will be consequences for people who do not than that. i ask you to think about the efficiency we do, the impact that we have, and please do not cut our funding. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. >> good morning, supervisors. i am jason bennett. i am here to speak on behalf of the program. after all my parents passed away in georgia, i moved to san francisco to deal with my depression. shortly after i moved out here, i found out i was hiv-positive. i went into depression again.

i started seeking support groups in the community. it was a hard struggle, but after last january, i discovered this shelter. i can tell you, from that point on, i feel like it is a second, new family, here in the city. this past week, i was able to start the new life program.

i can tell you, without these programs, i would be completely devastated. so i am begging you all to find it in your hearts and budget to keep the program alive and available. you do not know how much it means to me. thank you for your time. supervisor chu: thank you. >> good morning, supervisors. my name is brad late. i am an elected member of sfciu , and i want you to hold the line on our costs. san francisco takes great pride in leading the counties of california in developing the home care movement. there has been a movement to

save and provide for the public, and more efficient home-based care. it saves the city person and is better for our clients and people of need. san francisco has always led the way. we are just asking that you hold the line with our modest health costs. keep them the same. other counties have moved ahead. santa clara county now pays 66 cents more than us. we have not received an increase since 2007, actually before then. we urge you to support the important work that home care work represents for ourselves and for the city. also, the home care program has brought to the city great savings. the 6% federal community needs choice provision will free up dollars for the city funds.

also, the 3.6% cut to our client hours and own income has meant a saving for the city. these two items alone our way larger than the proposed cuts that were initially in the budget, that we hope you will exercise. i urge you to support home care. -- excise. let's keep this a city where people are happy and healthy. supervisor chu: thank you. >> [speaking chinese] >> hello, supervisors. i am a member of sciu.

>> [speaking chinese] >> in this economic crisis, i am only earning $11.50 per hour. i have not had an increase for the past four years. this will burn my life even more for the medical increase from $3 to $10. >> [speaking chinese]

>> meaning of the play home care worker is more than benefits. we provide care to disabled and seniors so that the family members of them can have a greater contribution to society. our work is to make sure the community has a safe place for the disabled and seniors. >> [speaking chinese]

>> i urge you to keep the premium the same, and also find more ways to be more protected and increase access to home care members for the health-care system. this will be a greater contribution to society, to the community. all workers can be helped and have a greater impact on society to create a better community. >> [speaking chinese] >> thank you very much. this is what i have to say today. supervisor chu: thank you.

>> good morning. my name is maria perez. i am home care provider in san francisco. one of the executive board members of sciuuhw. i am here today to ask you to protest against the increase of our health insurance premiums. i know to you it may seem like a small portion, but to us, it is a big impact in our financial situation. as our members have mentioned, we have not had an increase, we have no sick days or days off. we provide a service to our seniors and disabled persons with gladness and pride. we also have a country rich in

the 3.6% from our pay. we estimated that was $2 million we saved the city. also, the impact it would have on the city because we are already low income. a lot of our members would have to go into the universal health care providers here. san francisco will probably need to be paid more money. i also want to present to you, supervisors, we have got out to the community. there are over 2000 petitions here signed by the residents of san francisco. we took the time to talk to them individually and told them about our problem. they are also supportive of protecting home care and not increasing our premiums. and they know the impact this will cost care providers.

i hope that you take this into consideration as the residents of san francisco have, too. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. >> hello and good morning. i am the director of education as san francisco opera. i am here to represent a group of us from arts organizations. eight are here today. san francisco ballet, san francisco performances, san francisco jazz, odc dance, san francisco film society, san francisco symphony, and san francisco opera. we are also joined by members of the sentences for unified school district visualize performing arts office. we represent over 200 grantees. we ask that you please protect the proposed budget for the

arts. everyone need to sacrifice, but the arts community has taken a disproportionately significant cut in the past. we ask to stop being unfair to the arts. we have done the best we can to cut our budgets and be creative in ways to generate revenue in this very difficult economic time. more cuts to our funding would result in cutbacks on staff and a reducing programming. please nknow, our 200 members, e benefit san francisco in many ways, including educational programming to tens of thousands of schoolchildren. almost every public school in the city receives programming with us. the programs are with children who need it the most.

they tend to be the more low income, disadvantage, and emotionally-scarred youth. we have ways to reach them and give them a chance to learn in a new way. we also employ thousands of residents and voters. and we bring in millions of visitors to the city to participate in the arts, and that is a wonderful tax revenue. for example, the san francisco opera ring cycle is now in 21 countries, 46 states. [bell rings] supervisor chu: thank you. >> good morning. my name is genet. i was born and raised in san francisco, and i am an arts administrator living in the city. i was exposed to the arts through the arts program.

groups of musicians came to our school throughout the year and made me aware of the different kinds of music available in our city. the program also provided the opportunity to attend a private concert by the san francisco symphony. all of my friends and neighbors also received the same educational experience through this program. as i became more interested in music, i took lessons and became a trained musician. the entire arts community had a profound impact on my current career path. aim provides comprehensive musical experiences for every child grades one through five in every public school in the district, as well as some independent and parochial schools. 25,000 children from every neighborhood in the city. these programs provide for arts organizations and ensure san

francisco children received an education that includes the parts. the arts are an important part of our city and has a positive affect on everyone and has personally influenced my life as a citizen. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. >> good morning. i am an educator, former student of the san francisco unified school district, a voter, and community member of jefferson elementary school. i am also lucky to be an opera teaching artist. it has been my great pleasure to work with the students, teachers, parents, administration, to support and contribute to the student learning across curriculum's as an opera teaching artist. why do the parts work? it could talk about that all day, but i can tell you this. my students that cannot sit down, i have a job for them in opera. my students to love textbooks,

there is something for them in opera. we can contribute to all of that, and we do. that happens through active opportunities to practice their critical thinking, problem- solving skills, and all while addressing curriculum connections across all disciplines. i would like to leave you with one thought about students that i have. for those of you who have not had the pleasure and honor to witness these students' reading opera, there is a pretty special image of watching first graders skip down the hall, holding hands on their way to research, singing the songs they have written. as a community enters an elementary, we join together at the end of the year, supported by parents and teachers and the administration, to show this joyful learning through cross curriculum training. thank you for your time. supervisor chu: thank you.

>> good morning. i am a recent graduate of abraham lincoln high school. i am here on behalf of sf performance is to advocate for the sustained funding of the arts. we explored the realm of poetry in my english class but before we were able to analyze poetry, we had to learn that it takes many layers. it takes time and effort to understand what it meant and how the poet achieved it. but we also learned there is the opposite of poetry, and that, in general terms is television. where poetry takes time to uncover what it is saying, television gives instant gratification. instead of waiting to be rewarded, television gives you everything up front. not only did my teacher apply this to literature and poetry, but he also applied it to music. a lot of the music my generation

listens to today is instant gratification and there is no depth to it. all they look for is something with a repetitive and beat which gets stuck in your head. most of these songs simply talk about drugs, sex, and getting lots of money to spend on drugs and sex. but there is the opposite of that. there is music that takes time to fully understand and enjoy its meeting. this is where the grant for the arts comes in. my teacher invited sf performances to come to our class to perform. we had an incredibly talented opera singers sing for us. she composed and sang a song made out of numbers. she then sang a song which emulated the route and busy streets during the industrial era. the clack of payment only help to engulf the listener into the world artist was creating. sf performances and grants for

the arts knows that musical performances can be deeply emotional. i believe all students should be reminded that music can have death and can mean something more. that is what i urge for the continuation to the grants for the arts program and in turn, continue funding sf performances. supervisor chu: thank you. >> my name is james hartley, a member of the board of the san francisco opera. as a fourth grader in oakland, i have music in my life. i played the violin in the school orchestra, i sang in the church choir, and i learned the lyrics to every broadway musical on 78th. that year, my class attended madame butterfly at the opera house, and that began a lifetime

of experiences that have arranged -- enriched my life. as the director of the san francisco opera guild, more recently at the san francisco opera, my goal has been to share this treasure of musical experience. opera is a combination of music, history, dance, music, and theater, and is the perfect vehicle to bring to our classrooms where music programs have all but disappeared. with opera programs in the school, people saying shortened versions of operas, create their own, tell their own stories through words and music, and for for them before their school and family. they come to the opera house to see dress rehearsals to full- length operas. they seashore and movies up on stage performances and they come to the ballpark to see simulcast of productions. last year, over 65,000 children participated in these programs,

in addition to their families and teachers. grants for the arts is the city's gift to our children, the life enhancing treasure of music. supervisor chu: thank you. >> who i am the director of education for san francisco valley. i can tell you how the valley, like the opera use the money from the city to teach her stand-up thousands of children across san francisco in every sector in every neighborhood in every district. that would be an easy story. instead, i want to tell you a quick story. imagine an inner-city family, single mother raising three kids, growing up in san francisco. the three children are struggling to make ends meet. one child, by the age of 6, is diagnosed with a learning disorder.

by the age of 8, that china is diagnosed with adhd, put on ritalin. unfortunately, as a result of that, senses are dulled and the child does not have any sense of where they are, cannot read, write. after a period of time, another takes the child off of drugs and puts the child in a music class, dance class. that child grew up on community- based art and dance experiences. went through medical and high school and went on to college. this child who was dubbed having a learning disorder, could not reach its full potential did so because of an through arts education programs. that child went on to earn not 3 degrees. baton would grow up to become the director of education of the san francisco ballet, and that china would understand that giving back to create the same

opportunities for other children who might be kept in the dark, or labeled too early, too soon. the arts are not just saving children. it is saving lives. we are not just treating the creative culture of tomorrow. we are saving children's lives and we are enriching this planet in a way that brings us together. on behalf of all these organizations, thank you for your continued support, funding, and thank you for saving our children. supervisor chu: thank you. thank you all for coming. we have received all of your e- mails. [laughter] next speaker please. >> good morning, board of supervisors. i am so happy to see the opera

and symphony. i used to volunteer for them. i came here to advocate for the life program. but first, i want to say a little bit about myself. 35 years ago, i came from brazil, from a conservative family, and they did not want me to come to the united states. they disowned me because i came to the united states. i am very proud to be an american citizen. one time, i had major surgery, and the day that i was discharged was the last day to go. i asked the ambulance to stop so that i could vote. so i had a good job, wonderful employees.

i've always believed in studying. i have hiv and terminal cancer. i donated my horse to stanford and have been doing volunteer work. i went to the hospice and now i live at cohen residence. for all of this time, the life project has helped me to keep my dignity, keeping my spirits, to be glad i came to the united states, to love this country, my friends, and i came here to ask, please, help the life of program. they are helping me, have helped me, and because of that, i am

helping lots of people. thank you very much for your attention. supervisor chu: thank you. >> my name is cameron. i am here on behalf of the support of housing. we are facing a $118,000 reduction to our overall budget. we received $140,000 from hrsa, and they are proposing to cut 118,000. i think it is a well-known fact that the one stop system is not prepared to serve people with multiple barriers looking for employment. the office of economic workforce development may not say that they know this but they provide funding to agencies, including us, to provide job readiness services, which are supposed to help people with multiple pairs of employment enter the mainstream.

trading programs, funding, so that people can get to that extent. we were recently given an award by the office of work force to the elements for excellent collaboration which was presented to us by supervisor jane kim. that was in april. i just find it a conflict of interest that we are looking to be cut by one agency and being awarded by another. we depended on both sources of funding to provide excellent service as we do. i would also like to add, last year, mayor newsom added us back himself, and the before, this year -- or supervisors. we are experts in providing training and implements services to the homeless and families. at a time when there is outcry for cdo's to collaborate with each other, i do not know why we would want to cut a long standing, or performing, highly successful, nationally-

recognized collaborative model. i hope you consider restoring our funds once more. supervisor chu: thank you. >> members of the committee, my name is lesley. i am the director for clinical operations at san is as good general hospital and trauma center. for the record, we are here on our own time. we are here to urge you to vote yes on proposition j which would allow the contract thing out of security services at san pritzker general. we believe this presents us with a unique opportunity for our hospital to integrate security as part of our health care team, rather than an entity solely devoted to law enforcement.

currently, the constraints placed upon the shares deputies, because they are sworn peace officers, render them unable to support clinical situations in which patients, for no fault of their own, despite dangerous behavior to themselves or others. deputies can only restrain and attain what criminal or assaultive behavior has occurred. we envision a model where security is part of the health care delivery team and a trickle at and visible presence that can afford our institution and patients a sense of safety. additionally, the operations section, which is responsible for the minute to minute operations at the hospital, would have the power and authority to deploy such security where the need arises. something that is currently lacking under our current record model.

kamala week to pressure the longstanding relationships with the share, it is not one that goes far enough that meets the needs of our patients and staff. therefore, we urge you to support proposition j. supervisor chu: thank you. >> good morning, supervisors. i am the chief medical officer and a practicing physician at san francisco general hospital. i am here to speak on behalf of the dph budget regarding the security issue. contrary to some comments you may be hearing today, this is not fundamentally a union issue. this is a patient care and safety issue. with all due respect to our law enforcement officers -- and i would not despaired of those folks in any regard -- we simply do not have the employees with the training, skills, and most notably, the legal flexibility to manage medical crises in the hospital. this is a health care issue,