the public library in 2017. this anti- white hate art was insensitively displayed at the same time that the knockout game was still popular. it was also displayed shortly after the murder of justine damon's. because a value democracy, i tolerate having offensive art that insults my race, yet get now, intolerant nonwhites want to dismantle my artistic heritage by amputating early gaze off the pioneer monuments. i suggest a win-win solution so everyone can have something to feel proud of in the civic centre. if the indians let the white people keep early days, then i will personally get the funding, the technical expertise and the city approval to install a life-size bronze bust here in civic centre. in return, you have to let the white people keep it's art. white community, i refer to the white people who are still justifiably proud of civilization's magnificent accomplishments. if the indians want to stay true in civic centre, i will

personally recruit -- will create one if you stop trying to vandalize my sculpture. i will hang around after the meeting to talk to any indians who want to make a deal so we can erect a statue in civic centre. thank you. >> thank you. >> i am paula randle. i am a guest living in the inner richmond. i was really interested in your question about what was the intention of the first dorsal person who gave $100,000 in regard to that statue. my question is, who cares klee individuals and cities and organizations make mistakes all the time. a mistake was made in 1890, whatever it was, it can be rectified in 2017. it is time that we did this. >> thank you.

>> i am a third generation of my family to be so proud and happy to call san francisco my home. it is with humility that i offer myself as an ally and solidarity with the people here. i am an artist. all art is a reflection of its time. this artwork was put up in 1894. with only 45 years after the gold rush. the goldrush came with a very specific mandates against native people that were sanctioned by the state and by the government. they included a bounty of five dollars for a decapitated head. at 25 cents for a scalp. and another amount for an ear but i was too second to remember that was only spoken of just a few days ago. i couldn't, i was too traumatized to hear it.

so i don't believe we want to perpetuate the morality, the sociopolitical values of that time by continuing this. i ask you to have empathy. it has already been spoken by other people here, to think about the healing and justice that you want to see for the city, that you might have had to overcome in your own lives or senior families or relatives. and to welcome change. even though native americans may be a small percentage of the population, i want to point to the climate change march which came to san francisco about 30,000 marchers and edges -- indigenous people were put in the front. they are leading the way for us to be able to live in an environmental -- in environmental balance on this earth. i also want to speak to the declaration of the rights of indigenous people and hope that this council can uphold those values. thank you for listening. >> thank you.

next speaker, please. >> district nine. i am obviously not native american in any kind. i have lived here for 20 years and my son was born here. i am embarrassed the city still has that statue up. i only found out a couple weeks ago. i am ashamed that the city hasn't done anything about it. i rest there. i am an old white guy. [laughter] >> good evening, commissioners and staff and the audience. my name is diana and i shall be diligent with my language. i often say that i am in san francisco native but i shouldn't should now resolved to say that i am a guest on the land and i am born and raised in san francisco. i am also here today for the record, i am no indigenous

american just dissent. i am chinese-american. i absolutely, like the previous gentleman before me, i'm mortified and embarrassed that we are still talking about this. thank you for your thoughtful and democratic process. i was up at night checking my facebook and i thought what, this is still not done klee so i thought it was my duty to come down after work to let the record stand that i too think that there are more important issues for my tax dollars, then for d.p.w. to clean or maintain a statue, done not to go down on golden gate avenue and clean poop up. but what i would like to say, i have a great hope. whether or not we like it, we will be on the evening news and tomorrow's news. we can either be heroes or villains and custodians of our own history. i think i have great hopes for this body and for the leadership , given that the arts

commission is saying that they have, you know, the jurisdiction to have all these recommendations for its. that you can be our great closers at once and for all, we can all go home and celebrate and remember that we did not collude with someone's oppression. please take it down and take back the comments. thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> good evening. my name is michelle. i am from the nation, born and raised in san francisco. my family is here through the relocation program. i'm here to say it take the statue down. we come here and we are not going away. we will stay here until this is resolved. we need the statue removed. it doesn't help our well-being of the people that are here. as you hurt, for all the reasons previously stated, the statue has been to come down. it is unacceptable and racist.

what else do you need to hear klee it is plain and simple. i don't understand why we are still here. i really don't understand. we deal with all of this trauma to our community. we have been here over 500 years fighting this and fighting these types of issues. again, san francisco, do the right thing and get rid of it. all the cities you heard before our more progressive than san francisco. i don't think so. we claim that we are. here we are dealing with all of this addiction, suicide and high rates of dropouts. we are slowly changing that because we are becoming stronger and we are getting back to our culture and we don't need this to be right in city hall again in front of the civic centre plaza for all the city and all the tourists to see. this does not reflect well on our city. it doesn't help the well-being

of our indigenous communities here. get rid of it. it needs to go. that is saying it mildly. it needs to go. we are not leaving and we will be here. we are that strong. >> thank you. >> my name is mark. i am here -- my opinions are my own. they are not reflective or related to any entities of which i may be involved. i want to make for brief points for all of us in this room, all of us. denying the reality of our flawed history, by erasing physical reminders of past wrongs does not ultimately advance our society toward avoiding similar mistakes in the future. the continued existence of this authentic historic artifact which gives insight into the

misguided thinking of the past, makes that wrong demonstrate a bowl. it gives forest to awards with the right and their words we speak with past wrongs. how helpful is having a row of authentic slave cabinets in the market to help teach us about slavery? help helpful is it to be able to see rosa parks' bus that was not scent to a smelter? how useful is it to have a california missions which impart can teach about what goes on at those missions? and what you really want to obliterate every last stick klee artifacts like this do not glorify actions, events and prevalent thinking of the past, which the advocates, rightfully, joined by others like myself uphold. instead, when accompanied by an appropriate explanation, they are the tools to teach about

wrongs that have occurred. if the current plaque explaining is inadequate, it should be revised. the historic preservation commission appears to have aired , making a political decision, rather than applying the legal framework that was appropriate. again, i would ask everyone to consider the possibility that this particular artifact does not glorify white supremacy. it serves as partial proof of the wrongs that we all want to educate about. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> good evening commissioners. i hear a lot about preserving this history so we don't make this mistake again. i am a historian. i -- my credentials, i hope work with people in this building on san francisco history. this is not a historical,

accurate interpretation of what happened in our history. it is a gross exaggeration that was built and designed, sculpted in a time that was with an agenda. there is no need to keep this in public display. it is not like a slave market or a make-believe slave market that will teach us about our racist past. it is a gross depiction, it is exaggerated with racist tropes. it is not educational. the plaque is not educational. it does not serve the public good for this to remain in the public sphere. i ask for you tonight to remove the statue from the public sphere and put it back in the mothball storage where it belongs. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please.

>> thank you for hearing me today. i am cherokee, mexican and white and mom up to my 9-year-old daughter who is also mayan. i also feel personally responsible for the children of our community. i stand in solidarity with the nations on whose land we stand and the planes people whose image is used to represent all native americans or native californians. this image is not only denigrating to all native people , but existing within our world where we are severely lacking in proud images, celebrating native people. please, not only support removal of this very harmful image, but please support visibility and celebration of the beauty of marginalized communities. it is all our responsibility to raise up the next generation so that they will do better than

past generations. this is more than a matter of procedures and processes. this is a matter of survival of future generations. we need positive images of our people and this is not. we need visibility. we need a voice. please don't silence us. black and brown lives matter. >> thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> take down the pioneer statue. [cheering] >> thank you. next speaker,. >> good evening. thank you for your time. i want to acknowledge we are still on our land and think the people for allowing me to reside

on their territory. i have heard a few comments that i want to speak to briefly. the first is the appellant mentioned that removing the statue would be a tyrannical act i think this is pretty rich because what the statue is depicting is exactly a tyrannical act. [laughter] >> i think all of us in this room can agree that we are opposed to tyrannical acts. to me a, to clear action in opposing tyranny would be to take down the statue. we have also heard about depicting the history of california and speakers have repeatedly reminded us that this is not an accurate depiction of the history of california. and finally, to speak to the suggestion that these statues serve as a reminder of history, the people who have been victimized by injustices are the experts on how to remedy those injustices. we have heard clearly from native folks what the remedy

should be on this issue. so please do the right thing. remedy this injustice and remove the statue. thank you. >> thank you. his. >> good afternoon. i would like to thank all of my relatives, all of you for speaking from your heart. it is obviously the following. what you feel in your heart. thank you for that. as a member of the community, i would like to welcome you to our traditional territory and also, to all of you, i would like to welcome you to our traditional territory and to welcome you to educate yourself and to also follow your heart if you still can feel your heart. please follow it. thank you. >> thank you. [speaking foreign language]

>> good evening. my name is deedee. i am the tribal chair and i am also on the elder his council of american indian movement. i am here tonight after writing letters for a few years beginning with the city, the arts commission, add to you at the appeals board for a few years. knowing that our other relatives had been fighting this battle for 30 years. the statue is horrendous. our people, our people, we suffered trauma at that time. of course, we were not asked if that statue was ok. there were bounties on our scalps and we would not come forward and say here we are, we don't want its. they didn't care. we are nothing more than savages at that time. you know, you need to make the

right decision on this. our people are also very spiritual. our ancestors come to us in our dreams. they are sad. they are hurt. we do carry this through our d.n.a. we have so many people suffering so many elders through this hurt through the abuse that happens. so many more teenagers committing suicide and turning to drugs, feelings of hopelessness because these types of visuals are always there to remind us of what happened. i want to leave you with a story in the book his jacket is written at the missions by the priest, that the women, the native women sang so beautiful at night that they had the most beautiful voice as. the women saying to cover up the screams on the cries of the others that were being raped and murdered. by those priests and by the spanish shoulders shoulders. any time you hear one of our songs, think of that.

i hope that stays in your mind. >> thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> hello. again, and again, and again. we have done this song and dance before. i am mohawk and filipino. my baby is a same and also part navajo and mexican. i just want to say something. the appellant called everyone who is taking down the statue, these people they used to describe are the people who want the statue, i want to say we are not these people, we are the people. we are native americans. we are san francisco residents and where the human rights commission. where the arts commission. we are the historic preservation commission. where most media outlets. we are the current mayor.

we are at the mayor ed lee who appointed all of you on your seats sitting there today to do justice. so i really want to remind you why you are in that seat. why you are here. it is to be on the right side of justice. darrell honda, last time you are here, you identified yourself with indigenous background and ancestry. i want to ask you personally, what would your ancestors to get the vote you casted before cleat not too late to change it. let's make those ancestors stripped off ancestors proud. you are proud about your mayan roots. all of you, what would your ancestors say about that? how about your ancestors clearly there's something very disrespectful to the chinese-americans, what you want backed up they are cleat how about you lazarus, how about women? what about women being burned in a witch trial cleat would you appreciate that? i don't know what to say to you swig, but i hope you have

compassion and she really dig deep. because you are definitely not making most people possess ancestors proud. do you think your ancestors would be proud? i don't know your background, but really think. do you really want the newspaper tomorrow to say that you are on the wrong side of history? they are all texting me and they're all writing up articles. it will be in the paper tomorrow thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> good evening. i was born and raised in the city which is the traditional territories. and even though my folks are working-class immigrants in san francisco, i also have -- i am also a settler on the land. i also want to acknowledge that it is not only inaccurate but blatantly disrespectful to call it a foreign language on a screen when indigenous folks are

testifying the native languages of these lands. i also like to see the same fervour of the appellants to advocate for more indigenous artists and indigenous arts made by indigenous people for education in the name of education. and also i want to say that i have been raised in the city my whole life. symbols of terrorism have no place in san francisco. people take pictures and end up spreading white supremacy to the friends and children. dispatch this better be taken down or else the opposition -- people will take down the statue and it will only be escalated. so do everybody a favor and vote on the side of justice. thank you. >> thank you. >> is there any other public comment this evening cleat ok. we are going to move on to rebuttal. we will hear from the appellants

you have three minutes. >> thank you, very much. i have not been called a racist, a white supremacist indirectly, the worst insult i got all evening is old. these people, i am referring to these people who spoke against me who are so bigoted and biased , so lack of any compassion that they espouse. they are beyond belief. let's take the word from an old black man. mayer brown said he envisioned a pioneer monument as a centre of a civic centre complex that he thought would be the most interesting in the nation. he said that san francisco had always been a site of controversy between cultures. and that you can see is in the h.p.c. brief, exhibit 1, dated

april 16th, 2018. i would submit to each one of you, yes, i am not angry. i am passionate. i have passion. i agreed with that. i would have just as much passion if these people want to have a depiction with american natives, then why don't they take the quarter of a million dollars that someone wasted and stick it into something that they can put out here? put it across the street. i would support that 100%. i will paraphrase lincoln, but i think lincoln said something in the words of effect, if you're tearing down someone's house all the time or property, you are not building your own. that is what we ought to reflect on here. let's build instead of destroy. let's build instead of destroy. ultimately, regardless of the attempt to tug at your heart, this is not an issue of morality

in the sense that they are talking about. this is a legal issue and vice president, his wake, to answer your question about the tipping point, this is a historic resource. there's no question about it. there was nothing done in this matter that was worth a grain of salt. of the simple fact of the matter is that they have misconstrued the standards. the standards that we are talking about, the national standard required that whatever be done to foster history, while tearing down history is not fostering. hiding history is not fostering it. this is about history whether we like it or not. it is part of our history. thank you for your time and i appreciate your energy. >> thank you. we will now hear from the h.p.c.

>> good evening. i am from department staff. one clarification based on the appellant's comments. i want to clarify. the h.p.c., in it's action calculated make finding us and did clear this based on the conformance with the secretary of interior his standards. we don't see that as a valid issue in this case. i have no other comments but i am available for questions. >> thank you. with the arts commission? would you come forward, please? >> thank you. thank you for your time this evening. i wanted to add date and correctly cite restrictions of the act and the federal visual arts act. it does not apply to the removal of early days. the duration of protection under

the civil code extends for 50 years following the death. because the artist died over 50 years ago in 1932, capital rights and duties expired in 1983. we have done due diligence on the legal exposures that would be there, as we do with the removal of any artwork. we are in compliance on both of those. >> i have a question. as the acting agency for removal and storing the statue, is their associated cost that is attributed to that? have you done a report in regards to that? >> i might ask a senior registrar to share the figures on the estimate from george for our removal and storage. -- from -- for our removal and storage. >> this project has been faced. we did an initial cost estimate back at the beginning of this in october when we first reported

to the commission. and the cost overall of removing the sculpture, cleaning it and preparing it for long-term storage, conserving it, dealing with the remaining plinths and returning it to its original state, waterproofing it, bringing the piece to storage of subsequent and subsequent storage for approximately ten years. it comes in around $120,000. >> ok. i think i heard it on social media or the news, there was other counties interested in this particular piece of work? >> yes, the arts commission has received interest. the interest received was in the early part of the process towards the end of 2017. we have not heard recent interest. but, again captured a scenario that presents itself on the commission decides that it could be appropriate, that is on the

table. >> so rather than being in storage in perpetuity, it could go somewhere else other than this place? >> correct. the contextualization is an important factor in that decision. >> thank you. >> ok. thank you. commissioners, this matter is submitted. >> may i? >> thank you. we have been living, for most folks in this audience, you have been living with this all your life. your ancestors have been living with it for hundreds of years. and the pain of that has been reflected very clearly today and in previous hearings. i was just like to thank you for all of your energy about being here. i thank you for the educational offerings. because i have learned a

tremendous amount. also, thank you for the enlightenment, which actually is one of the reasons why i serve on this commission. i like to be enlightens. i like to be enriched. i appreciate that you all, with your comments, even those which were kind of nasty towards me, gave me the opportunity of enlightenment enlightenment. i appreciate it. this is the week of the day of atonement his. for my tradition, which is the jewish tradition. it is a time for me, personally to atone for my sins. and so in that spirit, what i would like to do, as i would like to apologize for, -- during these hearings, for any of the commentary which may have come from myself, or others that have caused harm to any of the participants here and i hope that you accept that apology is very heartfelt. and also, as i look on -- even

on our own board, including our just departed african-american women, i pray for relief of the pain from our mutual histories of genocide. and that in those prayers, that we all find healing. i really pray for your healing, everybody here and everybody who has been here, and everybody listening. so moving on to that, i would also thank you for respecting the diversity of opinions, whether these opinions might relate to the existence of a piece of art to continue conversation by being there, or the opinion that the subject matter has created such trauma that the piece of art should be

retained. i would ask you to respect the opinions of all in those areas. right or wrong, i will not cast judgement. god has not given me that position. now it is time to figure out what we will do about this. and it is the role of the commissioners to uphold legal statues and come to an agreement on the appropriate resolution as custodians of the citizens, as appointed by myself. i was a board of supervisors appointee. the others here were appointed by mayor lee. i think, frank, you were appointed by a different mayor in 19 -- sorry. >> he was around during the statue. a while ago. so i understand -- that there is

a legal piece of this and there is a judgement piece to this. we do it on this commission, especially. i have sat on another commission and tried to uphold the same spirit that we find both legally and with our hearts. if you want to, back our record, i have been here two and a half years. it is a pretty good record. there has been a a lot of compassion from this commission. but sometimes it is kind of tough. in the spirit of this, the arts commission had a job to do. the arts commission put forth -- and quite frankly, i must tell you, i wish that the presentation that you made today , both from the historical commission and the arts commission, which was very, very strong today, in my opinion, it may be different from somebody else's process opinion, was fully appropriate.

very, very well thought out. very well researched. and much better than it was the first time we heard you. thank you for creating this hearing so we could hear you with even more information and stronger information. in that spirit, the arts commission has to find from a legal position which they have, and in their hearts that they have made the choice, whether it is one opinion or the other packet to make the recommendation to the historical commission. the historical commission, and that is why i asked, doesn't want -- does one statue and one artistic element, does not take priority over an entire historical district? the answer was know, it doesn't. it is a historic district in that one element and it can either come nor go. and the ambiguity of the tipping point is for discussion for the future. i hope that you continue to consider that as we move forward

to. it is my opinion that it was appropriate and that the findings of both the commission were appropriate and dealt with effectively. there may be a difference of opinion from the rest of my commissioners. thank you. >> i will be preferred. >> thank you. i tend to be verbose but since i got clicked on the most i figured i have license. >> we had shared concerns of the first hearing about the certificate of appropriateness and it's conformity with the secretary of interior standards. when the rehearing request came through, we realize that we did not have sufficient information. i was very satisfied with the information. i thought it was very well put together and i feel that how'd we had that the first time around, we probably would not be sitting here tonight. so, i appreciate the work that went into the demo, it was clear

to me how it was all supposed to fit together. so i have reached my decision based on that. >> i have no comments. >> i like to reiterate a little bit of what my fellow commissioners have said, not passing the buck, but this hearing was much more informative. it was much more thoughtful than the original. i do want to thank all the people on both sides that gave very thoughtful, heartfelt and mostly respectful comments considering how passionate they are in regards to this particular topic. after the hearing tonight, i learned quite a bit more. and inaccuracy alone on the statue that is sitting 1,000 feet from us gives me reason to support my fellow commissioners if they go that way for the removal of the early

days statue. >> is that a motion? >> motion to deny the appeal on the basis that both the arts commission on the historical preservation commission acted appropriately with their findings. >> ok. we have a motion from vice president swag to deny the appeal and uphold the certificate of appropriateness on the basis that it was properly issued by the h.p.c. is that correctly on that motion , [roll call] that motion passes and the appeal is denied. [applause] >> this meeting is adjourned. >> thank you. i would like to thank the sheriff's office for their

assistance. i appreciate it. thank you.

>> i have been living in san francisco since 1957. i live in this area for 42

years. my name is shirley jackson, and i am a retirement teacher for san francisco unified school district, and i work with early childhood education and after school programs. i have light upstairs and down stairs. it's been remodelled and i like it. some of my floors upstairs was there from the time i built the place, so they were very horrible and dark. but we've got lighting. the room seems lighter. they painted the place, they cemented my back yard, so i won't be worried about landscaping too much. we have central heating, and i like the new countertops they put in. up to date -- oh, and we have venetian blinds. we never had venetian blinds before, and it's just cozy for

me. it meant a lot to me because i didn't drive, and i wanted to be in the area where i can do my shopping, go to work, take the kids to school. i like the way they introduced the move-in. i went to quite a bit of the meetings. they showed us blueprints of the materials that they were going to use in here, and they gave us the opportunity to choose where we would like to stay while they was renovating. it means a lot. it's just that i've been here so long. most people that enjoyed their life would love to always retain that life and keep that lifestyle, so it was a peaceful neighborhood. the park was always peaceful,

and -- i don't know. i just loved it. i wanted to be here, and i stayed. >> good afternoon everyone. on the mayor of the city and county of san francisco. [cheers and applause] >> mayor breed: i'm really excited to be here with some of our city's most incredible leaders. members of the board of supervisors, and including the person who has led the efforts for each and every one of us that brought us here to this day thank you so much. [applause] for farm too loan, survivors of sexual harassment and assault of how to navigate through tangled web of city departments and

resources as they fight for justice and accountability. but thanks to the leadership of everyone here, we are helping those survivors receive the help and the support that they truly need. recent surveys have shown that more than 80% of women and 40% of men and have experienced some form of sexual harassment. nearly two thirds of those assaults are not even reported to authorities. so why is that klee because time after time -- why is that? time after time survivors have been dismissed by the system. the system that is supposed to help individuals get the treatment they need to help heal from the traumatizing experience that they have heart. we have heard so many incredible stories about things that victims have had to go through, to the point where they just given up. and to have to recount such a

horrible tragedy, time and time again, is something, that what we're doing here today to address is hopefully, is going to help to deal with this. this is not ok in the era of the me too movement and we cannot stand by and let survivors go through this experience alone. today, i am proud that the board of supervisors is taking a huge step forward and helping survivors of sexual harassment and assault by creating our new office sexual harassment and assault response prevention. [cheers and applause] >> mayor breed: it is why we are here today. we, as a city clearly need to send a strong message. we hear you, we are here for you and will do everything we can to put the resources necessary to make sure that we don't just pass legislation to make an office like this possible. we actually passed the budget

allocation to support the success of this office. i want to thank all of my colleagues who are here. every member of the board of supervisors was a sponsor of this legislation. every member of the board of supervisors thought for and voted to support the funding to make this office a success. i also would like to take this opportunity to address cheryl davis from the san francisco human rights commission. she's not here today but she will be leading the charge in this effort, because we know that she focuses on issues around human rights and equity and things that matter. this clearly matters to the city and county of san francisco, which is why we are putting it at the forefront of the human rights commission. i am grateful to cheryl for her leadership. thank you to all the commissioners here who are here from the commission on the status of women. it does take a village to move things forward in this capacity. we have had an incredible leader in this effort. someone who has been a fighter and relentless in not only just

producing this legislation, but making sure that every member of the board of supervisors served as a cosponsor and a real partner for this particular efforts. ladies and gentlemen, at this time i would like to introduce supervisor hilary ronen. [applause] >> hello ladies and gentlemen in san francisco. today is an amazing day and victory for all women, but also all survivors of sexual assault in san francisco. let's give that a round of applause. [laughter] [applause] >> i want to start off by thinking mayor lee, first off when she was still a supervisor for being a very early sponsor of the legislation, and now for signing it into law and holding this beautiful ceremony. i think it elevates the importance of the legislation. thank you so much, mayor breed.

and to all my members on the board of supervisors, it is so rare to introduce a piece of legislation that is unanimously sponsored from day one by every member of the board of supervisors. i think that is a testament to how amazing this board is. and my colleagues who care so much about this issue. it is also a testament to the women behind the legislation. i did not write this legislation alone. i wrote this piece of legislation with a group of six survivors of right who worked every single day -- of rape and they brought the issue to my attention to begin with and then who said we don't just want to complain, we want to sit down and solve this issue. so i just want to give a huge shout out to those women and a very specific thank you to jane doe, who you will hear from in a moment, to rachel, who is here with us today, tiffany who couldn't be here because she's

on one of those rare two-week vacations, but who will have a chance to celebrate at the board of supervisors in a few weeks, to britney, to maria, who is here with us as well, thank you for being here, at also to audrey you you will hear from in a moment. we had an incredible team together, with my legislative aids, and specifically carolina morales, two champions this was all of her heart and soul from day one. if we can give them all a very big round of applause, they deserve it and so much more. [applause] >> so it was also surprised me that there were many women in san francisco who don't come forward and report sexual assaults, rape or sexual harassment, because we know this is an epidemic all throughout the country. but what did surprise me is that

women who did feel comfortable coming forward, who wanted accountability from their perpetrators, who wanted to be involved in our city system to investigate and prosecute and to get some accountability and justice, that they were treated so poorly by city departments. that was, honestly, a shock to me. the more i learn learned, the more i realized that we couldn't just have a meeting with the heads of those departments, who i know have the best intentions. we needed something more regular that was going to get us the type of systemic change that would make sure that san francisco would not only dissuade survivors from coming forward and reporting these crimes, but would also take a step forward and make sure we are on the cutting edge and meeting the nation in terms of the best practices of dealing with sexual assault. when we have statistics that one

in every two women in her lifetime a sexually assaulted and one of every six men sexually assaulted practice is not something that we can just throw our hands up and say, that is a shame. this is an epidemic that must be taken with all seriousness. we must have systemic change at every level. and by starting a sharp office in san francisco where survivors and victims can come forward and say, i am not being believed by a city employee, i am not being taken seriously, i'm not being treated with dignity, i'm not being respected, that from day one, they will have an advocate to help them navigate through these difficult systems will be with them side-by-side as they are going through the very painful process of telling their story and getting justice. so this is a very important step is one of only many steps that

we need to end this epidemic of sexual assault in the united states. and i'm so proud of the leap forward we are making here today without further ado, it is my absolute honor to introduce to survivors who will speak to you next. the first one, jane doe, is actually a city employee who i have worked on for years on women's rights legislation. we worked on equal pay legislation together and is the one that brought these issues to my attention in the first place. we will hear from her and a moment. and then audrey martinez, who is a leader with communities united against violence. it is an organization that works with the lgbtq community to end violence in that community and deal with a very specific issue that that community faces. if you can give them a warm round of applause, that would be wonderful. thank you.

>> hello. mayor brigade, -- mayor breed, thank you. recently, a candidate for congress stated that the people closest to the pain should be closest to the power. often, we suffer in silence. many of us who speak up are further quieted by abuse. but you listens. you listen to me and dozens of rape victims recount the details of our darkest hour. so many of us were not only raped but blamed and discarded by san francisco process law enforcement agencies. those sworn to serve and protect under equal protection of the law. so many of us did not receive proper care at the hospital because the city process sexual assault response team was inadequately resourced. we are told rape is a fact of life. rape is a sentence.

the terror of the crime is only the beginning. the magnitude is unfathomable at first. it slips by shock and denial. but so corrosive is the impact of victims can never be the same nor can we escape the nightmare as it unfolds. i am jane doe. it has been two years and nine months since i was raped. 949 days of my precious life stolen. supervisor ronan knew me before as a colleague and governments, a week or so after the rape, we had a call about work. i blurted out what had happened. sfpd was utterly indifferent and tried brushing me off without so much as an interview. they deemed rape to be complicated but not serious. i was patronized for asking police to take basic investigative steps like securing video evidence or interviewing key witnesses. i couldn't wrap my mind around

it. neither could supervisor whose unwavering ronen support for your support has been a source of strength. she and her extraordinary team, especially early not more alice, have worked with a group of victims of rape to a summons the two stand up. mayor breed, supervisors, i'm overwhelmed with gratitude for each of you. at the beginning of the hearing that led us to today, victim after victim shared harrowing experience as a being trivialized, blamed and. you listens, you asked watchful and smart questions of our city department that consistently failed the rising masses of victims of rape and assault. you stood with us on the steps of city hall to call for change. and today, we take a step forward by taking action. this office will be a source of advocacy and accountability that

shamefully, we don't reelect in san francisco. a voice definitely absent in a course crying out to, me too. on behalf of victims, survivors, warriors, loved ones, all those who ever had or will be affected , thank you. also, special thanks to supervisor stefani for your support. without women and office, we wouldn't be here. it is amazing that today our first african-american female mayor is signing legislation authored by a female legislature and supported by all of her colleagues. and by community members of all genders. this is truly a celebration of empowerment. to those who spoke up in the hearing, at the sv you or in civil court, because your criminal case is on shelf, thank you. i am honored and humbled to stand in solidarity with you.

to those who cannot or will not speak up, who are so far from a seat at the table, we stand in solidarity with you and today, we start the work of building a bridge to you. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, everyone. i am here, my name is audrey martinez. i'm a member of the community united against violence. i am doing what it takes to make the change, the change i want to see in my life. i want to hear -- to celebrate and thank mayor breed and supervisors in all city officials that supported this new love to create an office of sexual assault prevention and intervention.

this office is important because people of all genders need to have a safe place and get help after violence occurs. as an emigrant survivor, it is important to have a space where we can feel cared about without being ashamed. thank you for creating this space that helps foster, sorry, i'm so nervous. to be accountable as a human being and stop being shamed for the experiences that we have gone through. it is about time to get help and start the change . the shame. thank you. [applause] >> mayor breed: again, i know it takes a lot of courage to get up here and share your experience. thank you both so much for your courage and for bringing us to this point.

i'm excited that we are here today to sign this legislation with members of the board of supervisors, president cohen had to leave but we have supervisor vallie brown, supervisor catherine stefani, supervisor norman yee, and others. thank you all so much for your support of this very important legislation. at this time, i will sign the legislation. [cheers and applause] >> mayor breed: here we go.

and today's date is? [cheers and applause]

>> good afternoon everyone." welcome to our land use committee meeting of