be represented and affirmed in a school community. we had a latino if greater you've got himself in front of the entire school community and be embraced -- a latino youth out himself. last year, my class began with just one out middle schoolers, but by the end of my class, half of my students have come out. this-attending our trains are emerging as strong advocates, not just button-wearing allies, and feel more confident supporting queer students. this speaks to the importance of this type of formalized consistent partnership between a community organization and a school community. as a mission native and as a queer latina, it is important to me that the city supports cross community partnerships, representing -- understanding that there are many youth that

is across cultural identities. [applause] >> thanks. [reading names] >> good evening, supervisors. thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak. i am the community organizer for the jamestown community center. jamestown community center actually does the after-school program in your. these are a couple of students from buena vista. we are also part of a coalition that is working on creating free muni for all use, and that is what i wanted to speak to tonight -- for all youth. last night, we were at the mta

commission hearing trying to figure out this issue, and we are here today to urge mayor lee to please support the proposal. i know you have been doing a lot of work, and i want to recognize that. you and supervisor campos have had a lot of conversations about this. we are in the last push. specifically, three of the reasons that we want is one, because they are cutting the yellow school buses. the new state budget, as it is right now, is cutting 100% of transportation funds to all cities, so that will impact the ability of students to get to school. we want it to be freed for that reason. second, we are committed to making this a family-friendly city. it is a very expensive city. housing, food costs, transportation costs -- all those things add up. this would be a great step and a small investment to families

like hector and his brother and city -- sister and mom who are here, to make san francisco family friendly. the only we will be able to do that is to make me any free for all youth. another important reason is because we want this to be a chance the city first. 60% of travel in the city still is done by car. we need to change that, and the only way we will change that is if we get an investment from youth, a cross-section of the city, across social demographics, not just low- income but all youth. the only way we will do that as it we really make muni free for all youth. as one to come up and say that. >> i said that. my name is desmond miller from larkin street services. san francisco is taking a $4 million cut the services.

in addition, due to the change, and the serving women, infants, children, and yet, we know said in cisco is taking a cut to services or positive youth -- we know san francisco. we reduce medical care and mental health care to and that of gravity services. we are asking the mayor and board of supervisors to help mitigate the effects of these cuts, and the positive youth especially. again, i am the management of hiv testing and prevention, and you would be eliminating my position as well as those of my staff and our ability to get too specific, targeted a chevy

testing in california to our youth, who are sometimes the most vulnerable. thank you. [applause] >> i am here for stonewall. it has been a big part of my life for the past year-and-a- half. it is the only low threshold place for gay men or men who have sex with men, bisexual men, can go to to access mental health, substance abuse, and a chevy-related issues. i'm happy to say you're sorry hiv negative today, and completely drug free to date -- i am hiv - today and completely drug free. they put me in the driver's seat of my own vehicle, and they were on my team the whole way through, and they still are to this day. it is something that needs to be supported. it cannot be cut. $200,000 -- that is it the

people that will be cut out of complete services. there's already 75 to 100 people on the waiting list. i cannot even refer people to the services any more because there's just no room for them. this is huge for the community. this has been a huge part of my life, and i needed to please not cut these. maybe in the next conversation we have, it will be up in the budget because these are services we need. i started using drugs on a daily basis, and now i am volunteering and putting out into the community, making it possible for other people to have the opportunity i have been given. i beg of you -- please do not cut this. thank you. [applause] >> i was just curious, would you give us a little extra time to account for translation? >> sure. and thank you. >> [speaking spanish]

>> mr. mayer, supervisors, collaborators with the mayor -- mr. mayor, supervisors, collaborators with the mayor, i would have loved to have spoken to you in english. unfortunately, i was not able to learn english, so i will talk to you in spanish. i'd like to ask, particularly

on holy week, for a miracle, and we hope this merkel will be able to help us all fix the problems that we have. so i am speaking today in particular in support of this program. la raza has been able to help me

with many of my problems, legal and social, and where would i go, basically, that they are not able to provide that service to me. i am sorry, i just had a brain blank. this problem is not only unique to me. it is unique to other seniors, modeling will as well as other latino seniors. without their help, where would all the other seniors go?

i realize that there are these problems outside of the city, and it is particular to san francisco. i am in shock of all of the issues i have heard today as well. i thank you for your attention, and i have great pride in being able to speak in front of you. [applause] >> thank you. the last two speakers, if you

could please line up. [reading names] >> i will go first. mayor lee, this is the first time i have seen you in person. i am a volunteer in the mission district. we have been passing liars to inform people about possible new legislation later in the year for improvements in the community jobs program. participants in this community jobs program are people of color, in particular, single mothers, so we feel like there needs to be a genuine, new work training program for participants to be able to work

in non-profit communities, such as in the mission district, and also in the future, given the training for service jobs. so it will definitely need funding as well as having an advisory committee to oversee this program. we feel like it has not been overseen. we think it is about time for people of color to gain the right training and a possible better future for themselves and their families. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. ok, those were actually the last two speakers that i will call on because we are now at the time when we want to hear from our esteemed mayor, a supervisor, with their thoughts are, some reactions, some thoughts about what kind of priorities they are

thinking about in terms of looking at and thinking about the budget process, and some of the steps they think would be good to take in order to make sure people feel understood and listen to. supervisor campos: thank you, everyone, for your comments. i think there was a lot that was heard today. one of the things that struck me as very powerful is this notion that we have a tale of two cities here in part of district 9, and i think it is something that will guide the decisions that we make, and i do think that as we talk about jobs, that it is important to remember the small business community and the community- based organizations that also provide those jobs. i want to echo some of the comments around right away. as an openly gay man, i can tell you that that is a big priority for me.

i want to agree with everything the supervisor wiener said about that. for the three of us on the board of supervisors who are members of the lgbt community -- supervisor wiener, supervisor olague, and myself -- i know we will be continuing the discussion as we move forward with the rest of the budget. i was touched to hear about the importance of protecting our transitional-age youth and the queer youth that have some specific needs. i think it is really important that we make that a priority, and i know that i am certainly committed to making that happen. la raza is a very important institution and organization in this neighborhood, and i know it has been a priority for the mayor before and we will continue to focus on that.

the last thing i will say is the one of the things i have been pleased to hear from the mayor is the importance of making the city a family- friendly city. for me, the fact that we have the lowest rate in terms of the number of youth and children we have living in the city -- even lower than new york city and manhattan -- tells me we need to do more to make sure we are a family-publicity, not just for a low-income families, but all families, which is why course, free muni for all youth has been a priority. but i will turn it over to supervisor wiener. [applause] supervisor wiener: thank you, supervisor, and thank you to everyone who came out tonight. in this kind of format, sometimes, it is hard to cover all the bases. there were certainly some very important budget areas that did not come up to us, but i want to make clear to everyone that they are critical. we are all devoted to our parks

system and making sure that we are supporting our parks and keeping them open and available for everyone. for those of you who have not seen the beautiful new playground in dolores park, please go over there and look at it. it is absolutely amazing. just packed with kids all the time. i mentioned our roads at the beginning. emergency preparedness, making sure we are prepared as a city with our infrastructure and housing of the the next earthquake. i know that has been a huge priority for the mayor. we have so many buildings in this city that are vulnerable, in closing -- including a lot of rent-controlled housing and low- income housing. in the legislation we pass, we have to focus on that. those are just a few additional things. i am very happy to hear from some of the queer youth the game tonight. i live very close to lyric.

i used to live on the same block. i told the executive director the other day that i wish it could be open until midnight so we had a non-alcohol-based space for youth to go to in the castro. every time i meet with cheryl lichens, i ask when she is going to bring transitional-age youth housing because i think we need it and i think our community would embrace it. i also want to talk about muni and the free muni campaign. i am very appreciative that the advocates have really raised this issue of youth access, and i am passionate to make sure we are funding it to the level it needs to be, making sure we are putting enough money into maintenance so that everyone -- youth, elderly, everyone in between, rich and poor -- are able to use the system. i believe we should be providing free or deeply discounted muni

to low-income youth. i personally do not see the rationale for extending that to upper income kids, families that can afford it, because by doing that, i am concerned that we are going to increase muni's inability to maintain its system. every penny we take out of maintenance is a penny we are not spending on making our system run, but i think we all agree that we need to increase youth access, and i know there's a lot of common ground, and i'm confident that mta and the city family will come together to make sure that all youth have access to our public transportation system. thank you, everyone, and i will hand it over to mayor lee now. mayor lee: first of all, thank you for coming out, and if any of you felt you did not get a chance to speak tonight because of the limited time, please

follow up with us. i want to hear from everyone, and i know the supervisors and department heads appreciate, even tonight, with the hour that we had, the richness of the ideas and viewpoints have been appreciated. when it comes from youth or seniors, family advocates, the different lifestyles we have here in both districts i think is deeply appreciated by everyone here, and it does not make our job any easier. it certainly complicate it, but for the right reason, and that is that there is a rich diversity out here, as we have always known, and it is represented tonight with all the testimony. i will be open to all of the ideas that are presented tonight. as i have said at the outset, we have to do a lot of balancing, but i am here to be as sensitive as i can about all the issues that are raised. clearly, each and every one of them seemed to touch a very

strong feeling about why i have been mayor, both on an interim basis and as an elected mayor of the city. it does not get easier, but i have great minds here who are joining me in this attempt to balance it. i would like to say there will be some responsibility on your side as well. balancing the budget is one thing. there will be some choices that you will have in november, and i would like you to consider your approach towards our parks. you will have the opportunity to vote on the bond with that. you will also be given other choices as well to help in making some decisions that will move our city forward. at the same time, let me warn you about some things people are doing that might hurt us. there will be in our neighborhoods people passing around something called

sustainable water environment. read through it very carefully. some people want to say take down hetch hetchy. do not have a dam that provides us with clean water and hydroelectric power. do not be tricked into that. i want to let you know that. i have not been a politician before, but i know a threat when i see it. somebody will tell you something. please read it carefully before you sign on. in my opinion, it is not good for our city. an aide to educate as many people as possible. you are going to have those choices in november. it is early enough. we are now having choices tonight that you have presented to us. i do feel for our youth, our families, our seniors. yes, i will do my best to approach this, but i do have to say that there has to be

something fun in the city. my daughters grew up when it was only $10. the road everywhere and always reported to their mom and dad that they did not need a ride. i want our youth to feel this is their city as well and to take responsibility for everything that they do. part of it is what message we send them about their own transit system, to try to balance that off. what is the best policy for our city to register a transit system that serves everybody. we are going to wait all back -- all that as we make the final decisions in the next few weeks or months. i will share with you that value that i do believe that our youth will inherit a better city and they should. we should create those conditions for that to happen. with all the problems that we have, if i could suggest, we

still have to have a city that is fun to live in as well. we will continue trying to make it fun, whether it is entertainment, the things we want, the parks we walk, the school system's we want, while we take on the serious business of providing services at the community level, cultural competence services, services that our hospitals, with the police provide, what our fired apartment provides, or what our schools provide. we will keep an open mind about that. i invite you, if you wish, to join us in the four other district-held town hall meetings before we start making other serious decisions, or approach nor department and the commissions we have. as i said earlier, i need your involvement, your innovation, york investment in every aspect of this, so that next year, at the same time, you feel things have been heard and responded to, and that we are human

beings, just as you are, trying to balance with the best priorities are for the city, but easily keeping an open mind on everything because i think everything should be in play as we make the best decisions possible. again, most importantly, thank you for coming out investing your personal time and energy and telling us what you think is most important for the city. appreciate it. [applause] >> thank you, mayor, supervisors, and all the city department directors. again, thank you all for the volunteers, the staff, office of civic engagement and immigrant affairs, the mayor's office of disability, and sfgovtv for helping with this town hall. as a queer immigrant who lives in district 9 but hangs out a lot in district 8 and as someone who has an organization that is definitely about involving engaging the community, again, i

echo encourage you to all be involved in the process of helping our city have the best budget for everyone, and get involved with your organization's, your city departments, your supervisors' offices, and look at the next few budget town halls, the dates and times and locations in this brochure to make sure you can be part of the process and that more community conversations like this can happen with your thoughts, your ideas, and your energy and investment. thank you, everyone. have a good night. [applause]

>> i have been a cable car grip for 21 years. i am a third generation. my grand farther and my dad worked over in green division for 27. i guess you could say it's blood. >> come on in. have a seat. hold on. i like it because i am standing up. i am outside without a roof over my head and i see all kinds of people. >> you catch up to people you know from the past. you know. went to school with. people that you work with at other jobs. military or something. kind of weird. it's a small word, you be.

like i said, what do people do when they come to san francisco? they ride a cable car. >> california line starts in the financial district. people are coming down knobbhill. the cable car picks people up. takes them to work. >> there still is no other device to conquer these hills better than a cable car. nobody wanted to live up here because you had to climb up here. with the invention of the cable car, these hills became accessible. he watched horses be dragged to

death. cable cars were invent in san francisco to solve the problem with it's unique, vertically challenged terrain. we are still using cars a century old >> the old cable car is the most unique thing, it's still going. it was a good design by then and is still now. if we don't do something now. it's going to be worse later. >> the cable cars are built the same as they were in the late 1800's. we use a modern machinery. we haven't changed a thing. it's just how we get there. >> it's a time consuming job. we go for the quality rather than the production. we take pride in our work and it shows in the end product.

>> the california line is mostly locals. the commuters in the morning, i see a lot of the same people. we don't have as tourists. we are coming up to street to chinatown. since 1957, we are the only city in the world that runs cable cars. these cars right here are part of