doing it together and i want to say the aapi equity fund. the idea really is actually coming from assembly member phil tang, who actually reminded me during this time when we fight against anti-asian

sentiment, is that we need that space that we can call home and that he consistently invests all over san francisco. i think that when we look back five years from now and we're going to see many asian communities thriving and having a safe space and community hub, i think i can almost point to you that every single one of them is because assembly member phil tang and contribution. and so for that, he deserves way more than that. lei and, you know, our standing ovation and i think unlike paul, i think he's not done i think he's going to go somewhere with that. and i'm just really grateful. and for supervisor dean preston, i sometimes joke he's my brother from another mother. and because again, we serve this community. but let me end with this. none of this can happen without you, the community that loves it, the community that attends to it, those that may not be recognized

and be named from time and time again. the generations of our elders and the generations to come that that is because of you, the community is the reason why we're here and that why we're doing this. so for that, i'm going to test out my japanese paul, because i must. so next i have the, pleasure of introducing kelly wong, who is the director of the aapi council. and you're going to say, let's say aapi council. what is that? chamber of commerce? what the aapi council is the strongest? body of nonprofit leadership in in san francisco and probably in california. and the aapi council is kind of one of those grassroots organizations under the radar, is responsible for most of the commune's city service funding. in san francisco, most of the, advocacy

for folks that don't have their own voices, and it really, is the most effective organization when it comes to, initiatives like the aapi equity fund. and i have to give a shout out before kelly comes up here to david ho, who i think was in the back somewhere. he's trying to be anonymous, but. david ho, was na egging me about this equity fund idea. i don't know if he got that from phil ting or kelly, but kelly looked at me and said, is he crazy? he wants to build all these community centers in to build up the permanent infrastructure of the aapi communities in san francisco. and this is where we are today. david kelly, under her leadership, the aapi council would be probably like infighting all the time. but we

are a united force for community services. and we thank you, kelly, please come up. thank you. dean, i think you basically said it all, so i don't have much to speak about, but i was asked to speak a little bit about the api equity fund. and, you know, once again, i think we don't think this person enough. and that is supervisor connie chang. under her leadership, we have today spent over $30 million in api equity fund. those that $30 million have officially funded, six buildings throughout san francisco. we have one in chinatown, two in soma, one in the tl, this one in japantown, and one in the richmond. and again, you know,

connie did this. i want to mention before she became budget chair. so that in itself gets, i believe, a standing ovation. so thank you. thank you, connie, for always looking out. you know, for our aapi communities in san francisco. you know, throughout this process, when we were surveying members in different community organizer locations, we were looking at, you know, what do we want to do in japantown? out of the six buildings, this was the only building that the community already owned. so the idea behind the api equity fund during recovery, coming out of this high intensity of anti-asian hate was how do we bring services to its home? majority of nonprofits in san francisco, they don't actually own their own home where they're providing services. and that gets very scary and tricky and dangerous for, you know, communities of need throughout this whole process, especially japantown, everyone said, we

don't want to buy a building. we want to bring alive and renovate kumon gakuen. so it just brings me such joy and pleasure to be here today. and i just want to give a final shout out to assembly member phil ting. out of the six buildings i'm pretty sure he is. also, funding is matching, you know, 95% out of the six. so this is really the api equity fund. and under the leadership of phil is really a great example of when community comes together, when the city comes together and when the state comes together, we can really bring back so much, you know, for immigrant communities, for immigrant corridors and just history of what brings us all together. so i look forward to see this building up and running in a few years. i remember being here just two years ago with diane and dean and rich and we

are just so excited. hopefully next time we come here we can have another celebration. so thank you. thank you so much. and please know we don't take your support of gakuen lightly. we will use it, and make sure that we bring you a, a fully rehabilitated building that will be able for all community to use . so, kelly mentioned a little bit about history. and, some of you know that i'm kind of into history. so i just wanted to share a little bit about, this building and its landmark. let's see, in 2019, kim gakuen was granted landmark designation by the city and county of san francisco. and even though san francisco has been recognized as a us city since 1850 and have

tons of buildings and structures all over the city, we only have a little over 300 landmarks and kim moon gakuen is landmark number 288. so please know that this is a big deal. please clap your hands. that's a big deal. and when the city the board are two great board members, our favorite board members voted to make kim moon gakuen a landmark designation. they noted the significance about kim moon gakuen is placed in the city for its association with its social, cultural, educational, enrichment of japanese americans in san francisco during the 20th century, and because of its association as a processing center during world war two, and to this date there are no other san francisco landmarks specifically related to japanese american history, so, i know

that many of you in this room are very happy and are very vested in kim moon gakuen, and i hope that you will now take pride that it is one of the very few landmarks in our city. i also want to acknowledge that kim moon gakuen is a legacy business. we do have rick carrillo, who is the business program manager of the legacy business program, i want to give a big plug to rick and to the legacy business program. and to any of those legacy business owners who may be in the audience today. this is a really special program that really goes out of its way to recognize the hard work of small businesses in in the city. and, rick, in particular, works really hard to get them recognized. he actually sometimes writes the applications for them. so please come talk to him if you want to know more about the program and

get your business. the recognition that it deserves. so, we are now coming to the conclusion of our, our program, but it is a special way that we are going to conclude today. i'd like to ask our two new co-chairs of the capital campaign to come forward. i'd like to introduce them to all of you. it's doctor yasuko fukuda and jeffrey matsuoka, and they are going to come up here and they're going to, as our first donation, a community, our first community donation, accept a gift from boku kodama from the committee against nihonmachi eviction. boku, are you here? lunchtime and then we'll adjourn for lunch. just give us a second. hi. good afternoon

everyone. my name is jeffrey matsuoka and i'm one of the co-chairs, along with yasuko on the capital campaign. and i want to welcome everybody and really, really appreciate all the support that you've given us, especially especially assemblyman king. but all of you who are here today and, you know, i hope that we can all work together to make this a really great space. i have deep roots here. i came to like yoshiko. i was a student here. i remember sitting up, standing up here on the stage as a six year old kid with ohanashi taikai, so i really appreciate we really appreciate your continued support for shimo gakuen. we're going to really make this a really nice space. so. so this place really brings back some memories, you know, talk about how old i am. i was here as an usher in the late 50s, as an eight year old boy, when they

had the japanese films here, also, my three kids went to neil gorsuch little friends. so this place really does have a lot of history for me. so i am representing, the organizers of the committee against nihonmachi eviction, back in the 70s, we were involved in fighting to preserve the community, so, so one of the things that we wanted to do is pay things forward. and so we got together at the 50th anniversary, which was last august, and, we celebrated, what cain had done in the community as well as the all the people that were involved in the community at the time and trying to maintain the personal the, ownership ships, the local ownerships of the community and that's what the fight was all about, in that, at the 50th anniversary, we came up with a thing called the sansei legacy, fund, and it's that sansei

legacy. org, if you're interested. and we started to put together funds from all the people that organize the cain reunion. and so that's what this check is all about, so it's the first installment. it's $9,400, that we're giving over to the to the kimon. all all individuals. so we're hoping that this will spark more of the individuals in the community, especially among the sansei, who we hope will follow their parents, the nisei who gave so generously to the community. we hope that we're going to be able to do the same thing here. the theme of this, which is, the history part, is really important as well. and so several of us, during a two year period developed a documentary about, about japantowns, fight for recognition and ownership

back in 1972. the title of the film is called gambaro, prince akihito and princess michiko kane. and i got to get dressed up in a kimono to greet them. my mother was all dressed up. the whole community was dressed up, and i kind of remember them. i more remember the private jet that they had and i got to tour it. but isn't that amazing that we had a community here that not only serves the local area, and now i see it as not just san francisco, in california, in the united states, to really promote our culture, language, traditions and build that bridge because we really are global and we need the international connections as well. thank you all very, very much. and i'm delighted to be involved in this. i don't like that very much. do i give this to you? get

that today? yeah, thank you. kane, this is a very, very meaningful gift to all of us, it means just as much as our gifts from the state of california and from the city and county of san francisco and i think it was mentioned earlier, phil, we wish that we could make those, origami cranleigh's into real gold for you, because that's how much you mean to us. but i hope that you will take it as our appreciation for the leadership that you have given us and for, i think members of the mayor's office of community and housing, are here. and we also want to thank moe cd for, your support. and we look forward to working with all of you. so thank you again for coming out, before you leave, please take a look at what the future of this particular auditorium and our whole building will look like under the direction of trainer

angel. i believe they are here. and i want to give a big shout out to them because they've stuck with us through thick and thin again. thank you. phil thank you city. and please stick around and have some food. dean made it. so if dean makes it, you should stick around. thank you chinatown. >> (music).

>> welcome to san francisco japantown. >> san francisco japantown is the oddity downtown in the united states. >> it was founded in the late 1800s by japanese immigrants for construction over the jars japantown has become a home to a japanese community with restaurants and shops and a popular tourism decision in the heart of san francisco. and san francisco and japantown is quite unique it is one of the three remaining chung's by the states

and how i explain japantown we're a city within a city to taste and experience the japanese culture but really be a community what is all about and one of the best things about japantown is the food. there are dozens of shops in the neighborhood serving from modern deserts and go with friends. >> (speaking foreign language.) >> my name is t a leader of the japantown to we try to provide something they creates like savory yummy favors we try to provide like japanese flavor as well as for the japanese

customers. >> if you're foodie or looking for a quick and delicious meal you're sure to find something. >> it is a authentic japanese deter and drink shop special lists in we also offer a roasted green tea and we have flares and other flavors we're known for ice cream and sun disingenuous. >> japantown is a variety of culture contributions with the community center the eight amendment association of north california. >> (speaking foreign language.) >> this tearoom is designed by the tearoom art (unintelligible)

and then they built everything in jpa that is a a he ship it to the united states. with the carpenter and this is one of the public only two in the united states and the japantown takes you on journey sdlts neighborhoods and the history was a self guided tour you start by japantown center west mall and work your way and learn about the history what made japantown had say is today. >> what as young people; right? what to make sure this stays here for the future. speaking of future you can enter the world of augmented reality created we adobe in a phone stand under

which of the store we call that the tree ar experience a great opportunity to do something completely different that will take you to the future with a immersion of an experience? incredible. in addition to the culture and ar contribution japantown hosted festivities and events throughout the year some are the cheri blossom festival. and after dark japantown comes life with night clubs and or joy serene moments through the illuminated part and san francisco is japantown an engaging community that likewise people to experience japanese

culture with food and exciting events and japantown is a must see for any visitor to san >> good morning, everyone natasha can you go ahead and get started with item number one, on the agenda. >> the meeting is a starting at 94 a a.m. item roll call. >> member crawford present. >> member larkin present. >> member mathews