worked first happened with hand with inmates and getting resources on the outside. if the beginning it was more about substance-abuse treatment and trying to find treatment beds and it's changed over the years to find multiple resources, including education, and housing, which has always been hard in the city to find. so i have a great passion for this work. i love doing it and i come across a very diverse population of people who need services. one by one have been able to tackle different problems for different people. i have learned that you have to meet people where they are, and to support them more than just getting them into treatment. maybe seeing them in treatment or getting other resources

available to them. i do want to say that with your questions about what i want to do now? i think it's become really important for all of us that do this work to get together and know what everybody else does. create some kind of a way that we can access services from everyone, and so i'm sitting on two subcommittees for the reentry council right now. it's amazing work. i love my job and i would love to be part of the council. i have done it before, but i'm really more into it right now and would i like to have the opportunity to serve again. thank you. >> thank you very much. last up would be ernest kirkwood.

>> good afternoon. i welcome and greatly appreciate this opportunity to appear before you today. because if i receive re-appoint to the reentry council it will grant me opportunity to continue my work in the council. reentry is not an event. it is a process. the reentry process started for me many years ago when i was well into my second prison terms and continues as i stand before you today. to address the program needs of the larger lifer community and the mainland population in general as soldad prison. the group's focus was on reentry. and preparing ourselvess for our eventual release. i'm proud to say when i was

paroled there were upwards of 250 men voluntary actively involved in the various self-help programs and classs that bragg sponsored. my first contact with reentry council was shortly after my release from prison and i expressed my concerns regarding the lack of support and resources for men paroled into san francisco from soledad state prison. as an appointed member i have attended all council meetings and have been an activity and engaging participant. i currently serve as the chairperson. if i retain my seat on the reentry council my goals will be to continue to provide leadership for the subcommittee and support opportunitis with a focus on getting more previously incarcerated men and women involved in the reentry process and secondly, to see

the prison reentry project become a reality at soledad prison. would i like to take a few minutes to expand on the persons project. what that is, my first application for the council, as well as my second one, what i would like to see the council do or accomplish and i stated that i would like to see san francisco become the first to become proactive in addressing the resource needs of men and women returning to the city. and in order to do that, we have to meet them with their at. we have a lot of resources to offer and we're offering after they exit prison. we need to present it to them and address it before they leave prison and that is what i'm currently working on. any questions? >> you have been very thorough, thank you very much.

any public comment? please statement? >> steven good, the executive director of five keys. five keys was founded in 2003 by sheriff hennesey to be the first to operate within a county jail and we run all the educational programs in the san francisco jails and partner with 18 different community-based agencies in san francisco to provide high school diploma, adult education and esl services to non-profits at no cost to them. i'm here to speak on kim courtney who has been our reentry coordinator for a number of years. sheriff hennessey was a member of our board of directors while he was in office, and every

month he would have us bring reports to him, saying how many different cbos placed folks from in-custody facilitis to treatment facilities and other supportive services? and every month at the board meetings i would present the work that kim did and without question, every single month, for four years, kim single-handedly placed more incarcerated individuals into treatment facilities and housing than all of the other agencies combined that worked in the jail. that is not an exaggeration. kim would routinely place five or six more individuals than three or four agencies that worked in the jail combined. she has been a tireless advocate for the schools. on the reentry side and just a test of her character, she said to me a moment ago, there are no bad choices for you guys to make today.

that is all i wanted to say. thank you. >> thank you. >> hi. my name is jean yetta johnson for the transgender justice project and i was recently released. i have been out almost two years and getting out of prison and accessing services, having a difficult time, but also being mindful that the minute i knew i was going to be going to prison i focused on reentry and how that works within the transgender community. i'm an african-american transgender person and found that reentry services have been very, very hard for me and had to pave my own way with very little support. i have been denied reentry programs, having the same background as everybody else and the program and having to really advocate for myself and go two, three, four times through people to say hey, i

feel i deserve this opportunity. i deserve this opportunity and not given this opportunity and i wanted to advocate for dominique leslie because she has worked in the community for a long time. she has really good work. she works well with all populations, it's not just of the transgender community. and working with the transgender community is like filling a gap that is not really being filled, you know? and a lot of people say that they don't want to work with one population, but this is the population of people that are highly underserved and recognizes that she takes care of herself spiritually and recognizing there is a huge gap. thank you. >> thank you, miss johnson. any other public comments on this item? seeing none, public comment is

now closed. colleagues, this is our first test for today. another tough one. six i believe six very excellent applicants. so let's see how we're going to get down to four. supervisor campos. >> thank you, mr. chairman and thank you to all of the six applicants who have come forward. we say this every time there are more applicants than there are seats, it's hard for us to make choices, because i think that everyone as people can see in the presentations has something unique and special to bring to the table. i think that any one of the individuals that spoke would be a great addition to this council. and to the two individuals who will not -- whose name will not move forward, i will simply reiterate what i always say, which is please continue to be

involved, continue your interests, the way that this process works is that it takes sometimes more than one times for an individual to get on a council. and the fact that you are not selected doesn't mean that as a vacancy comes up that you won't be selected.3

suggest mr. calderon for not seat 2, but for seat 1 and for seat 2, i would be inclined -- i was very impressed with the presentation to support dominique rosales leslie who presents a prospective that is greatly needed and i think was as was said by one of the members who spoke, there are specific challenges that as a member of transgender community you face, as you are trying to access reentry services. and then i would end that as great as the other folks are, i was very impressed with presentations and comments about kimberli courtney; given

the work that she does. that is more or less where i am. >> thank you, supervisor campos. supervisor tang. >> thank you. i want to thank all of the applicants interested in either continuing to serve in this role or felt inspired to demonstrate through your own experiences how it is that we can help some of our reentry population and individuals. actually, i agree with all of supervisor campos' choices even in the particular seats. and so you may that easy for us and of course i want to thank everyone who applied, and make sure that if there are other opportunities that come up, please do take advantage of that, to be able to serve. >> great. so would i make a motion to move forward for seat 1, joseph calderon. seat no. 2, dominique rosa leslie and seat no. 3 ernest kirkwood and seat no. 4, kimberli courtney. >> thank you for your motion and i think it has been said

all six you are very good applicants. anybody that doesn't make it in this time, please, please reapply, because i have -- i have been doing this for the second year now and i have seen people come back and reapply and get into a seat -- not always, but it does happen. okay? so there has been a motion on the floor here. and without any objection, the motion passes. congratulations to dominique leslie, joseph calderon, kimberli courtney and ernest kirkwood. thank you very much. madame clerk, could i have item no. 5? >> item no. 5, a hear to consider appoint one member, term ending august 2, 2015 and one member term ending august 2, 2017 to the citizens advisory committee for the central market street and tenderloin area. there are two seats and six applicants. >> thank you.

i will call you in the order that i see. john bogacki. >> yes, sir. basically, i'm not very good at speaking. i'm much better at listening. i have a varied background. an artist, a craftsman and basically i'm here because i have need to serve and this would allow me to do that. >> thank you, any questions? thank you very much. mikeal gibson. >> hi. >> hi.

>> i guess for matter of introduction, i'm mikeal gibson and currently a law student at uc hastings and i have been attending cac meetings to look at some of the community benefits agreements that have been provided and see kind of what these benefit agreements consist of, and how they are being implemented? and honestly it was the interest in the process that brought me here today to submit associated an application to the advisory committee. >> any questions supervisor tang? >> if you could just address some of the challenges that you see facing central market and tender lyn area, if you could expand on that, it would be great. thank you. >> sure. since i began law school three years ago i have been a

volunteer with homeless legal services. it's a legal clinic that provides pro bono assistance to members of the mc south shelter, and i have been working there, along with communicatinging in other civil justice clinics on campus, particularly with negotiation and mediation. and i think that as far as the mid-market neighborhood is concerned, i think that these -- this committee really is about reaching across, reaching across the table to talk to both sides and come to agreements that will really work to the benefit of the community. as a resident of in the tenderloin and mid-market area i have seen new businesses coming in and i have seen fellow students walking by to

see graffiti and others complaining about the state of the neighborhood without having an educational background in what the neighborhood has gone through and the big changes it has made over the years. so i think i would like to help continue that movement. >> okay. thank you. next up is rob gitin. >> just a quick question before i start, i have something prepared to speak that is probably three or four minutes. is that too long? you would prefer? >> we would appreciate anything you do to cut it down. >> i'm sorry, could you say that again? >> we would appreciate any way you could cut it down, but go ahead. >> thanks. dear supervisors, thank you for considering me for seat 8 for the citizens advisory committee in the central market and

tenderloin area. this is a perfect fit for my background. 17 years ago i started at the crossroads, an organization that provides disconnected homeless youth and young adults with the support that they need to move beyond the streets and build outstanding lives. i have been there ever since and i'm the executive director. we focus on the kids who get kicked out of other programs, never set foot -- who are the hardest to reach, who fall through the cracks. homeless youth are my life's passions and running crossroads has been the biggest privilege of my life. the two areas of focus, central and tenderloin. we have reached more than 7,000 youth over our 17 years. during that time i have personally walked the streets of the tender loin more than a

thousand times and know market street by the back of my hand and feels like home to me, more than my home in north beach. our program has been cited as a model for working with the most disconnected youth. we have a $1.1 million budget and 14 staff members and privately funded 100% and don't take government money. i have a strong knowledge of supportive housing. since we open we have helped youth and just in the last year we had helped 25 kids get into supportive housing -- i was the chair of the community services community for mayor newsom's transition aged task force back in 2006-2008. one of our recommendation was to create 400 new units of housing, and it's on its way towards being accomplished.

i am currently the co-chair of the network -- i love being part of a team and doesn't matter if i'm in a leadership position or active member and to get individuals together for a common cause. i think the last really component from what i can tell for this committee is believing that san francisco has to be a healthy city for all, for people who wealthy, poor, homeless, housed, it doesn't matter. the feeling of divide that is developing in the city is incredibly depressing to me. i hate the way it feels, like everyone in the city is taking sides and drawing lines. and i think it's essential that bridges be built between the different communities. and that everyone has a belief that all of the communities can contribute to each other. i have lived in the city for 18 years and i really love this

city. i like many others am concerned that certain ways in it's changing will lead to increased homogeneity of residents. we have to do everything that we can to prevent outflow of diversity and to make sure that san francisco is a home for people of all backgrounds, races and economic classes. the local business community and its employees have so much to offer, and it's important that we help them do so in a thoughtful, meaningful way that target those most deeply in need. it would be my honor to serve on this committee. i would do so with passion, inclusiveness, thoughtfulness and integrity. thank you for your consideration. >> thank you, questions? >> i'm sorry, just real quick, for all of you i have 14 letters of recommendation from business people and non-profits and others. i will hand them to you.

>> thank you very much. next up is emily cohen. >> good afternoon. how are you guys? my name is emily cohen and i'm currently the director of programs at project homeless connect. i have been working with adults, single adults and families, experiencing homelessness either as advocate or coordinator. i have a passion for building inclusionive communities and strengthening communities and i that i that the central market and tenderloin neighborhoods have amazing strength to be

built on and work together to find solutions and keep long-term residents from being pushed out, from leaving and to support investment and improvements in our community. you know, inclusively. and really supporting housing in the neighborhood. i have been a housing advocate for a long time, both personally and professionally, and i see affordable and supportive housing as the keys to reducing non-desirable street behavior and some of the issues that folks identify with the tenderloin and central market area and i believe they can be solved rather than moved and i'm really interested in working on a committee that wants to improve this neighborhood for all of its residents, not new ones, not old ones, everyone together, and working to find some collaborative solutions.

and particularly i'm interested in the community benefits agreements and working to strengthen those for the non-profits and for the residents and the businesses that call central market/tenderloin their home. thank you. >> any questions? seeing none, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> greg kieber. >> good afternoon, supervisors. thank you so much for listening to me today. this is my first time applying for a seat, so i'm a little nervous. so please forgive me. just a little bit of background. my name is greg kieber as you know and i worked for 30 plus years as an information technology professional in the new york city area. 2011, i retired. and when we sold our home, relocated to san francisco, about a month after i got here, i started volunteering with the

larkin street youth services, working up in the sutter street location. and my interest in working with larkin street was particularly around issues of workforce development. ways able to manage staff, hire people, and at-largin street, at the higher-up office, we work with clients, transitional-aged youth, with a variety of diverse backgrounds who face issues of gender, sexual identity, racial problems. and we help them work on getting their careers started, maybe working on just getting a resume together, teaching them interview skills. just this morning i conducted mock interviews for some of the clients taking the class, and i

would really like to continue that work, to expand it, to provide perhaps a bridge between the it community. seems like a lot of the community agreements that have been reached are with it communities, with it terms in the city and i believe i can bridge the gap between the it firms and clients in the transitional aged youth we're looking to serve. i hope i can bring that perspective and thank you for your time. >> thank you very much >> last up would be joel drotts. >> how is it going? joel drotts, small business owner and i have prepared some things. so i moved to the

tenderloin a few years ago and instantly culture shocked and never witness michael jordan crime and poverty concentrated in such a small area bun u, but maybe the problem was everybody was waiting and hoping for somebody else to care and try to change things. at this point i decided to get involved and was told one of the first neighborhood watch groups in the tenderloin. it wasn't popular at first and the term "cop-caller" was thrown our ways a few times, but we persevered and worked with the police for arrests. i realized that putting the bad guys in jail only solves half of the problem. to change the environment and factors that continuously breed and create criminals and criminal behave, that is what we have to do; right? so i began trying to find people

with clout or money to help and even went to far to start my on media campaign to raise money for local businesses and citizens. so you can imagine my interest once i found out there were only -- not only one, but six companies willing to help. they have a legal contractual obligations to help the tenderloin community. i seek appointment in order to affect change. this is my community. these are my friends. i have live there had for three years. you said ideas of how i would like to change it, if we start a 509 foundation, sponsoring corporation that worked hand in hand with the government, all of these company donating would get a double tax break and that money could be given to the --

i'm sorry, i'm nervous. to the 501(c)(3)s who have having difficult making rent because the property values have been brought up because of the presence of these six companies. that is just one idea i had. thanks. >> did you good. [laughter ] >> any public comments on this item? come on up and you could line up on this side. come up and state your name. >> good afternoon, supervisors. any name is joel wilson with hospitality house. i'm here to encourage the nomination and recommend john bogacki to serve as a member of the cac. as you saw john was a little nervous today. he is, i think for me it is important in your deliberations

that you give equal weight to diversity of life experience, as well as professional and educational experience. john is a tenderloin resident. he is also disabled. he is also a struggling local artist, and i know john to be a person of integrity, of passion, and commitment. and i believe that the voice that needs to be heard on the body such as this the citizens advisory committee is exactly john's voice. tenderloin residents struggling to have their voices heard, their stories matter and their lives be considered of equal weight in terms of the city's investment in both our neighborhood infrastructure, and the commitment we make not only to the technology companies, but to residents who have to afford to live in the city that they love. and john first and foremost loves san francisco.