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tv   Government Access Programming  SFGTV  November 28, 2018 12:00pm-1:01pm PST

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>> in november of 2016, california voters passed proposition 64. the adult use of marijuana act. san franciscans overwhelmingly approved it by nearly 75%. and the law went into effect in january of 2018. [♪]
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>> under california's new law, adults age 21 and over can legally possess up to 1 ounce of cannabis and grow up to six plants at home. adults in california can legally give up to 1 ounce to other adults. >> in the state of california, we passed a law that said adult consumption is legal. if you are an adult and in possession of certain amounts, you will no longer be tried. you will not be arrested or prosecuted for that. that is changing the landscape dramatically. [♪] >> to legalization of cannabis could bring tremendous economic and social benefits to cities like san francisco. >> this industry is projected to reach $22 billion by the year 2020. and that is just a few years away. >> it can be a huge legal industry in california. i think very shortly, the actual
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growing of marijuana may become the biggest cash crop in the state and so you want that to be a legal tax paying cash crop, all the way down the line to a sales tax on the retail level. >> the california medical industry is a 3 billion-dollar industry last year. anticipating that multiplier as 20, 30, 50 times in the consumer marketplace once adult use is really in place, you could go ahead and apply that multiplier to revenue. it will be huge. >> when that underground economy becomes part of the regular tax paying employment economy of the bay area, it not only has a direct impact, that money has a ripple impact through the economy as well. >> it is not just about retail. it is not just about the sensor.
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is about manufacturing pick a lot of innovative manufacturing is happening here in san francisco in addition to other parts of the state as well as the cultivation. we should be encouraging that. >> there is a vast array of jobs that are going to be available in the newly regulated cannabis industry. you can start at the top tier which a scientist working in testing labs. scientists working at extraction companies. and you work towards agricultural jobs. you have ones that will require less education and you look towards cannabis retail and see traditional retail jobs and you see general management jobs. those things that are similar to working at a bar restaurant or working at a retail store. >> we are offering, essentially, high paid manufacturing jobs. typical starting wage of 18-$20 an hour, almost no barrier to entry, you do not need an education. >> that means that people who do not have college educations, working-class people, will have
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an opportunity to have a job at cultivating cannabis plants. there's a whole wide array of job opportunities from the seedling to the sale of the cannabis. [♪] >> last year, they said 26 million people came to san francisco. >> the tourism industry continues to be very robust here and the city and county of san francisco is about a billion-dollar industry. >> if we use a conservative cannabis user adoption rate to 15% that means 4 million tourists want that means 4 million tourists want to purchase cannabis. and we need to be ready for th them. >> in 2015, as adult use legalization efforts gained momentum in california, the supervisors created the san francisco cannabis state legalization task force. this task force offered to research and advice to the supervisors, the mayor and other city departments. >> we knew that adult use legalization was coming to the ballot and stat that would bring
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with it a number of decisions that the city would have to make about zoning and regulation and so forth. and i decided at that time, at a know it was a great, that rather than have a fire drill after the ballot measure passes, as suspected it would, we should plan an event. so i authored a task force to spend a year studying it and we made it a broad-based task force. >> we prepared ourselves by developing a health impact assessment and partnered that with key stakeholder discussions with washington, oregon, colorado, to really learn lessons from their experience rolling out both adult and medicinal cannabis. >> within days of the passing of the proposition, ed lee called on agencies to act decisively. >> he issued an executive order asking the department of public
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health, along with planning and other city departments to think through an internal working group around what we needed to do to consider writing this law. >> we collectively, i would say that was representatives from g.s.a., as well as the mayor's office, met with a lot of departments to talk through what prop 64 and the implementation of prop 64 it meant to them. >> the mayor proposed an office of cannabis, a one-stop shop for permits allowing operators to grow and sell cannabis. >> he wanted a smart structure. he wanted a regulatory structure that ensured that kids didn't have access and community's were safe and that consumers were safe. and he wanted to ensure, more importantly, it was a regulatory structure that encouraged diversity and inclusivity. >> this is an office that will be solely charged with a duty of wanting not only the policies
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that we create, implementing and enforcing them, but also executing the licenses that are needed. we're talking about 20 different licenses that will put us into compliance with what is happening on the state level. >> this is a highly, highly regulated industry now, at this point. we have anywhere from 7-10 departments that will be working with these industry participants as they go through the permitting process. that is a lot of work at a loss of coordination. we are creating a permitting process that is smart and is digital. it is much easier for the user and for community input, and is less mired in bureaucracy. >> for the first time ever in san francisco history, standalone licenses are available for all aspects of the nonretail side of the cannabis industry. now, a cultivator can go in to the department of building inspection and to the department of health and say, with this
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first registered and temporary license, and then what will eventually be a permanent license, this is the project, this is what i am going to do. >> very rarely in city government do we interact with industries that are asking to be regulated. these guys want to be regulated. they want to be compliant. they want to work with the city. that is rare. >> san francisco has created a temporary licensing process so that the pre-existing operators here in san francisco can apply for a temporary state licensed. >> we have taken teams of up to 12 inspectors to inspect the facility twice a day. we have been doing that with the department of building inspection and the department of public health. and the fire department. >> it is really important for the industry to know that we are treating them like industry. like manufacturing. like coworkers pick so that is the way we are approaching this
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from a health and safety and a consumer protection network. this is just the way practice happens with restaurants or manufacturing facilities. >> because there are so many pieces of industry that people haven't even thought about. there are different permits for each piece. you have to set up a permitting system for growing, for manufacturing, for testing. for delivery. for retail. you have to make sure that there is an appropriate health code. certainly the regulation of alcohol in terms of restaurants and retail it's probably a model for how this industry will be regulated as well, both on sale and consumption. >> it is completely uncharted territory. there is a blessing and a curse with that. it is exciting because we are on a new frontier, but it is very nerve-racking because there's a lot at stake. and quite frankly, being san francisco, being the state of california, people are looking
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to us. >> we hope that cannabis does become more of an accepted part of society in the same way that alcohol is, the same way coffee is. >> it is a very innovative fear, particularly around manufacturing. san francisco could be an epicenter. >> san francisco can be a leader here. a global leader in the cannabis movement and set a bar just to other communities and cities and states and this nation how it is done. [ adjourned. >> shop & dine in the 49
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promotes local businesses and challenges residents to do their shop & dine in the 49 with within the 49 square miles of san francisco by supporting local services within the neighborhood we help san francisco remain unique successful and vibrant so where will you shop & dine in the 49 my name is jim woods i'm the founder of woods beer company and the proprietor of woods copy k open 2 henry adams what makes us unique is that we're reintegrated brooeg the beer and serving that cross the table people are sitting next to the xurpz drinking alongside we're having a lot of ingredient that get there's a lot to do the district of retail shop having that really close connection with the consumer allows us to do exciting things we decided to come to treasure island because we saw it as an
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amazing opportunity can't be beat the views and real estate that great county starting to develop on treasure island like minded business owners with last week products and want to get on the ground floor a no-brainer for us when you you, you buying local goods made locally our supporting small business those are not created an, an sprinkle scale with all the machines and one person procreating them people are making them by hand as a result more interesting and can't get that of minor or anywhere else and san francisco a hot bed for local manufacturing in support that is what keeps your city vibrant we'll make a compelling place to live and visit i think that local business is the lifeblood of san francisco and a vibrant community
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>> this is one place you can always count on to give you what you had before and remind you of what your san francisco history used to be. >> we hear that all the time, people bring their kids here and their grandparents brought them here and down the line. >> even though people move away, whenever they come back to the city, they make it here. and they tell us that. >> you're going to get something made fresh, made by hand and made with quality products and something that's very, very good. ♪ >> the legacy bars and restaurants was something that
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was begun by san francisco simply to recognize and draw attention to the establishments. it really provides for san francisco's unique character. ♪ >> and that morphed into a request that we work with the city to develop a legacy business registration. >> i'm michael cirocco and the owner of an area bakery. ♪ the bakery started in 191. my grandfather came over from italy and opened it up then. it is a small operation. it's not big. so everything is kind of quality that way. so i see every piece and cut every piece that comes in and out of that oven. >> i'm leslie cirocco-mitchell,
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a fourth generation baker here with my family. ♪ so we get up pretty early in the morning. i usually start baking around 5:00. and then you just start doing rounds of dough. loaves. >> my mom and sister basically handle the front and then i have my nephew james helps and then my two daughters and my wife come in and we actually do the baking. after that, my mom and my sister stay and sell the product, retail it. ♪ you know, i don't really think about it. but then when i -- sometimes when i go places and i look and see places put up, oh this is our 50th anniversary and everything and we've been over 100 and that is when it kind of hits me. you know, that geez, we've been here a long time. [applause] ♪
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>> a lot of people might ask why our legacy business is important. we all have our own stories to tell about our ancestry. our lineage and i'll use one example of tommy's joint. tommy's joint is a place that my husband went to as a child and he's a fourth generation san franciscan. it's a place we can still go to today with our children or grandchildren and share the stories of what was san francisco like back in the 1950s. >> i'm the general manager at tommy's joint. people mostly recognize tommy's joint for its murals on the outside of the building. very bright blue. you drive down and see what it is. they know the building.
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tommy's is a san francisco hoffa, which is a german-style presenting food. we have five different carved meats and we carve it by hand at the station. you prefer it to be carved whether you like your brisket fatty or want it lean. you want your pastrami to be very lean. you can say i want that piece of corn beef and want it cut, you know, very thick and i want it with some sauerkraut. tell the guys how you want to prepare it and they will do it right in front of you. san francisco's a place that's changing restaurants, except for tommy's joint. tommy's joint has been the same since it opened and that is important. san francisco in general that we don't lose a grip of what san francisco's came from. tommy's is a place that you'll always recognize whenever you lock in the door.
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you'll see the same staff, the same bartender and have the same meal and that is great. that's important. ♪ >> the service that san francisco heritage offers to the legacy businesses is to help them with that application process, to make sure that they really recognize about them what it is that makes them so special here in san francisco. ♪ so we'll help them with that application process if, in fact, the board of supervisors does recognize them as a legacy business, then that does entitle them to certain financial benefits from the city of san francisco. but i say really, more importantly, it really brings
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them public recognition that this is a business in san francisco that has history and that is unique to san francisco. >> it started in june of 1953. ♪ and we make everything from scratch. everything. we started a you -- we started a off with 12 flavors and mango fruits from the philippines and then started trying them one by one and the family had a whole new clientele. the business really boomed after that. >> i think that the flavors we make reflect the diversity of san francisco.
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we were really surprised about the legacy project but we were thrilled to be a part of it. businesses come and go in the city. pretty tough for businesss to stay here because it is so expensive and there's so much competition. so for us who have been here all these years and still be popular and to be recognized by the city has been really a huge honor. >> we got a phone call from a woman who was 91 and she wanted to know if the mitchells still owned it and she was so happy that we were still involved, still the owners. she was our customer in 1953. and she still comes in. but she was just making sure that we were still around and it just makes us feel, you know, very proud that we're carrying on our father's legacy. and that we mean so much to so
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many people. ♪ >> it provides a perspective. and i think if you only looked at it in the here and now, you're missing the context. for me, legacy businesses, legacy bars and restaurants are really about setting the context for how we come to be where we are today. >> i just think it's part of san francisco. people like to see familiar stuff. at least i know i do. >> in the 1950s, you could see a picture of tommy's joint and looks exactly the same. we haven't change add thing. >> i remember one lady saying, you know, i've been eating this ice cream since before i was born. and i thought, wow! we have, too. ♪
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shop and dine in the 49 promotes local businesses and challenges residents to do their shopping and dining within the 49 square miles of san francisco. by supporting local services within our neighborhoods, we help san francisco remain unique, successful, and vibrant. so where will you shop and dine in the 49? >> my name is ray behr. i am the owner of chief plus. it's a destination specialty foods store, and it's also a corner grocery store, as well. we call it cheese plus because there's a lot of additions in
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addition to cheese here. from fresh flowers, to wine, past a, chocolate, our dining area and espresso bar. you can have a casual meeting if you want to. it's a real community gathering place. what makes little polk unique, i think, first of all, it's a great pedestrian street. there's people out and about all day, meeting this neighbor and coming out and supporting the businesses. the businesses here are almost all exclusively independent owned small businesses. it harkens back to supporting local. polk street doesn't look like anywhere u.s.a. it has its own businesses and personality. we have clothing stores to gallerys, to personal service stores, where you can get your hsus repaired, luggage repaired. there's a music studio across
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the street. it's raily a diverse and unique offering on this really great street. i think san franciscans should shop local as much as they can because they can discover things that they may not be familiar with. again, the marketplace is changing, and, you know, you look at a screen, and you click a mouse, and you order something, and it shows up, but to have a tangible experience, to be able to come in to taste things, to see things, to smell things, all those things, it's very important that you do so. >> we are very excited to introduce our next speaker. someone who can speak about the importance of affordable housing and what it means for low income families in the mission district
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pick someone that understands this and actually talks about this on a regular basis throughout san francisco. i'm very honored to introduce our mayor, london breed to the podium. [applause] >> thank you. it is so exciting to be here. to break ground on 100% affordable housing. [cheers and applause] >> finally, after almost ten years, we are finally building -- building affordable housing in the mission for those whose income ranges anywhere between 30 and nifty% a.m.i. and i think i'm more excited because -- 30 and 50% a.m.i. and i think i'm more excited because even though we have had challenges making sure people who live in the communities can have access to the affordable housing built in their community , we will not have that problem with this project. because of the neighborhood preference legislation that i
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and others on the board of supervisors put through a few years back, i got so much support for that legislation from this community. to dedicate 40% of the 80 units to the people who live in this district first. [applause] there are so many people that have made this possible and i just want to thank each and every one of you for all of your hard work, including the mayor possess office of housing, bridge has an, of course, commission housing development corridor, thank you for your advocacy and your work around not just helping to build new affordable housing, but the small sites acquisition program, and all the work that you continue to do. all of the architects and the contractors, thank you all so much for being patient, working hard, putting together a project that we know is going to be absolutely incredible in this
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community. i also want to acknowledge, in addition to neighborhood preference, some of you may know that there are people who live in public housing. there are challenges with locations and we also have an opportunity to welcome in residence of public housing to this new development as well. it's part of the plan. a way to try and make sure that people have access to affordable housing. that people are able to stay in their communities. i just want to thank each and every one of you for the hard work and i see someone who snuck in here and is trying to hide. roberto hernandez. thank you for your advocacy and the work that you have done to help us with neighborhood preference. holding folks in city hall accountable to make sure that the housing that gets promised to this community gets built in
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this community and that we do a better job as a safety of providing opportunities with our application process. because the real work begins. we better get -- we build the housing but we have to make sure that we outreach all over this community to folks unfortunately , in some instances struggling and in the process of being displaced. that we make sure that we help them get those applications in. that is what i am committed to. the planning department to, thank you so much for being here thank you to each and every one of you for your work. i am excited to be here during this groundbreaking and i'm looking forward to making sure that we don't let another ten years go by before we break ground on another affordable housing development. [applause] folks, let's celebrate today and tomorrow, let's continue to roll up our sleeves and get to work.
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we have got to do more, not just in the mission, but all over the city and county of san francisco thank you all so much for being here today. >> thank you so much, mayor breach. and the project manager at bridge housing. for the last two years, it has been my pleasure to shepherd this project to this moment right now, which is so exciting. we are going to replace this vacant gas station with a beautiful building. it is really thrilling for me to say that. i would like to welcome supervisor hilary ronan which includes district nine. she has been a champion for many of the projects. we are glad you can be with us. thank you so much. [applause] >> thank you everybody. what an exciting day. this site right here represents such a huge victory for the mission community. i. i love the fact that our friends
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are holding a sign that says house keys, not handouts. thank you! [cheers and applause] that is exactly what we want in our community. eighty-one units of truly affordable housing. sometimes when we talk about affordable housing, we are talking about housing that people are making over $100,000 are eligible for. not at this site. we are talking about a family of four earning $35,000 a year who will be living right behind us. finally housing for the families that we have all been fighting for in this neighborhood. it is truly remarkable. what's even more remarkable about this, and i've seen so many faces of so many people i love in this crowd, this was slated to be luxury housing. it was going to be housing for people -- for people who grew up
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in the neighborhood would never be able to afford. and this community fought hard, fought a long, fought to get $50 million from the last affordable housing bond to come to the mission district. this was one of the sites that came out of it. please give yourselves a round of applause, mission community, because you made this site happen. i also want to congratulate mission housing development corporation his. is such an important organization in our community. this is the first time in ten years that you are breaking ground on a new affordable housing site in the mission which is just incredible. you are back in action and you will be the powerhouse organization that in the past is built so much housing in our neighborhood and are doing so again. shortly after this, you will
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break ground on 1950 mission, which will be another truly affordable housing site. mission housing development corporation and housing in the mission. we couldn't be more excited. we love you, and as the mayor said, let's roll up our sleeves and get to work and get this housing built. congratulations. [cheers and applause] >> thank you supervisor ronen. we are pleased to be working hand-in-hand with your office on the critical issues that our community continues to face. just like supervisor ronen just said, there was a point in time where many did not believe that mission housing was going to make a comeback. so we were resilience. just like this communities. our team came back stronger than ever, with one goal in mind. to uphold our mission statement, to build affordable housing in our district.
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in san francisco. our board supported us every step of the way. this isn't just a celebration for mission housing today. but it is a win for this neighborhood. at this specific site, was one because of community advocacy. today we come together as a community to celebrate. our next speaker is someone i work with on a daily basis and i've gotten to know him extremely well. i have to say that his spanish has gotten a little better. he loves latin food. particularly tacos. if you ever want to offer him something to drink, offer him some tamarind water. he is currently laughing. you can find him specifically at the panel discussions, at schools during presentations on affordable housing, asking either myself or a team member in the organization to help a
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local nonprofit in the mission. or walking around wearing a t-shirt with various messages. many of them about housing. his work has not gone unnoticed. certainly not by our team or our board or affordable housing community. he has been my counterpart in mission housing. together, we have overcame many obstacles to get to this place of celebration and groundbreaking. i am very pleased and honored to introduce our executive director of mission housing, my counterpart. [applause] >> i feel like everyone said my whole speech, i guess i can go home, right? thank you, everyone. thank you so much from the bottom of my heart and for
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mission housing. >> it has been a nostalgic kind of a day, thinking back on seven years ago and where mission housing was and where i was. i can't -- there were countless meetings of me -- of people telling me i was crazy for thinking that i could help take over mission housing. that will never happen. it is impossible. you are never coming back. over and over again, if it wasn't for marcy at and the staff and our board and the leadership and support, it probably would have been rights. the fact is, mission housing was created to actually develop community. mission housing was created to be a backbone for infrastructure or whatever you want to call it. that is what we are again. i am really proud to stand here next to this broken dirt and
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guarantee that 80 some odd units of affordable housing are coming but what i'm most proud to do is to be with our community and to break ground with the people who stood by us. the people who didn't believe that this wasn't going to weigh. who wanted us to regrow. i would like to personally dedicate this building and the rest of our building to the mission community. why don't we give the mission community a hand we -- why do we give them a hand? [applause] >> i would be remiss if i got up here and i didn't point out to the fact that this project and all the thousand units of affordable housing in the mission were originally and only made possible by a man who had the foresight to lead and to listen to the mission community. when mayor ed lee decided to
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focus on affordable housing and fix our public housing and to build more units, it was something -- that without it, i don't know mission housing could have come back like we have. while he is not here physically with us, i am fairly certain he is looking down on us and smiling. thank you. [applause] >> i really do want to thank the mayor and all of our partners and supervisor ronen. there so many people. i'm sorry, i honestly have not been this tongue-tied ever. anyone who knows me knows what an emotional day this is been. i will just leave by saying thank you. thank you for believing in mission housing. i assure you that we believe in ourselves and that we will not go another ten years. we won't go another ten months
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for another groundbreaking. if unlimited money was made available, we wouldn't say no to that. okay. let's get on with the show. thanks, everybody. [cheers and applause] >> thank you so much. it is a pleasure to work with you and john and michael and your whole team in partnership on these projects. i would like to introduce the c.e.o. and president, cynthia walker. when she joined us, she brought a long-term commitment to affordable housing with her cat demonstrated by 30 plus years of experience from alaska, seattle and now here in san francisco. she has been projects like this to life for a long time. i appreciate cynthia's leadership. through all the twists and turns that we go through, trying to blow things out of the ground, and there are many, many twists and turns. i feel personally supported by cynthia. please welcome cynthia parker. [applause]
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>> thank you. thank you everyone who is here today. it does indeed take a village to get this type of development off the ground. we can't do it without the support of our partners and also , bakers, the mayor, assembly members, supervisors, everyone who is here has had a hand in making this happen. but it is particularly an auspicious project because of our partnership with mission hell being with sam and his group. and also, the neighborhood preference, which is incredibly important here. in this code today, for someone to rent a market rate unit, they have to earn a wage of $54.76 an hour in order to pay the rent on
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an unrestricted property. so with this particular 100% developed project back we are able to rent it to families who are making $35,000 a year. a family of four. we are not reaching everyone because there are many people who live in this neighborhood to make less of -- less than that. recent survey of latino residents in the neighborhood indicated 30% of them made about $11.56 an hour. they are still living here and as rents go up, they are being forced out. i want to thank the mayor personally for her efforts and for everyone who has advocated for the neighborhood preference. and for also making resources available and the support that is necessary to get this type of 100% development project off the ground. it takes a village and it takes
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all of us to make a commitment. i see you have some tears in your eyes. i think i met sam when i got here a little over seven years ago. he was in another job and another life and then he left and called me up. he said, i've gone to work at mission housing. and i said well, cool. he said we have not done a project for the longest time. do you want to topically come on over. he did. he said this is what my vision is for mission. i want to get it back on the grounds and i want to be developing more housing. i want to be focused on the housing in the mission and i want to catalyze all of the things that have gone on in that community. i said, how can we help we what happens as a result of that is that we formed a deep partnership. we are engaged with other organizations because it takes a
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village to create this type of work here. but i really celebrate the fact that this is our first project. we will have another one breaking ground very shortly, and it will also accommodate families and seniors and we will have children living here. it will be back to the neighborhood. that's what is so important. i want to also comment on an article that i saw in the paper today, in the chronicle, which i thought was sort of interesting. it was a contrasting of new york and san francisco. i can't --dash i don't know if it is accurate or not. i certainly hope it wasn't but i did fire up an e-mail to the chief of staff. i said new york has made this commitment to housing and to affordable housing and to public housing that san francisco has not done. and that is why new york is much more economically diverse.
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my e-mail back to his chief of staff was someone i happen to know, was i hope this isn't an accurate statement. the next city, with this mayor, this is not the case. i want to thank you mayor breed. i want to thank everyone who works in this city. i know projects like these is a commitment that the city has that will make this city support the residents of the city and always and providing more housing. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, cynthia. i want to take a moment. we said it takes a village. i want to name a couple of the folks who have been critical in bringing this to life. tom, chris, dan and miguel and anita, you guys have literally broken the ground behind me. thank you so much. those are our contractors. [applause]
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>> travis, mary, irving, the enhanced beauty of the urban landscape can deliver the credit to your fabulous design. thank you so much. [applause] >> you are rock stars. kevin, joan, jenny, mara, aaron, and kate from the mayor's office of housing. you are partners every step of the way and we are so grateful for everything. we talk on the phone almost every single day. heather, eileen, joshua, amy, and william. you make all of our long loan documents really fun to read. thank you. justin, doug, mike, larry, and jamie and rebecca, thank you for all you do. [applause] and of course, there are so many
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more people than just that that have been sitting around all day those are just some people i wanted to call out. the fun part of this project is a san francisco housing authority, our permanent lender -- and our construction and equity lender, bank of america, it's been a pleasure closing this deal. i am really excited to welcome the managing director for the bank of san francisco in east bait bay market. please join us. [applause] >> thank you so much. we're so honored and grateful to be with you all today. i love this scene at the groundbreaking. thank you for that item. americas grateful and honored. sixty-six -- 56 and a half million dollars in financing for this project.
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it has been stated again, i wanted to thank you mayor breed for her continued unwavering support for affordable housing. and supervisor ronen for her support of this amazing neighborhood in the mission. you guys are wonderful partners. thank you so much for the work you do together. the two developers working on the project with us with bridge housing and mission housing. i would like to thank all of the bank of america associates who work every day to assist our communities and who work on affordable housing. we look forward to many more occasions. thank you. [applause] >> thank you for being here tonight. our closing speaker needs no introduction. he is known to many people across the city as a community leader, home grown native a passionate advocate. he has been working in this neighborhood for years ensuring that the voices of our people is not only being heard but also
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respected. there is an organization partner of ours not only here at 419 but also across the street. not too far away from here. they are an integral part of the community and we greatly value the work we do on a daily basis. without further ado, i would like to welcome someone to the podium for closing remarks. [cheers and applause] >> good evening, everybody. i am an organizer. i'm so humbled to be here among so many community warriors. a lot of people who have spent a lot of long hours and organizing hours on this street talking to neighbors and making sure we get what we need and what we deserve in this case, affordable housing we started our groundbreaking with a blessing. we started with movement.
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we were led in four directions. so appropriate and so fitting that we started with movement. because its movements that organizes this piece of land. it is movement that advocated. it is movement that unfolds banners like that one. it is movement that demanded that sights like this return to our neighborhood and returned to the hard-working families and individuals in san francisco. we started with a blessing that called on our ancestors to guide us, to protect us, and people are resilient. resilient because this isn't the end of our journey. this is in the end of the movement. we are on a long distance marathon. it is far from over. it is a marathon that includes not only building and reclaiming
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land to build affordable housing , but also protecting renters and they're existing homes. it is making sure that we get the most amount of benefits with any luxury corporate developer that comes into our hood. because of families in our community deserve more. just walk around these streets. there are hundreds and thousands of our loved ones on the streets we see them intense. we see them living in cars. or you don't see them. because they are doubled and tripled in apartment buildings like this. this is why we do it. we do it for all the hundreds of homeless kids that come to school after a restless nights sleeping in the shelter. they deserve more. they deserve more. and we deserve more. when you join our movement, will you join our movement. we are just getting started.
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are you all ready to party and celebrate we -- are you ready to party and celebrate, i thank everyone for being here. i will turn it back over to marcy. please stay. we have delicious food from some local vendors and local mom and pop businesses to support the hoods and support the neighborhoods. thank you all for being here. [cheers and applause] >> okay. thank you so much. we would like to invite all the speakers to come up and grab a shovel, and we will take a picture, a break in the ground, after that, anybody else is welcome to take a picture with a shovel once we are done. thank you all so much for being here. it is really a great moment for us in the city and the neighborhoods. thank you.go.
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>> shop and dine the 49 promotes local businesses and changes san franciscans to do their shopping and dooipg within the 49 square miles by supporting local services within the neighborhood we help san francisco remain unique, successful and vibrant so where will you shop and dine the 49 hi in my mind a ms. medina
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