leanne wong, program manager of china s.f. [applause] joe lynn vallejo, director of latin s.f. [applause] laura jenkins, director of partnership. [applause] samba jiggers, director of special projects. [applause] alex fong, program manager. our youngest manager of the team. [applause] and by the way, i'm still hiring. i'm looking for a new director as s.f. asia. contact me if you want the job description. ok. to better clarify the organized -- organizational structure, because everyone is wondering, are you guys becoming global s.f. right now? what is china s.f. going to equally who are you? what are you going to be equally wanted to clarify the organizational structure.

china s.f. and latin s.f. and s.f. asia operate as initiatives focused on their specific regions. reporting up to global s.f. global s.f. will start looking at opportunities outside the targeted regions, whether they be in africa, europe, or the middle east, just to name a few. i would like to thank my founding board members, david kaufman who gave some really nice remarks earlier. he has been with us from the inception of china s.f. hands the land, might fearless cochair of china s.f. at the time. thank you for being with ass -- with us. and wendy wong who has kept me out of trouble in terms of numbers and finances. thank you. and the transition team for helping my team and i create an identity for our new organization and making today a reality. i would also like to thank the associates for donating their creative work. we have grown up and are ready to stand on our own 2 feet.

we are now two blocks away from city hall which is really, really cool. we will be working in the courts space. we will be -- yes, we are. we will be spending time on sectors important to the city and integral to its resiliency efforts. biotech, iot, syntax, food and beverage, real estate and infrastructure investments, to name a few. we want people to know that we are open for business. i look forward to meeting and working with all the members of the council core. some of you are represented today. economic development organizations representing different countries, in cities and counties throughout the bay area. i know we have representatives today from the peninsula and east bay. thank you for coming. and while we continue to build upon our existing partnerships created over the last few years, over the last ten years, sorry. last but not least, i want to remind everyone we are a nonprofit corporation. we are a bona fide five o one c

three. no one is our fiscal agent. we are taking donations anytime. [laughter] >> laura is accepting checks. our biggest sponsor will be this city of san francisco. as a partner in our business through the form of a grant. the initiatives will continue to receive seed money to do the great work they have been doing over the years. we are really proud of that. with that, i will stop talking and i will let the panelists today talk to us and tell us why san francisco is a global city and show us how diverse our businesses really are. thank you for coming. [applause] >> i would like to now introduce and welcome our panelists. want to call your name please come and take a seat up front. susan person, is a research director of northern california at jl l. we next paragraph sophie o'kelly the chief operating officer at decathlon. if you have not been to the

shop, you have to go on market street right next to the four seasons. they have the best products and are really good prices. and last but not least, kristin durham, a really good old friend of mine. she's deftly the pro in our space but she is the director and office to the c.e.o. please welcome them. thank you. [applause] >> good morning, ladies pick first to balk back i wanted to note we actually have an all-female panel. isn't that awesome. [laughter] [applause] i think it's incredible, because, especially when we talk about the me too movement, but also in a city where we value diversity, to actually have

women in positions of leadership, to me makes me cry. anyway, thank you. and then we have talia hart. she is here today. she is the president and c.e.o. of the chamber of commerce. please welcome her. [applause] we will continue to work closely together, even though we are quote "-right-double-quote divorced. [laughter] , separates. anyway, we are here today to talk about why san francisco is a global city. i wanted to start with susan, the research person. could you tell us, what are the key indicators for a global city? >> a global city is a city that has business and produces goods and services that go internationally and touch all parts of the world. i think that there are at least six key indicators of what makes a global city. number 1 is the people. san francisco is a true melting pot. we welcome everyone. i think, also, we welcome them but we welcome though -- their

cultures. as a result we have restaurants, and cultural events and all kinds of things that reflect the variety of people here and who they are. access is another key part of that. our great port and airport make us easily accessible for everyone, for people to come and go and for goods to come and go. education is another key aspect of that. our world-class educational institutions produce highly educated people and a workforce that innovates, that thinks ahead what else. we have, obviously our technology is very innovative here. we sponsor a lots of startups and unicorns and more established tech companies whose products, goods and services, once again, touch all parts of the world. we also have tourism. people come to san francisco and they see what a great place it is. our beautiful environment, and they want to stay or come back.

and of course, not to forget finance. the finance here is world-class. we have financial institutions from all over the world. we have big banks and we have venture capitalist and private equity and lending everything that goes on here. that makes us able to do everything else. >> thank you, susan. sophie, she is from france. do you agree with everything that susan said, and, you know, we know that decathlon has been a really good in china, but what made you set up shop in san francisco. >> i agree with what you said, susan. [laughter] yes. decathlon has more than 1300 stores worldwide. china is a very big market. why san francisco? san francisco, for us is a city where all sorts are represented. we proposed more than 70 spots in our offer. we need the feedback. we think that in san francisco

we have the passion and the culture for sports and we will obtain great feedback on all of the products we have to propose. there's also a wonderful innovation culture here. our first store we opened on market street is, to us, a lab. we are using san francisco as a lab to modernize what we will do in the u.s. once we have come to the right conclusions. we are testing many things in that story. we are testing mobile system payments, retesting the omnicom is reports where we can make sure all of our customers have a project at -- product at any time, anywhere, when they need it with any device. this is the best place to do this over here. we are obtaining great results. >> that's good to know. my next person, kristin, i wanted to ask you, since then desk was conceived on a desk in denmark. why, and how did the founders decide on san francisco? >> i think that the factors that susan talked about definitely

played a role in the minds of our founders. the company was founded in 2,007 in copenhagen. and by 2,009 we were already here in san francisco. i think that for the founders, you know, there was some consideration of the city. they made a brief stopover in boston after they had raised their first money, but in many ways, san francisco for us has been an inevitability. the talent, the access to financial capital, and just having an environment where people know how to build business and how to build it quickly and how to scale it globally with something that, you know, when we saw the product starting to get adopti adoption, it made sense to double down in san francisco, and build a team that would take the company forward from here. and so, you know, that was, now, eight years ago.

seven or eight years ago today. we are 2200 people worldwide. about 800 of which are in this city. we continue to increase our footprint along market street because the things that hold true for us, you know, when we were a small private company, even now that we are public, are still true today. we can hire diverse workforce and we can get a variety of skills and talent in that enriches our business and makes us better able to design software that serves all of the customers that we want to serve. >> that's good to know. innovation seems to be here here. one word i'm hearing and resonating really well. but susan, can you touch on what makemake san francisco a globaly for the future? >> we have an international research department and we produce all kinds -- we compare markets all over the world and one piece that we put out is what we call our city momentum index. san francisco and silicon valley, it was put out in the

last few months. they ranked number 1 and watch what globally. what this index looks at his innovation and how to take it to the next level. by k. obviously, because san francisco, this area ranks high because of some of the things i mentioned before, the number of tech startups we have which are fuelled by our great universities, professors and students, partnering and students graduating and going out on their own and having really invested in great thoughts on products that they want to produce and introduced to the world. so it has to do with, you know, the education. it has to do with the number of startups. it has to do with the number of unicorn companies that are not yet public but valued over a billion dollars in phantom starch in san francisco. we are the top producers of those companies. looking ahead, you know, we see san francisco as a place -- it

is a place where these companies are fostered, and with change occurring at such a fast pace in the way we live and work today, san francisco was really at the forefront of all of this. i think that that's really what gives us the momentum to be a city of the future. next i will ask kristin. in your mind, what make san francisco unique? >> there are a lot of things, right? there's lots of things about the city that makes it unique. when we think about it in the terms of our business, while we have built our nd centres in our global offices, we've expanded our sales force to be in a region as well. i think that very much, is still at the level of understanding of product and technology innovation, you know, those products projects still remain

here in san francisco because we have the opportunity to hire talent out of universities and also to be able to bring in engineers and product designers and product marketers who have experience, you know, doing these things for decades now, right? as san francisco has been, you know, not just on the edge of the original silicon, you know, but the internet, and now what we are moving forward into which is a world of apps and connected devices and things like that. i think for us, you know, san francisco is still really unique in that regard. i think that, you know, how did san francisco become unique? i think a lot of it is, you know, and cultural in terms of the openness that the city has to welcome people in, to welcome business in and making this an environment where you can get connected and you can get the help that you need. it's very unique.

and the ability to work with the city to continue to improve, you know, the communities that we are in. and in no other city, have we had that level of partnership. trust is really important and developing culture within the company, and being able to create a culture that is lasting and that is focused on, you know, helping employees be empathetic and be in the community and really giving back and working. for us, you know, that partnership with the city has been a very unique. on the fun side, right, our employees love that, you know, we had a large float at the pride parade on sunday, you know, it's a great opportunity for us to be out in the community in that way. and a lot of other initiatives like that that don't exactly exist anywhere else in the world. i would say, from our customer's

perspective, we are developing a new center to bring executives and from around the world. san francisco, for them holds this, you know, magic as being a real center of global trade and not in the obvious ways that perhaps hong kong, or london once where. this is where the world comes for innovation. we get to benefit from that and also be in a part of that flow however, it looks. >> really interesting. partnership i am hearing a lot, right? we are still diverse and have a great culture. let's talk about retail now. sophie, what do you think -- how do you think things will change, and what is retail going to look like for the future, especially in san francisco? >> i think we have seen there has been a big change in retail in these recent years. i think you will agree with me on that one. we see that online sales are becoming the very predominant on the retail market. that there is a big bank

occupancy rate in san francisco. it is hard to find real estate. big boxes, notably. we have surface area between traditionally 50,000 and -- 15,017,000 square feet. is not an easy thing to find in the city or the bay area. players the question of how do we position ourselves? what do we want to do it san francisco? and when we will be expanding at a later stage, where will we rest with the model we are building here? we are a city-based model. wingfield that, today, our customers that we call our users, our ambassadors. everyone has to be ambassadors of our different products. they need to have a convenience that they want to have. they need to be able to purchase online or in the store, with the best quality service they could have. they also need to feel they have a personal dialogue with us that we are actually there with them doing sports with them in their communities.

we feel that the retail activity, and the specific locations will take less space and we will highlight what we can bring online, and our stores will be a window to our e-commerce. what we are trying to engage in is the community. it is a really important word we share. to be in the community with our sports users so they can have access to our products online and meet us in our story. >> thank you. let's touch on that too. what trends do you see? you guys talked a lot about what we see different in the retail space. the thing is, i wanted to talk about trends in products. >> sure. is a very interesting space over here. our products are starting to be known. wif we have our own designprodu. we feel that there is something that we have to explain about products that are technical, but

are affordable compared to other products that can be very, very technical and great products, but nothing -- not just on the same way. for us there is a real story to tell about who we are and how we sell our products and how we design them. it san francisco it is demanding in terms of what type of products you can offer. our big challenge is to make an offer that is perfect for san francisco. we feel it is one of the most demanding markets in terms of sporting goods. because of the variety of sports we can practice here that is our aim. that is why engaging in our communities and the sports world is very much targeted on communities and talking to people. it is very important to make sure they have the right offer. >> san francisco is a demanding market. susan, how does san francisco -- how are we competitive compared to other cities in california? and in other gateway cities in

the u.s.? >> it is all about the talent here if you look at the statistics, the proportion of people with a college degree in san francisco is higher than the national average. it is higher in san francisco than the east bay and the south bay. it is also the millennial workforce. san francisco has, i think, 30% of people in that 22 to 27 age range we hear about what a low unemployment rate san francisco has. companies are really challenged to hire the people that they need to grow and to grow their businesses. i think that one of the things that makes companies globally, and companies around the country feel like they have to be here is because the people here are very talented. we have the talent that people want to hire. young people want to live here because it is a great place to

live, you know, the whether, -- the weather, the culture, the diversity, everything, you know, the places you can reach in a few hours. you know, you can go skiing or to the beach. all of the things that are available here that make all of us want to live in this area, i think like a draw that talent. the talent draws the businesses because they, you know, want to grow. >> that's good. good to know. i feel old all of a sudden. >> the thing is, with that in mind, what does san francisco offer to compete in the global market? the city itself has been a great partner. can you elaborate on that queen. >> yap garrick at the same time, there is a lot of talent here locally. it is challenging, right? san francisco is more expensive than it ever has been. the ability for our employees to live in the city, you know, is

increasingly complicated. i think that for us, that is aware we really look to the city organizations, ideally like global s.f. who will help bring the kind of thinking about how do we develop in an economically inclusive way which, you know, is a concern for a company, even like ours, which is growing well, you know, i think it something that we can't turn a blind eye to. the willingness of the city need to engage in that conversation, like i said, our office is at six and market. if any if you walk down a part of market street, you see the challenges of homelessness and drug abuse, and that, you know, these are super challenging thing is on the city continues to be there and work with us on that to help those people and to make it inclusive, even on that small scale. it is really important. taking that sort of commitment to the city as a whole and the economy as a whole is really

encouraging. it shows the city has bought in to making all of a successful. >> great. sophie you have something you want to add to that? >> no, i agree with what kristin said. i think there is really a big change that's happening in the city. i think that many companies are coming to the city. we are located inside the city. and also in oakland because we have a warehouse in oakland. i went through that area and it is really great to be able to develop and expand inside san francisco which is a wonderful city. and we like being in the city. that's why we chose to have our first store inside the city which is not what we usually do. we really wanted to be inside san francisco. is a great opportunity to be inside the city. >> that's great. i think we have members here as well. i hope you heard all the comments today. we will continue to work with you all caps clearly.

kristin, sophie, we definitely appreciate you have chosen san francisco to be your headquarters, at least to have your office here. and the chamber and the city look forward to continue to work with you. is there anything else any of you would like to add? any questions from the audience? otherwise we are moving right along to our next speaker so we can have champagne. [laughter] opa. thank you. sorry, yes. >> sorry about that. i am james bridgeman. the cochair of the san francisco zurich city committee. the comment is to put a plug-in for sister cities. we have 19 in the city and we do a lot of work with bringing businesses here. we could go on for a long time on that. my question to you is how do you workers afford the cost of apartments and things like that in the city. a two bedroom apartment cost more than $500,000 a month --

$500,000 -- $5,000 a month. >> as an incredibly tough challenge. i think homeownership or homeownership affordability is less than 15%. i see people that are on my team struggling to figure it out. if you are young, you have a roommate, you know, there were headlines the other day about $117,000 considered low income for a low income family of four, which is astonishing. i also think that, you know, people figure it out. there's definitely a housing shortage. not just in san francisco, not just in the bay area, you see this happening in other markets all over the country. maybe nowhere so severe as it is here. we see people, you know, moving further out living in the city with roommates or all the things

that people do. it is definitely a huge issue that is impacting businesses. we do see people moving out of the bay area. those people -- we also see people moving in. the people moving and have higher incomes. so it's certainly a challenge. >> we have developers in the room today too. note this, please. any other questions from the audience? no? ok. we are moving on. thank you ladies. [applause] i would like to introduce our next speaker who will be closing our program. hans gallant. >> thank you. thank you for placing me between the champagne and the panel. [laughter]

very briefly like i'm honored to be here today. and very grateful for such a big audience to focus everyone's attention on the launch of global s.f. from its very inception, san francisco has been an international city. angel island and alcatraz. with landmarks of immigration and native occupation. they are just want to have the many reminders of our area's international past. today, my migration to the city is positive. largely due to international arrivals. san francisco has always been, and will always be international. much of the conversation today, however was about the topic of san francisco's competitiveness as a global city. when i personally first arrived here, i too was raising this question, and turned to my friends asking, what does it

take for san francisco to be competitive as a global city? interestingly, i got two answers. the first one was, isn't it already? or the second one was, why should it be? these two answers highlight a polarization of views that, at this juncture in the history of san francisco, is not uncommon. they als.they also illustrate ts complexity. the conversation about san francisco's competitiveness park is a global city today, illustrates that competitiveness itself, and the sustainability is not a foregone conclusion. this opportunity for great work to be done. there's opportunity to embrace and integrate and leverage the precious assets the city is endowed with. it is diversity. it is talent. it is natural environment. business and political community, but above all, it is culture and it is spirit.

having the support of mayor farrell and mayor elect london breed, the city family, as well as international consulate trade officers, and sister cities, global s.f. will have the unique ability to bridge it from the public, into the private sector. both locally and internationally. all in an effort to create jobs to support harmonious development, to balance it against the goals of sustainability, resiliency and protecting what makes this city special. the organization is having a great start and a great team. all ingredients for success. it also has a tall order to fulfil. a tall order that can only be achieved with your continuous and generous support. please join the city and my fellow board members darlene, and her team, in supporting global s.f. to support -- to start today by raising a glass.

[laughter] >> we have champagne in the back. >> here, you can have mine. global s.f. talk too much success in the omission, you become a much studied example with your local and global impact.

me you truly make sense -- make san francisco the best place -- place for business and life. may you do us all proud to. off you go, global s. off -- global s.f. [applause] pplause] >> third thursdays at the

commons is a monthly event series to really activate krisk centkrisk -- civic center, fulton mall, and other locations through social operation. >> in 2016, an initiative called the civic center progress initiative was launched, it was launched by a bunch of city agencies and community partners, so they really had to figure out how to program these places on a more frequent basis. i'm with the civic center community benefit district, and i'm program manager for the civic center commons. also, third thursdays will have music. that was really important in the planning of these events. >> we wanted to have an artist that appeals to a wide range of tastes. >> i'm the venue manager. good

music, good music systems, and real bands with guitar players and drummers. >> we turned uc center and fulton street into a place where people want to be to meet, to laugh, and it's just an amazing place to be. there's a number of different exhibits. there's food, wine, cocktails, and the idea, again, is to give people an opportunity to enjoy what really is, you know, one of the great civic faces in america. when you look from the polk street steps, and you look all the way down the plaza, down market street, daniel burns' design, this was meant to be this way. it's really special.

>> the city approached us off the grid to provide food and beverages at the event as kind of the core anchor to encourage people who leave a reason to stay. >> it's really vibrant. it's really great, just people walking around having a good time. >> this formula is great food, interesting music, and then, we wanted to have something a little more, so we partnered with noise pop, and they brought in some really fun games. we have skeeball, we also have roller skating lessons, and we've got a roller skating rink. >> if you're a passion jail skeeball player like me, and you're deciding whether you're just going to roll the ball up the middle or take a bank shot.

>> our goal is to come out and have fun with their neighbors, but our goal is to really see in the comments that it's a place where people want to hold their own public event. >> i think this is a perfect example of all these people working together. everybody's kind of come together to provide this support and services that they can to activate this area. >> there's no one agency or organization that really can make this space come alive on its own, and it's really through the collective will, not just of the public sector, but both the public and our business partnerships, our nonprofits partnerships, you know, neighborhood activists. >> i really like it. it's, like, a great way to get people to find out about local things,

cuisine, like, it's really great. >> it's a really good environment, really welcoming. like, we're having a great time. >> we want to inspire other people to do this, just using a part of the plaza, and it's also a good way to introduce people if they're having a large scale event or small scale event, we'll direct you to the right people at the commons so you can get your event planned. >> being a san francisco based company, it was really important to connect and engage with san franciscans. >> how great is it to come out from city hall and enjoy great music, and be able to enjoy a comtail, maybe throw a bocci ball or skee ball. i find

third thursdays to be really reinrig rat reinriggating for me. >> whether you're in the city hall or financial district or anywhere, just come on down on third thursdays and enjoy the music, enjoy an adult beverage, enjoy the skee ball; enjoy an adult playground, if you

>> first of all, welcome everybody. we will make this routine. i'm very glad that everyone here has partnered to end s.f. gun violence. all over the world, it is a phenomenon that is going on. we are playing our part that we end this gun violence. we live in a country that has villains everywhere. but one thought -- gone off the streets, potentially packed could save one person's life. you could save the planet. what i mean by that, you do not know who will be the person that you might save. i will give you a prime example. we have a mayor in san francisco who is born and raised. she is a native from san francisco, born and raised in the o.c. projects. if anyone knows san francisco, it is one of the hardest

projects in san francisco. to come out at the o.c. projects and fillmore as a negative, you tell me that? [laughter] come on. so look at her. she is the mayor now. give it up for the mayor of san francisco. [applause] you never know who is going to be affected, and who is going to be saved by doing the work that we do together as partnerships. we will have four speakers. i will have the current mayor right here and then the elected mayor come speak. and then i will have, where is captain redmond? i went to school with him. we go back like a hot bowl of menudo. and then i will have my sister right here, patty, who lost her son to gun violence. i just want to welcome you all here. i want to welcome everyone here. and all of our partners pick without further ado, i will bring up mark farrell, our

current mayor. [applause] >> mayor farrell: thank you. first of all, i want to thank you at the united players for holding this event, as well as the gun buyback program. i want to thank mayor elect reed who has been a champion for a long long time. this is not something new to her. kudos to her. [applause] i want to thank our police department for being here. to the captions that are here. give them a round of applause, please. [applause] and i also want to give a shout out to our late mayor ed lee, he was a huge supporter of this program as well. for all of his support over the years. we are here to talk about gun violence in san francisco. this is an issue that affects our entire country. it affects us in our streets. ever.every year, in our countr whoa. >> it was ed lee exco. [laughter] >> every year in our country we have 12,000 people killed by gun

violence. 106,000 people -- 106 people every day. for everyone killed by guns, and other two are injured. 24,000 are injured on the streets of our country. and that has to stop. we are going to continue to push in san francisco. and mayor elect breed will push in san francisco for policies and commonsense policies to get guns off our streets. we are here today that san francisco is going to continue to lead the effort to get them off of our streets. [applause] >> i'm so excited to be here today. san francisco is doing something different, once again. we are leading the charge. when our country and our congress and our presidents continue to do everything that flies in the face of san francisco values, san francisco is stepping up. we're doing things different. doing things a san francisco way. we are here to protect the youth of san francisco and here to

protect the generation of san francisco leaders. i'm proud to be here today and proud to join everyone behind me. thank you for being here. [applause] >> i want to acknowledge a lot of our partners who made this happen. mothers in charge right there, mattie skye. [applause] her son is actually on the wall right here. she has been tremendously fighting throughout many, many years to end this gun violence. you have sfpd, the mayor's department. a whole array of community-based organizations that are here. project level, the brothers against guns, rate? we have the suicide prevention organization. we have the brady campaign. who else have we got up in here? the foundation. john did what we you all heard

that. that is the honey on my tongue. sometimes i can't spit it right. you heard that. does a lot of other organizations. i want to thank our business partners who actually funded this event. that you all see them out there. [applause] all my homeboys who wanted -- to run the dispensaries. [applause] elevated, green boy, grassroots. am i missing anymore? we need to get some more because they have a lot of weed stories in san francisco too. i'm sure there's plenty more. i want to acknowledge salesforce, boston property, kilroy, clients, all partners. there are so many different dimensions that are coming together as one to end gun violence. i want to thank all the leadership from everybody who has been a part of making this happen. without further ado.

i will bring up the amazing and intelligent and beautiful london breed. our mayor chair applause -- [applause] speed you -- >> it is so exciting to be here for something that i know, for certain is going to save lives. last year, when we did this in december, 280 guns were collected through that last buyback. that is 280 lives saved. i have to tell you, rudy said that i come out of the concrete. o.c. projects, out-of-control projects. let me tell you a story about ocp. i was about 12 years old, one night, and i know sean richards will remember this. we were all hanging out and purging in a place called the

tunnel. some of you will remember the tunnel if you grew up in the western addition. most people did not come to the projects that i grew up in. but the people who lived there and were welcomed there would hang out in the tunnel. at night, we were playing music and having a good time. we were just hanging out and enjoy ourselves. and sadly someone came through the tunnel and started shooting. that person was after somebody. there were a lot of people out there. that is where we hang out at. when all the dust settled, there was one person who was dead. do you all remember when stacy died? stacy, if you know -- if you knew stacy, all the mothers loved stacy. all the kids loved stacy. everybody loved stacy. and he wasn't, again, even the person that this shooter was targeting. he is not here with us today. that could have been me. that could have been anybody else in the tunnel that night that could have died because of

a gun. because of senseless violence. this is why, what we do here today, is so important. our goal is to save lives. our goal is to help people who are out there with guns understand the tragedy that they are inflicting on the lives of the people that have to suffer the consequences because of their mistakes. we want a safe city. we don't want to see our young people continued to die to gun violence. we do not want our kids to feel like every time they hear a loud noise, they have to get on the ground. where they are learning and they are learning environment and in our schools. we not only have work to do in the city and county of san francisco, we have work to do around getting guidance out of our communities all over the country. and as your future mayor, this will continue to be at the

forefront of my advocacy efforts, as long as i am a part of the city can't get as long as i am living and breathing, i will always be an advocate for getting rid of guns on our streets on a regular basis. [applause] so here is an opportunity. we need to change our lives. for those folks who feel they have to have a gun, no questions asked. no questions asked. no judgement. turned them in. we are asking you to help be a part of the solution and make our city safe. thank you so much and i hope to see you here on saturday. thank you. >> right on. [applause] spoken like a right -- a real mayor. i just want to -- i apologize, i didn't acknowledge who does the outreach for the gun buyback. you have to catch this. they did it by you, and ten

gentlemen who did a life sentence in prison. come on up here. you all have to be up here. you are part of it. all these brothers right here did a life sentence in prison and are now back advocating to stop gun violence. [applause] we have over 300 years of prison time up here. instead of taking lives, they are saving lives. [applause] i have to make sure i acknowledge glenn holden, our reentry leader there he did 45 years in prison, straight and is out now leading the charge to end gun violence. forty-five years. longer than probably -- you probably didn't have cameras back then. [laughter] this brother right here, in these brothers right here are miracles that are walking legends. let's not neglect and forget these gentlemen right here. theories are the gentlemen that are pushing the line to get the

guns off the streets. with that said, from convicts to the police -- police, my brother there, thank you. i want to bring up one of his fellow brothers who i went to school with at mission high school. brother tony chapman. [applause] >> first of all, it is hard to follow our current mayor and our mayor elect. both are detailed. they are faced -- they have detailed what we are facing and how we are facing it as a team. i want to, before i say anything, i want to give a shout out to the mayor, and everything that he has done and the mayor elect for everything she has done and will do. think both of them. thank you. [applause] secondly i did go to school with rudy and he has been passionate about everything. and stories about me taking his lunch money are all false.

[laughter] let me start off with the good news. let me start off with the good news. the good news is the homicide rate in san francisco is down 43%. [applause] another piece of good news, the shootings are down double digits, but in the teens. we want to get that a lot better. now the bad news, last night and early this morning we had two shootings and two different neighborhoods in the bayview hunter's points that illustrates the point we need more guns off the street. the thing that this country has to wrap his mind around and the city and county of san francisco, we get it here. the rest of the country, we need to drag them along. a study came out and it was a national study. there are more guns in this country than there are people in this country. anyone who thinks we don't have to do this gun buyback, they are mistaken. if you have a gun that is sitting at home and you are not using any think is there for protection, and it has been sitting there for a long time packed think about the potential of your house been broken into

and that gun being used and consider bringing it down and turning it into the gun buyback program. what we aim to do, and pardon the bad pun,'s ge is get as manf these weapons off the street as possible. again seized as a life saved. the reason our numbers have been dropping every year, is we have been doing these gun buybacks every year. were getting more and more of these weapons off the street. i implore anybody out there with a gun to come and turn it in. there are no questions asked. we will not call you later and talk to about the weapon. turn it in and we will take it from you. my last shout out has to go to the united players. they are right. this partnership is necessary. it takes a hood to save the hood. thank you. [applause] >> me and him went to school and he had a jerry curl back then. [laughter] yeah. [laughter] before we bring on our last

speaker, there's a lot of people who also have been in the background. they are sometimes, sometimes they don't get acknowledged, but they do all the major work that makes it happen. i have to give a shout out to my brother damien posey with paradise. where are you at? you see that hampso hamsun brotr right there? [laughter] and sean richardson. my brother right there. big rich. project level. these are people that you can't forget about behind-the-scenes. we have a lot of women who did this. this world is ran by women. how about that. are supervisor president? and a sister. come on, now. so i want to acknowledge carolyn and misha who are often behind the background who don't like to get acknowledged. you know, add to my beautiful daughter right there. she has all of her teeth. [laughter] i want to bring on a mother who i met to his amazing and

incredible. she is doing big things. i will bring her on up. her name is patty. her son passed away, we will dedicate this gun buyback on saturday, june 30th, from 8-12 to her son, robbie. come on up, patty. [applause] >> good afternoon. i want to thank you rudy for inviting me to come here and think united players for the great work they do in the city and beyond. my name is patty. on the founder of the robbie pub d. foundation. i have a very unique perspecti perspective. for almost a decade, i was working at the chronicle just down the street as a metro editor. at a columnist and an editorial writer. for years, i ran headlines about gun violence. when my son was shot and killed in 2014, i understood what it meant to have that headline me about your family. all we know is that headline. we don't know the aftermath. there aren't stories about what

happens to the family and the life sentence that is imposed on the family. within seconds of pulling that trigger. i gained a lot of appreciation. i didn't understand it when i was writing the stories what it meant to those families to have that last story about their loved one. and my son was just on the verge of getting hired full time. he was learning how to weld. he had set his suit out for his interview on his bed. that was a suit that we buried him in. so, you know, for two years, i had a really bad ptsd. i couldn't even return to the place where i called home for 30 years because of that ptsd. one day, i looked at my daughter and said she had lost her brother and she will not lose her mom. i created the foundation. we do gun buyback just like rudy. that is why we are so proud to partner on this one. we get that metal and we redistributed to artists throughout the country.

they create art out of them. alameda county has adopted that there. there are two exhibits made out of guns that were confiscated in homicides and gun violence throughout the country. i hope to bring that way the rudy to san francisco. the other thing we do, as we provide paid vocational scholarships for exoffenders and at-risk young adults because there's no better challenge to crime then a good paying job. i wish, i wish someone gave the four men who killed my son that opportunity. we can take the guns away, but that does not address the desperation and hopelessness that causes them to pull the trigger. i applaud rudy. i applaud everyone here. all the partners that support him. it takes all of us. i can't do this alone and he can't do it alone. it takes all of us. thank you so much for supporting all of this. [applause] >> before we close out, i want to thank our mayor, mark

farrell, for coming. our mayor, london breach. the real deal seal. [laughter] >> don't forget about your brother. come on, now. my brother tony chapman. i know right now they have a bad rap. but you can see there's a lot of good cops, you know what i mean? we have to build relationships with the police to. we want to make sure they holds the bad police accountable. what is fair is fair. if we all commit a crime, we should all go to jail. so, thank you to everyone coming out. it takes all of us to make this happen. all of us. i want to say this last. you wonder why i am carrying

this shovel? there's an organization that's called lead to life that me and patty match. they are in oakland. they flew us out there. the guns we took off the street, 280 guns that was given to us by sfpd, 5, 50 of them were melted down and we made shovels. [applause] this is made out of a gun. we planted 50 trees in atlanta where martin luther king's granddaughter was there to help plant 50 trees, right? the soil be used came from young men who were lynched back from mississippi mississippi alabama. they were lynched and the dirt was thrown in the chattahoochee river which they preserved, and they gave it to me. we use that soil and to be shovels, and the trees that martin luther king, he likes them cherry trees, cherry blossom trees. we planted 50 of those trees in commemoration of the 50 year anniversary of his assassination. way that these shovels. the mothers through and th in ts that we had got from the buyback.

so they are melted and people say, you give them to the police. no, look. this is living proof. , this out. feel that, brother. [laughter] as we decompose a violence, made the earth, again be free. i want to thank everybody for coming out. this saturday, june 30th, 8-12, we are doing the gun buyback. one hundred dollars for a handgun, $200 for assault rifles. [applause] let's get these guns off the streets, you guys. one life can save the whole planet. thank you. where is your players club aptly the heart and soul. make sure we get those starts for the ladies. that is right. last year we got a rocket launcher.

a cannonball. we destroyed them all. and we think the police thank te department. we can't do it. we might go and sell them if we got them. [laughter] i am lying. [laughter] that was 87 rudy. [laughter] but we are here. it is about saving lives now. and preserving the future for our youth. and so let's do this together, everybody. we have all of our community-based organizations. we have our developers. we have our tech people and we have all our foundations kick all of us together, when the bullet fires out of that chamber, they don't care if you are black, white, straight or striped. i am a gun violence survivor. believe that. it takes a hood to save the hood. god bless you guys and thank you for coming. i had to give a shout out to my man who got baptized last week. welcome to the kingdom, baby. [applause]

>> good morning ladies and gentlemen. i want to welcome you to the budget and finance committee. i want to welcome you. we will get started. thank you for your patients this morning. i want to recognize our friends at s.f. guv t.v. that are assisting us with a broadcast. for those persons who are unable to be with us today. we have michael ,-guessed balthazar and kalina mendoza .-guessed. also today, our clerk. i want to recognize my committee members with me here today. certainly, we will be joint and a few more minutes. today,