journaling and south africa in the american heart association which are very strong supporters of the soda tax. decades ago as strong opinions about secondhand smoke, a very courageous member of the san francisco board of supervisors stood on legislation to ban smoking in san francisco and improve the public. she would succeed and this would become the model for legislation across the nation. her name is one you will recognize. it's angelaal oat oh in her successful career foreman -- it's a testament to here intelligence. today we have reached the same to reduce sugary drinks and improve the health for city of san francisco. >> thank you. reverend

walker. >> the chair. i'm in bayview hunters point. several years now the department of university of california and health initiative and in the last several years have made an attempt to educate the community in that particular area. i also belong to the tabernacle development corporation of all the churches in here concerned about these beverages issues. when i hear so much intelligence and statistics about the audience it helped me to commit more and more to put energy and time because it

reflects especially in ethnic areas of groups of poverty and people for whatever reason don't have that quality of life to be educated and informed. i myself i walk four days 4 days a week and stopped drinking soda pop four 4 years ago, me and my family. it was proven that it was so detrimental. my last comment, what is so unjust, so unrighteous for the industry to add 2 percent per ounce to assist people with scene tifk information to show that it's detrimental to our community. thank you very much. >> the cordero family. >> hi, everyone. my name is eva and i'm 11 years old.

today i'm here to speak in favor of the sugary tax. i think it's important for a health lifestyle in san francisco. drinking soda and other sweetened beverages can have an ill effect on your health. it's causing obesity and heart disease and diabetes. when you think about it, passing this tax would give everyone more freedom, the freedom to live life to the fullest without the health barriers that too many people have from drinking soda. i would say let's put this tax on the ballot and not let big corporations control our city. [ applause ] >> can i have a few minutes? as you can see from my

daughters testimony, she wrote it by herself. i have a very informed daughter. she's 11 as she's on that precipice of independence and as a parent, i'm in full support of this measure. some of the opposition from the american beverage association, they have used words like this is government over reach or the nannies state. to me it's all a part of it takes a village to raise a child. we all need to work together to provide healthy options for our children to make it easier for them to make the right choice. we can't be with them as parents with them 24/7. they gives them less access to

unhealthy drinks. i want to say that the argument that the nanny state that it is a knee jerk reaction manipulated by the industry many . if you look at the history you will see the policy of common sense policy such as seat belt laws and common sense such as limiting smoking in public places. those policies also vehemently argued against by industry as being government over reach. we can all agree today that they very much make sense, they work and they protect the public health. thank you for your work. >> thank you very much. next speaker. >> good afternoon

supervisors. i'm with local 948. we 100 percent endorse this measure. i personally support this measure because both my parents suffered, my mom is a type two diabetic. my dad passed away and he also had diabetes. the rest of my family suffers from diabetes. it's congratulate for the communities and san francisco. i thank you for all of your support and hope this goes on the ballot. thank you. >> hi. i name is louisa, i'm a sixth district youth commissioner and i represent the committee. i'm here today just to show my support for this work for the sugar tax campaign because i really believe that san francisco is really a great city. and it's only going to be greater and

strive to a better place if we make sure the young people and the adults and the senior citizens in the city are provided better resources. this from the institute and another group participated in doing the is survey for four different communities. we did one in the bayview, the heda aight, and we found out that 99.98 percent believe it's really easy to access soda. 95.96 percent believes also easy to get sports drinks. 93 percent believe that energy drinks are very easy to access. that's really overwhelming percent of not only young people but also

senior citizens. really everyone believes they can access this. compared to 100 percent juice, 53 percent believe they can access which is not good because we want to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to access fruits and vegetables and organic and 100 percent juice. so i'm really in support of this and i know that my committee is also in support and i want to say thank you for doing the great work and you can see all the support that you have in this. even an 11-year-old spoke so amazingly. thank you again. >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is roberto vargas, i'm in the public health field and advocate for the mission bay districts for over 20 years. i have family members who

suffer from type two diabetes, my father, sister, two cousins. one cousin who has had amputations as a result of diabetes. our rates of diabetes and liver disease are much higher with diabetes rates even 8 times higher than some neighborhoods m san francisco. folks, support a soda tax and many do after they learn that half of the children born will get diabetes in their lifetime and just two sugary drinks per day will increase diabetes and when they learn that money

will help the city for programs to help those. most folks don't want a tax increase at all. but the tobacco and alcohol taxes which many considered aggressive have been the only things that have helped us reduce consumption by raising the price and the public education we need. let's make history and let's take the lead nationally for social justice like we did with same sex marriage. let's do this for social justice and health inequity. >> we have a rule asking people to not cheer or clap or boo. but people are allowed to use a hand signal if you want to use a thumbs up or down or

jazz hands. next speaker. >> my name is miguel perez. i with the latin american human rights. thanks for creating an environment to continue to work for us to educate our communities. this is very hard for us because it's part of our culture and publicity. when we confront day by day. so to change, to educate, to give information to particular communities who out of the outreach is complicated sometimes. so for a good time to continue to do this with the young of what happened with the proposition. thank you so much for creating this environment right now. thank

you. >> hello, my name is ruben cast yoes. i work for coca-cola. i'm here on behalf of teamsters. we oppose this tax. we feel it's going to affect our lives. i started this industry when i was 18. i'm 32 now. i have a 24 -hour job, i have health care, teamster pension in the green zone and now an 18-year-old that isn't cut out for college. i wasn't cut out for college. that's why i too k this job. these are good

paying jobs for us. what's going to happen to us if this passes it's not just a soda tax. there is more than soedz being taxed. we are labeled as bad people which i feel us as workers are being attacked for this.das being taxed. we are labeled as bad people which i feel us as workers are being attacked for this. thank you.

>> good afternoon. my name is mitchell parker and i'm a parent. and in district 1 and i work a few blocks away from the public housing. i'm here representing the second district pta. we unanimously endorse this measure or this initiative, the legislation in february. i'm also here representing the parents of political action committee and we are supported this initiative back in the fall. i think we can agree that parents want the same thing

and that is the best chance for success for their children. so i encourage you to support this legislation. >> i'm paul ash from the san francisco marin bank. we ask you to pass this to the full board with a positive recommendation. >> good afternoon, i'm the executive director. i fully support this. i'm very excited from the moment i heard about this. my board has not taken up a position yet and the position that the council has hesitated until this point. i look forward to supporting it once it's moved forward and moving it through all the affiliation to get through this endorsement. thank you for all that you have done. >> thank you very much.

>> my name is jessica buchholz. i'm also a public school parent and have two children in the public schools. my children lost their grandfather to type two diabetes. i want to stand here in strong support of this and let you know the membership is also supporting this because we want to look after the health of our students. thank you. >> thank you for your work. my name is miguel robles. i'm the cofounding and coordinator of the self alliance. from the 600,000 items we can find in the grocery stores. 80 percent contain sugar. this is an addictive ingredient they are

using to sell more. the other thing is where is this sugar coming from. it's genetically modified. it's with corn and we don't know what going to help with our health. the fda has been approving a lot. they determine what is safe and all the different kind of things. they also say that this is safe, it's sugar, but sugar is not food. it's just an ingredient, it's addictive. i think there will come a time when they will be banning this kind of agreed ingredient -- because it's very unhealthy to our health. >> lisa messer a teacher in

the city college of san francisco. as you heard our members have taken a support mention on the tax. it's an opportunity for san francisco and a responsibility for san francisco to move forward and to lead in terms of community health and education and we strongly support the tax. thank you. >> thank you supervisors, it's been a business morning -- for the parks. it's clearly evident to all of us that we have a health crisis in our midst with dual threat of obesity and diabetes. this proposal originally cal crated about $7.5 million for the parks and recreation program. supervisor wiener, that seems to be a low estimate, we

think it even higher than that. finally this will improve our programming to be able to address this health crisis in a very positive way. we strongly endorse this and encourage you to move forward with this. >> thank you very much. >> good afternoon, supervisors, again, did uncan. i want to express how much i appreciate your efforts by introducing and including you're names as sponsors to ensure this initiative becomes a right. as a senior citizen and health advocate you have made it possible to learn about the significant impacts on sugary health drinks and health. i have that had opportunity to speak with card

iologist and other professionals and having to get clear answers and learning options. the hearings represented never a sign of arrogance. you have provided the transparency and shown respect to us in how best to improve our health. the data used in the legislation has been produced and collaborated by well-known and respected health and academic institutions. there has been one clear message in the care about our health, today and tomorrow and to the future. you will not pick up your marbles and leave. if you do it is because san francisco will be the catalyst in successful if the passage and other cities will be seeking our impact, input, knowledge and support for their own initiatives. in conclusion,

again, i, my family, friends in my communities thank you for involving us in this very productive and essential legislation. what a great legacy to leave. as i se"si se puede". >> >> good afternoon, everyone. my name is brittany and the director for the american heart association. i'm here to give our strong support for this initiative. we all know that public health does not exist in a vacuum. we do know that housing displacement, education and job security are all extremely important and tangible in the city of san francisco. when the american berj beverage associations

talks about this, we don't need the beverage association manipulating our community and telling them that this is going to bleed into their shopping carts and, you know basically make it completely impossible to live m san francisco. this is a common sense law. this is really no the that radical. it's two $0.02 per ounce and the money is going back in the community that will benefit the revenue. i thank you all for your leadership and hope the board of supervisors sends this on to the ballot with a unanimous vote. we show that you care about this public and you are hitting it head on. >> good afternoon. my name a laura bell and i'm a clinical

social workers and i have children. i have helped young mom's whose homes i have come into where the baby bottles are filled with coke. i asked them why are you feeding the child two-year-old coquina bottle and they say it's cheaper than milk. i'm thrilled that i a huge portion of this money is going towards education because a lot of mom's don't mean to do the wrong thing. they are not educated. the money that goes towards education in this bill just makes me feel so proud of this city and what we are doing. so i really support it and thank you very much for your work. >> thank you very much. is there any additional public comment on this item, please come forward. >> good afternoon. item kate

listen with the parks alliance. it's a busy day for parks and we are happy to be here in support of the tax. i want to speak on behalf of the organization that we represent through our par ner program that are also in support of these sodas tax. the hidden garden, friends of plaza park and we strongly encourage you to pass this along and we are excited for this tax. thank you. >> thank you very much. is there any additional public comment on this item? seeing none, mr. chairman, may we close public comment? >> public comment is now closed. >> colleagues, i thank you for this time and thank you to the departmental staff and thank you to the public. it is time to pass this out of committee to the full board of

supervisors. i want to acknowledge and thank the teamsters for being here today. i had numerous conversations with the teamsters before and after and regularly over time i understand that it is a challenging issue for the union. i also know the teamsters believe in public health as well and there are many many healthy products at the teamsters members bring to our stores and our city for our residents. i want to thank the other representative of labors from ufcw and aft who were here as well and i want to thank you for continuing the discussion in the labor community and beyond. i also wanted to just reiterate supervisor mar's thank you to our staff because this has

just been a terrific joint effort among various offices. which you don't always see that happening but a really coequal collaboration and i really want to thank jeff in my office, peter from supervisor mar's office and supervisor cohen's office. with that, mr. chairman i make a motion to forward the soda tax to the full board to the supervisors with a positive recommendation. >> thank you very much. i will call the roster. supervisor breed? >>supervisor london breed: i just want to make a comment because this is a difficult process for me because i'm adamant leo posed to putting forth a beverage tax period. i wanted to make sure that i checked in with folks that i know people that i support, checked in with my community

and formally. i know there has been a study at ucsf and looking at other data about this and just really trying to connect the data to actual people that i know in my community who are kids who drink sugary soft drinks and trying to make the connection. eye still -- i have still not been able to do that. the data is there and i'm not disputing the data, but the data relates to my experience is not connected. that doesn't mean it's actually not correct data. i'm not part of the beverage industry or any corporation. so i guess in some ways i do resent the fact that it's implied that if you don't support this tax that you are somehow associated with the beverage industry folks who are unfortunately

targeting our community to oppose this tax in the first place. i get that. but everyone has the right to purchase what they want. they have the right to drink what they want. they have the right to do what it is they want and i realize that this is a real challenge especially with young people and in poorer communities, but the problem that i have, the bigger problem that i have which i said before is where are the healthier alternatives. single family house -- i know supervisor mar said the bottled water in schools. where are these items to purchase because kids are going to purchase these items. the programs we talk about funding don't always support the kids that we are talking about changing the behaviors. there is no direct connection to ensure that the population that we are talking about that's impacted by diabetes

how are they going to be directly supported through the health care industry, through the schools, through the non-profits. i understand why you are moving this forward. i understand that there is a lot of research and supporters that want to put this forward. i'm fine to send this to the voters to decide on this issue. i want to make it clear that i don't support it and i don't think it's a good idea and there are better ways for utilizing resources to address better health and snaeft safety in our neighborhoods and i wanted to make it clear. >> supervisor mar? >>supervisor eric mar: i want to thank supervisors for bringing these issues. i know

from alternatives besides water that this soda tax exempt 100 percent fruits and vegetable drinks and milk secretary -- substitute like soy. the effort that we are taking with matt haney and others in the school district with other board of education members and their sustainability department to ensure there is strong access to water stations. i wanted to say that supervisor breed and others have raised other questions too about sodas and other types of sugary and i will just say that christina