gaven news om. there is a real need if that this department would have purview over all other departments which are servicing people with disabilities. thank you again. >> was there anymore public comment? is there anyone on the bridge line? or any other public comment? >> you are not required to respond. if you care to you may. >> yes, you are welcome to. >> i guess what i want to say is that mr. -- ms. bryson is correct. that the hurdles to services often themselves are debilitating to people and

requiring multiple appointments, multiple visits is very difficult for people who are not housed and they wind up. i helped a young woman get housed and it took 4 months because she had to have an income associated for her to move no housing and yet she was living in golden gate park. there is no question that she qualified and her health declined tremendously and she became very sick in the winter months and we had to get an alarm clock and cellphone to do that i do think there are system in place and ways in which housing is not always optimal for individuals because of the scarcity of housing, we push. the system does. there is not a part for homelessness as described. there is a department for disabilities and new york has one. that might be better for people who

are disabled or even become disabled for those that are delayed and kept on the street. i think that's important. >> thank you for your response and for being here today. we are going to move on to ceremonial item no. 6. in honor of former mayor's disability council cochair mdc derek zarda, we have kathy zarda, derek's mother will provide information on the memorial for saturday april 18, 2015 at the, at the independent living resource center. thank you ms. zarda for being here today in addressing the council and the public.

thank you. first i would like to say good afternoon to members of the council. let's see if that works. i don't usually talk loud. so we'll see. anyway, good afternoon, and it feels that i know you all. i have heard so much about all of you. it's nice to see faces with the people that he's known and cared for for such a period of time. i know that when he made the decision to finally realize his goals of moving to taipei to marry his sweetheart, sydney. it was with mixed emotions of leaving this council and leaving his work at independent

living centers because he really cared deeply about what this was all about. as you know he was a young man with a big heart. and passionate for what he did, not just here suddenly when he was 27 years old, but throughout his life. when he came back to kansas to visit the family and from time to time in phone calls with him prior to his moving, i would say, well, derek have you told members of the council that you are actually moving? no, mom, i haven't decided really when i'm going to go. okay, you need to let them know. i know, mom. and he was, he had

various plans like he was going to move february of 2014. no, i'm going in may. may 2014. no, mom, i think i'm going to go in august. and then he says, you know, if i just don't decide to go, i will keep postponing it. that was his decision to move over there in november of 2014. and i did see online the acclimation and so on that you gave to him on his last council visit. as you are aware, he actually took the plane to taipei later that evening. and because he wanted to do as much as he could with the time he had here.

he truly was a man of action. he would say from time to time, momma, i just don't have time to play the drums, or, the disk jockey work because he loved to do that and he was also a barista and the campus. he would tell me i'm doing this and that for the council and then i'm doing this at independent living. in two weeks i'm going to a conference in i think it was l.a. and was a speaker or was always organizing, always sharing his experiences, always getting new ideas for things.

and when my daughter and i flew over to taipei to bring him and his personal items home, we were looking through his things and there was a couple of objects that we were all, sydney and my daughter heidi and i were looking at. what do you think this does? i don't know. then it had screws on either end and it was a ball with a center in it. i'm going, hmm... we finally figured out that it was for someone who couldn't hold a pencil, but they can hold a ball. but i thought, great. anyway, i want to encourage you if you have time to stop by the independent living centers, san francisco. they are

located at 825 howard street, tomorrow, saturday, april 18th, beginning 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.. thereabouts and enjoy with us in celebrating his life and his memories. thank you again for allowing me to address this council and to meet you. it's been a pleasure. >> thank you, it's been a pleasure in meeting with you and kind of sharing stories with you about derek. i know some of the council members would like to express their thoughts on working with derek. so i'm going to open any questions or comments to the council and i believe councilman roland wong has requested to speak first. >> yes, thank you. the time i have known and worked with

derek at independent living resource center, san francisco, and council member at the san francisco mayor's disability council. he had really inspired me. derek is one-of-a-kind in this universe that cannot be replaced. a young man with so much potential and talent that there are endless words that describe him. he is mature, very enthusiastic, very compassionate and very professional. an advocate, good educator and even a great politician. most of all, a true human being. you will never be forgotten, derek. thank you. thank you very much.

>> thank you, council member wong. any other comments from the council? if not, i think i will chime in. let me put in a request to speak. all the sentiment that have been said by roland wong so articulately what derek brought to the council and what an amazing man he was. and i was honored to know him, to be a friend to work with him on the council. he taught me a lot of things. we had many conversations about the council, the future of the council and the leadership and the direction and of course the dynamic duo with cochair supanich. they were amazing together. you raised an incredible man. what an advocate. i think what i will remember most about him is he saw the

ability in everyone no matter what type of disability you had. i'm very grateful that he taught me to be a better advocate and better leader. i will never forget him. thank you. thank you very much. >> cochair supanich would like to speak next. >> ms. zarda, it was a joy working with your son. we work a lot together and spent a lot of time on the phone. but whatever he was doing, what he would talk about, his joy, passion, enthusiasm and diligence were evident. i have been cochair of a few things in my time. i have never enjoyed the experience more than when i was the cochair with derek zarda. i will never forget derek and he mad an

impression on everything he worked with that will be lasting and positive. so, we have a little something to present to you. >> in remembrance of your son and in honor of your son, we would like to present you with his nameplate from the council. thank you very much. >> you're welcome. >> thank you very much council members, cochairs. i really appreciate the time that you gave to me to thank you for being wonderful people.

>> there is more. [ laughter ] just when you thought it was over. council member wong would like to say some words, please. >> i'm sitting here kind of speechless because my heart is really heavy with grief. i'm involved in a lot of outside activities for the community and derek zarda, he just had extraordinary type of leadership and right now i am serving on the council because i still want to carry on the work. thank you very much for raising such a fine son. >> thank you, but i think he also raised me. [ laughter ] thank you again. thank you for the nameplate. >> i'm just making sure there

isn't any other council comment. i will turn it now to mod staff for comments. >> thank you, kathy, i'm carla johnson. we haven't met though we spoke on the phone actually. when we first heard the news about derek, it was of course an ashoka's i think it was a shock to everybody. part of my thought process was he had so much potential. how sad that we can't see that potential realized. but i have turned my thinking around into a different place and that is to have so much appreciation for everything he accomplished here with us. i do want to thank you for raising someone who had so much heart and commitment and enthusiasm to help this council

through so much. he was a real bridge builder and we miss him and we love him. thank you. when i was in taipei. i visited with the language unit where he spent 3 hourz -- hours each day in heavy duty mandarin and he started to get really fluent in how to do that and then he had a half hour break and taught english for about another three hours and then he had one oun one lessons with other people. but, anyway, we understood that his students, his class wanted to meet with us. so i wenten and these were adults, women, and they were crying. they were

tearing up. i said, okay, where did derek usually sit. i pointed to an empty chair and so i sat there and was talking for a minute and i stood up. what they told me that he was so different that when he came into room, you might remember him saying this. hi, how are you doing? he was full of life and he was enthusiastic and it just changed the whole day. they said, we are going to miss that. and you know, we really don't know what to do. i said, okay, i looked at each one of them and pointed to them. i said okay, each one of you know how that felt to you, now each one of you in turn go

into the community, with your families and do the same thing. that was what derek zarda taught us is that he had compassion and wanted to help everyone he came in contact with. well, then each one of you all, everyone that he touched, if everyone replicates that, then he's still with us and he's still working through us. and that's what i would like to do in the time that i have left is to stop practicing law, thank you, thank you. and do something more in the line of what he was doing. >> thank you. >> through the chair? >> hi, ms. zarda. i am joanna. you know, i hate the fact that

everybody talked about derek who lived because derek still does. it's exactly based on what you said. his energy was able to touch everybody's life, he's still alive, his energy is all over the place. i remember actually the times that i found out about derek's passing. i was homesick and carla called me at home and she said you wouldn't believe this. derek passed in taipei. i had a fever that day and it was unbelievable. i woke up the next day and i went back to the office and said could i have dreamed this? it couldn't be. it felt so surreal. and from one mother

to another. my coworker and i were talking about the fact that there is no words to describe the person who is left behind is a child that is an unnatural order, right? >> that's right. >> i'm sorry, i'm stealing donna's quotes here. a widow, an orphan, there is no words to describe that. he was doing a great job of carrying on your amazing son's legacy. to help with you that, i'm going to give you some brief stories and funny things about derek because he's also a really funny young man. >> oh yes. >> the good thing about somebody being memorialized that way is that he will always remain a young man. he

doesn't age, he doesn't lose his spark. >> i don't think he would have ever lost his spark. i think he energizes everyday. >> one thing about derek, he was able to be open about having adhd and he was able to refocus his energy. oftentimes we were in meetings together he would go off in a tangent and his timer would go off and i would say, time to refocus, derek. i'm just thinking as a parent, what a great parenting step. i'm going to use this with my

children. he took the timer to taipei with him. he didn't use it in college. >> he did use it in college. that's what he said. >> he also used a dry board so he can refocus on what he was there for. >> my other favorite quintessential derek is his, but i have a question. so and which is actually what we said in his last meeting here. when he would have his presentations you just heard mr. dufty talk about the housing project and the homeless navigation center. you know, cochair,

supanich, with all do respect. he asked too many questions. if derek was here, we wouldn't be out until tomorrow because he had so many questions for everybody. the joke between among all of us after he left the council to fly to taipei was that, our meetings are going to start running on time now because derek wouldn't be asking all these questions. so i hope i make you laugh a little bit because through the laughter is the energy that we channel derek back. i'm not going to give you the credit of raising a great son, yeah, the genetics are part of it but he's also our son and our friend as he is yours. we are just here for you. like i was telling jessie, this

was his family too. it was very comforting to know that, you know, he wasn't alone in san francisco. he was every bit at home wherever he was. i know you are running long here. but let me share one real quick story of derek with his adhd. i have add and we are a lot alike. imagine that. anyway, he was getting ready to go to japan while he was in college at ku and while he was given a scholarship. he was a student scholar. so he and others from ku went to japan. they had to leave the airport at 6:00 a.m.. meaning he had to be there at 5:00. we spent all night long trying to get him packed. and we weren't clicking. we weren't getting

the job done and it got to be 3:00, 330 we were passing each other on the stairs to the living room, to the laundry room. i said wait, have you taken your meds, and he says no, did you? i said no. okay, then. so we retreated. we got our meds down and he got packed to the airport as they were lining up and his group was just getting ready to load on the plane. but he got there. anyway, that's an adhd story. thanks very much. council. >> thank you. we wish you luck in your endeavors and we would like you to think of us as an extended

family. we are opening up to public comment for anyone who would like to share any stories about derek. and also on the bridge line. thank you. >> is there any public comment at this time?

>> what i want to point out. i understand that you are talking about derek and i understand you are talking about derek. anyway not really clicking in my brain at this point right now. if you have a picture of derek, if you would show who you are talking about. if you have a picture of derek on the screen on somewhere down below. or something about derek, we would know who you are talking about. people listening you talking about derek, people may not know who he was or forget who derek is. that's my advice. i will let you know my idea. >> thank you for your comments. >> i think carla is sharing a

picture now. >> that's my idea. we have few people who would know now. >> yeah, it's showing now. this is a picture of derek zarda. >> okay. we are going back here in kind of pecking order of council member kostanian would like to say a few words about derek. i'm sorry. it took time to collect my thoughts and put it in something of a positive value. derek life was because he loved and respected life and

humanity. it was very evident that derek did everything with endless joy. he did what he loved but wanted you to love it also. i had a very difficult time understanding things. maybe i have adhd also, but he would take the patience and explain it to me and all of a sudden a light would go on my head. how come no one every explained it to me like that. he was remarkable. nothing like derek i had ever met. my heart will never forget derek. i'm honored i knew derek and had those moments in time with him. i will remember derek lifelong. thank

you. >> talking about you too. talked about all of you on the council and the different things and times you shared together. >> thank you, council member, kostanian for those beautiful words. we are going to take a break now.