>> let's talk a little bit about the format and get this party started. all right. after you make your opening statements, i have two little bags. my little bags. the questions have been divided into, how will you get it done? and working with the community? you all have had these questions in advance, most of them. so they shouldn't be a surprise to you. but each candidate will be asked one question and a different question at a time, okay? and we'll go through the questions. if we run out of questions, we'll recycle, all right? [laughter] all right. the reason why we're not asking the public to add questions to our list, we produced them with the public's input, but we're not asking for them tonight, because we want to hear from the candidates tonight and hear about the issues that are

important to us here in the community. we don't want to have a debate or an argumentative discussion about the issues. we just want to know how they stand on it. you will make up your mind on who to vote for given their response. let's start with the first person that came tonight and got here at 6:00. that will be ms. berry. i want to add one more thing. the league of women voters will be our timekeeper tonight. they will keep you to the 2 minutes or 1 minute that you have. and so she will be flashing cards for you. so please be respectful of that so we don't have to cut off your mike or drag you off where a hook. sound good? >> yes. >> all right, ms. berry, thank you. [inaudible] >> she's going to introduce herself and i'm hoping she will say her name.

[laughter] go for it. >> hi. i'm gloria berry. i thought tonight i'd go ahead and describe what it's like to run for supervisor. some of the things that people say to you along the road, one of the first interesting comments for me, unless i raise over $100,000, that i shouldn't even be in the race. what that person didn't know is there's a lady in the bronx, new york, named alexandria cortez, and she raised 1/16th of the establishment's chosen person. so that didn't deter me. the next thing i was told, as a woman, you have to prove yourself. you can't be modest. you have to speak more on your accomplishments. when a man walks in a room, he can wear a suit and automatically get respect and

credibility. my accomplishments are as follows. i served this country for 12 years in technical communications field. i was entrusted with writing policy and making decisions for people, thousands of people's lives. after that, i went into law enforcement for eight years with the state of california. i was an expert at de-escalation. i held hearings and investigations and i'm a fact-finder. the third thing being said to me that i wanted to speak on is, what am i going to do for district 10? my priorities are education, drug treatment and police brutality. i chose education as first because i know when you find yourself in a hole, education is what will help you dig out of it.

drug treatment, we need to help people and help them again. all of us are one injury away from being addicted to opiates. thank you. [applause] >> good evening, everyone. my name is shamar walton. i'm a member of the board of education, executive drebtor of 45-year work force development in bayview and native san franciscan. this run for me as supervisor of district 10 is personal. i'm originally from public housing. lived in bayview, known as hunter's view now, which is being revitalized right now.

i'm former director for department of human growth and families. i've been making sure we get the resources that we need here in district 10. it's been isolated for so long, from transportation issues that exist, from health disparities that exist. and we need somebody who has been tackling that already to make sure when they get elected on november 6, they can continue to move this district forward. so i talk about proven leadership that we need today. i built affordable housing in this district, 59 units. 100% affordable. currently building 156 units. 100% affordable. i worked and written proposals with other community-based organizations to bring another navigation center to bayview hunter's point on bayshore so we can fight homelessness.

besides mental health support and substance abuse, we'll have a jobs program included. we need somebody who can go in and get elected on for 6 and fight for our issues right away. i'm supported by eight current members of the board of supervisors. a current senator. and all of-colleagues on the board of education and many people in this room and community leaders. thank you. [applause] >> hi, everyone. i'm tony kelley. in the last 15 years -- i know a lot of people in this room already because we've worked together to save schools and parks, create the first green benefit district in the country to, get more open space out here in district 10. i worked with bayview's hunter's point to close power plants, clean up soil, diesel fuel out of muni buses and fight for

cleanup of nuclear waste for over 12 years now. i worked with neighbors all over the district to save and create affordable housing and blue collar jobs and demand way have development without displacement. also help to create coalitions against police violence and housing homeless families. and for creating a public bank that can finally get us the housing and infrastructure that we need out here in district 10 for so long. i have been happy to work with you and the hosts of this event over the years. my policies aren't put on a piece of paper because they sound good in an election year. they come from that work day in and day out with residents and businesses and workers and tenants and families across district 10. and trying to fight for changes against a city that really only thinks we're important when they can make money off us or take our land. how about you?

how is the status quo working out for you? do you think the city's on the right track or not? do you feel represented at city hall? do you feel that politicians are working for you or someone else? we all know friends who have been pushed out of the city. a lot of us know families in bayview where three generations died of the same cancer. we know seniors that live on one meal a day. we know long-time renters that know that the for sale sign means you're out and the new building is for us and not for you. so we know we need to stand up for change. let's talk tonight about the change and how to get there. [applause] >> all right. how's everybody doing this evening? that was weak. how is everybody doing this evening? all right. that's better. my name is theo ellington. and i am running for district 10 supervisor.

i'm running because san francisco has lost its way. it's unfortunate that district 10 is left to fill all the city's inequalities. when my grandfather moved here, he got a good-paying job, he saved up enough money to purchase a home and he put all his family in there. if my grandfather was alive today, he wouldn't be able to afford to live in san francisco. my mother raised my brother and i. she corrected me the other day. i used to say $30,000 a year. she said that was way too much. it was $18,000 a year working at candlestick. if we were to replay that, we would not be able to afford to live in san francisco. i'm the only candidate sitting here who has experience in the public and private sector. on the public side, i was commissioner for san francisco redevelopment agency, where i led the creation of 1,500 units here in san francisco, 1,000 of which were deemed affordable.

242 which were for the homeless population. a month ago, i stepped down from the san francisco human rights commission. it was there i stood up for the city's anti-discrimination policy. i stood up to uphold sanctuary city policy. on the private side, i was director of public affairs for the golden state warriors. it was there that i held new arena developers accountable to this very neighborhood. just as i will do it in the seat of supervisor, you have my commitment to stand beside you to stand up for this very neighborhood. this is why residents and i are leading a lawsuit against those at hunter's point for faking the soil samples. thank you. i look forward it further discussion [applause] >> good evening, everybody.

i am running for supervisor of district 10. i am not, nor will i ever be, a politician. and i say that because i live n innin portrero public housing. so many times i was in the room in city hall and other places and i saw how decisions were made. my being a resident at the table is because of the position i had. nobody comes down and talks to anybody on the street. they don't talk to the business owners, the homeowners. decisions are made inside the rooms without anybody knowing what's happening on the -- how it's affecting us on the ground. i don't have a list of endorsements. no, i don't. i don't have a whole list of people that's backing me and i definitely have not raised $100,000. i think i might have raised

about $4,000 and i'm very proud to say that. right now, i don't think what bayview needs or district 10 needs is a politician. we need somebody that's actually going to sit down, listen, and understand and know what people are going through. one of the things i want to talk about tonight is domestic violence. that's something that hasn't been brought to the table. and that's for both men and women. so you can google me because i have a lot of accomplishments underneath my belt and worked with a lot of members in the city and a lot of people in my neighborhood. i live in public housing on dakota street. thank you. [applause] >> i am truly thankful for this opportunity to be here tonight.

many of you who have been watching the presentations have noticed that i have not been involved. so, therefore, i am not really well practiced because i have not been invited. one of the reasons that i had not been invited is because i choose not to choose a political party. i am a single mother of two. one boy and one girl. there was a quadruple homicide in hayes valley, the young man that was trying to cash his cze check on his half-hour lunch break. i've been doing this work for 29 years. what i mean is, i can good into the entrepeneurs programs that i started. i can go into on the p.t.a., the fact that the poles on 3rd

street, the black, red and green was done by me. i can say that the african-american art and culture was inspired by those poles. i can say so many things that i have done, but what i'm bringing to the table today is the conviction of truth. someone has to have the courage to speak what's going on in this society and we do not have any democracy. we have been promised by way of democratic. we have been promised republic, etc., and we are in the same condition. what are we going to do about it? i'm going to bring transparency. what is transparency? i'm going to break down the meaning of the eb5 and the direct capital funding. why is it that we do not have businesses of all nationalities. my platform is common ground. you hear the common conversation that everyone will bring you jobs. everyone will bring you housing. everyone will bring you

education, but our children can't even read 1st grade to 7th grade. we know the reports. >> you have exceeded your time. >> i'm sorry. and i'm thankful this is not a debate because i just like to have a discussion. thank you, kindly. >> thank you so much for that. [applause] >> ms. berry, we're going to start on that end -- ms. chandler, we're going to start on that end of town. so you will have the first question and you have 3 minutes to respond. and i ask you, respectfully, if you will respect our time limit and end sdaexactly at 3 minutes. the question is on working in the community. >> yes. >> what are your plans for

working with neighborhood groups and organizations to gain information as to what community needs really are? >> the gaining the information is communication. communication is key. its about having a relationship with the community. if you don't have a true relationship with the community, you cannot organize. i've been doing this work for 29 years and almost everyone in bayview know who i am. why? because i'm not a higherling. i'm born for this purpose. i love my community and i love humanity. >> all right. thank you for that. next, working with the community. what is your plan to dramatically improve safety in the district? >> i don't know how dramatically i will be able to do that.

it depend on what part of the community and exactly what you're talking about. so that will be needing to look at what is happening now. sit down and talk to people because what is different in sun sunnydale is different than bayview, but the collective we need is safety. and that starts with our young people first. it starts with the youngsters. the ones that are going into school and at the tipping point, the ages between 10 and 13 years old. getting to them and getting them involved in different sports and not just sports, but academics as well. and taking it from there and talking to the parents, the parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. you have a lot of young mothers and fathers out there. and what happens is, it got lost in between my generation and the generation after me. and so getting out and really talking to the community and asking them, what has been going

on in your neighborhood and how can we work together to solve the problem? it will not happen overnight. i deal with the police department every day. i deal with my community every day. we just had a burial today of a young man who had been really working hard in the community to stop violence. it will take a lot of us banding together and it will also take for us standing up. i wear these bands every day and i said, i live in portero hill. one says, blue lives matter. i say that because we have to work together. we can't be afraid to stand up. we have to stand together. we can't be scared to say, no, don't break into that house. no, you shouldn't be throwing those rocks. and taking it back to the old school. when i was coming up, you could get on me and then you could get on me and by the time i got

home, my mama already knew. and so it's taking it back to where people are actually working together and not being scared, not being scared of retaliation. not being scared to stand up. and not being scared to stand up with each other and talk with each other and getting to know each other. because that's where a lot of the safety goes in, because nobody knows each other in certain parts. also, people are scared to speak up because you will speak up when you see kids throw rocks, but not when you see somebody break into somebody's house and then you will start to stig stigmatize people. and then you look at people that are sagging and bagging and think they are bad, but they could have 3.0s or 4.0s. it's taking it back to grassroots. >> all right. mr. ellington, we're in the category of working with the

community. how do you envision designing bayview -- i'm sorry. how do you envision designating bayview as a cultural district benefiting or hurting business? >> let's start by setting the context of what this community means to african-americans. given the amount of displacement and pressure that the neighborhood has felt, it's unfortunate that many folks that i've grown up with, many family members, many of the community members, have been forced out of this district. what we're starting to see is a resurgence. we're starting to see folks come together and stand up for the neighborhood that they deserve. and one of the examples that i like to bring up is the

organizations that are bringing the businesses back to 3rd street. we have five brand-new businesses coming back to the 3rd street corridor. of the five new businesses coming back. four are african-american. four live in 94124. and that's because there was a collective effort of folks that recognize the cultural significance of bayview. four businesses came together and decided their collective success was determined by how well they can work together and attract other businesses to the corridor. and it was fortunate enough that we're able to see that play out in the next couple of months. as it pertains to the culture district and specifically, we've seen this work in other neighborhoods. we've seen this work in the mission, where you have a dedicated effort to bringing funds and cultural activities to the neighborhood. and now we're seeing that play

out here in bayview and i'm happy that as chair of the bayview open -- opera house, we're in that discussion and bringing cultural activities back to the opera house. it's a must. and i would hope that all of my colleagues would agree that it's a must and brunging back a sense of place where far too many people have been pushed out of district 10. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. mr. kelly, how do you plan to address the notion that everyone in the bayview is low income? >> well, the reality is different. we know that. the perception worries me, because the consequences of the perception -- if it wasn't the perception that bayview hunter's point is low income and we don't need to care about it, the shipyard would have been cleaned

up right new. you know it. i know it. we've had 30 years to do it. and for the last 15 years, i've been working with green action, nation of islam, bayview residents at hunter's view, all trying to get accountability and better cleanup because they've cleaned up other sites in the city that had toxins. navy, city, developers, but didn't do it here. and it's because, oh, it doesn't matter. and i've been knocking on doors for 6, 9, 12 months, keep running into people that used to work at the shipyard. and knowing that there's generations where they die of the same cancer, where the entire house has asthma. and they gave their bodies to the work that went on over there. and it's not gone un-noticed that they're paying attention because people went to prison and white people are living there now. that's structural racism and

environmental racism. we need to be serious about how we're going to do better. so first, with the shipyard, here's a view things that the board of supervisors can do so we can stand up for ourselves and make the houses that people that make more are living in, but make it healthy and right for everybody. first, we need a full cleanup of the entire shipyard before any development happens. not just testing, but a full cleanup. second, kick tetro tech out of san francisco. they have other contracts with city agencies. so the city needs to look in the mirror and do the right thing. third, we need to restore the restoration advisory board. it was the one community oversight over the cleanup of the shipyard and we need to restore it and make it important for the city. fourth, we need oversight over

the oversight of the shipyard. so the board of supervisors don't have direct control over development at the shipyard. that needs to change. we also need to take care of the racism at the department of public health, where they've been denying the health disparities making 14-year shorter life expectancy in this district coming paired to other parts of the city. the same people in charge of where we are today. cannot be in charge of where we need to go tomorrow, because otherwise, we will be kept down and holding the stereotype where the city abandons us, doesn't care about us, and pushes out lower income people saying we're low income and shortening our lives. >> thank you, mr. kelly. [applause] mr. walton, what are your thoughts on integrating the numerous housing projects into the larger district 10

community? >> well, i'm glad you asked that question. there are a few things that i know should be the role of a supervisor and role of someone who has been leading in community. and i've had opportunity not just in the past eight years as the executive director of community developers to work and develop these projects and bring them into community and make sure that things happen the way they're planned. when we talk about the projects in hope sf and hunter's view and west point and sunnydale, these are going to be new buildings in communities that have existed for a long time. so we'll have families that finally have an opportunity that have been living in roach-invested houses. who have been living in

communities where they need to be cleaned up. i have lived there, so i understand that. so now that we have the opportunity for the new housing coming in, we know we will have 100% affordable, low income and market. so when we're talking about inclusionary housing and bringing communities together, the first thing we need to do is make sure that everyone has the same amenities in our new houses. when you bring, when you redevelop hunter's view, we need to make sure that they have the same open-space opportunities. that they have the same community rooms, so they can do the things and activities and have birthday parties like families do. we need to make sure that the same job opportunities are available in our new housing developments when they come in as well. and we've been doing that work over the years. we made sure that now when we build houses and don't make the

same mistakes that happened years ago, we're not moving people off of their property and then trying to bring them back two or three years later. people are staying and moving into adjacent housing from where they lived in. you develop in one area, you build more housing, and you move back in. phase 1, stay in hunter's view. we built the first phase and moved back over. same thing griffiths. and same thing down at the bottom of 25th and connecticut. so when we build new housing, we need to make sure that amenities exist that are equitable across the board. we need to make sure that the jobs exist for the new communities and existing community and we keep our population indigenous we've done that for a long time and making sure that community gets to build their own housing.

local mandatory hiring is something we've been enforcing, to make sure that when you build here, the people from the community are part of that, and any new jobs coming their way. >> thank you. [applause] last but not least, ms. berry. how will be prioritize the different concerns in different communities within district 10? >> i will stick with my number one priority, which is education. as far as priorities are concerned, i was raised here since 1969. ever since the shipyard closed, this district has been neglected. when they needed us in this district for the shipyard. they needed us for jobs, they needed us to work at those ports and do that unsafe work.

and after they didn't need us, they didn't want us in the schools. they didn't want us it have jobs in other sectors and neglected this area. so my priority is education because the main reason is this. the disparity in black, latino and pacific-islander test scores is disgusting. it's the worst in the state of california, our district. and until we make the kids a priority, nothing else is important. the kids come first. so after that, the drug treatment. you have to keep at it. you have to find the root of people's problems. it will not go away. it will only get worse until we make it a priority. and then right behind that, and

definitely not not important, the shipyard issue. i've been working on that for over 8 years. and i'm tired of going down to public comment every year and having supervisors say, we care about you. thank you for the item you've done. and next item, approval to move ahead for development at the shipyard. we can no longer accept that. it's a priority. so we know we are being hoodwinked and we can't accept that anymore. thank you. [applause] >> okay. this is going way too smoothly. these folks have done their home work and answered really well. i want to thank them for coming prepared. [applause]

second questions, it's in the bucket of, how will you get it done? lets start in the middle with mr. kelly and go to your left. let's make sure you can turn and pat your head and all that stuff. how do you plan to address developers and neighborhood blight? >> first of all, let's talk about what blight is. i have a campaign office on 99 avenue, vacant for two years before i moved in. the campaign office on 20th, vacant for 40 years before we

moved in. we got lucky in those cases, but a lot of cases, especially on 3rd street. the vacancies are due to speculation. the landlords want lower rent. why? rezoning is coming. and they can put offices or houses on the ground floor, maybe not right now, maybe not next year, but pretty soon and they can wait. and they will make a better deal for themselves. we need planning. it's not that we're special. we're a supervisor. no. we need planning so there is clarity. we also need a vacancy tax. we want to be sure that it's harder to sit on spaces and keep them vacant. that's where we get dumping, blight, abandoned storefronts and what we're not using for open space. that's city property where dumping is happening as well.

i think i'm the only one at this table that knows the tools of development without displacement. and working on eastern neighborhood plans, for 10 weary-fighting years, 2000 to 2010. we had plans about how we'll increase the population for the mission, south of market, and try to keep people there and get the infrastructure we need so we can serve them. there were two things in particular -- i want it tell you a short story. there were two things that we wanted. i helped to write this legislation and it didn't get into the final plan. two things. one, to use the increased tax revenue, increased property tax revenue from the new developments and put that back into infrastructure in the neighborhood. bus lines, parks, schools. we're supposed to have two middle schools at portrero and we have zero. the board needs to assert, yes, it's happening. if you don't get it, building

permits stop. of course, that didn't fly with the mayor the mayor and controller said, no, no, no. we have a recession going in 2008. we need all that money for the general fund. so we're adding thousands of people to portrero hill and no new bus lines or schools and the other parts is that we have a green benefit district to support it. we need to take care of our neighborhoods, because city hall is not doing it for us. you will hear how we're solving our city's problems, but we're not, especially in this district. you can't expect the people in charge today to take us where we need to go tomorrow. we need new leadership to make that happen. [applause] >> mr. ellington, how important is keeping and adding parks and open space to the bayview? and how -- what do you plan to do about it? >> so if you look at the

situation with our parks on this side of the hill, you know that our parks are some of the worst in the district. if you look at district 10 as a whole, you know that some of our parks are some of the worst parks in the city. and what we're beginning to see is all the growth is moving down to the southeast side of town. therefore, it makes sense that the next wave of upgrades that happen to our parks and open space should happen right here in district 10. there is something on the state level that is called the quimby act. what it does is allocate a certain amount of parks and open space per resident that lives in the area. i think we need something similar in san francisco. i have a dog. his name is leroy. when i walk leroy, it's unfortunate that a lot of our parks in this district have

become hotbeds for homeless population. we have got to change that in district 10. we have to ensure that we make the necessary investments so the folks that are homeless get the services they need in district 10 and across the city and counties of san francisco. we had a number of programs that helped alleviate some of the pressures that rec and park was having. we refurbished basketball courts across the city. so this can happen to make parks and open space better. it will take the community and city hall ensuring that this side of town is not forgotten about. we've been dumped on for too long. this side of town needs to be a priority to the rest of city hall and you will get that in me

as supervisor. thank you. [applause] >> how do you plan to go about ensuring that we get our fair share of public spaces, resources? for example, open space, rec and park facilities and services, dog parks and libraries? >> to be honest with you, it takes looking at what the residents want. can you hear me now? okay. so we have the portero hill rec center. and in sunnydale, they have a swimming pool. they have a park. so there are parks. right now the park is being renovated as we speak.

i want to be the type of supervisor that says, this is what you need, what you will get and this is what we're going to do. that's not what people want. people want to know that you are hearing them and actually asking them for their opinion. some people may not want a doggy park in every part of the district. but then at the same time, you have to look at that we do have to have it. also making sure that it's child-friendly, dog-friendly and people-friendly. and making sure that we're able to do the upkeep of our open spaces. right now, we do have a homeless situation. and so the more open spaces that we create is more places to are people to be able to sleep in. and our libraries, we have some great libraries. we have a library on 20th street. we have a library just here on 3rd street that just got redone.

why not utilize libraries and open spaces we have and expand on them and also hiring people from the community to be able to do the upkeep of the open spaces and being able to work in the libraries. why not hire some of our seniors who are now retired to come in and do story time? do you know that a lot of our kids don't even know how to do handwriting? they don't teach that in the school. and there's a lot of parents -- i used to be a latch-key kid. there are a lot of children that come home because their parents are at work. why not have after-school programs at the libraries, at the open spaces and hire some seniors to come in and do what they like doing, which is teach, nurturing, and giving back in the old school way. and i keep going back to the old school way because that's the way i was raised. and even though i the drugs and drinking and everything else, i still have those morals and there are lines that you won't cross. when you have somebody that cares about you.

that kid that needs that hug, they can get that at the library or the open space. so it's incorporating the community and in a way that our kids are going to be able to use it along with our seniors. >> thank you. [applause] so ms. chandler, how do you plan to achieve economic and quality of life balance without district 10? >> that is so beautiful. economic and quality balance. the first question was asked to me i was silent and finished up. it's unnatural to be on the clock. so i kind of froze. but this is the perfect question that is meant for me to talk about economics and the balance. and i hear so much political

conversation. they call it politically correct. i'm not a politically correct person, but what you see is a smile. you have a spirit, a smile here. my son was murdered three years ago and people are asking, how are you standing? one thing i haven't heard people talk about is spirituality. without spirituality, you have nothing. there is no way on earth we can go through district 10, district 6, 3, 4, 5 and the condition of san francisco today. the spirit is dead. we're not alive. i constantly hear about how the community has been deprived and abandoned. the question is, why? what kind of life that we've allowed this community to be in this state?

we need to ask ourselves, who are we? there is no way on earth other nationalities would accept the homicides, the education institution, the businesses and african-american people not allowed to feed themselves. homes being taken. why? and then we want to cry wolf at the end of the day when we're almost obsolete. we are guilty. every one of us. that's what i'm bringing to the table. without spirituality, we have nothing. this is what keeps a smile on my face. this keeps my heart pumping when i see the little brothers and sisters and teenage girls and young adults full of alcohol on 3rd. why is that blight there? it's not in any other community. why? start asking yourself the question. why is it that we've been having yellow tape all of these years?

homicides cleaned up. why? i'm bringing the truth to you without a smile. i didn't raise anything but $500. me and my family raised the $500 to be able to pay for my registration. i haven't raised one dime. i'm not interested in your developers. who should we hold accountable? the san francisco board of supervisors made the announcement that that place was cleaned. >> ms. chandler -- >> are we holding the board of supervisors accountable? >> your time is up. >> thank you so kindly. [applause] >> what elements will you weigh when taking up concerns of the community, which may not be

popular with other supervisory districts or other groups within the district. >> what the other district supervisors have to realize is we're connected. when you neglect this district, you neglect the city. so i want to be the supervisor to get the other supervisors on board to care about this district for once in a lifetime. when you go to the board of supervisor meetings, they often vote on different issues. when a supervisor has submitted legislation and they win the vote, they have a celebration in their office and it's like a feather in their hat and everybody's happy and goes home with a smile. we need to get to the point that

they included district 10 for once. we need to get happy that they passed legislation that affects everybody. we're supposed to be a democratic city. the word they like to use is equity. but we don't have that here. district 10 has the worst disparity in economic income as well. we are a tale of two cities. the haves and have-notes. my goal is for everybody to realize that we're not connected. when you don't educate a district 10 child, it affects the whole city. when someone needs resources, they lead us to district 10 and then go down to district 6. district 6 isn't generationally that way. the tenderloin wasn't that way when i was a child. it was a small group of people that wear down on their luck.

but now it's a hub because there are not resources. we need to bring the resources and let san francisco be the model city for other cities in the united states that finally start caring about people that do not look like them. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. mr. walton, this is unfair. how do you plan to address truancy? [laughter] >> i don't know if it's fair or unfair. first, i want it have a moment of silence for joe tatuey, who was murdered. he's a member of the street violence prevention program that provided out reach and connected our young folks to safety and he was gunned down a couple weeks

ago. the last two days we've been spent remembering him and memorializing him. i want it ask for a brief moment of silence for him. thank you. with that said, there's -- there are things that we've done that have worked in the past that we have not had the same resources for to address truancy. let me give you an example. we had a program at daniel west elementary school. if we have a truancy program at an elementary school, that means there is something going on in the home that is causing the fact that our children are not going to school. so we put a program together with the department of youth and families where we called the children, we woke them up every day, we picked them up, we fed them breakfast and we took them to school. after school, we picked them up, brought them to the center. we provided meals and we did

activities with our young folks. we need to bring programs like that back. there are some that exist. we do it through beacon center. another thing we're working on is a transportation program, where we actually go into our areas, where our young folks don't have the same adequate transportation. there may be issues going on keeping them from going to school and we pick them up every day. a lot of truancy comes from transportation. a lot of truancy comes from not having a meal in the morning. a lot of truancy comes from people not having the same resources to buy clothes every day. we need programs to provide the basic needs for our families. a lot of people are not going to school because they're maybe ashamed. or because just plain resource things. transportation programs, resources to go in, so we're picking up our young people from

our public housing hubs. we're picking up young people from all areas of san francisco. you could be living in bayview hunter's point and going to school in the sunset. so we need to make sure that those children get to school. we spend millions of dollars on transportation in sfusd. and the majority of it is for special education and special needs programs. we're not spending the same level of money and resources for trancesportation for isolated, disenfranchised communities. we know the data. we know who is truant. we know how it happens. we need to provide the opportunity to get our young folks to school. so it's transportation. it's the resources and basic needs for families that has a deep-seeded, deep-rooted issue that are keeping our children from going to school. we're seeing some success in that. as a board of supervisor, i will make sure that part of our $11

billion budget goes into our school system. people think that our of the school district has enough resources to sustain itself. we don't. we're in the bottom half across this country. it's ridiculous and we need to use some of that $11 billion budget to take care of our students as well. [applause] >> it's 7:35. we've wanted to conclude before 8:00 tonight. and so we have a couple housekeeping things and we want to give the candidates time to mingle with everyone and for you all to ask clarifying questions of them directly. is that okay with you all? all right. fantastic. as we close, i want to thank the members of the bayview neighborhood association that pumped this up and tried to get people out here tonight.

i want to thank bright for helping to coordinate and bring water and the good stuff they did. i want to thank the league of women voters. you all are amazing with the timing and thank you for doing that and the other logistics that you did. thanks to the southeast community facility for organizing all this and, ellie, really was amazing, finding out that we were overbooked and trying to work it all out. that really worked out and thanks to dr. honeycutt and mica fob for yielding their time. and thank you for jackie wright and wright enterprises for press releases and media coordination and thank you to everybody else in the room who helped us get here tonight. before we end, i'd like to bring up mr. williams, but i also want to ask -- how many people are registered to vote in the room? how many people? raise your hand. you, young man, you are not

registered to vote? that's my husband. yes. [laughter] it's -- if you are not registered to vote, please -- or if you have changed addresses, please go in the back and make sure that you get your registration changed so that you can vote. how many people are here from district 10 tonight? thank you, all, thank you, all, for coming mr. williams, did you want to add something tonight? [inaudible] [laughter] >> thank you for dropping in. [applause] [laughter] thank you so much. i'm so sorry. i knew i left somebody out. again, thank you, all, for coming. please take advantage of having all of our great candidates here. i do have to say one thing. personally, file like everyone on this panel is extremely dedicated and knowledgable about

our community. and we have a great slate of people to choose from. so please vote. all right. thank you. [applause] ood evening everyone.

thank you for joining the regular board meeting of the board of education. today is tuesday, august 28th. i am now calling this meeting to order. can i get rollcall, please? thank you. [roll call]