san francisco police department -- they have walked with us on our what the school day, so i appreciate that. however, every wednesday, i do want kids to school, and their lives are my responsibility, and i would like the hon. the other thing -- affordable housing sounds very nice and all, but we need jobs. affordable housing cannot be affordable if you do not have a job. we have lots of vacant lots, and i want to know what the city of san francisco is doing to put businesses in these and the lots. i have been living here for a 30-some-odd years, and these lots have been empty for a long time. and thank you all -- you came out here tonight -- you could have been anywhere else, but you came here. thank you for that. [speaking spanish]

so thank you so much. [applause] >> ok, the only thing i have heard tonight is what we want, but the first thing we need to do is cut, and i do not know if people are getting paid for this or not, but we need to cut out these commissions. there are too many agencies. the city is the only city that has too many agencies, as small as it is. i do not know why the police department has to have the occ and the police commission. are like the police to take its own business and enforce the law. and they are not bad. i know some chapters, and the officers, and we need to start cutting at the top, get these commissioners out of the way.

affordable housing -- people choose to live this way, fine. they did not have to have 10 automobiles. they do not have enough guts to get near my driveway. [laughter] they do not. they run. they stand up to the police, but when i come, they fly. so let's start at the top and then work down. [applause] >> good evening, everyone. i'm here to support the excelsior family connections. [applause] i have two kids. one is 2 1/2, and the little one is five months. with two kids, and working, i have a lot of stress from kids, from my husband, from my work. and financial stress.

so the staff at the excelsior family connections some crying, and they came up to me and asked if i was ok. they are just like my family. i go there every day, and i see the staff there more than i see my siblings. they have therapist's there to help me solve my family problems, my stress, and they are the ones who told me that i have the postpartum depression. so i am so glad they found out my depression. and i am able to go to my doctor. i did not realize. without them, i think i would

have gotten a divorce from my husband already and have a broken family. i really hope that -- please, do not cut the funds. and i really hope that they can continue the service that they have provided to me, and i really want the service to be able to provide to fit people like me and families like my family. thank you. [applause] >> good evening, everyone. i am director of economic development department, self- help for the elderly. self-help for the elderly has 45 years of history serving opinions, and we are serving 35,000 seniors annually in the bay area, and our senior community service employment program serves the clients city- wide.

many of them actually are low- income elderly who are the most vulnerable. so we understand the challenge that our city is facing, especially in these difficult economic times. so we urge the city, and especially supervisor avalos, to keep the safety net for this most vulnerable population in district 11. thank you. [applause] >> good evening. i am a native of the excelsior district. i went to monroe elementary school and balboa high school. [applause] yeah. i am still here in the community, and i have a lot of investment in my community, and it is so important to meet the demands of the people. i am a product of the california

public school education. i have not finished college, so i think it is so important that these programs, from elvis to youth, -- from elders to use, are not taking away from the people by giving to the people and our extended rather than cut. you mentioned earlier in the program how much other districts have wealthy people in their districts. i think it is so important to close that tax loopholes and increase the taxes of the wealthy. i disagree with you, mayor, in terms of cutting the pensions and looking at that as something to cut employees' benefits. i think that sets up a front for people working people -- and use a working-class families -- to be fighting against each other for all these cuts and pieces. i do not think that we should be fighting for crumbs. i think we need the whole damned

pie. we need to teach our kids. we need to keep our streets clean. workers are not the enemy. students are not the enemy. therefore, we need to be working together and really keep the demand of what everybody is saying tonight. thank you. [applause] >> hello. i am a youth worker for the burn all -- burn all heights -- bernal heights neighborhood. all of our participants get a large scope of community work when it comes to our organization. what i'm here to talk about tonight, though, is i think that our youth did a great job advocating for themselves and services, but i would like to advocate youth for advocate workers. it is difficult for us to sustain services for our youth. we constantly have to figure had

a rework our programs and time schedules and staff, and it makes a very unstable environment for our young people. consistency is key. having our youth know that they can come to us, what time they can come to us, what time we will be available to provide services is very important. with the cuts, it is difficult for us to provide those services. it also takes away from the support the us as community workers get, which is difficult because we are getting the brunt of what the community is experiencing. that being the case, we also need support. we need people that we can go and talk to and we can go to for advice and for how to continue to serve our people, right? because we are the front line. so i encourage you guys to stabilize the budget so we can continue to provide those services, so we can continue to grow and have a stable community and continue educating our youth.

education does not only happen within the schools. happens outside the schools so they apply the things they learned. we are some of the places that they can go ahead and get that experience. yes, that is all i have to say. thank you. [applause] >> ok, so, hello. i am a seventh grader, and i go to [inaudible] [applause] well, i have a lot to say, but, coming here in sixth grade, i was a b/c student. i was not really that interested in everything at school, but once i started going to begin -- beacon, i became more interested in school, and i got straight a 's now.

[applause] i have more friends -- like, it is just -- and every day, when you go to school, it is like most people think, "0, they are going because they have to end it is not that fun," but when you look forward to going to beacon and ace afterward, it gets you looking forward to going because you know there will be something fun afterwards, and to hear that case is being cut -- ace is being cut. [applause] >> thank you. good evening. i'm glad you guys are here to hear us out. i am a home care worker. i'm here to speak on behalf of all the home care workers in san

francisco, not just the people here. our concern is that the city is trying to increase our insurance premium. i am just going to read because i know i have two minutes. in february of this year, we were cut 3.6% of our client hours, which affects also the care provider wages and damages our budget. the city and county of san francisco's already saving over $10 million. now, the city wants to save another $184,000, which is 330% increase to our insurance premiums. the workers have not seen an increase in our wages since 2008. every year, the san francisco minimal consultation orders under sheet cost of living adjustments, but every year, we are excluded from a wage increase enjoyed by thousands of others.

a lot of the workers have lost their eligibility for health insurance because of the cuts of 3.6%, and some of us are working, but still well as low- income, but we still pay our premium. with the increase, our premiums -- we would have to stop paying for it and apply for healthy families, which the city of san francisco with a 100% of our health care. example -- right now, if the coverage is $300 per person, the city of san francisco only is 13% of that, which is $39 per person. the city of san francisco has a savings of $261, but some workers cannot afford the increase and fall under the low- income bracket. the city of san francisco will have to pay 100% of health-care costs per person, which would be the whole $300 with no savings to the city. i am here and saying this on behalf of all of us here in san

francisco, and we serve all the disabled and all the senior citizens throughout san francisco, and they want to live in their homes with dignity. they deserve that right because they have paid their taxes, work hard to enjoy what they have worked so hard for. also, i heard about the pension plan. home care workers have no pension plan for days off or sick days. i hope you can look into that as well. thank you. [applause] supervisor avalos: thank you. these will be the last three speakers. we will have to close soon. thank you. >> good evening. i represent more real tv and the osiris coalition. i always hate tried to plan what i am going to say. but i will say it that i was watching the news, and i heard about the cuts that were going

to happen for sfpd. the thing that bothered me most is that once we -- once they decide that they are going to get funding, that they were probably going to hire officers that were not even from the city, and i think that really would affect the youth really bad if that happens because -- and also, i would feel bad for the officers that were not from the city and came here because it is like coming from one place to the next, and you are not even used to what is going on around here anyway. think about an officer trying to make adjustments to get used to what is going on in this city, how much havoc that can actually occur with in trying to adjust to the city life. also, the youth programs, they also need to be funded. it is very important. all of them. because it all goes hand in

hand. they are pulled in so many different directions with the music industry, with entertainment, with whatever is going on, they are pulled in so many different directions that when it gets down to real life problems and issues, we have to be able to lead by example. and i deal with a lot of youth in my home, and they have issues with police officers. i tell them that police officers are just like how i feel about you guys. i cannot live with them, and in certain instances, i cannot live without them. and that is being totally honest. i am like, "you will get on my nerves, but i love you." [laughter] that is why it is important to keep everything within a city and within a community. also, i'd like to add that i do not believe in the asians being attacked by african-americans. i did not believe in that type of stuff. i have lived in the late the

district for about five years now, and there was an elderly asian lady who needed help, and i was going on a walk early in the morning, and she needed help with her garbage cans, and she did not break a sweat to ask me to pick them up, you know? and i have had issues walking down the street and people grabbed their purse or they will step aside, you know, but she did not have a problem at all, and that really touched me and let me know that when you have elderly people like that, when they teach the youth something, that plants very good seeds for the future. i never believed in that, and also, with the blacks and latin people, because i am originally from district 10, bay view, but i went to school in the mission district from elementary all the way to high school.

sanchez elementary school. i went to every element -- everett middle school. i am city-wide. i love the city, and also, avalos, i really appreciate what you're doing here. you are such a patient gentlemen, and i appreciate that. you guys have seen me around. i have been behind the camera. my camera is always up there. but i will just say this -- i was very disappointed in the last town hall meeting in district 10. i wanted to speak for that district because i was born and raised there, but things were a little bit dicey, and i did not want to say anything, but i appreciate that you gave us the time and were very patient. and the rest of you, too. thank you very much. [applause] >> good evening. i work as the senior case manager, and my request is

pretty specific. i think our youth said more than any of us could, but ocean view is really in dire need of a one- stop location. the similar to the one established in visitation valley that is not 100% functional yet, but it is something we are really lacking. vichy -- mission is too far. southeast is not only not functional right now, but also, there are neighborhood issues, so the logistics are always hard. as a case manager, a twice a week go to each one stock to bring job listings back to the center. we were able to bring 40 kids tonight. i would say probably 80% of them are employed, either through our organization or through connections we have made with them. arturo's and brandon's ability to be so eloquent is a direct

result of the confidence they have gained while working. it would certainly make things easier not only on staff but also on the kids we serve. [applause] >> hello. i am executive co-director of inner-city youth. i'm just really thankful to have you guys out here. i think you have heard this in million times today. it is just really nice to see you guys take an interest in this neighborhood. i think for so long, people have felt that this district has been overlooked and underserved. i'd not remember seeing this many department heads ever hear just on behalf of lake view and the young people i work with, it is an investment you will definitely get a return on. it is definitely an investment you will get a return on. it is worth it. they are worth it, and this city is worth it, so thank you so much. [applause] supervisor avalos: that is what i was going to say. thank you very much, and thank

you all for the public comment, and for the presentations, showing us our needs and what our assets are and what we feel our solutions to our budget crisis. i want to thank mayor lee for being here. . chu, you're doing a great job here you're coming out here is above and beyond, so thank you very much for your hard work beard and all our department heads and city staff, thank you for your presence here. it means a lot to us to be able to share with you our stories about our district and what it is like for us. we want to build a partnership. we can find the solutions to make our city services stable and be affected. i have seen many people come forward today but i know whose lives have personally changed by the work we have done as a city to ensure that we have these services in place. so that is something we can all be proud of and we can have as a

goal for ourselves through the budget process to make sure that we can continue that effort, make sure that we can turn lives around and create stable communities. thank you so much for being here. [applause] >> hello. 9 judge terri l. jackson. the court is now recruiting prospective civil grand jurors. our goal is to develop a pool of candidates that is inclusive of all segments of our city's population. >> the jury conducts investigations and publishes findings and recommendations. these reports them become a key part of the civic dialog on how we can make san francisco a better place to live and work. >> i want to encourage anyone

that is on the fence, is considering participating as a grand jury member, to do so. >> so if you are interested in our local city government and would like to work with 18 other enthusiastic citizens committed to improving its operations, i encourage you to consider applying for service on the civil grand jury. >> for more information, visit the civil grand jury website at sfgov.org/courts or call

>> welcome to culture wire. the city rolls of the red carpet to host the international film festival. the actors, directors, and others in among luminaries around the globe. we will get a sneak peek of this year's exciting program.

>> welcome to "culture wire." in april, the 50 forces and francisco international film festival will be taking place. joining me to talk about the programming is the director of programming for the san francisco film festival. rachel, welcome to "culture wire." i look forward to this every year. my first question is, what will be the opening night film? >> we have a terrific film for opening night. it is called a beginners and as an american independent film that stars ewan mcgregor and christopher plumber. >> what kind of music is that? >> house music. >> it is a hard to describe

story with a lot of humor and heart. >> what are the other highlights? >> there are so many great films. it is hard to pick out the favorites. we have over 200 films and the festival. we have some other wonderful american independent films like the centerpiece premier that stars john c. reilly. including the closing nine film that really shows the crossroads of internationalism that the festival. >> it is not just about the two weeks of the festival. you guys also run really fascinating programs for the bay area. >> really don't stopped

screening films. we have a series of festivals in the fall for the fall season. and we often do week-long runs at theaters around the bay area so that people who want to see the kind of films that we show at the festival can see them all year long. and we have a wonderful filmmaker services department. we can provide fiscal sponsorship and a lot of great advice. finally, we have a really robust education department. people that want to learn about filmmaking can take some of our fantastic glasses. >> one of the things that impresses me about the film festival is sort of the impact that it has. i know you guys are the longest running film festival in the americas. >> it was always a great

festival for the city of san francisco, so our constituents are the people of san francisco. we want to do what we can to reach out to as many kinds of populations as we can. one way we do that is by bringing in guests. that is one of the things that makes a festival exciting. not only do get to see films that you might not otherwise see, but you can meet a director or an actor and hear about their prospective making the film. the one thing that i always like to tell people who have never been to a film festival before is that it can sometimes seem daunting from the outside because he will pick up the program guide and it has 100 name movies and seems a bit hard to navigate in the beginning. but it is really worth it as you know from coming. the atmosphere in december, the

interaction with other guests, the films themselves make it a great couple of weeks. >> it is important to participate and take advantage of this treasure trove of films from how many countries? >> is usually between 40 and 50 countries. >> it is an impressive range of filmmakers and the national perspectives that gets represented in the film festival. thank you for bringing this festival to san francisco every year.