establishments, 80 san francisco and the rest nearby, they've gotten people to switch from plastic straws. we work with stores that have an inventory, seeing what they have, seeing what they can't send back, and accommodating for that. so we're all about helping businesses comply by making reasonable, good faith effort and not being rigid in our enforcement. timeline, we have the first set of dates are july 1, 2019, which is when straws and associated stirrers, etcetera, be plastic free. feed ware, those and other accessories be on request, and bpa free and 2020 is when the fluorinated ban gets kicked in, and 10% reusable at events.

so as with our other ordinances, we do a lot of work in terms of communicating, reaching out, mailing to all the businesses affected, doing corridor sweeps, targeting certain key players that maybe provide a lot, like, sell to other businesses and making sure that everyone understands it, providing information on all alternatives. so we have all of that that we're ready to gear. another piece of this is we're really interested in promoting the cultural change to the public and consumers around the idea that maybe you don't need all those accessories, and understand why we're doing this and help support it. and there are other things they can take along those lines. speaking of other things, in you may have noticed in the resolution there's language

about encouraging the board to go further. we clearly have been envisioning other steps that we can take, and you look at some other areas, particularly across the bay in berkeley, they proposed legislation that goes further. it says if you're going to be dining, provide reusables, and if you're going to provide disposables, charge for the cup and even on the container. so that would be building on the success of what we've seen with single use bag charges, because initially, we've banned plastic bags. and later, we came back and says charge 10 cents if someone's going to take a bag, and there, we saw a dramatic swing towards reuse. we're thinking somewhere along those lines could make sense.

that's out there as an option. and this is an example -- we helped create and participate in a voluntary program with businesses the idea around having them rethink disposable, which was the name of the campaign through implementing voluntary best practices where they could switch disposables with reusables and finding ways to distribute less like on request and bulk dispensing. so this is an outfit that's run by clean water action, and they've now worked with 150 businesses in san francisco and around the immediate bay area, and they've been able to go in and help places switch most or entirely to reusables for in dining. and the great news about this is is that usually, after a few months, they get a payback from buying these reusables. and the cost of disposables are so much that they end up getting a net savings --

ongoing net saves -- savings. i think this is a great strategy, but it's a lot of work and only certain people do it. again, considering it a policy in the future. i would say what we can do is based on the examples that businesses have given, the community support and advocacy, political support and advocacy, and your support, so i thank you. please let me know if you have any questions. >> director raphael? >> yeah, thank you. thank you, jack, for that great presentation. that really helps us look forward as well as acknowledge where we've been. i would like to just take a moment to acknowledge the team that worked on this ordinance. it was quite an amazing group of people. jack macy and his tremendous ability to problem solve and research. his leigh, alexa -- his colleague, alexa.

i want to give out a shout out to charles, who steered us continually and was mag a magnificent. i was to comment neha, and even when things get hairy, she managed to find a path forward, listening carefully to what we were trying to achieve and then finding the legal path forward, so i'm grateful for your leadership and your tenacity, charles, jack, and alexa, who's not here. thank you. >> thank you, president bermejo. i think this is a great ordinance. i think this is all great work, as debbie said. it's the product of a great

team, and i think even more than that, it illustrates so many things that are terrific about this department, creativity when faced with a problem, the willingness to really push the envelope. the solid partnerships you all have with so many people and organizations in the community, the outreach work you do, and the leadership role that you take. i have a couple of comments on the ordinance, which -- >> the resolution? >> the resolution, yes, thank you, which anthony has told me i should go through and then hand him my piece of paper. one thing that's not on my piece of paper which i would like to have raised for your consideration is adding a new paragraph, which i hate to write these things here, and maybe we don't have to, but i'm wondering whether we should

have a paragraph that addresses the controversy that both of you referred to, and that was illustrated by this morning ease chronicle, a -- this morning's chronicle, a paragraph that talks about the extensive efforts that you all have -- that have preceded the ordinance to work with the business and disability communities. the -- as a result of which there are exceptions for medical needs, for example, as well as the fact that there's at least a year that people have to prepare for the imposition of the actual ban. i think that such a paragraph would strengthen the resolution. and then, if my colleagues don't mind, could i just go

through these few? they're really not that many, particularly if you consider that i'm the one that's suggesting them. >> and commissioner wald, if i may, i just clarified by the deputy city attorney that we do need to write the amendment now. >> i know we do. >> okay. >> i know we do. i said i hate that we do that. perhaps somebody could write it for me? so on page 1, and line 15, i'm troubled by the expression marine plastics. so me, that sounds like something -- like it sort of belongs there. i think it should be changed to read plastics in the marine environment because we are, after all, talking about trash. >> that -- that works for me. >> on page 2, and line 1, where we refer to areas impacting

urban runoffs, i would just refer to say, a study of street litter that contributes to urban runoff or something like that. in line 3 on page 2, the word fifty should be replaced by the number 50. i don't like to give charles extra work, but i had a lot of problems. i had to read the whereas that begins on-line 16 several times, and i think we could take it -- >> a question. what -- what's the beginning of that sentence so we know --

>> it's line 16, whereas, fluorinated chemicals. and then, page 3, line 17, where it says what the ordinance does, i think it would be clearer if it says the ordinance ensures that no person may sell or distribute any food ware that is not verified through third party certification to be free of fluorinated chemicals, as opposed to any food ware that is not fluorinated chemical free and verified. no person may sell or distribute any food ware that is not verified through third party certification to be free of fluorinated chemicals.

i don't mean to change the intent of any of these things by the suggestions that i make. i -- i just think that for people who know even less than i know about this topic, which is not very much at all, that some of these suggestions would make it easier for them to understand what it is we are talking about. and that's my list. >> while charles is writing -- [inaudible] >> thank you. charles is writing the amendment or --

>> president bermejo, may we move to public comment as we do the rewriting? >> sure. any other comments from our commissioners first? >> do you want my help? >> okay. commissioner ahn? >> just a brief comment. it hasn't escaped my attention, actually, the implementation of this ordinance around boba tea. i know the original roll out was around boba guys, which i thought was very good. but recognize there is a higher cost to pom coastabcompostable would just urge you to be diligent in your outreach to immigrant communities. >> sure. i appreciate your comment. i think there's been some press

or some concern around the availability and how so many people are switching. and we would take that into consideration. if there's just a backlog and one's not able to get a suitable boba alternative, you know, we would give people that time. we -- in our experience with other ordinances, a lot of players that come forth once they see that it's not going to be san francisco, other jurisdictions as well, you'll see a lot of scaling up. with scaling up, costs will come down, as well. so you know, i think they're -- there's going to be a period of time they're going to want to look at different alternatives. i know they are already doing that. it's interesting, there's even new players coming forward that have ideas that they can provide, reusable straws and provide a washing service for them, so that can certainly be

something that might work if it's on-site consumption. off-site's a little bit trickier, but there are even reusable programs for people taking stuff off-site, so i think there are different options, and we would track those, work with, you know, various players and certainly work with the -- you know, the various businesses that are affected. >> commissioner sullivan? >> that was also my question, that i was going to ask about the boba tea purveyors, but you've already covered it, so thank you. >> any other questions from commissioners? director raphael? >> yeah. i was just going to say with the boba, it was interesting because we had our presentation at the boba tea place, and the

owner was thinking creatively about how they'd address this issue. they take such pride about the ingredients of their bobas and how sustainable they are and local. and so for him, it was just the latest challenge of i haven't figured it out yet, but i know i can. there are a lot of reusable boba straws that they were giving out to gifts as people, and we hope they will have their reusable boba straw in their backpack or purse. i have mine, so it's just a change of habit. it's clear for a boba, a straw is a part of the drink, so it's not so much eliminating the straw but finding an alternative. and they were excited to try, and we're excited to work with them, too. this is -- as jack said and as you all know, san francisco is not alone in this.

this ban on plastic straws is far and wide, and so the -- i believe in the power of capitalism, and i believe that when there is a gap in the market, somebody will rise up to fill it. >> this is for sure true. i wondered if because -- if this is also a movement, and it's not just in san francisco. you read about it, you hear about it, who is opposing something like this? for instance, the restaurant association, and how do we -- if there are people who are opposing or organizations, what kind of outreach are we doing to them or can we do, as maybe in an ambassadorial role as commissioners, to give good information out there and sort of preach the gospel of no plastic straws? >> yeah. well, there were a lot of meetings that me and the supervisor tang held with

different players, and there was some concerns raised initially by the restaurant association and chamber. they've come around to support it. i think it's really a matter of talking through and say our approach is one of helping businesses comply, showing them the alternatives, giving them the time they need and reaching out which is sort of how we've done our other ordinances. this is a business, but it's also what consumers can do and sort of promoting that. so where you have the opportunity to kind of encourage people to think about how they can reduce their impact, bring their own, debbie was saying the people get into the habit of carrying straws, that is a good example. i think it's an amazing amount of material that's being generated. we estimate 1 million straws are being used in the city every day, and there's on the order of 300 million disposable

cups being used in the city every year. just the quantities are so dramatic, so i think there's really some huge opportunities for us to reduce the impact. when he with think about zero waste, we think about the old mantra, reduce, reuse, recycle, compost. that's something that gets to more of a cultural change and a shift in attitude and perception, so we just need to kind of help walk the talk, i guess. thank you. >> thank you. director raphael? oh, commissioner wald? anthony? >> all right. president bermejo, i've consulted with policy and communications sector, with the two suggested amendments. so besides those proposed amendments by commissioner

wald, we propose, on page 2, line 18, after the word grease, to start a new whereas that says, whereas fluorinated chemicals are extremely persistent in the environment, leach into the environment and into food. the second -- the second proposal, commissioner wald, would be to, on page 3, after the final whereas, before the resolved, to add one additional whereas clause, whereas efforts to work with the disability community have resulted in kpemss for people with disabilities and medical needs and allows people one year to prepare for the ban, therefore be it resolved. okay. that's resolved.

okay. that's ibe it resolved. okay. that's it? okay. so the other amendments are, just to go through them all, on page 2, line 15, remove the word marine, and after the word plastics, add the in the marine environments. the other is on page 2, line 1, after the word litter, that contributes to. on page 2, line 3, replace the word fifty with the number 50. so we have added the changes. on page 3, line 17, after the word that -- after the word not, to replace it with verified through party certification to be free of fluorinated chemicals. and then, the addition of that additional clause about the business and disability

community. you're welcome. public comment. >> yes. we have one request for public comment, at this point, from lawrence carter long, disability rights education and defense fund. >> good evening. >> good evening. >> how are you? thank you for taking my comment. i hadn't actually planned to speak, but these issues seemed to be rising, so i appreciate the opportunity to give some insights. a month ago, i didn't think about straws. i don't use straws. i send them back every time they're offered to me, but as the communications director of a national disability rights organization, i started getting phone calls, both from consumers, from businesses, from news organizations about these proposed bans that are rolling out across the kroo and indeed internationally, and i

think there's a lot that san francisco can learn from the mistakes that have been made in other cities. for example, seattle. first, it proposed the ban a year ago. they found that it was unworkable -- ten years ago. i'm sorry. ten years ago, they found it was unworkable, and then, just recently, a few months ago, decided to implement that ban on july 1. they had their own disability policy commission that is designed to assist in making these decisions. that's why it is there, who were never consulted before the law was implemented. and then, they had to scramble. they had to deal with people like me going on n.p.r. and calling them out, right? we've had places like p.b.s. news hour, calling, asking about bans in los angeles and new york city. they are now faced with

rewriting that ordinance. here, there's some questions that have been brought to my attention that my community has. the ordinance says, strict compliance is not required where it would interfere with accommodating medical needs. okay. on the surface, that sounds fine. but we've got to ask, who is doing the accommodating? how are they doing the accommodating? we also have to wonder, how are we going to ensure that everyone who needs a plastic straw for the time being can get one? how is a person supposed to show that they require a straw due to medical needs? are we going to tell people to get a prescription to go to mcdonald's? what does it mean? the devil is in the details here. no other constituency is required to bring their own cup, their own cutlery, or

their own doggie bag. it's ironic to me that 28 years ago this week, on july 26, the americans with disabilities act was passed, saying that americans with disabilities have the right, the same right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. we should not be faced with these additional burdens. an option is not a mandate. may does not equal must. we cannot -- because we didn't think it through, put an undue burden on the disability community on people who were left out of the initial conversations. so please, i implore you before these things are implemented that we give firm, concrete and specific answers to these questions before implementation, because i can tell you, we all love hurdles,

too. but we don't want to roll back the protections that we've fought for in that process. next july, i want to be standing on these stairs with us in celebration of this going into effect. i can't do that. the disability community can't do that unless we're considered, consulted, unless you learn from our insights, our expertise and our experience in making these decisions. thank you very much. >> thank you. any other public comment? okay. we can move onto a motion for the resolution. >> i'll move approval of the resolution as edited. >> so moved. second? okay. it's been moved by commissioner sullivan and seconded by commissioner wald. all in favor?

[voting] >> any opposition? any abstensions? great. the motion carries. [inaudible] >> anthony, item 12. >> clerk: the next item is item 12, announcements. this item is for discussion. >> commissioners, any announcements? any public comment on announcements? we want to be thorough. neha's here. okay. next item. >> clerk: the next item is new business, this item is for discussion and possible action. >> good evening, commissioners, charles sheehan, policy

manager. next meeting is september 24, so a little bit to go. we will be reviewing the green report and the pesticide list. and we're working on the joint meeting with the commission on the status of women. we want to bridge the global action climate summit with the bay area women's summit that's happening here in december. the date for the joint meeting is october 24 at 4:00 pm m., so please hold that for your calendars. we're still working on a location for that joint meeting, so if you do have any ideas, let anthony know. the next policy committee meeting is august 6, and the next operation committee meeting is october 17. >> commissioners, any

questions? any public comment? we hope to see you on those dates. okay. next item. >> clerk: the next item is item 14, adjournment. the time is 7:27 p.m. >> okay. we are adjourned. i can hit this [ gavel ]. >> thank you. and thank you for the comments. thank you for everybody who's still here to listen to the really important information that is being presented today, and thank you for the last public comment, and those are heartfelt words, and certainly will be taking them into consideration. thank you. have a good night.

>> ok. so, good evening, everyone. my name is vivian po. i'm the communications director for assessor carmen chiu and i wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for being here. and i would like the introduce our host for tonight, assessor carmen chiu. she is the only asian-american assessor across the state of california. and she is definitely one of our women leaders in the city. so, may i present assessor carmen chiu. [applause] >> hello! welcome, everybody, to san

francisco's women equality day kickoff! [cheering] [applause] i don't know if folks know what the history of women's equality day is, but it is to simply do this -- to remember and to celebrate when women fought for right to vote and the passage of the 19th amendment. i tried remembering the first time that i voted and i think i must have just turned 18 at the time. when i started to do the ballot -- fill out the ballot and to vote, i remember thinking i don't know any of these people. i don't know any of these measures. and i don't think that that was something that was unusual for someone who came from an immigrant family who i think my parents never voted until after i voted, actually. and so it's one of these things that we say, when we think about why it is so important to vote, it's because we have the opportunity to vote for people who represent us in government, whether it's local government or all the way to the highest level in our federal government.

because these individuals pass laws and make decisions on how we govern how we live our lives, who we can marry, the air we breathe. that is why today i'm so proud to be here, to kick off not only women's equality day but also the w challenge. so, what is the w challenge? i want everybody to go when you can today to wchallenge.org. the goal is simple. it's to raise women's voices, to show that across the city, across issues, across ideology, we are united when it comes to getting women out to vote and the importance of getting women out to vote. the way it works is this -- we can all do something about this. we each individually, not only pledge to vote, but we pledge to get one more woman registered to vote and bring one more woman with us to the ballot. so, with that, i'd love to introduce our next speaker. she is no stranger to paving the way and fighting for our values. our san francisco values.

she was the first woman to serve as speaker of the house in u.s. history, our democratic leader nancy pelosi! [cheering] [applause] >> thank you very much, carmen. it is an honor to be here with you and so many women leaders in our community. thank you. madame mayor, honor to be with you. i was recalling on the way here when carmen was a supervisor, assessor chiu was a supervisor. we walked her district and with katie tang who would then become the supervisor. so katie nice to see you, too. congratulations, carmen. look at these women. london breed, the mayor of san francisco! [applause] carmen chiu, the assessor of our city. and katie tang, supervisor. she was a staff person then and

on then on to the supervisor following in carmen's wonderful footsteps. we're joined by the sheriff katie -- vicky hennessy. we're so blessed in our community with so many wonderful leader and you'll hear from more. debbie meslo from the commission ton status of women. the list goes on and on. but here we are. the w challenge. challenging women to vote. it's just a fact. when you don't vote, you don't count. and your views are not takens into consideration. so thank you, carmen, for bringing us together for this challenge. and it's so important. at the time, when this happened, they said women given the right to vote. no. women weren't given anything. [laughter] women weren't given.

it was women fought, marched, starved, were starved by their families. they did everything to be recognized. to be recognized so that women could have the right to vote. we stand on their shoulders. so, we have to continue to fight for equal pay, for equal work and lily ledbetter and all those kinds of things. and women are very much about families. and keeping families together. we do not want families separated by immigration policy, that we do not agree with. and we don't want families separated by gun violence. that is why it is an honor to be here with mardie scott. she's turned the grief of her son's murder into a decades' long fight to confront the tragedy of gun violence. you are such an incredible leader. thank you for inspiring us so. [applause] especially today. just this morning we lost a cherished member of our

community. brother juno. we need the voices of america's women so that -- so that when we take power, we will pass laws that will protect and keep families together, not separated by gun violence. and i'm glad that supervisor catherine stefani, who worked so much on this gun issue before becoming a supervisor. so very, very important. so, votes matter. because it determines policy and policy matters. thank you, again. i know when we leave here, we'll march over there to the library and have a seminar on how women can be more appointed to commissions and boards and elective office and the rest so i thought i'd tell you this story. it was a long time ago. my children were little and i was in my home, getting ready for dinner. and i get a call from the

mayor of san francisco. he says what are you doing, nancy, making a big pot of pasta? [laughter] i said no, mayor, i'm reading the "new york times". [laughter] but here's the point. he called to ask me, because my kids and i always volunteered at the san francisco library. where you're going next. he said i know you love the library where you serve and calling to apoint you as a library commissioner. he says that's ok, mr. mayor, i'll do the work without being a commissioner. we love the library. we'll just go do that. now he was not known as a great femininist, but he did say never say that. no man would say that.

get official recognition for what you do. [applause] official recognition for what you do. it was true then. it's true now. hi, chief. but the point was i -- i really thought, well, we're going to volunteer anyway. but when you get on a commission, you have a vote. people want to know what you think. we started bringing our commission meetings into the neighborhood. i was a big thing. you can make a difference with your fresh, new ideas, especially realising how bringing it closer to home was important to families. so i'm so happy that there will be even now a need but also an opportunity for women to learn more about why it is important that they get official recognition for what they do. who knows? library commissioner, speaker of the house. who knows? [applause]

so in any event, proud to recognize a city that recognizes the power of women. when we talk about a vote on a commission, or a vote at the polls, that is's really important. so thank you, carmen, for bringing us together for the w challenge. there is nothing more wholesome for our country, for our political process, for our government than the increased participation of women in leadership in the political system. we owe it to the suffragettes, that's why i wore purple and white, we owe it to the suffragettes standing on their shoulders to advance the cause even further. thank you all very much. [applause] >> she is and always will be our leader. >> yes! [applause] >> speaking of folks to

recognize, i want to make sure that i'm recognizing the league of women voters of san francisco and, of course t department of status of women lead by my co-sponsors in this. there will be many more people join us and i'll recognize you as we go. i wanted to make sure to bring up our mayor, london breed. this next person, i think, needs no introduction. she seems to rise to every single challenge thrown in her way. as a young girl, she was raised by her grandmother. she grew up in public housing. she chanding herself to make history. our city's newest mayor, mayor london breed. [applause] >> here in san francisco, we are so fortunate. we have some of the most amazing leaders anywhere. they just all happen to be women. [laughter]

leader pelosi, paving the way, fighting the good fight in washington, d.c. every single day. a challenge against a terrible president. she stands tall, she stands proud, she stands fearless, while she simultaneously stir ago pot of pasta. [laughter] that is our leader. amazing, fearless and standing strong. and yes, carmen, too, i accept the w challenge. because it shouldn't take more than 30 years to elect the second woman mayor of the city and county of san francisco. [applause] here in our city, we have a woman mayor. we have a woman president of the board of supervisors with seven of the 11 members that are women. the presiding judge here in san francisco is a woman. so many leaders, our city administrator. so many incredible people.

in fact, my first two major appointments, district five supervisor valley brown, a woman, ivy league to the community college board, a woman. women who get the job done. women who focus on doing the work. and let me be clear, to all the men -- we still love and need you. [laughter] trust and believe that. but we are so fortunate that so many incredible women commissioners, so many incredible women step up to the plate and run for office and put themselves out there to do what's necessary to get the job done. but we have more work to do. we all know the challenges of what we face here in the city and county of san francisco. the conversations around mental illness, the conversations around substance abuse, the things we need to do to build more housing. we know we have work to do.

which is why we have to do everything we can to get women registered to vote, to get out the vote, to elect women, appoint women and do all we can to support one another. and it won't be easy. but we can get the job done. behind me, i can name so many amazing women. commander manocks who basically was a captain at northern police station and is now commander in the police department. maddie scott who was mentioned earlier. other commissioners and people who continue to step up to the plate and lead and do the right thing on behalf of the residents of our city and our country. we are definitely a place of wealth of knowledge and incredible women. and today as we celebrate women equality day, we need to think about what we need to do to work harder to get the a better place. we have work to go.

women, let's get it done. thank you. speaking of love to ours allies, i do want to recognize supervisor asafai who joined us today. he will be speaking -- he is hanging out with the girls up here. he is going to be speaking at the panel later. so, we want to, of course, welcome him and thank him for joining us. our small business commissioner sonya malara and our city administrator, our chief and many, many others who are here. the next speaker is an amazing, amazing legislator. she shows gults and courage. she walks across the aisle to pass policies to build more housing for working families. she's done so much and brought news to the city. good news. to expand parenttal benefits but also lactation policies here locally in san francisco. it truly is a model for the nation and i want to welcome supervisor katie tang up to the podium. [applause]

>> thank you so much, assessor chu. her entire team. the department of status of women and i want to thank her sister, cindy, also. she designed this fabulous logo here that has a lot of meaning behind it for this w challenge. so thank you, cindy. i was actually just talking to my friend viva. i don't know if she is still here, but from the school district. one thing -- yes. there is viva. so one thing that i definitely want to do and work with her in the school district on is that now we can also preregister our young students to be able to vote. so we want to do that for 16, 17-year-olds and begin them on an early path to remember to vote. now when carmen brought this challenge to us, there was a statistic that was shared, which was that california ranks third in terms of the top number of women who are not registered to vote. right? that is hard to believe. i didn't know that before. and that is a statistic that i do not think that californians want to be a part of.

we don't want to rank high on that. let's change the landscape of that. a lot has been said about the importance of getting people to vote. let's get out there and thank you for bringing attention to this. because we all know we have to do this. but you have to be hit over the head to be reminded about it. thank you, carmen. [applause] >> thank you, supervisor tang. some more folks who have joined us, of course. commissioner julie su, claudine chang, darlene chu, ecology general manager minna tau. this is pretty important. we have a woman leading a general manager. and ben rosen sf*eld here as well. [applause] thank you very much for being here. our next speaker is a leader in common sense gun control laws far before she was ever a legislator here in san francisco. something that is much too important for our communities. she is someone who is a

steadfast person to lead the -- her commitment to creating safe communities for all of our families. i want to welcome one of our newest members of the board of supervisors, supervisor catherine stefani. [applause] >> thank you, carmen. i, too, accept the w challenge. it is an honor to be here with so many incredible women. leader pelosi. my sister mayor london breed. supervisor katie tang and so many other incredible women and our men, too, that help us along the way. i was thinking the other day, you know, my daughter. she is 9 years old and she is absolutely obsessed with justice ruth bader ginsburg and every night she reads out of this little blue boo, that says there is no truth without ruth. and we were talking about the challenges that we face and sometimes how it is really hard to overcome like what we see on the streets with homelessness and mental illness and how we

have to work so incredibly hard at these issues. and we were talking about the women's right to vote and how long that took. it took us over 100 years. we didn't just get the right to vote, we had to really work so hard for that right to vote. and 98 years later, we're still fighting for equal representation and equal pay and equal treatments. so, you know, for my 9-year-old daughter, these are lessons that we talk about every night. and it's one of the reasons why i picked up legislation that supervisor farrell was sponsoring, which is to have more of our female represented in our public art. we want women -- we want more symbols of women for our children to look up to. and one of the reasons why we are, you know, putting forward a statue of dr. maya angelou. it's something that i'm looking forward to doing and we'll be doing that this fall. one other thing i was thinking about, too. on -- i'll never forget. january 4, 2007.

i was on the treadmill at the j.c.c. watching leader pelosi and then congresswoman pelosi being sworn in as the first woman to become the speaker of the house. and i was on that treadmill for like two hours. i have to thank you for that workout. [laughter] because i could not stop watching and i will never forget when she was there with all the children around her and she said the house will come to order with the gavel. and then two years later, i was in emerge. i was in my emerge class at the california democratic convention and speaker pelosi was there. and we had signs that said madame speaker and i was pregnant with my daughter gigi. you know, she is 9 now and she is watching me in my role as supervisor. she's watching me run for office. and she is watching me do it in a pants suit. and i say that because even in my time when i was a trial lawyer, i was told that i needed to wear skirts to trial.

even in my time. so, i'm happy that my daughter gets to see me do all of this in a pantsuit because it does matter. because nancy mali the d.a. in alameda county said if you are not at the table -- [traffic going by] if you are not at the table, you're not on the menu. if you are not at the table, they are talk about reproductive rights without you. if you are not at the table, they are talking about child care and access to education and health care without you. you have to vote, you have to encourage your friends to vote and you have to run for office if you are a woman. i am so excited to be here today anja wait to vote on november 6 and i can't wait to cast a vote for myself. thank you. [laughter] [applause] >> if i lived in district two,

i would, too. to close out on our challenge, again i just want to encourage everybody to remember, pleases go to wchallenge.org, sign up, pledge to vote. pledge to bring one more woman to the polls with you. register one more woman to go vote. it really does matter. please make sure to do that. to close out again, i want to invite our wonderful partners. debbie meso, the president on the status of women as well as leah edwards. [applause] i just wanted to say quickly that i'm inviting everyone on november 6 to ladies's night because i know that when women vote, women control the agenda. when women control the agenda, we'll have equal pay. we'll have paid leave. we'll have more women ascending in leadership, just like our great women leaders here. i really want to thank our great assessor carmen chu for issuing this challenge. i, too, accept it. i want to thank london breed. she talked about her first appointment as a woman.

we salute her and appreciate that and our great leader nancy pelosi who's done so much for women in this city. thank you so much for coming and assessor chu for this challenge. [applause] >> hello, everyone. thank you so much to everyone for being here today. my name is leah edwards. i'm with the league of women voters of san francisco and we're honored to be a part of this collaboration for women's equality day. securing -- women's equality day is really, really important because it commemorates the adoption of a 19th amendment nearly 100 years ago when women first secured the right to vote. securing this right was not easy. it took 75 years of fighting and ultimately was only made possible by tens of thousands of women who organized and advocated that half the population could have their voice heard. while this might seem like it was a long time ago, citizens across the country continue to face barriers to voting in the

form of voter i.d. law, reduced voting hours and purging voters from voting rolls. there's still a lot more work to be done to ensure that everybody is able to exercise their right to vote. while voting remains a national problem, low turnout is perhapss a greater one. there are millions of people who are registered to vote but don't ultimately cast their ballots for many reasons. in the last election in san francisco in june 2018, voter turnout was 56.2%. so there's still a huge opportunity to get everyone out to the polls and voting. that is why we are here today to urge each of you to vote, to get a friend to vote and to make sure that your voice is heard in the upcoming election. voting isn't -- is one of many ways to become civickically engaged. in the meantime, we urge you to take part in the w challenge.

like i said, it's really easy. you just get a vote, gate friend to vote and help share your story and i would like to kick this off by inviting carmen chu to be the first to sign the pledge. thank you. [laughter] [applause] >> i'll be the second. >> second. >> as women leaders are signing the pledge, i would like to take this opportunity to thank the partner organizations to help put this together and reaching every community in the city. and i also want everyone to wait a little bit. we'll take a big group picture with the pledge together as a way to say that we accept the challenge collectively. so the partner organizations we would like to recognize are the san francisco women's political committee.

women's march bay area. the women's building. san francisco democratic women in action. ignite. la casina. community youth center. our own office of transgender initiatives. the office of civic engagement and immigrant affairs. recology. richmond district neighborhood center. the jewish community relations council. bayview hunters point ymca. chinatown ymca. diamond heights community association board. south beach. leadership s.f., outward bound california.

senior and disability action. and we also want to recognize commissioner andrea shorter also with us today. so -- [cheering] [applause] with that, we're going to be closing with carmen and we're going to get the big picture together. >> thank you, everybody, for coming. please sign up for the w challenge. you don't haves to be a woman to sign up for the w challenge. all you have to do is pledge to vote. get one more woman to register to vote and come with you to the polls. thank you so much.

>> president serina: good afternoon and welcome to the matinee addition on aging and adult services. will they please take the call of both? [roll call] >> at this time we ask that you silence all electronics. >> president serina: made a -- may i have a motion to approve the agenda? >> moved. >> president serina: thank you. all in favour? thank you. motion carried. may i have a motion to approve the june 20th, 2018 meeting minutes? >> so moved. >> second. >> prent