business association as d designee. >> commissioner: who is there. >> the bay view merchants association and there's albert chow and he is in park side ter terra belle. >> commissioner: thank you. commissioner dooley. >> last week i participated in a press conference and rally about the ongoing vacancy problems in our commercial districts. supervisor fewer was there to

talk about her legislation which she's introduced. supervisor peskin gave us a few details on something he will be putting forward. basically saying after someone does has not registered as a vacancy, that time has come up. the city he's proposing we begin fining those people on a daily basis if there are long-term vacancies. the conversation -- conference was attended by the long beach business association and called out the fact in our neighborhood two landlords have 21% of all the vacancies in our commercial district and we need to be calling these people out and these are the kind of people we need to crackdownon. -- crackdown on not the small

business owners who have had their space have a can't only for a short time. we have happy we got some press and encourage all the other neighborhoods to do the same. get out there and call out the names of the worse offenders and let's get going on making it possible to rent these storefronts. many in our neighborhood have been empty over 20 years. >> commissioner: okay. any other commissioner reports? do we have any members of the public who would like to make comments on commissioner reports. seeing none, public comment is closed. next item, please. >> clerk: item 10, new business, commissioner reports allows the president, vice president and commissioners to report on recent small business activities and make announcements of interest to the small business community. >> commissioner: i'd like to talk in the next about soft

story retrofit with buildings. again, i have people calling me because they're being moved out of their place and the work is done but d.b.i. is taking their time checking these off while they're in limited space. if d.b.i. could come up and address that and i'm hearing that from all over the city especially mission district and one castro district wound up opening another store so that's a plus and another was in the sunset. what they're doing to expedite some of this 37 >> commissioner: that's waiting for d.b.i. to approve. >> commissioner: so like the work's done and you're waiting for d.b.i. to come in and approve. >> there's a backlog?

>> commissioner: can i add? >> commissioner: yeah. >> commissioner: also in the same area i'd like to find out about the time schedules for the soft story because we're finding a lot of people who have been doing their software repairs for several years. >> commissioner: that's what i'm talking about. displacing people and they even have for rent signs and many have gone beyond the story of soft store retrofit and gut 100% their storefront. i'd like to look into why they're not completed. isn't there a time schedule. something is off. >> commissioner: commissioner zouzounis. >> i'm curious to hear from oawd

more about the million dollars for retail stabilization investments and services and incentives. if we are able to have a presentation and be part of that conversation as we have seen a lot of anti-retail legislation here and have waited on it. i feel like we would be important in that conversation. also i think the legislation we heard today around the permit streamlining was really an important precedent for the other sectors who need similar work. i would like us to work closely with the sponsors of that legislation and ben from oawd maybe pitching some of our old new business items in that style format. >> commissioner: that's a good idea.

any other new business? okay. do we have any public comment for item number 10, new business? seeing none on item 10, public comment is closed. next item, please. >> clerk: sf gov please show the office of small business slide. >> commissioner: okay. so it is our custom to begin and end each commission that it's the only place to start your new business in san francisco and the best place to get answers to your questions about doing business in san francisco. the office of small business should be your first stop when have you questions about what to do next. all you need to do is find us online or in person here at city hall and our services are free of charge. the small business commission is the official public forum to voice your opinions and concerns about policies that affect the

economic vitality of small businesses in san francisco. if you need assistance with small business matters start here at the office of small business. next item, please. >> clerk: item 11, adjournment action item. >> commissioner: i would like to move to adjourn this meeting in honor of peter mcgowan who passed away because he built that ballpark in the city, he kept the giants in the city and he took a neighborhood with a bunch of run down railroad yards and turned it into a new neighborhood. i'd like to do that. >> i second that motion. >> clerk: motion by commissioner adams to close the meeting in honor of peter mcgowan seconded by commissioner dwight. all in favor. >> aye. >> clerk: meeting is adjourned at 3:10 p.m.

shop and dine in the 49 promotes local businesses and challenges residents to do their shopping and dining within the 49 square miles of san francisco. by supporting local services within our neighborhoods, we help san francisco remain unique, successful, and vibrant. so where will you shop and dine in the 49? >> my name is ray behr. i am the owner of chief plus. it's a destination specialty foods store, and it's also a corner grocery store, as well. we call it cheese plus because there's a lot of additions in addition to cheese here. from fresh flowers, to wine, past a, chocolate, our dining area and espresso bar. you can have a casual meeting if

you want to. it's a real community gathering place. what makes little polk unique, i think, first of all, it's a great pedestrian street. there's people out and about all day, meeting this neighbor and coming out and supporting the businesses. the businesses here are almost all exclusively independent owned small businesses. it harkens back to supporting local. polk street doesn't look like anywhere u.s.a. it has its own businesses and personality. we have clothing stores to gallerys, to personal service stores, where you can get your hsus repaired, luggage repaired. there's a music studio across the street. it's raily a diverse and unique offering on this really great street. i think san franciscans should

shop local as much as they can because they can discover things that they may not be familiar with. again, the marketplace is changing, and, you know, you look at a screen, and you click a mouse, and you order something, and it shows up, but to have a tangible experience, to be able to come in to taste things, to see things, to smell things, all those things, it's very important that you do so. >> hi today we have a special edition of building san francisco, stay safe, what we are going to be talking about san francisco's earth quakes, what you can do before an earthquake in your home, to be ready and after an earthquake to make sure that you are comfortable staying at home, while the city recovers. ♪

>> the next episode of stay safe, we have alicia johnson from san francisco's department of emergency management. hi, alicia thanks to coming >> it is a pleasure to be here with you. >> i wonder if you could tell us what you think people can do to get ready for what we know is a coming earthquake in san francisco. >> well, one of the most things that people can do is to make sure that you have a plan to communicate with people who live both in and out of state. having an out of state contact, to call, text or post on your social network is really important and being able to know how you are going to communicate with your friends, and family who live near you, where you might meet them if your home is uninhab hitable. >> how long do you think that it will be before things are

restored to normal in san francisco. >> it depends on the severity of the earthquake, we say to provide for 72 hours tha, is three days, and it helps to know that you might be without services for up to a week or more, depending on how heavy the shaking is and how many after shocks we have. >> what kind of neighborhood and community involvement might you want to have before an earthquake to make sure that you are going to able to have the support that you need. >> it is important to have a good relationship with your neighbors and your community. go to those community events, shop at local businesses, have a reciprocal relationship with them so that you know how to take care of yourself and who you can rely on and who can take care of you. it is important to have a battery-operated radio in your home so that you can keep track of what is happening in the community around and how you can communicate with other people. >> one of the things that seems important is to have access to your important documents. >> yes, it is important to have

copies of those and also stored them remotely. so a title to a home, a passport, a driver's license, any type of medical records that you need need, back those up or put them on a remote drive or store them on the cloud, the same is true with any vital information on your computer. back that up and have that on a cloud in case your hard drive does not work any more. >> in your home you should be prepared as well. >> absolutely. >> let's take a look at the kinds of things that you might want to have in your home. >> we have no water, what are we going to do about water? >> it is important for have extra water in your house, you want to have bottled water or a five gallon container of water able to use on a regular basis, both for bathing and cooking as well as for drinking. >> we have this big container and also in people's homes they have a hot water heater. >> absolutely, if you clean

your hot water heater out regularly you can use that for showering, drinking and bathing as well >> what other things do people need to have aren't their home. >> it is important to have extra every day items buy a couple extra cans of can food that you can eat without any preparation. >> here is a giant can of green giant canned corn. and this, a manual can opener, your electric can opener will not be working not only to have one but to know where to find it in your kitchen. >> yes. >> so in addition to canned goods, we are going to have fresh food and you have to preserve that and i know that we have an ice chest. >> having an ice chest on hand is really important because your refrigerator will not be working right away. it is important to have somebody else that can store cold foods so something that you might be able to take with you if you have to leave your home. >> and here, this is my very own personal emergency supply box for my house.

>> i hope that you have an alternative one at home. >> oh, i forgot. >> and in this is really important, you should have flashlights that have batteries, fresh batteries or hand crank flashlight. >> i have them right here. >> good. excellent. that is great. additionally, you are going to want to have candles a whistle, possibly a compass as well. markers if you want to label things if you need to, to people that you are safe in your home or that you have left your home. >> i am okay and i will meet you at... >> exactly. exactly. water proof matches are a great thing to have as well. >> we have matches here. and my spare glasses. >> and your spare glasses. >> if you have medication, you should keep it with you or have access to it. if it needs to be refrigerated make sure that it is in your ice box. >> inside, just to point out for you, we have spare batteries. >> very important. >> we have a little first aid

kit. >> and lots of different kinds of batteries. and another spare flashlight. >> so, alicia what else can we do to prepare our homes for an earthquake so we don't have damage? >> one of the most important things that you can do is to secure your valuable and breakable items. make sure that your tv is strapped down to your entertainment cabinet or wall so it does not move. also important is to make sure that your book case is secure to the wall so that it does not fall over and your valuable and breakables do not break on the ground. becoming prepared is not that difficult. taking care of your home, making sure that you have a few extra every-day items on hand helps to make the difference. >> that contributes dramatically to the way that the city as a whole can recover. >> absolutely. >> if you are able to control your own environment and house and recovery and your neighbors are doing the same the city as a whole will be a more resilient city. >> we are all proud of living

in san francisco and being prepared helps us stay here. >> so, thank you so much for joining us today, alicia, i appreciate it. >> absolutely, it is my pleasure. >> and thank you for joining us on another edition of building >> my name tom hewitt. first of all, i would like to welcome everyone to come to this fair. this safety fair, we trying to educate the public regarding how to prepare themselves during and after the earthquake and then to protect themselves for next 72 hours. >> hi. my name's ed sweeney. i'm the director of services at

department of building inspection, and we put together a great fair for the city of san francisco to come down and meet all the experts. we've got engineers, architects. we have builders, we have government agencies. >> well, we have four specific workshops. we have the accessible business entrance. >> my name is leah, and i am the assistant manager with the department of small business. i am leading the new accessibility ordinance that helps existing owners better comply with existing access laws. so all buildings that have places of public accommodation in san francisco, they must comply with this ordinance. >> the a.d.e. was setup by the

board of supervisors, and the ordinance was passed about a year ago. >> one of the biggest updates that we have is that the deadlines were extended, so all of the deadlines were extended by six months. >> and it's really to help the public, the business community to be specific, to cut down on the amount of drive by lawsuits. >> so on this workshop, we're going to be covering what the compliance looks like, what business examiand property owne need to know how to comply with the ordinance. we'll also talk about the departments that are involved, including the office of small business, department of building inspection, planning department, as well as the mayor's office on disability. >> hi. i'm marselle, and i manage a team at the building department. today, we'll cover the meaning of a.d.u.s, more commonly known

as accessory dwelling units. we'll talk about the code and permitting processes, and we'll also talk about legalizing existing dwelling units that are currently unwarranted. >> this is the department of building inspection's residential remodelling workshop. my name is senior electrical inspector cheryl rose, and at this workshop, we're going to be answering questions such as do i need an electrical permit when i'm upgrading my dwelling, when do i need to have planning involved in a residential remodel, and what's involved with the coerce process? we're going to also be reviewing inspection process, and the permitting process for residential remodel in san francisco. there's always questions that need answers. it's a mystery to the general public what goes on in

construction, and the more we can clarify the process, the more involved the consumer can be and feel comfortable with the contractors they're working with and the product they're getting in the results. if you have questions that aren't addressed in this workshop, you're always welcome to come up to the third floor of 1660 mission street, and we're happy to discuss it with you and find out what you need to do. >> the program is very successful. the last piece is already 60% in compliance. >> well, we have a very important day coming up. it's sept 15. last four has to be compliance, which means that the level four people that have to register with us and give us a basic indication of how they're going to deal with their seismic issues on their building. >> i'm francis zamora, and i'm

with the san francisco department of emergency management, and today we talked about how to prepare for emergencies in san francisco. and so that's really importantiimportant. in san francisco, it's no secret. we live in earthquake country. there's a big chance we will be involved in a major earthquake in the next 30 years, but we don't have to be afraid. these are going to be your first responders outside of the police officers, paramedics, first responders, these are going to be the people that come to your aid first. by getting to know your neighbors, you're going to know who needs help and who can help in case of an emergency. one of the great ways to do that is for signing7for nert, san francisco neighborhood emergency response team. it teaches you how to take care of yourself, your loved ones, and your neighborhood in the case of an emergency.

information is just as important as water and food in an emergency. san francisco has an emergency text message alert system, called text sf. if there's some kind of an emergency happening in san francisco or your neighborhood, it could be a police action, a big fire, a tsunami or an earthquake. all you have to do is text your citizenship code to 888777, and your mobile phone is automatically registered for alert sf. >> my name is fernando juarez, and i'm a fire captain with the san francisco fire department. we have a hire extinguisher training system. you want to pull the pin, stand at least 8 feet away, aim it at

the base. if you're too close, the conical laser that comes out, it's too small, and the fire won't go out on the screen. if you step back, the conical shape on the screen is bigger, and it will take the fire go out faster. so it can tell when you're too close. >> my name is alicia wu, and i'm the director of a san francisco based nonprofit. since 2015, we go out to the public, to the community and provide training in different topics. today we're doing c.p.r., controlling external feeding and how to do perfect communications in each topic, and also, i hope that they can bring it home and start gathering all the supplies

for themselves to. >> on any given day in san francisco, we're very well resourced in terms of public safety professionals, but we all know in the event of a large scale disaster, it will be hours and days before the public safety professionals can get to you, so we encourage people to have that plan in place, be proactive. there's websites. we have a wonderful website called 72hours.org. it tells you how to prepare yourself, your family, your pets, your home, your workplace. we can't emphasize enough how important it is to be >> the office of controllers whistle blower program is how city employees and recipient sound the alarm an fraud address

wait in city government charitable complaints results in investigation that improves the efficiency of city government that. >> you can below the what if anything, by assess though the club program website arrest call 4147 or 311 and stating you wishing to file and complaint point controller's office the charitable program also accepts complaints by e-mail or 0 folk you can file a complaint or provide contact information seen by whistle blower investigates some examples of issues to be recorded to the whistle blower program face of misuse of city government money equipment supplies or materials exposure activities by city clez

deficiencies the quality and delivery of city government services waste and inefficient government practices when you submit a complaint to the charitable online complaint form you'll receive a unique tracking number that inturgz to detector or determine in investigators need additional information by law the city employee that provide information to the whistle blower program are protected and an employer may not retaliate against an employee that is a whistle blower any employee that retaliates against another that employee is subjected up to including submittal employees that retaliate will personal be liable please visit the sf ethics.org and information on reporting retaliation that when fraud is loudly to

continue it jeopardizes the level of service that city government can provide in you hear or see any dishelicopter behavior boy an employee please report it to say whistle blower program more information and the whistle blower protections please seek www.

>> hello, everyone here i am a london breed. i am the mayor of the city and county of san francisco, and i am so very excited to be here with each and every one of you here. many of you probably know i grew up not too far from here on eddie and laguna in public housing that was managed by the san francisco housing authority. we knew this property here was joe's has been managed by the san francisco housing authority, and some of you who have lived here for years have been frustrated with the elevators,

with the pipes in the bathrooms, and some of the challenges that exist and we know that too often too many of our residents who live in public housing have not been given the support and the resources, and the things that they need to be able to live in dignity. today we celebrate the renovation of 138 units, of housing for seniors and people with disabilities. and i am proud of the work that we have done to help to lead the way to renovate over 3500 units of public housing throughout the city and county of san francisco as i said before kata, i grew up in public housing, and i lived in plaza east for over 20 years of my life. the frustration that came with making the phone call to get something fixed, and waiting weeks, and sometimes months -- sometimes months for things to

be fixed, my grandmother raised me, in just the challenges we experience with having to get basic service was so frustrating and when i first became a member of the board of supervisors, one of the things i asked mayor lee to do is to work with me with focusing our attention and resources on the rehabilitation of the thousands of units that exist citywide. so many amazing people helped lead the way in moving forward and what i think is an amazing amount of time to get these units rehabbed so you have a safe and affordable clean and nice great place to live, to grow, and to thrive. i am grateful that as mayor, what's happening now is we are seeing the fruits of our labor over the past couple of years,

and in mayor lee's owner, i want to celebrate this, because not too many mayors would have taken the kind of risk that he did to do exactly what we are doing here today. i just felt strongly that we couldn't wait another 10-15 years, we couldn't continue to weight and say, we will figure it out, we will get the money, through our program, we have been able to get creative about solutions to invest the dollars in you, to invest the dollars and making sure that the places that you live in are great places to live in, just like anywhere else in san francisco. i am excited about this, the jfk tower, in the 2698 california are both great examples of our rad program which has had a tremendous success. i'm looking forward to doing even more of these developments, and i want to thank mercy

housing, the john stewart company, bank of america for the financing, the mayor's office of housing, and the housing authority, the u.s. department of housing and urban development , also known as h.u.d., because in trying to do exactly what we have been trying to accomplish here, it does take a village. it also takes the will, it also takes a great community partners , and i hope you enjoy your new double paned windows, which i actually don't even have i hope you enjoy your great community space and how beautiful and clean and bright and more open it is, i am looking around, i can't even believe what i am seeing right now. this is absolutely amazing, and it belongs to the residents of this community. congratulations on this great success project, i am so looking forward to doing so many more throughout san francisco and i would like to take this opportunity to introduce your

representative, the person who continues to advocate for resources for district taught about where you reside, who is a great member of the board of supervisors, a great advocate for communities, and will always be there for you, ladies and gentlemen, your supervisor, catherine stefani. [applause] >> thank you mayor breed. we are so lucky to have her leading our city. good morning, everybody. her remarks were absolutely amazing, and it is the r.a.d. program, it is reshaping public housing in san francisco for the better. the program has provided so many people across the city with rehabilitated quality and affordable housing. i cannot state how thrilled i am to be standing here today for the grand opening of this renovated tower. this tower has been iconic in district two for so long. it is beautiful, it is colourful

, and i'm so happy we are standing here today in this renovation. also for 2698 california, which will provide together 138 units of affordable housing for seniors and individuals with disabilities. i would like to say thank you to so many people for making this possible. first, mayor breed, you have made affordable housing a key part of your agenda as we face in affordability crisis. your leadership on this issue is inspiring and absolutely essential for those in need of housing, and your experience, your how you talk about it, it connects all of us to you, and i think it reinforces the need for affordable housing and how important it is for our city. and doug shoemaker and everyone at mercy housing for ensuring that jfk towers and 2698 california are not only beautiful, but safe and affordable places that residents can live for decades. paul taggart architects and rivera consulting group for your work in making this project happen, in making these

buildings seismically safer. and also barbara smith who is the acting executive director at the s.f. housing authority. thank you for all that you do and taking all our calls when you get them. and also liz, who i just met this morning at bank of america, and bank of america for the financing. we cannot do this without you. finally and most importantly, the people who call out these amazing two buildings and district want what their home. it really is an honor to serve you as your district two supervisor, and i want you to know i am here for you. call me anytime. we can work together on issues. i would love to come and visit periodically. please know we are here for you always. the work we are celebrating today has created a more welcoming community, and better housing. j.f.k. towers has a new community room. i think we are in it right now, a patio for residents to enjoy, and the units have modern amenities and new appliances,

which are so essential. every person living here deserves to be able to easily access their home, and use of community spaces of the building this renovation has improved the elevators which is so necessary, as mayor breed is said, and enhance accessibility features to eliminate barriers to access. finally, san francisco must be prepared in case of an earthquake, and the fact that we have seismically safe buildings is so important. we agree that san francisco is one of the most beautiful places in the world his. i think pacific heights and district two is one of the most beautiful places in san francisco, so i'm really happy to be here today to celebrate with you, and no i am here for you going forward to. thank you mayor breed for all that you do. at this time, i would like to introduce and think again doug shoemaker, the president of mercy housing. [applause] >> good morning everybody. we are so blessed to have elected officials like the two that just spoke here. we work in a lot of different

communities around california and a lot of communities around the country, and more often and not to, your trying to convince elected officials of the importance of affordable housing in san francisco we have the opposite. we have officials that lead the charge. if you think about places in this country where you would see public housing preserved and strengthened in the most expensive real estate in the country, and in neighborhoods like pacific heights, i can tell you this is an all too rare occurrence across the country, and a testament to the tremendous agreement amount just among san franciscans. we really appreciate your leadership on this topic and on future ones. for folks who don't know, there is more work to be done with the housing authority. we are working with barbara and the mayor and the supervisors around the remaining public housing that really needs to get to the level of quality, and we are looking forward to more support around that topic as we move forward and make better reality for your colleagues and friends and others living around the community.

i will introduce the next speaker who i have known for very many years. she has -- the last time i talk to her i think she told me that the number of housing authority directors that she previously worked for was greater than my age. i am 24, so that is a lot. in all seriousness, around the country, but in particular around san francisco, the housing authority has done a really difficult work with very few resources compared to what the need is. nobody needs to be in a situation like that and you're trying desperately to get all of that done, and you know the federal government is not sending you enough money to get it done, but you have to do everything you can to make it work. art barbara smith has been one of those people who stood up to that challenge, she has done the work, at times desperately under resource. finally on these r.a.d. projects at on the hope s.f. projects, resource the right amount.

she has done this work without complaint, with a characteristic smile, and has been a real champion of the work. i want to thank them for all their great work. >> your way too kind. we could not do it without partners without mercy and leaders like mayor lundin breed, and our new supervisor stefani. so we are really thrilled with j.f.k. towers and 2698 california, and the other public housing high-rise buildings that are getting the improvements that they've needed for so long to preserve this wonderful resource for our residents. we are especially excited to see this crescent shaped midcentury modern j.f.k. towers rehabilitated with its primary colors, restored to its original appearance in the front, but with all kinds of improvements,

the new community room, the new office space, and improvements to the residence's units. we are really excited about this pic i don't know if you know, but john bowles was the architect. he also designed other areas. we are preserving and keeping this building for long-term affordable housing for our seniors and disabled residents. before the rental assistance demonstration program, i would get into bed at night, and i would pray that none of our senior and disabled residents in our high-rise buildings would be without elevator service, and also, the worst yet, be stuck in an elevator. all too often i would get a call during the night and have to send an emergency repair service to address the problem and i were a duty officer to help the residents who were stuck in the lobbies or needed things from there apartments.

i know how stressful the situation was for our residents, but with declining federal dollars, the authority just wasn't able to keep up with repairs and the work that buildings needed. this enormous conversion effort, over $2.2 billion in financing, and over $750 million in capital improvements really required require the brilliance, dedication and support of an incredible team beginning with mayor ed lee, our new mayor, london breed, and including the mayor touch office of housing and community development. i know we have olivia ely here, kate hartley who was also instrumental in all of their support. mercy housing, bank of america, h.u.d., we don't have h.u.d. here right now, but hopefully we will have them here soon. the federal home won't bank of san francisco, freddie mac multifamily, our commissioners

who were put many hours into approving all the documents that it took to put this together, authority staff who worked very hard throughout the conversion, the board of supervisors, nappy brothers contractors who really did carry out the work beautifully, and others. thank you to all who made this possible. for j.f.k. towers and 2698 california and other public housing residents. i want to give us special thanks to our j.f.k. residents. raise your hand if you are a j.f.k. resident. we have a lot of you hear while supplies. >> and 2698 california. he lived through this process where you had to temporarily relocate, and you had to live in a construction zone, and thank you for your faith in the process, we hope you really enjoy the new housing and all

the improvements that you have. thank you very much to everyone. [applause] >> all rights. we are in the special part of the program where we list lots of names, but i do want to spend a second to acknowledge the partnership that was here. japanese-american religious foundation and the john stewart foundation, and mercy decided early on that when we are looking for the opportunity to work on these buildings that we would do better partnering to compete to do this work. this is part of the ethos of san francisco. we lucked out there, and we said we can do this better together. i want to acknowledge jack and margaret to her on the back and responsible for the california property and others. i don't see will hear from the foundation yet, there he is. great. the partnership is fantastic and i think it is part of making sure that we are effective stewards of the trust the public is putting in us as residents.

it was mentioned already, but mike and bob are here and they have led this work. i want to -- maybe the rest of the folks who worked on this could raise their hands. bob, you can raise your hand. i know you are trying to hide back there. [applause] >> the work of being a general contractor in an occupied building is a special thing and we knew we had a really good choice. if they have done great work for many people around the city on this work, and a lot of it has nothing to do with understanding construction, but to relate to people as people. i know paulette and our architects, i want to recognize them both for our great work on that big i don't know what happened in the hallway, but thank you for whoever did that. take a second to acknowledge joe should the way the work happens at mercy is very much team

driven. no one is individually responsible. with that said, this was an unusual project, and i want to say thank you to tim and mike and others. i think mike kaplan himself probably took more calls on this project than he'll ever take on a project again in his life. mike and i are hanging out somewhere, with thank you for your perseverance on that. if you work with mercy, please raise your hand to receive thanks on that. [applause] our great property management staff, i want to acknowledge our board chair, gillian burgess, he does not live very far from here so she can come visit. one small anecdote i want to add about the primary colors of the doors, someone door somewhere along the process, we were offered money to paint them different colors. i'm happy to say we didn't. i think they are part of what makes this a very iconic property in san francisco. it really stands out. the world needs less boring buildings. i'm happy that we have a bright building that everyone can spy when you say, which one is j.f.k. towers, and you can say it is a rainbow coloured one

with all the doors, and everyone will know what building it is. we do not need another beige building. with that, i want to acknowledge that one part of what made r.a.d. really only in san francisco, we often talk about how special we are in san francisco, and generally it is true. sometimes we are exaggerating. on this project, i think if you look around the country and what was able to be done around public housing preservation, there really are very few examples that if you look at the trouble they are having in new york city and all around the country was doing what san francisco got ahead of, you can see what a special opportunity this was, and how much work it took to get there. part of doing that was to recognize that we had to have an unusual financial partnership. to -- san francisco developers were very special people. we want to be treated differently on every project. it was the mayor touch office of housing that said we would not be different from each other, we would all do it the same way,

which frankly hurts. we did not like to hear that message. with that said, we didn't have a choice, and may be that is a lesson for leadership, but they turned to a single financial partner in order to make sure they made this work. there are few organizations in the work, -- in a world, corporate america took a step up to the challenge for a financing perspective and a philanthropy perspective. we were lucky early on to have the partnership of bank of america on this project. is quite exceptional. i want to bring up now liz minnick who is the bay area of marketing executive for bank of america to talk about it, but i want to say, come on up, i want to say the tremendous work of the bank over the years, and appreciation for the team in terms of working on this and partnering with us on this. [applause] >> thank you. thank you so much and good morning everyone. as a fellow district to neighbor , it is so very special

to be here today, and i want to thank our two elected officials, mayor breed and supervisor stefani for everything you have done in your ongoing support. bank of america is thrilled to have been able to be the financial partner of the san francisco r.a.d. redevelopment and financing $2.2 billion for this project. not only the largest in our history, but the largest in the united states. it really is something special. we think we are special in san francisco, and especially from a bank of america standpoint. we were founded 115 years ago as the bank of italy. as we think about our legacy here in the city, certainly after our founding with the 1996 earthquake, and the importance of getting people back in their homes, that is what we are able to do. thank you to all of the people involved. thank you for the relationship we have with mercy housing. thank you to the san francisco department of housing, to get our elected officials, and to

everyone a blank -- bank of america who made this possible. thank you so much. [applause] >> all right. probably the most interesting part of all these presentations is withstanding all of our excellent talk. it is really to have a chance to hear from the resident about what the experience has been like. we do this work for residents, that is the reason for mercy housing to work. and i think many of the people in the room, that is a reason why we are here. i want to share a few words about their experience at j.f.k. towers. thank you john for taking the time, and being willing to share your story. [applause] >> i believe that mercy housing makes life worth living.

to illustrate, let me tell you in the -- an interesting story. a personal experience. one day when mercy first came here and people were gathering around, and not quite used to anything yet, that one day, a staff member from mercy housing came in from outside and he saw me and said, john, i saw your picture on a meals on wheels vehicle. i said, you didn't see the other 19 of them in the truck. , he then called me mr john, a gentleman is standing in the doorway right here. that started something i would

never have expected. i would come down in the morning , and angel in the office or mary, our manager, would say, good morning mr john. that grew. then it was staff, it was tenants, but mostly, it was housing and construction. they would get in the elevator with me, and they would say, mr john, and one man said, i want to show you something, and he took out a photo of his infant daughter, sharing it with me. i thought this is very rare. this is extremely nice. that went on for some time. everywhere i would go, it would be mr john. i would go out for a walk, and the men would be outside doing something at the fountain, have

a nice walk, mr john. i would come back and say, did you have a nice walk, mr john? then they began showing the part -- more pictures of family, particularly the children, and i thought, well, this is very nice at my 93rd year, and so then came a very interesting time. near navy construction had left the building -- except for a handful. they were all done here. they came and said goodbye. they knocked on the door of my unit to tell me goodbye, mr john and then came the day where there were about a dozen left on the rooftop just above my unit, working on waterproofing. they had a problem.

while i'm standing in the doorway, waiting for meals on wheels delivery, the supervisor came and said, my crew will be leaving about 11:00 o'clock. would you stand in the doorway and say goodbye? and by the way, after you've done that, stay in the doorway until they've gone down the walkway and have left that area, that balcony. about 11:00 o'clock, with the door open, i heard them coming down from upstairs. i stood out in the doorway, they came by, and all very cheerful, and very pleasant, and then they walked down to go to the elevator. they didn't go in the elevator, they stayed out of the balcony, about 12 people turned and looked at me, and in a cacophony

of languages, english, spanish, i think arabic, someone said, and i thought, this was interesting, and when they have finished, the supervisor spoke in a very big voice and said, they said, goodbye mr john. so living in housing is an uplifting experience, and at my 93 years of age, i could not have asked for more. not just the building, it is what you do. and i thought, i am a very lucky man. thank you all for coming. will be glad to see you again next time. [applause]

>> i'm sure i just did a very bad job of reading my notes, and in here i was supposed to say thank you mr john. i will do it now. thank you mr john. i want to acknowledge two more things. i want to echo what has been said previously about the residence and living through a rehab, we thank you very much for living with a rehab. we look forward to working with you over time. i hope we can continue this great relationship going forward , and i welcome your feedback about it. i hope we continue to do all the special things that it sounds like the nibbi folks did with you, mr john. i want to acknowledge mr davis who is responsible for the artwork and the music, he is a resident here, and has been a resident for 18 years. [applause]

>> with that, we will call our program to a close. i want to thank everyone, especially the mayor and the supervisor for getting out here on a rainy day. we will do a ribbon-cutting, which will occur outside where he says, and then there will be tours for the j.f.k. towers the start of the elevators. there are also tours a 2698 california that will be occurring, 15 minutes from now. not occurring. not occurring. notorious. yes, they are. okay, yes, they are. if you want to tour 2698 california, jack and margaret are hiding out the back. they were hiding, the camera is trained on them. thank you very much everyone. [♪]

>> my name is kamal lane, and i've lived in san francisco for 30 -- let's say 31 years. i lived there a year february 29, 2017, my grandma's birthday. the thing that's cured my home is the mayor's office. when my number was called, i was excited because my number was number three. to rent a home in san francisco means that i'm able to be with my family to support me, me to

support them. then, the opportunity for my daughter to get a good paying job. my favorite thing of my new home in hunters view is the view of the bay bridge, oakland, and a piece of the golden gate. it's peaceful and quiet, and they have a lot of activities for families. they have art class, where you can paint, they have trips, where they take the children. we went to a black art museum, we went to a jazz festival, we went ice skating. there's a lot -- they have a lot of activities up here, and that's one thing that i really love about it, i love my bedroom. it's peaceful, it's quiet, where i can think, play, and just have my quiet time. i love my bedroom. this is my home because this is where i