and a mayoral appointment to the youth commission. we have severely fallen behind in our duty to serve this youth. it seems that juvenile hall -- the services that it offers are severely lacking. they have felt that there was no direction or follow up after release. punishments are arbitrarily given, and some of these may include being walocked in thei cell for a whole week. the youth commission recommends to this board that they inquire about the reasons for the run aways from log cabin ranch, we recommend that two youth seats be part of the task force that is being made, and we would like to express our full supports for community-based organizations. thank you so much. >> supervisor mandelman: thank you. next speaker. >> good evening. patty lee, managing attorney,

public defender's office, juvenile unit, and i have been in the juvenile unit over 30 years. but what i want to say tonight is that we need to have an immediate option program for the ranch because right now, in the past year, we have contested 11 d.j.j. recommendations. this is what the private bar and our office -- last year, in 2017, we only had four. so we've been successful in keeping these youth out. but we cannot wait another year. we have kids in the pipeline, and we know that the recidivism and reoffending rates for d.j.j. are horrendous. so i'm here to ask that we also create immediately an opening for a ranch program, whether it's at the ranch or with community based organization support. thank you. >> supervisor mandelman: thank you.

next speaker. >> supervisors, i'm the director on the center for juvenile justice. i'm going to be very clear. there's absolutely no way that san francisco should ever send a kid to a state institution at this point. we have -- we have an array of programs that's unmatched anywhere else in the state. in fact probably the best array of community based programs anywhere in the country. they're under utilized and they're under utilized for the same old reasons when i was standing here 30 years ago. it's nothing new. we have a 150 bed juvenile hall that's about a third filled. we've got the log cabin ranch. we've got an array of community based resources. there is no reason for ever sending a kid to a state correctional institution again.

we can create a model here in san francisco by -- [inaudible] >> supervisor mandelman: thank you. thank you. next speaker. >> good evening. thank you for having this hearing. my name is casey lee, and i was a juvenile defender down in los angeles, and i currently am a juvenile defender here in san francisco, and i also am assistant in overseeing the panel that oversee our youth here. i do want to emphasize that we need an immediate solution, an alternative to the ranch. right now, as we heard earlier, and i think the statistics are important. if we're sending kids to d.j.j., if we look at the old civil grand jury reports from 2011 to 2013, we'll see that the recidivism rate was 80%. if we look at the ranch

recidivism rate, it was 14%. we know now that without an alternative, we have an uptick of recommendations to d.j.j. three things that our ranch focused on was the missouri model that came out of the juvenile justice detention alternative -- [inaudible] >> supervisor mandelman: thank you. next speaker. >> thank you. my name is michael whelan, and do juvenile defense work. have been doing so 35 years in three different states. we need to refund log cabin ranch or an alternative asap. it's a very important alternative for kids that are in a certain category but can't go home or go out of state. some of the providers that told you they were unfunded, they need to be funded.

they're fabulous providers, in this juvenile justice program. >> supervisor mandelman: thank you. next speaker. >> i want to say the politicians have to listen to the youth. and i know you've heard this, i've heard this for 50 years, but we must listen to the youth one minute. and i understand the crowd and all the logistics, but i'm just saying if you want to get involved for real, you've got to listen to these young people. up here, i think we're just moving it along, going through the procedure, but we must listen to the young, we must listen to those who have been there, and we need mental health, and we need log cabin ranch. thank you. >> supervisor mandelman: thank you. next speaker. >> good evening. i'm julie tron, well known to

supervisor fewer. also district eight resident and voter. i'm the director of the juvenile association at the bar of san francisco. i bring a group of attorneys to log cabin ranch on a regular basis. we had a trip planned shortly after the closure occurred. i have a lot to say about the ranch. was it the best program? no. was it a good program? no. it was a good program, not the best program. could it be improved? yes. i think we have to shine a light on the role of the c.b.o.s and how we are providing independence to our judges so that we can make the best possible decisions and the best possibilile placements fo our youth. bar association has stood ready

to be a part of this announcement which took place in july. [inaudible] >> supervisor mandelman: thank you. next speaker. >> my name is kimberly alberto, and i was formerly incarcerated. i believe we should have more programs ran by the youth because in the end, we really know what we need. thank you. >> supervisor mandelman: thank you. next speaker. >> my name is michelle lessons. i'm an lcsw and clinical case manager. [inaudible] >> -- i really wanted to speak specifically to the fact that -- or the impact that the referral policies that we have. so much of the work that we've done over the years are with

youth that have previously been involved and being able to continue those relationships long-term to help keep them out of trouble and help them find meaningful relationships in their communities is the reason we've seen just a decline in the youth on probation overall. and i think the continued opportunities for all of these organizations to do that and really meet these youth out in the communities on their terms is what's going to continue making all these young people really successful. thank you. >> supervisor mandelman: thank you. next speaker. >> first thing i wants to say is research has shown that kids thrive when they're in their community and not in detention. right now, we're sending kids out of state to be placed.

we have no place locally for our young people that are out-of-home placement or need some mental health care or our young women or young boys that are being trafficked. there is no place locally to place them. we need to redistribute those beds up at juvenile hall and reconform log cabin ranch for placement for our kids. >> supervisor mandelman: thank you. next speaker. >> i'm with the mission peace collaborative, and i'm one of the cofounders of the juvenile justice providers association. i want to thank you for this hearing, because you gave equal voice to the community. this gives me hope that the same thing that everyone is saying up here, that we need reform, that we need innovation will happen under your guys's leadership, and i have hope that this will happen. ernl to personally thank you for holding this hearing. i know it was supposed to end a

long time ago, but i thank you. i want to thank the judges for coming out, and i want to thank the probation department for listening to the community, and hopefully we can work with the juvenile justice providers association and come up with some solutions for you guys to consider. thank you. >> supervisor mandelman: thank you. next speaker. >> what we need right now immediately is a girl's shelter in san francisco. we have none. we need an alternative to the ranch so that i have an alternative when i believe that structure is important. other than d.j.j., i have no

such option right now. mental health services are completely inadequate for our youth right now, and the special needs of unaccompanied minors can be more fully addressed in san francisco. it is more difficult working with them and the needs that they bring. thank you. >> supervisor mandelman: thank you. are there any other members of the public who wish to address us during public comment? seeing none, public comment is now closed. [ gavel ]. >> supervisor mandelman: supervisor fewer? >> supervisor fewer: well, i just want to thank everyone for coming out today and spending your afternoon and evening with us, and i want to thank chief nance and his staff for a thorough presentation. i have a comment, though, after hearing the presentation from chief nance.

so i have to say that i think, chief, that we have seen the juvenile justice model stay the same for over the years and decades, and including, i believe, even when my husband was incarcerated. do you feel that we're adequately serving youth in this system? could they be better served in the community or a home setting? >> well, again, supervisor few fewer, thank you for the question. i want to punctuate the fact that san francisco, a county over over 800,000 people has barely 14 kids in our system. can we do better?

can we do more? absolutely, always, so i'm heartened by the feedback that we heard today from the community agencies, from the young people. we were all -- from my staff, taking copious notes because we value the information. we believe that there is an opportunity to strengthen our partnerships. we believe that there is an opportunity to reenvision the way community supervision is delivered, and we're committed to working with our community and working with community agencies and our young people to make that happen. so yes, there is more that we can do, and we're open to exploring that. >> supervisor fewer: thank you. and i've heard from several people that there needs to be an immediate alternative to log cabin ranch, and is it true that we have seen an uptick of young people being diverted to d.j.j. since the closing of log cabin ranch? >> two things in what i heard. yes, there needs to be an

alternative for log cabin ranch for our young people, and i wish we had more local options for young people. my department as well as statewide, counties are working very feverishly to develop alternative foster care options in family home settings for young people here in san francisco. and so i agree that we need an alterna alternative. in the interim, we have seen an uptick in the number of commitments to our juvenile hall facility where we have the space and the capacity to keep those young people safe and on the right track academically and therapeutically, but it needs more commitment to a more broad-based program strategy, as well as building out that facility in such a way as to support longer-term commitments

in that environment. so i think that in the so short-term, that we have an opportunity to develop an opportunity for young people to have a place to be safe and to continue to -- to thrive and to address the rehabilitative and therapeutic needs that they have within our juvenile needs facility until such time we can determine whether log cabin ranch will continue to be a viable resource to that population of young people that we serve. as to the question of commitments to the division of juvenile justice -- and i want to be very, very clear about this, san francisco has not increased its number of referrals to the juvenile justice -- the state jufl justice agency since the closure of log cabin ranch. there have been two people that have been committed since that time. when you look at the number of young people that we've committed overall, that number continues to be relatively low.

so while there may have been an increase in recommendations coming from probation officers for commitments to log cabin ranch, in view of the -- i'm sorry, the number of commitments to -- recommendations for commitments to the division of juvenile justice, the fact remains that these young people are receiving either a commitment to juvenile hall or a community based alternative. so the -- >> supervisor mandelman: but it sounds like that's because the public defenders are fighting it. >> no, because the judges recognize what's in the best interest of young people and that we don't give up on young people. while i believe the state facilities have made some significance changes in the state institutions, it's clear across the state, inclusive of what san francisco has developed as the road map, the reduction in the number of

young people going to the state institutions continues to be relatively low and flat. and so our officers balances public safety, they balance the needs of these young people, and we also have to be concerned about what is going to happen in their future. i cannot ignore the fact that when i visit san bruno jail, and i'm on the transitional age youth pod, that five former log cabin ranch youth come to greet me in that environment, and that they are all there as a result of homicide charges. i can't ignore that. and so while i agree that we need to have good models of intervention for young people in san francisco and our juvenile justice system, i don't think we should continue to throw money at a strategy that feels good but doesn't

necessarily yield results. >> supervisor mandelman: you find if i ask a question? >> supervisor fewer: no. >> supervisor mandelman: setting aside the log cabin question, i was struck -- and i know this wasn't the issue at hand, but what seems like an overall trend in referrals to facilities stayed wide, it seems like we since 2008 have gone in the other direction. when do we refer -- i'm new to this. supervisor fewer is the -- the pro on this. but i'm curious about when we refer someone or when we send someone to d.j.j., and why that number would be larger now than in 2008, particularly when it seems like in the rest of the state, it's been going down? >> well i think that first and foremost, the rest of the state was way out of whack with respect to the number of young people they were sending to the state.

we were already ahead of the curve, we're talking barely single digit numbers for san francisco. we had two young people that returned to the community since from d.j.j., and i think we have a total of ten people from san francisco committed to the state institutions. so comparing the practices of san francisco in comparison to what's happening to the rest of the state isn't a good comparison because san francisco had already made the commitment to not send young people to d.j.j. so the small numbers that people are describing today are no comparison to what is happening in the rest of the state. i think the rest of the state is getting to where san francisco is, and they're driving those numbers down. as i stated yes, we need to do

better, and we are commit today that. we will ensure that we create different alternatives to young people, that our judges create dispositions that make sense for young people and families. >> supervisor mandelman: is it feasible that we get to a point that we send no referrals to d.j.j.? >> i think if we do it will be because we have created a strong alternative within the community because again, balancing the public safety risk and also the risk of harm, even to the young people who are out there, engaged in the conduct that they engage in, is something that we have to be concerned about, as well. and sometimes sort of stemming the bleeding, stopping the bleeding is the best thing that we can do in the short-term, recognizing that that shouldn't be the long-term plan for these

young people. but if we ignore the fact that some people require secure -- a secure setting in order to focus on the rehabilitateative goals and objectives, i think that we could do more harm than good. >> supervisor mandelman: thank you. >> supervisor fewer: it just seems, chief, that when we look at the budget, and your budget has increased, but i would imagine it's also some staff costs, also, and the cost of living. but the fact that the incarceration rate has gone so low, i have to say i actually do think that it might be a time to actually reenvision a little about what we can do here. san francisco has always been the city of innovation and other places follow us. and i think because we have such a low count -- and i have to say kudos to everyone working on that. that is remarkable.

i remember when it was -- we were saying -- and i have to give kudos to margaret who didn't want a 150 bed facility. >> that's right. in 2008, we exceeded capacity. >> supervisor fewer: it was shocking. to get it down to this point is remarkable, and it reflects a great level of success. but what i'm hearing, is even with this increased budget, there were increased needs of the youth you were serving and much more case management. it seems what you're looking for today is not only about the individual youth, but is about what their family's experiencing, the homelessness, the, you know, unemployment, all those type of factors that actually play into a young person's life and helped shape to where they are today. or even having a home that you can go back to or whether or

not there's not a safe place. and i just think that we are on a cusp now. we have an opportunity with this low incarceration rate, the fact that we've built up 20 years-plus of community-based organizations that have affected how to serve our youth. it's other services, employment, employment for the family, housing, all these other things that are a safety network. i think it is actually time to actually just look at this in a way because it's an opportunity. it's not like we have 150 kids incarcerated, we have 40. this is a time to reenvision what juvenile justice looks

like. i have just been hearing from folks about probation officers. i know my husband was incarcerated many, many years ago, but it just seems as though it's kind of the same format of what they do and sort of the function of a probation officer. and are not our youth maybe looking for something more of m mentorship, of a trusted ally for friendship? and i am just wondering where the room for that is in our juvenile justice system? >> well, i think there's a lot of room for that in our system. much of what we do is statutorily driven with respect to operating a juvenile hall, court services that we provide, community supervision.

but we have seen movement towards a different type of engagement, where probation officers are part of a team of individuals inclusive of the young person in the family in problem and decision making. that's a significant shift from where we were in traditional probation services, looking at the opportunities to partner with our schools and work with alternative schools and strengthen the way probation officers work with those schools to get young people back in the classroom when they've been chronically truant and working toward their high school diploma. we've seen a tremendous shift in the way probation officers work to engage young people in post secondary educational opportunities, getting them into colleges and universities and supporting that. we have probation officers that are visiting -- and social workers, as well, that are

visiting young people that are placed out of state as nonminor dependents, and creating opportunities. but where we need more assistance is in some of the mental health programming that was described, some of the substance abuse treatment that young people need. our transitional age youth need more housing support, they need more housing opportunity so that they he don't add to -- that they don't add to the homelessness prabs that we see in the city. there are a variety of program that's can support at the community level the needs of our young people. and i'm not opposed to looking at different ways for our office and the probation services and probation office to be a part of those solutions. i don't think we need to demonize ourselves in the

process. we have much to celebrate in san francisco because we've made tremendous progress, and we believe that the level of commitment from our probation officers, from our juvenile hall counselors and from our log cabin ranch staff is a contribution to that, and it is part of the partnership that we all experience. and all of the folks that you saw come to the podium today are all contributing to that work. i know that the r.f.p. processes have consequences that are unfavorable, that sometimes there are winners and sometimes there are losers, but that process, as you well know, is designed to make fair and equitiable decisions about who

gets funded and who doesn't. and so you heard from some organizations that got defunded through a fair and equitiable process, they were not the most successful bidder. and that's unfortunate, but i don't control that. and so my commitment to community agencies is no less than it has ever been. it continues to be extremely strong, and i hope that as we move forward and we think about expanding programs and services to meet some of the gaps that we talked about here today, that perhaps there will be an opportunity for some of the providers that we heard from today to continue to be a resource today. >> supervisor fewer: i think, chief nance, i understand the r.f.p. process, also, and you have no control at all, but when you're putting it out to bid, they're putting it out to bid in a framework that's

already designed, versus a new framework that's all income passing. if it seems if the -- all encompassing: what if we resigned it so that c.b.o.s were integrated inside of it, rather externally and sort of design a new model of juvenile justice in our city? i just think because r.f.p. process is designed -- the way it's designed when it's going out to bid is within this certain kind of framework of what we already have. so we have this framework of j.p.d. and c.b.o.s, but it's not about designing something together about holistically looking at what we really need.

it may have a different outcome on the r.f.p. process, and we might be looking at something else that makes the whole circle and the best outcomes for our youth today. and so on that note, is dcyf in the room, i'm wondering, maria, because i know maria does have something over the r.f.p. process, that i wanted to ask maria, if you wouldn't mind looking at maybe alternatives to the model that we currently have. that really does incorporate c.b.o.s together. i think what the chief said is we do have a lot to celebrate, but we're at a point now where we have 40 incarcerated and we have all of those c.b.o.s that

we have invested years and years and years in, and they have invested years this their staff meeting the needs of youth and the mental health that we mentioned. like, is there a way that we can provide other alternatives or needed services? but again, i'm wondering, we probably have to conduct a study or work in conjunction with someone to conduct a study. i think it's exciting that we have within our power here, supervisor, an opportunity to reimagine and redesign. and working on the successes that we've had. >> yes, supervisor fewer, supervisor mandelman. thank you again for calling for this hearing. yes, i hear from our community

that this is a mandate, and i'm also hearing from you for us to do something. it is possible for dcyf to commission -- [inaudible] >> -- around new recommendations for juvenile justice reform. i would be more than happy to look more into that and to forward the recommendations over to the committee here, but if this is something that the

committee wants, we would definitely look into working with a consulting firm to start that process, and of course we would do that in partnership with our juvenile probation department as well as our community partners. >> supervisor fewer: thank you. do you concur? thank you very much. because i think we shouldn't be recommending any youth to d.j.j. in my husband's time, it was c.y.a. and he said sandy, everyone that went to c.y.a. ended up in san quentin. i think in san francisco, especially with this rich array of support, that to lose one person to d.j.j. i think is a travesty. so i think it's great. i also want to commend the chief, that i do think that your willingness to actually look at all sides of this and

listen to the c.b.o.s also -- and you're right. it shouldn't be ad -- adversarial at all. i think we have a role to play, each of us, to give our youth the services they deserve. they are the future of san francisco, so we should invest and invest well. thank you very much. i just want to thank -- any other comments? >> supervisor mandelman: well, i guess i have one more question for chief nance. so it sounds like a bad thing if it is, in fact, the case that this new referral process has resulted in one referral. and i was curious if that's

true, and you could say a little bit about it. >> sure. absolutely. so the one thing that we can't lose sight of is that when the new contracts came into place, that didn't mean that all the young people that were already receiving services stopped receiving services. those youth were already committed, already involved in services. and so we would need to take a really detailed look to see which young people we're talking about during this period of time. there aren't a lot of young people that have come through the system during that two or three-month period that we're looking at prior to identifying how many referrals. but again, there is -- there are -- there is such a heavy saturation of programs and services that there's a lot of demand for every single youth. and so -- and as we described, only 30% of the programs that young people are connected to

are youth that are served through the justice services realm. so yes, it is very possible that that number is as low as has been reported, but that isn't because young people aren't being served, it is simply because there aren't enough youth people to sat rate the array of services that we have around us. >> supervisor fewer: but how about those that aren't in the juvenile justice system yet, but the c.b.o.s are preventing them? >> that's a great question. i'm going to ask my colleague to come up and answer that because we've had discussions into expanding into those services. >> all right. so thank you, supervisors, for the question. once again, first, we want to celebrate that there are only 40 young people, which is 40

too many in the juvenile justice system right now. however, what we realize is we actually have a large number of really high quality nonprofit agencies ready to serve young people and to really serve them with really high quality programming. so what we did and what was mentioned by our jjcpa -- jjpa partners was that two weeks ago c.b.o.s allowed greater flexibility to serve people outside of the juvenile hall. so they are currently able to receive referrals from the schools, from other service providers, from other key stakeholders in the community. >> and i want to acknowledge that that was a joint decision because we were invested in that -- that strategy, as well. i think that now is the time for san francisco to pivot whole -- wholeheartedly and full throatedly into

prevention, to focus on keeping young people out of the justice system since we've done such a great job of reducing the number of people in the system, those services can be better utilized. >> supervisor fewer: no argument here. >> thank you. >> supervisor fewer: thank you. >> supervisor mandelman: i want to be clear. you're advocating for this to remain in the committee. >> supervisor fewer: yes, at the call of the chairman man at the call of the chair, and to have a report back from dcyf. >> supervisor fewer: yes. bo-i think director sue has indicated she can come back with a study, and i think it's important to have that as a study to discuss. >> supervisor mandelman: to the call of the chair? >> supervisor fewer: yes. i make a motion to have that at the call of the chair.

>> could i make a suggestion that we can have a study of services adoptions by our juvenile justice coordinator? >> supervisor fewer: thank you to my colleagues for staying so late. >> supervisor mandelman: thank you, supervisor fewer. i know yesterday, you had a fever of 102, and so you dragged yourself out of your bed to hear this hearing. we have a motion, without objection. [ gavel ]. >> supervisor mandelman: mr. clerk, do we have anymore items? >> clerk: there's no further business. >> supervisor mandelman: okay. great. then we are adjourned.

>> welcome. my name is caroline, i am the director of community real estate at mission economic development agency. happy new year, welcome to 25 sanchez who have not been here before. i returned to the -- as we turn the calendar to 2019, it is a perfect time to reflect on new beginnings, and that is definitely the case. looking around at this refurbished property, i'm delighted to see a prime example of collective impact. it was four and a half years ago when taking on the city's call for nonprofits to take on the rental assistance demonstration, rad for short, it seems like a daunting process for us. after all, this was a brand-new process for us.

that is why the support of many partners was enlisted. it meant city officials, funders , community members, and the residents of 25 sanchez itself, and to you, i now offer thanks for the key role you all played in making today a reality please give yourselves a round of applause. [applause] >> it should be noted that when taking a difficult project and putting all the pieces together, such as 25 sanchez, it takes a trusted partner, and/or codeveloper co. developer, bridge housing, has been that trusted partner. thank you bridge. we could not have undertaken this work without such an experienced player in the fields [applause] >> it is interesting to note that the last two mayors of san francisco grew up in public housing. the late mayor ed lee championed the rehabbing of public housing

and his beloved san francisco, having grown up in seattle public housing, and our new mayor, mayor london breed, is furthering that dynamic vision. we are honored she is with us today to cut the ribbon. [applause] >> what was our vision for the r.a.d. properties, it was to create functional, quality homes for senior and disabled residents, welcoming community spaces, and community ownership of those spaces. redefining public housing was our goal, and i'm proud to say that that goal has been met. twenty-five sanchez is just one of five r.a.d. properties we have now successfully rehabbed. all part of the mission castro clustered that totals 349 homes pervert -- preserved for seniors and disabled san franciscans. we sincerely think their residence -- we thank the residents for letting us become part of their lives. your input was vital, and

engagement was high, as evidenced by how interactive this building was during our teatime community meeting when we translated in our multiple different languages and in our many one-on-one conversations. additionally, throughout construction, we learned lessons based on your feedback. during the last three construction phases, you shared with us how we could consolidate our construction and then you worked together to prepare yourself for the changes as neighbors and as roommates. thank you for all that you have done. thank you also for your community input on these beautiful murals, on the plans and the plants in the garden, choosing paint colors, and basically making this warm your home, which it already has been. thank you so much for making

yourselves part of this. you epitomize what it means to be a community. you entrusted us as stewards of your longtime home, and that was a true gift. today we rededicate this building which represents the beginning of a bright future for this community. thank you. [applause] >> i would like to introduce cynthia parker, president and c.e.o. of bridge housing. [applause] >> thank you caroline. we were talking earlier about when we first met, i guess it was almost five years ago, to talk about our partnership and how we might approach the potential of becoming partners and rehabilitating some of the public housing under the r.a.d. program. i'm very pleased to say that it has been a great success, and i thank you for your partnership, and i thank the city also for their incredible dedication to making this happen. this kind of public housing facility, which was originally built in 1972 really, due to a

lack -- lots of factors had fallen behind, and really needed to have someone from the city and the housing authority champion it and say we are going to make a difference, we are going to put money into these projects, we are going to seek out federal funds, we will do what we need to do in order to make this place the kind of home that people believe in, and that will help them succeed in life, and unfortunately, i love that dog. [laughter] >> i wish i had mine here. the kind of home that people have is the type of place that they need to be able to age in place in. this building had fallen behind, and now i think it is significantly better. i think with our partners, and our partners at bank of america

who helped finance, we were all able to make incredible improvements to people's lives and improvements in this community room, and i think that with that, everyone can call this a place that they are proud of, and one they can call home. with that, i just said i would make a few comments on the kind of dedication it takes for this type of rehab of a public housing facility. the city of san francisco is just an incredible safety, and it is supportive housing. i wanted to make a comment about that because we do have a mayor in london breed who is a champion. as with ed to lead, but certainly she is taking that mantle further, and also knows from personal experience how important a home is for someone. with that, i wanted to thank the office of housing, bank of america, our partner, and mayor breed, you really have made a

difference in people his' lives, and i know you will continue to do so as mayor. i would like to introduce mayor london breed today. [applause] >> thank you and good morning. is that morning still? good morning everyone. i am so excited to be here today every time we do a dedication or rededication ceremony in one of our public housing developments where we are rehabbing them all over the city, 3900 units, i get really excited, but i also think about mayor lee because when i first started on the board of supervisors, and he and i sat down and talked about what my priorities would be as a member of the board of supervisors, i made it clear that my top three priorities was public housing. because i lived in public housing, as was stated to, for more than 20 years of my life. we never had a shower, we had a

lot of challenges with our bathroom and mould, we had a lot of issues with the plumbing in general, we had roaches, we had stuff that really, when you have to live like that for so long in your life, you never forget it. it becomes a part of who you are , so when you are in a position where you can change that for someone else who sadly is still living in a really terrible conditions, there is nothing you wouldn't do to fight for the people that you know deserve better, and i am so proud and honored to now be a mayor who is continuing that fight for so many of our residents throughout san francisco who need us to be champions, who need us to focus on changing the lives of people who we know need for us to invest and improve the conditions of many of our public housing developments in our city so that people don't feel as though they are not part of san

francisco, because as i said, growing up, i did not always feel like i belonged in san francisco, or didn't feel like i was part of the city, and i want residents of the city, no matter where you live, to feel like yes , you are part of san francisco, and today's investment is just one step in making sure that the seniors and the folks with disabilities who live in this community can live in place indignity, and know that we are here to support you with the many great services and things that we will continue to do. this community here will not be forgotten. i want to thank so many amazing people who made that possible. starting with bridge and their partner. they really worked with the community and the people who live here to really ensure the residence that we are not trying to displace you, we are trying to work with you to make this

community a better one, and i think, again back to my childhood, and when the property that i lived at just over the hill, 300 units of public housing. we were told they were going to be completely torn down and rebuilt, and only 200 units were being rebuilt, and that clearly meant that some people weren't coming back. it was important to us to make sure that we worked with a partner that would work with the residents to ensure people that the whole point of this is to make sure that you have a place to live and that this place is taken care of and i know this community had a lot of inputs in the rehabilitation process, including developing this amazing community room, which is absolutely incredible, and also double pane windows, which i actually don't have myself. so i am just so happy about the little things that will make a huge difference in the quality of life for the residents here and i want to thank bank of

america for your sponsorship and your investment and what we know has really made a difference. i saw all the work that was happening, and the scaffolding that was up, and even some of the folks who grew up in this neighborhood who worked on this project, it was really a team effort of so many amazing people , amazing city departments , and i'm really grateful to all of you he played a role in helping to not only get this project going, but get it going and moving it in a very fast pace, in comparison to how projects take place in san francisco, we know they can take years, and here we are, not too long ago, we are at a place where this, along with so many other places throughout san francisco, where we are making the investments, making the properties that are, so i want to thank the residents does the residents for their patients, and i'm excited about the future

at this location and so many other places in san francisco where we are committed to making these properties sustainable for years to come. thank you all so much. [applause] >> hey, everybody. i'm the district eight supervisor. welcome to district eight. i did nothing on this project. so it is an absolute delight to be able to land here. i'm sure i will in the future. i have some friends who work here, and live here, but i just want to say how this is such a wonderful occasion, and how grateful i am to be part of it. one of the first jobs i had as a lawyer, two decades ago, was doing a finance project, representing local governments and housing authorities around the bay area. i am painfully familiar with how

hard it is, how impossibly complex it is to put together the various funding sources to make 90 affordable -- to rehabilitate 90 affordable units , and to all the people at bridge and focus with the city and the mayor's office of housing and the housing authority, the investors, the other public partners around this, thank you so much for the hours of phone calls and document review and planning, and looking at spreadsheets, and all the work you did just to get us these 90 units. i do also want to say how pleased i am and grateful on behalf of my district that these 400 plus units are being rehabilitated around district eight, and that there are thousands more around the city. we have received, from the middle of the last century, a precious legacy, which is these units that were given to us for folks who were not going to be able to afford housing on the market, in the first task has been and is to make those units

rehabilitated and make sure they are available and that seniors and disabled folks are getting the best that our next london breed, that our next ed lee is growing up in a decent home, with a shower, and a bathtub that works, that we do not lose the cure for cancer or the solution to global warming that is happening that we might lose if that kid doesn't have a chance. so safeguarding that legacy and rehabilitating those units and bringing them into the 21st century is so important. but we all know that this city is so much less affordable than it was in the 1970s when this building was given to us. so the work of bringing on the tens of thousands of additional units of subsidized housing that we must develop over the next year is critically important, and i'm so happy that i have a mayor who believes in that, who is pressing forward and prioritizing affordable housing, and i know will be relentless

along with the rest of us and in looking for additional sources of funds for housing for middle-class and low income people, who must stay in san francisco if this is to be a healthy, dynamic, diverse city. i am grateful for what everyone has done here, and i'm eager for so much more in my district, and throughout the city. with that, i will introduce barbara smith, the acting executive director of the san francisco housing authority. [applause] >> good morning everyone. so i want to say that we at the housing authority are thrilled that 25 sanchez and other public high-rise buildings could get the improvements they needed to provide and preserve this wonderful housing for our residents. before this, i would get into bed and pray that none of our senior disabled residents in the high-rise buildings would be out without elevator service, or worse yet, be stuck in an

elevator. all too often, i would get a call during the night and scramble to get emergency service from our elevator repair company and send our duty officer take to help residents get to and from there departments and retrieve any essentials that they needed. i know how stressful this situation was for our residents, but with declining federal dollars, the housing authority was not able to do critical elevator and other modernization work at buildings like 25 sanchez. this enormous conversion effort to, over $2.2 billion in financing, for over $750 million of construction improvements required the brilliant dedication and support from an incredible team, beginning with mayor ed lee, and now our new mayor london breed, including the mayor's office of housing and community development, bridge, bank of america, h.u.d.,

i wish you were here. the federal home loan bank of san francisco, freddie mac multifamily, our commissioners, our s.f. ha staff who worked very hard with this transition as well, the board of supervisors, the architects, fine line construction and others. thank you to all of you who made this possible for 25 sanchez and our other public housing residents. the results are beautiful, and a special thanks to the 25 sanchez street residents who had faith in the process through temporary relocation, and living in a construction zone. at last, you have decent state housing with community-based management and connection to services. congratulations to all of you. thank you. [applause] and now i would like to introduce liz minnick from bank

of america. it certainly couldn't have happened without you. thank you. [applause] >> thank you so much. i don't know how to make this taller. thank you all for having us today. it is thrilling to be here at 25 sanchez to see the rehabilitation of these 90 units in this beautiful community room , and see the light pouring in from the garden. i will continue to think. thank you again, mayor breed, for your commitment to housing, supervisor mandelman, our amazing partners, you are just really a pleasure with whom to work, and of course, the san francisco's mayor his office of housing and community development. this is found in 115 years ago in 1904 and one of the first things we have the ability to do was, followed the earthquake, help get people back in their homes. housing is of key importance to us, and when the r.a.d.

opportunity came to us, we were thrilled to be able to support the $2.2 billion in our level of financing here. that is the largest project in the united states, absolutely the largest project by far from a bank of america standpoint. we are so pleased to be able to do so in the city in which we are founded. thank you for having us today. congratulations on this amazing amazing space, and all the best part of the program, let me please introduce a resident here who will sing. [applause] >> good morning everybody. good morning neighbors and distinguished guests. is a pleasure to be here this morning. i am a resident of 25 sanchez street and i am also serving on the tenant association during the time of the renovation. it is a pleasure for me to be

here today to thank all the partners, mayor breed calculates mayor ed lee, and also as a resident -- and the former president of the tenant association, i would like to say that the renovation was a very trying at times, but we worked very closely with bridge housing , also the northern california presbytery and housing services, it is also an integral partner in the development. we were very successful, and we collaborated very closely. i am very happy to say that as a resident, and on behalf of my neighbors, i would like to say that it is a pleasure to be living in this wonderful location, we are all grateful that the renovation took place because we now have even more beautiful dwellings and homes, and that is all