>> feel like it really is a community. they are not the same thing, but it really does feel like there's that kind of a five. everybody is there to enjoy a literary reading. >> the best lit in san francisco. friendly, free, and you might get fed. ♪

[applause] >> this san francisco ryther created the radar reading series in 2003. she was inspired when she first moved to this city in the early 1990's and discover the wild west atmosphere of open mi it's ic in the mission. >> although there were these open mics every night of the week, they were super macho. people writing poems about being jerks. beatty their chest onstage. >> she was energized by the scene and proved up with other girls who wanted their voices to be heard. touring the country and sharing gen-x 7 as a.

her mainstream reputation grew with her novel. theses san francisco public library took notice and asked her if she would begin carrying a monthly reading series based on her community. >> a lot of the raiders that i work with our like underground writers. they're just coming at publishing and at being a writer from this underground way. coming in to the library is awesome. very good for the library to show this writing community that they are welcome. at first, people were like, you want me to read at the library, really? things like that. >> as a documentary, there are interviews -- [inaudible] >> radar readings are focused on

clear culture. strayed all others might write about gay authors. gay authors might write about universal experiences. the host creates a welcoming environment for everybody. there is no cultural barrier to entry. >> the demographic of people who come will match the demographic of the reader. it is very simple. if we want more people of color, you book more people of color. you want more women, your book more women. kind of like that. it gets mixed up a little bit. in general, we kind of have a core group of people who come every month. their ages and very. we definitely have some folks who are straight. >> the loyal audience has allowed michelle to take more chances with the monthly lineup.

established authors bring in an older audience. younker authors bring in their friends from the community who might be bringing in an older author. >> raider has provided a stage for more than 400 writers. it ranges from fiction to academics stories to academic stories this service the underground of queer fell, history, or culture. >> and there are so many different literary circles in san francisco. i have been programming this reading series for nine years. and i still have a huge list on my computer of people i need to carry into this. >> the supportive audience has allowed michele to try new experiment this year, the radar book club. a deep explorationer of a single

work. after the talk, she bounces on stage to jump-start the q&a. less charlie rose and more carson daly. >> san francisco is consistently ranked as one of the most literate cities in the united states. multiple reading events are happening every night of the year, competing against a big names like city arts and lectures. radar was voted the winner of these san francisco contest. after two decades of working for free, michelle is able to make radar her full-time job. >> i am a right to myself, but i feel like my work in this world is eagerly to bring writers together and to produce literary events. if i was only doing my own work, i would not be happy.

it is, like throwing a party or a dinner party. i can match that person with that person. it is really fun for me. it is nerve wracking during the actual readings. i hope everyone is good. i hope the audience likes them. i hope everybody shows up. but everything works out. at the end of the reading, everyone is happy. ♪ >> you probably think you know all about the exploratorium. but have you ever been after dark? did you know there was a monthly party called after dark? science mixes with culture and adults mix with other adults. no kids allowed. every week there is a different

theme. to tell us about the themes is melissa alexander. tell us about some of the previous themes we have had. >> we have had sex ploration, sugar, red, blue. many things. >> what is the theme tonight? >> rock, paper, scissors. we are having a tournament tonight, but we have also used as a jumping off point to explore lots of different ideas. you can find out about rock, paper, scissors as a game as a reproductive strategy. you can interact with a piece of art created by lucky dragon. you can get your hair cut from a cool place called the public barber's salon. they use scissors only. you can find out about local

geology, too. >> that sounds like fun. let's check it out. >> this is the most common rock on the surface of the earth. interesting thing is, most of this rock is covered over by the ocean. >> error congested a cool presentation on plate tectonics. tell us about what we just saw. >> we wrapped up a section of a lesson on a plate tectonics, here at the exploratory and -- exploritorium. >> are you excited to see people here having fun and learning about science? >> the people that come here are some selected to begin with, they actually enjoy science. i teach teachers to have fun with their kids. the general public is a great audience, too. they're interested in science.

>> we have a blast every time. they have different names. >> they have a bar and a cafe. everything i need. we are excited for the speaker. >> it is nice to be in the exploratorium when there are not a lot of kids around. >> before tonight, i never knew there were major league rules to rock, paper, scissors. i am getting ready to enter into a competition. sarah's here to give me some tips. what do i need to do to win it? >> this is a game of chance, to a degree. one of the best ways to bring it home is a degree of intimidation, maybe some eye contact, maybe some muscle. it is a no contact sport. sheer i contact is a good way to maybe intimidate to see if you can set them off, see if they throw something they did not mean to.

>> i am going to see what happens. >> i got kicked out in the first round. [applause] >> given up for sunni. the rock, paper, scissors champion. >> what are you going to do now? >> i have been having so much fun. i got my tattoo. before we go, i want to thank melissa alexander for having us here tonight. how did you know san francisco needed a night like tonight? >> thank you for coming. everybody loves the exploratorium. we are reluctant to push the kids out of the way in the day, so i knew we needed to create one evening a month just for the rest of us to have a good time, the adults. >> absolutely. where can we find out what is

coming up after dark? >> that is easy, exploratorium .edu/afterdark. >> thank you. thanks for watching >> hello well concealed need your district supervisor. -- welcome to meet your district

supervisor. we are here with supervisor kim. welcome. thank you for joining supervisor kim: thank you for having me. >> tell us where he grew up. supervisor kim: i grew up on the new york city. my parents immigrated to the u.s. i actually started becoming active in the community in high school. ed i went to stanford. -- i went to stanford. when i graduated, i move to san francisco. my first job, i started working developing economic policies for low-income communities statewide in california. i worked with young people, parents, families are around issues that concern our

neighborhoods, whether it was communities, affordable housing, public schools, or just planning issues in neighborhoods like parks. i did that and actually ran for the board of education here in san francisco. i got a term on the school board working for families in our public school system and actually worked for the lawyers community and i came to the board of supervisors. >> why did you choose to live in san francisco? supervisor kim: you know, i do not know if i have a good answer for that. i just wanted to try it out. >> tell me what motivated your interest in politics. supervisor kim: that is a tough question to answer. i never had any intention to get

involved in the electoral process. >> really? supervisor kim: i was always politically active. i was always working on statewide initiatives, and i worked on several campaigns. i worked as an organizer. i did not really have an interest in an electoral process, because -- i just have this perception the process was 30, and when i went to the ballot to vote, it looked like i was taking the better of two evils. i did not have a strong interest. working as an organizer, you get to know issues surrounding budget for schools or housing, and i began to see people were really accessible and some had started working with the community and we got more and more engaged. >> where do you place yourself

on the political spectrum? supervisor kim: i think i definitely fall on the left. >> was there anything surprising about the campaign process? supervisor kim: it was my third campaign running for office. i ran for the school board twice before. in many ways, i was already -- i already knew what i had signed myself up for. it was physically grueling, emotionally grueling, really tiring. the one thing i enjoyed was i got to know voters and residents. you do not really get to do that when you run citywide. i enjoyed campaigning more because i had time to meet voters individually, and i loved it. i really enjoyed being out on the field.

i spent all lot of time doing it. which i thought was important -- both for me because i get a deeper understanding of what people care about, and what people loved about the district and the city, and i think it was better for our community that i was out there one on one. >> what are the biggest issues for san francisco right now? supervisor kim: economic development. that is the biggest issue for san francisco and the country. our economy is not in the best place that it could be. we really do see that people want to see more jobs for everybody. second, it is probably a myriad of issues. for our district, and think public safety issues -- ranging from low-level crime to larger public safety issues. we held our first hearing on pedestrian public safety in

district 6. we learned that san francisco has the highest rate of vehicle pedestrian collisions in the state of california, our rate that is higher than tokyo, london, other major cities. a costs are taxpayers every time we go to the hospital. we can do better. other cities are doing better than we are. that is an important issue we have the highest rate in the city, and you're probably higher than any other city. " we have spent on pedestrian safety over the last four years is close to $13 million. >> how to balance the needs of

the district compared to the city? supervisor kim: it is interesting representing a district and a collection of neighborhoods. for me, it is interesting because i represent the city of san francisco. i mean you represent those who live in the district. i care very deeply about what is going on in terms of racial tension between asian and african american communities in the bayview or whether we're talking about muni were talking about public safety issues in other neighborhoods -- i think it is important for me to support the issue's going around the neighborhood. i think most san francisco residents do not identify themselves by their district.

>> once again, the city is faced with tough budget decisions, including whether to raise taxes and fees or whether to make cuts. how will your approach these choices? supervisor kim: the budget is tough this year. even though our deficit is not as large as it has been, it is tough because we have made these cuts already, and did this point, we are cutting things we really do not want to cut. and it is painful. we will lose more potential services. we will also not be able to support our residents. we are looking at weekend meals for seniors. it is painful. i think we have to look at it as a combined approach. it has to be cut within city government that we can bear -- services that are less

essential. second, you have to look at raising revenue in the city. i think it needs to be a combination. and third, need to be much better informed, and we have to ask our public employees to look at the budget. and they already have, but also to look back. it is a threefold approach to me. >> what are the city's housing needs him much of the board of supervisors to to address them? supervisor kim: it is tough, because we depend on the market to build housing for our residents we build at over 150% of the need. we are building over the need of the market rates. we are actually building at roughly 80% of that need.

so, not bad, but not great. a lot of that has happened through the work of the board of supervisors, negotiating with developers to develop very low income housing for individuals who were formerly homeless. but as you start to look at the categories, a lower income and middle income folks, we're not building for that need at all. i think we need to do more to make sure we are supporting that type of housing. one initiative i started working on was a student teacher housing which is directly in that income, essential employee housing. we will be releasing an rfp, which is really exciting,

because we want to keep people engaged. we have to push for more. need to pass another affordable housing bond. it has come up two more times, and i hope we have the political will to support that again. >> what are your ideas about dealing with the issue of homelessness? supervisor kim: homelessness is a tough issue. we have amazing organizations that run incredible centers and services, and also supports the board of housing for the formerly homeless. not just providing housing, but safe housing and services -- whether it is job training for drug rehab or mental health. there are two categories of homelessness.

this is on the end of been able to afford to live in san francisco. that live paycheck to paycheck. when they do not get that next paycheck, they could be homeless the next week on that level, we need to continue to support economic development, support job creation, small businesses, the act would create 60% to 70% of the jobs in san francisco. we need to push legislation white -- like local hire, which is supervisor avalos's legislation. we demand that companies hire folks from our city. that is one end. we have to do what we can use to subsidize other essential services, whether it is transportation or public health,

so people can afford to live in the city. then you have another category of homelessness, which is chronic homelessness. it is not just living paycheck to paycheck, but other issues like mental health or drug addiction. that is a much harder population to address. i think -- the district that i represent as many of the community organizations. it continues to be a pressing problem. >> where do you think the attics and mentally ill will go? supervisor kim: first of all, a ton of families live in the tenderloin. people do not realize this, but the tenderloin is a family neighborhood. it in not a proponent for cleaning up the tenderloin. i love the tenderloin.

i love what it is right now. you know, i recognize that we have a diversity of folks who want to live there. i do not have a problem with people being out on the streets and socializing. it is part of the character of the neighborhood. i do not think the party is something we should criminalize. that being said, we cannot have open drug dealing. i do support a foot patrol. we are currently working with several organizations or have safe passages where we have high school students and adults in the neighborhood. but shockingly, one of the top issues is being hit by cars, more than getting harassed by neighbors. that is something we are working on as well, traffic issues, can

turn some of those streets to be two-way. another thing that we are trying to push is actually getting some business incubators in the neighborhood, because there are a lot of people who want to open businesses that cater to the families who live there. we do not have a full-service gross restore in the tenderloin, but we do have a number of -- grocery store in the tenderloin, but we do have a number of small businesses. >> what is happening with crime in your district and hal is the police department doing? supervisor kim: it is a difficult issue. i probably interface with the police department every week because with such an incredible need from our police officers in our district, ranging from south

beach to the tender line to the intermission. -- to the tenderloin to the inner mission. i want to see our officers on the street, walking the beat, and i want our small business owners to know who they are. i think that alone creates an atmosphere of safety that is really important. i'm really excited about the substation coming up to 63. i think we need to continue to provide social services in our district. it has to be a partnership with sfpd.

>> what about community courts? supervisor kim: i visited the court it was modeled after, which is the red hook court in brooklyn. the judge will visit the apartments or the locations talked about in the case and he has evolved this relationship of trust with the neighborhood that think is really positive. i think we are not there yet, here in san francisco. i am not sure if that is a time issue or the tenderloin is a different type of neighborhood then -- than red hook. i think we need alternatives to our criminal justice system. i do not think our criminal justice actually works. many of the offenders to come through our system of flood started as victims of urea the

community courts is a way of addressing those offenders, which is important and what i hope to see from the community court here. i do not think we are there yet. it does not mean we cannot get there. it took several years for the judge to develop a relationship with that neighborhood. >> what are your thoughts on the city's economic development? are we on track? supervisor kim: i think economic development is a policy area our city continues to struggle with your read it is so dependent on what the state and federal government does. on the local level, i would love for us to figure out what we can do, because this is the heart of san francisco. as i said before, they provide 70% of the jobs here. most people do not realize that. small businesses are what provides jobs here.