and, so, we're seeing while there was really good effort from the mayor to be able to respond, provide words to our questions, they weren't necessarily the accurate words. now, i know that the mayor doesn't actually write his responses to us. his staff do that. so, i would think the mayor would be concerned about getting the most accurate information to present to the full board about what he's talking about. that clearly wasn't the case -- wasn't the case today. so, we have a real political problem here in san francisco when it comes to clean power sf. the board of supervisors has approved a policy with many, many really good parts to it that are about how we can move forward on our climate action goals, but we can also make sure we're giving san franciscans a choice about having clean power to run their homes and the mayor's office seems to be blocking that.

blocking with misinformation with red herrings, with arguments that don't add up, arguments that aren't consistent with the work that the puc staff has made and that the puc commissions have approved in the past. the puc commissioners say they would not support a shell contract moving forward, but they already have. and, so, i just think it's important to be able to point that out. i how we move forward in the program when the politics are getting in the way, i think calling out the politics when you see them happening is one way to start moving forward and that's what i've done. i'm trying to do today. thank you. >> thank you, supervisor avalos. supervisor breed. >> thank you. in april i introduced a resolution that enabled the city to apply for a california debt limit allocation committee for a bond allocation to retrofit -- retrofit and approve western park apartments. it's a 182-unit affordable housing development in the western addition sponsored by the northern california presbyterian house and services nonprofit. the project received a funding

allocation and today i'm submitting a resolution that will allow the city to issue the bonds and close the financing service sponsor can begin construction. it's located at 12 80 laguna street. the western park projects offers housing medical screening, recreational a activities and a sense of community for hundreds of low-income seniors. the development has a 182 units spread among three cottage buildings ~ in a 13-story tower. built in 1972 under the redevelopment agency and hud, the complex is in dire need of rehabilitation. presbyterian homes and services is planning a $20 million renovation including new windows, electrical upgrades, a new sewage system it, new roof, fire, sprinkler system, and new kitchen, flooring, doors, and paint in the unit. the tenants will be provided temporary housing during the construction and will return to their current unit. this resolution authorizes the city on behalf of the project

sponsor to receive up to $35 million in bond funding for the project. the resolution does not financially encome beerth the city nor require us to repay the bond. the cost to the city, we can provide safety and dignity for seniors in these units. i want to thank the mayor's office the housing and sprue tierctionv homes and services for working together on this vital project. i'm looking forward to providing new opportunities and improving some of the existing affordable housing opportunity for many of our low-income residents. and i just want to also -- i know that olson lee is the director of mayor's office of housing and these are the kinds of incredible projects when he served as the housing director for redevelopment agency commission that we were also able to do on the redevelopment commission. so, i'm so glad that the loss of the redevelopment agency that we're still able to make sure that we retain as many of

our affordable housing units that are falling apart as we possibly can. on another note, since we're on seniors, tomorrow is my grandmother's 92edction birthday. my grandmother camilla brown. ~ 92nd birthday i want to send a howth shout out to ward 6 laguna honda, and the numerous residents of laguna honda hospital. it is an amazing facility with an amazing team of people who workday and night to take care of some amazing individuals who are housed at laguna honda. the rest i submit. >> thank you, supervisor breed. supervisor campos. >> thank you very much, madam clerk. supervisor breed, happy birthday to your grandmother, wonderful. i have a number of items and i'll try to be as brief as i can. the first is a resolution that i'm introducing and i want to thank my colleagues who are co-sponsoring, supervisors avalos, mar, cohen, and kim.

san francisco homeowners have generally held their homes in equity and, in fact, are in better shape than many families in the country and areas like the east bay. but according to a website, the website sill owe, based on a quarter of 2013 housing data, we still have a significant number of ~ households in san francisco that are seeing delinquency in their mortgages. in the 94 124 zip code, bayview potrero hill, 07% of homes are under water, 10% are delinquent. 41 32 zip code, ~ [speaker not understood] 13% of homes are under water 14% are delinquent. ~ 70 in visitacion valley, [speaker not understood]. in my district, 58 households

that are facing foreclosure, including neighborhoods like ben bernankevval, mission, and portola. ~ the reality is that not all san franciscans are sharing the recent economic prosperity we have seen in this city. in fact, there are neighborhoods where foreclosures continue. and these are the same neighborhoods where you find lower income people and many of them are people of color. these are the families that would be forced to leave the city if they lose their homes because they certainly could not afford the rental prices that have been sky rocketing. someone recently told me about looking for a studio and being asked for $2700 a month. and then you have the fact that the federal government and the banking industry have yet to truly act to help these families. the federal government bailed out the banking industry, but it did not bail out many of these homeowners, any of these

homeowners. and, so comes the city of richmond which has been particularly hard hit by the foreclosure crisis and it has taken a very bold step to find a way of helping assisting homeowners in that city. more than half -- more than half of the owners of the city of richmond have homes that are under water, meaning that they owe more on their mortgages than their home is more than half of that city. so, richmond has teamed up with an investment company to acquire these troubled mortgages with the goal of lowering the principal owed and keep l homeowners in their homes. and if the current homeowners refuse to cooperate, they will consider use of intervening as a tool. ~ i'm introducing a resolution that does a couple of things. first, it supports the efforts of the city of richmond.

whatever you think about the specifics of what they're doing, the fact is that at least the city of richmond is doing something to help these home owners. and i think it's important for other jurisdictions to say that it's appropriate for local -- local jurisdictions like richmond to take action where the federal and state governments have failed to take action. the second thing that this resolution does is it simply calls upon the city and county of san francisco to consider options for getting involved in how to help our residents. it doesn't expressly say that we will do exactly what richmond is doing. we understand there are legal issues, financial issues that need to be taken into account, and we believe that we need to explore how we act in a legally and financially fiscally responsible way. but we have a responsibility to at least explore options, and

that's what this resolution does. it puts us on record and it asks the city attorney and the budget and legislative analyst to study whether a similar strategy like the one that richmond is using could work in san francisco. and i think that we have to act, and we in san francisco have a history of acting where the federal and state governments have not and it's consistent with that history and that tradition that this resolution call for the city and county of san francisco to explore responsibility. the second item which is related to this request, to this resolution is a letter of inquiry that i'm submitting to our city assessor to find out how many san francisco homeowners are currently in foreclosure or are in the early stages of foreclosure. i think it's important to have that information as we are making a decision on whether or not to get involved.

the third item, and i'm plowed to introduce this item, is an item in support of legislation that has been introduced by the speaker of the california assembly john perez, assembly bill 12 63. i want to thank supervisors avalos and president chiu for co-sponsoring this resolution. ab 12 63 would create the community cal program which would provide reliable access through language interpretation for medi-cal beneficiaries who are limited english proficient. nearly half of all medi-cal recipients here in the state of california speak a language other than english. approximately one in five californians actually speaks english less than -- well, that's less than one in five. and what this legislation is doing, and we thank speaker

perez for his leadership, is that it recognizes that there is a need for limited english speakers to be able to communicate effectively with their health providers. this bill is especially important right now since the affordable care act will be implemented, and 35% of the newly eligible medi-cal patients are expected to speak english less than well. it is also important to note that for many -- for any new medi-cal patients, the federal government will reimburse the state for 100% of the cost of interpretation. i think it's important for us to be on the record to support ab 12 63. the next item is an ordinance that i'm proud to introduce that will allow an existing tourist hotel to rent rooms to homeless veterans for a period of time without abandoning the tourist hotel use classification under the law, under the code.

the federal government has a supportive housing program for homeless veterans known as the hud veterans affairs supportive housing program. and this program combined rental assistance in the form of a voucher together with case management and clinical services provided by the department of veterans a farestion. ~ affairs. approximately 500 rental vouchers have been awarded here in the city and county of san francisco up to this point. and while it's a federal priority to find housing for veterans, and it's likely that san francisco would get more of these vouchers, it has been difficult to help veterans avail themselves of this housing. i want to thank former supervisor bevan dufty for his leadership and tremendous work in not only helping homeless throughout the city, but specifically helping veterans.

i am proud to introduce this legislation that would encourage and facilitate the use of rooms in existing tourist hotels for this voucher program. again, thank you, supervisor dufty, for your leadership. the next couple of items are very difficult and i'll be honest that i know there are things that happen sometimes in the world that we have, that we play as supervisors that are unexpected. ~ role and there are things that are simply tragic and they touch you in a very real way. the next item that i have is a hearing request that i'm introducing regarding a very tragic incident that happened in my district in holley park.

as you know, there was the death of christine vandermere this friday afternoon in holley park where this young mother and 11 month old was killed when she was run over by a maintenance truck from the rec and park department. i certainly was shocked and dismayed and certainly had a number of emotions when we heard about this. i think i described it as being sick to your stomach when you hear something like this happens. it is tragic when this happens and we owe it to this family and we owe it to the city and

county of san francisco to know what happened. i have been in conversations with the general manager of the rec and park department. i've also been in conversations with law enforcement to get answers as to how this horrific accident, this horrific event could have happened in a place, a park, a recreational space where families and children go where they expect to be safe and protected. i have received many e-mails, many calls from my district which has been deeply impacted by this tragedy. one mother put it to me this way. we have lost more than a local mother. we have lost our ability to feel safe in our parks. so, today in response to this

tragedy, i am calling for a hearing on the recreation and parks department's policies in terms of safety, the policies and procedures that are followed in terms of vehicles including maintenance vehicles and parks and recreational spaces. i'd like to know, among other things, the safety rules and regulations that the rec and park department and employees are expected to follow, especially when driving vehicles that are dangerous and are large and could be harmful, that could be dangerous to someone who is using the park. what are the steps that are taken when an employee isn't following those rules and regulations. how is the department responding to complaints about any unsafe practices that have been reported by residents. quite frankly, a number of

other questions that have been presented to us, we want people to feel safe in our parks. and we know that there is an ongoing investigation of this incident, including a criminal investigation. and while legally we may not delve into the specifics of the actual accident because it's still under investigation, i think it is important as a matter of policy to understand the rules that govern the conduct of these vehicles. i want to assure the public, i want to assure residents in my district that my office will continue to do everything we can to get to the bottom of what took place and to ensure that there is accountability and full transparency with respect to this tragedy. lastly, i would like to ask the

board that we adjourn the meeting not only on behalf of myself, but on behalf of the entire board of supervisors in the memory of christine vandermere who passed away last week. christine was a loving partner to her husband [speaker not understood] and had recently become a new mother to her 11 month old daughter, issa emilie. christine vandermere attended western university where she earned degrees in sociology and eco tourism. she was a lifelong dancer and even performed at the world cup in south korea as part of a professional dance group.

she was also an ordained zen monk and life coach and felt that it was her responsibility to try to do as much as possible to make this world a tender, gentler place for our sons and daughters to be in. i want to thank the bernal heights community that i know has been really moved by this tragedy, and i want to thank this community for coming together to rally behind, to support the vandemere family. i would like to thank those that have contributed to the christie vandemere family fund on indy go go. thousands of dollars have already been donated. breast milk has been donated to help the baby and a lot of

encouraging words have been sent to the grieving father. i would like to thank all the neighbors, including the first responders, the police officers, the firefighters, and the paramedics who came to the rescue of this woman. i want to thank the true nurses who live in the vicinity and who took it upon themselves to give mouth to mouth resuscitation. it is in the spirit of bernal heights and san francisco that the entire community has rallied behind this family. i want to thank all the people who have come forward with information not only about this incident, but general information about this issue of safety in our parks.

and i don't know that anyone has the right words to fully express how tragic this is. and once again, i ask that we adjourn the meeting in christine vandemere's memory on behalf of the entire board of supervisors. >> colleagues, if we can do that without objection, that should be the case. [gavel] >> madam clerk? >> thank you, mr. president. thank you, supervisor campos. supervisor mar. >> thank you, madam clerk. i'd like us to adjourn the meeting as well in the name in honor of amazing poet, teacher, gardner, and artist susan her on zibot. i want to thank you for being here as well. you lost your father, reverend lang zibot recently as well. susan was a beloved poet and teacher and a resident of our richmond district.

after a four-year struggle with cancer, she peacefully passed away on saturday afternoon, august 31st. she is survived not only by her husband of nearly 50 years, david who is with her at the end, but she is survived also by her children thomas valentine jurda and philip and her seven grandchildren. susan worked in and supported california poets in the school. that's how i met her first as the acting director and president of the board for more than 25 years. she was an amazing person that made poetry and learning so fun and helped us integrate it within our school system as well. she is a published poet and a founding member of 16 rivers press, a respected publishing -- respected publishing cooperative with more than 2 dozen poetry titles in print. her long years of activism in the schools and deep

involvement in community gardening and community supported agriculture as well as involvement with several writing circles leaves a large network of friends and colleagues mourning her passing. susan was born in san diego on april 26, 1942, ands in the middle of five daughters. she studied english at brown university for two years and graduated from university of virginia in 1965 with a b.a. in education and a z society award. then she won a woodrow wilson scholarship, attend northwestern university and graduated with a masters of art in english in 1966 with an emphasis on american literature and 19th century fiction. she went on to complete a ph.d. focused on the work of henry james and henry adams. in 1984 susan finished the second masters in creative writing from san francisco state university. in 1991 she received a fellowship to study at the bunting institute at ratcliff harvard and began reimagining

the work of theodore a [speaker not understood] in her role as [speaker not understood] to henry james. from 1993 to '96 she was at the head win [speaker not understood]. after moving to san francisco in 1969 with her husband david she grew i don'tthctionv literature. she was active in food cooperative, school reform, several short business jobs ~ and raising her amazing children. she was a volunteer coordinator at mccoffin school. that's where my daughter went, from 197a to 1980. in 1978 she got involved with the ~ incredible [speaker not understood] community garden and has been active up until this year. she believed in community supported agriculture and the biodynamic food her family received from live power farms for years. when susan became a california poet in the schools in 1984, she worked extensively with

children kindergarten through eighth grade in san francisco, oakland, and san jose. she was gifted at her work with the younger children and would make books of their poetry. with a legacy of some 4 dozen collections that often become prized possessions. she is saleslady beloved by the teachers at jefferson school and former lafayette elementary in the richmond where she taught for many years. donations in her name would be the best expression of your respect. send any honorary donations to california poets in the schools care of tina paskuenz oh, [speaker not understood],. condolances to david and the family and to all of her friends and students and everyone that she's touched. i urge us to end our meeting in the honor of susan heron zibot. thank you. >> thank you, supervisor mar. supervisor cohen, you wished to be re-referred. >> yes, thank you, madam clerk.

colleagues, i would just ask that we could adjourn the meeting -- i'd like the entire board to recognize the memory of gail bishop and we can adjourn on behalf of the entire board, not just myself. >> colleagues, we can do that without objection, that should be the case. [gavel] >> thank you for the consideration. >> thank you, mr. president. thank you, supervisor cohen. mr. president, seeing no other names on the roster, that concludes roll call for introductions. >> at this time why don't we go to general public comment. >> at this time the public may comment generally for up to two minutes on the policy discussion between mayor lee and members of the board and on item within the subject matter jurisdiction of the board including items on the adoption without reference to committee calendar. please note that public comment does not allowed on this items which have already been subject to public comment by a board committee. pursuant to board rule 4.22, direct your comments to the board as a whole and not to individual supervisors noer to the audience.

speakers using translation assistance will be allowed twice the amount of time to testify and if you would like a document to be displayed on the overhead projector, please clearly state such to sfgtv and remove the document when you would like the screen to return to live coverage of the meeting. >> let's hear from first speaker, please. good afternoon, supervisors. i'm peter [speaker not understood] executive director of library users association. this week, in fact tomorrow, marks the 40th anniversary of the very ugly coups in chile 1973, many were murdered and many others were disappeared. the story on impact continuing to the present, many were still searching for loved ones or trying to find out what happened or seeking some justice. the family of victor hara has

filed suit against the person they believe killed him. here in san francisco you would expect a willingness and interest because of our large latino population and because many chileans immigrated here after the coups. but here in san francisco, we had a kind of assassination of our own and certainly a disappearance. in the very place where people expect history and memory and, yes, good art to be preserved, we had last year in october the destruction of the community created victor hara mural. it had been on the library for 30 years, bernal heights library. i'll using overhead. the role of this board of supervisors in this destruction was your silence and inaction as supervisor campos helped set up a secretive undemocratic process to carry out the destruction.

he appointed one person to head a committee. that person selected the committee members. the meetings were not publicly announced, there were no agendas, no minutes, and finally, nobody was asked whether they wanted the destruction of the mural at public meetings they were asked what they wanted on the new one. as we mark the chilean coups we must mark the city's own destruction, beware of schemes that shrink democracy here in san francisco. thank you. >> thanks. next speaker. i want to say blessings to all those lives that have managed to live in the city of san francisco and all those that are coming. my name is joshua christian dig man. i was born on new year's date at st. mary's children's hospital 1970. it's an honor to be here. i wish there was more people in

the audier yesctiontionv ~ audience and i'm sure they may be here in television. i've been working very hard in my life. i'm not sure for what yet. can i please get your attention, supervisors? hello? well, they choose not to pay attention, thus their right. i'm running for mayor of san francisco. i'm not making a public announcement -- >> excuse me, sir, we do have a rule in the board ham berg you can't use public comment period to campaign for any offices. so -- i apologize and i understand that. well, i'm concerned about today is how difficult it is for people to work within, say, the health and human services department. i'm a little embarrassed how dirty the city is. and i'd like to say to all, thank you for your time. i'm not here for any gain of any sort. in