in deference to the supervisor avalos the says he is going to work >> what demand there are in the diversion groupings of the occupiey sf and occupy wall street movements. they're focused on many of the same things that supervisor avalos mentioned. the resolution is strongly holding the police accountable for the crackdown. [applause] i did want to say that the issues, whether in oakland or san francisco or the 1500 other cities are around the u.s., several thousand places, how to bring an end to suffering with

the end of the foreclosures and other issues and the suffering of food and security. we were trying very hard to make it focused on allowing people to organize and rise up in the neighborhoods, to hold banks and big business is accountable to the mess they have made this country into at this point. it was an effort are around the country. i will defer to supervisor of los -- avalos. introducing today a resolution that has been with the california safety alliance and food access groups. like the head of systems to take steps clearly label foods that

have been genetically engineered and to give preference to organic food vendors. the sfusd, regarding the hazard of genetically engineered food. [applause] a couple weeks ago was gmo awareness week put on by places around the state. many other os organized for the dangers of the children and the elderly. i also join a panel of activists that were highlighting this global report on the dangers of genetically engineered food. scientific research has shown that materials could have serious impacts on the level of toxins in our food. and maybe particularly threatening to people and the

elderly. her will have more information, and the city to make every choice possible. genetically modified food represents the corporate and industrial food system that we need to change. these goals are not new, and the commission on the environment has unanimously adopted many of these principles in july of 2000. i want to urge my colleagues to support this. and supervisor mirkarimi as well. the rest i will submit. thank you. >> president chiu? president chiu: thank you. i have a couple of items for today. first, i have an in memoriam

request for howard grayson. a tremendous activist with the democratic party, progressive, labor. he is someone that was incredibly passionate and for the causes and issues that we share. and if someone who was an incredibly nice and gentle man. i have a resolution that comes on the same topic that the supervisor just spoke about relating to the importance of food policies on the state and local level. today will be nationally recognized for those that raise awareness on food issues to help strengthen the sustainable food movement and give a platform to organizations to talk about them and raise awareness. along with supervisor mar and

supervisor mirkarimi. i am also introducing legislation i have been working on for a better part of your to help address the layers of bureaucracy often confronted by the 80,000 small businesses in san francisco. one area is the fact that many of our small businesses receive annual license renewals. there are hundreds of different types of licenses. there are four different buildings cycles for every location that often creates enormous and bureaucratic hassles. thanks to the work of the fire police, health, and department of emergency management, i am introducing legislation that simplifies how businesses are built to consolidate the building into one of due date,

march the thirty first to that they go to a licensee rather than a variety of locations. and such that apartments are actually required to post a fees on web sites. i just wanted to say a few words about the occupiey sf movement. i think i speak with my colleagues in sharing and the sympathizing with the frustrations of the protesters here in san francisco and through the country. in san francisco, we need to allow the protests to occur, the right to free speech at the right to assembly that is consistent with city laws. i hope that we are able to do that. i ask folks during public, please respect the rules of the chamber and cannot express

applause or opposition to comment that come through. nothing in the board ruled prevent the silent hand clapping that i saw, welld one. -- well done. respect what we are trying to do, to write respect everyone's right to speak. we will be here all night if need be. we want to give everyone a chance to speak, be heard, and hear the proceedings. why don't we proceed to the next colleyville? supervisor mirkarimi: i would also like to thank supervisor avalos and supervisor mar for their comments. as an elected representative of city government, there is nothing more deflating and more disempowering than local government and municipal legislators not being able to have the ability to respond in a

way that we would like. the outrage that is now occurring throughout many cities in the united states and even abroad, it doesn't surprise any of us. i asked the city to be measured and smart in recognizing the frustrations that continue to accommodate in a way that none of us should be surprised. that we have been subverted in our ability to attend to the needs of the people. we rely on the people at state and federal to do what we think is right and it should not be a surprise that people are taking to the streets. [applause] don't applaud. i rise because i am submitting a piece of law today that comes after many years of us trying to figure out a way that we could really make an impact on reducing recidivism in san

francisco. we have tried many different strategies, and thus trying to improve public safety by getting to the core of what continues to exacerbate the challenges of public safety. the 7 it is police department and the san francisco district attorney prosecutes. when you recognize that fact, the reality that san francisco has the unemployment rate, general population unemployment rate hovering between 9% and 10% as we try to get around the economic woes. in many areas where there is the highest concentration of ex- offenders, felons, especially of around public housing, the unemployment rate is over 50%. nobody should be surprised that when we front loaded nearly half

a billion dollars -- nearly $500 million, to continue to see them are wresting the same people, it is time that i think while we recognize this ongoing reality that we have another strategy that also intersects with the private sector, city government, and the criminal justice system. we have never done this in san francisco. what i would like to do is provide a tax incentive for private sectors that hire ex felons. people have had a hard time finding work and keeping work. once they recognize the fact that public safety is compounded

by the reality that there are many people, there are a majority of black and brown people in the system returning from the neighborhoods where they came, they are likely to repeat their crimes because they are not getting the kind of services or access that i am hoping that the private sector will hear the call instead of us imposing upon them, that we incentivize. this is a pilot, it is voluntary. it is not like a lot of businesses came rushing to the gates to do this. any empirical data helps us. those that we're providing for the x offenders are a construction trade job, little information is beyond the non- profit sector.

we're asking to step up the game so we recognize why there is this crisis of helping people that are not to fall off the wagon of rehabilitation and held them in the continued pursuit of entering restorative justice. and recognizing what started the past october 1 is realignment. 700 inmates will be returning to san francisco. at one point or another, they will be incarcerated for part of their time or sentenced to alternative means. they are all going to eventually come out. and they are going to meet the means so that they are less likely to repeat their crimes. we have a recidivism rate of

70%, and it should not be a surprise to anybody that we need to upgrade our strategy. i hope this ordinance helps provide just that. the rest will submit. supervisor campos: let me begin by joining in the in memoriam for howard greyson. those of us that knew him a proceeded the passion with which he approached issues and the active participant member of the democratic club, he will be messed. our condolences to his loved ones. it is certainly a loss for the entire community in san francisco. let me also say that i want to reiterate the importance of

dealing with the issue of occupy sf to make sure that these first amendment rights are respected as much as possible. it is key to the functioning of any democratic society. it can be an example for how to deal with the situation, and i want to thank, in particular, supervisor kim, supervisor avalos, supervisor mar for their work around this. i also want to thank the mayor's office and the chief of police, the people that have been working closely with me on this matter. the people of san francisco can be an example to the rest of the country to make sure that we recognize the importance of striking the right balance between the needs of the public and also recognize the important of the first amendment rights. i look forward to continuing

that dialogue and that conversation. i am introducing a hearing a request that has been ongoing for a number of years. supervisor mirkarimi has been an integral part of that effort. i am calling for a hearing requests to discuss the proposed terms for the community choice aggregation program. it has been proposed by the local agency information commission, the public utilities commission of san francisco. it is a very exciting prospect that we can finally make community toys segregation a reality. -- choice aggregation a reality. we're working closely with lafco

to begin to put together a proposal to make community choice aggregation a reality. the lafco and public utilities commission have been doing that work and are now at a stage where they have put together a set of proposed terms for the program. and not to only focus on the terms but to begin the process for a robust build-ou. t. so we can have as much control over the generation of power and energy as we can and in the process, create job opportunities for san franciscans. i request that the hearing be made available to the government ought an oversight committee. the rest i submit. supervisor wiener: thank you. i have several introductions today. the first, i am introducing

legislation to amend the health code and establish regulations for commercial bought walkers that uses city parks to limit the number of dogs that the personal bob walker can talk at once. providing training and safety standards for the profession. i have been working very closely with the number of stakeholders, the parks council, several doctors as well as the impacted departments. i look forward to discussion on this issue. i am also submitting legislation to for ongoing controversy of vending food in the park. there is a lease for a food truck that has been quite controversial in the

neighborhood. the legislation would allow the department who plays the food truck on 19th and delores, but would still be able to get revenue instead of transferring it over. the rest i submit. >> thank you, supervisor wiener. supervisor kim. supervisor kim: first of all, it is good to be back in the chambers. i hope that we never make fun of our colleagues that have public policy degrees. it is good to be back and i wanted to and knowledge the upcoming wedding of one of our legislative aides in less than two weeks. i wanted to officially

congratulate her on this occasion. i want to announce the opening of the studio on sixteenth street between mission and howard. it is the only filipino performance venue space here in the country. one that has long served the use of the south of market as well as the emerging artists. they finally opened in their original space. we want to welcome it back to district 6 and think the urban development solutions and community for working so hard in the last eight years to rebuild this state. we did not have our good friend who passed away a few weeks ago. he is a member of the united players and it isn't -- it is unfortunate he was not able to see the ribbon cutting with us.

i will also be speaking as many of my colleagues have. our office has been getting tons of the males and phone calls in support of occupy sf. we have not gotten a single one asking us to regulate more on the protesters or demonstrators. i had the opportunity yesterday to spend about four hours talking to participants of occupy sf. the one thing that i have to say is that it was incredibly peaceful, respectful, and very quiet. i got to see folks helping to clean, compost, recycling, things that i want to appreciate as someone who represent our city on a public capacity. on a personal level, i do personally support the intent of occupy sf and occupy wall

street. [applause] we've all seen and are finally expressing frustration with the increase in equity -- inequity in our country. as the research has shown, in 1968 when ceos were only paid 51 times more, in 2005, ceos make 121 times what minimum wage makes. as a public official, i want to make sure there is no harm done regarding any type of protest. even if it was the tea party, i would have been there as well to make sure that they were also safe and that their first amendment rights were also being

protected. that is really important to know. i want to a knowledge that many members of our city feel that they are in a difficult and tough position. i have heard from folks that a sexual assault takes place or if people get sick or if there is a drug overdose, they will be the first to be blamed. i want to acknowledge what people haven't really seen before. i believe that there is going to be hits and misses as we move along in this process on both ends. i want to reiterate the letter to the participants that was often stated this morning. it is not specific to any kind of geography. the parameters are those that participants have been familiar

with. for the continued cooperation in having other open flames, and what cannot be present because it is a significant fire hazard. the wooden pallets are not to be within the demonstration area. tables and chairs -- that is not something he is against or having food on site. this will continue as well. park and iraq will abide by those parameters. -- park and rec will also abide by those parameters. it is something i look forward to hearing from public comment today. folks stay within parameters, sfpd is not expected to take any action. our office looks forward to

continue working for the portion that i represent and i will continue to be on call as well as the office to come down and speak with folks and continue to cooperate. it is a unique situation for all of us and we are struggling to figure out the best way to accommodate. we need to figure out how to be flexible. a first amendment is something that i cherish, we don't want anyone to feel restrained in their ability to speak out and represent their opinion. one other thing, i don't think it is a good use for the demonstrators to be focused on sfpd when the focus is on the top 1% and the wealth occured there.

i spent time talking to residents, at any given time we have six to eight police officers in south of market and i don't want to see three at the demonstration. if it continues to go on as it is currently. last, i wanted to touch on another issue that the office is working on, pedestrian safety. i had the unfortunate circumstances of actually witnessing a pedestrian get hit by a car. it really reaffirm my commitment to working on increasing pedestrian safety, particularly in district 64 we have the highest number of collisions between vehicles and cars. and also of howard and full sun, i continue working on this. i want to thank the chief's wife for being here. last night, one of the

participants collapsed. the fire department came immediately and was able to serve him as a patient. everyone really appreciates your service to our city. the rest the submit. supervisor cohen: we have something very simple, i just wanted to honor the memory of a man by the name of mr. henry carter who passed away at the age of 90 on sunday, october 9. it is important for us to remember the lives of those that go on before us as we continue to work at a fight for our struggle here. mr. carter was a father and husband. i would like to ask that the supervisors close in his memory. >> roll call for introductions

is concluded. president chiu: 1 of removed to the 3:30 special order for special commendations. after that, we will move to public comment. it will be provided by supervisor cohen. supervisor cohen: i don't see mr. blackwell. president chiu: the second commendation will be provided by supervisor mirkarimi. supervisor mirkarimi: this was well reported on -- approximately 4:00 p.m., the corner of eighth and fillmore.

in fact, we were engaged in closed session. we got a number of calls as many of us do. i simply jetted right over there, and it contained a three ilan that moved to a for alarm that is a bit of a rarity, considering the fact that we lost to fire fighters earlier this year. and red cross and the other service providers that came on site to lend assistance, i have to tell you that when its core to the story as to how we are here today, recognizing three particular individuals and entities. pierre megaron gustavo and the

lower merchant neighbors association. this is a great example of community pulling together. in the business that he is a partner to across the street from the three-story building that burned down and displaced 24 residents was across the street. he heard a loud bang. it went to the building itself. gustavo was a painter who happens to have a key and both of them went inside the building, knocking on doors. i think people thought that they were crazy solicitors. they kept at it persistently to get people out to evacuate them out of the building. they were successful,