america. america. america. [children reading poems]

>> let's get another round of applause for those brave poets. weren't they fantastic? [applause] >> all right. so for our next act, we are welcoming to the stage that i had the incredible pleasure for the first time of singing with yesterday. let's welcome amy lazardo, an amazing artist who's performed at several places here in san francisco.

currently, amy can be seen right across the street at the strand theater until december 16. >> you have 1.5 weeks. there are a few shows left. >> amy lozardo, everybody. >> how you doing? yeah. good. so much. thank you so much for being here. so happy holidays, everyone. we're going to sing a couple songs about something that doesn't really happen here in california, and i think you will appreciate these tunes, and i hope you have the most wonderful holiday season. feliz navidad to my people, and let's get started here. let's go.

[singing "let it snow"]

>> what a surprise, snow. let's keep singing about snow, yeah? how you guys doing out there?

let me hear you out there. how you doing? you cold? a little bit. so am i. i have a very cute dress under naeth, but i'm not taking my jacket off. how you guys doing? let's give it up for our band. they're fantastic, yeah? [applause] >> you ready? yeah. [singing "white christmas"]

>> thank you so much.

if you're in the back, i hope you're enjoying the snow in the back. are you having a good time? [applaus [applause] >> yeah? yeah? all right. here we go. [singing "winter wonderland"]

>> thank you all so much. i hope you have the warmest and coldest happy holidays, and there she is. >> let's hear it again for amy lozardo, everyone. [applause] >> wasn't she fantastic? and now for a little more dance and cheer, we're going to welcome back to the stage for a little more dance and cheer, the incredible christmas tree tappers.

[tap dance routine performed]

>> okay. wasn't that great? [applause] >> i'm going to welcome amy lozardo back to the stage, but we need you to sing along as loud as you can.

[singing "here comes santa claus"] ["you're a mean one, mr. grinch" playing]

[applause] >> gimme that, and thank you for singing my song. and san francisco, could you pipe down? i'm trying to wallow in self-pity here. >> hold on. you're not santa klaus. >> oh, you wanted him? you guys don't like santa claus, do you? [applause] >> santa claus, boo! boo! [applause] >> well, what's to like about him? oh, i know. do you like santa claus because he gives you presents? you do? well, i brought you some presents. >> oh, you have presents? >> i do. >> maybe you are santa claus.

oh, no. unrecyclable plastic. no. no, you're definitely not santa claus. >> you can say that again. >> well, i have an idea again. >> what? >> if you can just be quiet for a second. hey, kids, i think we can get rid of the grinch if you can do one thing for me. if we start chanting santa's name, maybe we can get rid of the grinch? >> no. [chanting "santa"] >> ho, ho, ho. >> i think i hear him. >> ho, ho, ho.

[chanting "santa"] >> it's santa claus, everybody. >> oh, great. >> there he is. your cheering worked. thanks, kids. it's santa claus!

[applause] >> merry christmas, boys and girls! >> yea! merry christmas, santa! >> is that the grinch? oh, grinch. >> that's my name. say it, don't spray it. >> are you harassing the children? >> well, no, we were just having fun till you got here? >> well, boys and girls, don't worry, grinch, i have something very special that may change your mind about christmas. >> i doubt it. >> i have something very special. it's a present, because i know when you share presents, you

always have a good heart. and i know you have a good heart, too, grinch. >> oh, take that back. >> well, here it is. >> there's nothing you can give me -- >> here you go. >> is that really for me? >> it's a present made by the elves. >> oh, how sweet. >> oh, don't cry, grinchy. >> well, what do you say, grinch? >> oh, oh, i love it. >> can we all wish everyone a big merry christmas? >> this is one. merry christmas. >> oh, ho, ho. that feels like christmas to me. >> well, i don't have any bear

food. what am i going to feed this thing? >> hey, i've got an idea. it looks like you both have really warmed your hearts. i think the grinch has turned a new corner. what do you think, kids? isn't he so sweet, so cute and nice? but santa, i know what really would set this night off. should we light this christmas tree? >> oh, that would be good. boys and girls, are you ready to light the christmas tree? >> that's wonderful. i'm so excited. at this point, san francisco, i would like to welcome to the stage some very special people from the mayor's office who helped make this entire event possible. so please, join me in welcoming naomi kelly, phil ginsburg, breanna torres, and mayor london breed to the stage.

[applause] >> welcome, welcome, welcome, one and all. >> the hon. london breed: hello, everyone. welcome to the front yard of city hall, and happy holidays to each and every one of you. make sure that you come back on december 9, sunday. we're going to be having so much fun. a lot of face painting activities and fun things for the whole family. hi, everybody! are you guys ready to light this christmas tree? >> let's do it, boys and girls. >> the hon. london breed: have you guys been naughty or nice? okay. presents for everybody. hi, mr. grinch. >> hi, mrs. mayor. >> the hon. london breed: hi, santa. >> hi, mrs. mayor.

>> the hon. london breed: i've been good this year. >> don't worry. we have a very special gift for you, too. >> the hon. london breed: all right. come on over, everybody. can you help me count? okay. we're going to start with ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. [cheers and applause] >> the hon. london breed: thank you, everyone. happy holidays. >> merry christmas, boys and girls. thank you for coming out today.

. >> happy holidays, san francisco. hundreds of festive lights are illuminating san francisco streets using 100% greenhouse gas free hydroelectric power. this year, the city is celebrating 100 years of providing this power from hetch hetchy system which powers muni, our schools and libraries, street lights, san francisco international airport, city government buildings, private developments, and more. look for holiday bell lights along third street, and illuminated snowflakes on market street. the san francisco public utilities commission and the san francisco public works welcome all to enjoy the magic of the

>> hi. my name is carmen chiu, san francisco's elected assessor. when i meet with seniors in the community, they're thinking about the future. some want to down size or move to a new neighborhood that's closer to family, but they also worry that making such a change will increase their property taxes. that's why i want to share with you a property tax saving program called proposition 60. so how does this work? prop 60 was passed in 1986 to allow seniors who are 55 years and older to keep their prop 13 value, even when they move into a new home. under prop 13 law, property growth is limited to 2% growth a year. but when ownership changes the law requires that we reassess the value to new market value.

compared to your existing home, which was benefited from the -- which has benefited from the prop 13 growth limit on taxable value, the new limit on the replacement home would likely be higher. that's where prop 60 comes in. prop 60 recognizes that seniors on fixed income may not be able to afford higher taxes so it allows them to carryover their existing prop 13 value to their new home which means seniors can continue to pay their prop 13 tax values as if they had never moved. remember, the prop 60 is a one time tax benefit, and the property value must be equal to or below around your replacement home. if you plan to purchase your new home before selling your existing home, please make sure that your new home is at the same price or cheaper than your

existing home. this means that if your existing home is worth $1 million in market value, your new home must be $1 million or below. if you're looking to purchase and sell within a year, were you nur home must not be at a value that is worth more than 105% of your exist egging home. which means if you sell your old home for $1 million, and you buy a home within one year, your new home should not be worth more than $1.15 million. if you sell your existing home at $1 million and buy a replacement between year one and two, it should be no more than $1.1 million. know that your ability to participate in this program

expires after two years. you will not be able to receive prop 60 tax benefits if you cannot make the purchase within two years. so benefit from this tax savings program, you have to apply. just download the prop 60 form from our website and submit it to our office. for more, visit our website, sfassessor.org, >> this has been a dream in the making, especially for our general manager, for many, many years, to be able to allow residents of the tenderloin and western addition to be able to walk and skate at civic center plaza and experience a little slice of an east coast winter.

>> it truly was a one-of-a-kind collaboration between willie b. productions and the city departments. he said i want to challenge you to come up with something bigger and more fun, and something in such a historic location right here, right in front of city hall. this is amazing. >> we starting off by leveling the entire plaza. it was about a two-week process to get the area brought up to a dead level because the ice risk itself is not tolerant of any change in slope, because the water would build up at one end. then, we brought in these refrigeration panels that we

can circulate a brine solution in to bring the solution down to colder than 32°, and then, start spraying water on it, which, for the last two days, nature has taken care of that for us. and then freeze it, and it becomes ice that you can skate it. >> as you can see, the ice is about an inch thick, and it'll get up to 1.5 inches thick. with that, we can control the ice. most people that do outdoor skating rinks make a big sand box, and they lay these tubes in it, cover it with sand, and then, the ice gets to be about 6 inches thick or 8 inches thick. well, with that thick, you're not going to control the surface. it gets wet with the sun. that makes it unique with our

1.5 inch thick ice, with the panels. >> this year, we're bringing a unique feature to san francisco. it's a skate track that runs down through the trees. it's over 400 feet of track. this is sort of models after -- modelled after the city hall in austria. you can make a narrow skating path and get that experience. >> what we are doing is working with the san francisco unified school district to bring any kids who go to school in the tenderloin to skate here for free. the operators have been wonderful in making that possible, and we have been -- we, the recreation and parks department, have been the people connecting schools to this ice rink. >> there has to be well over 100 people that have either been married or proposed to on the ice. in fact, they have this club

that gets together once a year, and they go down to john's grill, and they celebrate and drink and eat and dine, sometimes before, sometimes after skating. they go to union square, and they relive those magical moments all once again. so who knows, with city hall being right here, we could see an increase in proposal and marriages on the ice. i don't know, but i've been on it. it's not just about you coming and getting on the ice, it's about you coming and skating successfully, skating safely, and creating those holiday magical >> hi, i'm lawrence corn field. welcome to building san francisco. we have a special series, stay safe.

we're looking at earthquake issues. and today we're going to be talking with a residential building owner about what residential building owners and tenants can and should do before earthquakes and after earthquakes. ♪ ♪ >> we're here at this wonderful spur exhibit on mission street in san francisco and i have with me today my good friend george. thanks for joining me, george. and george has for a long time owned residential property here in san francisco. and we want to talk about apartment buildings and what the owner's responsibilities might be and what they expect their tenants to do. and let's start by talking a little bit about what owners can do before an earthquake and then maybe after an earthquake.

>> well, the first thing, lawrence, would be to get together with your tenants and see if they have earthquake insurance or any renters insurance in place because that's going to be key to protecting them in the event of a quake. >> and renters insurance, there are two kinds of insurance. renters insurance coffers damage to goods and content and so forth. earthquake insurance is a separate policy you get after you get renters insurance through the california earthquake authority, very inexpensive. and it helps owners and it helps tenants because it gives relocation costs and it pays their rent. this is a huge impact on building owners. >> it's huge, it really is. you know, a lot of owners don't realize that, you know, when there is an earthquake, their money flow is going to stop. how are they going to pay their mortgages, how are they going to pay their other bills, how are they going to live? >> what else can property owners do in residential rental housing before an earthquake? >> well, the first thing you want to do is get your property

assessed. find out what the geology is at your site. get an expert in to look at structural and nonstructural losses. the structural losses, a lot of times, aren't going to be that bad if you prepare. an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. get in there and get your property assessed and figure it out. >> so, what is a nonstructural issue that might cause losses? >> well, you know, pipes, for instance. pipes will whip around during an earthquake. and if they're anchored in more numerous locations, that whipping won't cause a breakage that will cause a flood. >> i've heard water damage is a major, major problem after earthquakes actually. >> it is. that's one of the big things. a lot of things falling over, ceilings collapsing. but all of this can be prevented by an expert coming in and assessing where those problem areas and often the fixes are really, really cheap. >> who do you call when you

want to have that kind of assessment or evaluation done? >> the structural engineering community is great. we have the structural engineers association of northern california right here in san francisco. they're a wealth of information and resources. >> what kinds of things might you encourage tenants to do besides simply get tenants renters insurance and earthquake insurance, what else do you think tenants should do? >> i think it's really important to know if they happen to be in the building where is the safest place for them to go when the shaking starts. if they're out of the building, whats' their continuity plan for connecting with family? they should give their emergency contact information to their resident manager so that the resident manager knows how to get in touch. and have emergency supplies on hand. the tenants should be responsible to have their extra water and flashlights and bandages and know how to use a toilet when there's no sewage

and water flows down. and the owners of the building should be proactive in that regard as well. >> so, george, thank you so much for joining us. that was really great. and thanks to spur for hosting us here in this wonderful exhibit. and thank you for joining us

>> usf donates 100-120 pounds of food a night. for the four semesters we have been running here, usf has donated about 18,000 pounds of food to the food recovery network. ♪ ♪ >> i'm maggie. >> i'm nick. >> we're coe-chairs of the national led organization. what food recovery does is recover and redistribute food

that would go wasted and redistributing to people in the community. >> the moment that i became really engaged in the cause of fighting food waste was when i had just taken the food from the usf cafeteria and i saw four pans full size full of food perfectly fine to be eaten and made the day before and that would have gone into the trash that night if we didn't recover it the next day. i want to fight food waste because it hurts the economy, it's one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases in the world. if it was a nation, it would be the third largest nation behind china and the united states. america wastes about 40% of the food we create every year,

$160 billion worth and that's made up in the higher cost of food for consumers. no matter where you view the line, you should be engaged with the issue of food waste. ♪ ♪ >> access edible food that we have throughout our lunch program in our center, i go ahead and collect it and i'll cool it down and every night i prep it up and the next day i'll heat it and ready for delivery. it's really natural for me, i love it, i'm passionate about it and it's just been great. i believe it's such a blessing to have the opportunity to actually feed people every day.

no food should go wasted. there's someone who wants to eat, we have food, it's definitely hand in hand and it shouldn't be looked at as work or a task, we're feeding people and it really means so much to me. i come to work and they're like nora do you want this, do you want that? and it's so great and everyone is truly involved. every day, every night after every period of food, breakfast, lunch, dinner, i mean, people just throw it away. they don't even think twice about it and i think as a whole, as a community, as any community, if people just put a little effort, we could really help each other out. that's how it should be. that's what food is about basically. >> an organization that meets is the san francisco knight

ministry we work with tuesday and thursday's. ♪ ♪ by the power ♪ of your name >> i have faith to move mountains because i believe in jesus. >> i believe it's helpful to offer food to people because as you know, there's so much homelessness in san francisco and california and the united states. i really believe that food is important as well as our faith.

>> the san francisco knight ministry has been around for 54 years. the core of the ministry, a group of ordain ministers, we go out in the middle of the night every single night of the year, so for 54 years we have never missed a night. i know it's difficult to believe maybe in the united states but a lot of our people will say this is the first meal they've had in two days. i really believe it is a time between life or death because i mean, we could be here and have church, but, you know, i don't know how much we could feed or how many we could feed and this way over 100 people get fed every single thursday out here. it's not solely the food, i tell you, believe me. they're extremely grateful.

>> it's super awesome how welcoming they are. after one or two times they're like i recognize you. how are you doing, how is school? i have never been in the city, it's overwhelming. you get to know people and through the music and the food, you get to know people. >> we never know what impact we're going to have on folks. if you just practice love and kindness, it's a labor of love and that's what the food recovery network is and this is a huge -- i believe they salvage our mission. >> to me the most important part is it's about food waste and feeding people. the food recovery network

national slogan is finding ways to feed people. it's property to bring the scientific and human element into the situation.

>> good morning. welcome to the san francisco county transportation authority for today, tuesday, december th. our last meeting of the calendar year. mr clerk up can you please call the roll? [roll call]