to come and help out, to rescue the victims and stuff like that? so a big shout out to everyone who came out today to support affordable housing. i am here to support the funding for the trust fund. supervisor kim: thank you. >> oh, i am -- and and with the sro and live in the mission. debra rights, for my personal experience, i got injured at work, and i could not work. my benefits were exhausted, which caused me to become promise. i cannot pay rent. i slept on the streets and shelters. i had to do footwork and stand on my to get where i am right now. now, i am in mercy housing, and i pay 30% of my income for housing. we need help for those, seniors

and the mentally ill. it would take people off of the street and out of the sro's. we need to do something about these empty buildings in the mission, so that people will not get tickets for trespassing just to sleep somewhere. i currently pay half of my money for a tiny room, where i do not have a place to hang my courage. i live out of boxes because i do not have room for a dresser. it is not a dump. it is just not that much space. people do not need to live on the street. we need more affordable housing. maybe more people would stay out of jail or off of probation. it is hard to find housing for people living on ssi or ga. and just on a personal note, working at the mission collaborative, i have seen people transition from living in

shelters and the daily sro's to actually having subsidized housing where they have a place to live permanently, and it has made a tremendous impact on people's health as well as their quality of life, so i urge the supervisors and the mayor's office on housing to look for other ways to have permanent housing with a very specific emphasis on income levels and keeping it at the very low income level. thank you. supervisor kim: thank you. >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is bin shaker. i also work with the collaborative, and i am in district 9. since i am on fixed income like thousands of others of san franciscans, there is an extreme struggle, especially in the time of rising rents and disparity. my partner and i can only afford to live and an sro's, an icy

definitively out of our range condominiums being built and not places for people like us. affordable housing is important to myself and the larger mission community. it keeps the community diverse and interesting and does not further homogenize and gentrify it. having low in come housing does not count as affordable low- income housing for the mission as well as the tenderloin and other neighborhoods, like bayview and hunters point, in which genuinely low-income people live. in conclusion, what i would love to see the board of supervisors do is approved bonds to subsidize generally very low to middle income housing for the mission and other neighborhoods using the existing model of places like valencia gardens as a blueprint for creating genuine housing opportunities for people who fall into income levels that are currently at or well below the current ami

projection of 20%, which is the majority former san franciscans. thank you for your time. >> thank you, mr. shaffer. >> how are you doing? my name is darnell boyd, and i am an organizer from an sro glenarden and and also at the mission hotel. i live in the mission district. it is a community of divorce people, and we cannot displays the mission district where high- income housing because we would be displacing our families, our friends, our brothers, our sisters. we need to keep them in affordable housing. if we displaced families, we know what happens. they fall apart. the mother ends up one way, the mother ends up another place, and the kids and up somewhere else. we need to stop catering to high and people and help the lowest of the low. we need to go around the

neighborhood and hand out keys to all of the people who sleep under tarps and in doorways and on the streets. we need help for these people. thank you for listening to me. thank you very much. >> good afternoon. i am josh. i am also from the mission sro collaborative. just like kendra, i am going to read a statement from someone who could not be here. he writes, myself, i recently coming out of homelessness from being on the streets and parks to shelters. i will be getting an sro on geary street, but it has been quite an experience, not the best one, i might add. the system is broken and mismanaged in needs to be fixed. people like us who are low- income on the poverty line, that we can have a good quality live, and needless to say and quality of life that is affordable to

us. and then, what he wants the supervisors to do, he really wants to reach out to the community and not judge and to try to experience what it is like to go through and to see if, if they like it, and then maybe then everyone will understand what it is actually like, so i want to say apart from that, my own experience working out the collaborative, a lot of people when they hear where i work, they ask me questions about affordable housing, and the first thing that i say to them is that many of the tenants who live in sro's are not living in affordable housing. it is very, very hard for them to live there. you continue your about people's spending 60% or more of their income, and there is not that much left over. i was doing some outreach in a building, and the tenants were asking me whether it was legal

to withhold rent because of some rats that were in their room that had actually eaten their food, and they had totally run out of food. they had exhausted the remainder of their income after rent and had no more food for the rest of the month, so really what it is a question between clean housing and food, that is something that people should not have to choose among in san francisco. supervisor kim: thank you. before our next speaker, i want to call some more names. [reading names] omar, whitney jones, arthur chang, dying and, and bill hanigan. >> my name is tony. i am an advocate with the senior

action network and also with the the heritage foundation. there is really no surprise that we are building more and more prisons and prison cells than we are affordable housing. since 1995, the entire country has lost almost 300,000 existing units of public housing and 360 units of section 8 housing with a little bit over 7000 approved for demolition since march 2011, and you couple that with decriminalization of poverty, it has been a very deliberate process when you look at this push towards privatizing of land that is under our feet. i come from two communities that have been affected by gentrification and removal.

my family was originally from the western addition. my grandmother had a house there, and through urban renewal, she lost that house. we had relatives at a mattel which was demolished, and it is fitting that we are going to be celebrating the 30th anniversary of that eviction at that hotel, where now are 105 units of affordable senior housing, so i went to really call the spirits of those ancestors into this room because a lot of that negotiation took place in these chambers, and i want to bring their memory here to let you know that we do need to build affordable senior housing, affordable housing for elders, for disabled people, a lot of homeless folks. i think the coalition on homelessness came up with figures, i think 58% of the

people who are without houses are that way for the first time, so we need to realize that the soul of our community does not belong to corporations or to private business. it belongs to people, and we need to advocate for them, and we need housing that we can afford, and i am a fourth generation sovereigns -- san franciscan. i need to stay here. i do not want my family to move. we have roots here. we have family here. as far as the mayor's plan and plans for further funding of affordable housing, we do need that. the housing that we do have, not to let it be converted into hotels or demolished. also, a senior-specific sro housing. we also have to have owners to put them back on the market. and in regards to 1 woman, an elder with the senior action network, she wanted to give the

message that the ventilation in units needs to improve, because oftentimes when elders, it the event is not good, there is a lot of smoke, and there are fire hazards and what not. thank you. supervisor kim: thank you. >> my name is daniel. i have lived in san francisco since 1996, and i got squeezed out, so i spent three years in exile. i am not planning to move out again. but my question is about the rent participation. how long will san francisco to allow the university to encroach every available space in downtown fort russian hill,

north beach, anywhere? i know mayor willie brown, gavin newsom, and a supervisor like wiener are all pro-business. finally, supervisor wiener looks up. supervisor wi: sir, do not addrs the supervisors directly. >> i am upset with you. this is ridiculous. when are you going to do something about this? the oldest building, and the

oldest renters, and you do nothing, speaking of building new buildings so you can make have your client developers. it is interesting and impressive, but let's get real. do something about this. some time. supervisor kim: thank you. [cheers and applause] supervisor wiener: supervisor kim, apparently the last speaker is unaware that i am sponsoring legislation that is barring student housing. >> hello, i am -- and i work with the collaborative that is made up of seniors and people disabilities, many of whom have lived in san francisco for decades. many of them are living on social security, trying to make

do with $800 per month or less, so when we talk about affordable housing, we are talking about people at very low or extremely low-income, and i hear from people every day who never been on waiting lists for years. summit zubaida said he was something like no. 1332 on a list, which certainly does not feel very encouraging. people are living in substandard conditions. we obviously need more affordable housing for people living at very low incomes, so i urge you to set aside money, to ensure that it helps people at very low income and to look how we can continue to have market rate housing with the production of affordable rate housing so we do not continue to approve luxury developments without keeping up with what we need in terms of affordable housing for everyone. supervisor kim: thank you.

>> hello, my name is omar. i am a housing rights attorney with the caucus. i just wanted to make three points. one of them is the report clearly identified a lot of what is needed for the policymakers to make an informed decision, and i wanted to point out that besides a lot of talk about the plight with the income brackets, and i think we should keep in mind that there should be data collection on raise -- race to make sure that if we find at the art in the communities that are disproportionately impacted by the housing crisis that we can come up with an adequate housing response that addresses the community needs, and then the other two points i wanted to mention our two innovative ideas in dealing with affordable housing that do not get as much

attention, but i think it should be considered now, especially considering the crisis we are facing now locally as well as nationally, and one of them is with the idea of promoting and encouraging secondary units. it is in the housing element, and it has been there. it is in our current housing element. i think in 1996 planning department survey had estimated that there are over 25,000 secondary units in the city. that is about 8% of the housing stock. i think it is something to at least think about. at least new york city has reinstated their task force on illegal housing there, and then secondly, the limited equity housing cooperatives. we know it is a success with the san francisco community land trust, and they are hoping to

replicate it. to keep that in mind. supervisor kim: thank you. >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is whitney adjourns. i am with a center. this stabilizes the lives of low-income folks. it creates a good jobs, and it keeps families like mine in the city. the performance audit has also indicated that we have a very effective city agency in developing housing. what we need our tools. ways to fund housing, like the proposed housing trust fund, ways to develop housing, in the private market, like improving our inclusionary housing plan, and wasted resources, with sites for affordable housing developments. affordable housing is a good thing. let's make it more possible. thank you.

supervisor kim: thank you, mr. jones. >> hi, i am michael lyon, and i am on the action board. i want to talk about linda yueh just moved in to us. she is on ssi, a senior was severe disabilities. she struggles just to move around. linda is not a basket place. for years, she held our neighborhood together. she knew everybody in the neighborhood, what they needed, and arranged that there needs got taken care of. in her 50 pashtun yes, she graduated from mills as a full scholarship student, so if there is anybody who should have been able to find affordable housing, it should have been linda, but for decades, she and her disabled son lived in a house that had huge leads in the roof and mold all over the place. there was no hot water. the toilet was iffy, and

meanwhile, the mcmansions were being built on vacant lots in bernal heights. she was afraid to call her landlord. finally, the landlord died, and her relatives wanted to fix up the house. she had to move out, and so now, this incredible woman with hundreds of friends as having to leave san francisco, and there are many -- for every linden that i know, there are hundreds of hundreds of others, so what do we need? we need more housing for people on very low income. san francisco has to put in additional money for affordable housing, because the market is not going to do it. and third, the approval of market rate housing must be contingent on the production of affordable housing. supervisor kiim: thank you, mr.

lyon. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i am -- with the senior action network. i want to put a spin on this. the income bracket that has not been thoroughly looked on in all of these years is an extremely low-income, and put a $with that. that $is someone who makes $12,000 or less. even though our minimum wage at the city, that is only 12,000 plus dollars. when you have got the median income at 50%, everyone does not fit that 50% threshold here. we have to include the other incomes that have not been included, even with the housing element. with the housing rezoning process, affordable housing.

that threshold has yet to be met. this is not only low-income. this is an extreme poverty. extreme poverty. anyone whose income is under $35,000 per year. that is an extreme poverty. let's add this work into our conversation when we talk about affordable housing. supervisor: can you repeat the last eight and on how to redefine ami? >> we have to define it as anyone who makes less than $35,000 per year. you are looking at extremely low income, which is an extreme poverty.

supervisor kim: thank you. >> my name is -- i am with san francisco tomorrow. i am also with a supervisory committee. i want to commend both you, supervisor kim, and supervisor campos for performing the audit. bureaucracy needs performance audits to keep them going. however, iraq of leadership and resolve for the people who make those decisions, and what i find lacking is for the last 16 years, it has been laissez faire of the way around. so even the mayor will be brown had a bond initiative, only half of that was completed.

more often, we at san francisco tomorrow have to follow up against the city for providing the housing element, that'd be correctly done, according to state law, and it took some time. here i am saying -- i object to the planning department acting to the contrary of affordable housing. a remarkable proposal for eight washington, which requires the exemptions of the city code, the planning code, as well as the district, which believes the

city a further loss of revenue. supervisor kim: thank you, mr. chang. >> do i have more time? supervisor kim: no, and that people finish the sentence. thank you, mr. chang. >> my name is diane, and i am here also to speak about the age washington project. my question is why the city would -- supervisor kim: i am sorry.

we want you to stay on point. you can talk about eight washington, but this is not just about that. you can have it relates to the larger topic -- topic of affordable housing. >> i think that the condominiums there and do not allow for the affordable housing. supervisor kim: what i am saying is you can speak about it in reference to the larger issue, not specifically to eight washington. >> ok. i guess i will not speak today. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i am with a golden gate tenants association. i am here today to express support for increased funding for affordable housing. in that context, we live

immediately across the street from a proposed development at 8 washington street, which will do very little in itself to promote affordable housing, but, instead, it will require the first increase in height limits along the waterfront in the last 50 years. we support the opposition by the friends of golden gateway to the age washington project and encourage the board of supervisors to signal its support for increased affordable housing, like when the eight washington project comes before you to vote no on it. thank you. supervisor kim: thank you. >> good afternoon, and land use. ♪ affordable house is coming, affordable housing is coming,

affordable housing is coming out we are completely positive there is no doubt about it we are going to really, really thrive. it is coming. the new house is coming out there is a new house coming out for us, us to live we are completely positive ain't no doubt about it we are going to really live -- we are coming out ♪ ♪ with a little luck we can work it out we can make this whole house then work out with a lot, we can lay down can do you not feel the town building exploding? with a little but, you can sell the stock and bonds you are

holding with a little city luck we can lay it down we can make a better town ♪ supervisor kim: thank you, mr. paulson. i am going to call 10 more names. i am sorry. i did not know we are done with the last list. [reading names] >> good afternoon, supervisors. i am not feeling well. to really give you my best

ideas. to say that affordable housing is coming, but instead, condominiums are coming. we have to stop the proliferation of more condominiums and unaffordable housing. [coughin] next time. next time. thank you very much