available. >> president turman: okay. so -- >> commissioner ong hing: and one more thing to add. that would be consistent with the next -- right under that, that's part one, right, on that page? part two, which is right under that is officers shall not use these weapons on handcuffed or restrained persons unless the subject's behavior causes intermediate risk, so it would actually be consistent with part two of that section. >> can i ask a question. i need to hear an example of how that would work because i'm picturing a pregnant women that's creating a danger to people around here. you're saying you don't want a tazer to be used, but you're saying a club could be used. >> commissioner ong hing: no. i'm saying in thosition situations where she's creating a danger to other people, then, it could be used. [ inaudible ] >> commissioner ong hing: short of that circumstance.

>> commissioner hirsch: so isn't that the case now? that's the policy that we're about to adopt now? hing hi >> commissioner ong hing: no. the policy is something they might consider, but it's not a mandate that they use it. >> commissioner dejesus: second the motion. >> president turman: it's not a motion. >> commissioner dejesus: i'm sorry. second the amendment. >> president turman: we're going to take a straw poll on that. all in favor of -- generally take a straw poll on whether or not we would be interested in -- substitute in the language that commissioner ong hing has suggested for the -- a special consideration as it relates to vulnerable populations? let me just see a show of hands if you would be interested in adding that language in. okay. all right. so next, director henderson. >> i just wanted to clarify, again, on that training.

i think there's a misunderstanding in the 1(b) section. >> president turman: i'm sorry. we're voting here. [ inaudible ] >> president turman: all right. commissioners, any -- any -- any comments from commissioners? >> commissioner hirsch: yes. i'm still hearing from the dpa that our language does not include 40 hours of c.i.t. training. that includes only the field tactics training which is 20 hours. i'm voting on this with the representation and the belief that it's 40. >> president turman: and that was the representation that i got at the -- at the stakeholders group, and that's what i specifically said should be included. what is -- what is the position of the department? >> the department -- the department does not object to the 40-hour training. who can argue with more training? >> president turman: you what? >> who can argue with more training. we can't object to that. >> president turman: so the

training now the 40-hour training and the 20-hour training. >> commissioner, i don't believe it spells it out. >> president turman: it doesn't say 40 and 20, but the two trainings, i understand, are 40 hours and 20 hours. is that correct? >> that is correct. it doesn't state that. >> president turman: it doesn't state the number of hours, but that's what they are, is that correct? >> that's what they will be, yes. >> president turman: do we need it to specifically say 40 and 20. >> commissioner hirsch: no, that's what they are. >> president turman: all right. >> commissioner dejesus: 'cause when i asked that question, i was told they were only going to do the 20 hours c.i.t. training. >> president turman: there are two trainings. one's a 40 hour, and one's a 20 hour. all right. any other commissioner comments? director henderson. you had a button on. >> it was. it was about the training that you just clarified on that

issue. 40 hours for c.i.t. >> president turman: all right. i have a -- i have the motion to approve dgo 5.02 and appendix(a) to that dgo as revised specifically through the amendment process of this commission. based on the straw vote. before we go on thto that, i de an amendment. we have no duty to meet and confer with the p.o.a. on this, so that language is struck out. what the department has to do is them, but this commission has no duty to send this to the -- to the p.o.a., and i don't -- you know, what the department does is what the department does, but i don't have to approve -- i don't need the p.o.a.'s permission, and i have -- there's state law that

says i don't -- case law on this, so i am not approving a measure that says the p.o.a. has to meet and confer on. what the department has to do, what they -- the agreements they've made, that's on them. there's no agreement by this commission to do that. so that part, struck out. do you accept that amendment? >> commissioner hirsch: i second it. >> if it's legal, yes. >> president turman: do you want me to call -- do you want me to call mr. crew up here and read the -- >> no. i don't. city policy -- >> president turman: the department can do what the department has to do. i'm telling you what the commission has to do. we don't have to send anything. >> you're the chair. thank you. >> president turman: all right. do you accept the amendment? >> i accept it if it's -- as i

said, under legal terms. >> president turman: mr. crew, do you have the case citation? >> no. >> president turman: i want the record to be clear. >> thank you, commissioner. i don't have the case on me. it's san jose police association. you have a copy filed by the aclu and the bar association. there was recently a leigh agu california cities case file that says this was decades of cases. >> president turman: thank you so much. so is it accepted? >> accepted to me. >> president turman: commissioner, is the amendment accepted? >> i accept it. >> president turman: all right. thank you. >> should we strike that? >> president turman: roll call vote? [ inaudible ] >> president turman: okay. do we need a roll call vote? roll call vote.

>> clerk: on the motion to approve dgo 5.02 and the appendix as revised by discussions and based on the straw vote as taken by the commissioners -- [ roll call. ]

>> clerk: the motion passes, 6-1 with commissioner hing in the disent. >> we are done. >> president turman: okay. secretary kilshaw, comments to the commission. >> report on recent police department activities including weekly events, major crime trends and announcements. >> commission, i'm going to keep this very brief. >> good. >> basically, i will start with

our crime statistics, and we're -- this is as of march 14th. good news to report in terms of how we are starting out compared to this time last year. we're 31% down in shootings, or shooting victims. we are -- sorry. wrong numbers. strike that. strike the -- let me make a correction. we are 8% down in homicides -- i mean, 27% down in homicides. we have eight this year, as opposed to 11 last year. we're up 1% slightly on assaults, and we're up slightly in terms of human trafficking cases reports, six opposed to two last year. property crimes we're down 33 is, burglaries down on motor vehicle thefts. we're up slightly 2.4% on arson and larceny thefts. i'd also like to say with

significant effort and collaboration on our auto burglary effort, we're actually 18% down year to date on auto burglaries. that's encouraging news, considering the past year of how we ended up in that category. special events, we had the student protest today that went well with no problems reported. this coming saturday, there's a st. patrick's day event, and a traffic safety operation with the ots grant, and that's actually happening tonight and on the 22nd and 28th, and that'll focus on bicycle pedestrian safety. this past week, we had our town hall and our most recently officer involved shooting. a lot of comments and passion from the community. we'll take those comments, and that definitely will be many of the things that we heard from the community will be considered in terms of the policies and the issues that

were raised. and it was a very, very well attended event with over 200 people, and we appreciate that the community was there to speak and let us hear from them, so that concludes my report. >> president turman: any questions for the chief? >> i'm going to report, i went to the sametu. >> president turman: all right. next. >> clerk: item eight, dpa director's report. report on recent dpa activities and announcements. >> several announcements -- no, i don't. i don't. my candidacy or pending candidacy has gone to the board today. it'll be referred again next week. in that time, my new investigators have come on board. i'm excited about them. they were here for tonight's meeting for the first time,

coming to a police commission. >> and they ran away. >> they were here for a long time. welcome to police commission, mbpa. i also have my chief of staff is here, thank you so much for your work. some of the other investigators were here tonight, too, in case anyone has any information for the dpa or complaints to make with my office, we are here and present. that's it. >> president turman: thank you. director henderson. any questions for director henderson? director henderson, i was unable to attend the rules committee meeting because i was -- this afternoon, but i heard some reports, and if anyone has not had a chance to read the six-month report from the dpa, i urge them to do so. you have made tremendous strides since taking the office. i wish i could have been there

to support you. i did send someone to speak on my behalf. thank you for the tremendous work that you and everyone in your office has been doing on behalf of us. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> president turman: next item. >> clerk: item 1-c, reports, commission president's report, commissioners' report. >> president turman: okay. i just had one small report. i just want to get this out. we will not be voting on item three. we will not be taking up item three, and i'm not about to make a political statement of any sort, but i do want to say this. i have heard some reports as of late from different news media and other folks. we as commission sat together and chose smart, progressive reforming independent minded

chief who is doing a fabulous job. he stepped out and made a decision that was tough to make. his decision is not reflective of a lack of care of officers or the people of san francisco. it is about judgment, it is about diligence, it is about overall care for this department and this community. i cannot thank you enough for the year-plus service that you have given the city and county of san francisco. i cannot thank you enough for all the things you do. now as plainly seen tonight, you and i don't always agree, and they should hear some of those, you know, regular meetings you and i have. they would really be shocked to hear that you and i don't agree, but what i do agree with is your ability to make informed decisions to standup and take the head, to do what

is right, to call it out when you think something's wrong, and that's what makes you a great chief, and that's what makes me hope that you are in san francisco for a very, very long time. thank you for your service. [applause]. >> president turman: there'll be no clapping. all right. >> i'd like to thank the commission for that. i thank you for the entire commission. i definitely -- i and the department appreciate what you do, as well, and your support, so thank you. >> president turman: commissioner dejesus. >> commissioner dejesus: so i want to echo. i want to thank you, commissioner turman for also being brave and letting the public know what we're doing here, rather than the hyperbole that has been put out in the public. but i was your representative. i did go to the monday night meeting in the mission, and it

was the first time that the public heard that 99 shots were fired by ten officers into this trunk of the car, but what was very disturbing to the neighborhood was it was a two-door, and so there was a teenage girl in the back seat, so she did exactly as instructed. put her hands up, but couldn't get out. she was sitting in the back seat when 99 shots were fired, and the mother was there and the teenagers were appalled that no one helped her get out of the car. they were taken aback by how quickly things happened, the shouting, shouting show your hands or i'm going to shoot you. no deescalation. they were really pointing out our own policy and saying wh e where's deescalation. they were very, very upset, but

some of the things they said is, you know, we cannot heal from the trauma if you continue to inflict trauma in our community, and it's like every time we're getting to a point where we're changing policy, we're working with the community, we're trying to be collaborative, the scab gets pulled off, so there was a lot of hurt, a lot of anger, a lot of shock about how this thing went down. people testified that their homes were shot, windows were broken. mothers had kids hiding in the bathtub because of the number of bullets that went down, the destruction of property in the middle of a very highly congested mission district. so they wanted to know, you know, thiey criticized us, the criticized dpa, and how do we ensure that the use of force policy is really being enforced, and how is it being enforced? the community policing dgo, and

they went through it, and part of the thing is the community's willing to help train the deescalation, who could have helped, who could have translated sooner if that was the issue. i have to tell you it was very emotional. there was a lot of great comments that were made, a lot of insight that were made, and those are the things that we need to hear. that's my report. >> president turman: thank you, commissioner. any other commissioner reports? thank you. next line item, please. >> clerk: item 1-d, commission announcements and scheduling of items identified for consideration at future meetings, action. >> president turman: commissioners, any items we need to schedule? okay. >> clerk: and just for members of the public, the next commission meeting westbound next wednesday, march 21st here

at city hall in room 400 beginning at 5:30 p.m. >> actually, commissioner dejesus brought up something very important that we need to make an announcement. as you know, we have a police commission staff, we have sergeant ware, we have sergeant kilshaw, but officer ryan jones of our office are proud to announce that he and his wife are the proud parent of justgen rye justgen -- justin ryan jones. congratulations, and i'm sure you're home watching us today. >> president turman: with that, public comment on items, i'm going to call it 1-a

through d. seeing none, public comment is now closed. all right. next line item, please. >> clerk: item four, general public comment. the public is now welcome to address the commission regarding items that do not appear on tonight's agenda but are within the subject matter jurisdiction. speakers hard address their remarks to the commission as a whole and not to individual commissioners and dpa or police personnel. neither police or dpa personnel nor commissioners are required to respond to questions presented by the public, but may provide a brief response. individual commissioners and police and dpa personnel should refrain however from entering into any debates or discussion with speakers during public comment. please limit your comments to two minutes. >> president turman: all right. understanding that it has been a long night, and we have pulled our hair out, and we have gone through this policy

several times, is there any public -- general public comment on items not on the agenda? >> tom gilberti. 99 bullets is a lot. it reminds me of mario woods with their five officers in that position with their guns drawn that we don't want to see anymore. i hope we can work on that. i hope we can work on that. the police are -- have a -- have a tough time. we just -- on the television within the last few days, we had a jaywalker who was killed. that rubs off on everybody. that's tough. i live in south beach ma reari apartments, and there was an episode today at south beach marina apartments. somebody was pulled in by the police. from what i understand, there were, like, 60 officers

surrounding a gentleman who was trying to hide from the police. i didn't hear about it. first i heard about it was in the elevator coming down to coming here. and this supposedly happen around noon. i heard the helicopter, and then, i heard a siren. i heard nothing else. so in that regard, if that happened, if that's true, congratulations for the police for not causing more of an alarm and causing more -- creating a situation that's more tense. i agree on -- on the tazers. >> president turman: tazers have already been discussed. move on. >> we need -- we need better. we need better. i would like to see how many -- deaths from tazers are going to happen. >> president turman: sir. >> and i would like to compare that with the number of deaths

that we have when we had the keratoid procedure. we have made a -- we have made a mistake. thank you. >> president turman: thank you. any further public comment? okay. seeing none, public comment is now closed. secretary kilshaw. >> clerk: adjournment. >> president turman: it comes about an hour and a half earlier than i anticipated. >> i move to adjourn. >> second. >> president turman: all in favor? thank you, ladies and gentlemen. this meeting is now adjourned.

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]

♪ >> supervisor jeff sheehy and i represent district eight, the castro, diamond heights. ♪ ♪

for me i think district eight is different than other districts because of the castro, right? that is really the birth place of lgbtq civil rights movement in san francisco. it's historic for that reason. it's a great district because it's very diverse. you have booming night life in the castro, a lot of families, we have an amazing array of parks, rock climbing wall in glen canyon is super cool. it was the first facility with a rock climbing wall. the book stores are treasures, charlie's corner is unique. >> charlie's corner is a children's book store but so much more, community space where care takers and children come together over storytelling, books, it's a gathering center.

i am charlotte and we are at charlie's corner on the corner of castro and 24th. the type of books we carry at charlie's corner range from prenatal to young adult, 18. we have musical books, art books, all built around children of course. history, nonfiction, we have a wonderful picture book section. >> i love going to charlie's corner, number one, because you can find a whole range of books. my kid loves to read books. >> i always envisioned a space like this, surrounded by children's books and storytelling. we offer storytelling four times a day. we do curate well, we do a lot

of time reading, researching, beyond the story time, it's going back to picking out a book, helping someone find the perfect book, unwrapping it and sending it off. there are people from all over the world and that's what i find so exciting. you see that every day in our story times. it's literally a melting pot. >> more and more families come into the district, whether it's the castro, strollers every where in the valley and tons and tons of kids in glen park now, with the canyon and a great library. >> i describe it as this village, i tell people i live in a town but i work in a village. >> one thing i really think is great about this district, it's a safe district, it's a clean district, it's great for kids, it's great for families and has a bit of wild life in it, too.

>> i look forward to watching these kids in this neighborhood grow up and new kids come in and meeting new people from all over the world because that's what we're all about. ♪ ♪ >> ok, i'm going to hop around like this, it is cold in here. that's dirt. this is a ground breaking. there is a big banner and if you've been involved in the project, you know that the banner has been up for a long time. it says the future of the neighborhood starts here. at long, long, long, long, long last, the future of the neighborhood starts here. applause line. [applause]

116 years after this building opened, 116 years. we are on the precipice of just an amazing transformation of this space. commissioner, can you -- this is just recent history back in the day when, i don't know what we were doing here, but trying to keep the thing still standing. so that in i think it was 2002 or 2003, mayor brown and then recreation and park general manager, elizabeth goldstein and i'm not who was running mta at the time -- dan? michael burns. so we were able to transform -- well, this property was given to the recreation and park department and, boy, were we

happy to get it, sort of. [laughter]. it's what i would call a fixer upper. and it has taken the last 16 or 17 years of sweat and desire and push and pull and push and pull. and leadership, which you're going to hear from today. and community leadership to get to where we are today. this really genuinely is the little project that could. and so here we are, it's just a joyous moment. mark buell, who is not here today. here's our mayor, but i meant to go over here to the commissioner. mark buell is president of the rec and park commission, and says it takes a village. this takes an entire city to pull this project off. and there are so many people to

acknowledge and thank. i'm going to that and then turn the microphone over to our mayor. there are a lot of people who have had some skin in the game here. let me read off the beginning of a list. obviously, let's start with the late mayor ed lee. who was here for -- [applause] our current mayor mark farrell who has been a park champion from the get go and helped make stuff happen. representing assemblyman phil ting. he delivered a total of $6.5 million of state funding, including $3.5 million for this project. our recreation and park vice president allan lowe, who has given this project all kinds of leadership at city hall.

we have representatives from the performing arts workshop here today. the community arts stabilization trust. you're going to hear from them. todd. joachim and amy, thank you, thank you, thank you. equity community builders who did the financing and historic preservation financing. officially the most complicated project in recreation and park department history. it makes the soccer fields seem like a cake walk. the san francisco community investment fund, sf, todd wearing two hats there, for the new market credit financing. darling design. former district 11 supervisor john ablows. let's give him a round of

applause. your district 11 supervisor, safai. the head of the arts commission, tom dekaty. department of public works, rob bot construction. i don't know if she's here, but our city attorney, she earned whatever she billed to this project, which was a lot, adira tailor. and two special people that i want to take an extra second to thank. there is a lot of other names i'm going to fill in over time. i want to thank two members of my own team. reama. and then nicole. come here, step up. this woman right here. [applause]

she started this project -- where is dan weaver -- working for friends of the geneva car barn. i stole her which made them -- you guys very upset. but you know, sometimes you can bang on the door from the outside and it takes somebody with nicole's talent to make it happen from the inside. this project does not happen without nicole abele. more thank yous to come, but let me turn over the microphone. the guy behind me has been all over the city, parks, parks, parks, there is other stuff to do, but all he cares about is parks, parks, parks, parks. mayor mark farrell. >> i think phil took care of the thanks, but let's give a round

for phil ginsburg, our general manager. thank you, phil. and to the entire rec and park staff, thank you for all the work you've done on the project. to assembly member phil ting, i know we're here in large part because of his efforts and want to thank supervisor safai. this was something he talked about when he was running for office. we talked about it in the board of supervisors. such an amazing advocate for the neighborhood. it was about 5-6 years ago that as a district 2 supervisor, weaver came to our office enough that we came here and went on a tour of this place a number of years ago. and so this has been an issue and project that because of the advocacy of so many of you has been in the forefront of peoples' minds.

who here is a neighbor? give yourself a round of applause. this is grassroots, built from the neighborhood, with a lot of support. but to cass and all the people making this work. i want to say thank you for everything you've done to get us to where we are. i'm curious about what is buried under the ground, looks suspicious to me. but this is phase one. advocacy does not stop in terms of the entire project, but thank you all for the work you've done, the leadership behind me. but really for the neighbors. and you know, continue to make sure that everybody knew this was a priority for you and what this will do for the neighborhood for years and generations to come is incredibly exciting. proud to be here today. thank you, everyone. [applause] >> so before i bring up the next speaker, i also want to give a big shoutout to beth ruebenstein who has supported this project

wearing a variety of hats. thank you, beth. so, this project has benefitted from the great leadership of two district 11 supervisors, but i am very, very proud to bring up the current district 11 supervisor, whom frankly we could not have asked for more from. he's helped power up our balboa park pool, scored funding for a dog play area, he just joined us last week at the opening of the geneva community garden down the street. which is amazing. he participated in the planning and design conversation to make the playground better. he was there to celebrate the bike project. this guy really fights for district 11 communities and parks and green space. ladies and gentlemen, supervisor safai.