m [gave [gavel]. >> supervisor ronen: the meeting will come to order. welcome to the january 28, 2019 meeting of the rules committee. seated to my right is supervisor shamann walton, and seated to my left is supervisor gordon mar. i'd like to thank the staff at sfgovtv for staffing this meeting, and our clerk, mr. victor young. mr. clerk, do you have any announcements? >> clerk: yes. [agenda item read]. >> supervisor ronen: thank you.

can you please call item number one. >> clerk: item number one is a hearing to consider appointing three members, term ending january 1, 2020, and two members, term ending january 1, 2021 to the shelter monitoring committee. we have five seats, six applicants. >> supervisor ronen: thank you. and unless my colleagues have any initial questions or comments, then i would ask if we can hear from our first applicant today, gabriela avalos. and i understand that miss avalos was unable to be here, and has asked gordhoward chin the shelter monitoring committee to read a statement. >> miss gabriela avalos asked me to tell you that she regrets she cannot be here, but she asked that i read this to you.

hello. thank you for allowing me to express my interest in becoming part of the shelter monitoring committee through the tone and voice of another person. my name is gabriela avalos, and i would be proud to be part of the shelter monitoring committee and share work with the board of supervisors. my work is with clients who are housed by often clients share their experience about san francisco shelters while i am processing intake or simply recomme reminiscing about days when they were homeless. shelters provide lots of resources but not because case workers or case managers may

not always be available to support. shelters keep stability, even if it's 30 days, but sometimes not because waiting lists can be longer or the beds are on a first come, first serve basis. as a single mother of a ten-year-old daughter, it is very important to me that everyone in san francisco be housed, but if this is not the case, then a common environment should be provided. during the day, most of the individuals who are homeless get by. children are at schooled, adults are seeking employment and housing. then the night comes, and what happens? this is the part that i want to be a part of. the community needs to be assured that children and adults are rested for the next day. if i was selected to a chair on the shelter monitoring committee, i would love to collaborate and work in partnership with the public to make san francisco shelters as they can be. a shelter is defined as a place

which provides safety, protection and accommodation. i would be grateful to be part of the san francisco sheltering monitoring committee who understands and monitors these believes. thank you for your consideration. regards, gabriela avalos. >> supervisor ronen: thank you. next, i'd like to invite up the second applicant, denise feathers. okay. i do not have her. mr. chin, do you have any information from miss feathers? >> no. we just don't see miss feathers here today. we did not receive any information from her prior to the meeting. >> supervisor ronen: okay. thank you so much. so i'd like to call up the third applicant, dean deanna almanza. >> clerk: i'd just like to remind the applicants to limit your statements to three minutes. >> good morning. my name is deanna almanza, and

i am the director for mission creek health services here in san francisco. prior to that, i was the c.e.o. for the domestic violence and rape crisis center for 20 years, and before that, i became a franciscan worker where i served the homeless. in my current position, i still serve the homeless, and i would consider it a privilege to be a part of the solution. >> supervisor ronen: thank you so much. any questions? thank you. and then, next, i would like to invite up the fourth applicant, vixen yvonne. good morning, miss yvonne. >> hi. i'm vixen yvonne. ten years ago, if somebody said to me, hey, in a few years, you're going to be homeless, i would have laughed and told them to go to bellevue. the homeless experience for me

was -- on both sides. i see both sides. i have a political science degree, and so i saw the bureaucracy side of it. they're underfunded. it's a nightmare to work there, and it's a nightmare to live there. and i mean, both sides need a voice. i think i can bring that. i think i can bring an impartial voice to the committee. i -- i see a lot of changes that need to have. i mean, the system's broken. i don't know if it was ever whole, so -- and there's just a positive way to do that. i mean, screaming at each other about all the bad things that happen really doesn't do anything, and there's some wonderful things that happen. there are wonderful people that work in the shelter system. there's wonderful people that

live in the shelter system. i was one of them. but we don't talk about those people. we only talk about the bad things, and i think there's just some way to make it better, and i hope that i can be a part of making that better. >> supervisor ronen: thank you so much. any questions? no? thank you so much. next, is ron summers here? don't see him, so i will lastly invite up the sixth applicant, traci watson. >> good morning, board of supervisors. my name is traci watson, and i'm here for reappointment for seat six on the shelter monitoring committee. i have been working for the homeless community for the past ten years. i also started also working in in the shelter -- three popular shelters here in san francisco, and i'm currently working with

the city of san francisco with the department of public housing with the home ward bound program placing homeless individuals on the street and relocating them back to their friends and their family. what i learned a lot on the committee was the standards of care, which is very important and i really would like to be reappointed to continue working to help with the solution. so thank you. >> supervisor ronen: thank you so much. any questions, ma'am? thank you so much. with that, i wanted to open this up to public comment. is there any member of the public who would like to speak on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. [gavel]. >> supervisor ronen: colleagues, and mr. young, tell me if i'm doing this correctly. seats two, four, five, and six -- there's only one applicant for each seat, should

i make a motion first, and then consider an applicant for seat three? >> clerk: you can take these one at a time. you wou you -- would you like to make a motion regarding seat six? recommendation of traci watson for seat six? >> supervisor ronen: without objection we recommend tracey watkins -- watson for seat six of the shelter monitoring. committee. [gavel]. >> supervisor ronen: thank you, miss watson. thank you so much for your service. and then, for seat five, can i entertain a motion to appoint ron summers -- or is there any concern because mr. summers isn't -- >> clerk: there's two applicants for seat five. it's vixen yvonne and ron summers. and i believe ron summers also applied for seat two. >> supervisor ronen: oh, i see.

sorry. given that, maybe -- if we couldn't -- i would like to entertain a motion, then, to appoint vixen summers to seat five. sorry. this is my first time as rules chair. please, please bear with me here. i'm so sorry. vixen yvonne. excuse me, miss yvonne. i'm so sorry about that. without objection, then, we will recommend the appointment of vixen yvonne to seat number five. [gavel]. >> supervisor ronen: thanks so much, miss yvonne, for your service. okay. got it. moving onto seat number two, then, i wanted to ask my colleagues, given that mr. summers wasn't here and didn't inform us, do you still feel comfortable moving him forward to seat number two? [inaudible] >> supervisor ronen: sure, that

would be great. mr. chin? >> i think at this time we should -- because mr. summers did not previously inform us that he would not be able to attend this meeting today and also had previously notified myself that he would be here, i think we should hold off until we get some more information on finding out what happened to mr. summers here will be formally appointed him to the committee. >> supervisor ronen: okay. can we continue this to the next meeting? >> clerk: there's no need to take action. if we don't appoint someone to seat two, it remains open, and we can take it up at a future time. >> supervisor ronen: okay. and then last but not least, i wants to see if -- i wanted to see if my colleagues had any questions about seat number

two. i note that we have the same situation with miss feathers. maybe we can ask mr. chin if she was in contact with you prior to today's meeting? >> unfortunately we didn't receive any communication from miss feathers prior to this meeting as to whether she would or would not be able to attend? >> supervisor ronen: okay. thank you. i would note that we did receive one letter of support from the deputy director of l.s.s. for california representing gabriela avalos. do either of my colleagues have any comments or want to make a motion regarding seat number three? [inaudible]

>> supervisor ronen: without objection, this committee will recommend gabriela avalos appointment to seat three with a positive recommendation to the full board. [gavel]. >> supervisor ronen: and then lastly, can i recommend deanna almanza to seat four? >> clerk: just to recommend, we have gabriela avalos to seat three, deanna almanza to seat four, and vixen yvonne to seat six. >> supervisor ronen: yes.

thank you very much. can you call item number two? [agenda item read]. >> supervisor ronen: thank you. any comments from my colleagues? seeing none, i'll open this item up for public comment. seeing none, public comment is closed. [gavel]. >> supervisor ronen: you want to make a motion? without objection, this committee recommends the appointment of supervisor kathrin stefani to the bay conservation development commissi commission. [gavel]. >> supervisor ronen: can you please read item three. >> clerk: item three is a motion appointing shamann walton, term ending january 31, 2021 to the golden gate bridge highway and transportation district board of directors. >> supervisor ronen: i'm assuming that we need to excuse supervisor walton? >> clerk: yes. we need a motion.

>> supervisor ronen: i'd like to make a motion to excuse supervisor walton from this item. >> clerk: do we have a second? >> supervisor mar: second. [gavel]. >> clerk: the motion to excuse passes. >> supervisor ronen: would you like to make a motion? >> clerk: public comment first. >> supervisor ronen: oh, i'd like to open this item up for public comment. seeing none, public comment is closed. [inaudible] >> supervisor ronen: without objection, that motion passes. [gavel]. >> supervisor ronen: can you please read item number four. >> clerk: item number four is a motion appointing matt haney, term ending june 30, 2020, to the association of bay area government executive board. >> supervisor ronen: like to open this item up for public comment. seeing none, public comment is closed. [gavel]

[inaudible] >> supervisor ronen: without objection, this item passes. [gavel]. >> supervisor ronen: can you please call item number five. >> clerk: yes. i just had a reminder from our friends down at sfgtv to please pull your microphones close. they're having a little trouble hearing you. item number five is a motion appointing supervisor matt haney to an indefinite term to the transbay joint powers authority. >> supervisor walton: motion to move supervisor haney's name forward. >> supervisor ronen: i'd like to open this up for public comment. seeing none, public comment is closed. [gavel]. >> supervisor walton: i'd like to make a motion to move supervisor haney's name forward. >> supervisor ronen: seeing no

objection, this motion passes. [gavel] [agenda item read]. >> supervisor mar: make a motion to appoint supervisor haney to the location agency formation commission. >> supervisor ronen: seeing no objection, item passes. [gavel]. >> supervisor ronen: please call the next item. [agenda item read]. >> supervisor ronen: i'd like to make a motion to excuse supervisor mar. without objection, that motion passes. [gavel]. >> supervisor ronen: i'd like to open this up for public comment. seeing none, public comment is closed. [gavel]. >> supervisor walton: i'd like to make a motion to appoint

supervisor mar. >> supervisor ronen: without objection, that motion passes. [gavel]. >> clerk: with that, supervisors, there are no supervisors, there are no further items on the agenda

- working for the city and county of san francisco will immerse you in a vibrant and dynamic city that's on the forefront of economic growth, the arts, and social change. our city has always been on the edge of progress and innovation. after all, we're at the meeting of land and sea. - our city is famous for its iconic scenery, historic designs, and world- class style. it's the birthplace of blue jeans, and where "the rock" holds court over the largest natural harbor on the west coast. - the city's information technology professionals work on revolutionary projects, like providing free wifi to residents and visitors, developing new programs to keep sfo humming, and ensuring patient safety at san francisco general. our it professionals make government accessible through award-winning mobile apps, and support vital infrastructure projects

like the hetch hetchy regional water system. - our employees enjoy competitive salaries, as well as generous benefits programs. but most importantly, working for the city and county of san francisco gives employees an opportunity to contribute their ideas, energy, and commitment to shape the city's future. - thank you for considering a career with the city and county of san francisco. >> good evening, everyone. i want to welcome you to our 22nd annual lunar new year's press conference. my name is kyra worthy. i'm the executive direct of san francisco safe, and today is all about kicking off our lunar new year, and the safety initiatives we're preparing for the year of the pig. while the lun an new year is a

time to celebrate with family and friends, and wish of a prosperous new year, unfortunately, it's a time when the chinese community is frequented by scams and extortion-related crimes. i'm here to let you know that san francisco safe, and our partners are doing everything we can to make this a crime-free new year's. this begins with our speakers today in law enforcement to let you know what's going to be happening. today we are honored to have san francisco mayor london breed here with us to launch the secelebratory season and safety season. >> the hon. london breed: good afternoon, everyone. i'm so excited to be here today, really, the gateway to chinatown in the city and county of san francisco. as we begin the process of celebrating new year and the

year of the boar here in the city, with so many faauuestiva and events, there are so many things that bring people here to san francisco, but more importantly, it also supports a lot of our chinese community and their history and the traditions that existed for so many years. i'm looking forward to the excitement of what lunar new year will bring in san francisco, but this time of year, it is important that we protect our communities, as well. during this time, we know that there is unfortunately a lot of crime that takes place that targets especially many of our chinese residents, and in particular, our senior community. we know of a recent incident that occurred, a tragic incident, and we are -- our thoughts and prayers are with the victim of -- a woman who was also attacked. but we know there are a number

of scams, a number of issues that take place that we need to do a better job of working with the community, that we are providing resources so that people know who to call, and that our folks standing behind me, so many incredible members of our law enforcement community, they are going to be out there walking the beat, and in many cases, they speak cantonese and mandarin and are here to work with you. that's the goal of sf safe, to highlight the awareness of keeping our community safe, and have a safe and happy and prosperous new year in the city and county of san francisco. so i am looking forward to the excitement, a lot of folks that are shopping here, but we will be paying very close attention. and we want the people of this community to feel comfortable

calling 911. no matter what the case is, if there is a crime, feel comfortable in reporting it, in calling it. in fact, a couple months ago, i was with supervisor aaron peskin at portsmouth square where we opened a drop-in centers for people to meet with police officers to report challenges or issues or crimes in their community. it's open two days a week. so we know there's a lot of work to do. and we don't want to just arrive when there is an issue, we want to make sure that we're being proactive so that crime never happens in the first place. that's what today is about. and last, but not least, i think it's important to talk about how we as a city need to do a good job of looking out for one another. we need to have conversations with the merchants and with our neighbors so that we are truly our brother's and sister's keeper. so that we are paying attention when something is going wrong or something is going right.

just a conversation can make a difference in having someone who may have been a victim of a crime in reporting it. it may be the difference between having a crime from happening in the first place. as we go through the celebration of this year and year-round, san francisco will be paying very close attention to do everything we can to protect the residents of our city, but especially keeping an eye on our seniors. and that means not just our police officers, that means the residents, too. we have to make sure that they are in the forefront of our thoughts, of our prayers, as we move forward in the city together with these incredible celebrations and the changes that continue to occur. san francisco is a great community because of its people, and we're going to have a great and prosperous and safe lunar new year. this is all so much for coming here today. [applause] >> now, we have deputy chief

mr. redmon. [applause] >> thank you, kyra. good afternoon to everybody and thank you for being here this afternoon. we appreciate your time and interest in what we all have to say today about the lunar new year. as we know, the chinese lunar new year is a time to celebrate with the community, family, and friends, and to wish for a prosperous year, this year, of course, being the year of the pig for the san francisco police department, as well. [applause] >> yeah. only i can say that. while we wish we could solely focus on the festivities surrounding this time of year, we have to focus on

safety-related crimes. while the department has reduced the numbers of relates crimes, there is still a reason for us to be vigilant. just last month, we arrested two chinese nationals linked in scams targeting chinese seniors. both subjects are still in custody. i want to recognize sergeant jason hui and captain sergio chin who are here from the special victims unit. they are still investigating this case and are looking for more victims if they're out there, but i think they deserve a round of applause for putting together this case and continuing the investigation. [applause] >> a couple of safety tips for the residents. be cautious if you're approached by a stranger who asks you to follow them somewhere, wants to come home with you, ask you to withdraw

money from an a.t.m., or engages in similar suspicious behavior. when in doubt, please contact the police. a lot of people ask the police department a lot of questions about what number they should call. this is definitely a 911 call to the police department because it is an active crime in progress and this person is trying to harm someone else, so please call 911. all of you, please help spread the word during this lunar new year about the existence of these potential scams, especially to our el dder community members who are often the targets of these scams. in closing, i'd like to urge members of the chinese community who have been confronted by suspects in these possible scams to contact us. we are here to work with you and to create a safer san

francisco. happy lunar new year, and there's one person i would like to recognize. there is a change in command we have in the central district. captain paul yep has been a major player at central station, and our new commanding officer, captain robert yeh, as well, and paul has helped with that transition immensely, so we're looking forward to the lunar new year. thank you, everybody. [applause] >> now, i want to introduce supervisor aaron peskin. [applause] >> supervisor peskin: thank you, miss worthy. miss worthy is worthy, and sf safe is a great organization. i just want to say that that joke was so funny, i regret having you to arrest you a few years back. but in all seriousness --

[speaking foreign language] [applause] >> supervisor peskin: mayor breed, to the president of the san francisco board of supervisors, norman yee, to the representatives of the other supervisors and elected officials gathered here today, to the command staff of the san francisco police department, to the representatives of the chinese consolidated benevolent association, to the representative of the chinatown community development center, mr. norman fong, and most importantly to the rank-and-file members of the san francisco police department who you see gathered around here today who do the incredible, culturally competent, linguistically competent work here in district three in san francisco's

beloved iconic chinatown, i want to thank you for your service. you are the definition of community policing. the first one of these events i went to was 18 years ago, and i am pleased to say that the number of incidents not only here in district three in chinatown, but in the archipelago of other districts, in the richmond, the sunset, and in the southeast corner of san francisco, have gone down. we remain resolved, we do this year in and year out, and i have to say it's come with profound results, and i want to thank the san francisco police department and the working men and women of the police department for making that happen. [speaking foreign language] >> supervisor peskin: and happy new year of the boar. [applause]

>> thank you, supervisor peskin. now we're going to have assembly member david chiu. [applause] >> good afternoon, san francisco. happy lunar new year. it is happy to be back in this spot. i often like to brag to my colleagues in the california state legislature that we have the best chinatown not just in california but in the entire country, and here at the gateway -- [applause] >> give it up for chinatown. [applause] >> here in chinatown, we meet here once a year, and i think i have been here almost all of the ten times that we come here to celebrate community. it's important to celebrate, it's important to gather, and it's important to be watchful. but men and women around us are responsible for keeping us safe, and we know that happens with community partnerships with nonprofit organizations, with our family associations, with our merchants, but

particularly with the leadership of our men and women in blue. i want to salute our san francisco police department for their successes in making sure that we are bringing clark county artists to justice. i was with family members and community members in visitacion valley this weekend as we are praying for the health and for justice when it comes to the case of our chinese grandmother in visitacion valley who was brutally attacked last week. we have work to do, but we can only do this work together, and so we want the public to remember that in partnership as one family of san franciscans, we can keep our community safe and ensure that all of us will have the happiest lunar new year that we ought to have. have a wonderful day, and thank you. [applause]

>> thank you. now we want to introduce our commanding officer of central station. thank you very much, kyra. hello, everyone. i am a proud fourth generation san franciscan and a native, and i'm proud to be the commanding officer of central station of which includes chinatown. today, i am joined by my colleagues at central station, including my housing and foot beat personnel, and i'd like to introduce them. first is sergeant albert chiu. [applause] >> officer dustin sang. [applause] >> officer dexter sang.

[applause] >> officer marisa chung. [applause] >> officer philip leung. [applause] >> officer alex anton. [applause] >> officer jennie mau. [applause] >> and officer reginald pena. [applause] >> and all of them, as i mentioned, work housing and are foot beat officers, and they primarily focus in the chinatown area. it is very important to us that you know us and that we add faces to our names so you can recognize us whenever you need us. you heard earlier that during the lunar new year festivities

that we want you to have fun but also be alert. you should watch out for each other and report suspicious activity, criminal behavior, and especially if it involves seniors. which brings me to telling you on how to report crimes related to the lunar new year. first, a reminder to say no calmly if someone tries to intimidate you into giving money or valuables. never go with anyone to the a.t.m. and/or disclose any of your information with them. please report all extortion attempts to the police immediately by dialing 911, and now that mandarin and cantonnese language assistance is available. dial 911 if the extortionists are in or just left your home or business, or dial the non-emergency number: 415-553-0123 to report an

extortion that occurred at any time, either past or current. a blessing scam hotline is available, as well. 415-553-4212. you can also make an anonymous tip at 415-475-4444. in closing, on behalf of central station, i would like to say -- [speaking foreign language] >> have a happy lunar new year. thank you. >> president yee: i want to say this is one of the most important media events for the chinatown community and beyond because every year, people get scammed, and we need to, every year, remind people that you have to be careful with the people that are coming towards you and asking for your jewelry, asking for your money in the name of blessing your

family. now it's been powerful that the community has come together with the police department. when i was growing up in chinatown, that wasn't the case where the community worked with the police department, and people took advantage of that. and now what i'm seeing is we're working together, we're watching people, we're preventing things from happening, but it takes the community to join not only the leaders that are here today, but also the police department. we need every single one in our community to talk to at least two people, whether it's your relative or a friend, a neighbor that's a senior, talk to them, remind them, remind them over and over again because people are still going out there, they're -- after their wealth. so i want to thank all the media out here, and especially the police department for

hosting this, making this a reality that we can have a safe lunar new year. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you. now we have jason collins from the district attorney's office. [applause] [speaking foreign language] >> good afternoon. i'm senior inspector jason colin from the san francisco district attorney's office, and i want to let everybody know that just like the new year when it's january 1, chinese new year is also a time to give thanks, and my district attorney, george gaston, would like to pass on the thanks.

the first is we want to thank you, san francisco police department, for assigning sergeant jason hui to be my partner in the series of blessing scams. sergeant hui, who's somewhere behind me, has worked tirelessly on this case. he worked the entire night of this case, and he hasn't taken a day off during the three-week holiday. he is a great partner in this case. the other thing is i want to thank community for stepping forward with videos, and for taking the time to talk to us. over the years, the blessing scam, as we found out, is an international crime syndicate coming out of one city in main land china. we've had many -- help from many agencies across the globe. i don't have time to list the

names, but i do have a chinese interpretation of agencies that helped us in this particular series of ten cases in the last couple of months. finally, i want to share something. i get very emotional when i think about this, a lot of folks, whether english or chinese speakers, they come to me because i have interviewed at least 60 victims of these blessing scam cases since 2012. and they ask me, well, why are these seniors so stupid in giving away all their stuff? i say, you know what? they're not stupid. they're actually smarter than us, because they care about the life, the welfare of their loved ones more than they care about the material wealth that they have. give you an example. right up the street here, spoke with a victim. she lost $4,000, her life savings. she worked cash jobs in chinatown, and she saved up for about six years for this money.

and as i was talking to her, she said well -- i said well, what was this money for? she goes, look at me. she's in her 50's. she only had two teeth left. all the other teeth had fallen out. she said look at me. i have a hard time eating. i have a hard time looking at you right now. i could spend the money to fix my teeth, but i don't want my son to have my life. this money was for my son to go to college in a few years and hopefully get out of this chinatown that's keeping me here. another incident, i spoke to a victim recently. she hasn't left the house in about two months since a blessing scam happened to her. the worst part about it is this is an affinity scam. she trusted the scammers. she trusted the scammers with

her family members. now she trusts no one. lastly, another victim i had, she described to me for about ten minutes how she lost all her jewelry and a large amount of cash, but this one piece of jewelry meant the most to her. it's a bracelet, it's the last piece that she got from her mom. and the story is there was a house fire back at home. mom ran upstairs, grabbed her jewelry, threw them out the window where a neighbor caught the jewelry as the fire was approaching, and the fire came close. her mom jumped out of the house. she fell -- she died in the fall, and at the time, she was wearing this bracelet. after the fire, the family never recovered the heirloom -- all the jewelry that mom threw

out the window. the only things they recovered was this bracelet. so these are the people and these are the faces that i speak with. these are the victims. i want everybody to understand, please be supportive. they're not stupid, they're people just like us. they think about their families more than they think about themselves and their belongings. and with that, thank you very much, and in english, happy new year, and may good health be with all of you. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. now we're going to have miss kong from carmen chu's office. [applause] [speaking foreign language]

[applause] >> good afternoon, everyone. my name is michelle kong, and i'm very honored to attend today on behalf of san francisco's elected treasurer,

carmen chu. our funding goes to support vital city services for san francisco communities, including public safety. as the only chinese american assess or in the state of california, assess or chu is pleased to see the strides that the community has made to be incluesive of our diverse chinese community in san francisco. as the new year approaches, please remember to take care of your valuables and to report any suspicious behavior, and on the behalf of assessor chu, we thank you for your service and wish everyone a happy new year. [applause] >> thank you. now, to close us out, we're going to have mr. fong, reverend fong. [applause] >> she said breathe. you're going to help me with

this prayer, and -- 'cause i believe in the law -- all people should pray once in a while. this is the prayer that i did for the family of mrs. wong that was beat up in viz valley. you don't have to shout it, but say it with feelings. we need each other, we need the cops more than ever before. why don't you guys drive by phelan every day on your way to work or something? okay. any way. we're thinking of the two seniors that have recently been beat up. a lot of people are upset. let's soak it all in. repeat after me. peace. [speaking foreign language]

>> safety. [speaking foreign language] >> love. [speaking foreign language] >> we need peace, safety, and love to feel a little better. we need this city to get its act together, and we're depending on the city, mayor breed, and all others to jump in really fast. [applause] >> thank you. so i just want to jump in and stay it's been a pleasure to be here with everyone, all the leaders of our central communities. everyone has a idea of what's going on and wants it to start, but together, with our collaborati collaborative efforts, we can make it a safer san francisco. a special thanks to nanny,

she'll be giving out 10,000 piggy banks, and fortune cookies with a different tore tune inside. if you could, join us on the merchant walk, say hi to the different merchants, and help give out our materials. thank you so much. [applause] adjourned. >> shop & dine in the 49 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 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

>> the teams really, really went above and beyond and is continuing to do that today. this past year, the san francisco public utilities commission water quality division started receiving many more requests to test for lead in the public school system here in san francisco as a result of legislation that had passed from the state requiring all of the public schools to do lead testing. and so as a result, the public utilities commission and the water quality team in particular was asked to meet with the san francisco unified school district to begin to prioritize which schools to test to meet that state mandate. >> the team that tests, we're a full service environmental laboratory, and we take care of both the needs of the water quality division and the waste water enter price. and on the water quality enterprise, we have to also have drinking water that meets all federal and state quality

regulations. and lead in schools, we're playing a problem in remediating this problem of lead in schools. >> our role here in communications is being able to take the data that we have that we know is protective of public health and safety and transmit it, give it to the public in a way they understand we are really doing our jobs well and making sure that they are safe always. >> the public learned very quickly all the accurate facts and all the critical information that they needed to know, and it's up to these individuals and their agencies and their commitment to the city. >> i enjoy the work because i can help people, and i can help the utilities to provide a better water quality, make sure that people feel that drinking hetch hetchy water is actually a pride. >> hats off to the water quality team because between them working on late nights, working on the weekends when

the schools are closed, and working as a partner in the school district for the times they found a higher lead sample, they worked through to address that, so the team went above and beyond and is continuing to do that today. >> in 201,755.7 million passengers traveled through san francisco international airport. we have on average 150,000 people traveling through the airport every day. flying can be stressful so we have introduced therapy dogs to make flying more enjoyable.

the wag brigade is a partnership between the airport and the san francisco therapy animal assistant program to bring therapy animals into the airport, into the terminals to make passenger travel more enjoyable. i amgen fer casarian and i work here at san francisco international airport. the idea for therapy dogs got started the day after 9/11. an employee brought his therapy dog to work after 9/11 and he was able to see how his dog was able to relieve passenger's jitter. when we first launched the program back in 2013, our main goal was to destress our passengers however what we quickly found is that our animals were helping us find a way to connect with our pang. passengers. we find there are a lot of people traveling through the

airport who are missing their pets and who are on their road a lot and can't have pets and we have come in contact with a lot of people recently who have lost pet. >> i love the wag brigade. >> one of my favorite parts is walking into the terminals and seeing everybody look up from their device, today everybody is interacting on their cell phone or laptop and we can walk into the terminal with a dog or a pig and people start to interact with each other again and it's on a different level. more of an emotional level. >> i just got off an 11.5 hour flight and nice to have this distraction in the middle of it. >> we look for wag brigade

handlers who are comfortable in stressful situations. >> i like coming to airport it's a lot of fun and the people you talk to are generally people who are missing their dogs. >> they are required to compete a certification process. and they are also required to complete a k9 good citizen test and we look for animals who have experienced working with other orgorganizations such as hospits and pediatric units and we want to be sure that the animals we are bringing into the airport are good with children and also good with some of our senior travelers. i think toby really likes meeting kids. that is his favorite thing. he likes to have them pet him and come up to him and he really loves the kids. >> our wag brigade animals can

be spotted wearing custom vets and they have custom patches. >> there is never a day that repeats itself and there is never and encounter that repeats itself. we get to do maximum good in a small stretch of time and i have met amazing people who have been thrilled to have the interaction. >> the dogs are here seven days a week, we have 20 dogs and they each come for a two hour shift. >> there is a lot of stress when people have traveling so to from these animals around to ease the stress and help people relax a little bit. i think it's great. >> one of our dogs has special need and that is tristine.

he wears a wheel around. >> he has special shoes and a harness and we get it together in the parking lot and then we get on the air train. he loves it. little kids love him because he is a little lower to the ground so easy to reach and he has this big furry head they get to pet and he loves that. >> he doesn't seem to mind at all. probably one of the happiest dogs in the world. >> many people are nervous when they travel but seeing the dogs is just a wonderful relief. >> what i absolutely love most about it is the look on people's faces, so whenever they are stressed and flying is stressful these days you get these wonderful smile. >> i am the mom of lilo the pig and she is san francisco's first therapy pig.

>> lilo joined the wag brigade as our firs first pig. >> wag brigade invited us to join the program here and we have done it about a year-and-a-half ago. our visits last 1.5 to 2 hours and it does take a little bit longer to get out of the terminal because we still get a lot of attention and a lot of people that want to interact with lilo. >> i feel honored to be part of the wag brigade. it's very special to meet so many people and make so many feel happy and people that work here. it's been a great experience for me and a great experience for to