that i mirror the sentiment of my colleagues. thank you. supervisor avalos: ok. seen no other member of the public who would like to comment on item number one, we will close public comment. supervisor campos, any other comments? ok. this is before us. can we move it forward with recommendations and take that without objection? this will be moving forward as a committee report to tomorrows full board meeting. very good. thank you very much. [applause] madam clerk, please call item number two. >> item two, resolution supporting the occupy wall street protest movement and urging major lead to a poll people's right to peaceful assembly and collaborate with occupysf to ensure the safety of the protesters, their supporters, and a greater

public and the city and county of san francisco. supervisor avalos: very good. thank you, madam clerk. colleagues, i want to thank you for your co-sponsorship for this resolution. supervisor campos, supervisor mar, supervisor chu, mirkarimi, kim, and supervisor winner. i am sorry. not the right one. scratch that. supervisor campos, supervisor kim, and supervisor mar. i wanted to buy for that co- sponsorship of this resolution does two things. it expresses support for the occupy wall street movement. it is something that i am wholeheartedly behind, especially in the expression of great frustration and concern about our economic system that for decades has been favoring the 1% over the greater 99%.

wheezy tax breaks and major corporations and businesses that do not pay their fair share in taxes. meanwhile, taxes are increased for every date people. we're losing our services that make our society much more meaningful. health care, education, affordable housing, and we need to speak with a greater voice about changing our economic system that can really benefit the many and not just the few. i have been very inspired by the expression of solidarity all around the world for the occupy wall street movement and the occupations happening all across this country, not just here in the bay area. this past month, i have been asked to intervene on a couple of occasions for supporting the

occupiey san francisco occupatin at 101 market street and at the plaza. the first time i was asked to intervene was on october 5. i got a phone call at about 11:30 p.m. at night. there was concern that the san francisco police department was going to come and remove people's belongings from the occupation on 101 market street. i have talked to the officer in charge. i also call the police chief. the police chief told me he would get back to me before any action was taken and then proceeded to ask the officers who were on duty, about 40 or 50 of them, to put on their helmets and take their batons and march in formation to work towards separating belongings from the actual protesters who were part of the occupysf movement. i was alarmed about that.

i expressed concern. to the chief of police that if he were to take action, the conflict of removing people's belongings could lead to violent confrontation, and wanted to avoid that. i also expressed concern that if we were to try and stop that the occupation from happening, we would see more people taking part in that. we saw that happen in oakland just last week when the oakland police department had moved against the occupation in oakland and led to huge by a confrontation were the police department was using tear gas and possibly other very dangerous tools to remove people from the occupation and also the streets of oakland. that was a very costly response, and i believe that now we see

oakland, after all this huge, you know, pressure -- and force from the police department, we see that the occupation in oakland is continuing. it is stronger and larger than it was before. i expressed that concern to our police chief in san francisco. i support the movement. it is not like it is necessarily a bad thing. but we have to figure out as a city how we're going to accommodate and work with and cooperate with this movement that is not just based here in san francisco but is based around the country and also at around the world. last wednesday night, october 26, and thursday morning, we had the occupation in justin herman plaza about 1000-strong. we had members of the board, department heads, and many people in the city heard

indications that the police was going to take action with forced to root move people from the plaza, citing concerns about sanitation and public safety and health concerns. and i saw that if there was going to be movement a police force to dislodge or attempt to dislodge the occupation, either when the occupation was standing together in a peaceful demonstration that it could lead to people getting hurt, could lead to the violence that could harm them. police officers would certainly our people and the public or part of the occupation movement. i also felt that is not the way that san francisco should be responding. san francisco, which has a huge history of free expression and free speech, just like around the bay area and berkeley as well. we have a city that has been demonstrating for years the ability to promote free speech. a police force, moving with force against the occupation

would be something that would be very harmful to overall -- our image of san francisco, as well as the inhabitants of the city. i have seen very mixed messages come out of the administration. that night, they said we had all indication there was use of force to dislodge us. the next day we hear, no, it was not about the police department moving against the occupation. it was only a training exercise. i do not believe -- no one gives any credibility to that expression that this was only a training exercise last wednesday and thursday night. we had real indication that forceful action was being considered, and we need better leadership than that. we need clear indication that as the occupation is here for the moment and here for a while, we have to be about to work in a flexible and open way with our departments, cooperating with the people in the occupation to

ensure safety and a healthy community that is there. so this resolution is calling upon that. and we will look at the comments -- we actually have supervisor mar who would like to express some comments and supervisor campos as well. supervisor mar: first, i want to thank supervisor avalos for his leadership and all the activists that have been part of occupysf and oakland as well. i apologize that i will have to leave in about 10 minutes to get to another meeting that was previously scheduled. i wanted to a knowledge that, like supervisor of a less and supervisor campos and supervisor jane kim, i have also been part of solidarity efforts in building support for the occupation. i have seen a transformation of the movements in the short four weeks that has been truly impressive from the website that is occupysf.com or you can actually donate contributions to the organization to other

efforts of solidarity from labor organizations. i do see others here that have been a part of this, giving support to the movement. it has also been significant that when supervisors campos, at the lows, kim, chu, and others were out with many of you in the audience that wednesday morning, we saw the growth of thousands of people there until 4:00 a.m. or 5:00 a.m. in the morning. being part of the general assembly, i have also seen incredible democracy. i think a lot of the slogans that this is what democracy looks like you do not really understand it until you're there participating in people's democracy of the occupied movements. i also want to say that i am impressed that in the meeting, a number of us were with a number of the leaders of occupysf, labor, social justice, and clergy associations last thursday with the mayor's office, and there has been

increasing communication with the choosing of even liaisons' with different organizations. that is a big step forward. there is better communication so we can stop a crackdown. at the resolutions like this are important symbolically. i hope we can pass this quickly and organize our communities. when supervisor at a los and i were at ocean beach in my district on saturday with thousands of people spelling out the 1%, there were many families from richmond and sunset. adding to read autonomous activities like that get more people involved. or when supervisor avalos, jane can, and i were in chinatown with hundreds of families which marched with the occupy chinatown action to join in solidarity with occupysf, that was an amazing ever to be more inclusive of the broadening movement as well. my hope is that this resolution, along with organizing our communities, helps to prevent a crackdown, improves communication with nearly, the police chief, and other

department heads, and we keep moving forward with what is on the occupysf website. do not believe the hype with the mainstream media and to get the messages coming out of the movement. i am proud to be a co-sponsor and support the efforts of supervisor avalos as well. thank you. supervisor avalos: thank you. supervisor campos: thank you. i want to thank supervisor avalos for his leadership on this very important issue, not just recently back from the very beginning of this movement. i also wanted in my colleagues who came out to stand with occupysf. let me make a couple of points that i think need to be made. first of all, i know that a big issue that has been raised by both major quan and mayor lee has been the issue of tents and how we do not want to set a precedent for tensts going up at

occupysf. the reality is that a precedent for that happening has already been established. in -- from 1985 to 1995, the san francisco vigil did precisely what occupysf is going to do right now. in protest of the federal government inaction with respect to the aids epidemic, a number of sentences against camp out in front of the federal building, and not only did they have tenst, the head cards, mattresses, and furniture, and they were allowed to peacefully assemble, not just for a little bit, but there were actually there for 10 years. so that precedent is there. san francisco has a long history of respecting the right of people to peacefully assemble, and i think that

consistent with that history and that precedent, that we should allow occupysf to continue to do what they are doing, which quite frankly is something that in the end is not only good for all of our citizens, but is to get for the city and county of san francisco, which says part of the 1990's and has suffered tremendously from actions taking place on wall street. the second point, and let me say before i make this point that i appreciate the fact that there's more dialogue, and i encourage that the dialogue continues. but where i fundamentally disagree with the approach that has been taken by mayor quan and mayor lee, and it is interesting that the two mayors have taken similar positions is this notion that somehow it is ok for us to spend the very limited resources we have on police action. even though in san francisco we have not had an air raid, we had a large number of police officers and mass that evening

when the rate was expected. i can tell you that i wonder how much money was spent on overtime. i wonder how much money went into that. because as the supervisor for district 9, i know many places in my district that need more attention from the city. i would rather have our limited resources be spent on those neighborhoods, on those districts. i think that we have to be very wise about how we spend their resources, and i hope that we do not have a situation again where you have major quan and mayor lee essentially, i think, wasting resources that i think could be better spent elsewhere, at a time when every san franciscan need as much help as they can get to with that, thank you again for your resolution, and i hope this passes. supervisor avalos: thank you, supervisor campos. i appreciate your comments about the cost to the city.

with oakland, there are probably lawsuits that the city might be on the hook for as well. it is very costly, and we need to think about it in a wise way, how we will work with the occupation in a way that is going to be supportive and not blow out our budget and prevent us to carry out the other meaningful services that we have to carry out as a city and county. supervisor mar is going to be leaving. he is going to be replaced by supervisor jane kim. we're waiting for supervisor kim to come. we're going to open it up for public comment. in the meantime, supervisor mar will be replaced by supervisor kim. hopefully we do not have to break the meeting. benigno if you have to leave before and we will call a short recess. we will open it up for public comment. i will call forward some cards. parted my voice, it is really

shot right now. please come forward as your name is heard. gus feldman, rachel black, and we're now joined by supervisor jane kim. thank you, supervisor mar. supervisor jane kim is an official member of this committee now and will be able to vote on this measure. you want to use the microphone just to your right. there you go. one second. robert benson, michael goldman, adam varanofsky, and sean siemens. >> 32 job description supported by one operation -- [unintelligible] operation batman and robin. nasa, fbi, cdc division of bomb

squad, a k-9 units, poet, writer, songwriter, photographer, linguistic, counterinsurgency, hacker, consumers -- computer specialist, mother, musician, a comedian, a criminal specialist, spy, and former, officials, mathematician, a chemist, a key artists, stenographer, interior decorator, web designer, scientist, project on the batman and robin. bomb squad oversight committee, panel review, a private researcher, the analyst, engineer, actors, inventors, drivers, a retired police, chemist, teachers, contractors,

assassins, phone operators, computer specialists, security personnel, gamers, hackers, military personnel, spies, construction workers, network specialist, a student trainer's, attorneys, team leaders, supervisors, hot line, software specialist. [unintelligible] paid vacation two times a year. pensions. [bell rings] thank you. supervisor avalos: thank you. next speaker, please. >> good morning, everybody. my name is gus, with local 10-1. i would like to start by thanking supervisors kim, supervisor avalos, supervisor mar, and supervisor campos for presenting us with this resolution today. i think it is clear what this resolution does. it calls on the other supervisors in the interim mayor to really assess how is that they want to interact with the

occupysf protests. supervisor avalos made a good point that no amount of tear gas, rubber bullets, stun grenades is going to displace us. as we saw in oakland when the police, the oakland police department, with the assistance of other law enforcement agencies, responded with that sort of force. all it is was invigorate in interest the protests. now protesters are there back in stronger numbers. if the concerns and objectives of the interim mayor and the other supervisors are, in fact, to address concerns of public health, to address concerns a public safety, the only way that it will be effectively achieve this through this resolution. it calls upon communicating directly on building up lines of communication between department heads, agency heads, and the protesters themselves. i think that we all feel confident that if those conversations happen, we can see real, tangible solutions to

address the concerns that make this. and to ensure the public safety is upheld and that the protesters have a free and safe space within which to practice their first amendment rights. i want to thank you also much. i want to say that we stand in strong support of this resolution. supervisor avalos: thank you. next speaker, please. i have a few more cards. rachel, robert -- i read these already. please come forward. >> hello. my name is michael goldman. if not speaking on behalf of anybody but myself, and it is in terms of what i think is going on here could i am a member of occupysf. i have been occupying for a little while now. i think it is important to note that, first of all, the rights of occupation, the right of every human being to occupied the earth is automatic, and the right of assembly is

fundamental. we do not have constitutions and laws other than by virtue of the fact that people assembled and put those things together. when people assembled, that needs to be very much respected, and there's not a curfew at 10:00 p.m. or anytime for the people to assemble. it is a right that exist 24 hours a day, seven days a week. and the people in this movement are assembled 24 hours a day. some people might be sitting down, some lying down at any given time but it is one of my refund check away from having an assembly. that is always on going. it is wrong for the police or the public departments in this city to distract -- disrupted public as a book about the space that used to be a park is now an assembly space. in the case of 1939, the supreme court said that the parks and the roads, whether public or private, have been helped by it

memorial to these places for public assembly. when the public is assembled, that simply has to be respected. it does not mean we do not need to work together to create a situation that is healthy and safe for everyone. [bell rings] we need to do that. we need to get everybody on the same page, but not in a way where we're dictated with park codes and things that are not relevant to the public assembly space. thank you. supervisor avalos: thank you very much. next speaker, please. >> hello. i have been in camp at occupysf since september 17, the constitution day. we have gone through a lot of ups and downs since then and have been raided by the police twice. i want to thank the supporters of this resolution, especially the seven public officials and major candidates that came out when the raid was imminent last wednesday. in makes me proud to be an american when i see that kind of

support from our public officials. not proud of our movement but probably carried it took for them to come out and put their names on the line for the principles of our government. life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. when people like bradley manning, a whistle-blower on crimes against humanity and international war crimes, are punished and sent to quantico, and bankers who steal all the money in america are met with acquiescence from our government, there is a real need for protest. when the government is in collusion with those very same elements that are bringing our country down, our nation to its knees, something needs to be done and fast. it may seem aggressive that we are encamped in public space in

financial district, but this is peaceful. what our government is doing is violent. not only against its own people but against the nations of the world. [bell rings] we must stop this, and we must stop it now. free bradley manning. we have renamed justin herman plaza camp bradley manning or bradley manning plaza, and i hope this sticks. thank you very much. supervisor avalos: thank you very much. next speaker, please. i appreciate people showing support silently. thank you. >> at low. i just want to thank you for all of your support so far. you two have been there from the beginning, a kind of coming down and saving us when no one else would. seeing you guys bring this up today, continuing to put pressure on the mayor to treat us like human beings, i really want to thank you guys. supervisor avalos, apt to make a correction. on the night of the rate, we had

summer between 2,025 people. as you know, since you were there last thursday, we had a meeting with the mayor. we have started some form of dialogue. unfortunately, the mayor still does not recognize us. he does not come down to the park and see as. he missed an amazing weekend of work. we worked with the dpw and had a park pressure-washed in two hours. that was also on the day when we hosted a march to the city at 3:00 p.m. so we are flexible, and we can work when we're not dealing with demands to take away our rights. i appreciate your help. i wish supervisor campos was here so you get here my notes from the meeting with the mayor where he actually represented that we take road space and food from local soup kitchens as opposed to camping outside. i think that kind of shows to we are dealing with and what we're dealing with here when we have mayors who are backed by corporations that view us

camping as breaking the law, but demanding that we displace homeless people from shelters as somehow not. so i thank you guys very much for the resolution. and i look forward to meeting with the mayor. thank you very much. supervisor avalos: thank you. next peter, please. i have a few more cards. brad, kim, kathy, brad, brian, and hugh. >> thank you. i have had a chance to speak in front of the before. i also wanted to show appreciation and support him supervisor avalos and supervisor kim. you essene our struggle to assemble and have stood up for the people's rights. i have a couple things i wanted to add.

as supervisor campos mentioned, if we have an issue concerning the cost to the city so far and the different services to put down our protests, i would like to see something about that. also with the raid did that happen over in oakland, rumor has it that some of the san francisco police force was involved in that as well. and i would like to take issue with that and find out if that is true. the resolution that we're passing does protect us for our amendments, and i would like to see that included in the resolution as well. thank you. >> hello. what started these actions was attention to changes over the course of the last 30 years in income distribution and

political corruption by money. but the other thing that has changed radically over the last 30 years is our relationship to public space. it has evaporated, become privatized, become securitized, especially in at the last decade in the wake of 9/11. it has become much more difficult to exercise first amendment rights. and the other thing that has changed his in a kind of retreat from poverty. there have been changes that affect how we have access to public space. and i think it is important when it those laws are used against people exercising their first amendment rights that we consider all the changes that we

have maybe swept through in the last decade, which really affected the way citizens have access to public space. and now the time to address those mistakes and to call them out, and these protests now or the occasion to do that. thank you. supervisor avalos: thank you. next speaker, please. >> good morning, supervisors. supervisor avalos, supervisor kim. i am on the executive board of united educators of san francisco. i am not just here to tell you the 6000 educators in our public school system is strongly support this resolution in occupysf, and i am not just here to tell you that the occupied movement in san francisco as part of a long, long tradition in our city defending the people's right to assemble and express themselves. it was about 50 years ago when a bunch of ppl