fair. the car's make this operation is expensive. if we could advocate for a new revenue stream that is doing the right thing, i think it is a win-win, so to speak. chairman nolan: thank you all very much for coming in. i really appreciated. [applause] secretary boomer: item 15. discussion and vote as to whether to conduct a closed session. secretary boomer: the board of directors met in a closed session. they took no action. there is no discussion of

anticipated litigation. >> i move not to disclose. chairman nolan: and there is a second. secretary boomer: that includes our discussion -- that concludes our discussion for today. chairman nolan: good work, everybody. everybody.

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$40,000 of this will go to 20

existing businesses. it's this is like a dragon house. -- businesses like dragon house. [applause] others that have been identified. i want to thank ellen and debt been played -- that the little. that is right. al harris and others that have worked in the exocet ashcelsiorn group for so long so that we can make a difference. we want these grievance to make a ground level difference. that is why paying attention to everyone here. it is a struggle of a lot of our commercial corridors right now, so that is why the work we have been doing in mid-market, the experience we are bringing out there with the arts programs and business loans we want to do right here to help out as well.

i also want to thank mary and flemings from family connections. thank you for being here. -- maryann flemings. i also want to thank beth rubenstein from out of sight. thank you. you are in our collaboration. you also know as well as we do before we do anything, we have to work with existing business in people already out here. that is why you have been such an instrumental part, because if we do things right it is because we listen first. they did not want us here to invest $50,000 in one shop that may not make a difference. we spread that out to everybody. everybody feels the city is paying attention. i think that is why we're doing it well here. i also want to think marcihank .

the corporations out here guide us as to what we can do better. i know you've been out here with the community challenge grant doing all of the small business improvement stuff. we're just the beginning. $40,000 in the grants and for the businesses will help go along way. we're making our business mark with llamas cafmama's cafe. they have been successful in mid-market on clemens. and irving streets and all around. when you create these park? klets people come out and use the sidewalk and a more productive way. using our sidewalks in the most creative way, that is how we get more positive attention on to

these areas. i am gl's cafe create a more exciting sidewalk in these areas. these are things we can do in all of our commercial corridors so the businesses cannot only sustain themselves, they can create local jobs to sustain all of our neighborhoods, and that is how we are creating my vision for the rest of the city. we have to work to revitalize every part of our neighborhood. that is how we work together, and i am one to continue doing that and bringing out the expertise we have at city hall. get them out to neighborhood out here. we will walk these corridors with each of the elected officials so they know we're working together, and we're going to keep city hall in communicating with every one of our neighbors. thank you very much. amy, think you for your great work out here, and thank you for everyone joining us together. -- thank you for your great work

out here. >> thank you. gardner speaker iour next speaka gilete. it is through the mayor's office, the cities targeted effort to improve commercial districts, particularly in this more struggling area. the idea of the door front cleaning project, the beautification project is really just additional go on a lot of projects that have been done over the years, really exciting ones, including the good will tower, which you can see it. that was restoration that was a partnership between our office and the excelsior action group. >> hi, i am a member of excelsior active group's

steering committee, co-chaired fort excelsior beautification. of the excelsior action group mission is to revitalize excelsior corridor. these funds, which support the local merchants, will go along way to enhancing the vitality and appearance of the excelsior corridor. we welcome the opportunity to partner with local merchants on behalf of the excelsior. with those of you -- for those of you not familiar, we are a community action group that was founded in 2002. one event we sponsor each year is that the excelsior music and arts festival. we celebrated our ninth anniversary last sunday, and we had a great festival. it was a great community event that celebrated diversity through music, art, and food. excelsior action groups to support local merchants.

this past year excelsior action group completed 10 murals, partnering with local merchants and artists that were installed with lighting. it does not only beautified the corridor, but also serve to make it safe at night. we are also engaged in a community process to recondition the overpass near roll over 2mu. excelsior action group will continue to work together with our community to identify ways we can support local merchants, attract new businesses coming in beautify the corridor. we know this funding will help leverage other much-needed resources and support for the excelsior. we would also like to thinake this opportunity to thank

supervisor avalos. we would be remiss in not acknowledging our all outgoing director, ellen googvenele. , who has demonstrated a real investment in making sure the project led by excelsior action group has the input of excelsior residence. we look forward to partnering with out of sight on the project, and we know this public space will benefit all. i would like to take this opportunity to introduce the new manager of excelsior action group, nicole. [applause] nicole is a san francisco native and a native of the excelsior district. she graduated from ucla with a degree in international development and in our mental systems. she has worked with multiple bay area's small businesses on

environmental business development, as well as construction management. her dedication to the community where she grew up will be the heart of her upcoming effort with the excelsior action group, and thank you so very much. [laughter] [applause] [applause] >> next, we would hear from the owner of the business hosted the event, jong lo. >> hello, everyone. first of all, thank you to everyone for showing up. thank you for the mayor being here. it kills your action group are fantastic. dragon house has been in san francisco for over 15 years. we've been located in excelsior my fourth year. anall of these nice gardens basically put down by the excelsior action group. they are awesome. i am hoping to see them keeping

the funding from the city, keep doing great things for the neighborhood. all the neighborhood people will keep the teenagers coming down here and keeping them out of the street, keeping them say. for the past four years i have seen this neighborhood changing dramatically. people are nicer. nighttime is much safer, and is much greener on every corner. i would like to see the excelsior action group doing the the great work and keep being funded. thank you for coming down every day. thank you. [applause] >> we have one more speaker from mama art cafe. the number one thing people said many years ago was we need a gathering place, at cafe, a place that people really want to come. it has become more and more of

an opportunity for people to gather, and i think the parklet will really add to that. [applause] >> i have to tell you i am very nervous because the mayor is next to me, and i would like to tell you i am very proud to be the owner of the mama art cafe. i would also like to say thank you to beth for making the youth so eager to work to create the parklet. i also would like to say thank you to all of the businesses -- most of them i know. i really feel inspired to be part of the community of its ulcer. and i am very proud to continue to create businesses.

i would also like to say my mother is not here right now, because she is making the best coffee, and i really hope all of you come and see her, because she is a beautiful smile and shake it tugs for free. thank you so much. [applause] >> i think that wraps up our speakers. i think that there is time to walk down to the cafe, if that is okay? that has been proposed. in

>> good morning. welcome to the grand opening of the san francisco police department's special victims unit. i am the commanding officer of the new svu. i would like to take a couple moments to briefly acknowledged our honorable mayor ed lee, chief greg suhr and command

staff, commissioner azuko, and commissioner chan as well. thank you for joining us. i know how busy your schedules are. i believe district attorney gascon is going to be here any moment. i wanted to take a moment to acknowledge our professional partners. child protective services, adult protective services, the child abuse prevention center, the mayor's office into violence consortium, -- anti-silence consortium -- anti-violence consortium, and casa de las madres. with that, chief greg suhr.

[applause] >> welcome. i really appreciate everyone being here. in my administration, we do not do a lot of press conferences, but this is really important. october is domestic violence awareness month. it was a major priority of mine and the mayor's to make an impression that we have to take care of our most vulnerable. we will open one is to be the special victims unit in the san francisco police department for the first time where we consolidate the domestic violence units, a juvenile, human trafficking, missing persons, elder abuse and neglect, financial abuse, and sex crimes into one unit. over the next few years, we will

go through a huge transition in the police department. some of our most experienced officers will be retiring. we want to make sure we do not lose their expertise and their ability to work with the advocates to make the most successful prosecutions possible for those who would victimize our most vulnerable. often the victims come with children. we wanted to have a warm space that was secure. i think when you find your way inside, you will find that is the case. a lot of these officers will pick up the expertise from each other where maybe they did not have it before. if there is a day when we are short, they will bring this additional ability to connect with the victims. the advocates will also be

providing services and support. i like to think they do it in no other city like they do in san francisco. working with partner agencies is key to this. this is a cooperative effort that happens to be located inside the police department. i want you to take special note that we have a children's play area to keep them occupied, safe, and warm. we have books in chinese that were provided by a community member. we have books in spanish that are on the way. we want to make this a place for everybody. i will not go on and on. i really want to get to what is important. that is to get inside. i will pass the microphone i cai appreciate his support in pulling this off. it took a lot of change and

collaboration of the police department. they moved their space, they work on their time off. they worked with me and the command staff to get this done. i think when you go inside, their hearts are in the right place. this is the deputy chief. >> good morning. fiona mah appreciates the invitation and appreciates the effort to better serve victims of crime in san francisco. as the chair of the select committee on domestic violence, she has been a tireless advocate for victims and survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking. she is unable to join us as she is chairing a select committee hearing.

>> thank you. thank you for being here. we have a special victims unit. it has been a culmination of a lot of discussions. i want to thank chief suhr. we said we would have to do more and do better with less. with those ideas in mind in knowing we have a dwindling force but increased amount of demand from our communities, we needed to do smarter things. it makes so much sense that this innovative idea of bringing the various investigative units together in the same space and under the same command can make the offer is even more resources put together. i want to thank the community- based advocates for their

willingness to bring resources to work with our law enforcement. this effort is also a reflection of the commitment from our police commission. i want to thank each and every one of them and their leadership in working with the community and our police chief. it means so much to bring more and better resources and enforcement of our laws right to where the victims need it. this is a special time. we have the most vulnerable parts of our population, women, children, and elderly, who can get better service here in a culturally competent way. i am proud to be the mayor of the city who knows how to do it better. for the state of california, our elderly population is the highest level in the whole state. bringing more resources to the

victims who may be financial victims, victims of abuse, as well as recognizing this being domestic violence awareness month, that we will do better with this coordinated effort. i am excited to see this unit come to fruition. i thank the chief for making sure we reorganize properly with the future in mind. i am glad to begin the ribbon cutting and allow everyone to see what we have done and for the committee to know that we're working hard to increase -- for the community to know that we're working hard to increase the resources for them. [applause] >> thank you, mr. mayor. we have the president of the police commission. >> it is great to see the

collaboration between the commission, the mayor's office, the police department, the district attorney's office. it will increase the expertise our officers have. it will streamline the process in terms of managing the units. we're looking at losing a lot of officers to retirement. this is an excellent idea to train them in new areas. we owe it to the precious crown jewels of our city. this is a great place for children to come and a great place for women to feel comfortable. i know the most domestic violence cases, the victims may decide not to cooperate. the results are sometimes tragic. i want to thank the mayor and police department for taking a big step in leading the state and country and how we handle these issues. thank you.

[applause] >> i want to acknowledge our new officers in charge that are assigned to this unit. lt. jane, lt. foxx, and lt. scallini. i also want to acknowledge the dedication and ongoing hard work that the investigators assigned to the different disciplines that will be culminated here. they have the logistical move and continued to work on their cases as we were moving forward with these -- this. they still had to work on their cases in debt outstanding job during this difficult time. along with that, i wanted to say

thank you again to the mayor and chief for making this happen for us. it was a long time overdue. we're very excited. chief? >> channel 26 is really taking a beating. [laughter] i am going to forgo the honor of cutting the ribbon. i will ask commander sandra tong who conceived of and was the first commanding officer of one of the first domestic violence sections in any police department in california to do the honors with mayor lee with these not so classroom-safe scissors. we will have you come forward and do the honors. [applause]