arab community organizing youth development and educational initiatives through cultural and political work as well as antiwar coalition building for over 10 years. she is a graduate of wellesley university with a bachelor in sociology. she cofounded a foundation providing training opportunities for civic and political engagement. since she joined arock she has helped build a member of low income and immigrant members of the arab community, empowered to provide mutual support in issues around the arab community. she helped to grow the organization threefold, providing immigration services to the local arab community as part of the san francisco immigrant legal and education network. lilie has been a leading committee member of the coalition for a safer

san francisco, a strong advocate for for on and -- immigrant and civil rights issues impacting low income communities. she joined with san francisco rights defense community to pass a policy to help protect immigrant youth from deportation, bringing an arab voice to the diverse immigrant rights movement here in san francisco. most recently, she was a key organizer with the coalition for a safe san francisco, helping successfully pass an ordinance here at the board of supervisors, this past mai, requiring transparency and accountability from the san francisco police department in dealings with the f.b.i. and other federal law enforcement agencies. through her leadership arock played a central role in bringing arab and muslim community members as well as other communities of color to city hall to support this ordinance and educate us on the experience of arab and muslim communities with law enforcement after 9/11. i am honoring her today as she

leaves arock after five years of service as its program director. given that today is september 11, i think it's important to acknowledge the significance of her role, not only as a service prior in this city but as a civil and human rights advocate and organizer working to lift up the voices of the arab and muslim communities, especially during a period of anti-immigrant and anti-arab and muslim skate goating. she has not only organized her community but across communities, building bridges to ensure that san francisco as a sanctuary city continues to protect all of our communities and also speak up for the palestinian refugee population against all human rights -- globally. it is an honor to welcome you to the board chambers and thank you for your service and look forward to our future work together as well. >> thank you, supervisor. >> [applause.] >> i just wanted to say i look forward to arock continuing their work with the board of supervisors to ensure the human

rights and services for all of san francisco's immigrant and working class communities. thank you. >> [applause.] >> president chiu: thank you. >> lillian is joined by her mom from georgia. >> president chiu: welcome to the chamber. >> [applause.]

>> president chiu: now, i'd like to acknowledge our district 6 supervisor, supervisor kim, who has a commendation. >> supervisor kim: thank you. i have a separate commendation but i want to acknowledge lilie as well, and your work with arock on behalf of the city and county of san francisco. our office got to work really closely with you, and i can't tell you how immensely proud we were to work with you, and the organizing work that you were able to do in the arab-american, muslim, and south asian community to bring to light some of the issues and racial profiling that had been ongoing in this city. it was really difficult work. and you brought up a lot of members of our community that were not used to coming to city hall to speak and speak on very sensitive stories. and you know, really required a lot of courage and i know you were key in supporting that and i'm glad to see you go. i know arock is currently in district 6 and we will miss your presence in arock and in district 6. thank you for all of your work.

i'm actually -- i have a commendation and i'm sure that many of my colleagues will want to speak on behalf of this individual. we were waiting for our emergency preparedness month because we could honor this individual every week. but we wanted to take time to recognize someone who has been a steadfast presence at the site of every single emergency call in our district and in our city. i want to bring up ben ames up to the podium. >> [applause.] >> supervisor kim: whether it's a major fire, in a single family home, a residential apartment building, a gas leak, he has become a familiar face as he is often the first person on the scene and usually the last person to leave. he has been the emergency response coordinator for the city's human services agency since 2002, so over the last 10 years. this past decade you have been

serving our city. since i took office in 2011, he has responded to at least 10 significant fires in our district, and worked with residents to find both temporary and in many cases permanent housing, after those incidents. many of us that have gone on the fire of these scenes, it's scary. families and individuals and seniors often don't know where they're going to go next, have lost a lot of their belongings, but most importantly, have lost their home and their security. it really takes an individual i think of a high level of caliber and sensitivity to be able to work with so many individuals who are scared, and who don't know what they're going to do next. ben has demonstrated a commitment to going above and beyond of what is expected and required of him in his work. he immediately puts our residents at ease and helps them to move through the shock of losing in many cases everything that they own. and to prioritize our most vulnerable and impacted residents.

his empathy and responsiveness are things that representatives single out when they come to our office when they give feedback on how our emergency response has gone. he has talked about creating a cultural shift by thinking of how we it continue to help victims and survivors over the long-term. people are often immediately concerned and sympathetic to victims of fire or displacement but that often wanes over time as the media turns their eye elsewhere. he evaj lives good samaritan behavior where he goes. we're he we want to thank you in this month for the work you do on behalf of our city and county and we look forward to continue working with you. thank you, ben. >> [applause.] >> before you speak, i know there are a number of colleagues on the roster want to thank you and i also want to say a few words.

i think it was in my second year that we brought you to this board for a commendation that we prepared for you for all the work you had done in my district, particularl particulaa series of fires in chinatown. i am convinced there are several -- and you managed to help put out fires and deal with emergencies and coordinate services every single week of the year, most nights of the week. and i want to just thank you on behalf of my constituents again for that. with that i want to acknowledge supervisor cohen. >> supervisor cohen: thank you. i wanted to take the opportunity to thank you. i had the pleasure to meet ben first and work with him firsthand during hurricane katrina. many of you remember hurricane katrina many years ago. i was working in the mayor's office at that time and san francisco received several survivors and ben was right there on the front line, as well as other department heads but ben was the one that -- he and i worked hand in hand, elbow to

elbow, in setting up cots, making sure that kids got enrolled in school, and that they got their vaccinations. as a supervisor now enjoy the pleasure of working with you and consider you most certainly a partner. it is a pleasure to stand here to say thank you to one of our city's leaders and our first responder. thank you so much for what you do. thank you very much. >> president chiu: supervisor campos. >> supervisor campos: thank you very much, mr. president. i'll be very brief. i think it's a testament to you, ben, that you get to work so closely with each member of the board of supervisors, and you still are able to keep your sanity, and still are able to have good relationship with all of us. i think it's a testament to how you approach your job. and i think i would be remiss if i didn't mention something that it is -- that is so clear about the way in which you approach your job. those of us who have seen you in action, interacting with people, when they're at their most

vulnerable, you know, when a fire has taken place, something that has essentially made them, you know, forced them out of their home, the humanity, and the dignity with which you treat every individual is something that comes through. and i think the sense of empathy is very real, and i think it's not so much what you do, what you say sometimes, but how you do it, how you say it. and just on behalf of the dozens and dozens of people in my district that you have helped, and that you have really given them a sense of belief in government and what government can do, thank you from the bottom of my heart. >> thank you. >> president chiu: supervisor wiener. >> supervisor wiener: thank you. i think one of the hardest parts of this job is when the fires happen, and you get notified, and just knowing the impacts that it has on people's lives.

you as an elected official, you want to help and we try to help in whatever way we can. but fortunately we have professionals, like ben, who actually can truly help these people. and i -- you may recall, right after i took office there was a serial arsonist in the castro, a number of fires and tenants who were displaced. it was just horrible. and it was scary. that's when i first got to know ben. we worked together on the good samaritan ordinance, try to do something to try to make it easier for displaced tenants to get temporary housing. and since then, unfortunately, you know, we've worked together a number of times, because i -- i've been in office for 20 months now and it's been shocking, how many fires there have been. i think if you're not paying close attention, it's sometimes tempting to think that oh, everything's changed, nowadays we don't have fires like we used to have. we have a lot of fires and they can be very devastating.

and i just, you know, ben, you've just been an absolute pleasure to work with, and you are just a huge asset to the city. your responsiveness is amazing. i'll be honest, more often than not i learn about fires in my district from you, before the the fire department informs me. that's not a criticism of the fire department. it's more that you are just so on it, so fast. and i just really am grateful that we have you as part of the city family. >> thank you. thank you very much for all the kind words, and i'm sorry for all the people that i wake up in the middle of the night, to give them bad news. but every time we respond to an event, i'm not responding by myself. i'm responding with a team of people. every time there is a event that

requires us to activate what we are actually doing is we're activating the emergency response system for emergency support function no. 6, mass care and shelter. i do not do this alone. i have wonderful partners. the american red cross is always there with me, the mayor's office of disability is always there, making sure that our residents that have any sort of disability, that we're on top of that, the department of emergency management is always a wonderful support, whenever i hit some sort of a brick wall, all we have to do is get dem on the phone and they make things happen. so i certainly do not do this by myself. but thank you very much. and thank you for -- to my family that puts up with my pager going off in the middle of the night multiple times during the week. >> and we certainly want to thank your family. i know this is not the first

time you've been honored at the board and i sure it's not the last but thank you for the work that you do on behalf of our community. >> thank you. >> [applause.] >> president chiu: thank you, ben. why don't we proceed now to general public comment. madam clerk. >> angela calvillo: now is the opportunity for the public to comment generally for up to two minutes on items within the subject matter jurisdiction of the board, including the policy discussion between the mayor lee and the board. in addition to items on the adoption without reference to committee calendar. please note that public comment is not allowed on items which have been subject to public comment by a board committee. speakers using translation assistance will be allowed twice the amount of time.

if a member of the public would like a document to be displayed on the overhead projector please state such and remove the document when you would like the screen to return to live coverage of the meeting. >> president chiu: thank you. i want to mention one thing this week. last week our city attorney issued a public memo to all city employees about restrictions on campaign activities on city time and city property. since it is election season i want to take a moment to remind the public of this as well. campaign activities are not appropriate in city hall, including during public comment at the board of supervisors. if you are offering public comment, your comments should not advocate for or against pending ballot measures or candidates and along the same lines you should not introduce yourself as a candidate for office or as a supporter of a particular candidate or measure. with that, why don't we hear from our first speaker. >> i -- san francisco, david

chiu -chiu -- abdulum gay -- bak obama -obama -- [speaking forein language]

>> [timer sounding.] >> ladies and gentlemen, as you see, our supervisor olague today, she give memorial for two people. but, me, as american egyptian native, i come in here to make it memorial for 2,753 innocent people has been killed in same day 11 year ago in new york.

thank god that man i can say he is hero, he is tough, when he said something else, he promise on it, he did. here you see in this picture our mayor, when he talk about this innocent people last year in same day. today, after i finish my word here, i am going down to vote for obama. he deserve, and i deserve the change, 9/11, to be the vote for obama, and i wish to see how many people like you or other people too in the city going to vote for obama today. we need to change it. to change -- >> president chiu: i'm sorry. as i just said, you are not allowed to campaign for or against any candidates or ballot

measures. if i could ask you to keep your comments outside of the campaign season, i appreciate that. >> okay. i can do that. but also i'm going to vote for him today, if you don't mind. i tried to. >> [timer sounding.] -- >> change the day to be a nice day. that the reason you have i involve in obama tee shirt to help anyone he love him like me. god bless you, and god bless him, and god bless america. we never forgot everyone who died in 9/11, 11 year ago. we thank you, and we love you, and we love anyone of you guys. thank you. >> president chiu: next speaker. >> good afternoon, supervisors, stop the corporate rape of the public library, don't give money to the friends of the library,

don't accept money from the friends of the library. part of the damage done to our democracy by privatization is it destroys people in it the belief of fairness and equality. as you know the friends of the san francisco public library made a commitment they would raise 16 million for furnitures, fixtures and equipment for branch librarieses. with the branch program almost finished department of public works can only account for 3.6 million from the friends. the library administration claims that there is another 5.1 million donated by the friends. the administration's budget report contains a footnote that the amount is, quote, reported by the friends of the library, unquote, and the library admits there is no documentation to support that figure, and is simply taking the friends word for it. yet the branch library improvement program's quarterly report for the second quarter of 2012 has -- shows -- which is distributed to the board of supervisors, the mayor, and the capital planning committee,

contains no notice that it is a totally bogus figure and they have been unable to supportit with any documents aig in a full eight months. there is every reason to believe it is duplicative because they woch been able to come up with some documentation by now. can you imagine any other institution in the city where a private organization is given a license to sell naming opportunities in 24 city-owned facilities and no one knows what happens to the money. it doesn't matter if it is the president of the library commission being guilty of official misconduct, or a private nonprofit that has expenditures of $48 million in an 11 year period, or an increasing mountain of sunshine violations. it is clear that the lack of accountability is what this board of supervisors gives away to private interest. that's why the lies cost more than the money. thank you. >> president chiu: next

speaker. >> it needs to be bigger.

♪ >> since 2004, san francisco has experienced an unprecedented numbers of homicides. (siren sounding). 60% of the homicide victims are

people of color. their loved ones, living in neighborhoods of scarcity and neglect must deal with their personal tragedies, while at the same time facing the crime and violence of the unsafe neighborhoods that surround them every day. (siren sounding). >> president chiu: thank you very much.

next speaker. >> before i begin, i'd like to put this up as a public document, and may it remain up through the whole two minutes. mark dice.com is the best caller alec jones is the best talk show host in four words.com, gty.org is the best preacher, and you can download 3,000 of his sermons from the first in february of 1969 to tuesday's broadcast on giddon family radio is the best family station because it's the only radio station that reads george whitfield sermons who is the

best evangelist. family radio is the best radio station because it's the only station that reads the bible, the word of god. the assassination of the lord jesus christ, the faithful witness, the prince of the kings of the earth was redictd by angel gabriel before it happened. there are all sorts of prophesies before that time by the command of cyrus at the end of exile to build jerusalem such as the entry of christ known as palm sunday. where we had another prophesy where the profit zek ryeia predicted these words. rejoice greatly oh, daughter zion, shout, thy king come eth, he is lowly and meek.

now, as the people led the parade and said hoe sana, blesseblessed is he to come ethe name of the lord the fair sees were not happy. they said rebuke that disciple. jesus said the stones would immediately cry out. what did he mean by that? >> president chiu: thank you very much. next speaker. >> members of the board of supervisors, ray hartz, director of san francisco open governme government. this document, on the overhead, is a sunshine ordinance task force order of determination no. 11083 finding city librarian louise herrera in violation of withholding public records related to the finances of the friends of the san francisco public library, which mr.

mr. chaffee mentions almost every week. this record request was made in july of 2011 and she has still not released certain public records releasable under both the sunshine ordinance and the california public records act. i've been asked why he would do this, and my answer is twofold. first, the records that have been released show that neither the library commission nor the city librarian provide any oversight whatsoever of the millions of dollars raised and expended each year by the friends. louise herrera receives approximately 3,000 a month of, quote, discretionary funds, unquote, from the friends. i think it's rather questionable that a public official would use his office to withhold public records, and would also provide

no oversight to a group that is using the name of the san francisco public library, and raising funds in the names of the citizens of this city. the reality is this public-private partnership is 100% private, and 0% public. in fact, it has reached the point where this board of supervisors can no longer just look the other way, as both the city librarian and the library commission have done for years. mr. chaffee's been talking to you about it for years, and not one of you will look. and if this is the way public-private partnerships run in the city, we have a major problem. >> president chiu: next speaker. >> hello. my name is vivian imperiali, a city worker speaking as a private individual on my own time. not all of you have been