signed a petition and that represents not any of the on-line petitioned, but just the written signatures, which is upward of 400 to 500. that blue star is my store. it's kind of a ground zero. and if you look to the right, all the red supporting our stand and then that little, blank spot. and that's where they want to put their business, in the old radioshack. and based on the growth they've had, they're going to -- how many stores? >> they've opened nine stores in the last two years. >> so their growth is tremendous. they have a lot of money behind them. we're just a bunch of little, small businesses trying to survive. and so with that, i will -- we don't think there's a desire.

sage will talk to the -- daniel will talk. >> yes. >> he's a better speaker than i. i would like to leave these with you, if you care to have them. >> yes. i think we already -- >> there you go. >> those are some of the letters. >> okay. great. we'll put them in for the record, too. >> will you work the computer for me? good afternoon, president adams and commission. i'm the co-owner of mud puppies scrub. my business partner is here with us this afternoon. in addition to being a small business owner in san francisco, my unpaid gig is president of the castro merchant association representing over 300 merchant members in the upper market-castro neighborhood. i will speak about the necessity of adding a formula retailer to 24th street. within 1 1/4 miles of the potential location there are 22

small pet stores or grooming stores and half are lgbt-owned. they provide merchandise and services for the community. this community trusts us to take care of their furry children and it's a responsibility we don't take lightly. a review of healthy spots website shows no products that we don't provide. we pride ourselves on using locally made products, this includes our shampoo, which is a san francisco-based business. many of our treats are made in the san francisco bay area and are small business enterprises. healthy spots likes to say they have unique grooming services and they specialize in grooming

services. however, they've been unable or unwilling to explain what that is. correctively the groomers in the area of 300 years of experience. most of our customers are able to get same-day appointments. the days we're at capacity, support the days we're not. another grooming destination is simply not necessary. it will dilute the existing shops struggling to stay in business in this very expensive city to do business in. in addition to the formula retailer not being necessary, to let the commission know, the board of castro merchants has voted in opposition of the conditional use permit and i urge to you vote against it as

well. thank you so much. >> hi. i'm sage cotton, co-owner of v.i.p. grooming and v.i.p. scrub club. my partner is here today as well with me. and i will speak to -- we've heard there's no desire and no need. and i will speak to how this company will harm our neighborhood and, we believe, the entire city. i will try to do both at the same time. first of all, most of us know the arguments for why traditional chains are not desired and will hurt small businesses. they proliferate and erode community character. they don't look to be competition with the local businesses. they look to take over and take over the neighborhood and be the only game in town. typically, they will enter a

market sporting deep discounts. you have to remember that chains can have a loss indefinitely or as long as they need to take that loss in order to put smaller businesses out of business because they cannot take the losses. also, new chain stores can only be successful at the expense of existing businesses. they don't bring in new customers. they only shift customers from one place to another in a small, confined neighborhood where there is no harm, no desire, like there is here. but one point that often gets overlooked that i want to point out specifically here in san francisco, and this is a quote from a speech by stacy mitchell, institution of local self-reliance, "a community that loses its local businesses to national chains risks losing other development opportunities.

new technologies have enabled many companies to operate virtually anywhere in the world. google, linked in, yelp, twitter, i could go on, they didn't come to san francisco for our balmy weather and beautiful beaches. they came here because we're unique, diverse, we're out-of-the-box thinkers. they come here because they gravitate toward unique experiences and san francisco is a unique experience and that's because of the small businesses that are here and made it that way. we want to keep san francisco unique so we can keep those businesses wanting to come here and set up shop. let's talk about healthy spots and why they're so harmful. healthy spots has a lot of advantages. they get discounts on the products that they buy from their wholesalers. they have the exact same wholesalers as the animal company and noe valley pet, but

they get it at a discount because of their buying power. they have the property of 13 other stores and deep-pocket investors to lean on to support them. they don't live here. they will not circulate in the local economy. they will not be making decisions based on local values, but corporate needs, and don't pay our cost of living or contribute to the local economy. as a chain store, they don't have to worry about a local business opening up next to them because they have the advantages and deep pockets. no local pet business will take the chance to open up near them ever again, because they won't be able to make and profit and survive next to a chain store like this one. with the unfair advantages, they can do a couple of things. they can undercut the competition, sell less and make

more money, they can engage in a practice called dumping. dumping is when you flood the ma market with free or reduced services so others cannot maintain their business. the chain store can then dictate price and quality of the services. this is what healthy spot has done time and time again in l.a. and here's a quote from michelle rivera, who owns a pet business down in l.a. "rather than build their own clientele, healthy spot has used predatory practices to steal clients away from us and other pet businesses. the first six months, they offered multiple coupons, major discounts for food and grooming and free daycare services. this is deliberate techniques to steal your customers.

this type of practice, which is legal, is disturbing and unethical." they show that they're in line with the san francisco general plan. number one on the general plan says that existing neighborhoods serving retail uses be observed and enhances and future opportunities also be enhanced. since all of our local stores carry the same products and none of the stores are at capacity, there is no market demand for this store in noe valley. this healthy spot will not create a new customer base. they must take from the customer base that's already here, which means they will take it from existing stores, which will harm existing neighborhoods serving retail uses. as a chain, healthy spot has advantages over small, local businesses and will use those advantages to harm the local businesses.

furthermore, not only will they harm existing businesses, but they will harm future businesses from coming in. once they come into our city, to noe valley, we'll never see another local pet store or grooming shop open up here again. and that's really bad to think of. matter of fact, we believe they've chosen the spot they've chosen exactly for this specific reason. they're right in between the animal company and v.i.p. grooming, two of the longest running pet businesses here in the city. again, from michelle rivera, "they have investors with deep pockets. they plant themselves next to long-established businesses and under cut them and do this while insisting their nice guys. in my opinion, keep san francisco's neighborhoods healthy and keep healthy spot out." they will drive up rents.

double parking. they're right on 24th street. double parking is already a huge problem on 24th street. people will be picking up and dropping off their dogs all day and picking up 40-pound bags of dog food. they will have insta-cart picking up for delivers. our local stores have thought about this. they're right off the main drag, so they will not impede traffic in the neighborhood. they've thought this through. healthy spot is right on that main drag and will cause more problems there. they don't fit in with noe neighborhood charm. they have bright lights, big signs, big colors. they're not charming like our neighborhood is. they're not part of the local pet community. they have deceptive practices as a corporation. for one example, we feel they came in here and instead of looking at, you know, where are they needed in the city, they said, where are the most successful businesses? who do we have to pay to get

into that neighborhood? they subscribe to the pay-to-play thinking. we see here with sfcdma on their responsorship page, we see healthy spot as one of their sponsors. they're not a merchant in san francisco yet. i don't feel it's appropriate for them to be sponsoring merchant organizations. talking to them, sure, but sponsoring them, i don't think that's a fairway of trying to get into our city. they also had a petition. they started their own. so you can see their on-line petition that said, "as a token of our appreciation, we'll email you an offer for a free bag of treats." they went to delores park and noe valley farmers market with a petition and we heard this from some of our customers and you can see the conversation on the

other side of the screen. "he claimed that the signature has to do with helping pets in the city." it was collecting names to support a southern california pet chain. perhaps most importantly what rick said earlier, they've opened nine of their 13 stores in the last two years. that's one store every three months. this is an extremely aggressive growth pattern. we have every reason to believe they will do the same thing here in san francisco, meaning, if they get in here in noe valley, we'll see them opening a new store every few months in a knew neighborhood. so in two years, you will see nine to 10 of these healthy spot stores in every one of our small neighborhoods and start to see massive closures of our small pet businesses. so we've come here today to ask for your support in helping us

have the planning commission deny the conditional use permit to healthy spot. new industry seeks out one-of-a-kind businesses, animal company, noe valley pet company, businesses that will be threated and most likely forced to close if healthy spot is allowed to open. businesses, the likes of which if forced to close, no one will ever see again in noe valley or perhaps the rest of the city. please help us to keep noe valley healthy and healthy spot out. >> thank you very much for your presentation. and thank you very much for contacting this office and coming and voicing your concerns because this is what this commission is all about. this is a -- we're under attack. commissioners, do we have any

questions for the group to begin with? or do you want to hear public comment first? okay. we'll open it up for public comment first. do we have members of the public that would like to speak on this matter? >> good afternoon. i'm steven cornell. i'm the legislative representative of council district merchants. we've not voted on this particular matter, but in the past we've voted twice national or regional pet businesses wanted to come to san francisco and we have consistently said, we don't want them. it will not work in our city. san francisco has put in various laws and restrictions, either through the permit process or through the formula youth process. and this is a perfect example of

why those laws are in there. large chains, as we heard a few minutes ago, are not interested in making money in the individual places. you are looking for a piece of the pie. they want to increase their share of the pie and they will do anything they can. having a new pet supply coming into the city will not mean more people will get a dog or a cat. it's going to take their existing pets and spread it out thinner. somebody will take the business. so we urge you not to have the businesses come in. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> scott hawkey. i would like to echo what commissioner adams said.

when this commission was founded, i was very involved in creating this commission. took 14, 15 years to get it passed on the ballot. this is the type of issue that this commission was created to address. there doesn't seem to be a need for this. there seems to be neighborhood servicing that are fulfilling the need to the community. and that's what the commission is trying to say. we don't need healthy spot to come in and disrupt or put out of business the businesses. so i ask you to oppose this conditional use. >> great. thank you.

>> i'm the owner of cotton basics in noe valley and i'm very much opposed to chains coming into our neighborhood. i think they totally take away the unique character that we have and the neighborhood that even customers tell me that they really enjoy coming to an area where they can deal with a shop in a unique business and interact with owners and i think it's very important to keep chains out of our area and san francisco neighborhoods. thank you. >> great. thank you. >> hi. i'm mitchell burge, small business owner in san francisco. i'm here to support other small business owners. we are under assault from e-commerce. one of the things that we manage to continue to provide is services like grooming, not

offered by amazon. so to have external shops coming in and taking from a shrinking pie and take services away from small, locally owned businesses is not something that would be a good service to the city or to the existing businesses. so hopefully you guys will support small business and help us to turn away the conditional use permit. thank you. >> thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners. christopher faust. i have prepared a statement because i get flustered and it's just better. >> that's okay. >> dear fellow san franciscans,

i oppose approval of healthy spot pet store proposed location on 24th. it enjoys an economic advantage over one-of-a-kind pet stores. they would replace businesses by sheer scale, not offering better quality or selection of products or services. our small brick-and-mortar businesses are under pressure from on-line retailers already. we need to do more to help them survive. let us not approve healthy spot's plan to drive them under. as a neighbor, i like that our local shop owners are responsive to the neighborhood conditions, goals, and sensibilities. it goes beyond the selling of goods and services and extends to shared community and family experiences. they're a social destination unto themselves. they're what helps to make our area a walkable neighborhood.

our shops continue to survive because of a customer base that enjoys the personal experience of dealing with their neighbors. are we to offer that customer base for sale to the highest bidder like some commodity? that's exactly what we would be doing by approving healthy spot. let us stand up for our neighborhoods and opportunity. san francisco's independent merchants deserve support, not simply because our neighborhoods need character, but because our community need cheese characters as familiar neighborhoods. we need the personality and friendliness that says, this is my home, not just a collection of houses and stores that can be anywhere in america. and, finally, we need young adults to know that san francisco will continue to have opportunities for them as merchants. thank you. would you like me to leave this with you? >> thank you.

we'll be glad to add it into the record. thank you very much. any other members of the public? seeing none, public comment is closed. commissioner dooley. >> thank you for your presentation. it was really great and i hope that others in the future -- because there will be others -- will take a page for your book and come to us with the same clear needs. obviously, we've seen this whole story before. we know what happens. you give one person a c.u., they knock maybe six, seven, eight storefronts out. so what kind of bargain is that really? one new store friend versus knocking out and leaving vacant other storefronts. i support your work in this.

it really is what makes san francisco unique. we don't need to have the same thing on every corner, even though that pleasure is extremely high. i applaud all of you here for standing up and saying, no, in your own neighborhood. because that's what's counts, is the neighbor and no outside force should be coming in to be that destructive. >> commissioner zouzounis. >> thank you for the presentation. it makes me feel proud to be part of the small business community. i think we can continue to be that advocate. let the supervisors know that they cannot keep passing anti-retail legislation without applying the same regulatory logic to e-commerce or big box

retailers and not understanding our context. the most important piece of this is the context, who you are, be the different forces at play. we need to keep providing that. and we need to echo our fellow commissioners. we need to be that vehicle. let's continue to work together and i support the issues you brought to us today. >> commissioner riley. >> thank you for the presentation. it looks like you did your home work and your presentation is so detailed, we don't have to ask a lot of questions. i assume you will present the same information to the planning department. thank you. >> i would like to echo what my fellow commissioners have said. this commission was established for small businesses in san francisco.

sometimes we forget about that, and i will admit that. we have to preserve these small, independent businesses. i would like to make a motion at this time to speak to the importance of preserving established small, independent businesses like the pet service industry here, and encourage the formula retailer to go open up in other parts of california, where there are not a lot of small businesses or neighborhoods where there are no pet grooming services. and i would like to make a motion that we support the small pet community in opposing this c.u. in noe valley.

>> second. >> motion by commissioner adams. seconded by commissioner dooley. >> may i just -- i'm sorry, president adams. so we're making a motion to support the pet businesses in noe valley or pet businesses -- >> citywide? i would say citywide. listen, if they will not be in noe, they will try the castro. if it's not the castro, they will good to the marina. and then not the marina, to richmond. i want to give a loud voice to this company that the san francisco small business commission supports its small businesses and our small pet food and grooming businesses in

this town. >> i think we should specifically add something to the motion because the folks are going up in front of the planning commission that is saying that in particular -- >> in particular the 24th street. >> and using the criteria for -- >> citywide. >> and under the conditional use criteria that availability of other similar retailers close by, essentially the neighborhood. >> can you read that back? >> no. [laughter] >> can you read that back? >> well, i didn't specifically write it down, but commissioner adams made the motion that -- >> to speak to the importance of presidenter advantage established small, independent businesses in this particular industry, pet and food service

industry, and to encourage opposing the c.u. specifically for the 24th street, but i want to get the message out that we're supporting the small businesses citywide. if they fail here -- this is the type of business that they will start to go into other neighborhoods and we'll find ourselves here back again. >> perhaps maybe the recommendation -- if the commission is interested in specifically stating to the planning commission that maybe the recommendation starts out with not granting the conditional use for this particular location and then add the consideration for citywide impact and implications. >> yeah. >> for formula retail and our neighborhood serving districts that are also well served by existing local businesses.

>> okay. >> thank you. >> so we have a motion by commissioner adams, seconded by commissioner dooley. roll call. [roll call] motion passes 4-0 with two absent. >> and we'll get a letter to the planning commission on your behalf here. thank you. [applause] and, again, thank you for contacting us. because this is what this commission is about. we're here to service you, we are your customers, and it's all about small businesses in san francisco. and, trust me, you know -- you said it the best, i wish the board of supervisors would hear this sometimes. with e-commerce and everything out there, it's vital that stuff like this, you contact our office. thank you, daniel, and rick and

ellen, sage and lindsay, thank you for coming. thank you for doing this. i can't appreciate this enough. so thank you. okay. next item, please. >> item 6, directors report. update and report on the office of small business and small business assistance center. department programs, policy and legislative matters, announcements from the mayor and announcements regarding small business activities. discussion item. >> commissioners, i'm -- i want to acknowledge that we had a really terrific small business week have the week. thank you for your participation and support and to, president adams, your leadership as one of our co-hosts, along with joey

blazic, san francisco chamber of commerce. so thank you for that. we started out the week with inspire sf, with three businesses, matt cohen, with off the grid, who is the s.b.a. small business person of the year for 2018. sam mcgonahan with buy right. and lisa federman with a -- she creates the product -- >> it's a popular cooking technique that offers -- it's a machine that is easy to follow cookbook that harnesses the power -- i was going to order one of these and figure it out. it's supposed to tell you how to cook your food properly. >> it's a machine being used in

restaurants that she's making available in the home. >> and so it was moderated -- the panel was moderated by reim, who has a restaurant in oakland, but incubated her business at la cocina. it was very interesting with the selection of the panel. it turns out that they all had some cross-collaboration and spoke about the importance of really supporting each other instead of thinking that business -- you are in a food-related business, you might be competition so it was very inspiring about how san francisco inspires them. and how being collaborative helps to grow the business. reim was really good at connecting the dots in our very

supportive network from the supportive services that our office provides, oewd, and our economic organization to the s.b.a. so that was very exciting. then, of course, we had -- the board of supervisors event is always very lovely and inspiring. and the businesses that are awarded and acknowledged always feel extremely special and they write back saying what a meaningful experience it was for them. so since our office is the host for that event, we should be very proud of that. and then the small business awards that were held on wednesday morning, wednesday morning with the mayor's honorees, eight businesses were recognized. and the s.b.a. recognized matt

cohen for off the grid for s.b.a. businessperson of the year. and also tomaso's as the s.b.a. northern california family owned businesses of the year and they're one of our legacy businesses. so that was exciting. i also want to give acknowledgement to carol chang in our office, who did an exceptional job assisting with the board of supervisors and helping with the mayor's honoree ceremony and did a tremendous amount of back-end work on the legacy business -- i mean, on the small business week. rea aldonado provided additional support and i want to give a

shoutout to marc marianne thomp connecting with the mayor's office and also working with the council district merchants for shop and dine and saturday events. so definitely a collaborative event. and then lastly -- what did i do with my notes? a couple of items i want to bring to your attention. so supervisor tang and supervisor safai have introduced legislation and i believe i may have forwarded it on to you, where they're streamlining zoning controls for neighborhood districts. working with the planning department, it will be piloted out. so some of the key items are original removing the notice of requirements for doing the 312

notification, which has been causing some businesses great delays, up to six months, when it probably shouldn't take quite that long. very excited about this, because it definitely meets the commission's goals and objectives. and then last week, supervisor fewer introduced an amendment for cannabis commission. so there are a couple of highlights i would like to note. and then next month, june, we'll be back to our regular schedule for meetings. again, just really want to acknowledge that we had a really fantastic week. all of the affiliate events were sold out. good attendance with the conference. i think most everybody really

likes it have -- we got positive feedback in changing the awar awards ceremony for a morning. and thank you for emceeing it. and commissioner ortiz-cartegana wanted to thank for the latino business mixer, also in partnership with wells fargo. it was very inspiring and businesses that presented on the panel were, i think, really highlighted tremendous accomplishments of latino businesses. >> great. any -- go ahead. any commissioner comments? >> yeah. i also wanted to say, great job to our director, who has put in so much work for small business

week. and also kept up with us and our concerns for upcoming meetings, so i appreciate all the work you've put in. >> thank you. >> i'm sorry, i forgot to specifically acknowledge ted's market for being supervisor kim's honoree for small business week. >> any other comments? would any members of the public like to make a comment on the director's report? seeing none, public comment is closed. next item, please. >> item 7, commissioners' reports, allows president, vice president, and commissioners to report on recent small business activities and make announcements that are of interest to the small business community. discussion item. >> okay. i -- i attended many small business week activities, but i would also like to say thank you to dick andreas for everything

you've done and acknowledge everybody in your office. and, richard, and carol, and martha, and ray -- i remembered ray's name. >> ria. >> ria. they were out front all week and regina, i don't know about you, but i was tired by friday night. i also want to acknowledge ted's market. that was one of the ones that put me in tears learning about the history of ted's market and it was really close and personal to me about what they did during the aids crisis. that one hit home pretty hard. so i want to give a shout out, well deserved to commissioner zouzounis and your parents, amazing, especially your mother. and a shoutout to joey blazik,

and the job that he did covering for me after hours. i like -- it really inspired me. i didn't know what to expect. joey put that together. i know the group of people. that was the right group of people to have. it worked out flawlessly. so my hat's off to them and everybody else involved. i thought it was a very, very good small business week. so thank you. commissioner zouzounis. >> i just wanted to report on a happy belated international workers day. it's great to see san francisco mobilized for worker and immigrants rights on may 1 and also small business week again was really amazing, the launch and inspire sf panel. i really appreciated the shoutout to the importance of

supporting your local corner stores and it drove home for me the importance of not cutting off a small business in its infancy. so before you can celebrate their growth to some of the legacy businesses that we've commended. so in addition to that, i also attended an arab-american democratic club mayoral forum, that was very important as small business issues were highlighted. it's the only forum in which i've seen that topic of conversation being taken on its head and taxis were a big focus on that. and i will ask for something in new business on that note. >> okay. commissioner yee riley. >> director, you did a great job and the whole office. i attended some of the events and got to know the staff a

little better and spend time talking to them, chatting. and steve adams, you are quite an emcee. thank you. >> okay. any members of the public like to make comment on commissioners' reports. seeing none, public comment is closed. new business, item 8. >> item 8, new business, allows commissioners to introduce new agenda items for future consideration by the commission. discussion item. >> i would like to add a couple of things for future consideration. i know that the taxis have been in the board of supervisor chambers pretty frequently. so i would like to be part of any discussions or items that are going to be taking up regarding medallion negotiations and buybacks. and i would encourage the office to be at the table if the conversations will be had. i would also like an update of

where that compostible or plastic band retail legislation is at. i know that they're trying to get rid of plastic straws, which is an inadvertent anti-retail policy again. so i would like to know where that is at. and supervisors justifiablized their cultural district legislation. i believe that, you know, they gave lip service in that declaration to small businesses, preserving them. and i would like to know if there is any teeth to that. and i would like to know if we can have conversation on that legislation. >> i mean, i have a little bit of follow-up if the commission would like for me to respond. >> yeah. >> initially, there was some distudi discussion if legacy business was going to be talked about and

same for arts and districts to come before the commission, small business commission or arts commission, similar to legacy business going before the historic preservation commission, so the commission would provide some comments or advisement in relationship to the purview that it oversees. but they've struck that from the legislation. so you will be -- it is scheduled right now for the next meeting, june meeting, to have a presentation on the cultural districts and the legislation, though it's already passed. but, you know, the -- you definitely want to hear how the implementation of the cultural districts will be formed. much discussion is about, you know, what is the city going to do to sort of financially support the work that needs to

be done and establishing the cultural districts. >> right. >> but you are -- i do plan to -- you will get a presentation on that. >> great. thank you very much. any other new business? do we have any members that would like to bring up new business? seeing none, public comment is closed. next item, please. >> sfgov tv, please show the office of small business slide. >> it is our custom to begin and end each small business commission meeting with a reminder that the office of small business is the only place to start new business in san francisco and the best place to get answers to your questions about doing business in san francisco. san francisco small business commission is the official public forum to voice your opinions, concerns about policies that affect the economic vitality of small businesses in san francisco. if you need assistance with

small business matters, start here at the office of small business. >> item 9, adjournment. action item. >> do we have a motion to adjourn? >> i move. >> i'll second. >> all in favor. aye. meeting closed. thank you. >> meet agasing ieet agassing 3:26 p.m.

>> good morning, i want to give a special welcome to mayor ferrell, and supervisor sheehy and san francisco general hospital and this incredibly special place ward 86. it is special for so many reason. it has played such a pivotal historic role in addressing the hiv-aids epidemic and now in ending the same epidemic and very excited to welcome mayor ferrell to this podium to address the group on this very wonderful day. >> thank you dr. ehrlich. i want to thank everybody for joining us here today and i want

to thank dr. ehrlich and all the staff here at san francisco general hospital and for hosting us here today. this hospital, our city in particular where we have been through the aids crisis dating back to the 1980s and it is fitting that we are hereth to and to highlight your continuing commitment to fighting the epidemic. our lawmakers community leaders, providers and advocates and many of whom are standing here with me today we are closer than ever to getting to our goal. zero new infections, zero deathst and zero stigma. in 2016 we had a report low of 223 new hiv infections in san francisco. these accomplishments are the

result of strategic investments in prevention, treatment and social services that we will continue here in the city of san francisco. this requires a sustained commitment to funding in our city, which is why since 2012 the city has backfilled more than $12 million in federal hiv cuts. today our spending approaches $60 million every single year, but we have a lot more to accomplish. we have to reduce december decer parties between the african-american and latino community. this discussion will highlight and help those in youth communities, lgbftg community.

includes 2.8 million to offset cuts made through the federal center for disease control. these support prevention programs and increased community access to testing an linkage across the community. also includes 1.4 million to support getting to zero. this will increase prep outreach and navigate outreach and employment for those with hiv. these are critical to ending hiv and aids here in fran. i am can feel that the people behind me and the working working here in san francisco, researchers, providers and members of our community women puwillput these funds to good u. i want to bring up someone that

is a former colleague and also a friend but the first time i got to know this individual is because he was an advocate for getting to zero and a leader for that move. here in san francisco when i was budget chair, we had earnest and strong conversations about the topic, but i have not met a more convincing and a more proactive advocate getting the zero than that individual. i want to welcome supervisor jeff sheehy. [applause] > >> this is the first time i have been back here since being appointed by mayor lee, so it's a special moment. this was the first outpatient hiv clinic in the country and some of the people are still

here and still working 30 years plus into the epidemic. the very first patients who came in, none of them made it out. there are stories of people will tell of the doctors and nurses and caregivers sitting around the table and everybody crying because there was nothing they could do. this place has special meeting because it's the place where getting to zero is hatched. we made substantial progress and couldn't have done it without the support of the city, mayor lee and now mayor ferrell. i really want to thank mayor ferrell for his commitment that goes back to being on the board for the finance committee the idea of no new hiv infectionst and no hiv deathst and no

stigma, people thought we didn't know what we were talking about, but the great thing is we did get new tool. we did find out that if somebody who manages to control hiv in their blood undetectable, so there is no hiv detected that they cannot pass the virus on to someone else who is not hiv positive, that is an amazing thing. undetectable equals uninfectious. we had the tool that shows if you take this pill every day and you don't have hiv, you are greater than 95% protected against infection. in fact at kaiser since they have implemented this and thousands of patients later, they have yet in san francisco to see an infection. if you do both at the statement,

you test them, treat them successfully until they are undetectable and reach out to everybody and get them on pre prophylaxis, you can send the epidemic and that is the program that we have been doing. first of all, getting this funding to sustain this effort is huge because as people and many folks behind me are involved in this consortium, there are communities that we are still not reaching both in terms of testing, in terms of treating and getting on pre exposure prophylaxis. this is the hard work now. thank you to president obama and the affordable care act which pays for these treatments but the hard slog is talking to people who historically have not

had good access to the health care system and historically experienced disparities. we will be bring r. bringing people into the health care sim system who have not been served by it. hiv is the gate waisway. we will be able to treat a whole bunch of symptom. i want to give a salute to the department of public health, the finest in the country. i am so proud of the work that we do this tremendous institution. dr. ehrlich is here. i worked here and i couldn't get treated here because this hospital serves the under the served and has historically done that, so if you didn't have insurance you were here, but they didn't take insurance. these are the best doctor.

people don't realize we have the finest docks, they have ucf doc. they come with the best credentials in the country and they come here to serve those that suffer the greatest disparity. i want to thank the mayor for not only getting to zero but the bacbackfills because we have toe able to continue to test and link people to care. i want to thank everybody for being here. it's emotional being back here and it's the first time i have been back on this ward since i left and became supervisor. i want to salute the people that work onward 86 and work at my hospital. they are my hero. thank you. [applause]

i need to introduce the next speaker. i would like to introduce dr. thomas aragon. >> good morning, how is everyone? my name is dr. thomas aragon, i am the public health officer in the city of san francisco and i grow up in this neighborhood. in 1988 i started clinical training here so i am very proud to be here today as your health officer. in san francisco in the department of public dealtdeparr approach is based on embodying and promoting universal dignity

and equity for all. our new mission statement is protect health and well-being for all in san francisco. our vision, making san francisco the healthiest place on earth. mayor mark ferrell and my district supervisor jeff sheehy. what's up. sorry. embody and promote these values and the biggest champions of making san francisco the healthiest place on earth. we owe a huge gratitude to them. yoheard about the racial disparities. in african-american men it is 2.5 higher and for latinos it is

2.1 higher and our campaigns we are goin doing. when you have a chance look at some of these amazing posters. this was done with a lot of work doing ethnographic research in the community and figuring out how to do this from a strength-based perspective. john melacar is leading this effort at the department of public health. first san francisco deemploys a world class syringe access and disposal program because it is the best evident-based practice that reduces syringe sharing among persons and reducing