i think that is critical, to bring into city hall that, yes, i am elected to lead, but more importantly to serve. that is my number one focus point. i am here to serve. when you call me, i am at 4 service. >> what about issues facing san francisco, facing your district, and how you are going to balance the needs of san francisco at large against the needs of your district? >> we actually see the needs of san francisco and the district cannot be counteracted or counter intuitive. when we address the needs of the district and residents, we also address the issues of folks that are living in the mission, people that are working class people, people that have blue- collar jobs. really, it is paramount and centered on education.

for young people, making sure, ensuring we are providing them a quality education in public schools. i served as chair on the select committee, a committee between the members of the board of supervisors and members on the school board, coming together to address the challenges. in this particular case, we are talking about education. we are talking about a working- class community, the excelsior, the bayview, all of these different neighborhoods are smaller enclaves. we still see the same kinds of challenges. when the schools begin to perform a stellar academic programs, businesses will continue to relocate because the employees will want to live in san francisco and want kids to be educated here. it is a cyclical and symbiotic creation ship. another challenges that we have the highest unemployment rate in this part of san francisco. san francisco before, the

numbers are starting to come down a little bit. we have high rates in the latter part of last year, but it is starting to -- it is starting to normalize. it goes back to education. what i would like to see our pathways. not everyone will become a doctor, lawyer, or journalist, fantastic tv host. what can we do? we live in a society where we need engineers. we need sound engineers. we need graphic designers. there are people who prefer to learn with their hands. they like mechanics. we need to bring back some shop back in schools and allow people an opportunity for a different pathway. nursing is a pathway. validating the hair and makeup industry. there is a lot of money in that industry, and you don't need a

college degree. you just need a passion, an art form, an outlet. invalidating it and creating pathways for young people to go down those paths, you want to become a nurse, here is a course at the southeast college to take you down that course. you introduce these ideas to students while they are in high school, when they are still engaged, when they have not disassociated. we will see more african americans becoming more involved in education. he used to be the police chief. now he is the district attorney, gascon. he had an idea about a junior academy that would take san francisco eans and give them skills to get into the academy. you can make a great living as a

police officer. the same notion with the fire department. these are careers you don't normally think about when you are in high school. you often are relegated to a path to go to a four-year university. that is not for everyone. there is an opportunity for everyone to work. that is the main point i am trying to drive home. when we talk about the issues, the one that stands out for me is education, economic and work force of the element, stimulating the local economy. we have the third street merchant corridor and an opportunity to revitalize what i consider to be the main artery of the bayview district, of the southeast quarter. third street is a pretty long streak. from at&t park, it goes all the way to candlestick park. there is a lot of opportunity. don't squander that. we wanted to be a healthy mix that reflects the cultural history of the southeast part of the city.

>> what are your thoughts on how the city can deal with the budget issue? >> we are in a very difficult time financially as a country, as a state, as a county. we have a multimillion-dollar deficit. what i see is we have competing priorities. >> ok. >> there's a whole host of non- profit and service organizations that provide a service and a social safety net for people. if people are not able -- they're not making money to get on calworks, or they get on aid, we cut that aid, that has an adverse affect on a population that needs it. i would like to see the city continued to move in a direction where we are prioritizing when it comes to our budget, our budget strategy. i was fortunate enough to be named to the budget -- i was not fortunate enough to be named to the budget committee.

i will exercise my voice to guide us through this precarious system. i think we need to have a serious conversation about pensions and supervisor elsbernd carries a torch on pension reform. there have been other discussions about pension reform. our city assessor started the conversation about prop. 13. there are several things in place on the state and local level having an adverse affect on our financial health locally. we are in a quandary. we cannot really move beyond that until we remove the pocket. prop. 13 is a serious block. it would free up hundreds of thousands of dollars that could be brought into public schools and could also be in fused in our local -- infused in our

local and state economy. that is a very complicated question, and one i have only brush the surface on. that is another segment. >> we will follow that by another complicated question. i would like to get your thoughts on homelessness and what the city is doing about homelessness, what direction you think we should be headed in, a big issue in san francisco. >> homelessness is interesting. when you look at it as a sociological perspective, we have some of the people in the homeless community enjoying being on the street. others want help. i think when we also -- we need to do a better job of taking care of those mentally ill. when you are on the street and you listen to the homeless folks or you watch them interacting, you see they are a little disturbed. i think the city overall has done a good job in terms of

housing and taking them off the street, providing services. mayor newsom started a private -- program connecting members of the homeless community to services, dental, vision, therapy, housing, mental health. these are things that you and i probably take for granted. we have access and resources we can leverage. this community doesn't. in the southeast part of the city, we don't have many homeless facilities. there is one that i know of, providence baptist church. every night, i have seen this line wrapped around the corner. it is cold. this is a men's shelter in particular. they're coming in, they are on a floor of a gymnasium. we are not talking a lavish existence. four seasons here. definitely, i think we are a

very compassionate city and just continue to extend the compassion to the homeless community. >> what is happening with crime in your district? how do you think the police department is doing to address the issue of crime in district 10? >> statistically, we have a lot of crime. homicides, there were two in the last week in my district. i am vice-chair of the public safety committee. safety and how we define safety, not just in terms of crime, but over a public safety, is something that is very important and one of my priorities. what i would like to see is more of a community policing approach. maybe engaging more the community. that includes organizations like safe, which is a neighborhood- based organization. neighbors get together and they're watching the streets, giving information to the police

department. think about taxicabs. they are all over the city. they can be the eyes and ears of the police department if trained properly. we can also better utilize the sheriff's department. it has the same training as members of the police department. i think we could have a healthy conversation in considering partnering -- creating a stronger partnership with the sheriff's department. overall, crime, yes. we need to reduce the number of homicides. we need to reduce the number of aggravated assaults, petty crimes, misdemeanors. i do get my fair share in my district. that is one issue that is universal between safety and education. everyone is very concerned about it. >> talk to me about the progress on environmental cleanup in the areas of san francisco where that is a growing concern.

>> you know, in san francisco, specifically in the southeast quadrant, san francisco is the industrial armpit. we have got the two major toxic sites, we have the shipyard and the lock site. both of those toxic chemicals that are still in the ground are from earlier activities, business activities. we also have the puc, the water treatment plant, in the district. for me, the quality of the environment is very important. it is a direct relationship with the high breast cancer rates, a cancer rates in particular, but also breast cancer, and to some degree childhood obesity, there's a correlation between the environment people are growing up in.

when we talk about my legislative priorities, the environment is also on that list of priorities. minimizing asthma, maintaining the asman task force, that we will keep implementing that my predecessors started, educating people on healthy lifestyles, exercise, healthy diet. we talked about the environment. it is about the food we are taking into our body, our stress level, and a component that is not often discussed as our mental health -- is our mental health. mental health and physical health factor into the environment that people are living in. it is in their home, it is in the neighborhood, it is the whole southeast quadrant. any way you guys sit up, we have had our disproportionate share -- you dice it up, we have had

our disproportionate share of problems that are happening. the policies and priorities of the city have been implemented. we have an opportunity -- this goes back to jobs. the puc will have a billion dollar project of rebuilding the digestors, the waste water management treatment plant in the district. making sure that people are hired from the neighborhood for the project, a pathway to a career that will be sustainable, and one where people can provide for themselves. they put money back into the local economy. they are buying houses, paying taxes, money is going into the school district, kids are being educated. we are raising help the community. >> thank you so much for joining us on sfgtv's "meet your supervisor." we will be back with another one of our 11 supervisors.

>> when the new california academy of sciences opened in 2008, it quickly became one of the top tourist magnets in the city. part of the cal academies' astronomical success is the weekly nightlife party. >> i am joined by helen, who is here to school me on all the nocturnal activities that are getting ready to take place here. tell us a little about what we can expect to see at nightlife. >> we open up the doors every thursday night at the california academy of sciences. there are certain things you can see every week you can go to the museum, visit the planetarium, and we bring in bars and a deejay or band. it is a different feel from

during the day, something different every week. tonight , we have beer and music. -- tonight we have great beer and music. it is beer week. we have a dozen local brewers in african hall. we have a deejays to set up throughout the museum and a live performance at 9:00 p.m. tonight. >> what has been your favorite part as a participant or as an observer? >> my favorite part is to walk around the aquarium in to see people with a drink in their hands, getting to know maybe somebody new, may be looking for a day, or chatting with friends. there jellyfish. i mean, they are beautiful. >> the culmination of the animals. >> it is very impressive. we do not have this at home. >> tell us a little about some of the spider's we see here on display. >> at the california academy of

sciences, there is a very large collection of preserved and live specimens, which are the evidence about evolution. we have the assassin spiders, which are spiders that exclusively kill and eat other spiders. they are under the microscope here. research done and the california academy's i rhinology lab suggests that the assassin spiders have been doing this for over 150 million years. this glassed in room is a real scientific laboratory, and the people in that room are preparing specimens of vertebrate, that is mammals and birds. the way they do this is to remove the skin, sew it together in a relatively lifelike pose, and ensure that it does not decompose.

>> i am a really big class actress fan, so i am here to see them, and beer week. >> i wanted to learn something and have fun. >> i always enjoy it. i am not all is well -- always working as i am tonight. sometimes i come to enjoy the music and to dance. ♪ >> culturewire covers the arts in san francisco, and one of my favorite culture artists is here tonight. jason, thank you for being on culturewire. tell us about some of your posters that we have here today. >> most of the posters here are four specific shows or tours. i am hired by the bands or the venue. >> what is the inspiration behind these posters? >> no, disease of the related to the bay and, of course. music -- it is related to the

band, of course the musical content or isn't related to the bed. album covers can come from anywhere. ♪ ♪ >> class actress was great. we have been having so much fun. i did not realize how beautiful the cal academy looks than that. what other events take place here? >> we do corporate events that night on a regular basis. but nightlife is your best bet to come in as a regular person

pharmacy the academy at night, and visit with friends. calacademy.org/nightlife. we have details for the next few weeks. you can get tickets online in advance or at the door. >> thank you so much. thank you for watching culturewire on sf gov tv. >> i love teaching. it is such an exhilarating experience when people began to feel their own creativity. >> this really is a place where all people can come and take a class and fill part of the community. this is very enriching as an artist. a lot of folks take these classes and take their digital

imagery and turn it into negatives. >> there are not many black and white darkrooms available anymore. that is a really big draw. >> this is a signature piece. this is the bill largest darkroom in the u.s.. >> there are a lot of people that want to get into that dark room. >> i think it is the heart of this place. you feel it when you come in. >> the people who just started taking pictures, so this is really an intersection for many generations of photographers and this is a great place to learn because if you need people from different areas and also everyone who works here is

working in photography. >> we get to build the community here. this is different. first of all, this is a great location. it is in a less-populated area. >> of lot of people come here just so that they can participate in this program. it is a great opportunity for people who have a little bit of photographic experience. the people have a lot, they can really come together and share a

love and a passion. >> we offer everything from traditional black and white darkrooms to learning how to process your first roll of film. we offer classes and workshops in digital camera, digital printing. we offer classes basically in the shooting, ton the town at night, treasure island. there is a way for the programs exploring everyone who would like to spend the day on this program. >> hello, my name is jennifer. >> my name is simone. we are going on a field trip to take pictures up the hill.

>> c'mon, c'mon, c'mon. >> actually, i have been here a lot. i have never looked closely enough to see everything. now, i get to take pictures. >> we want to try to get them to be more creative with it. we let them to be free with them but at the same time, we give them a little bit of direction. >> you can focus in here. >> that was cool. >> if you see that? >> behind the city, behind the houses, behind those hills. the see any more hills? >> these kids are wonderful.

they get to explore, they get to see different things. >> we let them explore a little bit. they get their best. if their parents ever ask, we can learn -- they can say that they learned about the depth of field or the rule of thirds or that the shadows can give a good contrast. some of the things they come up with are fantastic. that is what we're trying to encourage. these kids can bring up the creativity and also the love for photography. >> a lot of people come into my classes and they don't feel like they really are creative and through the process of working and showing them and giving them some tips and ideas.

>> this is kind of the best kept secret. you should come on and take a class. we have orientations on most saturdays. this is a really wonderful location and is the real jewel to the community. >> ready to develop your photography skills? the harvey milk photo center focuses on adult classes. and saturday workshops expose youth and adults to photography classes.