if you're unfamiliar with the edc, we are the agency that assists in 95% plus in responding to lawsuits. it is not true where it says in paragraph 12 that we are unable to meet the increased needs. we have met that need for the past 15 years. we will never turn away a tenant that is being evicted. we help everyone. the problem is with help everyone represent themselves. president carter is right. 90% go through their case without an attorney. 90% of landlords are represented by aggressive counsel. there is no question that the right to counsel does not exist for low-income people.

there is no question that we need more representation for those tenants. there is no question it will result in fewer tenants becoming homeless as a result. however, this is where i depart slightly from the other supporters. we do not need more representation. we need 10 or 15 more attorneys doing tenant the fence now -- defense now. we need a serious commitment, not just a project or a program. a statement that this city is committed and we are bound by attorneys to defend the rights of citizens. and their house. i urge you, be courageous. do something big. [chime] this is a special city and we have a special obligation to do something big, do something brave.

do so by funding the legal aid agencies. thank you so much for putting forward an important issue. president chiu: i would like you to provide us with statistics for how many cases you do and what would be uneder -- [talking over each other] thank you. miss upton? >> good afternoon, supervisors, executive director of the domestic violence consortium. we are here to enthusiastically support president chiu's proposed legislation. we believe that the justice system is more prepared to work for domestic violence survivors and their children when they are represented. president chiu outlined some

of the statistics of domestic violence and family law cases going on represented -- unrepresented. we are as concerned as he is and everyone on the committee. the one caveat we have why we are supportive of this legislation moving forward, these are very complex and sometimes dangerous cases. as the project moves forward, we want to encourage everyone involved to really take the seriousness and complexity of the domestic violence cases into consideration when we look at where we are placing them and who will be representing the survivor. as you know, san francisco has a rich history of community-based legal professions that has many years of experience of working with domestic violence survivors in many languages. we have this rich resources available, and we would like to see all of that community involved.

and closing the complexities -- having the complexities taken into consideration. president chiu: we would love you and your consortiums to give feedback on the best way to do that. a couple more names, the volunteer attorney with the services program, steve collier with the tenderloin housing clinic. if anyone else wants to testify, light up on the left- hand side. >> i'm marty mckeaver, i come to you as a third-generation san franciscan and the managing attorney of the volunteer legal services program to request your support of this ordinance. our organization provides legal services to low-income people in two ways. we have staff attorneys and also through volunteer attorneys. we are part of the bar association of san francisco, so we leverage $13 million worth of

pro bono services every year from the private bar. just last year, we calculated 1600 attorneys provided over 45,000 hours of pro bono services to our clients. it amounts to about 25 full-time staff members. we collaborate with the domestic violence consortium and i would agree with mr. mcnolan, in the ideal society, we would have staff attorneys representing every single lead again. financially, i am not sure -- every single litigant. financially, i am not sure it is possible. we want to make sure justice is served. the volunteers represented 140 tenants and eviction cases, provided a full scope, they represented 1000 tenants in limited scope, and another 270

people dealing with custody issues. [chime] president chiu: thank you very much. mr. collier? >> good afternoon, members of the board. i am a staff attorney at the tenderloin housing clinic. i think you are aware of the work that we do, we are one of the few organizations that will represent, without charge, people facing eviction. it is full scope representation, but we only have three attorneys that represent clients. there is a tremendous need for more full scope representation of tenants facing eviction. we would very much encouraged this bill in the hopes of expanding the amount of the eviction defense representation for low-end, and working -- low-

income and working people. a study has shown that when a tenant has an attorney, the outcome is so much better for th e tenant. there are some many that go without attorney because they don't have the resources to pay for attorneys to represent them. we encourage them to speak out strongly in favor and thank you, president chiu, for raising it. president chiu: mr. collier has represented the people in my district. and i can testify that the outcome changed. other speakers? mr. paulson. >gollickson. >> the state of the eviction in san francisco is pretty abysmal right now. we needed it to expand upon what

it is right now. we had a court case and the name of it slipped my mind at the moment. about a year-and-a-half ago, it placed a landlord-tenant matters and to the litigation privilege. it is virtually impossible for a tenant to sue a landlord for wrongful eviction unless the tenant has moved and been evicted. that has led to a sharp increase in what we see as bogus and serial eviction notices. the city department was notorious for non-payment, someone that has paid their rent and never missed a rent. tenants are not able to get an attorney to defend themselves. there are n virtuallyo te -- virtually no tenant attorneys right now. they rely on the defense collaborative, sometimes a pro bono lawyer, sometimes they get some help from the housing

clinic. the resources out there are totally inadequate and it has reached the point that tenants are not effectively fighting the evictions in a more even when they are the most unjust and unfair ones. a landlord in san francisco can evict a tenant simply by giving them a 30-day notice. the landlord can be confident that the tenant is going to move because the tenant will not have the resources to fight that eviction. we really need this program, and we need ten times more than this because there is a huge demand out there. president chiu: next speaker. >> [unintelligible] yesterday, there was a finding from the service that 99% of the foreclosure procedure was in violation of the law. we see that every day.

i am here to support the right to defense -- and we would like to inlude those that face foreclosure in low-income neighborhoods in san francisco that can't get access to these legal services. we are asking for improving the representation for low-income people and tenants facing foreclosure. thank you. president chiu: next speaker. >> my name is bob capostrano, i'm with bay legal aid, representing low-income people in san francisco -- [unintelligible]

since 1967. there has been a real reduction in the number of staff attorneys in the legal aid organization able to represent tenants. i want to reiterate that in agreement with all of the comments that have been made, we also support this legislation. one point i did want to add, given that the proposal is to coordinate pro bono services in the city and county of san francisco, a big portion of the legal system lies outside of the courts. the purposes of this legislation are to deal with, among other things, sustenance or health. we were contacted last week by a very low-income disabled senior around the great highway who have been terminated from the

adult day care program. there were 120 disabled seniors dropped off of this program and will not get representation except working with a couple of law firms, they have organized a way of preventing these clients. it has been happening over and over because of budget cuts. there are a lot of benefit recipients. i am thinking of medicaid, medical, sfi. there is a proceeding in the sense that -- [chime] you rreaeal enemy is the obtuseness of the recommendations. considering this, we also look leg to thealesinto the legaleser

residents of san francisco whose legal problems arise in the administrative structure. president chiu: i also want to a knowledge someone that i called earlier. -- acknowledge someone i clalead earlier. robert rubin, he is one of the individuals that brought this to my attention. >> thank you, supervisor chiu, kim, farrell, campos. it is a pleasure to be here. i am speaking in support of the legislation. at the time has come for the right to counsel to be established in certain civil matters. i think san francisco is the one to do with. we will be the first to be our right to civil counsel city.

the impact of this legislation cannot be underestimated. there is no shortage of circumstances in civil proceedings to which you are not entitled to counsel that demand counsel. you can get counsel for minor shoplifting offenses that involve nothing more than a minimum fine. you can get sent back to a country where you can confront persecution and possible death without having the constitutional right to counsel. similarly, you can be kicked out of your home or denied custody of your child. of dire consequences without the right to counsel. i applaud the rules committee for taking up this matter and we will be urging the full board to adopt the ordinance. once we are finished with a pilot project, we will have a

better sense of what we are dealing with. it will underscore the dire need for the legislation, and hopefully we will be able to sustain it in a measurable way that will be true to the right to counsel and honor san francisco as the progressive city, and the first to be right to civil counsel. president chiu: next speaker, please step up. >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is douglas yeap. i would like to speak out in support of this ordinance. i would like to talk about it in a different way that no one else has mentioned. it is obvious that certain groups need to be represented. one group that has been long overlooked is the class of people call the whistle-blowers. a specially whistle-blowers on

public agencies. obviously, whistle-blowers with company is likeenron -- companies like enron has gotten the attention. they can get support through a program like this. everyone knows that in the legal program, it is buddy and buddy. if you're going against certain entities and certain persons, you will never -- the word is never -- get representation in the bay area. you have to get it outside the body that work -- buddy network. i think a lot of people don't want to admit that the problem exists among lawyers like any fraternity of professionals. they will always scratch each

other's back and you're going to help each other as much as you can. we are going to be honest and help the poor, etc. you might as well include the whistle-blowers' because that is the fastest way to clean up government. thank you. president chiu: are there any other members of the public that wish to speak on this item? i think public comment is over. >> [inaudible] supervisor farrell: thanks, supervisor kim. thanks to president chiu for bringing this forward. first of all, it is great to see so many lenders of the local bar here. -- member os ths of the local br here. it is great to see you, such an influence on my legal education. it is great to see you here.

congrats on your new appointment. i remember working in a big law firm and being the guy and corporate securities group, wanting to do a lot of pro bono work and it was tough to get the approval from my superiors. the more progress we can make inside the hierarchy of law firms to do that makes a big difference. i know that young lawyers want to deal with. i will tell you, being in the corporate securities group and trying an immigration case in front of the department of all land -- homeland security may be a better person and a better lawyer. -- made me a better person and a better lawyer. you will have the full support of this panel. i want to be a co-sponsor, and make a motion to move forward this with recommendation.

president chiu: there are a few amendments to be made, supervisor campos wilould yo u like to speak? in early november. we had contemplated that during the first half of this year there would be medians between cigarette, superior court, the private bar as well as talking about the best way to do this. what i would like to do this when it says within six months of the effective date, in the first six months would figure on how this program would move forward and for the fiscal year we're entering into we implement it. within six months of the effective date stay within four months.

supervisor kim: we can do that without opposition. supervisor avalos: thanks to president chiu for bringing this here. if you could talk about what kinds of cases we're talking about. the need closed beyond some of the things that have been discussed. in my district in neighborhoods like the mission and colonel heights, the issue of immigration is a big issue and there is a need for presentation in those as well. if you are talking about

domestic violence, those are important cases where there's a great need. prsident chiu: i think at the top of that list are wrongful evictions. obviously we have significant needs when it comes to family law in domestic violence cases. we had got to focus on these areas. because of lack of resources would to see where it started from there. i would support if this program was successful, expanding that to immigration cases and others. that was where we talked about starting. if the private bar is able to step up many of us in the room would be interested in seeing the expansion to other cases including immigration cases. supervisor avalos: i believe that make sense and i would like to be added as a co-sponsor. the hope is that this once we

move forward in the last -- and the last point is it was great to see their president of the san francisco bar here. the private bar has a big role to play. is great there are so many law firms that are doing pro bono. not everyone is doing it to the extent they need to be. i know that one of the things that made me better -- a better lawyer was the ability to take on these pro bono cases and there is a benefit to these firms in having the attorneys get that kind of experience but not everyone does that. it is important what we continue to put pressure on these firms to allow more of this pro bono work to do -- be done. as a young associate who has that availability of ours you have to reach -- it is difficult

to get the permission sometimes treated we want to encourage more of that. thank you. president chiu: i appreciate the comments you have made and for the participation of everyone in this room, to final thoughts. at the beginning of every board meeting at 2:00 on tuesday's we site -- recite the pledge of allegiance. as we recite the phrase, and the aspiration we be a country with liberty and justice for all, many of us wonder if that is the case. it is my hope and i think the profound hope of many in this room that san francisco take this step to make those words ring true. i happen to think that san francisco, where our at our best when we come around our share of progressive values. whether we are standing in for marriage equality, universal health insurance. i hope this is a program that is a step in that direction where we say we are coming together to lead.

i appreciate your support and hope we can move this forward to the full board. supervisor kim: thank you. supervisor farrell: you have done the work here to talk about what cases are most prevalent. i do think based on experience will have a bigger -- to give the opportunity for young lawyers to work on cases where their most passionate. you will drive a lot more interest from younger lawyers if we brought not the subject matter -- matter areas and focus on two or three. to allow people to explore and take the initiative. that would be an important step. but i just make that comment. at that point i would like to reiterate my motion to send this to the full board. >> we do have a motion to forward this with recommendation. i see their share of walking around. we do have an overflow room

because we have a number of people who are interested in our agenda items. the overflow is in the chamber. we cannot have people sitting on the floor. if you're here for later item if you do not mind going to the overflow chamber so that folks can take a seat, that would be great. a couple of words. i am proud to co-sponsor this ordinance. the three of us had the pleasure working for robert rubin. i know personally we need -- many of the points have been incredibly well articulated about how important this need is and the multiplier effect from this investment in council and certain civil proceedings which can be best determined by the court. the story of the men amounts of -- the immense amount in the court system -- this will provide tremendous relief by

providing legal expertise and counsel to many of our clients who are about to lose their homes. this custody of their children or in domestic violence proceedings. i am happy to support this today. we know the multiplier effect of this investment. everyday a constituent walks into our office, someone who is about to lose their home world has lost a job looking for shelter or a bed. we know how expensive it is to provide all the services thereafter to many of our constituents and how we can support them. we have a motion again and there is a second. we can do this well -- without opposition. i want to thank everyone who has worked with president chiu's office to bring this forward. thank you. can you please call item 3? >> hearing to consider appointing two members, terms ending jan nouri 6, 2016 to the

small business commission. there are seven applicants. >> it wanted to state having read all the applicants' applications last night we are fortunate and lucky to have so many qualified and engaged small-business owners that want to take a seat at one of our -- and our commission which advises us on small-business issues. we have 7 applicants. i will be asking you to come up and briefly talk about your experience. and why you want to serve on the small business commission and maybe if you'd like to highlight prior we would like to pursue. i will be calling you in the order listed on the agenda. there are many members of the public who are here to speak on behalf of their applicants. the first i have is pete

mulvilhill. >> thank you for considering my appointment. i am one of the co owners of green apple bucks. the store -- books. they have owned part or all of it since the late 1990's. we have 20 employees. we have a peaceful relationship with that organization. there is a free box out front four passersby to take a book. we support the one city won the program. the store has survived a lot of changes in the book business. thanks to san francisco book readers that their independent

bookstores in the city. we have 1000 reviews on yelp averaging four and have stars. -- four and a half stars. some of the other service, i serve as the treasurer of the northern california independent booksellers association. more bookstores do exist then a lot of people realize. there is 200 members regionally. in the treasurer of the south end rowing club. of 800 members. my main interest in small business revolves around the local first movement. i am one of the co-founders of the locally owned merchants association.