district [speaker not understood] to live at nema on market and 10th and was then disqualified for nonviolent offense, a failure to pay health support because she was not able to. she did not have the income to. but she had committed over a dozen years ago. and it's not to say that committing these offenses are okay or that one had maybe not done some -- one had not done something that was wrong. it's not rewarding this behavior, but if you are someone who is trying to reintegrate back into society and needs the basic necessities, a home and a job to do that, that this legislation will afford you that opportunity to do so. ultimately, i believe that our entire community is safer when people have the opportunity to stabilize their lives with what is called ban the box reform. we can reduce the outcomes of racial disparities in the criminal justice system, improve all of our safety by reducing the rate of [speaker not understood], and reduce the cost of the criminal justice

system saving taxpayer dollars. the policies embodied by fair chance helped open the door of opportunity for all of us which make all of us safer, healthier and stronger. so, i want to go over the basic aspects of this legislation and i had mentioned that 25% of adults in the u.s. have an arrest or conviction history. and that studies as many of you know show stable opportunity to housing and employment reduces recidivism thus increasing public safety and public dollars. there are racial [speaker not understood] resulting in devastating impacts in our communities of color and criminal records reduce the likelihood of job call backs and offer up to 50% just by checking that box on that first application before you even have an opportunity to prove that you are qualified for the job or come in for an interview and showcase your story. more than 90% of companies report using a criminal background check in their hiring. the reduced output of goods and services of people with felonies and prison records are

between 57 and $60 billion in losses. past incarcerations have reduced men's yearly earnings by 40%. and legislation that we are introducing is a recommended best practice, already used by the eeoc for employers. these policies have already been implemented by the second-largest retailer in the u.s., target, and we want to thank target for supporting this legislation, but also modeling it before we even implemented this legislation throughout the country. over 10 states and over 51 municipalities have passed different forms of ban the box to date. this legislation, the fair chance act, would place limits on an established procedures for the use of arrest and conviction history ~ information by employers, housing providers and city contractors and subcontractors. it removes the box from all initial applications for employment and affordable housing. and it doesn't mean you cannot do a background check. it's just the inquiry of that

arrest conviction history after the individual has had either a live interview or a conditional offer of employment or housing ~. there is some discretion that we [speaker not understood] and housing on the timing here. it also makes some information off limits for any inquiry, even when the inquiry is permitted. arrests not leading to convictions, expunged convictions and convictionses more than 7 years old. and the seven-year is something that we have modeled based off other local legislation here in san francisco. as i mentioned, this emphasizes a best practices recommended by the federal equal employment opportunities commission ~ and it mandates that notice be given to the applicant of the specific convictions that is of concern to the employer or housing provider. notice that she has the right to provide additional information whether they are inaccuracies in the background check. as we know, many of our background checks have inaccuracies, whether you have a conviction or not, some of you may have seen that when you pull up a credit report for yourself. or if there are inclusion of

expunged convictions, et cetera, mitigating circumstances and evidence of rehabilitation. so, make sure that decision-makers can still obtain all relevant information they need to make decisions about employment and housing while at the same time ensuring that individuals with conviction histories who are seeking stable housing and employment know that they have a real chance to put their qualifications first, which is all we are asking for in this legislation. you know, we had tried to time this legislation with our annual celebration of the civil rights leader that means so much to many of us, martin luther king, jr., and he is often talked about the three types of brotherhood or -- i'm sorry, the three types of love that exists within his philosophy. he talks about the romantic love which i think many of us are familiar with. he talks about love between family and close friends. and he talks a lot about the love that he he calls brotherhood, agape and he talks about this a lot in his

speeches really around why folks should pursue nonviolent means to enact social change even in the face of hateful opposition. i think central to what he had talked about was really about how this is love that is beyond liking someone, but it is love that is really about social justice and inclusion for us all. and i think this legislation truly embodies that philosophy. it's about going beyond -- it's going beyond to compassionate and understanding love that is really about what is best for citing community as a whole and not what you as a decision maker sees. what's great about moving forward this legislation also with the time that we spent is that we have a broad array of support and it starts with groups that started from the very beginning that brought this legislation to our office and to supervisor cohen's office. all of us or nonnunn, legal services for prisoners with children, lawyers committed for civil rights, national employment law project, community housing partnership ~. so many of our affordable

housing nonprofits which will be under this legislation, chinatown community development center, tenderloin housing clinic, tenderloin neighborhood development corporation, and the treasure island homeless development association. i also want to thank our san francisco small business commissioner william ortiz cardenega. this is going through the [speaker not understood] and through the business commission as we speak. san francisco chamber of commerce in particular jim lazarus and dee-dee workman who worked so closely with our, with our advocacy to come to legislation that we could all agree on. i also want to recognize dhr, olfc and office of contract administration as well as the mayor's office of housing. what we have presented before us is legislation everyone can agree on, but more than that what it means is that as policy makesers we can some time pass policy because we have the votes but it doesn't mean it

will get implemented the right way. having stakeholders such a large businesses and employers on board means they will be advocating amongst their membership to do the right thing because they truly believe in the final outcome of this legislation as well which is to give people opportunity that want to work a chance to work. so, i know that was a really long introduction. we don't actually have a presentation of this today so i was hoping that folks would give me the time to explain the history and the background of all of this. and, so, if there are no further questions from committee members, i'm happy to open up for public comment. >> thank you, supervisor kim. and i also just want to alert folks that i in a few minutes will have to step out to go to the small business commission to speak on a piece of legislation that i'm authoring. supervisor kim will chair the meeting while i'm gone and i will be back. i do support the legislation. so, i do thank supervisor kim and her coauthors 23rd bringing it forward. with that we'll open it up for public comment ~ and we have a number of cards. and i will hand it to supervisor kim.

>> thank you, chair wiener. okay, seeing no further comments or questions, we we are going to open up at this time for public comment. i am going to call up 10 cards at a time. please line up on the -- on that side of the room. i guess your right-hand side, my left-hand side. and just come up to the mic. you will each have two minutes which i know is not a lot of time on a legislation that is doing so much, but perhaps if someone has already made your point, you can chat on a different point. if you are in the overflow room and i call your name please come into the room. i have james tracy. ooh. why don't we take a moment to figure out what is going on with the lighting. [pause] [laughter]

>> it's okay, we're fine. >> go ahead. >> so, james tracy. dwayne sears. orlan real. michael hanson. anexel rama. stephen tennis. natalie lions. vivian imperial. elihu hernandez. and matthew [speaker not understood]. hi, [speaker not understood]. i would like to make a dramatic entrance. normally doesn't get that dramatic with lights going out and things like that. my name is james tracy. i'm representing community housing partnership. it's been such an honor to work with you, supervisor kim, the ivy league, all of us or none,

national employment law project, [speaker not understood] legal services, and also the lawyers committee for civil rights. our organization got involved with this fight because we provide really, really good job training opportunities. but we find that as an organization that hires about 60% of our staff coming from homeless backgrounds at one point in their life, that when people are ready to transition or find better paying jobs elsewhere, the doors are being shut. so, that's why we joined this campaign and we're overjoyed to see it finally come up to vote here. can i have the community housing partnership crew stand up? (applause) these folks largely under the -- under the initiative catalyst of mr. gandy over there collected about 1700 --

1700 signatures in support of this fine legislation in every single last corner of this city there in the western addition. they went to the bayview, they even went to the sunset, the richmond, the [speaker not understood]. so, this is really a real grassroots initiative that we were very happy to be part of. thank you. >> thank you. thank you, mr. tracy. i'm orlan real. i want to speak in favor of the fair chance ordinance. and thank everyone for their hard work that they've done on this. i feel that if we don't give people fair access to employment, housing, if we don't provide people with legal ways of making it in this society, then how can we expect people to succeed? imagine a mistake you made in the past. now imagine that every time you applied for housing, every time you applied for a job, every time you tried to get help or better yourself that mistake was brought up and used against you. how much more difficult, how much more impossible would your life be?

and we work two years, five years, 10 years ago. it's not who we are today. every person deserves a right to be judged on who they are in this moment and not who they were in the past. and i feel the fair chance ordinance is a great first step to getting there. thank you. >> thank you, mr. real. i'm dwayne sears. i'm here to support this legislation. and i think everybody should get a fair chance. and i also believe that it we'd have less convictions if everybody had more jobs. thank you. >> thank you, mr. sears. good afternoon, supervisor kim and supervisor tang. my name is michael hampton and ayectionv here to support the legislation and encourage you to bring it to the full board. i worked on this legislation with the community members, community housing partnership and outreach throughout the city and by and large most

people are for it. and i am particularly excited about it because i would like to see our young people get to work. and i also talked to myriad of age groups. and almost to a person, someone had something in their background and the impediment is there. so, i would like to see san francisco take the lead and offer this. and able bode i had people who want to work i think it will be an excellent opportunity for them to do that and also to get housing ~. and i appreciate your support today. thank you. >> thank you, mr. hamm ton. ~ hampton. good afternoon, my name is stephen [speaker not understood], and this is really a no-brainer. i mean there is nothing i can say or anyone else can say that would make any difference. i mean, this is so obviously something that needs to be passed. i just wanted to say that i'm for it and it's one of the best pieces of legislation i've heard in a long, long time.

i support it. thank you. >> thank you, mr. taness. hello, my name is [speaker not understood] ramo and i'm in support of the fair chance act. if you don't have opportunity, you don't have hope. you don't have hope you can't move forward in life. we want to give people an opportunity. thank you. >> thank you. hi, my name is natalie lions. i'm a san francisco resident and attorney with equal rights advocates. we are a women's rights organization based here in san francisco and i'm here to speak especially for the women that we serve in san francisco. these women are blocked from employment solely based on their conviction on their application. and the great majority of these women are mothers. and often sole care givers for dependent children. so, this bill is really important to give them the opportunity to support their family and provide their children with an example of what it means to be a

productive adult. so, we are in great support of this. we believe that this is a humane and common sense way of equalizing the playing field. and, of course, it doesn't diminish the opportunity for employers and housing providers to make ultimate decisions. so, i am in support of it [speaker not understood], and we are in support of it as a group. thank you. >> thank you, ms. lions. good afternoon. my name is vivian imperialy. according to forbes magazine, we have 7 seconds to make a first impression. and, of course, there's no second chance. with our current system the written application becomes the blockade. the checked box becomes a red flag so large that everything else on the page is obliterated. there is no advancement to a face to face interview. there is no precious 7 seconds that can change someone's life for the better with a job or

housing. the system is so prejudicial that it's denying applicants those critical 7 seconds to engage the interviewer. in my career in vocational rehabilitation, of both hired staff and trained clients preparing to enter the job market. looking back, i can identify a commonality among my very favorite clients. those who stood out as charming and earnest in their quest for success. what was that commonality? the clients with the greatest potential had all been incarcerated. the box must go. people must not be prejudged. they must all be allowed that second 7 seconds and beyond for interviewers to see what i saw.

>> thank you. good afternoon, supervisors. my name is matthew [speaker not understood]. i'm a proud member of all of us or none. you know, exactly 20 years ago today i accepted responsibility for my involvement in the marijuana conspiracy in the northern district of florida and received a three-year federal prison sentence which i served. in addition to my crime i had been a resident of san francisco since 1957. as being a resident in district 2 for the last many years, it is incumbent upon me as an organizer and all of us to answer to alert our constituents about this law and not just my own anecdotal experience. so, i bring to you because in the best tradition of san francisco, we're doing the right thing here and something that is long overdue. but, for instance, paul and

chris caplan of city yachts have been tenants of san francisco and employers since 1967. they also have two yards, one in sauce lead owe, one in richmond. [speaker not understood]. matt [speaker not understood] has been a jeweler on chess nat street for longer than i can remember. we're the same age. he's a third generation san franciscan. he's done his duty and has encouraged supervisor yee to support this ordinance as well because that's where he live. but he does his business in district 2. tim brown has been a san franciscan [speaker not understood]. as past president of the board of realtors. i can go on. there's peter fenton from benchmark capital. he might receive some note right because he's a twitter investor early on. so, i have no idea how many employees he represents ~. but when i go through dick lou

mathers sustainable engineering since 1956 here in san francisco, down to bruce's automotive, bruce, a good friend of mine for the last 30-year. currently he's self-employed. my point is -- i'm finished now. i brought to you over 250 years of san francisco residents all in support of this ordinance, every single one is a small business owner. some of them larger, but we're all in this basically not only to give a fair chance, but to -- as a matter of public safety, an opportunity for our city. thank you. >> thank you. thank you. my name is [speaker not understood] and i am in support of the fair chance hearing. because ever since this country was founded in 1*7 76, people have broken the law. that's a fact. but unfortunately it took 200 years for this government to realize that locking someone up, out of sight out of mind is not a solution to the problem.

a brand-new [speaker not understood] rehabilitation. nowadays there is a concept, do crime, serve the time. those who have actually broken the law from drugs to sexual assaults to murder to shop lifting, anything that may be considered a federal offense to the eyes of the law, these individuals served their time. granted they may have gotten a guilty conviction, but they actually rehabilitated, done their time in prison. what do they try and do when they get out? live their life a proper way. this has been a hindrance to the people of san francisco as well as the rest of the country. young mothers, young father's, young adults, they're trying to get their life back on track and because of one certain box on a housing application or job application is denying them a future, a positive future for their lives, for their children's lives. if anybody actually wants to vote no on this, then you are publicly saying rehabilitation program doesn't work. so, i'm urging this to go to

the full board and pass unanimously since eight supervisors actually supporting this, i believe it's 8 or 7, supervisors supporting this. so, i please urge everyone to vote yes on this. thank you. >> thank you, mr. hernandez. and i apologize i didn't call the next 10 speakers, but i believe we have one of our commissioners here, board of appeals director arsenio hurtado, [speaker not understood]. julian harper. jerry elsters. marlene sanchez. karen druckers. pete wilson. manuel la fontaine. good afternoon, supervisors. my name is tess davis representing hospitality house. we want to thank supervisors kim and cohen for their leadership on this important economic justice issue.

as a part of the fair chance campaign hospitality house surveyed nearly 400 residents about their experience with housing and job discrimination. of those with arrest or conviction records, nearly 80% experienced job discrimination and 60% housing discrimination. clearly the fair chance act affects a lot of san franciscans. it's about fairness, it's p justice and it's about time. so, thank you. ~ >> thank you, ms. davis. oh, [speaker not understood], just come right up. good afternoon, supervisors. my name is [speaker not understood] and i'm here in my capacity as policy advisor for the national center for lesbian rights. thank you, supervisor kim, for sponsoring this crucial piece of legislation. as a former public defender for almost 12 years in the city and county of san francisco i can only tell you how crucial this

type of legislation is for those who are formerly incarcerated. i wanted to underscore that although we appreciate that there are so many supervisors in support, we believe that for the entire board of supervisors to unanimously support this legislation is -- would be a show of leadership for the rest of the state and for the rest of the country. in addition, i wanted to underscore the fact that 47% of african-american transgender people have been incarcerated and this illustrates the disproportionate impact that employment discrimination based on criminal history has on the transgender community. not just here in san francisco, but all over the country. and it would -- this earlier to address this situation which did you compound the effect of employment discrimination in general on this community as well as the rest of the lgbt community. so, thank you so much for your support.

>> thank you. good afternoon. my name is tucker peck. a few years ago i was living in arizona and took my [speaker not understood] and off leash dog park. he started playing with another dog. the lady who owned her dog put her hands and was bitten. in arizona this is a misdemeanor. you can't expunge a record in arizona. [speaker not understood] was a little bit wild, but all that [speaker not understood], for the rest of my life because i was convicted of a crime. so, i do hope you'll take this box away. thank you. >> thank you, mr. peck. good afternoon, my name is julian harper. i am a resident of san francisco and also an attorney at lawyers community for civil rights at the second chance legal clinic. i want to thank supervisors kim and cohen for supporting this legislation and also speak in favor of it.

at the second chance legal clinic we provide legal services to people who have past arrests and convictions and help try to relieve legal barriers to reentry that they face. we regularly meet with clients whose past convictions and arrests are a complete insurmountable barrier to obtaining employment and employment for which they are qualified. and even finding a place to live. and this occur when they've made every possible effort to rehabilitate and create a stable life for themselves and their families. housing and employment are basic needs that everyone deserves access to. and for our clients at the second chance legal clinic and for other clients of other legal services organizations those are the two most important factors to successful reentry. as many people have already testified to today, we strongly believe that by creating a fair plane for people to gain access to housing and employment there will be a significant benefit to all the citizens of san

francisco. since by creating stability for our clients and their families, creating safer communities, and helping communities thrive, and also by creating a sense of inclusion that will motivate people to give more meaningful [speaker not understood]. thank you. >> thank you, ms. harper. good afternoon, supervisors. my name is cynthia vasser and i'm in support of this legislate. i'm a former journalist and i do want to [speaker not understood] with a mark. and i just want to remind the supervisors that san francisco politicians have long been leaders in criminal justice reform. and if we really want to make honest reform to the criminal justice system, we have to think about what happens post conviction. so i appreciate your support for this current legislation. >> thank you, ms. foster. good afternoon, my name is karen drucker. i'm a community organizer with the central city s-r-o collaborative. people across the political

spectrum have started to realize that we need to rely less on the criminal legal system and this legislation is vital to making that successful. it's particularly vital for the residents we work within your district, supervisor kim, who need housing, who need jobs in order to -- in order to stay in the kind of life we'd like them to be living. so, i encourage this legislation. >> thank you, ms. drucker. hello, supervisors. i'd like to thank you for the opportunity to speak here today. my name is jerry owester, i'm a member of all of us or none. [speaker not understood], i'm formerly incarcerated. say that not to say that is who i am today, but that is who i am going to be documented as for the rest of my life. but who i am is a son, a father, an uncle, a homeowner, a taxpayer, a student, and i think this resolution is a good

-- you're moving in the right direction. but all that who i said what i am will be erased and put what i preface this speech on. formerly incarcerated. if we do not erase that, we do not move into the future. we do not allow [speaker not understood] redemption or forgiveness or rehabilitation to take place in a person's life. so, i thank you, first of all, for taking the initiative to move us into the 22nd century. i thank you. >> thank you, mr. oster. and i'll try to not to identify you as a rams fan. [laughter] [speaker not understood]. good afternoon, i'm not sure you can ban that box. good afternoon, i'm pete riley with the california partnership and we're a statewide coalition of antipoverty organization. thank you to you, supervisor kim, and your co-sponsors, for bringing this forward. we see poverty is created by a

bunch of big things but can be aloe limb nayedth by little things. we strongly encourage you to make a big move on. we do work at the state level and have been heavily involved in the conversations around recidivism and correction spending and we think a unanimous vote from the san francisco board of supervisors would go a long way. there is an open conversation in sacramento about what are resolutions, how can we get to incarcerating less people and bringing people home safely. this would take a huge step and really send up a flag to put the energy into that conversation in sacramento. so, we'd love to have that wind at our backs when we're having this conversation. also i've got a second to make a public service announcement. folks, the very powerful [speaker not understood] should go up to the next hearing in room 400 that is going on right now around the same policy. so, please don't leave. if you testified here, please go up and make testimony upstairs as well in room 400. so, thank you all very much. we enjoy a strong work on this. thank you. >> thank you.

hi, good afternoon, supervisor kim. i would really like to thank you for taking the time to let us speak. i'm roxanne [speaker not understood] and executive director of the treasure island homeless initiative. i know you've been very helpful in coming out to our island and many occasions and listening to the residents of treasure island. one of the things that i would like to do is just reiterate i'm sure it's been said several times, but having persons that are incarcerated and they get out, they have a very difficult time finding a job. i know because in addition to an associate director i'm the job broker for treasure island and one of the things that i find is that we have to do extra special leaps and jumps and hoops in order to help these persons find employment. one of the things i do know is