vice president yee: i wanted to make an announcement that we had a meeting yesterday, the joint committee, and the reason why i want to make the announcement is because i won't be here to report it at our next meeting. and so but i do want to say that the two items of the three that were on the agenda i heard and i have paperwork. i would recommend actually that for one of our educational discussion pieces that we have our staff and maybe invite city college also to talk about the bridge to success program, because it's really interesting. they have a lot of great data that is worth looking at and the nice thing about it is that there's a real collaboration between the two institutions in

using stafford to share the data so if anybody's interested, i have it. president mendoza: thank you for that information. >> the budget and program committee of the san francisco board of education had a meeting. i'll report on it at our next meeting when it is sunshined or whatever but to make that announcement, so, we don't have enough money. president mendoza: any other announcements from board members? this is the informational place that if i were to announce something that's coming up, this is the right place to do that? >> we can as a matter of moving forward, we can agendize all the committees that met in the previous two weeks as a place holder so we can properly compile it. >> we're usually pretty good about it. let's make sure that the committees -- whatever -- whenever we have any meetings

set, let's put it in the agenda. and i want to make a quick announcement that this weekend is the 11th annual harley strictly blue grass festival put on for free for the city which is a huge contribution to our city and he, every year, kicks it off by taking all of the middle schoolers to listen to blue grass music so he's going to do that again. he's moving it up to a thursday because friday is going to be all day he's actually adding acts so all day friday will be the festival itself. so once again, m.c. hammer will be performing for the kids on thursday from 10:30 to noon if anybody would like to come out and join the kids. commissioner norton? commissioner norton: i wanted to say that many of the schools located around golden gate park have turned this into a fundraiser and are allowing people to pay to park on their schoolyard grounds so if you want to support your local

schools and are looking for a place to park, of course we always recommend public transportation first as city policy but if you do find yourself in a car going to the festival, you can support a school and park on the schoolyard. president mendoza: i love that we're opening school yards for parking. commissioner murase? commissioner murase: ruth asal school of the arts had a dedication ceremony on september 14 and i wanted to congratulate that community and tonight actually comcast is going to present sort of with donation, they're having a precedent tonight, announcing new asian-american media content so we're very proud of soda and the contributions they're receiving and support from the community. president mendoza: commissioner yee? vice president yee: wherever these schools have celebrations, especially the 100th anniversary

celebration, one of the most difficult things to do is find alumni, because we don't have a list. if anybody know of somebody actually went to school at gene parker at any time, let them know that there's going to be a 100-year celebration of gene parker tomorrow night at 6:00. so please join us there. president mendoza: i also wanted to share that the college track did their groundbreaking for their new facility site on third and gerald which is really exciting so it will have a big college track sign which is on the corridor which will set the tone for our kids in the bayview so i want to thank college track for their partnership and the work they're doing with our kids and there was a backpack give-away this weekend at garfield park that was put on by the city that benefited so many of our kids in our superintendent zone, the mission superintendent zone. thank you for doing all of that, as well. are there any other final

announcements? great. thank you. yes? sorry. are you ok? item t is the report of closed session activities. this is the closed session actions of september 20, 2011. the board of education approved a credit for one direct, one principal and two assistant principals. in the existing litigation case oah case no. 20011160521, the board, by a vote of 7 aye's, approved a settlement. in the existing litigation of case no. 2011060361, the board, by a vote of seven aye's, approved settlement in $3,000. in the existing litigation case of jh versus sfusd oah case 2011060553 the board approved settlement in the amount of

$3,000. in a public employee discipline release matter the board resolved by a vote of seven aye's to accept the resignation of a classified employee and to waive certain damage claims against the employee in exchange for the employee's agreement to reimburse the district the sum of $14,300.34. we also have -- do you have a question? >> i was at that meeting. i arrived late. president mendoza: you were absent for that vote. yes, thank you. and then we also had a closed session action on today this evening september 27, 2011, the board by a vote of seven aye's approved joining the california school board association's los angeles unified school district turlock unified school district and association of california school administrators in initiating litigation against the state of california, anna j.

monte santos and her capacity of director of finance, director of public instruction and john chang as state comptroller. item u are other informational items, there are no one tonight. and we are going to adjourn our meeting in memory of elaine fong. elaine was a retired district administrator who passed away on december 16. she started her career as a teacher at sherman elementary. she served as principal of treasury island. elaine remained active after retirement and belonged to church choir, taught yuk laely lessons and was interested in any hawaiian activities in the bay area. she served as a day-to-day substitute after retiring in 1997. the board of education and superintendent of schools express sincere condolences to the fong family.

meeting adjourned. >> despite efforts street violence continues to effect san franciscans and it is not just important to be part of the gang prevention network we want to

learn the best practices that you have to offer. we are going to be very active especially when we're experience the realignment. i know the chief is here to share with you what we are doing already. we won't be victims of our own decisions. we have to do better and we have to encourage everyone to do better with less. so, we are already launching our city's realignment plan and through her leadership although probation is collaborating with the multiple city agencies we are creating new assessment centers as a result of welcoming in our additional prisoners. we are increasing health and service agencies and also providing analytical support to manage and monitor that program. we are not going to be victims of realignment. we have to be ahead of it and i look forward to the recommendations that all of you

will share with us and you will definitely have a mayor who will join the other mayors in leadership and we will do our best. thank you very much. >> very quickly, to reflect on which each of the mayors has said, after the whereases in the call it action the points are state and federal government to support policy preference for comprehensive action planning to prevent and reduce gang violence. in order to create community well-being. second, state and counties to involve city governments as full partners in the current realignment efforts particularly with respect to county functions as probation, parole, public health and child welfare that all have a effect. the state and other stake holders to join the network in creating valuation methodology which will inform local, state

and nationwide comprehensive practice. finally, this is something i have been working on a great deal as all of you have, as you all are bringing in many funding sources and streams in our comprehensive effort you are hampered by federal policy. so the last recommendation state and federal tkpwofrpts to continue to step up efforts to distribute funding that is flexible, adequate and coordinated so as to support comprehensive, balanced, violence reduction approaches including multi-agency and long-term funding. that is the core of the clause. we have a few minutes and we are fortunate to have two other mayors. you have two pop-up mayors to endorse this. tom, why don't you come and then

[inaudible]. >> organgood morning. i would like it thank you for your gracious hospitality. we did some time last night and spent money in the local restaurants. this is looking like a family reunion for me after the number of careers we have been together -- years we have been together. i want to step back. when i was first elected mayor seven years ago as a father of three young boys gang violence was something that i just had no understanding of. unfortunately, any time we had a dialogue about reducing or eliminating gang violence it was a hopeless discussion. it was explained away and all the explanations are why we could not reduce gang violence and couldn't get rid of it. it was cultural. it was ingrained. i would say the call to action started here four years ago. because we had leaders that said

regardless of the history and regardless of past we are going to take a stand and eliminate gang violence. it is going to be something we see in our lifetime. the senseless killing and maiming and violence would stop. the strategies and policies we have developed has made a difference in all of our communities. i say it has made a significant difference in this community of objection -- oxnard. we have seen a steady decline in homicide rate and this year we are in october and have not had a single gang related homicide. [applause] >> we are not a large city but it was not that long ago our homicide numbers were in the 20's and half were gang related. so i'm here to and i would like to introduce our county supervisor from ventura. we are one of those areas that

enjoyed the relation between city and county and that is imperative to be successful. i'm here to say we thoroughly support the call. i say the call occurred a number of years ago and we are now seeing the benefit of that but we cannot do it land. we have to continue to -- awe should receive preference in financing and grants of support as we go further and we are making a difference and i look forward to the weekend. thank you very much. [applause] >> you were one of the early ones that stood up 4 1/2 years ago and said look at the muscle in this recommend. we ha -- room. we have to focus on policy and the past two years we have state and federal. next santa rosa. >> thank you, jack. let me tell you, as a former law

enforcement professional, 30 years with the police department i know that enforcement alone doesn't work in reducing gang violence in any community. i know that for a fact. i tried it. this is truly a reunion. for me the past going to a conference to discuss gang issues it would be felt with law enforcement looking at new strategies how no do more enforcement. it is time we changed and it has started. we know enforcement won't work. policy changes start at the local level. that is what we have done it santa rosa. they include developing a tack force that includes major stakeholders in the city and in the county. it included passing a 4% sales tax to enhance public safety services and provide funding for services as well. the battle we have had in the streets were not working for us. and any community that is in conflict with its youth is no

community at all. this is a wonderful place to be for all of us together to do what we can at the local level but we need partners at the state and federal levels. thank you. [applause] >> there may be a couple of minutes for press questions but first i want the good folks to sign. >> i will use a blue pen to make it distinctive. >> thank you. >> thank you all. let's have a happened for these folks. >> mayor ol veras from santa

rosa. >> i would like to answer the question by talking about one of the partners aware -- we're most pleased to be associated with in our effort and that is the postgraduate school and this sunday we are going to launch our program that we've worked collabora collaboratively throughout the entire community. and the point about these networks is it takes a while to get there. i know when we all first started coming together mayor morris talked about and san bernardino talked about what they intended to do and now you hear quite naturally that is what they do. and that is important. you heard the mayor of santa rosa say i tried law enforcement, that doesn't cut it. so, these networks are critical

because we are charged with creating new and enduring structures. one thing i routinely talk about is not that we don't know what to tdo, it is can away scale it up and sustain it. the very quick lesson i want to share from my time with the naval postgraduate school is the way they framed the issue. when they first got involved in us everyone thought we were going to be running a black ops operation and nothing could have been further from the truth. on the other hand i'm absolutely delighted the best and brightest two miles away were in our community and wanted to share their expertise. when they looked at this issue through kind of a counterinsurgency lens, it helped us move forward.

a weak win is when you begin to suppress the violence and strong win is when you begin to control the political landscape and complete win when you have complete transformation. we can all look at that overseas and if i were a betting man i would put a little more money on iraq than afghanistan. what i will say as a california mayor when i first encountered strong wind i thought that is kind of overseas. but, tom, you are lucky. every city and county doesn't work well together. every community based organization, favorite based, business, they don't always work well together. so to punch through that and really create those networks is critical. the other thing is when performance actually want the same thing and operate out of

good will we also have to punch through habitual turf. so, when you issued this call to action that says, look, the point of going forward basis are cities that are really together truly recognizing it is dynamic and you move ahead and fall back, but that is no small thing to build a network and to get to the next level of a strong wind, that we have a chance as a community to move forward toward the ultimate objective of a complete win. which as the mayor said, all of us standing here really believe it is possible despite the odds and i will close with this. could you imagine the phaemayor governor saying we can't do that. i don't believe that for a moment. we can do this. and so i'm always -- so the network issue is the heart of the matter.

you can't get a complete win unless you pass through the networks. >> thank you all for your observations. this reminds me of something i shared with you before. in san jose i was talking to a community activist, and i said cora, you are getting a new mayor. what is going to happen to the task force? she looked at me and said jack, you don't understand. it is not the mayor's, it is ours. so, your comments, tom, about driving this into the community, all of you, it is structure and it is really important and it has to be accountable with plans. schools used to let do you this. they say have you done it. faith communities, have you done it. but is it really driven into the fabric as a way to do business.

and i know the leadership of all of you mayors are providing to your communities because you can't just sign it and get it done. you are out there on the hustings all the time. the city mayors are at the top and unfortunately the funding is somewhere else. so, i have to thank you for your leadership. you guys are terrific. [applause] >> are there any other burning questions before -- yes, if you could identify yourself. >> [inaudible]. >> you will probably answer this

in the next couple of weeks. >> anybody want to respond to the question? >> so, she probably should ask this in the next round in a few weeks. a lot of us have applications in. i know ours is based on truancy in schools. right now one thing we are getting is against automatic weapons off the streets that are leaking in from across the border and those kinds of in-kind services are not necessarily funding but for these gang task forces in oakland it helped fund the street outreach services when we've violence on the street. we use them not just for the gangs. a lot of our violence and shooting is in the black community but we are using with young people who are out on the

street in general and it has been a critical part of our gang task force within the city and coalition and i know that the rest of our cities use them similar for intervention projects. >> quickly, we lament the passing of earmarks. city mayors, i could sell my case for intervention and prevention to my congress persons and they responded. i have two operation centers in the heart of the most challenged areas of our city kept alive by a half million dollar earmark from congressman jerry lewis and that expires and they don't come back i end up the loser. largely, we did a sale and got a 50% thumbs up from our city to do that. most of that, most all of it has again to the police department.

i was hoping to have a little more for prevention and intervention but the council said give it the p.d. so we have supported our programs largely by applications like those earmarks and other applications, cops grant and other anti-gang activities. we have become grant specialists to maintain the resources we have and we have become this remarkable alliance of community nonprofits and other services that kept us alive. the feds have a limited role at this point and earmarks for us has been an important opportunity. not much else out there on this landscape. >> i echo the same things. but we have also been very fortunate. i want to emphasize the thing i said earlier. you build strong communities. you are going to really attack that gang prevention in a before

way. we are recipients of a hud grant, community choice program ground to rebuild our alice griffith one of the hardest areas of our city and toughest of our public housing developments. if you look at years ago, it was -- it was very high in the statistics in twain -- 2009 of all the shootings and gang recruitment. we are going to rebuild that housing with those neighbors on site and residents of alice griffin participating in the building of their housing. that is how you get strong communities. that is how even our chief says the other programs aren't worki working, your job will be 10 times harder. so building strong communities in my opinion will contribute a long way to prevention and we are fortune with leader pelosi and feinstein to get that grant

in the right way. one reason they chose us is because of the integration we have working directly with the residents who have been victimized many years. they get to build their housing with us as a partnership. >> just one final comment. the a.g. is on her way up. one thing we're trying to do on the federal level is to have the various federal agencies approve funds so you can get funds from hud at the same time there might be a justice dimension, an education dimension and h.h.s. dimension. common r.f.p., common outcomes so you are not fighting for individual grants all the time. again, thank you, mayors, thank all of you. you can stretch. she will be up here in a couple of minutes. >> it is my good fortune to

introduce the a.g. of your state who will welcome us this morning. her credentials dazzle. most impressive is her life-long commitment to public safety, to stopping those whose crimes tear communities apart, and with equal fervor offering to help those on the margins of our society who risk falling back into lives of crime. before she headed the city attorney's division on family and children. she doubled the conviction rate for gun felonies, convicted violent offenders, gang members. often honored recognized as woman of power by the urban league. thurgood marshall award from the national black prosecutors association. featured on oprah winfrey. and in "newsweek" as one of america's 20 most powerful wo n

women. she's also an author, smart on crime, a career pro prosecut s prosecutors. i met your attorney general only two minutes ago thus i don't know her that well. but one can tell a lot about a person by the staff who work for them. my experience with your staff has been terrific. they are deeply committed as u you, efficient, a delight to work with and they have a delicious sense of humor. they, like you, i believe, don't see this work as a job but a calling. i'm the lucky guy who gets to introduce your attorney general, welco welcome. [applause] >> thank you, jack. >> thank you, jack. for your longstanding leadership