desk that go unheard consistently. i hear it again and again and again and, so, it almost makes me feel like what can be done to strengthen the voice of our tenants? what can be done to give them more of a voice besides just this bode and i other nonprofits? can there be a council made up of tenants that's better informed, that's better equipped with the feedback response system so that it can be in place, beside the one that's already in place, but something that can be more effective? because otherwise it just falls to the wayside and these complaints that come again and again, somebody stole my cane. somebody has [speaker not understood]. i'm all about being proactive, preventive measures first, instead of rushing in reactive trying to apply bandages. so...

>> any other councilmembers have answers to these questions? all right. are there any questions from staff? >> this is carla johnson. through the chair, i know with your permission, i actually had a couple questions of our presenters. they aren't necessarily the same questions that were asked, but they came up from listening to the presentation. >> okay. >> the first question that i would ask is whether or not mayor's office of housing currently is working on a affordable housing database? i keep hearing that out in the

world and i'm always very excited when i hear it, but i wondered if you could validate that rumor. >> sure, brian chu from mohcd. yes, so, we are currently working on an affordable housing database. those of you who have been around for sometime know that this is an issue that's been discussed honestly for years, but i think that we're actually closer to putting this database in action. we are looking at trying to integrate a number of different databases. we have currently put together a database for all of our below market rate rental and ownership units. we are currently putting together a document to solicit bids for a developer to create another database to integrate

all of the 100% affordable developments that the city has investments in. we are also entering into some preliminary discussions with the department of public health and the human services agency to see what kind of connections we can have with their direct access to housing units and the homeless access points. as most of you know, each of those different kinds of housing has a different entryway, a different selection process. some of them have lotteries. some of them have clinical assessments. we're also reexamining the hopa wait list. and i think that what we've realized is that for most individuals, unless you have a case manager, it's almost impossible to navigate this system. we've also been working with many of our tenant counseling agencies.

and at our last meeting, we asked them what would be most useful in term of access to information and what they told us is that an online affordable housing data portal -- and with that or more than that is what they called a hotline where someone from any service agency could call one number and [inaudible] for example, you're familiar with the disability community services list that comes out. often when you look at that, it can still be very confusing. so, is it a tax credit unit or what's the eligibility? so, what we were hoping to design was a data portal in which a resident or a case manager could actually enter in the characteristics about themselves and their families and then hopefully what would pop up would be all of the unit

for which you are eligible. it would have information about whether or not is there a waiting list, is the wait list open or closed. and in an ideal world, if it's something that has a lottery, for example, they could take that information that you've put in. it would populate into a standard application form that could be used across all affordable housing providers and you could actually apply online or submit it online, or you could print it out if you needed to and handwrite it and deliver it. we're a long way from that system, but that's something which we feel we would like to get to. so, for us, we're trying to make sure that we create a vision that captures everything, understanding that we'll probably have to move it stage by stage by stage. we're not going to be able to phase it all in at the same time, but that's what we're hoping to do.

and we hope to release the solicitation to get the software creator -- i'm hoping by may or june. then when we have that, i'll feel more secure that we can actually start building it piece by piece. so, that's my update up till now. we would appreciate any input as you have as we try and build it to make sure that the actual interface is accessible now. we also realize that an online database will not work for people that are on the other side of the digital divide. so, and we're -- we also are trying to figure out how you integrate the language accessibility issues with anything online. so, we haven't gotten all of those answers yet, but that's what we're looking at right now. >> and then i had two more quick questions. from your presentation it says

that your current pipeline is 10,500 units. is that over the five years of the com plan or is that an annual number or how do i interpret that? i tried to qualify that 10,000 pipeline. it's actually more than the next five years. it's actually a long-term pipeline. it includes -- honestly, it includes units that are projected to be developed in the hunters point shipyard, which are -- there's a number of housing sites and housing opportunities that are projected to be developed out there, but that will be over time ~. >> thank you. and then one last question. i've heard recently about a new group within the city called hope, which is going to be working, i guess, on some of the rebuild of our old public housing projects. and i was hoping that you could tell us a little more about how this new group interfaces with the mayor's office of housing.

this is not [speaker not understood] group. this is hope a in -- >> hope s.f. >> hope s.f. . >> oh, okay. hope s.f. is actually an initiative that was created by mayor newsome back in 2007 that was given to public housing specifically. and the goal for that initiative was to demolish the existing public housing and rebuild it into mixed income communities. so, that is still an initiative that we're undertaking. we just had a grand opening at our first hope s.f. project, hunters view just yesterday, the first phase. and that is slightly different than what we're looking to do to renovate the majority of the housing authority's portfolio currently. we have received approval from hud to renovate about 14 projects in the next three years to the tune of about 1500 units. and then we will be taking on

additional number -- 14 additional developments in the following three years. so, that is not like hope s.f., it is not demolition and rebuild new. it's renovation so that we can maximize housing quality in the near term versus hope s.f. which usually takes a lot longer to demolish and rebuild given the amount of resources it takes to do that. >> thank you. >> through the chair, this is joanna fraguli with the mayor's office on disability. i have a question he and three suggestions. so, the first question is about the very exciting portal/database and i would like to ask whether you are taking into consideration not just language access for people who are automatically excluded from the digital divide, but

also individuals who are needing electronic accessibility. people using assistive technology, screen leaders, in other words, is the database going to be 508 compliant? or have the item entered in it with the developers [speaker not understood]? >> we haven't discussed it with a developer yet as we haven't selected a developer. though are excellent suggestions. it would be great to work with your office to come up with language that you might have used so that we can incorporate those appropriate technology questions as they respond. so, we'd be happy to put that. we haven't finalized that -- [multiple voices] >> i would like you to work closely with my office on the [speaker not understood] of the

database, and also in the phrasing of the different profile questions because, again, very similar to the point that councilmember zarda was talking about regarding information to access, the way that we ask a question, especially with populations who have experience with substance abuse, mental health disabilities, the way we answer -- the way we ask the questions to create the profile influences the type of answers we're getting and the profile that will be created. so, we can talk at length off line, but there is a lot that goes into create a thoughtful usable database and if the city is going to put hud or differently earned money to come up with that project, we better make sure that it's a really good product. so, that was my

question/suggestion. the other three suggestions i have came up directly to your question about service needs. and from our perspective and the walk-in and the calls that we get, we find a great lack of case management. it spoke to the need that you talked about sticking with the service providers, we said in order to have housing you have to have a case manager. the case manager has to be really sharp. it's not just anybody who is willing to help. so, case management is something that we see more and more lacking with our populations, especially with folks who have dual diagnosis or mental health issues. desk clerk training and the escalation techniques, they relate directly to the sense of safety and security. and also we have folks who paid

pretty low wages to provide this sort of safety net, especially in supportive housing or even in our low-income housing and they deal with populations that [speaker not understood] trained on how to deal appropriately with. a lot of tenants, inner conflicts, stuff like that. maybe mental health [speaker not understood]. and finally, eviction prevention. what we hear a lot from our partners in the nonprofit world along with the experiences that we have with clients is that oftentimes you work so hard to get a client housed and then either because of hoarding and cluttering or some sort of break in the rules or mental health exacerbation there is not the appropriate support.

it is kind of ironic when it happens in supportive housing, the situation where we have clients with an eviction on their record. so, working with somebody intensely, putting up a structure in place that would really try to minimize eviction on the records would be really, really helpful. >> those are great suggestions. aside from this process, we've begun [speaker not understood] discussions with tenant counseling and eviction agencies and with our affordable housing developers where a number of our eviction defense agencies have pointed out that it's a strange dynamic, pharmaceutical, our office is funding both the affordable housing developers and the eviction defense folk that are sometimes in opposition to each other. and i understand that there is often some tension within that

dynamic where one side is trying to represent the evicted party from the other perspective, sometimes the affordable housing developer is also representing other tenants that have issues with a problematic individual. ~ folks and i think what we are trying to struggle with is if we come from a place in which we acknowledge that every person deserves safe, affordable housing, even people who may be very challenging, how do we affirmatively address that? and i do feel that what often happens is that because of the scarcity of housing, people that often need those sort of supportive services may not be in a housing situation where those services are offered because you have to take housing when you get it. >> okay. >> and it become sort of a set-up for both that individual

and the property manager. and i think it would be great to maybe interject a perspective from your perspective because you're not necessarily representing the attorney for one side, which has [speaker not understood] and the property manager. so, speaking from that client perspective i think would be a good -- another voice in that dialogue. so, i'd be interested in talking to you about how to work that out because it has been a very challenging dynamic. yeah. >> sure. and i dare to say that actually there is a lot of coexistence of some sort of mental health condition and chronic exposure to poverty. just by the basic trauma thing, trauma exposure. >> yes. >> we can talk off line. thank you. >> all right, i have a couple of public comment cards.

first, ken hornby. in addition to the hopa situation, we also have people who are aging with hiv and aids who are in rent controlled apartments and they are on currently ssdi. and when they become of age to collect social security, they are going to be getting a smaller income and subject to eviction and, so, there will be a big wave of people being evicted if there isn't money set aside for that issue. >> and mr. dennis, did you have a comment on this agenda item? is this hopa? >> no, this is about the -- the agenda item is the five-year plan from the mayor's office of

housing. hello, my name is keith dennis. i'm a long-time resident of san francisco. i say, god bless you, commissioner, and god bless the city and county of san francisco. now, i've talked about this since last year. i was a patient at laguna honda hospital. i was lucky enough to move out into the community of the fillmore, he okay. and the rest of the patients moved to the new hospital. and, so, that left the old hospital dormant. nobody is in there, okay. but now the nurses and whatever, they're starting to use them for offices. some offices are warranted, some offices aren't.

i suggest that the old laguna honda hospital be made into an assisted living facility, okay. you're talking about it right now. you know it's needed, so, i think it's something that should be taken a strong look at. thank you very much. >> thank you. walter paulson. ♪ it's good to take a housing stand good luck with your five-year plan and i hope the money comes to you renting like sand but i believe in housing yesterday why the rent has to go, i don't know it went so high then i sure would like it to get better

would you give it a housing better try yesterday, rent was such an easy game to play now we need a housing rent that will -- item money stay oh, i believe in renting yesterday [humming] ♪ >> thank you. (applause) hi, i'm larry edmonds and i would like to start off first by saying -- [speaker not understood]. our climb will be steep. we may not get there in one year or even in one term, but america, i have never been more hopeful than i have tonight

that we will get there. but promise you we as a people will get there ~. that's a presidential welcome. i wanted to get here at 1 o'clock, but i'm a [speaker not understood] ambassador of hope. when it comes to housing, i would like you to look at this. whether i live in a house or an apartment or s-r-o, i think -- i've been going to the mayor's new care council and letting them know that we really want to be safe. what we're going through and like bullying, like today san jose state is making sure they have a racial bullying task force. what often going to happen to american blacks, gays, [speaker not understood], i used to have hopa. now i'm on shelter plus that's run by mr. trent lott -- not trent. he he run the human service.

what's going on, a lot of our property managers, they are not like community housing projects that really work with their tenants. we want to make sure no matter where we stay, whether it's a shelter or an s-r-o or a house or apartment or condo that san francisco stands for no bullying, for people to be safe in their house. what i'm dealing with in san francisco, i've been -- a year from now, i got out of jail because my people called the police on me because i was watching the view in the tv room. and a lot of people -- we are a crack city in the t.l., you know. a lot of people have the [speaker not understood] after before doing it, they abuse us and the landlord said do not take our stand. so, we hope in the new house that the mayor's five-year plan that it consists we will have task forces. the people which cause question

in s-r-o's were getting money from shelter plus and government and new hud houses. they're not protecting us. they're not letting tenants have their own board to say the money is there for tenants to have their own meetings and then get back. we want to make sure in the future that san francisco stands like the president has stood up for so many different things our country have today, that it's important we have those independent bullies as residents. we know how to make the system better for the people who are homeless coming in or coming out of prison. we are often the forgotten people who are not there. thank you for being here for the mayor -- i seep him at the earthquake. i didn't make t. weird day. thank you. [laughter] >> all right. we're going to move on. thank you, teresa and mr. chu. okay. we're going to go on --

juicy edmonds. thank you. i forgot to say that. >> okay. moving on to item number 4, the independent living resource centers, jessie lorenz. >> good afternoon, councilmembers and staff, members of the public. my name is jessie lorenz and i'm the executive director of the independent living resource center san francisco. i want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk to you today. i'm going to talk to you about my organization. i'm going to talk to you about why independent living is important. and i'm going to talk to you about our upcoming move. but first i want to talk to you about what happened on our way here today. i was on the bus -- take the bus a lot -- and this woman sat

down next to me, an older woman, kind of a small woman. i'm using my, my -- all of my senses to make the presumption that this woman is probably homeless. and she said to me, ooh sweety, you're so brave. i would hate to have your life. and i couldn't help but smile because i realized that this woman, this homeless woman on the bus and i, we share a lot. this homeless woman on the bus and i, we're both part of groups that society tends to under value and to marginalize. and to value our contributions in a very limited sense. now, let me tell you something. i don't consider myself brave at all, and those of you who know me certainly know that that's true. and i might, you know, knock you in the teeth if you call me that to my face.

however, the point of this story that i'm trying to tell you is us folks with disabilities, we're not just folks who can't see. we're not just folks who can't walk. we're folks who are part of a much larger, broader, beautiful tapestry of a community. and in part, independent living centers are how that community gained its voice, gained some political power. and it's that community i think can take us into the next precipice of disability rights. so, what is independent living and what's an independent living center? well, there are independent living centers all over the entire country. there's about 400 and i think 19 independent living center. we are funded through a combination of state and federal money, and also we're largely funded by donations from the public. just giving you a heads up. my program manager said i have

to say the following thing six time. so, here's number one. we are funded largely by individual contributions. one way that you could help us is by texting the word "access" to 202 22, and that will donate $10 to our organization. that's the first one. you're going to hear it five more time. so, we're funded in large part by federal and state grants. we also operate largely on donations from individuals like everyone here in this room. and our function -- our mission is to ensure that people with disabilities are full, social and economic partners, both within our families and in the fully accessible community. and that's a pretty big mission and vision. that means a lot of the issues, or most all of the issues that come before this council are issues that also touch our agency.

so, housing and access to housing is for folk who use wheelchairs and also folk that have disabilities meaning they are only able to afford housing that is affordable for someone on public benefits such as social security. housing is a big issue we're involved in. technology, and people's ability to access assistive technology. so, that may mean a really cool wheelchair. that may mean technology that allows you to read braille, or could also just mean a computer with skype on it so if you have a hearing loss, for example, you can actually see the mouth of the person you're talking to as you're having the conversation. my organization operates a device lending library. actually, one of your councilmembers, derek, is the lead on that project. and we have technology that people can essentially try before they buy. one of the big equalizers, i

believe, that does allow folks with disabilities to function and live life of freedom, choice and autonomy is assistive technology. we know he it's expensive, so, we have a mechanism to let people come in and try stuff out. check it out. you can learn more on our website about that, irlcsf.org. so, housing, highly involved in housing issues. we're highly involved in assistive technology issue. but one of the biggest barriers to the full integration of people with disabilities is around employment and economic empowerment. you know, we hear a lot on the radio, or i hear a lot on the radio. it's on tv, too, about the jobs reports and what's going on with jobs. well, unfortunately, the latest jobs report had people, adults with disabilities -- so, people between 18 and 55 -- are work

force participation rate is 19.5%. ~ our work we're not even hitting 20%, folk. that's a real problem. ~ folks that doesn't mean 80% of folks with disabilities aren't able to work. some people are, some people are unable to work. that's absolutely true. but in large part, that number is based on people, in one instance -- think about how we talk about this. when someone is disabled later, like in their career, we don't talk about someone developing a disability. we say, oh, he was out on disability. well, one of the failures in our system is that that sort of has become the expectation. if you are working and you become disabled, you go out on disability. just the language we use leaves the taste in one's mouth that there's no -- there's no expectation that you're going to come back. we know in independent