my name is lauren ellis, the very proud owner of ck contemp rear a art gallery on powell street. i moved to san francisco at 21 and took my firs job on geary street. this year i celebrated 20 years of working in the heart of union square, including the last 11 years of the small business owner. [applause] in late 2019, i signed a lease to move my gallery from geary street to powell. i made the decision because at that time, powell was the gold standard. it was the bustling vibrant heart of the city economic core and the best place in san francisco for a business like mine to expand and thrive. unfortunately in the devastating after effect of covid-19 we never had the chance to experience the reality. instead rkts i opened my doors in august of 2020 and spent the last four years grappling with a very different version of my beloved powell. one where it long standing businesses around us shuttered, cable car empty and office workers disappeared. at present, we are one of the few businesses that held on, but the surrounding vacancies caused foot traffic to plummet along with sales a