going to use this in a san francisco way. the federal government created a housing trust fund and never funded it. the state government had a housing trust fund program that has really been sort of fair to middling to say the best. we're going to create a housing trust fund in san francisco that once again shows that san francisco is the leader in affordable housing development and finance. i really appreciate the mayor giving me this responsibility to work with all of you, both in front of me and behind me, to shepherd this effort through. the mayor clearly believes in the big tent. this is probably the size of the first working group meeting. we will look and receive all sorts of ideas because i think we really, truly want to take this opportunity because it is going to be a permanent source. it is not just a one or two-year

program. this is a permanent program, and we are going to do it, and we are going to do it right. again, i want to thank the mayor for this opportunity to lead this effort. [applause] >> ok, this one is for mayor lee. it is more of a chart, but it is an illustration as well. "time" magazine said 2011 was the year of the protester, right? i want 2012 to be the year of collaboration and getting it done. this is new. this is different. we are talking about the super bowl of life. we are in the playoffs already. we need offense, defense, protesters, advocates, a business community, religious leaders. you know, we cannot just pray about it. we have to put some of our money where our mouth is. we need san francisco to pull together to deal with the super bowl of life issue, which is

housing. why were people protesting last year? there is no housing. we have to do something. the state let us behind. the feds did, too, but san francisco was going to find a way. i want to give a big hand to the coach, the quarterback. we are calling the play now, right? san francisco, we want to score for affordable and moderate rate housing. thank you. this is a beautiful illustration of that. the one and only rev. dr. mcrae. a brother, an advocate. he can do better than i could. >> the mayor used the word promise. for many in the religious community, we live with the promise. the promise is that the cities will be repaired and that the former devastation will be

reversed. the mayor said we come together because of a promise. i stand with brother roger's. his mother five years and years in this community for the promise -- this project took many years, many iterations, did it not? it took the whole community working together because we believed in the promise that san francisco will be repaired. san francisco will go into the future, and san francisco will remain a model city for all of these united states. mayor lee, thank you. because you gave us a promise last sunday afternoon that this was going to be an item. before i could almost get home, the item is coming to fruition. because we are taking the first

step. thank you. as i say all of the time, maybe lord bless you and keep you. maybe lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. maybe lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, reverend. i know we are on the verge of a very memorable and promise- filled weekend. martin luther king weekend as well where we renew those promises all the time, but in san francisco, it is also about delivering on those promises. i know we have been delivering on a lot of stuff, not only for investors, but also things that have been working with everybody to produce housing. oz, come on up. >> thanks. sunday, the mayor talked about the really important things in

san francisco. he said jobs, jobs, jobs. it is great to read in the paper about salesforce leasing 300,000 square feet. it is great to hear them leasing 300 million square feet. 400,000 square feet translates into 1000 units of needed campus -- needed housing. 2 million square feet is 5000 units of housing. we have an incredibly difficult problem supplying housing. we need 20,000 units of housing over the next 10 years. at a minimum. more like 30,000 with the growth in jobs if the mayor has his way. this is a very urgent, needed process. i am very optimistic that we will all be able to work together and come up with a program that will deliver housing and affordable housing for san francisco. [applause]

mayor lee: let me be it -- let me reiterate by closing that there is no prescribed solution going into this process. we have to be open to everybody's input. i make that commitment that we are going to open ourselves up. there's nothing to say that any idea coming forward cannot be a good one but also be integrated with everybody else's idea. i want to signal that to everyone that is going to participate and watch as this effort continues, but at the end of the day, we have to act, and we have to get an agreement, and we have to produce housing that is affordable to all in comes in san francisco. we must do that, and we must honor an opportunity that i think the voters are giving all of us, that we have to come up with solutions and come up with them quickly in a timely fashion. with that, i charge everybody here today -- put your best

effort forward. be honest. be delivered of. the collaborative -- be deliberative. be collaborative. let's get it done. thank you very much. [applause] >> so, welcome to city hall, i am supervisor scott wiener. thank you for coming to this press conference today to show our city pose a continuing and

renewed commitment to a jedd b/aids services and prevention and treatment. i am going to turn it over to mayor lee to make an announcement. before i do, i want to thank mayor lee for appointing our wonderful new colleague, supervisor christina olague, who is here today. thank you, mayor lee, for increasing the size of the lgbt caucus by 50% of the board. [laughter] with that said, mayor ed lee. >> thank you. good morning, everyone. we have a very serious challenge for us. as i had said in not only the speech that i gave on that sunday, but i have been talking with members of the board, and i really want to thank supervisor wiener and supervisor campos and supervisor olague for joining me today for this announcement. i said earlier through the year that i always have to watch out for what is not occurring, but

that the state level and at the federal level. one of those challenges has been fiscal. we're not hearing very good news. one of those news items that i was fearful of was lynnette supercommittee that congress created to try to come together and make an agreement with all the different parties, cells in their objectives, our cities across the country were hurt by that. one of those programs that we value so much that our leader pelosi has been at such a stalwart leader in in helping our city is our aids funding. i want to take this opportunity to thank leader pelosi for all three years commitment on this. she has showed us the way time and time again how valuable this program has been, how remarkable, world-class standards that our public health department in our community service providers have had in

creating and sustaining an effort to help our victims of aids and hiv in a standard of care that has met no match throughout the whole world here in san francisco. because of that, we are announcing, and i am introducing, with the help of our sponsors here today, a $1.8 million supplemental to be introduced to the board today, to help fill that gap of what was to have been a federal responsibility that is now transferred on to the city of san francisco. in support to us to maintain the level of services and to put out their the quality of the services to our common not only are a lesbian, gay, and bisexual community, but all of the community of san francisco. this is one of the most important programs we have had introduced to our city, and it

will continue to be so. this is a reflection of our commitment. this $1.8 million supplemental will be aimed at making sure the level of services that had been promised already this year will be maintained to the end of the fiscal year. while we figure out what the long-term challenge is for all of us, and we have got to figure that out. we have got to do it together. we have to bring everybody to the table to figure out what we do in the next year. but it is one of the challenges that i and my staff, working with our budget director and all of the different community-based agencies and our public health department, along with the board of supervisors, are willing to meet, willing to take on. because it is a program that we know has been effective. it has saved lives. it has increased the quality of life for so many people because of the kind of care that week reflected in it. it is important to us that we do

this. but i do it also, again, as i said earlier, under the context that leader pelosi would want us to do no less. plan and now, when so many of the years she stepped up to help find the federal funding to save it, it is our turn to step up one hour congress is not able to make that task, and we're stepping up. i want to say thank you to everybody behind me. we have representative reynolds here on behalf of congresswoman pelosi. i value his work with us on a local basis. and then all of our community partners who have been with us for many, many years. i want to thank them, too, for their invaluable service to us. thank you. scott -- [applause] >> thank you, mr. mayor. when supervisor campos and i went to merely to ask him to work with us on this -- went to

mayor lee to ask him to work with on this, he was enthusiastic and rock-solid in his support. i had the honor of representing district 8, which includes the castro and surrounding neighborhoods, and my district has been the hardest hit by the hiv/aids pandemic. and it has the highest number of people living with hiv/aids. and i see, every single day, constituents of mine who absolutely depend on these services, whether it is access to housing, legal services, to health care, to mental health services. these are not optional services. these are not luxury services. these are basic bedrock services for a significant number of people living in this city. you know, over my dead body are we going to retreat from our commitment to the people living with hiv/aids and those at risk.

and i really just want to emphasize how grateful i am and how grateful we all are to nancy pelosi, who went to congress in 1987 and in her maiden speech on the floor of the house talked about how she was there to fight hiv/aids, and she has fought it in an incredibly heroic manner for the last 25 years. we all owe her an enormous debt of gratitude for her leadership on this issue and for the unending funding that she has brought into sentences go to allow us to maintain our commitment to those living with and at risk for this disease. so, thank you, a leader pelosi, for standing with us and continuing to stand with us. i now want to bring up my colleagues, supervisors david campos and supervisor christina olague, as well as dan bernall speaking on behalf of the leader pelosi. >> thank you very much, supervisor wiener.

let me echo what he said about leader policy, who will always be speaker pelosi, but we have been very lucky in san francisco that we have had representatives -- representation in washington d.c. -- washington, d.c., that has advocated for the agency community, and has made san francisco an example for the rest of the country in how to treat that community. as scott indicated, we, in san francisco, have a lot to be brought up, and we should not go backwards. i want to thank mayor lee for the fact that when supervisor wiener and i went to him, there was no question, no hesitation. i think those of us or members of this lgbt community, we're very grateful to you and want you to know that we appreciate that commitment that you have made. i want to thank our director of public health who also was instrumental in making this possible, barbara garcia. i am very excited about our

newly appointed lgbt supervisor, christina olague. i think this is her second -- second press conference as is supervisor cohen that might be her first co-sponsors of providing it is a testament to her commitment to our community that she is here. i think that it says the very clear message also about the unity that we have on the board of supervisors. we, the lgbt supervisors, understand that we have to make sure that we are united in trying to protect our community. and this funding literally will save lives, has saved lives. we're talking about protecting the most vulnerable in our community. so i am proud to be a part of a city government that makes that investment. again, i want to thank speaker pelosi, mayor lee, supervisor wiener, supervisor olague, and we look forward to the full board approving this matter expeditiously.

finally, i want to thank the advocacy committee for those who are working with people living with aids/hiv, who brought this to our attention and pushed for this forward. he could not have happened without their support. so thank you very much. [applause] >> i want to thank mayor lee and supervisors wiener and campos for inviting me to participate in this action today. it is my first action as a supervisor, a member of the board of supervisors. i am very proud to be here as part of that, as part of this effort. i have worked extensively with low-income tenants in san francisco. i have worked with the seniors and people living with disabilities. i have seen, also, folks who are able-bodied have, you know, reach points in their life where they are no longer able to work, due to the devastating impact of

this disease. it is unconscionable that we can do all that we can to make sure the people who are suffering from the impact of aids still have some ability to access the senate quality of life housing and health care. i first moved here in 1982, and that was really at the very beginning of this devastating disease. and i had many friends that i lost, as we all have here in san francisco. many of my friends i lost in the 1980's. i remember one year we were having thanksgiving dinner with friends, and is started out with 10 of us at the table. by the year 2000, only three of us were left. and it was all due to the impact of aids. so i know that we're all

familiar with those losses. again, i want to think supervisors wiener and campos for inviting me here. i also want to let knowledge the efforts of the lgbt community and all of those cbo's that do work daily, delivering services and to the committee. so, again, thank you. [applause] >> good morning, and thank you all for being here. i am district are preferred democratic leader nancy pelosi. she cannot be here today, but she did ask me to come to share some words and to express her data gratitude to mayor ed lee for his continued and outstanding leadership and continued commitment in the fight against hiv and aids. and also to supervisors winner, campos, and olague for all the work they're doing, the mayor is fantastic that, director of public health, thank you.

thank you. she also wanted me to express her deep gratitude to all of the members of the community of hiv/aids service providers, some of whom are represented today, some we have lost in the last few years, but for their ongoing commitment in the fight against hiv/aids. here is leader pelosi's statement. "the fight against hiv/aids and for those fighting against this terrible disease has been one of my top legislative priorities for the of 25 years. san francisco was hit early and hit hard by the devastation of hiv/aids, but san franciscans responded by developing a model of care that became the model for the ryan white care act. our city shows that, bourbons of hiv/aids work saves lives by keeping people healthy and productive. today, again, san francisco leads the way for compassionate, community-based care with the

supplemental budget from mayor lee. ryan white funded initiatives are saving lives. declines in aids deaths are a direct result of the '30s and services that have been made more widely available through the ryan white act to large numbers of uninsured and underinsured people here that is why it was disappointing when the bush administration first proposed severe cuts, and that is why i have fought continued republican efforts to sustain these cuts. for several years, i worked successfully in a bipartisan way to roll back these destabilizing cuts and their potentially devastating impact. since 2007, we have restored nearly $21 million to san francisco systems of care. every step of the way in fighting these cuts, i have found a partner in the san francisco mayor's office, beginning with mayor newsom and

continued by mayor lee. today's announcement by mayor lee of $1.8 million in supplemental city funding will result in save lives. i look also like to a knowledge supervisors wiener, campos, and olague and members of the san francisco hiv/aids planning council for their leadership in this fight. together, we will uphold the spirit of the ryan white care act, insuring that hiv aids care, treatment, prevention and research receive increased funding and improving in strengthening those investments until hiv/aids is a painful chapter in the distant past." thank you very much. [applause] >> i now want to welcome two members of the hiv/aids provider community. the vice-president of the hiv/aids provider network, and also the executive director of

the positive resource center, and the member and former co- chair of the san francisco health services planning council and who often -- also serves as the director of the drug policy alliance. >> scott is tall, and i am short. good morning, everyone. as scott said, i am had to be the executive director of positive resource center, but i stand before you today as a representative of the hiv/aids provider network. the hiv/aids provider network is a coalition of over 30 san francisco-based nonprofits that provide a comprehensive array of services daily to people living with hiv and aids. today is a good day for san francisco, and let me tell you why. in december when the service provider community found out about this loss of funding of over $4 million, we truly were

in a state of shock, but we knew what was at stake. so we quickly got to work meeting with barbara garcia at the department of public health, supervisors campos and wiener and the mayor to figure out what solution we could put to these devastating cuts, and i am pleased to report that all of them were keenly aware -- hold on one second. i am pleased to report that all of them were keenly aware of these devastating cuts long before we met face to face, so we gather here today to thank and acknowledge mayor lee, supervisors wiener campos and olague for their receptive ear and nimble response to our request for support to help mitigate these devastating cuts.

mayor lee and the supervisors joint request for supplemental appropriation of $1.8 million will help ensure the continuation of vital primary care and supportive services, which are essential to the health and well-being of people living with hiv and aids. san francisco has provided leadership to the entire country with an effective model of care to respond to the aids crisis. the leadership that is represented here today and the cooperation is reflected here today, and we rely on it in the coming years. to the remaining board members, with -- when this important piece of legislation reaches your desk, i encourage you to move forward with swiftness because the very people whose lives are impacted by it hangs in the balance. while we're pleased and grateful for the result of our collective work today, there is still so much work to do. the community of service providers, dph, the mayor, the

supervisors have all made a strong commitment to continue to dialogue in an effort to design a strategy to minimize the harm in this loss of funding. in closing, i'd like to thank congresswoman pelosi and her office for her unapologetic and strident commitment of hiv issues over the years. congresswoman pelosi is passionate and true. my grandmother always said when people show you who they are, believe them. leader pelosi has shown us who she is, and we believe her and we believe in her, and we thank her for standing in the fight all these years. she in deed is our hero. for all of us here today, i asked that we remain focused, educated on the issues, and resolved to achieving the outcome of our choosing in making sure that people living with hiv and aids are given the necessary services and maintain a good and decent quality of life. again, thank you for your work

in the community and thank you for your presence here today. [applause] >> we are going in the right order. we are the federally mandated community planning council that prioritizes and allocates the federal ryan white funds for three county areas including san francisco, san mateo, and marin counties. one of the things we have had to do in prioritizing and allocating those funds for the last several years is decide where and how to cut funds that we know are desperately needed by people living with hiv in san francisco. so with that, i am incredibly grateful and thankful to mayor lee, supervisors campos, wiener, and olague from saving us from had to make this difficult decisions for the next few months. there are more people living with hiv in san francisco now

than there have ever been, and yet, we have fewer federal resources for the services that we know are needed. it has been going down for the last 15 years. federal funding is half of what it used to be, despite the best efforts. state funding for a chevy services has entirely evaporated, and health care reform is at best an unfunded mandate right now. we have to go back to where we were when the epidemic started in san francisco set the model for the nation in the world in stepping up and taking care of people here in san francisco. we are a city of compassion and justice, and we are willing to use our resources to take care of people here in san francisco, even when other governments are not living up to their responsibilities. this is san francisco stepping up to assure the people living with hiv continue to get the services and treatment that they need.

also, we need to continue to invest in hiv prevention, which is also taking a cut this year. there is a sense among people who work in hiv that the end is in sight, the end of this epidemic is in sight for the first time ever, but that will only happen if we continue to fully invest in effect of it said the prevention efforts and if we ensure that everyone can access hiv/aids treatment and can stay on it and get the full benefit. san francisco, as we have since the beginning, in showing how to do this, but we need the resources to match our heart and brain. there is work to do. how do we continue to address this