working on getting free fast passes for youth. for us, public transportation is about the environment, equality, and [inaudible] we support the leadership of muni to ensure that resources are being used appropriately and we ask that the leadership of muni be mindful of unintended consequences that service cuts might have or will have. the first being the loss of employment due to people not being able to get to work in a timely fashion. if that happens due to service cuts, it has the follow-on effect of increasing welfare costs to the city and medicare costs to the city. people often use the emergency room -- low-income people often

use the emergency room as their primary health care source. if you lose your job, you do not have health care. i ask you to be mindful of that. there are other unintended consequences. i ask that the board of supervisors be mindful of this and do what you can to make san francisco and nice place for all its inhabitants. >> good morning, supervisors. thank you for holding this committee hearing today. i am the community organizer for the jamestown community center. our youth group has been working on the campaign for free muni for youth. i am a muni rider myself.

i think it is important to look over the work orders. i think it would be invaluable for our community to insure that the work order process is being managed in a way to make sure that muni is built accurately and appropriately. there continue to be efficiencies created by these work orders, and it leads to muni having to cut funding because they do not have the money necessary to continue those services. basically, not being able to figure out how these work orders are being managed and how the overspending by muni on this work orders are leading to us having to have these difficult conversations year after year about how muni is going to make up for funding for the cut in services and an increase in

fares and we begin to start talking about things like free muni for youth, which is necessary for a variety of reasons. it is super important to figure this out so we can work towards becoming a transit first city and really create the new muni riders of the future. that is why we are here, and i hope we can figure this out together. supervisor campos: thank you. next speaker please. >> hello. good morning. supervisor campos: if you could speak into the microphone please. thank you. >> the first time i heard about this, i want to help the children get to school. if there is some way they can do it, put more attention on how

they manage everything they have for the drivers and more attention to how they pay the work order. that way they can find out they do not pay extra money. that way we can have more money for families, as children, or elders -- families, children, or elders. but children need a lot of help, right? if they are in school, they are not outside on the streets. this money can be used for that. they can find a way how they can manage it better.

that would be good for everybody. thank you for your interest. supervisor campos: thank you very much. next speaker. >> good morning, supervisors. i am an organizer with people organizing for women's employment rights. we believe this is about minimizing our impact on the environment and the key to access for equal opportunity in the city. because the hearing is during a time when students cannot come, we wanted to show a short testimony from a student at balboa high school. last friday, we had a city scavenger hunt with over 90 students, who are ninth graders of the ethnic studies class is, and they use muni to get across the city -- ninth graders of the

ethnic studies classes. they have these conversations about their experiences. we are well aware that the city is balancing the budget on our backs, as bus riders, and that when service cuts and their hikes happen, it mostly happens to those who depend on it the most -- in service cuts and -- when service cuts and fare hikes happen. we feel like muni put the money could be used toward proactive initiatives that show that we've value prioritizing our people in san francisco. >> [inaudible] supervisor campos: we have a video that they want to show. there we go.

>> i'm a sophomore here at balboa high school. [inaudible] i'm here to help support the youth to get our voices heard and have our community become as one. i believe it is really a concern for people of color because a lot of people of color do not have as many privileges as other and people of color are mostly the ones that need education and the need the transportation to get from one place to another. a car is not really affordable to us. i would tell the supervisors that transportation for us is

mostly important because that is how we are able to go to places. we cannot afford a car. transportation would really help if it was free for a lot of us to be able to get our education without complaining of being late or having problems getting to school. [applause] supervisor campos: thank you for that. it is good to hear from the balboa high school community. next speaker please. >> good morning. [inaudible] it is a really important issue. i have been working havepower --

-- i have been working with p.o.w.e.r., so giving everyone the opportunity to get to the resources the city has to offer. all the things that young people want to be engaged in. it is about helping the environment by encouraging ridership as well and investing in our young people. until now, the city has been balancing its budget on the backs of bus riders and drivers, and that is not fair, and it has to stop, like a lot of people have been saying. we need to manage the budget better so we can have funding for programs like this. more than ever, we need to make the buses more affordable for families who are struggling to get by and for those who depend on it to get around san francisco. people impacted by fare hikes and service cuts are working- class folks in san francisco, so

i encourage you to look at that and for us to work together to make this happen. thank you. supervisor campos: thank you. next speaker. >> good morning, supervisors. i support the free youth fast pass campaign. i went on the scavenger hunt, and part of our scavenger hunt was to ask people if they support this. finding out even more that it is something that people in this city value, but it was really hard for me today to see all the different amounts of money that are being over budgeted with the mta when their main concern when we spoke to them as a full board was -- where is the money going to come from? i want to encourage you guys to look at better ways to spend the money and to really go through the overspending that is happening. i noticed an increase of $2.8

million or $2.6 million or something like that spent on policing, and that was a major issue with the youth we spoke with. we ask them how often they get take it, and their response was that they either get off before they see the officer's or give them a fake name, which is not something you should be encouraged to do -- they either get off before they see the officers or give them a fake name. so to talk about ways you guys could fix these issues and maybe instead of doing so much overtime, you guys could do part-time drivers or something, but figure out a way to not punished the workers but work with them to fix these budget issues. i really appreciate the questions that a supervisor campos -- questions that supervisor campos was asking. i thought that they were helpful, and i want to ask them, too. >> we want to thank both of you

all for your leadership. i think supervisor chiu said it excellent. we need to look at the forest and not just the trees. the leadership that you have displayed, supervisor campos, in bringing this forward is great. i think what we are seeing is that public transportation is actually an opportunity we have to do something really beautiful for the environment and for economic opportunity and for equality. we have on the one hand and opportunity to create green jobs by actually taking transportation money, spending it on transit. we increase service. we can lower fares, and that is what this is about. we can take the new leadership at mta toward taking our transit first policy and having it serve the people that need it the most.

this whole conversation is something that we are really invested in. every speaker up here has said that they are here for free muni for young people. if we take our transportation money and spend it on transit, we can make that happen and we urgently need to make it happen this year. we have already been cutting our school buses. kids do not have a way to get to school. they are asking to get on the bus even when they do not have a fair and based the fear of a police officer getting -- giving them a ticket -- face the fear of a police officer giving them a ticket. we do not have time to wait and we have a huge opportunity to do something for our people. thank you so much. [applause] supervisor campos: thank you. next speaker. >> [speaking spanish]

>> good afternoon. i have two daughters who use the bus every day. if they cannot catch the bus and if they do not have money for the bus, they have to walk half an hour to get home. not just a little one, but the older one. i'm asking if you can please support free fast passes for all youth in the ciry. -- city.

>> [speaking spanish] >> i have two daughters. one is 6 years old. one is 15. they need to get to school and use the bus every day in order to study. it is hard for me to wake up my daughter, my 6-year-old in time. it is a lot of work, and sometimes, we are running late and we have to run. i just wanted to say if you could support this campaign. [applause] supervisor campos: thank you. next speaker. >> i'm here with the organization of p.o.w.e.r., part of the campaign to get free muni passes for all.

now more than ever, we need to make buses more affordable for families who are struggling to get by and also, i'm a resident of bayview. i live out toward -- i live a little ways from town. i also have an 8-year-old boy who relies on transportation to get to school every dayso both every day. so we ask for your support. supervisor campos: thank you. next speaker. >> good afternoon. my name is steve williams, and i am with power. i appreciate the issue that family flight was continued to a future time, but i think it is important to underscore the

connection between family flight over time and work orders. in a lot of ways it can be thought of as abstract financial issues that people are not concerned about, but the reality is that the city has taken the position that any time there are deficits, those deficits are dealt with through service cuts and fare increases. we are lucky there is a new management. there is a new administration, both of whom committed real interest to try to deal with the structural issues that historically existed in muni. i think it is critical that the board of supervisors have taken the leadership to ask hard questions. as john mentioned some a number of people that have testified already have been working on the campaign to get free passes for

young people, which is not just the right thing to do, but particularly urgent given that the school service is slashing the schools o bus service for young people to get to school. munjio said we do not have money, but the rally is they did not know how they're spending the money. we want to be clear that public dollars for public transit should be used to meet the needs for people to get around the city. in response to the question, no, it is not appropriate for them to pay for the san francisco motorcycle unit. you can put your bike on muni. i have never seen a bus were you can put the motorcycle on the bus. i think there are real questions about whether or not it is appropriate that the san francisco muni department, but

no security be provided by motorcycle riders. it is critical we find the timeline where your questions about where it is that the money is going, we need a timeline of windows will be answered, because already the are dealing with a multimillion-dollar deficit, and those questions need to be answered urgently. -- we need a wind[applause] >> good morning. my name is joyce lamb. i am here to speak on behalf of the many parents that are in at work today. this is not only about public transportation, this is about the quality and the employment opportunities. i think many of those are great because we're able to travel across the city, while many of us cannot afford driving or pay

for parking. however, increasingly more so than ever it becomes a struggle to choose between rent, and buying bus fare. it should not be that way. as a city san francisco is telling citizens that if we value education we're obligated to provide a means for it. i really appreciate mta and the comptroller's office in city attorney, we see a lot of opportunity to fix the budget and manage it better and think on behalf of the working families in san francisco. thank you for your leadership, and we're counting on you to bring this forward. supervisor campos: think you. the speaker. -- thank you. [applause] >> [speaking spanish]

good afternoon. my name is gloria, and i am from power, and i want to thank you. i want to thank you for your sensitivity to the community. this is not the first time i have seen you supporting us, and i want to bthank god, and i am very grateful to have you as supervisors. >> [speaking spanish] >>this is the first time i am

hearing about how the money is spent. and what it takes to make muni run, and i am grateful for the questions you asked. my own questions were answered through the once you made. i do have a final question i want to ask the community in supervisors, which is why don't we have a way to regulate the wasted money that is being spent, because it is causing a lot of pain to the community? >> [speaking spanish]

>> i ask myself why the policy stance that we are using used to get to -- that using the bus to get to work and school. why are we trying to criminalize people in using funds to do that? why did believe the youth, before they even committed a crime, i think it is unfair and be ashamed of this policy.

>> [speaking spanish] >> i doubt there is a way right now that we can regulate how the money is being spent and how it is affecting our communities with money that we have to pay, pain we feel, and so i just want to thank you for the work you have done. supervisor campos: think you. next speaker, please. [applause]

-- thank you. >> this year i have been working with my students to work on a campaign with many of the groups here. having been born and raised in san francisco my entire life i have come to depend on transit on something -- as something as a lifeline. same goes for many of the students i work with. at this time i think there is much room for improvement on how muni is run. i would have much more faith if it was run more efficiently. we would really like to see curbing of overtime costs, and finally, really see that we have a portable costs of transportation for young people in san francisco. i think at this time more than ever we have opportunity to work with mta and many different

partners to seek new leadership. we hope to see we can have real conversations on how to fund a free muni. thank you. >[applause] >> good afternoon, government of oversight. if muni loves you and wants to help you, won't you give them free passes today? and it wants to drive you, drive away, and if it wants to help you, and it really wants to help you drive them with free all the way. through the good and clean it years and the budget in between the years.

remember, keep the green here today. it if muni loves you and wants o help you, give them free fast passes today. through the good and lean years and keep it all really green here, all through may. if you really want to help us, and drives and won't you help us drive us to the muni end all the way. and i hope you help us, help us with free passes. drive us all the way. >> good luck to you, and help us. drive us with repasses all

through the month of may. all i have to say now is good luck to you, and mta. and we need your help today, and we need it right now. good luck, mta. [applause] [laughter] supervisor campos: thank you. thank you very much. is there any other member of the public that would like to speak, comments, sing on this matter? seeing none, public comment is closed. i was wondering if i could ask ms. bovogh to come back. i want to thank the members of the public that have come out to

speak here. there are many things that muni needs money for. there are very important public that are badly needed where money can be spent. we heard from so many young people who talked about the need for young people in san francisco to have free access to public transit, and it is hard when an agency says where do we find the money when you see they're spending $62 million, and we know something as simple as having the performance standard contracts are not being done. we see from what we know from the comptroller -- comptroller that there are six and zero us't had not been even signed. that changes are sometimes made to the contracts without any