eight stories tall and two stories tall. in addition, standing on the roof of my building, you can look across the entirety of nob hill and see other decks installed on rooftops of other buildings. i would summarize by saying i support this construction. i don't believe it's out of character with the neighborhood. if you look within a through-block radius of this -- three-block radius of this unit, you'll see similar roof decks, taller buildings, and i think we need all the housing we can get. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> good evening, board commissioners, board? board? board of appeals. my name is michael chen. i'm a resident in san francisco. i'm here to speak in favor of the project sponsors, todd mavis and kevin chang, and i'm also here on behalf of yimby

action, a housing advocacy group in san francisco. as someone who's relatively new to san francisco and one thing who's younger, one thing i hear from myself and a lot of my friends, we have a lot of anxiety about our housing. i talk to a lot of people, and i feel like everybody here has a housing story. if you bought recently or you say oh, yeah, i got out bid by all cash deals, 90%, because i had this great story and i was able to connect to the previous seller. i had people who say oh, yeah, i'm going to get an eviction, owner moving in, or new construction, and the owner might hike my rent up by 10%. i know about owners that talk about the sacrifices that they make. it's a one bedroom that they flux into a three bedroom so they can stay in san francisco, and even that might not be enough. san francisco is losing rent

control units, they awe're los families. i know a lot of people that say hey, when they look at the math, it's not worth it. i think the project i requested a rehearing or to reinstate the site permit because this adds more chairs to our game. it means that you have more people who are able to live and love san francisco the way that i do, and the way that i hope that you all do, as well. it means that people can live at 1033, 1037, 1039 washington street, whatever the new number is, and they can walk down the street to the dim sum lounge. it means they can access the library that's on the same block. it means that they can take the cable car to work and enjoy the great view that you see as you go over on california street. i think the housing is good. i think that adding more people to enjoy the city is a good.

i think that this is being done in a way that is actually in line with the existing character of the neighborhood, even if it is technically noncompliant. and so for these reasons, i would request that you support the provincial -- project sponsor's request. >> clerk: okay. this is not rebuttal because we actually had a full hearing. >> actualcommissioners? >> actually, i have a question for the project sponsor. understanding, this is just for the findings. in the brief, it mentioned that you had alternative drawings or ideas for that top level, but yet they were not provided in our brief. do you have something to present that you can put on the overhead or orally?

>> todd mavis. at this time, we do not. it might be presumptuous to bring drawings to this particular hearing unless we get a little bit more of a sense to the board's reaction to our request that we adopt alternative findings or grant a rehearing to be able to address the concerns of this board with respect to intensifying at none -- i'm sorry. i'm going to call it nonconforming. i can't remember the term you used. >> i'm sorry. you answered my question, thank you. >> we would be willing to work with the appellant, work with you, get guidance. >> okay.

you answered my question. thank you. >> thank you. >> comments, commissioners? >> no, i'm prepared to suggest the findings as they are written with the change in verbiage as suggested by the -- by mr. sanchez. >> so you're prepared to accept the findings prepared by the executive director? okay. >> on the other hand -- >> okay. >> -- i know that the variance hearing and the -- the second appeal are not connected in any way, but at which point, after reviewing the documents, again, i have had a change of heart,

because although i do not believe it's affordable housing, that it will provide additional housing to our city as well as to the simple fact that the structural upgrades would add safety to that building and to the adjacent buildings, as well. i'm probably not in the majority, but i would offer a rehearing. >> any other comments? was your -- [inaudible] >> that's correct. commissioner swig, was yours a motion? i'm not sure i heard it. >> i'm prepared to make that motion. >> clerk: so you want to make a motion to adopt the findings -- >> the findings with the change in verbiage as suggested by mr. sanchez. >> clerk: okay. with the change in the verbiage suggested by scott sanchez. >> scott sanchez.

>> clerk: all right. so on that motion by vise -- vice president swig -- [roll call] >> clerk: okay. so that motion passes, and the proposed findings are adopted. >> next case. >> clerk: we will now move onto item number seven. this is appeal number 17-055, mahar mamarzadei versus san francisco department of urban forestry. [agenda item read]

>> clerk: note on february 28, 2018, the board voted 5-0 to continue the appeal to allow time for the parties to discuss settlement. so we've had a hearing on this matter, and so each party will get three minutes each total, no rebuttal, and we will hear first from the appellant. >> good evening. francisco gutierrez, attorney for the appellant. before cutting into the time, i would have a request. we do have three speakers, but the way we have postponed the hearing and continued it to this date was to meet and try to settle this matter with bureau of urban forestry. we did ultimately meet with chris buck on the 10th.

which would like to smith pictures that include written analysis, as well, so i would ask the board for their permission to circulate copies of those documents because they are relevant to this hearing and it would be to prevent man test injustice against appellant as the discussion is relevant to the discussions with urban forestry, but also in support of his appeal. i have 11 copies of these documents here, and i ask request to circulate it. >> well, i'm not going to -- you can submit it, but we're not going to have time to review it. >> so this is to avoid a rehearing. we met with bureau of urban forestry on april the 10. one of the main concerns expressed by the bureau. >> if you're going to talk to the issues of the case, then we're going to start your time, om? >> that's fine. we can start the time. >> if you have a potential settlement, then you can go ahead and present that.

>> president fung, we don't. we don't have a settlement, we don't have a -- >> okay. why don't you go ahead and make your case. >> okay. speaking today will be myself, counsel for appellant, his arborist, and we also have an independent arborist. the issue we have is whether the columbia species is the appropriate tree. there's a tree growth study that's prepared by mr. leggett, who in addition to be a certified arborist has a bachelor of science degree from california state university fresno in plant sciences, and what that study concludes is that tree should be categorized as a medium sized tree on the tree street list.

>> good evening. i'm roy leggett, and the growth rate study is comparing the shoot extension lengths on the known varieties of platinous trees planted here in san francisco. i looked at the segments of growth on young trees, and it is clear that those columbia trees are growing as a slower, more compat growth rate. they should be medium category trees which would be consistent with the bureau of urban forestry's request, and so we do have copies of the study with photographs that clearly show how those measurements interact with the overall growth rate. mr. crawford is here, as well, and can certainly speak to this

particular issue. >> hello. nicholas crawford. i'm an arborist and also a counselor on the urban forestry council. i wanted to speak to this because i think this is an example of a great scenario where the bureau had to say these are the guidelines, but i think planting a tree that has a smaller variety, the columbia versus other varieties would be appropriate for this space. looking at it, i think it -- the space would allow for these two trees, not just one. i think that especially because the property owner is willing to go to great lengths to care for this tree for his life and also put it into the deed for future owners, i think that makes a pretty compelling case

to allow him to do what he's asking to do in plant two trees here. >> mr. crawford, what was the spacing between the two trees? >> 14 feet. >> in your opinion, that is acceptable for the root balls of these two tree snz. >> certainly for the root balls, but -- these two trees? >> certainly for the root balls, but the canopies, i think you could expect them to be intertwined during maturity, but with pruning, you could maintain that successfully. >> clerk: okay. thank you. we will now hear from the department. >> good evening. chris buck with san francisco public works bureau of urban forestry and urban forester,

and i should be able to stick within the three minutes. we tried to reach a settlement but were unsuccessful. the hearing was february 28, and the applicant was proactive to set a follow up meeting. we met on april 10. i was hoping the applicant would come to that meeting ready to discuss medium sized species, but it was clear from mr. crawford's report that they remained focused planting the columbia variety. i reviewed the additional material and met with our superintendent, carla short, and conducted an internet search to show that this is categorized as a large stature tree at maturity. the documents that i provided to the applicant april 30 demonstrated this in each case. i do not do this to educate myself further on the issue

because i am the professional that's most knowledgeable about tree spacing and this species in san francisco. both as the urban forester and as a previous education coordinator for friend of the urban forests. allowing one large stature tree to be planted within a narrow sidewalk setting that is additionally impacted by two bay windows that extend above the sidewalk. the second point, allowing the planting of two medium sized trees at maturity to be planted just 14 feet apart measure down the center. tree spacing guidelines recommend 15 to 20 feet between small stature species, 20 to 25 for medium and 30 or medium for large stature species. third point, a willingness to consider many different species options that are medium sized trees at maturity.

the fourth point, street light conflict. we can allow the planting of medium sized trees, but two platinous would mean that two trees are too close to the street light pole. the current basing is just 14 feet away. this is another argument for why two platinous or plain trees at this frontage is not feasible. planting two columbia just 14 feet apart in this section of cortland avenue is something we want to avoid in the public right of away even with an offer like this from the property owner to maintain the trees. i will note that both the the

valencia streetscape project, those are platinous columbia, they were planted eight years ago and doing quite well. additionally market street is going through a better market street plan, and one of the species proposed for replacement? columbia. why, because it's a really wide sidewalk. >> clerk: okay. thank you, mr. buck. >> mr. buck. >> stay there. >> okay. >> during your meeting, did you bring up acceptable species that are small stature and medium stature? >> i did mention that -- >> specific ones, right? >> we had been discussing some specific ones earlier in the proceedings, you know, previous hearings prior, but i did state the obvious way was clearly, the team here has -- obvious way was clearly, we are not

here to discuss the species other than columbia. i was a little disappointed because i think the commission here kind of did an unofficial straw poll, it was 2-2, with one absence, showing there was not a majority here to overturn this decision, so i was expecting a little more give in this process. >> okay. >> so mr. buck i can remember the last hearing because i had asked several questions because they had showed the platinous trees on broadway or pacific that were actually spaced closer, and i remember asking how old those were. did you have pictures of the tree that you mentioned on market or other locations that you just mentioned? >> market and valencia, i don't have them with me. >> so, i mean, how long would it take for these trees -- and i understand that in the last hearing, we also brought up that there's no guarantee that

this owner is going to be there in perpetuity, and that's largely some of the issue. but i believe at the last hearing, it was discussed that the trees on broadway are confide old, but they were close in proximity and they aren't towering. >> correct. there are two mature trees. there are a few examples that they provided on the face that certainly look compelling. one of them was at the top of pa isk is heights, so the wind -- pacific heights, so the wind is brutalizing them. the other was a mistake of our inspector who allowed two platinous trees to be planted close together. there's going to be cases that slip through the cracks, but we don't want to knowingly perpetuate that problem. >> okay. thank you. >> okay. >> can i ask the permit holders a question? >> we still have public comment sk skbl. >> i'm sorry.

if you want to go ahead -- >> okay. is there any public comment on this item? >> good evening, commissioners. my name is terry mills, and i'm a president of the bernal heights tree community. i was informed of the problems earlier this evening, and i would like to speak in support of the proposal to replace two trees with two trees. our committee has been arranging and arguing of protecting the existing trees in bernal heights for 25 years. we've managed to save quite a few from the parks department and from the street department. not from the water department, but we've maintained the trees

we've had for quite a few years. and in this case, cortland avenue several years ago had very few trees. problem trees, eucalyptus dropping on people and stuff, but we managed to persuade as a neighborhood some movement to get 25 trees planted on cortland several years ago. and not all of them have survived for a few years, but we now have tree planting on cortland, our village street, and i would just like to submit that i would appreciate if this project could go ahead, get two new trees. thank you. >> thank you. mr. mills, are you still on the design review committee? >> you bet. >> okay sk.

>> i've got a question for you, sir. so as the tree person in -- in this particular district, you don't have a concern that these trees are going to be at a higher growth -- they're canopy's going to be to -- >> i don't have the technical knowledge that i heard stated earlier as -- to answer your question. we have some big trees, on cortland, that the city has to come out and trim once in a while so that they don't kill somebody. i don't see having a large crown as a problem from the tree committee standpoint. >> okay. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> clerk: thank you. is there any other public comment on this item? okay. seeing none, commissioners, the matter is submitted. >> i have another question for mr. buck.

>> yeah. i'll follow up after you, sir. >> after you. >> no, no, no, go ahead. >> okay. mr. buck, since with you heard this originally, the legislation passed -- this is a street tree now that is to be maintained by d.u.f., isn't it? >> correct. the street trees are now the maintenance responsibility of public works. >> is there an issue with public maintenance of this so that it does -- in terms of it being pruned and not overly grown? >> we are not supportive of the pruning plan, but if overturned, the way to do this is there is a mechanism within our code to allow property owners to assume responsibility in two ways. one, they could assume responsibility for a temporary

pruning of a tree or a full legal opt out, where the property owner would assume the maintenance responsibility for the street tree adjacent to their property. trees, however, are still under our jurisdiction. so, you know, typically, that would be done for existing trees, so we're still be supportive of the proposal, but that -- there is a mechanism for that to take place. if the board wishes, it could overturn this and find in favor of the appellant and that they assume responsibility for the m maintenance of the street trees. the challenge, of course, for us is long-term. we've said no to a lot of people over the years, and i do worry about that. and you know, you can always jam things into the sidewalk and just say oh, we'll see how it happens, but there is a mechanism that would allow them to -- to do that. even though we don't support it legally, it would be allowable. >> okay. thank you.

commissioner swig? >> yes. just for clarification purposes, we're here because they're appealing your action to tear down two, put up one, right? and -- and i think we suggested last time that you all talk, and there -- and you were fairly flexible into tearing down two and putting in two with a caveat they are a smaller format trees. >> mm-hmm. >> in your opinion, or the fact is that the appellant rejected that option summarily, without any conversation on the subject. >> two of that specific species, so correct, there's really no discussion. >> right, and a medium sized tree of that -- of a variation or a hybrid or whatever.

i'm not a tree guy -- was -- was completely unacceptable to them in that discussion. >> correct. >> discussion in the sense that it was brought up. >> you could recommend it be a small stature. >> small or medium. >> so teven having the medium stature's a give, and we're also willing to live with one very statuesque tree at that point. we're not comfortable with letting the public make the decision on this one. we're just not. >> mm-hmm. >> that answer your question, commissioner swig? >> yeah. so it's the hail mary on this one really is a question, now, we're in discussion, to the appellant, here's your last

chance. you want two mediums or are you going to stand and we'll just hear the -- >> well, i think the other -- we have one additional option, that is they take full responsibility is what the -- >> yeah, and i'm -- you know -- >> actually, i have a question -- >> yeah. you've heard my long life story, which is it's a long life. that tree will be here longer than anybody here, and -- >> maybe. >> -- and i'm not prepared to rely on the ultimate, ultimate owner, even if this owner -- >> okay. commissioner, you have a question? >> yeah. i have a question for the permit holder, so whoever wants to come forward. one question. are you willing to assume 100% responsibility in perpetuity for the trees, and two, you can answer them in any order you like. is there any option other than this specific tree? >> commissioner, one, so 100%

liability is actually allowed within the code. section 805 of the san francisco public works code allows the bureau to enter into street maintenance agreements with the property owners. if i could have the projector, at our meeting with mr. buck, i submitted a draft of a street tree maintenance agreement that would be recorded against title. i had no response from the bureau whether or not they would accept this. they did not even -- >> okay. and the second question? >> -- follow up. on the second question, it prespoe presupposes the tree was not appropriate. with respect, it was not a hail mary pass. the way they categorize the columbia tree is wrong. in relying on the scientific study by mr. leggett, supporting our argument, we

wants to show that this tree is appropriate because it fits within what the bureau is telling us and is telling what this board is appropriate, which is a medium sized tree. >> okay. but the question i asked is are you willing to accept another tree other than that particular species? >> the answer is no. >> no. >> okay. thank you. >> okay, commissioners. who would like to start? >> sure, i'll start. if they're willing to assume 100% responsibility, and it's a -- an n.s.r., so it's a special deed of restrictions, and it goes on title, i don't have a problem approving it. the trees that are there now are in poor shape. they're cobranching or co something. they're not very attractive. [please stand by]

- working for the city and county of san francisco will immerse you in a vibrant and dynamic city that's on the forefront of economic growth, the arts, and social change. our city has always been on the edge of progress and innovation. after all, we're at the meeting of land and sea. - our city is famous for its iconic scenery, historic designs, and world- class style. it's the birthplace of blue jeans,

and where "the rock" holds court over the largest natural harbor on the west coast. - the city's information technology professionals work on revolutionary projects, like providing free wifi to residents and visitors, developing new programs to keep sfo humming, and ensuring patient safety at san francisco general. our it professionals make government accessible through award-winning mobile apps, and support vital infrastructure projects like the hetch hetchy regional water system. - our employees enjoy competitive salaries, as well as generous benefits programs. but most importantly, working for the city and county of san francisco gives employees an opportunity to contribute their ideas, energy, and commitment to shape the city's future. - thank you for considering a career with the city and county of san francisco.

>> one more statement. we are the one. that is our first single that we made. that is our opinion. >> i can't argue with you. >> you are responsible please do not know his exact. [♪] [♪] [♪] >> i had a break when i was on a major label for my musical career. i took a seven year break. and then i came back.

i worked in the library for a long time. when i started working the san francisco history centre, i noticed they had the hippie collection. i thought, if they have a hippie collection, they really need to have a punk collection as well. so i talked to the city archivist who is my boss. she was very interested. one of the things that i wanted to get to the library was the avengers collection. this is definitely a valuable poster. because it is petty bone. it has that weird look because it was framed. it had something acid on it and something not acid framing it. we had to bring all of this stuff that had been piling up in my life here and make sure that the important parts of it got archived. it wasn't a big stretch for them to start collecting in the area of punk. we have a lot of great photos and flyers from that area and

that. that i could donate myself. from they're, i decided, you know, why not pursue other people and other bands and get them to donate as well? the historic moments in san francisco, punk history, is the sex pistols concert which was at winterland. [♪] it brought all of the punks on the web -- west coast to san francisco to see this show. the sex pistols played the east coast and then they play texas and a few places in the south and then they came directly to san francisco. they skipped l.a. and they skipped most of the media centres. san francisco was really the biggest show for them pick it was their biggest show ever. their tour manager was interested in managing the adventures, my band. we were asked to open to support the pistols way to that show. and the nuns were also asked to open the show. it was certainly the biggest crowd that we had ever played to. it was kind of terrifying but it did bring people all the way

from vancouver, tee seattle, portland, san diego, all up and down the coast, and l.a., obviously. to san francisco to see this show. there are a lot of people who say that after they saw this show they thought they would start their own band. it was a great jumping off point for a lot of west coast punk. it was also, the pistols' last show. in a way, it was the end of one era of punk and the beginning of a new one. the city of san francisco didn't necessarily support punk rock. [♪] >> last, but certainly not least is a jell-o be opera. they are the punk rock candidate of the lead singer called the dead kennedys. >> if we are blaming anybody in san francisco, we will just blame the dead kennedys. >> there you go. >> we had situations where

concerts were cancelled due to flyers, obscene flyers that the city was thought -- that he thought was obscene that had been put up. the city of san francisco has come around to embrace it's musicians. when they have the centennial for city hall, they brought in all kinds of local musicians and i got to perform at that. that was, at -- in a way, and appreciation from the city of san francisco for the musical legends. i feel like a lot of people in san francisco don't realize what resources there are at the library. we had a film series, the s.f. punk film series that i put together. it was nearly sold out every single night. people were so appreciative that someone was bringing this for them. it is free. everything in the library is free. >> it it is also a film producer who has a film coming out. maybe in 2018 about crime. what is the title of it? >> it is called san francisco

first and only rock 'n' roll movie. crime, 1978. [laughter] >> when i first went to the art institute before the adventures were formed in 77, i was going to be a painter. i did not know i would turn into a punk singer. i got back into painting and i mostly do portraiture and figurative painting. one of the things about this job here is i discovered some great resources for images for my painting. i was looking through these mug shot books that we have here that are from the 1920s. i did a whole series of a mug shot paintings from those books. they are in the san francisco history centre's s.f. police department records. there are so many different things that the library provides for san franciscans that i feel like a lot of people are like, oh, i don't have a library card. i've never been there. they need to come down and check

it out and find out what we have. the people who are hiding stuff in their sellers and wondering what to do with these old photos or old junk, whether it is hippie stuff or punk stuff, or stuffestuff from their grandpar, if they bring it here to us, we can preserve it and archive it and make it available to the public in the future.

>> for the first time in nearly two decades fishers have been granted the legal right to sell fish directly to the package right off their boat -- to the public right off their boats in san francisco. it's not only helping local fishers to stay afloat but it's evoking the spirit of the wharf by resurfacing the traditional methods of selling fish. but how is it regulated? and what does it take for a boat to be transported into a floating fish market? find out as we hop on board on this episode of "what's next sf." (♪) we're here with the owner and the captain of the vessel pioneer. it's no coincidence that your boat is called the pioneer because it's doing just that. it's the first boat in san francisco to sell fish directly from the boat. how did you establish your boat into such a floating fish

market? >> well, you know, i always thought that it would be nice to be able to provide fresh fish to the locals because most of the fish markets, you would have to do a large amount of volume in order to bring in enough fish to cover the overhead. when you start selling to the public that volume is much less so it makes it hard to make enough money. so being able to do this is really -- it's a big positive thing i think for the entire community. >> a very positive thing. as a third-generation fisherman joe as his friends call him has been trawling the california waters for sustainably caught seafood since an early age. since obtaining a permit to sell fish directly to the public he is able to serve fish at an affordable price. >> right now we're just selling what a lot of the markets like, flat fish and rock fish and what the public likes. so we have been working for many, many years and putting cameras in them. there's the ability to short fish and we have panels that we

open and close so we target the different species of fish by adjusting the net. and then not only that but then the net sort out the sizes which is really important. >> joe brings in a lot of fish, around 20,000 pounds per fishing trip to be exact. >> we had one day one time that we sold almost 18,000 pounds. >> it's incredible. >> i know, it's hard to imagine. >> but this wasn't always the case for joe. >> the markets that we have left in california, they're few and far between, and they really are restrictive. they'll let you fish for a couple months and shut you down. a lot of times it's rough weather and if you can't make your delivery you will lose your rotation. that's why there's hardly any boats left in california because of the market challenges. my boat was often sitting over here at the dock for years and i couldn't do anything with it because we had no market. the ability to go catch fish is fine, i had the permits, but you couldn't take them off your boat. >> that was until the port commission of san francisco

rallied behind them and voted unanimously to approve a pilot program to allow the fish to be sold directly to consumers right off their boats. >> the purpose of the program is to allow commercial fishers to sell their fish directly from their boats to the end consumer in a safe and orderly manner for the benefit of the overall fishing community at the port of san francisco. we have limited the program to certain types of fish such as salmon, halibut, tuna and rock fish. crab is restricted from this program because we did not want to interfere with the existing crab sales on taylor street and jefferson street. so this is not meant to favor one aspect of the fishing industry more than another. it's to basically to lift up the whole industry together. >> and if joe the program has been doing just that. >> it was almost breathtaking whenever i woke up one morning and i got my federal receiver, my first receivers license in the mail. and that gave me permission to

actually take fish off my boat. once we started to be able to sell, it opened things up a bit. because now that we have that federal permit and i was able to ppetition the city council and getting permission from san francisco to actually use the dock and to sell fish here, it was a big turning point. because we really didn't think or know that we'd get such a positive response from the public. and so we're getting thousands of people coming down here buying fish every week and so that's pretty cool. they like the fish so much that they take pictures of it when they cook it and they send us all of these pictures and then they ask us, you know, constantly for certain types of fish now. and when they come down here the one thing that they say is that they're so amazed that the fish is so fresh they could eat a little bit during the week and it's still fresh all week in the refrigerator. so that's really cool. >> the fish is very fresh and the price is super.

i don't think that you can get it anywhere in the bay area. i can see it, and i can stir fry it, wow, you can do anything you want. i just can say this is a good place to shop and you have a good experience. >> this program supports the strategic plan in terms of engagement, people being connected to the waterfront, and also economic vitality. because it's helping the fishermen to make ends meet. they have no guarantees in their businesses, not like some people, and we want to do everything that we can to help them to have a good and thriving business. >> how does it feel to be able to sell your fish locally kind of in the traditional way, like your grandfather probably did? >> when i was a kid and i used to work in my dad's fish market, a lot of the markets that we sell to now are second and third and fourth generation markets. so i remember as a kid putting

their tags on the boxes of fish that we shipped out of monterey and ship down to l.a. so it's kind of cool that we're still dealing with the same families. and this is probably about the only way that anyone can really survive in california is to sell your own fish. >> one of the advantages of this program is the department people that pull in the fish, they can find out where they caught it and find out more about the fisherman and that adds to their experience. the feedback from the fishers has been very good and the feedback from the customers have very good. and there's a lot of people coming to the wharf now that might not have done so. in fact, there's people that go through the neighboring restaurants that are going to eat fish inside but before they go in they see the action on the dock and they want to kind of look at what's happening on the boat before they go in and they have a meal. so it's generated some conversation down at the wharf and that's a good thing. >> as you can see by the line

forming behind me getting ready to buy fish, the pilot program has been a huge success. for more information visit sfsport.com. (♪) (♪) as latinos we are unified in some ways and incredibly diverse in others and this exhibit really is an exploration of nuance in how we present those ideas. ♪

our debts are not for sale. >> a piece about sanctuary and how his whole family served in the army and it's a long family tradition and these people that look at us as foreigners, we have been here and we are part of america, you know, and we had to reinforce that. i have been cure rating here for about 18 year. we started with a table top, candle, flower es, and a picture and people reacted to that like it was the monna lisa. >> the most important tradition as it relates to the show is idea of making offering.

in traditional mexican alters, you see food, candy, drinks, cigarettes, the things that the person that the offerings where being made to can take with them into the next word, the next life. >> keeps u.s us connects to the people who have passed and because family is so important to us, that community dynamic makes it stick and makes it visible and it humanizes it and makes it present again. ♪ >> when i first started doing it back in '71, i wanted to do something with ritual, ceremony and history and you know i talked to my partner ross about the research and we opened and it hit a cord and people loved it. >> i think the line between

engaging everyone with our culture and appropriating it. i think it goes back to asking people to bring their visions of what it means to honor the dead, and so for us it's not asking us to make mexican altars if they are not mexican, it's really to share and expand our vision of what it means to honor the dead. >> people are very respectful. i can show you this year alone of people who call tol ask is it okay if we come, we are hawaii or asian or we are this. what should we wear? what do you recommend that we do? >> they say oh, you know, we want a four day of the dead and it's all hybrid in this country. what has happened are paper

cuts, it's so hybrid. it has spread to mexico from the bay area. we have influence on a lot of people, and i'm proud of it. >> a lot of tim times they don't represent we represent a lot of cultures with a lot of different perspectives and beliefs. >> i can see the city changes and it's scary. >> when we first started a lot of people freaked out thinking we were a cult and things like that, but we went out of our way to also make it educational through outreach and that is why we started doing the prosession in 1979. >> as someone who grew up attending the yearly processions and who has seen them change incrementally every year into

kind of what they are now, i feel in many ways that the cat is out of the bag and there is no putting the genie back into the bottle in how the wider public accesses the day of the dead. >> i have been through three different generations of children who were brought to the procession when they were very young that are now bringing their children or grandchildren. >> in the '80s, the processions were just kind of electric. families with their homemade visuals walking down the street in san francisco. service so much more intimate and personal and so much more rooted in kind of a family practice of a very strong cultural practice. it kind of is what it is now and it has gone off in many different directions but i will always love the early days in

the '80s where it was so intimate and son sofa millial. >> our goal is to rescue a part of the culture that was a part that we could invite others to join in there there by where we invite the person to come help us rescue rescue it also. that's what makes it unique. >> you have to know how to approach this changing situation, it's exhausting and i have seen how it has affected everybody. >> what's happening in mission and the relationship with the police, well it's relevant and it's relevant that people think about it that day of the dead is not just sugar skulls and paper flowers and candles, but it's

become a nondenominational tradition that people celebrate. >> our culture is about color and family and if that is not present in your life, there is just no meaning to it you know? >> we have artists as black and brown people that are in direct danger of the direct policies of the trump a administration and i think how each of the artists has responsibilitie responded ss interesting. the common