issue. we need trained personnel who can act on behalf of patients, consistent with hospital policy, and integrated into the health care team. the issue may seem complicated but it is really not, so i will keep my comments very brief. as health-care providers, we have a duty and obligation to provide safe and appropriate care, especially to the most vulnerable patients. and those are the folks without capacity to make rational decisions, due to their acute medical illness. we must have the tools and resources to provide that care in a safe environment for patients and staff. supervisors, is your obligation to provide us with the personnel and resources to do so. supervisor chu: thank you. >> thank you, supervisors.

i am a psychiatrist at general hospital, where i have worked for the past 22 years in our psychiatric units, and jail psychiatric units, and psychiatric emergency services. i am here to urge your support of the contract out of security services for the hospital for two reasons. safety of patients and staff. this is paramount. and fiscal responsibility. this proposal would save over $4 million at a year when we are being forced to cut the city's health-care services. i personally enjoy and value working with the outstanding officer that currently staff the hospital, but legal mandates have changed in the past years so that they can no longer restrain or detained patients unless they have a court order or there is criminal activity. this puts our patients and staff at risk through no fault of the officers themselves. they are simply not able to act in many situations.

a high-quality contacted security firm would be able to do these things. they would be part of the health-care team and not sworn officers. we know this can be done safely because they have been doing it for the past two years in alameda county. i have spoken directly with staff. as a member of the department of public health, i feel an obligation to use precious public money in the safest, most efficient way possible. this contract in proposal would do just that, and without any layoffs of current staff. thank you very much supervisor chu: thank you. -- thank you very much. supervisor chu: thank you. >> hello. i am an rn at san francisco general hospital. i am here on my own time. i wanted to talk about

proposition j. i find it to be an unfortunate situation, in a lot of ways -- supervisor chu: we cannot hear you. please speak up. >> i find it to be an unfortunate issue, because i personally support unions, and i find this is a very conflicting situation. when it comes down to it, the systems are not compatible, and that is because law enforcement is involved in criminal issues and the situations where i have needed support have not been criminal issues, per say, where we have a patient on surrogate old, which means family members take care of the patient and the patient is entrusted to us, but is not capable of making decisions themselves. the police officers have no

ability to hold this patient if the patient decides, because they are having a medical crisis essentially, that they are going to leave. it is that sort of flexibility in the system that is necessary in order to ensure patients are safe and staff is safe in trying to maintain patient safety. i have run across more than one situation where it has been very, very stressful, because a patient who everyone understands is not able to keep themselves safe, from not walking in front of cars, doing something that will cause them great harm. on more than one occasion, i have had officers say to me, i am really sorry, but there is

nothing we can do in this situation. those are my concerns. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. >> my name is jennifer. i am a registered nurse at san francisco general hospital. i am also here to talk about the proposition that my colleagues are talking about. i would just give you an example of a position i was put in as a nurse with a patient who was disabled, actively psychotic, delusional, could not make choices about -- he could not plan for self care wants out of the hospital, and he had a serious injury that needed multiple surgeries and he was on a psychiatric hold, which is a 14-state but psychiatric hold. he decided he was going to leave. i told them we still have to do treatment. i was trying to be supportive, non-threatening.

he decided that he was going to leave. i said, you cannot leave he was very smart and said, why can i leave? the doctors did not say that. the doctors said if i had a friend come pick me up, my friend provides a place for me to stay, i can go. i said, actually, you are on a psychiatric hold. until we can figure out a plan for you, you have to stay. his friend showed up. he said, i am leaving. in the meantime, i am making multiple phone calls to the doctors to reassure him to stay. he was not going to have it, so i called the institutional police. three officers showed up and they said we cannot keep him here. he is on a psychiatric told, here is the paperwork. they said, i am sorry, we cannot do anything if he is breaking the law. i said he threatened to kill his

mother in, and intermittently, regretting his mother seeing him in the hospital. his mother flew in from france because she was so concerned about this psychotic breakdown. he basically hobbled away from the unit after begging his friend, please do not take him home with you. he is not well. he left and his roommate brought him back two days later to the psychiatric ward because he was so unstable. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. >> hello, supervisors. i work at san francisco general. my main concern is a safety issue. we pride ourselves on giving the best patient care that we are able to give. but if we are so focused on safety on top of that, -- well,

they have taken us away from focusing on patients for medical reasons. now we have to focus on medical and safety. that puts us in a difficult situation. i would like a solution to this problem. i want to make sure my nurses are safe on the floor so that we can continue to do our jobs. that is how -- that is how it is supposed to happen. supervisor chu: thank you. >> i am a nurse on 5c at san francisco general hospital. i am here on my own time. we have the need opportunity to work with patients from marginalized communities around san francisco. we work with many from sro's, in the mission district, tenderloin, and pretty much everyone knows that what goes on in sro's, in many instances, are criminal.

when they get to us, they have health issues. we need to address these issues. they are not criminals when they come to us, but they are treating the day they are treated like criminals. this is a fire that i found that says no to proposition j. once again, and dph is looking to increase security at hospitals. i do not want my patients arrested. i want them to get healthy. lacks necessary training. well, the current sheriff's deputies that we have lacked training. we need people, security, who are trained to be empathetic to the people that we have and the types of patients we represent. help us help them get better. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. >> good afternoon.

my name is stephanie. i go to george washington high school. i am a senior. i am here as a youth representing the richmond district neighborhood centers, which will be affected by cuts. i am here with my gsa members. i am the president of the alliance there. when we heard about these cuts that would affect the beacon, we were horrified. most, if not all the multicultural program there are sponsored by the beacon. so the cuts we would get from the budget would pretty much be the end of the multicultural programs. there are large schools in the richmond district that have beaten programs. there are literally thousands of students that go to these clauses that will be affected. i feel like i am screaming for

help, but i have not. supervisor chu: thank you. >> hello, my name is natalie. i go to roosevelt middle school. i am involved in the beacon program. i go to the art academy three times a week. this is not an avid program that you just go in and get picked up. they let you go outside every day and teach a new things, give you books, let you go out to different monuments so that you can learn how to draw, learn the history behind burke. this is basically my only chance to get any program in arts. i want to go to an art school, but it is very competitive now. if you want to go to an art school, they only want the best people if they are going to waste their money on you. that, basically, is sad and

pitiful. a 12-year-old girl like me knows that she basically has no future to actually reach the goals she has been thinking of. supervisor chu: thank you. >> good morning, supervisors. i am the program coordinator of the san francisco immigrant legal education network. as part of some of the leading immigration and providers, we provide free services and cultural and linguistic services. we are composed of african networks, the asian law caucus, asian-pacific islander out rich, the central american resource center, the filipino community center, delores street agencies.

the collective has been funded through the generosity of the mayor's how high office. have for the upcoming year, we are facing $140,000 shortfall. you look at the funding for the collaborative, between the current fiscal year and the upcoming fiscal year, there does not appear to be a shortfall because of a technicality in our contract period. in the current fiscal year, we are only written into the budget for 10 of 12 months. for the next fiscal year, we are going to be kept at the same level which means 10 months will be spread across 12 months. the impact on our services will mean over 600 san franciscans will not be able to receive the necessary immigration services to navigate a confusing immigration system, including counseling, a process for naturalization, but immigration proceedings, education and immigration services.

and large portion of these cuts extend beyond the immigrants in the city. our services help keep families united, prevent homelessness caused by the stabilization of familiar units. we also helped folks maintain the proper paperwork. on behalf of the network, i want to thank you for the support over the past five years. it has been helpful for our community and to ask you to reconsider the cuts to sf island. >> good morning, supervisors. i am here to support the veterans equity center. we serve world war parents and seniors who are enjoying the programs are now. i am a veteran. i came here to speak for the

vec. in 2006, i needed to go to the philippines, but i could not go home because of financial reasons. so i went to the vec to help the veterans. i went there and asked for their support. one of the community leaders, rita, help me fill out the application forms so that i could get what i want. after a year, i went back home and i got the answer. every first and third month -- days of the month, the fridays, we received free cleaning. -- free legal clinic. this clinic, we learned the

status of immigration for our relatives. we were updated to the current and proposed benefits for filipino world war two veterans. once a month, we receive this socialization, dancing, and free food. we know each other and the veterans. seniors are also updated about computer skills. they are being taught how to use the computer. once a week, we received food every thursday. arts and crafts, too. i would beg the board of supervisors to please not cut their budgets so that seniors

can enjoy their twilight years. thank you. >> good morning, supervisors, distinguished members of the community. i had been a client of the veterans equity center since 1998. my husband and i would always go there for services and support. our children are in the philippines. when my husband passed away, the vec assisted me with funeral arrangements and they helped me to bring my husband's remains to the philippines. today, there are a growing number of people like me who live away from their families.

i am appealing for the community to help us. please reject the cuts of the veterans equity center, because the proposed cuts will reduce services to seniors. i would like to thank you all. thank you very much. supervisor chu: thank you. >> good morning, everybody. 81 years old, widow of a world war ii veteran. i am receiving the services of the the veterans equity center for almost five years.

i used to sleep in closets. only hardwood. i am here to stand before you to say what i have understood about budget cuts. these budget cuts are deplorable.

the agency's will be closed and it will affect the people it helps. it is sad to say and hard to admit, this situation affects the people working at the agency. all of us understand that work is the source of our livelihood. we work to live. supervisor chu: thank you. just a quick announcement. i know there are individuals

outside who are still waiting to come into chambers. if you want to come in, please contact the sheriff. if there are individuals that need to be accommodated, seniors, individuals with disabilities, please let the shares know so that they can let you in. in addition, the overflow room, room 263, is open. >> good morning, board of supervisors. i am a client of the veterans equity center. i am here to ask the board of supervisors not to cut the budget of the veterans equity center. here, we have our free legal clinic. we have legislative updates. we have workshops for housing.

we have so many things that the veterans equity center did for us, especially the paperwork. we have access to computers. it is afraid. -- free. arts and crafts. the food distribution. this is for our health. we are widows of world war ii veterans. our health is now run down. and the veterans equity center staff and volunteers make us

healthy. please, board of supervisors, please do not cut the budget of the veterans equity center. thank you and have a nice day. supervisor chu: thank you. next speaker please. >> i am a member of the soma senior center. i am in a position of the senior budget cuts. i go to the senior center almost every day to entertain my fellow seniors, dancing, singing, volunteering, and doing exercise to keep fit and healthy. the oncoming budget cuts to the senior centers break the hearts of my fellow seniors and gives us stress. as we all know, stress affects the body and will surely make us sick. the expenses will be coming from this instead of savings. every day, seniors are motivated to get up and have lunch at the center.

if the centers are closed saturday and sunday, where will we go, stay home and be depressed? many of us rely on them. it is only at the center where our stress is relieved by talking to our friends, dancing, exercise, singing, learning how to cope in nutritious food, forgetting our pain for a while. learn to manipulate computers and feel it important on our birthdays, supporting each other, learning arts and crafts, and most important of all, have a sense of belonging. these budget cuts will shorten our lives, make us depressed, and tell us we have no more reason to live longer and feel that our lives are disposable, because we are old and useless in society. what you are cutting are the

basic needs of seniors in order to survive. we did our responsibility to raise our children, and now they are paying taxes to support this. seniors want to enjoy and live comfortably in our remaining years. are we entitled to reap the fruits of our labor? what kind of society would we be if we do not know how to take care of the old seniors, especially the poor seniors? supervisor chu: thank you. next speaker please. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i cannot be that public. i think she touched on a lot of the things i was going to say. i am a community service workers at the veterans equity center. i am also a granddaughter of a filipino world war ii veteran. as we mentioned, we provide direct services to filipino world war veterans and their families. i want to give you a quick snapshot of our population that

we serve. most of them arrived here in the united states in the 1990's, as older adults, so they were already in their six to pause and 70's. most of them concentrated themselves in san francisco in district 6. most of them currently now live on supplemental social security, which is $875 at maximum a month. as far as rent and their housing, they pay between $300 and $500 in rent, so that leaves just a little bit to cover their basic needs. given this picture of who our population is, i am here to ask you to reject the proposed budget cuts. the mayor is proposing to cut 16,006 and $40 from the veterans equity center budget, which is equivalent to about 40 seniors. if that is cut, that means we will serve 40 last seniors.

these seniors will foreseeable ago to other senior services which were also impacted and may not be adequately equipped in the language and cultural sensitivity. so i would like you to keep that in mind, hoping that you would think favorably towards us and restore the money. in the 2009, 2012 area plan for the department of aging services, they prioritize the need for services to marginalized seniors, very low income, limited english speakers. i hope that you remember that as a priority in the area planned for 2009-2012. we need to keep that commitment to our seniors. lastly, there were many seniors who could not make it because

they are immobile, but we have letters from them for all of the supervisors. supervisor chu: thank you. next speaker please. >> good afternoon to everyone. i am one of the community service workers of the veterans equity center. i am here to ask all of you to support the community services of the veterans equity center. the community services component funded by the department of aging and adult services, the majority of our consumers need assistance in following up claims with the department of veterans affairs. sadly, up until now, veterans are not recognized for their service in the u.s. military. making them ineligible to receive pensions. this can be very hard and

complicated, leaving seniors extremely discouraged with the system. veterans equities centers offers a system of care that addresses these issues. health care is something provided by the veterans epicenter appeared clients need assistance in assessing health care services. our goal is to provide the support services necessary for seniors to remain in their homes, while getting the necessary treatment for their illness. these services include linkages to meal delivery, transportation to and from doctors appointments, and scheduling doctor's appointments and advocacy for other medical services that might not be covered by their insurance. there will be a tremendous impact to the community, if our agency no longer has the capacity to provide