small business week. >> i have a report. >> commissioner: commissioner dwight. >> i attend the january 15th meeting of the san francisco council of district merchants i attend my role of the dog patch 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. >> manufacturing in cities creates this perfect platform for people to earn livelihoods and for people to create more economic prosperity. i'm kate sosa. i'm cofounder and ceo of sf made. sf made is a public private partnership in the city of san francisco to help manufacturers start, grow, and stay right here in san francisco. sf made really provides

wraparound resources for manufacturers that sets us apart from other small business support organizations who provide more generalized support. everything we do has really been developed over time by listening and thinking about what manufacturer needs grow. for example, it would be traditional things like helping them find capital, provide assistance loans, help to provide small business owners with education. we have had some great experience doing what you might call pop ups or temporary selling events, and maybe the most recent example was one that we did as part of sf made week in partnership with the city seas partnership with small business, creating a 100 company selling day right here at city hall, in partnership

with mayor lee and the board of supervisors, and it was just a wonderful opportunity for many of our smaller manufacturers who may be one or two-person shop, and who don't have the wherewithal to have their own dedicated retail store to show their products and it comes back to how do we help companies set more money into arthur businesses and develop more customers and their relationships, so that they can continue to grow and continue to stay here in san francisco. i'm amy kascel, and i'm the owner of amy kaschel san francisco. we started our line with wedding gowns, and about a year ago, we launched a ready to wear collection. san francisco's a great place to do business in terms of clientele. we have wonderful

brides from all walks of life and doing really interesting things: architects, doctors, lawyers, teachers, artists, other like minded entrepreneurs, so really fantastic women to work with. i think it's important for them to know where their clothes are made and how they're made. >> my name is jefferson mccarly, and i'm the general manager of the mission bicycle company. we sell bikes made here for people that ride here. essentially, we sell city bikes made for riding in urban environments. our core business really is to build bikes specifically for each individual. we care a lot about craftsmanship, we care a lot about quality, we care about good design, and people like that. when people come in, we spend a lot of time going to the design wall, and we can talk about

handle bars, we can see the riding position, and we take notes all over the wall. it's a pretty fun shopping experience. paragraph. >> for me as a designer, i love the control. i can see what's going on, talk to my cutter, my pattern maker, looking at the designs. going through the suing room, i'm looking at it, everyone on the team is kind of getting involved, is this what that drape look? is this what she's expecting, maybe if we've made a customization to a dress, which we can do because we're making everything here locally. over the last few years, we've been more technical. it's a great place to be, but you know, you have to concentrate and focus on where things are

going and what the right decisions are as a small business owner. >> sometimes it's appropriate to bring in an expert to offer suggestions and guidance in coaching and counseling, and other times, we just need to talk to each other. we need to talk to other manufacturers that are facing similar problems, other people that are in the trenches, just like us, so that i can share with them a solution that we came up with to manage our inventory, and they can share with me an idea that they had about how to overcome another problem. >> moving forward, where we see ourselves down the road, maybe five and ten years, is really looking at a business from a little bit more of a ready to wear perspective and making things that are really thoughtful and mindful, mindful of the end user, how they're going to use it, whether it's the end piece or a he hwedding

gown, are they going to use it again, and incorporating that into the end collection, and so that's the direction i hear at this point. >> the reason we are so enamored with the work we do is we really do see it as a platform for changing and making the city something that it has always been and making sure that we're sharing the opportunities that we've been blessed with economically and socially as possible, broadening that

>> the hon. london breed: all right, folks. how you doing today? i'm london breed. i'm the mayor for san francisco. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: and i am really excited to be here because we got something actually accomplished in the city and county of san francisco by working together. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: i want to take this opportunity to recognize members of the san francisco board of supervisors who are joining us today, including the president of the board of supervisors, norman yee, supervisors vallie brown, ahsha safai, and gordon mar, and matt haney. thank you all so much for being here today. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: now i know that it took us a little while to get here, and one of the things that i am so excited about is the fact that we are here. we are here because the building and construction

trades, some members of the board of supervisors, some of our department heads, like phil ginsburg and mohamed nuru, they all came to the table, and many of our l.b.e.s, wanting to make sure that we came up with an agreement that was fair, that supported good wages, that provides opportunities for people in san francisco, some of whom have never worked a job a day in their life, providing real opportunities for them to be part of the building and construction trades, making sure that our l.b.e.s, who -- especially those who are struggling to do business in the city and county of san francisco have a real shot at growth. and this agreement i think is a fair and balanced agreement that is going to help lead our city into the future. we know that prying to negotiate a project labor agreement started many, many years ago under the leadership

of larry mazzola, sr. [applause] >> and it's -- it's only fitting that we actually deliver it with your offspring, larry mazzola, jr. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: it started with the leadership under the labor council with tim paulson carrying on that tradition with rudy gonzalez who is now head of the labor council here in san francisco. so many amazing people. it really did take a village to get to this place, and i'm honored to be with you here today to sign this important legislation that is really about building strong communities, create opportunities that providing opportunities for growth and making sure that no one is left behind. so this is the beginning. we know that there is still work to do. i also want to recognize josh

arce, who's our workforce director. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: and thank you all so much, again, for just all of your hard work, for coming to the table, and doing what's necessary to arrive at what i think is a fair and balanced agreement. and miguel, thank you for being here today. miguel with the l.b.e.s, the person who led the negotiations and made sure that he expressed some of the challenges with a number of the women and minority contractors so that this was a fair and balanced agreement. so i want to thank each and every one of you for being here today. we know that it was a tough road, john and vince and others, and tony. there was some yelling, there was some cursing, that was some really crazy conversations, but you know what?

that's how you negotiate. that's how you get things done. you've got to be willing to have the hard conversation. but what i appreciate about everyone who participated in this agreement is that everyone was willing to stay and sit at the table and work through the differences that we have to come up with a compromise where no one is actually happy about everything, which means we did something right. so today, i'm really proud and excited to sign this agreement. i also want to recognize my deputy chief of staff who helped lead the negotiations, andrea bruss. thank you so much. i don't know how many complaints i got about andrea, but in the end, she was great for leading these negotiations on behalf of my office, and we really couldn't have done this without some dedicated members of the board of supervisors. which included a team -- a tag team of supervisor ahsha safai

and supervisor aaron peskin. they really led the negotiations, and supervisor sandy fewer came in with, you know, just some extra oomph to the conversation which really created, again, a fair and balanced agreement, one that we all can agree is best for the future of the city and county of san francisco. with that, i'd like to introduce supervisor safai to say a few words. [applause] >> supervisor safai: thank you, madam mayor. i can tell you probably this time last year i would not have been able to predict that we would be standing here, ready to sign this agreement. and that's just the truth. i think if you ask anyone that was involved in it, there were a lot of fits and starts. but one of the things that changed was the election in june of this mayor, and this

mayor -- yes. [applause] >> supervisor safai: we -- when london breed was the president of the board of supervisors, we had engaged on this topic. we had reached out, started talking with larry and john and everyone involved, and miguel and juliana, and said this is going to happen. this is going to happen because it's the right thing to do. and many people said, why do we need a p.l.a.? what's the reason for a p.l.a.? we have a good contractor. why do we need this. but when you think about this, it's not about what can happen today, it's about what can happen in the worst times. it's when we have a recession, when people aren't thinking about what can happen in the future and when things turnaround, because at the end of the day, it's about protecting workers, it's about

the advancements we've made in city build and local hiring. it's about protecting the advancements we've made in our l.b.e. community. it's about expanding the opportunities for everyone and ensuring that we lead not only for california but for the rest of the nation. this is a historic framework. i know that larry and the city administrator and all their team and l.b.e. community are going to come together, and they're going to negotiate in the next year a wonderful agreement that's going to advance us. but i have to say when mayor breed was elected it was a game changer. within since months of her being in office so many things have happened for organized labor that had been talked about for decades that had never happened. we negotiated a citywide m.c.o. agreement. that was a commitment on the magnitude of millions of dollars. we have negotiated the framework now for a citywide

p.l.a. larry, sr. told me on the way in that he's been talking about this for 20 year. this mayor, and her leadership on the board of supervisors, we got this done in the first six months of her being in office. [applause] >> supervisor safai: so yes, there were a lot of people that were under the radar. i want to give a big shout out to massoud from the p.u.c. the p.u.c. also helped in these negotiations. the city administrator, we had negotiations, i was sitting in my robe in front of the fireplace at 1:00 in the morning on the phone with these folks. i'm sure on the other end of the line, they're thinking how are we up at 1:00 in the morning, trying to get this done? but in the end, it was a unanimous vote by the board of supervisors, a unanimous vote, larry, and we did it, and we did it for every single one of these workers that are sitting

here, the one that will follow them, and we set the framework for the city and county of san francisco. so thank you, madam mayor. thank you. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: and with that, i'd like to introduce miguel galarza to come up and say a few words. this guy right here is a real tough negotiator, but really, a great businessman in the city and county of san francisco, one who represented minority contractors and women contractors in the city, and he did a phenomenal job. miguel? [applause] >> thank you. i just want to say thank you to all the council members. despite our disagreements at the beginning, we came together and put together a policy that's going to make a difference for many of our city workers that are not in the building trades council or open shop businesses, that sooner or later will be part of the

brotherhood that is the union workforce, so thank you all for making it happen. i also want to thank the mayor for her leadership. there's no doubt that she may say i'm a tough negotiator, but she held the line, and she made sure that we stayed there for hours and hours and hours, and she calmed everybody down when tensions were high, and at the end of the day, we -- they wouldn't be high until we all had passion, and there's passion on the building trades for the right reason. they've made a difference in people's lives for a long time. and there's passion for those of us that own businesses. i'm a kid from the mission district. i started out as a carpenter back in the 70's, and now today, i have 70 employees. so all of you that are in the building trades now, shoot for the stars because ultimately, you will be the next generation

of union employers and employees that will continue to make san francisco what it is today, the shining star of the nation. and with that, thank you for making -- again, for making it happen, mayor, supervisors, and enjoy your day. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: and there were tough negotiators all around, including the representatives of the building and the construction trades. i have never seen john get so red in the face on numerous occasions as someone who has a lot of passion along with tony and danny and vince and tim. they were all at the table just really with an understanding of the challenges that the workers, that they represent face, but also so many san franciscans in our l.b.e. community face, as well. and i really appreciate the fact that you all were so actively engaged in helping us

get to this point. thank you to your commitment and passion to the workers of san francisco, and thank you to the person who led the effort, who basically was phenomenal in his work. clearly, larry, sr. has taught you well in terms of being a fierce, tough negotiator in representing workers in the city and county of san francisco. ladies and gentlemen, larry mazzola, jr. [applause] >> thank you, miss mayor. so i'm not sure how many of you know this, but this started 2.5 years ago with a process, and it started with a phone call. phil ginsburg and mohamed nuru called me 2.5 years ago and said we want a citywide project labor agreement. can you get this done? i said i don't know, guys. it'll be a tough task, but i'll

try, and here we are. like ahsha says, p.l.a.s are -- are great for workers. they're going to be great for the workers of this city, union and nonunion alike. a lot of people don't understand what p.l.a.s do and what they are. and i wrote down a few things. they provide for workers in the communities. they provide uniform wages, benefits, hours and working conditions. they bar unions from striking, so it's like a peace agreement. they provide contractors reliable and uninterrupted supply of qualified workers at predictable cost. they ensure that projects are completed on time and on budget. they create career paths for women, minorities, and veterans. and the biggest thing is that they protect the workers, like i said, union and nonunion workers alike in san francisco will benefit from a project

labor agreement of this size and this statute. like i said before, this happened over a number of years, but it happened -- the way it got over the finish line happened because of one person, and that person is mayor london breed. and she took the bull by the horns, and she said right when we got in office, she said larry, we're going to get this thing over the finish line. i know you've been working with a lot of different people on this, and it's an important issue to you, it's an important issue to you, and it's an important issue to the city. she grabbed us at city hall one day. we were supposed to have a two-hour meeting, and it turned into a ten-hour meeting. she cancelled appointments and other things that she had to be at. she said we're going to finish this night, and she did that. she brokered a deal, and there's no one that i want to thank more than mayor london breed for getting this done. [applause] >> i also want to thank aaron peskin, who's not here, and

ahsha safai -- did i get that right? ahsha had a lot to do with us and sat down with us hour after hour, days, weeks. we had conference calls at night, 1:00, 2:00 at night. i really don't want to think about what you were wearing during those conference calls, so please don't bring that up again. but i do want to thank you very much for all the effort that i put in, and thank you for letting me have a drink in your office afterwards. you know, san francisco, the progressive city that it is is first on everything -- on a lot of things, on most things. we're a model for the country. i've been saying this since day one. san francisco should have done a citywide project labor agreement a long time ago. there's other communities in the state that have them. contra costa, lob, los angeles,

santa clara, just to kna -- lo angeles, santa clara, just to name a few. this is a few that builds on those values to protect the workers and to protect the citizens of san francisco. so i'm glad that we finally got to this point. there's a lot of work still to do. as the mayor mentioned, we have nine months or a little bit longer to negotiate and hammer out the rest of this. and i know the mayor's going to press on her staff to get that done by the deadline that we have, and we're going to get this thing done. and then, it's hopefully going to become law later this year, and it's going to be help for a lot of people, disadvantaged people. we have a great relationship with city build, and we're going to bring a lot of those people that may not have had a chance to get into the trades into the trades. it's important to all of us, and important, as well, to the city, obviously.

apprenticeships have always been the backbones of the unions, and we've always had an open-door policy for our apprenticeship programs. we want to continue to do that and see our young people have another option besides going to college if that's not their choice. i think this is going to be a great agreement that's going to benefit a lot of people. i just can't stress enough how much i can thank mayor breed for the leadership she's shown, for her negotiation skills, and for everything she's done for labor and building trades as a whole, especially. she's a born and raised san franciscan like i am. she cares about building trades, she cares about city workers. and i really appreciate everything you've done in your short time in office, mayor breed. thank you very much. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: this is how all negotiations are going to go in the city, fingers crossed. all right. let's get this legislation

signed. miguel, come on up. larry -- all right. we ready? and then, what's the date today? >> 1-18-19. >> the hon. london breed: all right. there you go. [applause] . >> 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 ♪ >> welcome to hamilton recreation and aquatics center. it is the only facility that has an integrated swimming pool and recreation center combined. we have to pools, the city's water slide, for little kids and those of you that are more daring and want to try the rockslide, we have a drop slide.

>> exercises for everybody. hi have a great time. the ladies and guys that come, it is for the community and we really make it fun. people think it is only for those that play basketball or swim. >> i have been coming to the pool for a long time now. it is nice, they are sweet. >> in the aquatics center, they are very committed to combining for people in san francisco. and also ensuring that they have public safety. >> there are a lot of different personalities that come through here and it makes it very exciting all the time. they, their family or teach their kids have a swim.

>> of the gem is fantastic, there is an incredible program going on there, both of my girls have learned to swim there. it is a fantastic place, check it out. it is an incredible indication of what bonn dollars can do with our hearts and facilities. it is as good as anything you will find out why mca. parents come from all over. >> there are not too many pools that are still around, and this is one-stop shopping for kids. you can bring your kid here and have a cool summer.

>> if you want to see some of the youth and young men throughout san francisco play some great pickup games, come wednesday night for midnight basketball. on saturdays, we have a senior lyons dance that has a great time getting exercise and a movement. we have all the music going, the generally have a good time. whether it is awkward camp or junior guard. >> from more information, visit >> it's great to see everyone kind of get together and prove, that you know, building our culture is something that can

be reckoned with. >> i am desi, chair of economic development for soma filipinos. so that -- [ inaudible ] know that soma filipino exists, and it's also our economic platform, so we can start to build filipino businesses so we can start to build the cultural district. >> i studied the bok chase choy her achbl heritage, and i discovered this

awesome bok choy. working at i-market is amazing. you've got all these amazing people coming out here to share one culture. >> when i heard that there was a market with, like, a lot of filipino food, it was like oh, wow, that's the closest thing i've got to home, so, like, i'm going to try everything. >> fried rice, and wings, and three different cliefz sliders. i haven't tried the adobe yet, but just smelling it yet brings back home and a ton of memories. >> the binca is made out of different ingredients, including cheese. but here, we put a twist on it.

why not have nutella, rocky road, we have blue berry. we're not just limiting it to just the classic with salted egg and cheese. >> we try to cook food that you don't normally find from filipino food vendors, like the lichon, for example. it's something that it took years to come up with, to perfect, to get the skin just right, the flavor, and it's one of our most popular dishes, and people love it. this, it's kind of me trying to chase a dream that i had for a long time. when i got tired of the corporate world, i decided that i wanted to give it a try and see if people would actually

like our food. i think it's a wonderful opportunity for the filipino culture to shine. everybody keeps saying filipino food is the next big thing. i think it's already big, and to have all of us here together, it's just -- it just blows my mind sometimes that there's so many of us bringing -- bringing filipino food to the city finally. >> i'm alex, the owner of the lumpia company. the food that i create is basically the filipino-american experience. i wasn't a chef to start with, but i literally love lumpia, but my food is my favorite foods i like to eat, put into my favorite filipino foods, put together. it's not based off of recipes i learned from my mom. maybe i learned the rolling

technique from my mom, but the different things that i put in are just the different things that i like, and i like to think that i have good taste. well, the very first lumpia that i came out with that really build the lumpia -- it wasn't the poerk and shrimp shanghai, but my favorite thing after partying is that bakon cheese burger lumpia. there was a time in our generation where we didn't have our own place, our own feed to eat. before, i used to promote filipino gatherings to share the love.

now, i'm taking the most exciting filipino appetizer and sharing it with other filipinos. >> it can happen in the san francisco mint, it can happen in a park, it can happen in a street park, it can happen in a tech campus. it's basically where we bring the hardware, the culture, the operating system. >> so right now, i'm eating something that brings me back to every filipino party from my childhood. it's really cool to be part of the community and reconnect with the neighborhood. >> one of our largest challenges in creating this cultural district when we compare ourselves to chinatown, japantown or little saigon, there's little communities

there that act as place makers. when you enter into little philippines, you're like where are the businesses, and that's one of the challenges we're trying to solve. >> undercover love wouldn't be possible without the help of the mayor and all of our

community partnerships out there. it costs approximately $60,000 for every event. undiscovered is a great tool for the cultural district to bring awareness by bringing the best parts of our culture which is food, music, the arts and being ativism all under one roof, and by seeing it all in this way, what it allows san franciscans to see is the dynamics of the filipino-american culture. i think in san francisco, we've kind of lost track of one of our values that makes san francisco unique with just empathy, love, of being acceptable of different people,

the out liers, the crazy ones. we've become so focused onic maing money that we forgot about those that make our city and community unique. when people come to discover, i want them to rediscover the magic of what diversity and empathy can create. when you're positive and committed to using that energy, >> this neighborhood was livedy, for approximately 22 years. >> yeah, like 21 years. >> 21 years in this neighborhood. >> in the same house. >> we moved into this neighborhood six months after we got married, actually. just about our whole entire married life has been here in excel. >> the owner came to the house and we wanted to sell the house and we were like, what? we were scared at first. what are we going to do?

where are we going to move into? the kids' school? our jobs? >> my name is maria. i'm a preschool teacher for the san francisco unified school district. >> my name is ronnie and i work in san francisco and i'm a driver from a local electrical company. >> we went through meta first and meta helped us to apply and be ready to get the down payment assistant loan program. that's the program that we used to secure the purchase of our home. it took us a year to get our credit ready to get ready to apply for the loan. >> the whole year we had to wait and wait through the process and

then when we got the notice, it's like, we were like thinking that. >> when we found out that we were settling down and we were going to get approved and we were going to go forward, it was just a really -- we felt like we could breathe. we have four kids and so to find a place even just to rent for a family of six. and two dogs. >> we were going to actually pay more for rent and to own a house. >> it feels good now to have to move. it feels for our children to stay in the neighborhood that they have grown in. they grew up here and they were born here. they know this neighborhood. they don't know anything outside san francisco. >> we really have it. >> we'd love to say thank you to the mayor's office. they opened a door that we thought was not possible to be opened for us. they allowed us to continue to live here. we're raising our family in san francisco and just to be able to

continue to be here is the great lesson.year. 1:ten, in the afternoon. this is the regular meeting of the commission and community investment and infrastructure. the successor agency commission to the san francisco redevelopment agency for tuesday, january 15, 2019. welcome to all members of the public. and staff of ocii. madam secretary, please call the first item. >> first order of business is item one, roll call. commission members please respond when i call your name. [roll call taken]