as an accessible. the same as in the report, we would like to see a rebate program where they could voluntarily relocate tenants that need it from an upper floor to a ground-floor units. we also want the city to add language to contracts between owners and city programs or requiring that preference for a lower floor units be given to people with disabilities. supervisor mar: thank you. >> good afternoon, supervisors. in a community organizer with the central city collaborative. we know that there have been -- that there have been meetings about common problems in sro hotels and many of us do outreach, it is difficult to address all the concerns that exist, particularly when so many

problems go unreported. many city-funded agencies are placing seniors in sro units. this is an enormous opportunity to discuss have the ability issues. our recommendation is that any contract between those city agencies and owners should include a standard of have the ability that is enforced. while this seems basic, many tenants are intimidated when they have concerns over their building. so, many of these concerns do not go reported. let's say that a city department funds a non-profit agency into non-funded sro's. they should require in the contract that they only place people in who are up to code would have the ability standards.

in addition, the agency coming to the agreement to place units should require the owner to provide units that are up to code in free of infestation. we recommended inspections and enforcement of this contract language. the addition in the enforcement of this type of language would increase the number of units that meet have the ability standards and make sure that findings go to place people in units that are up to code. additionally, a structure that is efficient and responsive is critical for seniors and people with disabilities, because many maintenance issues can be urgent or life threatening and may need to be resolved immediately. for example, a senior with the disability may need electricity to plug in a refrigerator that holds medication and power issues need to be resolved quickly. similarly, they may have health

problems that require waiting a few days for fixing. we recommend a shortened time frame, as well as exploring other options for codes already in place. thank you. >> -- supervisor mar: thank you. that concludes the testimony of the department reps. i also wanted to say that our city attorney is here. i know that one question that had come up before about legislation on the use of mail boxes in hotel units, i am wondering what the status on that legislation is. >> supervisor, the postal service apparently decided to stop delivering mail to sro's. our office filed a challenge on behalf of the city, arguing that tenants had a constitutional

right to receive their mail. the superior court disagreed. the briefing is due at the end of this month before the ninth circuit. supervisor mar: thank you so much. colleagues, i am going to jump into public comment. two minutes per person. there is a buzzer that goes off. please try to stay within time limits, if possible. i am going to call people in bunches of 10, but if people could live up on the left side, that would really help. jessica, james, jesse, tony, and [unintelligible] [reads names] >> good afternoon, supervisors, city staff, and supervisors.

you have heard a number of recommendations for changes to be made. what you have heard so far are recommendations that can be implemented right away. these are urgently needed, given the concerns over health and safety. we urge you to take action in the days and weeks. by improving contacts and pursuing other changes, i have several other recommendations that might take more time. more targeted outreach to seniors and adults with disabilities in sro's, as well as access to services to make sure that seniors have access to in home affordable options and other services. we would also like to see increased disaster planning. over the long term, we propose providing tenants the ability to provide a council not from a management so that people can

speak issue -- openly about issues that they face. of course, we need more affordable housing. we would like to see on-site staff that includes maintenance and janitorial to keep buildings better maintained. individual mailboxes, that has been an issue for people to safely receive their own mail. well list shacks, or i am ok door hangers, for people who are isolated or have medical risk. these recommendations are necessary to ensure safe, habitable housing for seniors and people with disabilities in sro's. thank you for working with us to take action on these recommendations. thanks supervisor mar: you. thank you. i forgot to read supervisor mar: thank you. -- supervisor mar: thank you.

i forgot to call colleen. next speaker, colleen? [laughter] c microphone? ok. >> hello? ok. hello, supervisors. i have some recommendations that are related to issues of senior nutrition, which is also related to housing. at these communities we serve about 3000 meals every day. 30% go into the senior and disabled hour. it has actually increased to two hours. we see a lot of folks eating in our dining room who live in our single occupancy room hotels. one recommendation is that seniors receiving ssi are living

be -- below the poverty level. the federal poverty level is $10,890. because of the california ssi cash out policy, they are ineligible for cal fresh or food stamps. california should pursue any missed policy for those harmed by it. secondly, high rent burdens result in negative outcomes for people. some of may skip meals to avoid rent. they have a yearly income that is only 14% of the san francisco area median income. more affordable housing is essential and new affordable housing for seniors and people with disabilities should include individual or shared cooking facilities.

since we have received no government funding for food programs, we do sit -- feel the increased demand for those things when other organizations have cutbacks. increasing food and transportation costs. in 2009, 2010, 134,000 meals over contract were provided. supervisor mar: thank you so much. i called a number of speakers. please keep coming forward. i will call a few more names. [read] names >> hello, in a disabled veteran and i would like to thank the collaborative is that aid the disabled and under-income people.

i lived in and sro. i call it home. i will probably live the rest of my life there. i do not know how long that is. i would like to see some upgrades. especially to the electricity. we can only operate a couple of things at once. it is hard on us. i have been lucky. the va gave me enough letters. i got a room with a bathroom. i tell you what, the people that do share bathrooms, those rooms need to be fixed. there needs to be something on the floor so that people do not slip. i do not want to see these people hurt. we are all family. i happen to be on the tenant's council and we have gotten a few things done. we have gotten the place painted.

we want to be safe. >> thank you. >> next speaker? >> hello. my name is john stone. i am sro -- in a residence sro of the -- i in am a resident of the sro in the tenderloin. something i want to bring your attention to, it is a relevant problem to sro's in general. it has to do with the task force. now, the reason it came to my attention is i came up with the problem of mice and cockroaches. it repeatedly went to my building manager numerous times.

sometimes he would tell me flat out that he would not spread. sometimes his schedule would not do it. sometimes he would make excuses. sometimes i cannot keep them out of my dad when i sleep at night. has gotten to the point where i cannot take. i thought to myself, let me do the smart thing. let me find out who i am dealing with here. i went online to find out who was managing my building. what do you know, it turns out, first of all, that this guy is currently sitting on your sro task force. not only that, he is not even a resident of san francisco. he lives in san mateo. he does not care. [applause] supervisor mar: next speaker.

i will call a few more names. [leads names] -- reads names] >> i just turned 81. i am a senior. i did not grow up at the time of single occupancy. i know what it is like for these people. it is not fair that anyone in this city should have to live like that. is there a service for these people in an emergency? is there anything around their necks? anything to call? i doubt it. i approve of these recommendations. i am standing here.

we have an expression in my culture [unintelligible] -- -- culture that is [unintelligible] it means pity, look to the other person who has more when you have nothing. make sure that they get these things that they desperately need. my mother always said, no one should go hungry in this country. they should not have to go down the hall to the toilet to get something to eat. they should be proud of who they are and what they are. [applause] supervisor mar: thank you. next speaker? >> good afternoon, land use committee.

my name is walter james. i am an organizer for the central city collaborative. i am also a resident for the mission hotel. the reason i am here today is to support the recommendation. first, i want to thank the people that put the report together. i think it is great that they put that report together. my main concern of, in these hotels, it is unbelievable. the things that are important to me, enforcement no. 3, a structure that is efficient, right now we are dealing with electrical problems. right?

they are like the property management under support services. since they bring us to the front page, doing my own research, maybe something has to happen. right now i am trying to come on board with this and do something in a good way. new policy, my time is up, but with support services like property management staff and case managers, it needs to be restructured and more sensitive. bring them to the middle ground. times have changed. supervisor mar: next speaker. >> ladies and gentlemen.

my name is [unintelligible] i would not exchange it for another hotel. the place is kept clean. i am 77 years old. in my passing, i have seen a lot of people on the ground. this is america. it should not happen. you look around and you see a lot of seniors. some of them do not live in sro

's, but the term, i am not going to ask you to make all the necessary preparations so that these people, when their time comes, that they would live with dignity. now is the time. now what is the time to start putting these together. i plead with you. i plead and plead. supervisor mar: thank you. [reads names] next speaker? >> good afternoon, supervisors. i wear a lot of hats, but speaking to you right now in the former chair of the harvey -- harvey milk club.

fortunately, i cannot say when i am experiencing, living in sro. i am a veteran, having personally experienced the quality of life issues that these people were talking about in facing. i am 50 years old now. the supervisors, thank you for taking the initiative for looking into furthering the talks so far, making sure that i get better distance than we are right now. helping them now, because we needed now.

supervisor mar: next speaker? >> good afternoon, supervisors. i want to thank you personally for sponsoring this. forgive me if i do not renounce your last name correctly. olegra? forgive me. i live in the sro in the tenderloin, in supervisor kim's district. i hope that she is in support of this. i have been living in sro since i have lived in this city. i am in support of the recommendations the you are enforcing. i have been complaining

[unintelligible] animal, who happens to be a rat. anyway, i do not need to digress. i also have less problems in my room. spraying for eggs and whatnot. i am very supportive of the recommendation. supervisor mar: thank you. mr. [unintelligible] >> thank you for calling this hearing. i have seen just about every kind of horror story that you can imagine in these hotels. i know you have not lived in one. i can assume that.

the level of disrespect on a human level that goes on on a daily basis is atrocious. there was a woman at the press conference, or a gentleman, i believe, talking about working phone jacks. two people in his building were not able to call out in the time of the health episode, so now these individuals are living in the assisted living. the better enforcement of code, that is very basic and important. the collaborative, the tenant in the hotel who had a mobility

issue, there were no accommodations in that hotel. it was very bad. the noise was terrible. there was no enforcement. the family was having a hard time with it. i wanted to also mentioned "poor magazine." we have a solution to homelessness project where we are getting into plans for an urban garden. thank you. supervisor mar: thank you. commissioner? >> i spent 30 years working in chinatown, in the tenderloin. we had called them residential hotels. there were many people, not just

seniors. i want to make some points about your goals. your recommendations seem very good and easy to do, but i am concerned about the effects on the people that live there in terms of their rent. will it be raised for any of these? will they be relocated? i think you need something where landlords have to provide comparable cost for housing. i am not sure that the rent board is set up to handle this kind of situation in terms of increasing their rent. those are two problems that occur when they start building in sections of building in chinatown, especially with the code is different for residential hotels. one bathroom -- this is hard to live with.

i am not certain how the stills with kitchens. there are more like 10 or 12 rooms to the kitchen. i just want to make sure that you include those. -- >> thank you for being here, supervisor. >> good afternoon. you have a great set of guidelines before you, but there is something that we need to be visual and vocal on. this is code enforcement. many operators deny those instructors and to the hotels. they should give the inspectors

the authority to write citations upon sight. they are denied access into the hotel. these are citations that should be issued on site. a lot of private hotel operators to not allow the inspectors to come in. he should increase the fee as well. it makes no sense that we have so many people living in inhumane conditions. i am fighting with the collaborative, and every other city departments. making certain that these tenants are getting treated fairly and the conditions are improved. >> mrs. collins?

>> i have a question. >> i wanted to get -- the dvi code enforcers, who come through the door -- that is where they are denied? >> they are denied assets when managment says -- you can't come in or this is not taking place. there is the denial of the problems existing, the investa tion of rodents or bedbugs. elevators out for two or three days. these are the se conditions denying assets into the hotels. this needs to be tightened.

our dvi needs to be on that. that will help them out a lot. >> thank you. >> jamie from dvi. maybe after public comment, he could respond. i will call a few more names. richard, dennis scary, c.w. johnson, darnel vogel, jim aires, brenda washington. karen fishkin. >> i am aaron, and i guess my time has come. i own a beautiful victorian house. what a trip. i read the report from the san francisco department of public

health. this is a very good report. with the prevention and control of bedbugs. a great report. the key to success is going to be in implementation. who will be watching over this for the next couple of years. i was in my room and then there a few weeks only. there was a conversation in the hallway, from my mayor cook -- my neighbor, next door. you have to get out of your room. we have to spray, for bedbugs. i send her a note. she never responded to me. this is 10 days, for bedbugs. i mentioned to her, the note that she sent out. she said, do not worry. we will take care of that. one week later i had