this plan. number 1, 1 -- when will the long term sub and assistant be hired? how long will this take? and number 2, how is this even a good plan that one teacher teach a class of 41 students who expect to be ready for the spanish immersion, middle school curriculum next year? this is the last year at monro for these children. most of most of whom have been together since kindergarten. i will let my community continue >> my name is tommy. i'm a parent organizer at coleman advocates for children and youth. i am here on behalf of of an aunt and support for demand of the parents from munro elementary. the fifth grade immersion class. i want to address the fact that the fifth-grade class started with 40 students. overcrowding was already a huge problem. in addition, it is an injustice that the students have been without a permit teacher for their class for an extended period of time.

this is a pivotal year for all students as they will be entering middle school. next year. they cannot build trust and form necessary bonds required for a successful student-teacher partnership with substitute teachers. they have begun to solve -- c. crimes. parents have begun to transfer their students out of this school. from front -- for a president -- present but more will follow. this is an issue that affects every school community in our district. we are concerned about our families leaving the district schools for charters or private schools. this will, most certainly can't be increased if we do not do what is necessary to higher quality teachers to educate our students. we must move with urgency and purpose to make these changes and retain our families and district schools. we have the right to a quality education for our students and numbers are committed to solutions. we aren't willing to work with the district and local educational institutions and

universities to recruit qualified teachers that we desperately need. thank you. >> good evening. i have been a parent in munro elementary school for eight years and a spanish -- in the spanish immersion program. i have seen the school change from a diverse and supportive community to a cold and unwelcoming environment. we have had four principles over the short periods. each new administrator has made changes and cause disruption. this current year is especially hard because only two of the 11 teachers in the spanish immersion program are still's teachers at the school. through all these changes, i have been able to take comfort in the fact that i knew the teachers in the classroom that worked hard and had earned my trust. last year, our current principal spoke about the problem of kids underperforming in the spanish immersion program. her plan was to break up the combination classes into separate grade level classes. consequently creating one large

class and two smaller classes. she told me she would have two teachers in the classroom with a larger amount of kids. it seemed like a reasonable plan to me. at the end of the year, we learn to know none of the immersion teachers where returning this year and the decision to change a class structure moved forward to. had 40 kids matriculate into the fifth-grade class and despite what the principal told me last year, only one teacher was being hired to teach that class. it is not surprising to me that the class was the only class not able to find a permanent teacher by the start of the school year. sadly, this plan was hurting the very kids that it was supposed to help. our kids are being undervalued and shortchanged. munro parents are not recognized as male partners and making rational and sensible school improvements that are sustainable. our school needs to be held accountable. any serious plan moving forward has to include hiring two bilingual certified teachers for that many kids. the district must support parents and children with an

immediate plan to keep our classroom safe and sane. our kids learning and thriving and parents are appreciated and valued. thank you for your time. 's. >> [speaking spanish] >> good evening. my name is jessica ortega and i am the mother of a fifth-grader at monro. [speaking spanish] >> voice of translator: i'm here because i am very concerned and i realize that there are parents of other ethnicities that are just as concerned, not just latino parents in what is happening. [speaking spanish]

>> voice of translator: as the other parents mentioned, we have gone through at least three principles and this has caused the school to become unbalanced and uncontrolled. the current principal lacks a proper work ethic and has not been able to handle the problems that we are facing. [speaking spanish]

>> voice of translator: i also want to express that this has also caused an emotional imbalance in both the parents and the children. it has been two weeks that we have been without a teacher and the people who have been sent, lack professional ethics and human kindness. i think that the academic portion is one part of its, by the other part is the emotional aspects that we have not focused on. [speaking spanish]

>> voice of translator: another thing that the principle has allowed is a fact that there are more than 40 children in the classroom. he comes from the musee from new york and the laws are different there. [speaking spanish] >> voice of translator: i appreciate all of you and i respectfully ask and hope that you will find a quick resolution to these problems because they are affecting all of the kids. a lot of my child friends are moving to other schools and i

don't want to have to do that to him in his last grade at elementary school. >> good evening. my name is peter. my daughter is a fifth-grade student at munro elementary school. i am here to sound the alarm in regards to the situation that has quickly spiraled out of control under the guidance of the principal. the school year started on the 20th of august, absent of not one but 20 bilingual teachers we were promised. let me be clear. forty-one fifth-grade students started the year in an overcrowded room without a single qualified teacher.

firstly, it is worth noting the school is holding a meeting tonight to discuss this exact topic. most parents are not able to attach both meetings and many are there tonight to and are desperate to hear of any news or progress. my daughter has been a student at munro since kindergarten. it is a small school with a grunt -- great sense of community. we are grateful for the wonderful teachers that have worked tirelessly educating and shaping our daughter's future. in fact, they are sorely missed. the past seven days of schooling has been a disaster by all accounts. the third substitute teacher started this week. the overcrowded class has been reduced by some parents are choosing to take their child elsewhere. i feel ashamed that there is an element of release -- relief and hearing this terrible news. the fifth-grade students at munro elementary are being monumentally failed. i will repeat that. the fifth-grade students at munro elementary have been monumentally failed to. the communication has been disgraceful. there was no e-mail, no letter or phone call to even prepare us for the possibility of what was to unfold. we were told by our children on the first day. no one knew where no one cared. the principal is negotiating alternatives from a position. for adjusting -- suggesting a english speaking teacher with a

spanish-speaking aid is not enough. the majority of students are behind great level -- grade level and slipping quickly. trust has been broken and confidence is gone. sadly, our children are paying the price for the negligence. hopefully the union school district hears our cause of distress. the alarm bells are sounding. thank you. [applause] >> my name is danny kim. for 20 years, i was an educator. for the past six years, i have been a parent to just want to love my kids go to munro. and my son is in this fifth-grade class. for the past couple of years, he has experienced bullying. but the saving grace for my son has been wonderful educators that have worked with him and his classmates to create a safe environment. that has been why we have trusted our school and the people who care for our kids.

when my son came back this year, there was no teacher. on the first day, the sub made fun of him and another girl. the girl threw a pencil at his eye and and at that point, we knew that in that particular environment to, my son would not be safe. we are not just talking about learning, we're talking about safety. for my son, that meant i needed to pull him out and do what i needed to do as a father. that is what i did. i have given a lot to this district. he really is sad that it has come to this. my daughter is still at the school. i am glad for that. in in this case, my son has expressed the cost of that. why am here today is because i support my fellow parents and the community at munro that something has to be done. thank you.

[speaking spanish] >> voice of translator: good evening. my name is jasmine ortiz and i am also a mother of a student at munro. [speaking spanish] >> voice of translator: when the meeting started, i listened as they discussed renaming a school after our former mayor derek [speaking spanish]. >> voice of translator: i i heard a member of the board mention that when you walk into that school, you can feel the love and the joy in that school. unfortunately, that's not happening at my child's school.

[speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] he was really excited -- >> voice of translator: he was really excited about seeing his friends from the previous year at exciting about meeting his teacher and excited about his last year and his promotion. [speaking spanish]

>> voice of translator: as you have heard before for the reasons stated, a lot of parents have pulled their children from the school. one of those children was my child's best friend and my son is very sad he won't be able to celebrate his graduation with him. he doesn't want to go to school. [speaking spanish] >> voice of translator: thank you for listening to me. i want us to find a solution. i want us to find a teacher that would treat our children with the love because that is

important to them. he has been learning everything. he has realized that munro was not welcoming to them. the school was dirty when they started. [speaking spanish] >> voice of translator: there was still posterboard and torn pieces of paper from the previous year, this year. thank you, very much. [speaking spanish] >> voice of translator: good evening. my name is benito ortiz. [speaking spanish]

>> voice of translator: my son is also in the fifth-grade. he is the third one, third-generation at munro. [speaking spanish] >> voice of translator: i remember in previous years, it has always been a great school. there was even some renovations done. [speaking spanish] >> voice of translator: i want to be direct. this problem started to watch when years. [speaking spanish] >> voice of translator: my son was bullied and the teachers and the staff and administrators have not been doing a good job. [speaking spanish]

>> voice of translator: and i ask you to look at all the people who were here tonight. obviously something is wrong at this time that u.s. representatives look and find what is wrong. >> good evening. i want to thank the families who came out tonight. my name is rosemary and i'm a long-term -- long time. a community member. i've been there since 2002 with two current students that while they are and i started a fourth and fifth grade class. my daughter is an alarming of lowell at a recent college -- college graduate. i lived what what blocks from

this quality advocate for services for the families and residents of district 11. the students are representative and our working class immigrant community. a community that relies heavily on education to improve lives and education of children. these families are considerate, respectful and supportive of their children's education and the schools that they attempt. it is an understatement to say this administration, the current administration is committing a grave disservice to the community. families and our students and our staff. families in this situation are experiencing unnecessary tension , frustration and sadness with the time lost at work that they have had to take off. hurrying here overwork after cleaning houses. sleepless nights, a lack of structure. and the one place where many people look for structure in the classroom. last year the administration disregarded community input throughout the academic year and failed to call for a single community meeting prior to submitting the budget. which i addressed or informed

the district about. the result of having failed to communicate and collaborate with the families and the stop has created a current situation of an unsafe and overcrowded and ineffective learning environments. the situation is not only completely chaotic but especially disruptive to the children and their families causing numerous inconveniences and moving children to other schools across town and losing friendships made over the last five years and disappointment and that public school. my husband and i really want to continue your currently, we are told to support staff pops and from time to time but they are finding the situation incredibly difficult to control or instruct they are, intern, snapping at and punishing and sometimes criticizing our children for something that is not their fault. this set up that she has set up is not working for us. our efforts as parents to support the administration initially allowed us to go into the classroom but then told us we weren't allowed. >> thank you. >> she continues to tell us we can assist and it tells us we

can't. and puts up pneumatic -- numerous obstacles. >> good evening. i want to start by reiterating something that i think the board president said that you all have equity priorities. this is an equity priority right now, right here. if you want a project for the week or the month or the year, here we are. i am a long time munro parents. my daughters in the seventh grade and my son is in the fifth-grade. the difference in their experiences has been dramatic. not only is my son a former foster youth who has been repeatedly failed by adults and public institution, but he it has now been failed by his school. despite being on the southeast side of the city and full of immigrant families, families have done a great job at educating children. many of whom, like my son have high needs. today i cannot say that this is true. we do not educate our students

the same anymore. we have lost all of our veteran spanish-speaking teachers. we can't seem to keep a principal and we are putting the lives of our children at risk. they have no teacher, and all order has been lost. i feel quite certain that if this was clarendon or another school or any westside school, any of the fancy schools, that everybody wants to go to, this would never be tolerated. we are not a rich school but we are equally, if not more committed to demanding the same quality of education as students from those westside schools and we will not be ignored. our principal talks a lot about the spanish-speaking kids in our school who are mostly in spanish immersion and how they have the lowest test scores in all areas. if things continue as is, they will surely worsen. this is a high need population and for seven days, we have had three subs, 40 enrolled students in total chaos in the classroom, which i have witnessed. nothing about what i witnessed

is acceptable and you are elected representatives who have the power to do something. at a minimum, we are asking for two certified teachers as promised by the principal and extra support staff or the fifth-grade spanish immersion class. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. thank you to all of the parents that came out for it munro. we appreciate your presence and your input. our next item is section g. i believe that is all of our public speakers. our next item is section g. the special order of business. we have not tonight. section h. is a discussion of educational issues. we have not tonight. section i is consent calendar items are moved. we have none. section jay is the introduction of proposals to committee. altogether, we have four policies. the public and board comment on proposal. if anyone has signed up, which i

have no cards at this time,. ok. all right. susan solomon. come on up. >> thank you. this is in relation to the policy for prior authorization to use personal belongings at school and reimbursement if they get lost or stolen. i just wanted to make sure that the board knows that there is a contract provision and both the search to vacated unclassified contract that says the following this is article 14.4.5 active certificate and 15.2.6 at classifieds. the district shall reimburse a teacher or a pair just a educator for damages or theft resulting from attack, assault

of physical threats, robbery or vandalism when said damage or theft occurs in the line of duty , including supervision without fault of the teacher. it is possible that i am misreading the policy, but it seems to me that this policy will only provide reimbursement if the personal belonging is being directly used for instruction. the contract doesn't specify that it is a belonging that is being used for instruction. thank you. >> thank you. item two is board policy 3350. and play travel expenses and work policy. item three is board policy 5148, childcare and development at preschool early childhood education. can i hear a motion and a second

for first reading? >> moved. >> second. >> thank you. unless i hear otherwise from council, we will be sending these policies to the rules policy and legislative committee ok. thank you. section k.'s proposal for immediate action and suspension of the rule. there are none tonight. section l is our board member process reports. appointment of commissioners to committee. at this time, we would like to announce that all of the board committees will remain the same. we made a leadership decision to keep the committees in the same order because of the transition of board members which will occur in january and new appointments will be made in january. so just to reiterate the current

committees and their chairs, buildings and grounds and services, i will continue to chair with matt haney. curriculum and program commissioner norton will chair with commissioner cook. rules policy and legislation, commissioner sanchez will chair with commissioner cook and commissioner ross say. the ad hoc committee on student assignments will be chaired with commissioner haney and commissioner norton. personal matters, labour relations and affordability, the vice president will chair with commissioner sanchez and commissioner norton. and the ad hoc school district city college joint committee will continue to be chaired by myself and trustee, alex randolph. we will be with commissioner haney and commissioner norton and trustee selby. and the city college oversight committee will actually josh i

currently am on but i have resigned from it. and commissioner cook and the vice president -- vice president cook will be taking that position as soon as we transition over. that will be the committees going forward. please let us know if you have any questions. item two, standing committees. we have no meetings that have taken place as a last board meeting except for buildings and grounds and we announced all of the action items on the apps. forge, two membership organizations. does anyone have any updates on that? and the other reports by board members? vice president cook. >> i just wanted to wish everyone a happy first week of the year and on friday, i have

been presuming my friday morning school sight visits. i would like to thank the tenderloin community school of san francisco and the chinese immersion school for welcoming me. i will be attending other schools this friday. also, on the first day of school , i attended wallenberg high school and another elementary school. i would like to thank them for welcoming me. the last thing is i'm a proud member of the san francisco mentor for success program. and my student is in the western indigestion. i got him a fortnight backpack to start the school year. apparently it grows in the dark which i did not know until he told me. if you are not into the program, i encourage you to participate. >> any others? i too want to thank hillcrest and francisco even though the superintendent sounded like he

went by himself like he was generous to let me join him. i want to thank both of those school communities for allowing us to be there on the first day of school. i also just wanted to welcome our new deputy superintendent two has disappeared. see how special she is. i just want to welcome her to our group and -- there she is. [laughter] you have cheesecake in your teeth? yeah. [applause] >> welcome and congratulations on your new role. i'm looking forward to working with you. any other announcements by board members? ok. calendar of committee meetings. are there any upcoming meetings to announce. >> rules committee will be meeting on thursday, september 6 th at 6:00 pm. >> other meetings?

anything scheduled at this time? no. section m. is other informational items. we have no reports tonight. it is a memorial adjournment. there is no memorial adjournment tonight. at this time, will take public comments for those who have submitted speaker cards for close session items. we have none this evening. section o.'s closed sessions of the board will go into closed session. we will be back.

>> they get the authority at the district to be omitted. section q. is adjournment. this meeting is adjourned. thank you.

>> thank you, good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. i want to welcome you to the july 31, 2018, meeting of the san francisco board of supervisors. madam clerk, please call attendance.

[roll call taken] >> madam president, you have a quorum. >> president cohen: please right, put your right hand over your heart and pledge allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. thank you. madam clerk, any communications? >> none to report, madam president. >> president cohen: we are

approving minutes from june 26th -- june 26, 2018, for the full board and also the special meeting of the budget and finance committee for june 22nd, and june 27th of 2018. is there a motion to approve those minutes? motion made by supervisor kim, seconded by supervisor peskin, take it without objection, without objection the meeting minutes will be approved after public comment. madam clerk, please call the consent agenda. >> items 1 through 13 are consent, considered to be routine. if a member objects, an item may be removed and considered separately. >> president cohen: madam clerk. on the question, shall these items be passed, please call the roll. [roll call vote taken]

>> 11 ayes. >> president cohen: regular agenda, to unfinished business. call items 14 through 20. >> 14 through 20 are called together. 14 and 15 comprise the budget and appropriation ordinance appropriated all estimated receipts and expenditures for departments of the city as of june 1, 2018. item 15 is the annual salary ordinance, enumerating in the annual budget and appropriation budget for the fiscal years ending june 2019 and 202.

neighborhood beautification and graffiti clean upfund. item 17, ordinance to amend the administrative code to allow the use for the planning code enforcement fund for all planning code enforcement activities. 18, ordinance amending the administrative code to increase the balance of the district attorney's revolving fund to approximately 2,200. item 19, ordinance to amend the health code, set the patient rates and rates for other services provided by the department of public health, starting july 1, 2018, through june 30, 2020. and to revise certain substance use disorder treatment services and increase patient rates charged for those services retroactive to july 1, 2017. and item 20. ordinance to amend the administrative code to reclassify the mayor's fund for the homeless as category 8 fund, authorize to receive grants, gifts and bequests of money and

transfer administration of the navigation partnership fund to the department of homelessness and supportive housing. >> president cohen: thank you very much. supervisor peskin. >> supervisor peskin: madam president, i would like to as i did last week severe the portion of item 14 that relates to the improvements to washington square, which i believe is at page 230 of the aao, due to the fact that i own real property in 500 feet of that project and i would like to be able to come back and vote on the balance of the budget. >> president cohen: please, thank you. may i have, take a motion to excuse supervisor peskin, made by supervisor safai, seconded by supervisor ronen. thank you. all right. madam clerk, please call the roll on the divided question. >> although you gavelled down,

you meant without objection. thank you. and call the roll on the divided portion? >> president cohen: for 14. [roll call vote taken] there are ten aye. >> president cohen: thank very much. divided question for item 14 is finally passed. mr. peskin, welcome back to the chamber. now call on supervisor sandy fewer. >> supervisor fewer: thank you very much. i request we divide the question for the san francisco municipal transit agency budget on the rest of the budget for roll call vote, please.

>> president cohen: all right. thank you very much. supervisor fewer. madam clerk. please call the roll on the divided question. divided question for m.t.a. budget. [roll call vote taken] >> ten aye and one no with supervisor fewer in the dissent. >> president cohen: the budget is passed, and call the roll for items 14 and 15.

[roll call vote taken brang. [roll call vote taken]. 11 ayes. >> president cohen: items 14 and 15 are finally passed as a whole. madam clerk, could you please call the next item. >> and just to be clear, items 14 through 20. >> president cohen: excuse me, 14 through 20, correct. >> item 21, ordinance to approve the third amendment to the contract between the city and the public utilities commission and the department of energy western area power administration for delivery of a low cost power and scheduling coordinator services to treasure

island and yerba buena island, extending to december 21, 2024, and maximum amount of the agreement to 28.4 million to suspend certain requirements of the codes upon findings made by the general manager of the p.u.c. >> president cohen: same this item, same house, same call, passes unanimously. >> item 22, ordinance to deappropriate aapproximately 6.2 million from police department permanent salaries and appropriate the same amount, 6.2 million, to support increases in worker's compensation expenditures for fiscal years 2017-18. >> president cohen: can we take this house, same house, same call. passes unanimously. >> item 23, ordinance to amend the business and tax regulations code to permit validate actions and respect to proposition c and

g adopted by the san francisco voters on june 5, 2018. >> same house, same call. without objection, unanimously. >> 24, accessory dwelling units to authorize expansion in the buildable area, to authorize the waiver or modification of bicycle parking requirements. to exempt from the permit notification and allow conversion of and existing stand alone garage storage structure, other auxiliary structure and expansion of the building envelope, and make the appropriate findings. >> supervisor safai. >> supervisor safai: is this the piece of the legislation that pertains only to the trees, this is the overall one, ok. right. ok, so i just wanted to make a motion to duplicate the file and send it back to the land use committee. >> president cohen: all right.

>> president cohen: supervisor safai has made a motion to send it back for duplicated file, without objection, any objection? any discussion? all right. unanimously it will be going back as a duplicated file. thank you. madam clerk. >> clerk: item 24, madam president, item 24, supervisor mandelman. [roll call vote taken]

>> 11 aye. >> president cohen: without objection this ordinance passes unanimously. thank you, madam clerk. next item, please. item 25. >> clerk: item 25, ordinance to amend the planning code to prohibit cannabis retail and medical cannabis dispensaries in the chinatown mixed use districts to affirm the determination and make the appropriate findings. >> president cohen: colleagues, i would like to make a few remarks on item 25 and i will just let you know that to begin my remarks with the quote, it's a bit long, i would like you to please bear with me. this is the beginning of a

quote, we will all defer to one another in each other's district overland use matters. and while this generally is true, we have to be very careful when we go down that road because sometimes society is wrong and elected officials have to be brave and stand up to what is right. proposed same-sex marriage may we some day as it relates to gun control in the united states of america where supervisor farrell said lame politicians either scared of or bought off by the gun industry don't have the wherewithal to stand up, we have to view this in the same -- we have to view this in the context of a changing political landscape whether the reefer madness of the 1930s and the normals of the 1970s and 1980s is a thing of the past. prop 215 has passed, prop 64 overwhelmingly in the sunset, all these things are true.

we, i, reluctantly voted for what i said today in committee. i will call, i will -- i still call an interim moratorium in district 11 as it relates to the number of m.c.d.s or should they change over time, r he creational facilities in district 11. we voted for supervisor cohen's short 45-day time out and then this one is the next 1 down the road and collectively it looks like the san francisco board of supervisors is, looks like some kind of a bumpkin county. so i want to be perfectly clear so far as the words of the legal counsel of the appellant seem to come out the dark ages and come from the reefer madness days of 1930s, this is the last one. it's the last one in that district, and that district and apparently there is nine in my district, who knew. but we got to get this thing right.

those are the words of the sponsor for item 25. supervisor peskin, who, during a seven and a half hour meeting on october 3rd regarding a c.u. appeal for the apothecary in sunset said in emphasis, his vote on the evening was the last time he was voting for district specific carve out to exempt an entire neighborhood from providing access to legal cannabis purchases. so, colleagues, i must say with all honesty and sincerity, i'm appalled to even be sitting here with this piece of legislation before us today. supervisor peskin said this is the last one, which i understood to mean the vote that day was the last time he would support a geographic carveout for dispensary free neighborhood. now, he does not want to take on his fair share of providing legal access to cannabis. and quite frankly, this

undermines the city's goal of geographic equity, respectfully to all of you, i find it not only irresponsible but wholly inappropriate that any member of this board would take such an approach to cannabis regulation. we are better than this, we are better than this. if you were recognizing, if you are recognizing in your legislation that you don't -- you do not yet know what the impact of m.c.d. and recreational cannabis dispensaries will be on real estate prices as you do in section 1b on page two, then why are we making this proposal? why is this proposal before us? if you are recognizing in your legislation that you are not yet satisfied with the "cultural and communal considerations of chinatown immigrant and low income populations," as you do in section 1h on page four, why are you, why are we voting on this today instead of investing in public education in a

culturally considerate manner. i see this legislation as premature and a back door attempt to get special treatment. not only does it give special treatment but it sets a precedent and it creates an entree' into, well, quite frankly, to let every supervisor get an exception in his or her district and i'm nervous about that. i see this as perpetuating a city-wide division on cannabis regulation under the cape of "protecting vulnerable populations." there are vulnerable populations across this city and every neighborhood of every identity, and we are not a city that should be giving special treatment or special deference to any single neighborhood. our role is to be objective, and to have an objective position that are best for our

constituents and the entire city, and the entire city as a whole. allowing permit applications in chinatown to go through the planning process just says they do in every other district in san francisco is appropriate. it's fair. a special exemption is not. if we continue to piecemeal legislation, especially on controversial issues, until certain communities, you know what, you are special, you don't have to feel the same growth and adaptation pangs of everyone else, we are only upholding the social stratifying that plague our city in so many ways. we cannot continue to otherwise cannabis users or retailers of certain neighborhoods. to m i colleague and friend, supervisor peskin, i'll just say that you said it was the last one. when you took a vote on the apothecary appeal. you told us that we shouldn't be

carving out parts of the city and in our very own tiny city i might add to give misinformed constituents special treatment because they voiced their opinions loudly. you said to be brave and have the wherewithal to stand up when a society gets, when a society gets it wrong, it's our job to get it right. so, i'll be following your advice today and voting no on this item. it is in the collective interest of our city that we make policies that benefit everyone. i don't believe that this is a universal benefit. in fact, i think that it will have a negative impact. i think that by limiting commercial retail spaces we will be contributing to the driving, the driving -- driving up the leases of prices for property and i believe that this is not equity, and unfortunately, i'm not going to be able to support it today.

i see brown next on the roster. >> as the sponsor, i believe it is my right to speak next. >> president cohen: supervisor brown, would you mind if i let supervisor peskin speak? >> supervisor peskin: first i would like to rise to a point of procedure which is that it is the tradition of this body that when the president advocates for or against a particular item that he or she step down and have somebody conduct the meeting. i want to put that on the record. i am somewhat taken aback, it is an apples to oranges comparison, but let's start with the concept of geographic equity. i will move on to other concepts of equity that i think are profoundly important in the conversation around access to cannabis. but when it comes to geographic equity, because i happen to

represent the densist, most populus part, the same number of people, it also has the second highest number of existing cannabis permits. and it also has 14 pending permits, all around the edges of chinatown and if you look at the chinatown mixed use districts, together they are approximately 15 blocks. there are pending applications on the other side of broadway and north beach. there are pending applications on the other side of kearny in the downtown. pending applications to the south of bush street. so, geography has been served. there is no question about that. if the conversation around access should really be a conversation around the price point, which is none of this

cannabis, whether recreational or medical in nature, is affordable to actually people who want to get it. that's where this conversation should be going. but relative to physical geographical access, i can stand here in good conscience as somebody who has supported and voted for and made clear that i would come back for the needs and wants of chinatown, which is not only a physical place, which it indeed is, it is also the spiritual, psychological, headquarters of the chinese american community, not only in san francisco, but beyond. this has had chinatown support from the community tenants association, from the chinese chamber of commerce, chinese consolidated association, development center across all walks of life. i want to show that community that this city, that this law making body respects that, not

only as a place but as a concept that means so much to so many people. and that is why i brought it, i was very clear in december when we were racing to get this done to comply with prop 64, that i would be back with this. it is very different than the case of a c.u. appeal wherein appeal after appeal, so the words you quoted did not have to do with a legal zoning change. they had to do with conditional use appeals at that time in that place. i want to thank the members of the land use committee as well as my co-sponsors, supervisors kim, tang, fewer and safai, and i would also like to thank the members of the community who have really stood up, whether it is in the back and for the at 48 hills, where mr. leon, the president of the community tenants association, the largest tenants association in san

francisco retorted the words of my former colleague and friend tom around this issue, and there has been a sea change in the policies and politics around cannabis use in the state of california with the passage of prop 64. the issues that were so near and dear to all of us, particularly in san francisco, in and around the aids crisis, this is not about issues around medical cannabis. this is -- that access is there, that will remain there. this is really about paying some respect to a community that wants it, that deserves it, and with that, i would be happy to hear from my other colleagues and would like to take a vote. >> president cohen: thank you, supervisor peskin. appreciate that. and actually, very thoughtful. thank you very much. supervisor brown. >> supervis >> supervisor brown: thank you, madam president.

i have several concerns and questions about the legislation before us today. i want to speak to the city-wide support for 2016, prop 64, and the support in my district, district 5. nearly 75% of san francisco voters, 80% of district 5 approved prop 64, and the voters in the district i represent approved at a higher rate than any other district. that said, i have questions about what has or hasn't worked in chinatown since prop 64 was passed. and i know supervisor peskin you mentioned about the c.u. process in place, the board worked hard to put in place. has the c.u. process been ineffective? i don't are we changing course now? with this new course change i find myself concerned of the possibilities of a domino effect in other neighborhoods across the city. today we are discussing a ban in

chinatown. down the road i'm concerned we will be forced to revisit this issue over and over again, even in my district. what prevents us from -- what prevents that from occurring, and we are creating a situation in which cannabis dispensary are clustered in a few small areas of the city. so, we are talking about, you know, traffic concerns, all the concerns when you cluster businesses like that that we saw during the m.c.d.s when they first started. and finally, i would also like to know whether a temporary moratorium was considered by the sponsors. could a multi-year moratorium, rather than a ban ensure this issue would be revisited after more time has passed, and we know more about the impacts, positive or negative, of cannabis, retail on the culture and vibrancy of a commercial corridor or neighborhood? would a temporary moratorium create more reason for continued discussion and outreach to the chinese community? i feel we have not given the

policies recently enacted by the body time to work and have not explored other options that we would prevent clustering of dispensaries in an only, only a few neighborhoods. and my colleagues, for that reason, i have really concerns with this legislation. thank you. >> supervisor mandelman: colleagues, i have thought a lot about this vote and it is a difficult one for me. i have a long record of supporting the rights of communities to have a say and the type of developments that happens in their neighborhood, going back to my days as one of board peskin's appointees to the board of appeals, and cannabis carries a complicated history, and the densist san francisco neighborhood fighting to retain its unique character and

significant stock of affordable housing. i do think that supervisor peskin is doing his job today. you know, we are district elected supervisors and are supposed to represent the concerns of the neighborhoods that elect us. i am sitting here today keenly aware that i sit as the sole lgbtq member of this body. the in heritor of decades of activism by queer and cannabis activists working together to rationallize the drug laws and hiv positive supervisor jeff sheehy who spoke about medical cannabis saving his life and the lives of countless others and though his body may have died earlier this year, dennis paron's spirit is strong in my district and must remain true to that legacy. given that, and given my