>> thanks, everybody. i'm just the face of a board that has been from the beginning together with us and we've been working and moving and dealing with whatever happens. by order of a rival here, al harris. [applause] if i say your name, would you raise your hand if you're back there still? alex? over here? neil ballard. tom? over here. mel flores. sharon everhart.

i'd also like to acknowledge two of our former board members. one of whom has moved on, or both of whom who moved on. steve courier. and supervisor safai was on our board. and one more acknowledgment here before i say a few words about the history of the project. marry harris at the district 11 council was always ready. [applause] and also advocating for this project. even when i wasn't there, she was working on it. lots of times. thank you, mary. let me go back to the beginning how this all happened. one more person. christie. who took over when al adams left

the school and has been carrying on as well as he was carrying on in the beginning. they provide us with all kinds of meeting rooms and classrooms and offices over the years. that's a great contribution to on organization trying to put together a space. let me go back to -- actually this sign is historic. it was put together by muni. in the year after they stopped trying to demolish the buildings. in 1989 to be exact, this complex was red-tagged. muni pursued a 10-year process which resulted in an eir, saying

there are bricks that might fall from this brick structure. and therefore someone might get hurt, so the buildings have to be demolished. we persuaded them, or explained to them at historic preservation advisory committee that we could repair the bricks and the building wouldn't fall apart and it wouldn't hurt anybody. and we could use it for a community center. it took until january of 1999, when mayor brown issued an order to muni to stop their efforts. and work with us to fix the building. in 2001, this being san francisco, muni proposed and

carried out a neighborhood celebration for the 100th anniversary of the geneva car barn. so in 2002, the nonprofit friends of the geneva office building and power house was formed. in 2003, we partnered with rec park informally, because rec park didn't own the building then. we worked with the two agencies a little bit. and muni readily agreed to give it up for $1. so it was a bargain. [laughter] in 2004, we started working on the project.

the office building over there was stabilized, with a new roof. this one wasn't stabilized at the time, it didn't need a new roof, but now it does. >> this is why we want to move -- >> yes. that's true. [laughter] the 2012 parks bond was the perfect opportunity to get this thing funded. it didn't happen because of the bureaucratic situation our organization was in. we couldn't participate in it. so that opportunity went away. 2015, the arts commission and oewd jumped in again to try to move the project forward. the proposal was to do it in phases. this is phase i. we're celebrating the ground

breaking of the beginning -- or the phase i effort. i want to thank, acknowledge mary murphy from gibson dunn, architecture services by aidan darling design. we've already met. [applause] >> finally, the message of this message is phase i, great as it is provides only 3,000 square feet and one room. we also need phase ii, which is that side over there, with i has 17,000 square feet, many rooms and spaces of different sizes to

multiply the number of events and activity we can have here at one time. thank you. [applause] >> ok. we're going to keep moving. but one brief correction, this project actually does have $3 million in 2012 clean and safe neighborhood park fund money. so lots of funding from lots of different sources. so we're very proud of that. now, let's turn to the future. we've talked about the past. let's talk about the future. i'd like to bring up tom, from the arts commission, to introduce cass and the arts performing workshop to talk about what comes next. >> thank you, phil. it's so exciting to be here this

morning. i have the privilege of being part of this project for the last six years and as a neighbor, i can't thank my community neighbors enough for this fight over the years. i know we have plenty of work ahead, but i'm committed as a partner at the arts commission to making that happen. this is a neighborhood with one of the highest density of children, youth and families in all of san francisco. it's also a neighborhood that lacks a cultural facility like many of the other neighborhoods in san francisco, so it is overdue that we finally have a premiere cultural center in district 11. [applause] and it's exciting because it's not just this facility that is happening, we are also about to break ground on the art center with our partner art span.

and we continue to work with incredible partners like youth art exchange, art span, performing arts workshop and all the arts and culture organizations that service and work in district 11. it's also the home to a growing number of artists as it's one of the last remaining affordable neighborhoods. so, before i get to introduce our tamazing arts partner, this includes a public art project as part of the build-out and we have three incredible finalists. hank willis thomas, allison peb

worth and they'll be putting together proposals for art in the building. we look forward to sharing that with you and getting input. i am so thrilled to introduce our partners at the community stabilization trust. we were hosting the deputy mayor of london and colleagues from london who are here to host a summit this november. one of the things they've been so excited about in san francisco is the community arts stabilization trust, otherwise known as cast. cast was founded through a grant from a foundation and work with the office of economic and workforce development in the community loan fund as a holding company. they've helped save a number of arts in san francisco and have been critical partners in making sure the arts remain a critical part of san francisco. i'm sad that their executive director can't be here this morning, she's not feeling well, but so honored to introduce

their director of real estate and partnerships and i'd like to welcome her up to say a few words about the project. >> thank you, tom. good morning, everyone. friends and long time supporters of the geneva car barn project. i am so excited to represent cast as the director of real estate and partnerships and on behalf of the executive director, our staff and board of directors, we're so honored to be a part of this long-coming project. and we're excited to be part of the activation of the geneva car barn and power house. today is an important day and we're here to celebrate the ground breaking. let's give it up for the san francisco, the rec and parks department and the wonderful members of district 11 for whom this building is going to an

instrumental part of the neighborhood. [applause] just to share a bit about cast work. we're a nonprofit in the business of cultural place keeping, through keeping arts and culture here in san francisco. we've done so through the support of a cohort of vision airs, generous funders and completed our first two projects with luggage store gallery and, stabilizing two nonprofit cultural centers in the central market and tenderloin neighborhoods of san francisco. we can't wait to do more. we're excited to do so through the rehabilitation of this phase. a culturally rich and historic asset we've all known has been vacant for a very long time. our role is modest as cast. we've entered into a long-term

lease with the city's rec and park department and we're looking forward to participating in the redevelopment and long-term operations of this space. as phil and a number of others have mentioned, we joined the chores of leaders for -- chorus of leaders. we're fortunate to be working closely with performing arts workshop, a nonprofit organization that has over 50-year history of providing youth oriented arts education programming and we're excited to have them be the anchor tenant of this space and look forward to the reactivation of the building. i want to say how proud cast is to share this moment with all of you and we're eagerly anticipating the reopening of the geneva car barn and power house for arts and culture in our community. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. so next it's my proud honor to

introduce emily, the executive director of performing arts workshop. for those of you that don't know, i have the honor of serving as executive director of performance workshop for nine years. i see my predecessor, jessica, who is a district 11 neighbor, who is now program officer with the foundation which has been a long time funder of workshop, this project and a number of other cast projects. so please welcome emily garvey. >> thank you, everyone. i want to say first of all, what an unbelievable honor it is to be taking the baton along with cast in this final lap of the marathon that the renovation of the power house and car barn has been. when i walk into this space with

folks, which i've done a lot over the last 11 months, everybody's breath is taken away and they comment on the light. i say, yeah, i know, but can you imagine what it's going to be like when the windows are done, there is going to be three times the light in here. that's not going to hold a candle to how bright and alive this place is going to feel when it's renovated and filled with community members and children. the light and power generated by our youth engaged in the arts is going to rad yat past these walls out into the community and supervisor safai said, draw the district 11 community and beyond into this space and into district 11. we are so honored to be part of that process. when the power house programming is in full swing, we look forward to working with an additional 2400 community

members and youth a year. we will be activating this space constantly. there will be young childhood programming in the space during the day, after-school programming, we'll be working with a variety of community partners talked about today, acting as a convener for the assets that exist to run adult programming, family arts programming. activate this space as a performance venue. it's going to be a rich and vibrant facility. currently we work with 4200 kids a year, around 90 spaces. public school, preschools, after-school, transition housing for homeless families and we're excited to come to district 11 to put down deep roots in this community that we've been working in for 40 years. we're thrilled about that.

it's fitting that the doors are wide open. when we come into this space, usually we walk in through the back and it's incredible to see the open door there. it is metaphoric in that when we are here as residents of the geneva power house, there will always be an open door. we're so excited to fill this space with arts and culture and the incredible energy of young people. thank you. >> so mayor lee used to say, i'll keep it short. because i am. it's too late for that. but i'm going to put the microphone back. all right. here we are. i would ask everybody to come up and grab the group assembled here, you're all welcome.

grab a piece of the shovel. we're going to turn some dirt. and then we're going to welcome you all back in early 2019 to the geneva car barn and power house. thank you, everybody. [applause] three, two, one! [cheers and applause] [ ♪ ]

good morning and welcome to the community and assessment services center. today's event focuses on our efforts specific to the firearm compliance and safety initiative. this initiative is a collaborative efficient toen sure the -- effort to ensure the removal of guns from our communities. the adult probation department

plays a critical role in the process as outlined in new responsibilities defined in proposition 63. the safety for all act. these new responsibilities coupled with the sheriffs department work in recovering a firearm from restrained persons is at the very core of the work we do to promote public safety. many thanks to those individuals who have joined us this morning and their continued support to keep our communities safe from gun violence. specifically, mayor mark farrell, supervisor stefani, supervisor sheehy, chief freeno representing sheriff hennessey. chief bill scott from the san francisco police department. beverly upton and the domestic violence consortium. it is truly my distinct

privilege to introduce mayor mark farrell, a long time advocate for gun control and safety. as district 2 supervisor, mr. farrell introduced anti-gun ordinance to 2015 which was subsequently approved by the board of supervisors. this gun control package was intended to fill gaps that existed in federal, state and local oversight of firearm dealers and ammunition sales. this included requiring the video taping of all gun and ammunition sales within san francisco and required the regular storage and electronic transmission of ammunition sales data to the san francisco police department. as district 2 supervisor, mr. farrell introduced a safe gun storage and trigger lock law apooreded by -- approved by the board of supervisors in 2016. this mandated that all be kept

in a locked container or be disabled by a trigger lock. as district 2 supervisor, mr. farrell announced his intention to introduce a gun restriction law after the krissy field rally in 2017. as you recall, an alt-right group, requested a permit to hold a rally. there was a city-wide response to prevent the rally from becoming violent against the anti-immigrant national rhetoric. ultimately, the group withdrew from holding the rally, citing safety concerns for their own members. as you can see, our mayor of san francisco has been a true advocate of gun safety and gun control. please join me in welcoming mayor mark farrell. [applause] >> thank you. thank you, chief fletcher. i want to thank you for your

hard work. i want to thank the police department, chief, thank you for being here, the sheriffs department and supervisor stefani and sheehy, who have been leaders and beverly upton and doctor. it's an honor to be here. recent events across the country unfortunately have brought gun reform and control questions back to the forefront. we did not learn from columbine and sandy hook and we're faced with another mass shooting in one of our schools in the parkland shooting in florida just a couple of weeks ago. as congress continues to stick its head in the sand on the issue, it is up to state and local governments to counteract and to do everything we can locally to protect the sanctity of life for our residents. i was honored last week to join the walkout with the school along with supervisor sheehy, which is in district 8.

with the high school students there. at 10:00 a.m. i know schools across the country and right across the entire san francisco were participating in the walkouts. very proud of our students and local leaders here in san francisco for all of the efforts they did in terms of walking out and demonstrating their own first amendment rights, but also the voice of the next generation. this is a fight that doesn't end today or tomorrow. this is going to be the next generation of americans that will carry this issue forward and make a difference in the country. so inspiring to be there at the high school last week, watching students in israel walk out of their classrooms, watching students in iceland walking out, in solidarity with the youth of the united states of america. we are not alone in this fight. for once, last week, instead of fighting against d.c. which we do constantly in san francisco, we were fighting with

generations of young children across the entire globe. it was incredibly inspirational. unfortunately, the nra continues however to dominate politics in washington d.c. and as chief fletcher kindly mentioned, as a supervisor, thanks to the leadership and producing of my legislative aid, now supervisor catherine stefani, we worked on a number of gun control laws in san francisco during my time. chief among them, a law that then forced the last gun store in san francisco to leave our city limits and to shut down. as i was trending on twitter with the nra because of all the hatred they were spewing toward us in san francisco, toward me personally as a legislator, we told people in the community in san francisco, we would rather see a preschool or grocery store, as opposed to a gun store. that's what we need more of in san francisco.

very proud to have seen that go through. and then to see lieutenant-governor newsom and his efforts with prop 63. huge credit to lieutenant-governor for his efforts and bold leadership on so many issues here a san francisco and across the state. specifically around gun control. chief among the parts of prop 63 and what we're here today to talk about and announce, is the ability for local law enforcement personnel, for our sheriff's department to confiscate for guns. we want less guns. we will never pander to the nra here in san francisco. guns do not belong on our streets in san francisco. and i am proud to be here today

along with chief fletcher because since prop 63 was enaced on january 1 of this year, our adult probation department has done heroic efforts and their case load has skyrocketed through the roof in the ability to confiscate firearms from homes here in san francisco. firearms we do not want to appear on our streets. we do not want them in the hands of san francisco residents. because of the work they've been doing, and because of what we are seeing into the future, today we're announcing that we're funding in this upcoming budget, close to $1 million of new funding for the probation department alone to make sure they have the staffing they need. 500 will be hired, so they have the staffing they need. because these people are going to be working full-time to get the guns off the streets of san francisco, i cannot think of a

better priority for the budget. i want to thank everyone for being here today. i want to thank chief fletcher for her leadership on this issue. this is something that everyone behind me supports. this is something the entire san francisco supports and as mayor of san francisco, this is something i will never forget and we will always prioritize in our city government. thank you, everybody. [applause] >> thank you, mayor farrell. it is a tremendous amount of dedication and support you have committed to this effort. and we thank you very much and on behalf of the residents of san francisco, i know each of them feels safer with having you committed to such an effort. thank you. it is now my pleasure to introduce supervisor catherine stefani, supervisor is ardent advocate for gun control.

supervisor stefani is familiar with district 2 and all of their concerns as she worked as an aide to both micayla, and now mayor farrell for nine years when they each serveds the district 2 supervisor. in february 2018, supervisor stefani. join me in welcoming supervisor stefani. >> thank you. first i want to thank mayor farrell for committing to the funding to make sure we comply with proposition 63 passed in 2016. a clear mandate from california voters that they wanted to keep weapons out of the hands of felons. and to make sure that after

they're convicted, their weapons are actually confiscated. it is not by sent that this -- accident that this proposition passed. as a gun violence activist for two decades, i have seen support for commonsense gun support continue to grow as we're inundated with devastating stories and gruesome scenes of gun violence every day in this country. more than 90 americans are shot and killed and hundreds more injured every single day in america. our gun homicide rate is 25 times higher than that of other developed nations making this a uniquely american crisis. i also want to mention in light of the fact that we're celebrating women's history month, the board of supervisors today, that gun violence disproportionately affects women who are 16 times more likely to be shot and killed in america

than peer nations. 50 women are shot to death in a month by current or former partner. 4.4 million american women have been threatened with guns and guns are weapon of choice in domestic violence murders. women are the victims of mass shootings. as a mother and i know i speak for millions of other mothers, we are tired of sending our children to school to participate in lockdown drills, preparing for mass shootings and wondering if you're children's school could be next. there was a school shooting today at a high school in maryland. one is dead. one is in critical condition. a woman. and another has serious injuries. it is time to stop this madness and i praise the students who walked out last week. i went into the crowd and told them, thank you, you are the

next generation. you're going to help us solve this. i was so moved last week by their activism. i know they're going to be the force that helps change and turn the tide on this horrible epidemic in our country. proposition 63 will make california the first state in the nation to require all prohibited criminal offenders to provide proof that they sold or transferred their firearms after their conviction. i want to really thank lieutenant-governor newsom for everything he did to make sure the proposition passed. i would also like to thank chief fletcher for doing everything you can, beginning january 1, to make sure your team and san francisco is following the law and removing illegal guns from dangerous individuals. i also want to thank the efforts of the department of the status of women and our family council

led by beverly upton, for their important work. and chief scott with the chair, we cannot do this work without all our partners. i am so proud to join the mayor today and the colleagues up here in supporting additional funding to make sure that san francisco is removing guns from violent offenders and following the letter of the law. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, supervisor stefani. we're pleased to have with us today, supervisor jeff shery. he was appointed by mayor lee in 2017 and serveses as the chair of the public safety and neighborhood services committee. 20 years ago, mr. sheehy helped create and defend san francisco's historic equal benefits ordinance. making san francisco the first city in the country to require employers with city contracts to offer equal benefits to the domestic partners of their

employees. supervisor sheehy recently declared support for the march 20, 2018, march for our lives, where commonsense gun reform and commended the students in san francisco and around the nation for leading a movement to demand commonsense gun laws and school safety measures. please help me welcome supervisor sheehy to the podium. [applause] >> thank you, chief. you know, the movement by the kids has really been inspiring. my 13-year-old daughter at her middle school, public middle school here, her whole class, whole school participated. to see this next generation take the baton and show leadership in fighting against the scourge of guns is something that i am so proud to see. what i also find very

interesting is having watched the kids from florida, they're insistent on not being coopted by politicians like myself and insistent on driving the movement themselves for the nation. i'm particularly focussed on this day, on the issue of domestic violence. i actually -- i think maybe worked in 850 brian. i worked for the district attorney as a victim advocate for victims of domestic violence. i think in almost no other setting is it more important to get weapons out of hands of the people who are committing the crimes. i know from my experience that the vulnerability of women, the intense fight to escape the power and control of the men who are abusing them, is a huge challenge. and the irrationality that

surrounds the perpetrators, they're focus on maintaining power and control, even to the point of killing their victims, killing the family of their victims. i think -- it's one of the most dangerous situations i believe for a police officer to be put into, walking into a domestic violence situation. it disproportionate number of murders happen to victims of domestic violence. and so i really want to salute the effort to get the funding to make sure that no guns remain in the hands of people who commit domestic violence. so again, i want to thank the city for the initiative. thank you, mayor, for your leadership and it's an honor to be here. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much for your support supervisor sheehy. it is my pleasure to introduce

beverly upton. she serves as the executive director of san francisco's domestic violence consortium. a 7-member panel of domestic violence organizations and their supporters committed to the effective delivery of services and public policy. ms. upton has actively supported individuals who have lost loved ones to domestic violence. through court hearings, and regularly attending community events to promote domestic violence awareness. ms. upton and the department on the status of women have worked with the sheriff's department and the probation department to identify those crossovers to collaborate to keep the guns off our streets. please join me in welcoming beverly upton. [applause] >> thank you, chief, thank you, mayor farrell, thank you to the doctor for her leadership and everybody who is with us today.

i am also proud to be one of the tri-chairs of san francisco's family violence council and it shows that domestic violence threats with weapons are up 50% in san francisco. we have to stop this trend and this will help us. this weekend alone, the thousand oaks mall shooting started with a domestic violence incident. the parkland shooter was set off by relationship that ended poorly. who knows what got the young man that shot today at his high school in delaware? but as supervisor sheehy reminds us, domestic violence is at the kernel of so many of these dangerous mass shootings and taking entire families out around the country. this weekend in brooklyn, a family was shot and killed.

four members of a family. including a one-year-old. there have been 15 calls of domestic violence to this household. the gun was still in the home. the prerp traitor of the domestic -- perpetrator of the domestic violence took out four of his family members. we have taken every effort in all of our careers to make sure this doesn't happen here in san francisco. we need to take the guns out of the hands. perhaps getting the gun out of the house in brooklyn would have saved lives. it's a first step, we have more work to do. we hope to see other programs this year, but it is a first step. it's a first step toward safety and healing and as chief karen said, safety for all.

we're hopeful. i'm hopeful and i hope you're hopeful, too. thank you so much. [applause] >> thank you, beverly, you are a champion for victim rights throughout the city and beyond and we appreciate your efforts. as stated over and over today, proposition 63 is a historic and unprecedented step forward for gun safety in california. this really is an effort to bring agencies together to ensure the safety of the residents of this jurisdiction. and we are certainly proud to be part of that. since the implementation of this mandate, the adult probation department has received 63 referrals for investigation. we see all kinds of people come through the department and people referred and it is

critically important to work together to identify where individuals have legal weapons and illegal weapons in their possession that are going to result in crimes and death. we support and applaud the support that we have from our board of supervisors and from our criminal justice agencies. each of them has been a viable partner in making this proposition a reality in terms of how we can implement and save lives. the adult probation department is pleased to partner in this process of removing guns from prohibited persons. we look forward to the collaboration with the sheriff department, police department, board and mayor farrell in making this a reality. we thank you for attending today to support the city's efforts in this initiative. we certainly at the close of this press conference will be open to questions. so again, thank you so much for being here and supporting the effort.

and we look forward to the collaboration in the future. thank you. [applause] ou all for coming here

tonight for the good government awards. special thanks to spur for all that you do on behalf of the city and behalf of our bay area. it is an honor to be here as the

mayor to recognize the award winners and to thank spur for all your hard work. on behalf of our city to the people that workday to day at spur and board of directors thank you for all you do. i want to quickly recognize the award winners real quick. congratulation to sonali bose. round of applause. i've had a chance to work with her for years and does an amazing job. sonali, congratulations on your award. to kelly cornell. where are you? stand up. say hello to everyone. the chief urban forester for our rec and part accident does work not without controversy so thank you for all you do. jesus mora. right there, our chief information officer with our fire department.

thank you for being here and all you do with our fraud technology and fire department. thank you very much. congratulations on your awards. where's the entire dahlia housing portal team? this is a group that streamlined our affordable online housing service. thank you on behalf of so many people congratulations to you and to our encampment resolution team. these are the individuals making a huge difference on our streets. i see mohamed and jeff with you. thank you for all you do on behalf of the city. listen, congratulations everyone. i hope everyone has a wonderful evening and i'd like to bring up two amazing people our city starter and jason elliott.

>> good evening, everyone. so this time last year we were at the impact awards and mayor lee came up here and we had a long-running joke that i've been with the city almost 20 years and i never got an impact award. he said the same thing too because you know he started his career and he mentioned that when he gave his remarks. i thought about it this year about all the thing he did, not as mayor because as mayor you have a 33,000 workforce so you have an idea they move heaven and earth to try to implement it if you can through the bureaucracy and we get wonderful programs that come out of the mayor's idea and board of supervisors ideas, but as city

administrator he allowed other people to get the awards. one as city administrator he implemented 3-1-1. he was the one who worked with the deputy city administrator ben rosenfeld who got the call senator off the ground. as city administrate, unfortunately, the events of hurricane katrina happened and he was with the public utilities commission and traveled to new orleans and was with an activist who now the mayor of new orleans and started the life line council. out of that started the neighborhood empowerment network and made sure our city was resilient. when i talk about he didn't just say i have an idea, he rolled up his sleeves writing the standard

operating procedures and going back to the department of public works he started the community team event and mohammad was working as the deputy director it's now part of our institution we take for granted it's government. it's his hard work and rolling up his sleeves with great deputies who had many of these events put in place. with that i think we should honor him with the impact award. i think gabe is going to figure that out. >> thank you, naoimi. naoimi and i since mid december have had the honor and i could say the privilege and pleasure of going to events that we get to remember mayor lee and talk about his legacy and what he meant to us and the city and to

the kelly family. it's so much fun to go under the terrible circumstances and get to go around mayor lee and his legacy. it's not often we get to do this in a group of committed public servants, bureaucrats in the nicest way you can mean that word and when we talk about mayor lee's legacy and the thing naoimi mentioned we're so aware his legacy, which we're committed to, is the work you are doing. you're the ones fulfilling his legacy and those of us who work inside the building depend on those at m.t.a. finance and the resolution teams and the departments doing all the good work. that's mayor lee's legacy. it's not often we get to come and celebrate him but do so in a way where we're able to look out

and say thank you because it's your work that's your legacy we're proud to keep moving forward. congratulation to all the winners of the impact awards and have a good time tonight. >> it feels so right to celebrate mayor lee on a moment when we're celebrating the great work of city employees and his passion and compassion and doggedness to get stuff done is reflective in the work you have done. i have worked on two initiatives with the city of san francisco i think will forever change the course of history. one was as a young lawyer on the same-sex marriage case back in 2004 which was a series of litigation that gave rise to prop 8 overturned by the supreme court validating gay marriage and the second was saving public housing.

it was a super courageous thing mayor lee did. others might say those are federal buildings, federally funded, not my problem and he did the opposite and said we're a wealthy city. we have wealth of knowledge and treasure and talent and we're going to take over the buildings. and those are the kind of entrepreneurial courageous feat we celebrate in the city. the private sector, technology, doesn't have a monopoly on entrepreneurship. it exists in city hall as well. we're excited to hear the stories from you. i want to recognize our elected officials today. carmen chu and dennis herrera, hilary ronman and former mayor willy brown. also our sponsors for this event, rich housing corporation and san francisco international

airport as well as our city government sponsors and chris pruell our finance adviser thank you for your support and partnership. so with that, let's begin. the first award goes to the dahlia housing portal team. >> dahlia stands for the housing information. >> was onerous. you had to go to the developer and turn in the application and they then gave you a circus ticket. if you lost it you didn't know

your lottery number. was i in it and you had to fill out an application for each and every development. there was not one place to find out about affordable house. >> we're trying to create a one-stop resource. we have a good guide to how affordable housing works where you can find it. >> the challenge for us was to build this electronic system but make it very accessible and get all that information into the one place. >> now, every application is accounted for with the dahlia system. people are feeling better about knowing where they stand right up front. we're also able to hook people up with subsidy program this way and providing better resources. we checked to see if people are eligible for certain housing preferences which gives them an extra advantage in the lottery and if they look like they

qualify we'll nudge them and say hey, you have a chance. dahlia can eventually shape housing policy where it's constructed and what kind is built. >> we're build the community in terms of deciding what their priorities are. >> we have a new source of data on what people are looking for and hope it will provide useful information as the city continues to grow the affordable house stock. >> we are so proud of the dahlia team. they have taken on a huge task. they've gone through it methodically with great results and we couldn't be happier with their work. >> this is the epitome of good service. a flagship of what digital services is all about. thank you for your hard work and dedication. this is an award well deserve. -- deserved.

[applause] . >> naoimi and i would like to invite the dahlia housing portal team to the stage. and from digital services, ashley myers. we're pleased to present this award to this team that's done so much to help so many in san francisco. >> we're pleased to receive it. didn't we look like the mod squad walking through? a variation. good evening, thank you so much. on behalf of michael and barie and ashley we're honored by the recognition. it takes many farmers to grow a beautiful dahlia.

dahlia is the name of our system and first of all, i want to thank our director kate hartley and brian chu. benjamin mccloskey and mayor lee for their support and encouragement getting this program off the ground. we have made a difference in the lives of people applying for affordable housing at a time when the need and the assistance is most needed. the team who work every day on making the dahlia system even better. i'm not going to say all their names. there are six of them that work with us every day to test the system ocd, city employees who have spent countless hours

working on the system. the mayor's office of civic innovation, especially jay nap and christa kenoakis hooked us up with our googlers. yay, google. they gave us four months of their time of staff time to help us develop the dahlia system and make it really meet the needs of people who are going to use it. we had have a dahlia steering committee. i want to thank the dahlia steering committee and the office of community investment and infrastructure. that commission, thank you for your support and encouragement but also those tough questions that kept us honest. the wonderful dahlia task force.

a lot of times local government will create a system and say, here, there it is. use it. we didn't do that. we created this system bit by bit and each bit we had housing counselors and developers and nonprofit and for-profit testing the system. i'm going to call out roshen because she never gets a call out. the builders and designers of the system who have worked on the ground with applicants and people actually living in the cities of affordable house rental stock. wouldn't be here without you guys. thank you very much. code for america and your

invaluable contribution. i'm almost done. we need to thank the folks that were part of the user testing. the mayor's office of disability. light house for the blind and the many current residents of affordable housing and applicants. a special shout out to kuritas property management who gave up their time and tested the system. they were the first leasing private developer in the inclusionary housing program to jump in and use the dahlia system, took the leap of faith and they were our guinea pigs and sat through our project fixes and bugs and it is changing the lives of people applying more than we can