and it's really hard seeing when you're young. you wish that, you know, you could just play around, but, no, you have to have this fear lingering in you. am i going to be homeless? i was 8 and i was thinking of that. i wasn't thinking, oh, i need to get my homework done or anything like that because it was affecting me. and i don't want that to affect my cousins or any of the other youth. yesterday me and my can you inches, i was teaching them how to cook and i told them about the condo stuff and they were saying, auntie marty, i don't want to be separated from you. i don't want to be separated from our family. this is not only affecting them. like my mother said, all these people are saying, it's affecting them, too, and there's thousands of us. so, i hope you'll consider us

because we're also paying our dues. we're also part of the city. we're also civilians and we're just trying to live our lives. so, thank you. >> thank you. next speaker. my name is sarah sherman [speaker not understood]. i'm also a renter in san francisco. and thank you all for sitting around for the comments. as you hear that the reality of half the housing situation now in san francisco is many tenants are being pushed out of their homes. many of these are elderly long-term tenants, but because of the amount of money speculators can get out, some of the front lines are being pushed out. and recently i was talking to a man who lived in the unit 18 years and had given the notice, a choice of a buyout or an ellis act.

and instead of going to a tenants right appeal, he went to a tenants warrior. and what they told him was -- that they could ellis act him, that he should take the buyout. so, it was only a matter of time. by the time i had talked to him, he had already signed the paperwork. his unit isn't recorded. his unit could be condo-ized. last time we were here and all the tic owners came out, my unit is clean. how in the (bleep) do you know that? and i think for all of us who lived here a long time or have family members who live here who are vulnerable, and my dad's building was so old. it's like how long do you have to wait on the edge of your seat to see what happens? what does that possibly mean? i believe you all -- you're

trying to make a decision about good housing in san francisco and sometimes the question is about like -- sometimes i wonder if the question really is about tic owners who, when they talk, it sounds like they should have known, but they were conned into believing they could quickly condo-ize their unit after buying them. or is this really about [speaker not understood]? >> thank you very much. [speaker not understood]. >> next speaker. good afternoon, supervisors. sue vaughan. [speaker not understood], i'm not speaking on behalf of the sierra club right now. i have a friend and in 2008 or in 2009 she was forced out of her building on 15th avenue between cabrillo and fulton and she lives in a trailer park in nevada now. but she lived there from 1982. she had a plot in the community garden right next door, gone. that building was converted into tic and conceivably those people in that -- in those tics now, i don't know, but they could be a part of this lottery

right now if it's three years. i don't know. so, i just -- i think the speculation is drive thing whole move here and it's not good for the city. and we're looking for a second dot-com boom right now and it's driving up rents and it's driving this condo conversion thing that's going on, i believe. secondly, i see this legislation as part of an assault on affordable housing here in the city, combined with park merced if the legislation passes. we've got the loss of nearly 4,000 units of rent controlled housing in the city and that is massive. and i believe that you were all concerned about the ability of the legislation to withstand the palmer challenge because you have that little clause in there about a lawsuit. so, you're concerned about that, too. can it withstand that? and i agree with previous

speakers. they think you should be focusing on working at the state level to get the ellis act repealed and to get costa hawkins repealed. and an additional compromise could be that for every unit of affordable housing that is built in san francisco, you could free up one tic to be -- to go -- to be converted into a condominium. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker. my name is [speaker not understood] lopez. i'm here because i think that the proposition of the legislation today is not about condo. it's about people. so, it's not about the tenants or about the landlords. they kicked me out [speaker not understood]. i'm a senior. my income is very [speaker not understood] because i'm retired. but i lose not only the place,

i lose my friends, my community, my neighborhood, my hospital. so, i think that they have to often thinking that this proposition that you make happy the [speaker not understood], the people that make the city, the people that make you here in this beautiful city. i think that you have the consideration of old people because the old people is [speaker not understood], is your grandfather, your grandmother. you cannot kick them out, these people. these people deserve better life. [speaker not understood] you cannot send them to the old place they live for 30 years. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker. good afternoon, [speaker not understood], supervisors. miguel [speaker not understood] and i work for the coalition on homelessness. so, i want to mention three different things i hear and other thing i have.

while facing a housing crisis in our communities in san francisco, the rent is [speaker not understood] increasing. [speaker not understood]. it's the wrong policy the wrong time. if the city wants to help people become owners, they should not be [speaker not understood] of the tenants. [speaker not understood]. [speaker not understood], don send to the full board. ~ do not in 199 i was displaced in the

city. ~ 1997. i said, i want to come back and live in san francisco. i cannot come back because it's really expensive. in 1998, 2000, the dot-com companies, they increased the rents really high. and the only reason we were displaced, a lot of families, a lot of poor families, a lot of working class. another thing, when i hear them mention the teachers, the police, and other folks that can be honest and [speaker not understood], i cannot support it. i support the teachers because they need. i cannot support the policemen, the police operators to get [speaker not understood], no. because, first, we have a conscience in san francisco. we have many, many homeless people and many homeless families and children and they need the housing. please, don't [speaker not understood] [inaudible]. >> thank you very much. next speaker.

good afternoon, supervisors. my name is jesus [speaker not understood]. and also i work with [speaker not understood]. we have a lot of families that are in the soma area and this can happen, where are all those families going to go? are they going to be living somewhere else, are they going to be homeless or what? so, please, think about this, okay? thank you. >> thank you. next speaker. good afternoon, brian basinger, executive director of [speaker not understood] alliance. i want to thank the supervisors for taking leadership in blunting the worst effects of this proposed legislation and for working with the tenants groups to try and blunt the worst parts of what's going on. i think we want to pay special attention to some of the processes that are used as i previously testified. my building where i was ellis act evicted where i lived 44%

of my life, i was the 13th person disabled with aids evicted from my block in two months -- excuse me, two years. dpw allowed for an illegal condo conversion. that building should have been captured with the no pass [speaker not understood] legislation passed in 2004. and it didn't happen. there was supposed to be the protections of landlord statement they didn't do an eviction of senior or disabled catastrophically ill person under penalty of perjury. there was also supposed to be confirmation through the rent board and also the human rights commission. both of those entities submitved inaccurate statements that were in complete opposition to all the evidence in the files. ~ committed so, clearly the department of public works doesn't have the infrastructure or funding in place to adequately review all existing applications. ~ submitted

so, i'm concerned about this new flood of applications that many buildings that did displace senior or disabled catastrophically disabled tenants will slip through the cracks unless funding in infrastructure. my preference would be to have something -- some kind of oversight outside of the dpw. so, a watchdog because i don't trust the process. and lastly [inaudible]. >> thank you. next speaker. hi, good afternoon, supervisors. first off, i do want to thank the tenants who are sharing their stories. i guess i can relate, myself, as a renter that [speaker not understood] can be done not knowing you can be affected. but my name is ben and i'm actually speaking as a concerned native san franciscan. my family ha been here since i

was born. we currently live in a rent controlled apartment in nob hill for about 17 years now. whip the last two years in a two-block radius i've seen my friends and neighbors ones who live in my block, they were bought out. and the partvs were actually being convert today tic. ~ and these long-term tenants, their lives were up rooted and my friend who was also living in nob hill, they're actually going through an eviction right now. and it's very stressful to see my mom's friend because they don't know where to go and it's very sad to see this. and unfortunately, there's more buildings in my neighborhood in the pipeline of being converted into condominiums and it's always the constant fear for my family especially my mom because seeing this change happening in our block, it acknowledge reality, it's at a

time when my family will be the ones we see eviction notices and my parents seniors will be -- could be facing the exact same situation as mary phillips who is a 97 year old native being evicted out of home in the mission. so, if this legislation were to pass as is, that means that more families and long-term renters will be displaced and possibly including my family and this legislation will also be eliminating rent controlled units in the city. and, so, that is why i'm here today to speak in this proposed legislation that you consider a much more inclusive legislation that won't displace long-term tenants and protect the most vulnerable residents in our city. thanks. >> thank you. next speaker. good afternoon, supervisors. my name is laura leader man. i'm a 38 year resident of san francisco, the last 26 years in district 5. my husband and i own a home, but we have neighbors just a few blocks away who are being

ellis act evicted by a serious ellis acter who bought the building one year ago. as we sell off the city to the highest bidders, access is limited to those with substantial income and threaten our economic diversity and very real human being. with the loss of rent controlled units and dearth of affordable housing of nip kind, we compel working class families and individuals. this disproportionately impacts communities of color and immigrant communities. as we have seen repeatedly occur over the last five decades, past is prelude. [speaker not understood] effective commitment to affordable housing including long-term [speaker not understood], they will find and continue to find strategies to circumvent or wait out restrictions on rent control units to more lucrative properties. to think proposed legislation to protect affordable rent units would signal anything different from that historical fact is naive, irresponsible

and ultimately destructive to our community. the chronicle published an article citing data that the number of homeless families in san francisco had hit a record high in february. that two-thirds of those families are homeless for the first time and that 80% are from san francisco. we all know well that rent has been sky rocketing adding pressure and incentive for owners to ellis act and engage in the 1, 2, 3 process of evicting current tenants buying them out or getting around the condo conversion or alternatively converting the building to tics generating immediate profits with the clear plan of converting to condos down the road. this process forever reduces rent controlled units. to suggest that the nominal fee proposed in this legislation would somehow place an apartment is beyond cynical. even the maximum fee of $20,000 would build what, a small bathroom? i am sincerely appreciative of the [inaudible]. >> thank you very much. next speaker.

good afternoon, jennifer friedenbach, coalition of homelessness. i also want to speak as a resident of san francisco. right now san francisco you're all very aware is at a critical juncture. right now we have such a severe housing crises, rents are sky rocketing. we have 2200 children in san francisco unified schools that are homeless. just last year, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of households were displaced. we need to draw a line in the sand. we need to halt it and we need to try to preserve as much as we can every household in san francisco. the fact that during this time that this legislation was introduced was frankly pretty flabbergasted. i want to talk about just my block, and i actually wrote, you know, put together a graph that was so crowded with information it was unreadable. i'm going to try to summarize it a bit. on the 2700 block of harrison on just the east side of the

block, we've had four households that were bought out. we've had one ellis act eviction and those buyouts were under threat of ellis act. we've had four households that were tic'd. all nine household were people of color. almost all of them were families. the ones that weren't were elderly, and all nine were replaced by caucasians, two with children. none of them i would call middle income. that is kind of a floating definition, but none of them were called middle income. the effect on homelessness on the situation is profound and i wanted to talk about some of my neighbors that i've lost. one was an elderly man that had been there 43 years with his wife. he was ellis act evicted after several attempts to get him out. his wife was in laguna honda. he had to leave his beloved wife and go out of state to live with his son because he had nowhere to go. another household, a young single mom who raised her children [inaudible].

>> thank you. next speaker. good evening, supervisors. my name is melli [speaker not understood]. we are facing a housing crisis in our communities. rents are sky rocketing and [speaker not understood] are increasing. [speaker not understood] we know will reduce the supply of department when we need more. it is wrong policy at the wrong time. supervisor chiu, [speaker not understood] and supervisor norman yee, please vote no on any amendment, and do not send this to the full board. thank you. ~ supervisor jane kim. >> thank you. the next speaker, i have one more card and i'm sorry i

cannot read your name. but you know who you are. you can come on up. go ahead, sir. hello, supervisors. i am a minority here because i am a property owner and i'm also a landlord. i just wanted to say that i'm happy to be a landlord. i do appreciate the hardships the tenants have under these circumstances, but hardships are not only for tenants. property owners can also have their own hardships. right now i'm very happy to be a landlord, and this legislation does not really even affect me, but there is one day i would perhaps want to get out of the business of being a landlord. it's not always the easiest thing. and i just feel that people that own property should have a little bit of say so of what they do with their property.

and not have the city of san francisco dictate everything that they can do and not do with property. again, i appreciate the hardships that happen with tenants. i would be the first person to say -- to do anything to alleviate that. but, again, i would like to have a little bit more control of how i use my property. thank you. >> next speaker. supervisors, good afternoon. i'm fernando [speaker not understood] with could ~ council of housing organizations. [speaker not understood] the condo conversion ordinance that was before you. we had a series of recommendationses. and the amendments that are being proposed go a long way towards answering a lot of those questions. it's a little hard to talk about policy questions after

the heart rending hearings that you've had. but let me just say a few things. one, i think these amendments actually deal with the issues, somewhat with the issues of the tic owners that face some burdens in refinancing as the banks changed their guidelines. however, you know, as my mom used to say, money might not solve all our problems, but winning the lottery would certainly help. and winning the lottery for those folks i'm sure would help. but the real heart of this is what are we doing to maintain rent controlled housing. objective through the city's housing element says the primary way of maintaining the city's affordability is maintaining the rent controlled stock. we cannot lose that by suspending the lottery. and, so, what these amendments do is to tie any suspension to the development of affordable housing. and it does this in a very

particular way. we are developing affordable housing primarily for the new workers that are coming into the city. we cannot allow that housing that we are building to be replacement for what we are losing. however, as we build more and hopefully all of the folks here and all of you supervisors will work even harder to get the city to build more affordable housing, we'll be able to use that to replace any housing. and, so, that is what the suspension is linked to. we look forward to seeing these amendments passed forward with no changes. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker. good afternoon, supervisors. my name is nadia [speaker not understood]. currently our organization is helping sex families in the [speaker not understood] fight ellis act eviction. [speaker not understood] about

the constant harassment and fear an eviction process causes the family and the neighborhood is traumatic. the moratorium of condo conversions, the affordable housing reconstruction tie-in, the restriction to the type of units that will be able to be converted in the future and the lifetime leases are a small reparation for the years of displacement that our communities have faced. the amendments are a start to changing the priorities in our city, to begin to support working class residents. the real estate industry does not need any more or immediately [speaker not understood] the process to make profits. please support the amendment to this legislation without any changes, and help us begin to curb the real estate speculation that is -- the real estate speculation that has caused displacement and is destroying

our city and neighborhoods neighborhood by neighborhood. >> thank you. next speaker, mr. [speaker not understood]. good afternoon, supervisors. early evening. peter cohen, council committee [speaker not understood]. as my colleague fernando mar teen mentioned, we submitted a letter back to you in january. just want to point out, we're talking about the city's existing rental housing stock and the slow erosion of that stock through condo conversion and the 2009 housing element places great emphasis on preservation of the affordability of the existing housing stock. ~ what we do in the affordable housing committee is produce net new housing, we're creating new housing. bmrs through the inclusionary housing are also creating net new housing. last year the success of the housing trust fund, i would argue, is because it was primarily based on production strategies which could then make everyone happy. it was production for homeownership, for rental, for mod income, for low-income.

the lottery for condo conversion has at least historically provided a pacing for how we convert and, therefore, lose our rental housing stock, allowing some head room for affordable housing to try to at least keep up at a minimum. therefore, any bypass of the lottery as is being discussed and is now before you with an amendment must recognize this linked relationship between preservation of existing housing stock or its conversion and then on the other hand, production. and we have to stay whole. in fact, we have to stay ahead of whole because we have a net increasing population and we always have unmet demand. so, we really do emphasize that. we look forward to the hearing coming up on the amendments we see. thanks so much for the leadership. >> thank you. ms. short. good afternoon, supervisors. i'm sarah short with the housing rights committee. i wanted to really thank

supervisor chiu, supervisor yee, and supervisor kim for working so hard, tirelessly on drafting legislation that seriously took the concerns of both the tic owners who had stated that they were in financial dire straits and the renters and the tenant advocate groups who were alarmed at what damage the original legislation could do. i think it's remarkable what they came up with. and the reason it's remarkable is because i think it cuts through, in terms of not being drafted in a way just to address a certain industry's agenda or a certain, you know, politician's political agenda. but rather to meet the actual

stated needs of, again, the tic owners who won't have more refinancing options available to them because of this, but in a way that protects tenants and ensures that by opening this door we are not sending a message to speculators that the party's on. so, i think we have crafted something that is really -- actually meets the purported intent of the original legislation in a way that we can preserve our rental housing stock and prevent against evictions. and, so, i just want to say that we need to now i think work hard to make sure it stays in the place that it is and that we don't allow [inaudible]. thank you. >> thank you, ms. short.

mr. gulligson. [speaker not understood] gulligson with san francisco tenants. i want to thank the supervisors who worked so hard on this. this has transformed a piece of legislation which was extremely dangerous and was going to result in increase in conversions to a [speaker not understood] [speaker not understood]. we are getting some significant reforms to condo conversions moving forward that we had in many, many, many years. we'll see the stock of buildings eligible for condo conversion reduced significantly by eliminating the possibility of converting five and six-unit buildings into condos. we will see thousands of rent controlled units taking it out of risk. we will see thousands more tenants taken out of risk of being evicted. that is very significant going to the condo conversion law. and by not having a lottery for

at least the next ten years we will have a chance to reassess this whole tic business which has resulted in out of control condos and irresponsible sales to these tic owners by real estate speculators and take more advances in rent control housing stock. and i, too, want to reiterate that we have heard today from supervisor farrell that he would like to support these amendments, perhaps with some tweaks, that these are as far as tenants can give and we need to see these amendments adopted as is right now. and again, thanks for all your work, supervisors chiu, kim and yee who is no longer here. thanks. >> thank you. next speaker. hi. i'd like to first of all just say that