neighborhood where a security guard at that bar had, unfortunately -- well, let's say, has been arrested subsequently for the shooting and murdering of a patron. we -- obviously, that case is working its way through court, but the result of that was a continued and highlighted behavior of a very violent and nuisance bar in our neighborhood. we subsequently had a hearing. the license -- entertainment license was suspended temporarily. that was all the power they had within the jurisdiction of their commission. and then, subsequently abc went in and found additional violations, and we were able to shut that bar down. now, we're not in the business of putting businesses out of business, but when there are nuisance businesses that are causing extreme stress and danger to our community, we want to act, and i want to say,

i think commissioner lee was very responsive and helped us in that process, along with some of the other cases that we've worked on in helping to entitle and promote small business in the community and working with particularly those that are in the monolingual community that have a harder time transversing the small -- traversing the small business environment. commissioner lee does a good job in that regard. so i just wanted to make those comments for the record. any members of the public wishing to comment on this item, please come forward. >> good afternoon, commissioners. henry -- >> clerk: one moment please. would you like one minute or two minutes at this time? >> supervisor safai: i think given the pattern, i think we'll just stick with one minute. >> clerk: thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you. >> good afternoon. i'm the president of the san francisco district of merchants associations. this is one of the most difficult commissions to be out

there, the entertainment commission, that steven lee has been very dedicated to make it work. it is that sort of industry, you get all sorts of people in there, and things happen. but at least he's out there and making sure he's going out there and making sure these businesses operate by the law. lastly, i want to mention we had an event in the summer of love, and we're trying to find a band to play some 50's music -- i'm sorry, the beatles music, and i will tell you, they're great. they were fabulous. thank you, steven. you're awesome for all that you do. i urge you to reappointment him to that position. thank you, supervisors. >> clerk: next speaker. >> hello. thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak today. my name is ray bobbit. i am part of the south of

marketen tainment commission. we work with kmiecommissioner on several issues. we've worked on cell phone theft, we've worked on a multitude of issues. but most importantly we've worked on the ability of nightclubs with capacities of over 400 people to accommodate and evolve into a circumstance with which we can work directly with neighbors and development. that's been very, very important and just on the heels of the planning commission appointments, we've -- want to thank commissioner lee for opening up so many opportunities for us to coexist with the new direction and development of this city by allowing them the ability to stay here. so i just want to thank commissioner lee and urge that you reappointment him. thank you. >> hello, board of supervisors.

my name is venita louie, and i am very grateful that san francisco has an entertainment commissioner. steve lee remains a pillar in the community and many different communities of san francisco, and he is called what i think is the master of organizing and rallying any of us for safety for the community, for the saturdays, to preserve -- arts, inform preserve landmark restaurants. so i want to support steve and the continued work that the board of supervisors does. thanks. >> hello, commissioners. my name is arash, and i own a couple lounges in san francisco. i'm here to support steven lee's -- or commissioner lee's reappointment. i believe he's the most qualified person for this commission, not because of just his ties to the night life and

hospitality committee, but also, i've known steven lee about 15 years, and what i admire the most about him is his ties and his reach to different generations. again, i'm a 15 year veteran, started from -- as a promotor, and i can see that the people like i started today, steven lee can reach out to them and represent them in the entertainment commission. so it's great to have someone like him that understands different generations. thank you. >> clerk: next speaker. >> hello, esteemed commissioners. i'm here to support mr. lee. i happened to meet mr. lee back in 1999 when i was an investor in a nightclub, and he happened to introduce me to who is now my wife when i met him, and we are still together, this young lady and i. mr. lee is a pillar in the

night life industry. he also knows how to run a club and how to help people make it in this -- in this city of san francisco, so i have to throw my hat in and hope that you folks reappoint him. thank you so much. >> clerk: any other speakers? >> supervisor safai: okay. great. any other members of the public wish to comment on this item? seeing none, public comment's closed. [ gavel ]. >> supervisor safai: can we entertain a motion? >> supervisor yee: sure. seems like i did this before. wasn't that long ago. i'd like to make a motion to appoint -- who's appointing him? are we appointing him? >> supervisor safai: yeah. >> supervisor yee: okay. sorry. >> supervisor safai: it's okay. >> supervisor yee: i'd like to make a motion to appoint steven

lee to the entertainment commission and send it out with a positive recommendation to the full board. >> supervisor safai: can we do that without objection? without objection, that item's ordered. thank you, commissioner. congratulations. [applause] >> supervisor safai: please call item number seven. >> clerk: item number seven is a hearing considering appointing two members term ending july 31, 2021, and two members term ending january 1, 2021 to the veteran's affairs commission. >> supervisor safai: so i know we have -- do we have all ten applicants here or just four? four? okay. so why don't we go up one by one. why don't you go first, mathy -- margot. sorry. either one. matthew -- >> good afternoon. my name is matthew brauer.

i come to you as a ten-year resident of san francisco district six seeking seat ten on the veteran's affairs commission. i am a disability lgbtq veteran who has a 15 year record of service both active duty and reserve service in the u.s. army. i also have experience in our social work services and medical research programs. i come to you because i want to leverage my experience in those areas to better serve our city's veterans because their experience really is my own. i struggled as well to transition from military to civilian life, struggled with the cost of housing, difficulty accessing services, and lived under a hotel. so i want to leverage all those rich experiences, the deep knowledge i have about v.a. operations and the ways we serve veterans, the issues and

limitations we often face and work with city agencies to optimize services to veterans at both levels of government through data sharing and through colocating space and other initiatives around policy. i think a lot of you have heard about what those coordinations and collaborations might be. i don't think any of that's new to you. i think what you're looking for in this commission and from me is specific policy recommendations you can make at your level or ordinances you can pass, and those would fall into three main areas. supporting -- in the v.a., we need to greatly expand access to services, and i think specifically for our homeless and disabled veterans, so often, they have difficulty accessing and getting enrolled for services. i think we can do a better job of colocating enrollment specialists in city agencies and empowering specifically our county veteran's service office to do that. additionally, i'd like tovert leverage v.a. data -- better

leverage v.a. data so that we can reach under served communities, and then, additionally, i am going to examine -- if appointed, i am going to examine the difficulty many veterans have in using their v.a. home loan guarantee in securing, when they seek to buy a property. obviously, cost is always a factor in that. but also, the fact that relatively few properties are approved by the v.a. for home loan use. i think we -- all the documents required to do that are in fact held by city agencies and can be proactively transmitted to v.a. to make that easier for veterans to access those units and potentially free up rental units for others. so those rb the main focuses i have on the commission, and i'm sure there will be many others, and many questions you'll have for me, which i'm happy to answer now. >> supervisor safai: supervisor yee? supervisor stefani? great. we'll call you back up if you

have any additional questions. >> thank you very much. >> miss ellis? >> hi. my name is margot ellis, and i'm so glad matt had to go first, because i would echo much of what he said. so i agree with everything that matt said. i for context used to work as the legislative aide for the senate under the obama administration for the department of veterans affairs. so some of the things that i've been talking to my good friends who are on the commission about, along the lines of access, i just kind of want to echo some of the things that matt said. i was part of that group that really helped to advocate to have women vet centers within hospitals. as you know, there's still not a single birthing facility in any of the v.a. hospitals in the u.s. because it wasn't actually built for women, but we actually need different doctors because we literally have different parts. and so making sure that that voice is heard and understood about what the needs of women

veterans are is something that i've been doing for a long time, and i look forward to formally doing as a part of the commission, echoing meat's second point, data to serve under served veterans, this is an amazing town that hears truth when -- in the form of numbers, right? so i think men -- numbers don't lie, right? and so i look forward to working with the commission in helping to look at the data and see how we can better serve populations. and then, the last is something that's really dear to my heart. i am a third generation san franciscan who does not live in the city of san francisco. my grandfather was also a veteran, and he drove a city bus for the city of san francisco and could afford to buy a home with my grandmother who was a sales woman at macy's. my father now drives the trolley cars in san francisco, and i, as someone who is the beneficiary of their hard work, was able to go to georgetown using my g.i. bill but can't afford to buy a house in san

francisco. so this issue of how to keep san franciscans in san francisco is something that i feel very passionate about, and i'm excited to become a part of the commission to talk about how to create a pathway to ensure that when veterans leave and go fight for their country, that they have a place to truly come home to. i hear that there's also a concern about making sure that commissioners come. i just want to say that i've been hanging out at club v.a. commission for a long time. my good friend, dotty guy used to be a commissioner. so i'm looking forward to hopefully not just being a visitor to the club but actually getting membership. >> supervisor safai: thank you. so i think you answered supervisor yee's most important question, have you actually even attended commission meeting, and it sounds like you've been hanging out there. you live there, so that -- >> looking for my membership. >> supervisor safai: okay. we'll call up the next speaker.

george. thank you. >> supervisors, i'm george ishikata, i'd like to start out first by thanking you, expressing my appreciation both for the opportunity to appear before the committee as well as your time in considering my application for a position on the veteran's affairs committee. i'd like to answer two questions in my brief presentation on -- that i think you have. first is why does this guy want to be on the committee, and the second is what qualifications does he have? as far as why i'd like to be on the committee, i think i can best explain that by telling you when i was 15 years old. that was the year i joined the civil air patrol and put on a military uniform for the first time. and as a matter of fact, i still happen to be a member of that organization today. and i joined not because -- not just because the uniform was cool, although i did join because the uniform was cool, but even then, i was a p

patriotic kid and it was my duty. it's the same sort of thing with the veteran's affairs commission. i've attended some meetings, know a number of the commissioners, and i feel that would be an opportunity for me not only to serve the city that i love, but also to give back to the veterans and the veteran community for all the things they've done for all of us here today. as far as my qualifications, i know that there are a number of applicants for these positions. some way well be more -- may well be more qualified than me. i served 30 years in the military, in the army, having retired as a colonel. i attended san francisco state university. i ended up with three consecutive combat tours in

iraq, afghanistan, and kosovo, and in my last assignment in the pentagon, i worked very closely with an organization that was focused on trying to get critical assets and resources to the folks that needed it the most. and i'd like to think i'd be able to help do the same for the veteran's affairs commission as far as the folks that we'd be representing. as far as who i am and what i -- what i -- what the reasons are for my desire to serve on the commission, that's pretty much the indepth detailed analysis that i can provide you in a brief three-minute presentation, and i stand ready for any questions you may have. >> supervisor safai: great. thank you. we'll call you back up if we have any additional -- if we have some questions. i think we're going to hear from the chair of the committee, mr. chesney.

>> victim. victor olivari, i'm here to speak on behalf of georgia ellis, george isshikata, and matthew brauer. these are the people that i cannen ders for a commission that has a lot of work cut out in front of them. i would like to recommend margot ellis for seat 12. i would like to recommend the reappointment of debra dacumos, for seat five, the appointment of george ishikata for seat two, and the appointment of matthew brauer for seat ten. thank you very much. >> any other comments?

>> supervisor safai: okay. members of the public, if you would like to speak on this item, please come forward. >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is steven notesell. i'm a commissioner on the veteran's affairs commission. i have been for eight years, three of which i served as secretary, two as president, and i am here today to advocate for the reestablishment of the -- of a balance of diversity on the commission which has faltered in the last few years as you can see by the resignation of four women that were on the commission. so i advocate for the reappointment of commissioner

documas. she is a colonel in her retirement, and that's a difficult position to achieve for a female. and i also would -- [inaudible] >> supervisor safai: thank you, sir. thank you. next speaker. >> thank you, supervisors. i am the vice president of the commission. also representing president kennedy who's unable to make it today for a preexisting issue. just wanted to highlight, you know, we're going through a change on the commission, trying to be more and more impactful in our primary role as advocates for good policy in the city. the four candidates that we're recommending today, but in particular, margot ellis and matthew both served as experts on veteran's policy both nationally skm locally are really good additions to the commission, along with

commissioner decomas, and george, who's been a really good addition. thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you. any other public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. [ gavel ]. >> supervisor safai: supervisor? >> supervisor yee: first of all, i'd like to say thank you once again in stepping up and serving the veterans or wanting to serve the veterans on this commission. and i appreciate the services you've given to the country in the past. so there's four of you here. makes it real easy -- three of you here, and then, there's the fourth one that's incumbent. why don't i go ahead -- would you like to? >> supervisor stefani: i just wanted to thank you for your service, first of all. it's so important. my dad was a lieutenant in the army. volunteered for viet nam, and

it's so important, your work there, and your work here on the commission. and i just express so you i want to work -- to you i want to work with you as you role out any new initiatives. also i want to encourage you to touch base with the county clerk's office in terms of their city i.d. program. i know they're looking at a way to redo that. there's a way we can work to identify veterans on the city i.d. it was something i was hoping to do when i was a county clerk, so i was hoping you could look into that. i think it would be a really good project for the veteran's commission. supervisor safai? >> supervisor safai: ah. i just wanted to say one of the things that i said, and i met with all of the different applicants is one -- i understand that the veteran's affairs commission is a place for there to be a voice and

place for them to air their concerns. maybe you choose one or two issues a year that you bring to this body that we can have a conversation about. i had a conversation with some of you about using additional or existing spaces in the city for veteran's or veteran's programming. i know there's a desire to expand some existing housing programs or housing opportunities, access for women in the hospitals that we have and women veteran's. [please stand by] . >> supervisor safai: i don't know of any recommendations for policies that have been brought forward, at least to our body, and it would be helpful to try to understand that work with you better. so that would be my

recommendation, i think, and i would echo what supervisor yee and supervisor stefani have said. thank you for your service to our country, and thank you for coming forward and presenting yourself as an opportunity for public service on this commission. i think we have some really good qualified candidates, and so makes our job easier when there's the right number of people for the right number of seats. and i know that -- and i know -- i just want to say, for the record, i did meet with lydia, as well, and she was also a very well qualified applicant. i know there's additional opportunities coming forward for appointments, so i know you all will be recommending her. i was very impressed with all the folks that have come forward. so can we entertain a motion? >> supervisor yee: i'll go ahead and make a motion to nominate margot ellis to seat

12, did he obser debroah decumw brauer, and send it out with positive recommendation to the full board. i want to say, before we finish with this one, i see that there's two specific seats for a woman veteran. i don't want to think that we have to limit ourselves to two women. we should probably really consider that some of the seats that are at large to be -- to have maybe some additional women representation, so i'll make that comment.

>> supervisor safai: yes. and the only thing we need to add is the candidate, miss ellis, would need a residency waiver. so on that, without objection? great. congratulations. thank you for coming forward. [ gavel ] [applause] >> supervisor safai: please call the next item. >> clerk: next on the agenda is item 8, considering two members, terms ending january 1, 2020, to the sunshine ordinance task force. >> supervisor safai: okay. great. so would the applicants please come forward? you can come in whichever order you prefer.

>> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is matthew cate, and also in keeping with making your jobs easier, i'm happy and honored to be the only nominee for seat one on the sun shiez ordinance task force. i'll try to be brief in discussing my interests and qualifications so i can address any questions you might have. i'm a former journalist, requesting lawyer and dedicated believer and supporter of the proposition that the people have a fundamental right to know what's being done in their name. i developed or at least strengthened this belief during my first career as a newspaper reporter in the south where i'm originally from, covering mostly state and local governments. i experienced firsthand and through my columns the people's exercise of the right to know muscles and the central right that doing so has in a functioning democracy. after seven great years in that work as a reporter, i decided to move on and change careers and enrolled at u.c. hastings

here in the city in 2010, moving out here, among other reasons, so my wife could be closer to her family and so i could enjoy the far better weather that we enjoy out here in the south where i'm from. in the time i've kept a general practice at a firm here in the city, practicing, of course, my advocacy for and on behalf of my clients, but always working every day, applying, you know, a dispassioned analysis and objective application of the law to the particular facts in front of any particular case. along the way, i've increasingly looked for ways to apply my background and experience in the service to the community, especially where that service would overlap and interests that are deeply held, passionate interests that i have. so when i learned that the society of professional

journalists was looking at an attorney applicant, i jumped at the chance to apply because i do believe that open records and public meetings laws are only as good as their vigorous exercise by the public, and only as good as their strict adherence by the government representatives at the task not only by the letter of these laws, but their spirit, as well. i applied because i believe because as the sunshine ordinance states at the beginning, that only the ordinance enforced by a strong sunshine ordinance task force can enforce open government. i believe that i can help ensure that this task force remains strong in its effort to promote open government and hopefully grow stronger in carrying out its mission. so once again, i am honored

that s.p.j. agrees with that and has placed its confidence in me on this task force, and i hope that you and the supervisors will also do, going forward. >> supervisor safai: let's call the second applicant, and then, we can ask any questions. miss lahood? >> yes. >> supervisor safai: did i say that right? >> yes. hi. i'm lila lahood. i've lived and voted in san francisco since 2002. i have been a member of the board of spj

>> when i open up the paper every day, i'm just amazed at how many different environmental issues keep popping up. when i think about what planet i want to leave for my children and other generations, i think about what kind of contribution i can make on a personal level to the environment. >> it was really easy to sign up for the program. i just went online to cleanpowersf.org, i signed up and then started getting pieces in the mail letting me know i was going switch over and poof it happened. now when i want to pay my bill, i go to pg&e and i don't see any

difference in paying now. if you're a family on the budget, if you sign up for the regular green program, it's not going to change your bill at all. you can sign up online or call. you'll have the peace of mind knowing you're doing your part in your household to help the environment. >> providing excellent customer service to each other so that we can succeed together. because we're a small division out here, and we're separated from the rest of the p.u.c., a lot of people wear a lot of different hats. everyone is really adept not just at their own job assigned to them, but really understanding how their job relates to the other functions, and then, how they can work

together with other functions in the organization to solve those problems and meet our core mission. >> we procure, track, and store materials and supplies for the project here. our real goal is to provide the best materials, services and supplies to the 250 people that work here at hetch hetchy, and turn, that supports everyone here in the city. i have a very small, but very efficient and effective team. we really focus hard on doing things right, and then focus on doing the right thing, that benefits everyone. >> the accounting team has several different functions. what happens is because we're so remote out here, we have small groups of people that have to do what the equivalent are of many people in the city. out here, our accounting team handles everything. they love it, they know it inside out, they cherish it, they do their best to make the system work at its most

efficient. they work for ways to improve it all the time, and that's really an amazing thing. this is really unique because it's everybody across the board. they're invested it, and they do their best for it. >> they're a pretty dynamic team, actually. the warehouse team guys, and the gals over in accounting work very well together. i'm typically in engineering, so i don't work with them all day on an every day basis. so when i do, they've included me in their team and treated me as part of the family. it's pretty amazing. >> this team really understanding the mission of the organization and our responsibilities to deliver water and power, and the team also understands that in order to do that, we have a commitment to each other, so we're all committed to the success of the organization, and that means providing excellent customer service to each other so that we can

succeed >> i want to welcome everyone to this very special event. celebrating san francisco's graduation to a 15-dollar an hour at minimum wage. good stuff. [applause] i'm pat mulligan. the director of the office of standards and enforcement. i want to thank everyone for attending this event. i know it is kind of a friday before a long weekend, and some people think it should be a whole week. i appreciate your dedication and being here today. i was reminded recently leading up to this event that it has often been said in labour circle

for years, as long as i can remember a, for more than 30 years, that every generation must reearn the right for labour justice at work. we need to reassert ourselves and redefine what is acceptable or tolerable within society. with the passage of the $15 an hour minimum wage, and with the earned implementation, this generation of san franciscans has asserted itself. we have taken the first steps towards defining what the minimum standards are for workers throughout san francisco and taking a step towards moving the agenda for social justice for all workers throughout the country. thathat is what we are here tody to celebrate. just meet -- just be mindful of that. we have a brief program with some distinguished speakers in front and we will have a reception afterward. please stick around until the end. our first speaker, i should say

i am truly impressed that he made the journey back to san francisco, after a gruelling week in san francisco as the budget chair. thathat is the california state assembly member phil tennant. [applause] >> think you. it is always so great to be home, especially, the temperature is about 90-100° in san francisco this weekend. we are always used to leading the way. i remember back in 2,003 when we had our first living wage battle in the first living wage proposition, and said we can't raise wages that high. will never be able to sustain it. we will have unemployment and people will be put out of work. while we have a very simple philosophy here in san francisco. no one who works full time, doing a job, should ever have to

live in poverty. we have not, even with our living wage, haven't been able to achieve that yet. this fight for 15, the amazing victory, starting july 1st. it is amazing. we are far ahead. california is still lacking behind. we will get to 15 in 2023, hopefully. assuming the economy continues to stay. that is years and years and years after san francisco already has hit that number for the fight -- has already achieved the fight for 15. but we know we can't stop. because until we can pay people a rage where they can rent a home, they can buy a home, they can provide for their families and put food on the table, and have a decent life in the richest city in the richest state in our country, we know that we still have a lot of work to do. we have the wealthiest state. we are the fifth largest economy in the world to pick larger than great britain. but we also have one in five

people living in poverty in california. this year, we were so proud to expand our earned income tax credit increase and put more money into medi-cal and work to get our healthcare access up. we know we are not done in san francisco. we are not done in california. have a long way to go and we need to keep fighting here in san francisco. those fights, it starts here. those fights that start -- sound crazy when we first put them out there, eventually, we know everyone will follow. thank you so much for coming and thank you so much for fighting. we will celebrate today and celebrate july 1st. but we know that on july 2nd we will get back to work, and we will keep fighting. thank we will keep fighting. thank you so much. [cheers and applause] >> thank you. yes. first, i would like to acknowledge the president of the board of supervisors, thank you for your attendance today.

i look forward to your continued support from your office. thank you very much. it is my honor to introduce our next speaker. my partner in this work, as well as many of the other functions of the city. also, the host of today's event, naomi kelly. [applause] >> good afternoon everyone. thank you for being here today. so we are here for this historic moment. whether you work in an office building in downtown san francisco, or at a nature -- neighborhood restaurant, or building homes back or cleaning them, as of july first, hour minimum wage will be $50 an ho hour. [cheers and applause] -- 15 dollars an hour. i am proud to be with you here today to celebrate this milestone. san francisco is the first major american city to reach 15

dollars an hour for all it's workers. i can't fully appreciate this accomplishment without acknowledging our former late mayor, ed lee. it was in 2014 that ed lee worked to bring the stakeholders together and had a consensus driven approach with both labor unions, business leaders, community advocates to develop crop jay which was passed by the voters in 2014 with a 77% approval rating to increase the minimum wage which was then at $10.74 an hour, to today which would be $15 an hour. he often reminded us that the great city that this city of san francisco -- a great city, must treat workers fairly and shared prosperity is an integral part to our strong economy. [applause] we have a booming local economy

and a 50-dollar minimum wage. those who say we have to choose between -- 15 dollars minimum wage. those who say we have to choose between a fair pay and equity are wrong. they complement each other. thank you all for being here today. thank you to our labor community partners, our city staff, and all who have worked to ensure the rights of hard-working san franciscans can be protected. enjoy the rest of today. [applause] >> ok. next up, hang on, we will get through this expeditiously. the executive director of the san francisco labor council and lifetime resident of the city and county of san francisco, rudy gonzalez. [cheers and applause] >> you have heard from other speakers that san francisco was

the first. that mean something. a mean something when labor unions like community, and when i say that, i mean community partners like the chinese progressive association and through their partnership with groups like jobs with justice, where they come together with leaders in san francisco, and set a tone for the rest of the country. we saw just yesterday massachusetts joins the likes of new york and others who have followed suit to raise their minimum wage. as an important statement in what are otherwise dark times in our country. labor will stand with community. we will continue to fight for the working poor and we will continue to fight for immigrants in our communities. we will continue to stand up and provide a voice for working people. not only in san francisco, but in this nation and in this world. it is important that amidst this despair this world. it is important that amidst this despair, we can come together and break bread and celebrate some of these victories. under the leadership of tim paulson at the time in our labor council, these things were possible. the minimum wage will rise,

again. the living wage needs to rise out. [applause] whether it is over a copy, or you are reading mit statistics, you know it costs a lot more than $15 an hour to survive. even with just one person in this city, at the lodge of communities in the bay area. get us on as. 's on labor and community and on our elected's to take bold steps and move this even more forward and make progress and make a living wage a reality for san francisco and then we will see, under the leadership, it will happen across the country and elsewhere. thank you. with that, i will turn it over to pat mulligan. thanks, brother. [applause] >> thank you rudy. next we will hear from a san francisco worker and a victim of minimum wage violations. she suffered under -- under

minimum wage violations in a case i was investigated by the office of labor standards enforcement. we negotiated a settlement in the neighborhood of $400,000. in the back wages and penalties. just to appreciate it to, this was for seven workers. you can get the extent of the violation on an ongoing basis. whether that, i would introduce this woman and her interpreter for today with the office of labor standards enforcement. >> voice of translator: good afternoon everyone. i will be the interpreter for this group of people. i also work for the office labor

standard enforcement for -- as a compliance officer. i would like to thank you so much for this -- of these workers. all of them, they will have two more coming and they will probably be late. they took time off from work. they are taking the day off and some of them without pay. they want to come here to support us and support this event and to support the city and you support raising the minimum wage for the low wage workers. thank you. thank you so much. [applause] now she would like to say a few words on behalf of these good people who received a total of $480,000 as a back wages from one of the cases. i will be the interpreter for her. [speaking foreign language]

>> voice of translator: we are here today to support raising the minimum wage for low-wage workers. we work for a chinese restaurant on 18th street and the chinatown location, for many years. we work six days a week from 10-12 hours a day but we only receive wages from 1,000-1,800

per month. which equal to $4.4 to $7.29 per hour. it is far below the required city minimum wage. [speaking foreign language] >> voice of translator: in november 2014, with the help of a former worker from these cases, we looked for and talk to miss hall who helped us with not receiving city minimum wage and overtime pay. [speaking foreign language]

>> voice of translator: in the investigation, employers hired two attorneys to fight and try to settle with us for less than what they audit for the findin findings. [speaking foreign language] >> voice of translator: one of the employers called us and said, hey, you guys just won money. i gave you money. just drop the claim. [speaking foreign language] >> voice of translator: we are so upset that the employer called and told us we just one

money. we learned that it is our right to receive minimum wage, and when we work more than eight hours a day or more than 40 hours a week, we are entitled to receive overtime pay. so we stick together and stood up for our rights. [speaking foreign language] >> voice of translator: we are so fortunate that with their help, our employer finally settled the case on the day of the hearing for a total of $480,000 as a back wages. [applause] [cheering] we received varying amounts from 50,000-$100,000 as a back wage

and interest. [speaking foreign language] >> voice of translator: when the ponce -- the director of osc is here and the city attorney handed the first, to us and we are so happy and so grateful and couldn't think them enough for their help. [speaking foreign language]

>> voice of translator: the minimum wage is so important to the low wage workers. by raising the minimum wage, it helps the workers to support their family and puts more money in worker process pockets that will lead to more spending in a local business and help our economic growth. thank you so much for fighting for our rights and helping us to recover our rightful earned wages. thank you. [speaking foreign language] [applause] >> thank you, everybody. before our next speaker, i would like to acknowledge the san francisco school board. matt amy, i think i saw him in the back. also upfront, the fire chief joanne hayes white. thank you everyone. next up to speak, an individual who will always give it to you

straight. the president of sci you local 87, representing custodial workers throughout san francisco and the secretary-treasurer of the san francisco labor council, olga miranda. >> i would be doing a disservice to my community if i did not start in spanish first. before the monolingual challenge, i would do it in english immediately afterwards. [speaking spanish] span-mac

span-ma [applause] when this campaign started in 2013, it was one of the campaigns that kicked off after the 99%. before i go on, i want to be able to say that -- thank you to naomi kelly and pat milliken. -- mulligan. thank you for having the up year. i want to be able to say that these fights are done with coalitions and the hard work and

to the contributions that everybody puts an. is not just the accolades of those directors, of the elected officers. it doesn't happen because it dawned on one of them. let's do the right thing. what i said in spanish, is that these alliances, for example, for the brothers and sisters from [speaking spanish] our brothers and sisters from the trident just chinese progressive association. i would like to elect -- recognize a newly elected president. president -- of the cultural officer. these are the partnerships, with all the organized labor, my brothers and sisters from the firefighters and brothers and sisters from sei you. local 87. we had the courage to be able to fight for that. and my former boss and mentor

who was a director at the time when all of this was happening. thank you. [applause] this week and the celebration today is one for all of these allies and partners such as jobs with justice. in the wake of the janice decision, the achievement of 15 dollars as a minimum wage in san francisco is far more significant. we will resonate -- this will resonate throughout the country. our work is still not done. it was born from the 99% campaign and workers at burger king, mcdonald's, wendy's, theyy all decided i want $15 and a union. it was born from single mothers and minimum wage workers who said i deserve more and my children deserve more. a lot of these employers called immigration on workers.

san francisco has a luxury to have this in our city. we also have labor unions. that is one thing that san francisco can say we are proud to have. this is a uniontown. uniontown plus block -- [applause] in the coming weeks, we are still under attack. our responsibility is to continue that momentum. at workers from the airport and erase those workers that have been left behind. that this city makes a commitment through the small business owners, through labor unions, there all the offices here in city government. make the mco and the p.l.a. happen so no one is left behind. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. that was great. next up got my former work partner for four years, and

never at a loss for words, vice president of service employees international union local ten-1, joseph brian. [applause] >> all right. good afternoon everyone. how is everybody doing today? good, good. today is a day to celebrate. at least in the moment. we all know that we are facing a tax on many levels. we are seeing a tax on families at the borders. we are seeing attacks on civil rights like what took place in colorado. we are seeing attacks on human rights. with the muslim band and we are seeing attacks on workers rights with what we are experiencing with a new decision that just came out. but we have to remind ourselves, we will not get it all back in one swipe. there is not a magic bullet that will fix everything. i tell my son's basketball team when we get down, you know, we

will not get it all back in one shot. we have to stay resilience. we have to continue to grind. we have to continue to fight. today is a moment of the success of all the people in this room. the success of labor and coordination with working with community, in working with city leaders like pat and naomi. when we come together, we can make substantial change for the working people. sciu international has played a leading role in the fight for 15 and a union since 2012. [applause] it has not been an easy fight. there's been a lot of pushback. there's been a lot of critics. there's been a lot of opponents. we know what's right. even 15 in san francisco, as great as it is, it is still difficult to live here on $15 an hour. so we must continue to push.

we must continue to process to ensure that there is a living wage for all people who live in the city and county of san francisco. [applause] at the end of it, yo, you know,? why fight so hard for this? the fight for 15 is a fight for dignity. it is a fight for respect. it is a fight for justice. so we must continue to press in all places that do not have 15, and then continue to press beyond. we must continue to fight for one another and we have so many folks in the house from labor today back again, sciu and the local 87, brother ramon hernandez from local 261. we have both of the executive director's, rudy gonzalez and

tim paulson from the labor council and my sister alyssa from 2121. we have the operator's army in the house. we have mr james bryant who played an interesting -- a great role in labor over many years. we must continue to work together and continued to fight together. we are with you guys in terms of making sure that we continue to fight for worker's rights. thank you. [applause] >> i was going to try and recognize some of the labor folks here but i think joseph just covered everybody. tim, connie, ramon, also everybody else. thank you for participating and attending. the next speaker's rep estate -- reputation precedes her. she has been the organizing director with a chinese progressive association. [cheers and applause]