>> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> supervisors, this is san francisco, and the one of the things that you have to pay attention to is the films that are made in san francisco, this is the land of the ohlone. the ohlone lived here for 15,000 years, carbon dated remains and artifacts, and mr. chan, you can make all the faces you want to. you have to study a little bit of anthropology. but since i'm talking about films, we need to look at this industry having in mind what a digital world gives us in terms of opportunities. so you all should partner with

those who are favoring this program, which i favor, to create better opportunities for our youth. more in the field of documentaries, one good topic would be the ongoing gentrification. another topic would be the changing skylines. the third topic would be the rampant corruption at san francisco city hall. thank you very much. >> supervisor safai: thank you. any other members of the public wish to comment on this item, please come forward. seeing none, public comment is closed. supervisor stefani? >> supervisor stefani: thank you, supervisor. first i just want to thank susan roberts for her great work and the film commission and all the unions that are here. this legislation does help no less than 14 unions, and i think it's really important. i know this has to go to the budget and finance committee, so i would urge your support in

moving this forward to the budget and finance committee at this time with a recommendation. >> supervisor safai: great. so are you making a motion -- so a motion's been made to send this to the budget committee with positive recommendation. can we do that without objection? without objection. thank you. [ gavel ]. >> clerk: it's my understanding this will be forwarded to the budget and finance committee. i don't believe there's a recommendation involved. >> supervisor safai: can you do that any way? >> clerk: i can note it. >> supervisor safai: deputy city attorney, can we make a positive recommendation to another committee? >> mr. givner: department city attorney jon givner. good timing, yeah. under the board rules, the committee can just refer it to another committee, rather than recommending it to the board, but he can recommend it -- >> supervisor safai: but we can't make a positive recommendation to another committee? >> mr. givner: correct. >> supervisor safai: okay. just for future -- i just

wanted to know. so please note it, and we'll send it over to the budget committee. >> clerk: i will do so. >> supervisor safai: thank you, mr. clerk. please call items number -- can we do items number three and four together? they'll present separately, but i'd like to take public comment on them collectively, because i know there's a lot of members of the public that would like to comment on both items. >> clerk: yes, that is -- >> supervisor safai: okay. so please call item number three and four together. >> clerk: number three is an item rejecting the mayor's appointment of -- [inaudible] >> clerk: item number four is an item approving, rejecting the mayor's nomination deon roker to the police commission for a term ending june 30, 2022. >> we're going to call miss l

taylor up to present. we' we a i'll go excessively, and then, we'll open it up for public comment so we can move the agenda. you may proceed miss taylor. >> thank you. i'm honored to be here. thank you, supervisor safai, supervisor stefani, supervisor yee, and i want to thank my mother, who who flew all the way out here from the bronx. she has a full-time job, and she flew out to surprise me last night, june taylor, who's here. >> supervisor safai: okay. i want to recognize the mom. >> and i also want to thank my family, my friends and colleagues, and supporters from the community who have all come out today. i really appreciate it and am touched and honored. my name is demali taylor, and san francisco has been my home for almost 12 years.

i wasn't born here. i was born in jamaica. i moved here when i was 12 to the bronx with a single mother who raised two daughters on a secretary's salary. i put myself through college. in college, i took the test and became a united states citizen. after college, i had the good fortune of being accepted to yale law school. now people like me don't go to places like yale, but i did, and that was the start of my legal career. and now, 16 years later, i've spent half that career as a prosecutor and half as a defense attorney. as a prosecutor, i worked closely with the san francisco police department, first as an assistant district attorney, fighting for domestic violence victims, and then, also, as a federal prosecutor, where i handled violent crimes and organized crime cases. i witnessed the brutal,

gruesome things that people with do to other human beings, and there again i fought for victims of crime who are often poor, under served minorities, including women who were the victims of physical and sexual violence. i've watched law enforcement do brave, compassionate and amazing things, and it's undeniably true that many in law enforcement are my heros, but that comes with a great responsibility. people often interact with law enforcement at the worst times in their lives, sometimes when unspeakable things have happened to them, and so how the police respond is everything. whether chinese or spanish speaking domestic violence victim who finally finds the courage and declaration to call the police on the person she loves find support or will she feel alienated by officers who don't speak her language or show compassion.

will our young black boys and girls want to grow up wanting to be police officers because they have models they know and admire? the answers to those questions will define us as a city. the city needs to feel connected to their police department, and sfpd has to do a better job of earning the trust of that community that places their trust in them. d.o.j. report was disturbing. i liked some of the progress that the department has made to respond to the d.o.j. recommendations, but there's a lot of work left to do, and that's why i hope to serve. as a black female immigrant to the u.s. who spent much of her career working with law enforcement, i believe that i can understand and speak to the needs of both the community and law enforcement, and i can hit the ground running and get to work quickly. thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you.

is there -- >> good morning, supervisors, supervisor safai, supervisor yee, supervisor stefani, and members of the public. first and foremost let me start off by saying that i'm absolutely elated that i've been nominated by the mayor for the san francisco police commission. my name is deon j.buchter. i've moved family here since i've been here. i'm the first in my family to have received an undergraduate degree, the first in my family to receive a master's degree, and the first in my family to leave the central valley which is where i'm from, down in fresno to come to a major city, the phenomenal city called san francisco. in the time that i've been here, i've worked countless hours alongside many of the

people that he sue here in the room developing programs for young people here in san francisco, whether it's workforce development programs or educational programs inside of the schools, i have dedicated my life's work to public service, which is why i think i'd be a phenomenal fit for the san francisco police commission. let me take things back a little bit and talk about my interest in the commission. it was actually growing up in fresno where my uncle was actually a cop for 31 years that really sparked my interest in law enforcement and what that meant. over the course of this 31-year career, i got to talk to him about being a beat cop, spending time in our communities and spending time in our school system, so much so that when i was in elementary schools, we had police officers and firefighters that would come into the schools to talk about those careers and what it meant to be a public servant, and that resonated with me, so much so that after i graduated from college, i actually took the

test to become a police officer myself. fortunately and unfortunately, i scored in the 80th percentile, and at the time, they were taking folks in the 90th percentile, so i wasn't accepted. i immediately went to work for a nonprofit working with young people who were being released in our communities who were on parole, and that's when i first got introduced to public service and what it can look like and what it's supposed to be, during my time in san francisco and even as of lately and recently, there were some things that we were doing as it relates to the department of justice and the recommendations that have been put forth. when i sit down and look at the d.o.j. recommendations, and we're looking and talking about the biases, a young development this summer we employed 100 young people working directly with the sheriff's department and sfpd to over come some of these implicit biases that we know we have within the

department. by having them spend time with those young people out in the gardens and the fields, we began to bridge the gap in relationships that we need to do so in order to strengthen our communities. also, at young community developers, we recently shot a documentary called the chop shop, where we sat down with law enforcement on both sides and brought in key stakeholder community members to sit down and have some of these conversations and dialogue that we're having at the san francisco police commission meetings, even currently. so with that being said, the things that we've been able to do within our communities, and the things that we still need to push forward, i would love to be at the forefront of that. i think it was our 44th president, barack obama who said trust between law enforcement agencies and people they protect is essential in a democracy.

it is key to the stability of our communities, the integrity of our criminal justice system, and the safe and effective delivery of policing services. and that's what i hope to bring to the san francisco police commission if so moved forward. thank you for your time. >> supervisor safai: thank you. so we're going to go ahead -- i'm going to go ahead and move to public comment, and then, i'll open it up to questions to our panel or committee here after that. please come forward. >> my name is vanessa taylor, and i am demali taylor's sister. i feel what that distinguishes here is her character. my sister is one of the most generous people i know. when she first became an attorney and received her first year end bonus, she used that

money to make me and my daughter to italy for my birthday. when i decided i wanted to become a paralegal, she gifted me money for my first semester's courses. she was no less generous prior to becoming an attorney when her income was modest, always opening her heart and pocketbook to help a family member in need. my sister is one of the most loyal person i know, probably the most loyal person i know. her diversion to me and my daughter, her family, and the community is undeniable. i can always count on her to show up. when i needed to have surgery, she dropped everything to be by my side, and when my daughter was having difficulty in college, and she worked tirelessly to helped find a solution. she's always positive and always able, somehow, to stay calm under pressure. my sister inspires me to be brave, to always standup for what's right and just, even if

it's unpopular, and to work hard. and believe me, she is the hardest working person i know by far. she's a pillar of strength, a source of hope, and a place of love. denali is dependable, kind, and trustworthy. most importantly, she is a good human. it is without hesitation that i recommend denali taylor for the police commission. thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> good morning, supervisor safai, yee, and stefani. my name is linda fedici richardson, long time bayview-hunters point resident. this is a delightful day for the african american community, and i've known denali tailor for years.

mr. 3wrd uchter is a young man that i personally and a lot of the members of the african american community, some of them are here today, and some of them are not here, but they've asked us to convey their endorsement of the two people that you have in front of you. let me talk about deon j.buchter. aside from the credentials of denali or deon, we know they have what it takes to be police commissioners in san francisco. but let me just talk about integrity and the kind of support that we need, and the trust. the at-risk youth population is the population that deon j. booker is working with. this man had the opportunity to work in the private sector. he said miss richardson, a group of leaders, he said i'd rather work with this community. i think i bring a lot to this communities.

i want to work with them, work with the police department trying to provide the workforce development. that's why we have shimon walton running for district ten supervisor. they're doing the work that you have invested and say that they all need to do. so they are here today and by giving your enforcement to these two people, you are sending a strong message to the african american community that you respect them, and this city hall is now ready to be fully engaged. i think we can hold the police department to be accountable, but ittic at thats people with integrity to be able to -- >> supervisor safai: thank you. thank you, commissioner. next speaker. >> good morning, supervisors. thank you for giving me this opportunity to endorse denali tailor. i am denali's brother-in-law

and a resident of the bay area. i'm going to talk about her dedication to family and the community. recently she has been busy helping her niece with her college life and transition to adult hood. she is fiercely protective of her sister vanessa, when vanessa and i first began to date. her high energy commitment to family value shines with core values of caring and compassion. in law school, she helped devise a program where she mentored to inmates. she worked with the log cabin ranch school for troubled juvenile youth. finally, i want to speak to her work with a traumatized family

whose son was murdered near oakland airport in 2013. as assistant u.s. attorney, she took on the case, even though it was clear it would be very difficult to prosecute. she was deeply moved by the grief and loss to the family, especially the mother and sister of the victim. she promised them that she would do her utmost to bring the perpetrator justice. she gave her all to the case, to the point where the mother expressed worry about her health, telling her she looked like she was losing weight. she told her she would rest and eat only after she obtained a conviction. she was able to obtain a murder conviction against the perpetrator. after the trial, she learned the victim's sister said when and if she had a child, she would name her demali. thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> hi. thank you for giving us this opportunity to speak today. my name is nicole cunningham and i'm a resident of bayview

and i've been born and raised in san francisco for 41 years. i would like -- i don't know any of these two young people who are running, however, i did hear them speak about a week or so ago, and i appreciate what she shared. i come from a background of having a police officer as a father, so one of the main things that i'm pushing for is mental health for police officers on ongoing basis, drug and alcohol testing, and i brought this up in a meeting with them. i am a product of witnessing abuse in my household, so i appreciate the relationship that demali comes from, and that source of being able to understand and push through that. so i'm being able to make sure that my vote goes for her as well as d.j., to make sure they represent people who look like me, who look like other restrict haves, who look like my parents, and also police officers who were actually going to do the work.

i am of the belief that bias training is absolutely necessary, and the public should know what that looks like. i love the fact that d.j. is involved with the youth. i have a son who is 14 years old, and i would not encourage him to be a police officer. the fact that you have the y.d.c. that is pushing forth having 100 kids being involved in the community to let them know their ways to become officers to build that relationship is really important. this is a side note, but i want to say this. someone asked me to make sure that i bring this up for the asian community, that they are following the rights of the on-line services for them to make sure that the police commissioners are having languages or information in their language on their website so that folks can have access to that and complying with the language access order, so i believe -- >> supervisor safai: thank you.

next speaker. >> good morning, supervisors. my name is mallory gaston. i'm here to endorse demali taylor. first and foremost, i've known here since she's been here. utilize our facilities over the last 12 years on and off, and throughout that time, i -- not only am i impressed with her rece resume, i'm pretty sure we all are, but the way she interacts with all the people that she come in contact with, i think it's going to be necessary to do this particular job, the complexities of overseeing the police department and the community, interaction between those two entities. i totally believe she has all the necessary tools to make that happen. i think i'll kill it with that. thank you so much.

>> supervisor safai: next speaker. >> good morning, supervisors. my name is susan murphy. i want to share a little of who i am. i'm an advocate and activist 40 years in bayview-hunters point. i had brought assistant programming in h.r.c. i want to show how vested interest i have in my community as well as the passion i have for my community. i've been with faces as the workforce director for the visitation valley neighborhood access point, which i run. i've worked with d.j. since he's gotten here, and i need to be able to partner and collaborate with people who can get projects to come to fruition. for instance with y.c.d., i

managed mayor lee's program where you have to be high risk and in targeted neighborhoods. i had 12 students. six are doing extremely well. i actually ran into one when i was on my way here. i was extended to work at the san francisco library for his fourth year. i also had two who were able to get off a gang injunction, and i also had one at the time who's making $13. now he's making 24, helping to rebuild sunnydale housing. we need to be on the ground, boots on the ground, face-to-face with the candidates, with the clients, with the community, who we serve and know what their needs are because we're right there with them. i've worked alongside d.j. he's involved in the community, he's a leader for the organization, innovative, and effective. more importantly, my community, you have to show by your actions and follow through that we can trust you. i trust d.j. thank you for this opportunity. >> supervisor safai: thank you.

next speaker. >> good morning, chair safai, members yee and stephanie. my name is bruce saget. i'm speaking in support of the nomination no, sir the appointment of deon j.buchter to the police commission. currently deon is a colleague of mine on a volunteer board. in our roles we have many conversations discussing a variety of issues impacting our community. i thoroughly value his contributions, perspectives and insights. outside of board business, i've gotten to know him through our extended networks. i've had many conversations with him regarding controversial political and community topics. i've always found him to be extremely thoughtful, candid and respectful. in many cases we come to agreement on the issue. what i find most rewarding is when we disagree. he respectfully explains his

perspective while acknowledging mine. we can either come to agreement, compromise or agree to disagree. no matter what the outcome, we always know we are heard. we both have taken away some new information and perspectives, and as far as i know, he never takes anything personal. in most case, the things brought before the police commission are by definition controversial, and d.j. has clearly demonstrated he has the skill sets necessary to be an effective member of thisition commission. thank you for the opportunity to provide this public comment, and i hope that you will apply deann j.'s nomination, moving it forward to the full board. thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> good morning. thank you, chair safai and supervisors stefani and yee for this opportunity. i'm here to speak in support of the nomination of demali tailor

to the police commission. though we have not spent a lot of time knowing each other in this community as a long time advocate for mental health reform and criminal justice in san francisco, it became abundantly clear in my first meeting with her she has the determination and discernment to help us understand how deeply important it is that we steward trauma in hur communities as we move forward with reforms within our police department but on a larger examination to the intersection of public safety and public health, demali through her years as both a prosecutor and a criminal defense attorney has seen how the system continues to work as it's built much to the detriment of many women and people of color, and i think that she has both the technical skill and the deep well of

compassion to be an effective commissioner for the city of san francisco, so i thank you for your time. >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> good morning. thank you, chair, safai, supervisor yee, and supervisor staff knee. my name is susie loftus. i may -- the mayor has selected two incredible candidates to serve on the police commission, but i'll speak to demali. when i was serving as a line attorney, then district attorney kamala harris gave me a job. she was creating a hiring committee and gave me one job. she was commit today attracting the best and brighest lawyers and recruiting them to serve as

local lawyers where she believed the best work could be done. this is where i met him. at the conclusion of the interview, i told my colleagues this woman is exactly what we've been tasked to find. she's a star. she's fair, she's smart, and she's committed to doing what's right. one of my colleagues grumbled, she won't stay here for long, to which i replied for however long she wants to be here to serve the people, we will be lucky to have her, and so it was. she came on board and served with me at the d.a.'s office. she was a tremendous prosecutor letting fairness and justice be her guide. she has served as a prosecutor and defense attorney, a former pedigree to my former colleague, julius turman. this job requires rigor, incredible legal skill.

she has all of it and she's deeply committed to doing what's right. i know you care incredibly in advancing incredible candidates, and she and d.j. are certainly that. thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you. >> i'm shelby bryant, to speak on behalf of bright line. we are here to speak on behalf of d.j. buchter. bright line has worked with d.j. when he was the executive director of the southeast community facility commission. we worked closely with him to host our 2016 bayview hunters policy conference at the organization to discuss antipoverty work including

environmental justice issues, workforce development and violence prevention strategies. d.j. has the ability to work with a diverse set of stakeholders and communities, and his dedication to community is evident in his service over the last eight years. given the important work ahead, the police commission would benefit from someone like d.j. who has extensive knowledge and ties to the community. thank you. >> supervisor safai: next. >> how's it going? good morning, commissioners. i just want to say, i'm dennis, san francisco native, small business owner in the mission district. i'm here to support demali tailor for police commissioner. i'll keep it short and simple. from my time knowing her, she's incredibly fair. she enjoys working with other people, and she clearly truly cares with the surroundings of her neighborhood and her surroundings, so i fully

support her nomination. thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> good morning, supervisors. my name is cory monroe. i've worked for 18 years with the san francisco unified school district. i'm here to support deon j.buchter. he's a great guy. he came up to our school for years, doing work with the young people, him and shim shimon walton. he also did the barbour shop talks with the police and the community which is very hard to do, but mow, he went about doing it and it works. he works a lot with the police and the community and he finds ways to help people. [please stand by]

. >> so i urge you to consider her, and thank you for your time. >> supervisor safai: thank you, commissioner. next speaker. >> my name is derek tolliver. i'm born and raised here innisk fris -- here in san francisco. both my parents are police officers, so i come from a family of law enforcement. i was one of the founding

members of young community developers in 1973, product of san francisco unified school district, a graduate of stanford university. i'm the one that brought deon j.buchter to san francisco. why did i do it? it was a very, very serious decision that i had to make to bring someone to san francisco from fresno, and help that the experiment would work, but the reality would be better than i ever dreamed of. i spent over 48 years giving back to the community. i'm a medical sales executive, very successful, and went into coming back and giving back to my community over the last nine years. and when i brought d.j. in, we had an opportunity to bring

diversity into a local hires project. i took the chance and put deann j.buchter in charge, and that was one of the best decisions i could have made because not only his dedication to that project, but the way he led the team and had the interaction with our community at all levels, amongst all races, amongst the young, the old, our seniors, our elders. i look forward to seeing both attorney taylor and deon j.buchter lead us to the next level. thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you, sir. >> next speaker. >> good morning, chair safai, supervisors yee and stefani.

my name is ike kwan. i currently serve as president of the san francisco board of utilities commission. i am here to express my strong support for d.j.buchter. he's a very strong leader, and i've known him for years. at the neighborhood level, d.j. pushed for joint southeast community facility commission board meetings along with the c.a.c. and the sfpuc in the effort to capture both the concerns and goals of the residents in the bayview, so that time for me as a rookie commissioner, that time was very important and valuable. it was a chance for me to meet people growing up near a waste water plant. my wife grew up near one in

chicago. when the wind shifted, it would ruin your afternoon barbecue. reducing impact is only a start. what struck me about d.j. was his calm, thoughtful demeanor, but underneath, he is driven to rally the community, to effect meaningful change. d.j. listened to all sides and gave attention to his detractors, never taking things personally. this is the true hall mark of a servant leader, which is d.j.'s m.o. we've spent time in his hometown of fresno, or as he says, fres-yes. [inaudible] >> supervisor safai: thank you. thank you, commissioner.

next speaker. >> good morning. my name is jay lee and i'm here to speak in support of demali taylor's nomination to the commission. i'm a san francisco resident, and i've been a resident for 12 years. i've known demali for eight years, during my time here in san francisco, and during that time, i've seen herrin krediblely caring and -- her incredibly caring and dedicated character. just based on her temperament, her character, her experience, i really can't think of anyone better suited to serve on the commission. thank you very much. >> supervisor safai: thank you, sir.

next speaker. >> good morning. my name is michael tubac. i'm a partner of demali taylor's. i'm also a former president of the bar association of san francisco. i've known her for ten years and i'm here to tell you she would make an excellent addition to the police commission. demali is without a doubt at the very top. she is truly an exceptional person and a force of nature. she is everything you would expect. she's smart, hard working, she has great judgment, she's honest, ethical, and she's fair. she's also a true joy to work with. there's literally no one at the office who doesn't get along with her. she treats everyone with the same respect and good cheer, whether that's the senior partner or the administrative staff, so i would like to add

my voice to those who would say she would make a great addition to the san francisco police commission. thank you very much. >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> good morning. i'm a san francisco resident, and i've known demali taylor for about ten years. we've been friends, and she is honorable, self-less, and thoughtful. everything he said, as well, and her level of integrity is truly incomparable. as a mother and somebody who has been a student and professional in the bay area, i cannot think of a better person suited for this position. thank you for your time. >> supervisor safai: thank you so much. next speaker. >> good morning. my name is dan booken. i appreciate the opportunity to speak on behalf of demali ta taylor. i've known and worked with her

for a decade. you've read and heard today many, many reasons why demali would be a terrific member of the police commission. i'd like to focus on the characteristics that i've seen from working with her as an attorney. good lawyers are bright, hard working, and skilled. demali is all of these things, but what makes demali a superb lawyer is her judgment. by judgment, i mean being able to get to the heart of issues quickly, to determine what's important and what's not important, what's key and what's just a distraction. such judgment will serve her well, not only in the day-to-day workings of the police commission, but in the often contentious and

controversial issues that the commission must deal with. demali will focus on what is really important and will help others do the same. anyone who knows demali will describe her as being passionate, but she doesn't allow her passion to cloud her

behalf of deon j.buchter on the police commission. i think we've heard from the diversity of san franciscans in of deon j.buchter in terms of

his work and dedication to san francisco and our young folks who need some of the biggest support here in san francisco. i do want to touch on his unselfishness as a member of our community, he became the executive director of the southeast community facility, and he's served as executive director for a while, running his own organization, so to speak. i asked him to come back at the end of the year because i will be gone at the end of the year, and he unselfishly came back at number two when he already had a number one spot. secondly, i just want to state that he's already experienced in working with lauchlt. he led the charge with our chop shop documentary where we talk with law enforcement and talk

about what are the issues with law enforcement and community. now he's leading the charge over the white paper that we are finalizing right now to work on the 272 department of justice recommendations for change in our police department. he's dedicated to our community, and i just want to say no matter whether or not he's from fresno, we are lucky to have him. and just emergenimagine -- [inaudible] >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> todd davis. i just want to say it's amazing the amount of people that came out to speak on both of these pleasure. i've had the pleasure of knowing and working -- people. i've had the pleasure of knowing and working with d.j. for the past ten years. it's always a pleasure working with him, so i just wanted to come up here and speak on his behalf, and my experience --

and the other i thinthings, as parent, i was thinking what amazing role models these people are for our children, and i think that we shouldn't lose that, that these are two just incredibly intelligent, hard working people who are willing to give back to the community, so as i say, i want to say thank you to them for being able to serve in this role. i'm sure it's not easy. thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is jackie flynn. i'm the executive director of the a. philip randolph institute here in san francisco. this is an important decision that requires identifying strong character with integrity and commitment. it also requires someone with nerves of steel. i thank mayor breed and applaud

the courage of both nominees to standup and identify themselves as leaders in this city. d.j. can tell you what i do is not easy work, and i've worked alongside d.j. for the last eight years and he's been an incredible role model for our youth. we've identified social and economic factors that impact our communities, and he's always at the table trying to come up with solutions and craft policy as a response to demand for the demand of police reform. d.j.'s commitment to be a benefit -- would be a benefit to all communities in san francisco. the many issues that plague our city, i'm confident that d.j. will be an asset on the commission because he understands the importance of drafting policy that protects our communities. i feel strongly d.j. will address racial bias issues that have resulted in contentious discussions around tasers and

the implementations of all of the d.o.j. recommendations. as a community, we've suffered, we've lost life, trust, identity as one great city, and i believe that d.j. is committed to improving our city. and i just want to make a final point out of here, miss demali taylor, i don't know you personally, but i'm extremely impressed with your story, your legacy of work and extremely proud to see you as a nominee through the chair. >> supervisor safai: before the next speaker, i'd just remind the audience if you have conversations, please, take them out in the hallway. this is a very small room, and eve the whispers echo. thank you. next speaker. >> my name is kirk grimes, and i am the project manager for the a. philip randolph

institute in san francisco. my career includes almost a 16 year career with the san francisco district attorney's office. for the past eight years i've had the opportunity to serve district eight in many community and workforce programs. i feel that many of the issues the police department is working to over come needs to have a community person that has involved themselves with experience with youth, someone who's on the ground every day. i am supporting d.j.buchter to be supported, to be appointed to the police commission because i believe his experience to this commitment, to community and perspective on community is very much needed to help the commission's effectiveness. as a bayview resident and homeowner, i can tell you that the community perspective that d.j.buchter has to offer is very much needed. and miss taylor, i, too, don't

know you, and i worked at the d.a.'s office. you are an inspiration to young black women, and i appreciate you being here, yale and all. go bears, on that note. thank you very much, commissioners. >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> good morning, distinguished police -- i'm sorry, not police, but board of supervisors. it is my honor to present myself in front of you today. i'm sure you know me. i'm yolanda williams. i happen to be one of san francisco's finest, and i want to say first and foremost how refreshing it is so see diversefication occurring. i look forward to both of the mayoral appointments because i think she has selected the right people to do the job that is required right now, which is

totally about reform. of course, i do always represent the people of this great city and also my esteemed members of the office for justice. those were six brave black men who stood up for the right thing, for equity and justice. today i think there's still protests that go on. we need positive role models. we need people that are influential, and both of these commissioners will represent that for us. they are both positive role models in the city and county of san francisco. and i want to remind you that in october 1968 was the first time we had a black police commissioner, and that was dr. william garner, who broke the ranks in support of the officers for justice. we expect that -- we know that these two commissioners would do the same, and i do humbly

hope and appreciate that you will support them and let them be our next commissioners. thank you for your time. >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> good morning, supervisors. my name is kevin barry, and i have had the privilege of being a friend of demali tailor since the first days of the obama administration. so i got to see her commitment firsthand as a federal prosecutor. it's important to know she was an extremely effective advocate, but it was not skbrust about winning. her guiding principle with everything was to do the right thing, and she did that day in and day out. as you heard from other speakers, her commitment to public service was at its most fierce when it came to helping get justice for victims, especially victims of violent

crime and people who are on the margins of society, people who had been forgeten. -- forgotten. while a prosecutor, miss taylor held the agents and the police officers that she worked with to the absolute highest standards. it's what we needs, and more importantly it's what we deserved as san franciscans. as a 20 year san franciscan, i am graduate identified that the mayor and -- shall graduate identified and the -- gratified that the mayor and the board are considering someone to continue her work on the police commission. thank you. [inaudible] >> i've had the privilege of

knowing demali and i've had the privilege of appearing against her in numerous trials, and i have to say i appreciate the fact that she is being considered for this role because i believe there is no one more qualified for this person. she is a person that has always presented herself professionally even when we have differences of opinion on various matters, and as someone who frequently finds herself in a position as myself where i'm contentiously challenging police officers, working against police officers, trying to expose the issues that they might have, i've always found that demali has handled the situation with grace and intelligence. i think she is a person that would be greatly appreciated to be in this role because she's seen police officers not only as their best but also at their worst. she unders how important it is not just for the persons that they deal with but for the entire justice system as a whole to have officers that the community can rely upon, and people that are functioning and

interacting with them can believe in. i wholeheartedly recommend her for this position, and i hope that this committee will consider her for it. thank you. >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> hi. i started a group called sf natives united to really focus on san francisco natives and people of long-term residents who's been here 15 years or more. let's be honest. these two seats represent either a criminal justice attorney background and a community background, so the thing is how are we defining background, and i'm here in opposition of d.j.buchter because that is not how you define community. if you say black community leader, he is not.

if you say san francisco community leader, he is not. just because you do app -- an excellent job at a nonprofit, does not make you an excellent leader. we need to say kenneth harding, we need to say mario woods. they were killed in bayview-hunters point by police officers. the police commission is a serious commission that needs serious representation of san francisco, especially the southeast quarter. and when you say there's members here say we brought him from fresno as an experiment, we don't need an experiment. we don't need no one in that position that does not understand the community and able to bridge that gap between police and community. he has no connection to the community. he spent less than 18 months at the southeast facility. currently now, community members are saying no more transplants. we have so many transplants in

the bayview-hunters point that we can no longer keep people. we're losing black people every day. i don't know demali, but she founds fantastic. she should get it. but mr. buchter, that's not a community seat. if this was a workforce community investment, he could have it. >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> thank you, mr. president, supervisors. reverend arnold townsend, although today, i am first vice president of the san francisco branch naacp. we met both these candidates. they appeared before us, and we unanimously supported them for this position. i can -- and like many others, i'm just getting to know miss taylor, but i know mr. buchter and am in strong support of

him. san francisco's a place that people come to. i think most of there are a great -- i think most of the number of great people in this room were not born here. i was born in native american indian clinic because they didn't allow black people in the hospitals. i hope no one will hold that against me. i didn't go to high school in san francisco. i have been here 50 years, so while i wasn't born here, i had the good sense to move here, so that ought to give me some kind of credit, that obviously, i knew where to come to. i don't think that ought to be the only criteria that we use. when i look at all the other criteria, i measures up wonderfully, i and i think you would do -- and i think you and the city would do yourselves well to approve both these

candidates. thank you so much. >> supervisor safai: thank you. next speaker. >> my name is franco de-costa. for the last two years i've been in the trenches on the issues of killing and violence. there's a population of about 830,000, 11 districts. i've attended over 282 funerals in the past of four years. i have a grand jury report on the san francisco police department, which i hope you read. i've heard that judges appear before you all linked to the blue panel report. people talk about cops, community oriented policing

services, 272 recommendations. what i want to ask the candidates, how come i haven't seen them in the trenches? the san francisco police commission is dysfunctional, and so is the san francisco police department. for the longest period in the nation, the san francisco police department has been a type of operation and hasn't come back on track. the police commissioner in this case at this time has to have the ability to make changes. good leaders in making changes, not the grand stuff that we have heard. good leaders who know the way, show the way, and go the way and make chang