we're aligning it with national 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.

>> everything is done in-house. i think it is done. i have always been passionate about gelato. every single slaver has its own recipe. we have our own -- we move on from there. so you have every time a unique experience because that slaver is the flavored we want to make. union street is unique because of the neighbors and the

location itself. the people that live around here i love to see when the street is full of people. it is a little bit of italy that is happening around you can walk around and enjoy shopping with gelato in your hand. this is the move we are happy to provide to the people. i always love union street because it's not like another commercial street where you have big chains. here you have the neighbors. there is a lot of stories and the neighborhoods are essential. people have -- they enjoy having their daily or weekly gelato. i love this street itself. >> we created a move of an area where we will be visiting. we want to make sure that the area has the gelato that you like.

what we give back as a shop owner is creating an ambient lifestyle. if you do it in your area and if you like it, then you can do it on the streets you like. >> i have been living in san francisco since 1957. i live in this area for 42 years. my name is shirley jackson, and

i am a retirement teacher for san francisco unified school district, and i work with early childhood education and after school programs. i have light upstairs and down stairs. it's been remodelled and i like it. some of my floors upstairs was there from the time i built the place, so they were very horrible and dark. but we've got lighting. the room seems lighter. they painted the place, they cemented my back yard, so i won't be worried about landscaping too much. we have central heating, and i like the new countertops they put in. up to date -- oh, and we have venetian blinds. we never had venetian blinds before, and it's just cozy for me. it meant a lot to me because i didn't drive, and i wanted to

be in the area where i can do my shopping, go to work, take the kids to school. i like the way they introduced the move-in. i went to quite a bit of the meetings. they showed us blueprints of the materials that they were going to use in here, and they gave us the opportunity to choose where we would like to stay while they was renovating. it means a lot. it's just that i've been here so long. most people that enjoyed their life would love to always retain that life and keep that lifestyle, so it was a peaceful neighborhood. the park was always peaceful, and -- i don't know. i just loved it.

i wanted to be here, and i stayed. sustainability mission, even though the bikes are very minimal energy use. it still matters where the energy comes from and also part of the mission in sustainability is how we run everything, run our business. so having the lights come on with clean energy is important to us as well. we heard about cleanpowersf and learned they had commercial rates and signed up for that. it was super easy to sign up. our bookkeeper signed up online, it was like 15 minutes. nothing has changed, except now we have cleaner energy.

it's an easy way to align your environmental proclivities and goals around climate change and it's so easy that it's hard to not want to do it, and it doesn't really add anything to the bill. >> good morning, please welcome san francisco gay men's chorus, performing "singing for our love ." [♪] ♪ we are peaceful loving people ♪ ♪ and we are singing,, singing for our love ♪ ♪ we are young and old together ♪ ♪ and we are singing, singing

for our love ♪ [♪] [♪] [singing]

♪ [singing] [singing] [singing]

[singing] [cheers and applause] >> please welcome, chris verdugo , executive director of

the san francisco gay men's chorus. >> good morning. on behalf of the board of directors, staff, and about a tenth of our singing members that are with us, it is an honour to welcome you to our new home for the mayor's first state of the city address. as we begin to envision this space over a year ago, our intention became clear, we wanted to create a centre where lgbtq artists and organizations could come together, a space where they could collaborate and incubate new works pack and affordable and safe space, a place to present master classes and lecture series, and to host a middle and high schools aged students with our educational programs, rhythm, reaching youth through music, and the it gets better showcase pick a venue that would house a state-of-the-art broadcast facility so we could transmit these incredible transformational and inspiring events to a global audience.

a space that espouses the san francisco values of diversity, acceptance, equality, entrepreneurship, and creativity a home where art and activism come together, and it is my honor to welcome you to that space today. [applause] our new home, and the nation's first-ever lgbtq centre for the arts is a continuation of what began over 40 years ago on the city hall steps. that moment where 99 men raised their voices in anger and sadness, but also in hope, singing the song that you just heard, singing for our lives, and thereby sparking an lgbtq arts movement that would eventually spanned five continents. that is why this isn't just our home, it is a home for all of the san francisco arts community

and the nation. no one understands this better than the mayor. as executive director of the african-american arts and culture complex, and she transformed the struggling center into a vital, sustainable community resource. she understands, yes. [applause] >> she understands that arts and culture are at the forefront of social change, and we are honored that she chose our new home for her first state of the city address. [applause] >> please join me in welcoming, mayor, london abbreviate. [cheers and applause] [applause] >> thank you. >> thank you. [cheers and applause]

>> thank you, everyone. thank you so much. thank you. thank you. thank you all so much for being here today. thank you to the san francisco gay men's chorus for opening up their new home, this amazing, national, lgbtq centre for the arts. what i love about this center is that this chorus has invested their time and resources in creating something beautiful, not just for themselves, but for the entire lgbtq and arts community around the country. this is a place that celebrates what is best about san francisco , and that is what i want to talk you about today. for too long, our safety has been the subject of a drumbeat of negative media attention, national stories claiming that san francisco has lost its way.

however, streets are dangerous slums, our housing is unobtainable, how temple workers battle for our city's up soul. like most narratives, their elements of truth here, we have failed to build enough housing, we do face a homeless crisis, as we grapple with mental health and substance use on our streets of course, we acknowledge the challenges we face. the question is, what do we do next, hang our heads and give up cloth concede our problems are too great and the soul of our city is lost? anyone who thinks that, anyone who thinks that is what we will do knows nothing about this city [applause] >> this is san francisco. we don't throw up our hands, we take to our feet. we don't wait for guidance, we

liked the way. this is a city that knows how. the innovation capital of the world his. [cheers and applause] >> the national leader on lgbt and immigrant rights, environmental protections, healthcare, and so many other causes. the place where my angelou rang cable car bells -- the place where my angelou rang cable car bells and the place where a girl from public housing became mayor [cheers and applause] >> our congresswoman is speaker of the house. our former mayor just became governor. another is the california senior senator, the state's lieutenant lieutenant governor, controller and treasurer are all san franciscans. [cheers and applause]

>> our former district attorney could even be the next president [cheers and applause] >> it is time that our city holds its head up high again. it is time we believe again. yes, we have our challenges, i see them every day, just like you. i'm frustrated just like you about the issues that face our city, but i'm also motivated, because there is no problem we caps off together, no challenge we won't face together, there is , as president clinton said, nothing wrong with san francisco that can't be fixed with what is right about san francisco. [cheers and applause] >> homelessness in san francisco has, for decades, been described

as a sad reality, an impossible problem, just part of our city. i don't accept that they are just a few years ago, he only had to walk a few blocks from city hall to seat tent encampments lining our sidewalks , clips covering whole blocks on division street. today, those encampments are gone. that is partly because we have been working to build more shelters, more housing, and help more people. in the last six months, since i have been in office, we have built three navigation centers, with 338 beds, the fastest expansion of shelter beds our city has seen in decades. [cheers and applause] >> and we've helped nearly 1,000 people exit homelessness. 1,000 people in six months. [applause]

>> yes, we have a long way to go and so much work to do, but we are making a difference in people's lives. when we open up to the bryant street navigation centre earlier this month, i met a woman who had just moved in. she is battling addiction and breast cancer. on the streets, her medication kept getting stolen, she couldn't get healthy, now she is inside, and she is working on getting housing. at bryant street, she gave me a hug, and she said she is hopeful , and so am i. if she has hope, others can too. that is the difference. she is excited about the future, and i'm excited for her. if she can have a hope, and others can too. i've already announced my plan to add 1,000 shelter beds by 2020, enough to clear the shelter bed waitlist. [applause]

>> we also are declaring a shelter crisis so we can get these shelter beds builds now, and i want to thank supervisor supervisors brown, haney, mandelman, supervisor stefani and walton, for joining me in recognizing our bureaucracy shouldn't stand in the way of one single thousand beds. this is a huge step, we know, but it is not enough. we know we have around 4,000 unsheltered people in our city, sleeping in our streets, in our parks, in the doorway is, or in vehicles. we know that it's a travesty, but it's one we can take on. in the next four years, i want to create enough shelter beds, step up housing units, homeless housing units, and housing subsidies for every person who is currently unsheltered. that is 4,000 more placements for people. no more excuses, no more status

quo and let's be clear, every part of our city, every neighborhood must be open to being part of the solution. [cheers and applause] >> to get there, we must move forward with my proposal for our windfall funding. $185 million for homelessness, behavioural health, and affordable housing. [cheers and applause] >> with this investment, we can add 310 new shelter beds, 300 units of housing by master leasing units, freeing up hundreds of beds in the shelter system. complete funding for a 255 unit building for homeless seniors and adults, and get started on hundreds more. now i know there are other

budget priorities, and they are important. let's be clear. every dollar we take away from what i propose is one bed, one lost home, one more person on the streets. i will continue to work with a board president, norman he -- norman he -- yee and the board of supervisors. working together, we can tackle any impossible problem. the crisis on our street is not just about homelessness. people suffering from mental illness, they need more than just housing. often they are actually housed. these people need help, since i took office, we have added 50 mental health stabilization beds , and i'm committed to opening up 100 more this year. [cheers and applause]

>> our healthy streets operation centre is out there every day helping those suffering from substance use disorder, getting them connected to treatment and shelter, to help those who are truly suffering get real treatment. i've partnered with supervisor raphael mandelman on conservatorship legislation because when people can't care for themselves, we have to do better, and we have to care for them. [applause] >> we have to revamp our entire approach to mental health. to bring together all of our mental health programs under one focus, i am creating a director of mental health reform. [applause] >> this person will be

responsible for better coordination of mental health care for those suffering in our city, this person will strengthen the program we have that are working, nts, cut cut the ineffective program because clearly there are things in this city that just aren't working, and shouldn't continue to be funded. [applause] >> we need to build people's lives, not shuffle them from emergency room to emergency room , from jail cell, to jail cell. our criminal justice system is not a mental health solution. [applause] >> to do all this, we need a vision and leadership, so today, i am announcing that i have hired a new director of the department of public health, dr grant kovacs.

[applause] >> the doctor is one of our own, trained at ucsf, you were to the department of public health as a director of h.i.v. prevention and research, before leaving to join the obama white house as a director of national aids policy he knows our city and its challenges, and he is ready to get to work, and he knows that we need to get zero h.i.v. infections in san francisco. [applause] >> we need to reach our most vulnerable populations, particularly are african-american and latino communities who are not seeing their h.i.v. infections drop as others do, this means getting

everyone, and i mean everyone access to services, treatment, and preventative medications like prep. [applause] >> and i'm confident that dr kovacs will get us to our goal. we are also confronting san francisco's other allegedly impossible problem, housing. housing. we have to produce and preserve housing, and keep people in their homes. i will continue to support the rights to civil council which we funded it last year's budget with $5.8 million so every tenant who needs a lawyer can get one, and through our small sight -- his most -- small site acquisition program, will fight to preserve rent-controlled buildings to keep people in neighborhoods secure. [applause]

>> people like ms. miss wu, and 99-year-old woman who has been living in the same building in the richmond district for the past 30 years. or building was going up for sale, threatening her home, and that of every senior who lived there. i met her with supervisor -- supervisor fewer when i visited her home, the building that we helped purchase and make permanently affordable. ensuring that she and her neighbors wouldn't have to worry about where they were going to live. [applause] >> as we keep people in their homes, we have to build more new housing. lots more. [cheers and applause] >> in 2018, we built around 3,000 homes. that's not nearly enough. we have to get better, and

that's why i've already hired a housing delivery director to deliver projects faster, and implement policy reforms that cut the times to get permits in half. i've directed the department to end the backlog of hundreds of in law units, and make it easier for people to build them going forward, and passed legislation to prevent the loss of thousands of units in the pipeline. if we are going to be in san francisco for all, we need to be a san francisco that builds housing for all. that's why i'm moving forward with the 300 million-dollar affordable housing bond so we can continue to invest in badly needed affordable housing. [cheers and applause] >> across our city, we have projects like the balboa upper yard that are ready to build.

that is 131 units that just need funding, but it's not just about investing, we have to break the barriers to building housing so our dollars go further and we get housing built faster. so today, i'm announcing a charter amendment for this november's election, to make all affordable housing and teacher housing as upright in san francisco. [cheers and applause] >> if an affordable housing or teacher housing project as proposed within zoning, then build it, and build it now. no more bureaucracy. [applause] >> no more bureaucracy, no more costly appeals, number not in my

neighborhood. it is simple, affordable housing as of right because housing affordability is a right. [applause] >> this is how we create housing for all san franciscans, and i will continue to work with our state legislators, our regional partners, our new governor, because housing affordability isn't just a san francisco issue , it is a crisis throughout the state of california. we won't always see the results of these efforts immediately, it may take some years to his see some changes, but then we have started to build more aggressively 20 years ago, we wouldn't be in the situation we are in today. [applause] >> we might have inherited a problem decades in the making, but we cannot be the ones who pass it on to the next generation. [applause]

>> as we grow, we must make our streets clean and our communities safe. since my first day in office, i have been out walking our neighboured neighborhood. this is not okay. it is not healthy. and while there is much more to do, we are working every day to stop it. it is no secret i have put in a lot of focus in the tenderloin and the south of market. i am committed to improving these neighborhoods. so far, we have doubled the number of beat officers in midmarket. we have added pitstops, big belly trash cans and street cleaners. we have increased enforcement against drug dealing, and expanded outreach by our healthy outreach operation centre. i know we have more to do, but people are starting to see a difference. families are coming to the new playgrounds at civic centre. i met a young family with two

small children who came from sunset. they told me a year ago that they never would have gone to the playground there. too dirty, too run down, to many needles. now the new café on the playgrounds are now part of their saturday. this is a start. a first step towards making our public spaces clean and safe. we have also seen our investments in community policing yield results. last year, we had a 18% drop in homicide, which coincides with a major reduction in gun violence for the second year in a row. in fact, we had a 25% increase in firearm fees, and a 30 5% decrease in gun violence. [applause] to put it simply, more guns off the streets, fewer crimes in

homicides involving guns. we also had a nine% reduction in property crimes, including an 18 % drop in car break-ins, and a 13% drop in car thefts. we are, at last, reversing the carved reagan epidemic through the great work of our police department, we are working a dip -- making a difference on violent crimes and property crimes. more officers in our neighborhoods, and investments in cleaner, safer streets are all important. as we address these issues today , we also have to think about how to prevent them from happening in the future. we have to confront the root causes of crime and addiction, which means addressing inequity and poverty. [applause] last year, working with our public defender, we made san

francisco the first city in the country to eliminate punitive wasteful court fines and fees. [cheers and applause] >> these fees did nothing more than drive people into poverty, or worse, back into prison. we will continue our work to give the next generation opportunities back and prevent them from ending up in the criminal justice system in the first place. we are working our city build program to address the shortage of construction workers and give people good paying jobs. we are launching new jobs and helping to train new munimobile drivers to get more people on the street so we can get san franciscans where they need to go faster. we have tech s.f., healthcare academy, and hospitality initiatives, all of which train people to work in our city, and as a former city in turn, who at

14 proudly worked at a nonprofit , answering phones and helping young family is, and doing paperwork, i am particularly proud to have launched opportunities for all so that we can get every high school students -- [applause] scene -- >> so we can get every high school student in san francisco a paid internship, because unlike the president in this town we pay people when they go to work. [laughter] [applause] >> this program will help our kids now to earn money, to learn new skills, to keep them from going down the wrong path. these young people will be exposed to opportunities they never knew existed. they could see a future in an industry they never had access

to. they could see themselves making a difference in a world in a way that they never thought possible . they will flourish, and we will grow our workforce right here in san francisco. [applause] >> will continue to lead the way on so many other important issues. we will protect the environment, and fight climate change. yesterday, we all know pg and tee declared bankruptcy, and there's a lot of talk about what this could mean, but let's talk about what we know. san francisco knows how to run a clean power system, and we are going to get to 100% renewable energy by 2030. [applause] >> if this bankruptcy provides an opportunity for public power, supervisor peskin, we will take it.

[applause] [laughter] >> i will be working with the city attorney, dennis herrera, and supervisor peskin to make sure that whatever happens to pg and e., we are prepared to. i'm also working with city attorney herrera to address questions around the testing of the hunter at's pointe. [applause] >> we need to be clear and transparent with the public about this project. along with supervisor walton, we have requested that ucsf, and u.c. berkeley put together an independent team to review the procedures for the retesting of parcel a and g. [cheers and applause]

>> these are trusted institutions. they will provide an independent analysis so the public can feel confident in the results. we also have to break the gridlock that is on our streets and create a more functioning transportation system. people may continue to choose to drive in san francisco, but that can't be their only choice. i will work with supervisor peskin on a measure that will charge our ride hail companies to relieve congestion on our streets. [applause] >> we have to keep pushing forward street facing invasion zero projects, including building protected bike lanes on high injury corridors, like the one we are building by upside on valencia street that made it so hard for you to get here. [applause] >> we will also continue investing in helping our transgender residents with housing and services, and to

those in washington, d.c. who continue to try and erase transgender people, it won't work back not here in san francisco. [cheers and applause] >> now more than ever, as the president continues to fear mongering about walls and slander our immigrant communities, san francisco is proud to stand as a sanctuary city. [applause] >> we are a city that is surrounded by bridges, not divided by walls, and we will stay that way. [applause] >> when i took the oath of office six months ago, i never pretended i could solve all of our problems. i believed we could solve them

working together. i believed in a government for all of us, and i still believe that we are working to turn the tides, and i hope every san franciscan can feel the difference when you see our public works crews, our -- out power washing the sidewalks and picking up trash, i hope you feel the difference. when you see our police officers walking the beats in the neighborhood, and talking to the merchants and the residence, i hope that you feel the difference. when you see our homeless outreach team and public health workers helping people suffering on our streets, i hope you feel the difference. when you see a new shelter open, a new affordable housing project go up, or a new bike lane that gets finished, i hope you smile and feel the difference. i hope you believe with me that you hold your head high and take pride in our city, and what we

can do together, because we are san francisco. we will meet these challenges, and we will continue to light a better way for the future of our city. thank you all so much for being here today. [cheers and applause]

>> chances are if you are in san francisco visiting one of our vibrant neighborhood does, you'll see one of our workers wearing one of our vests. usually, the corridors are the busiest travels areas of the cities, so we want to keep san francisco a world-class destination for everyone. >> my duty is to go around, making sure that i'm getting everything up off the ground. i pick up everything from cigarette butts, sweeping gum. >> we find needles on the floor, drug paraphernalia, trash, sometime feces. it gets pretty dirty out here. >> my job is pretty much -- it's unpredictable.

>> i'm a san francisco native. i grew up in the bayview. you know, i'm just appreciative of just helping my neighborhood. even places i don't live it, sometimes i'm out there, helping, too. >> i'm a san francisco native, so it is really important for me to keep the city clean and try to make a difference. >> it makes me feel a part of the city more because i'm a native here, i was born and raised here. so i know what san francisco should be and should look like. >> as much as possible, i try to keep the neighborhood a place for everybody, not just the people that live here because everybody contributes to making the neighborhood. >> i know there's a lot of camaraderie between everybody, and that makes for a good days work. >> how are you? >> good. good. thank you. thank you. >> there's still good people in the world. >> oh, always. there's always. >> how you doing?

>> good. all right. >> there's a lot of merchants that's very happy with the job that we're doing here. they've noticed that since we've been out here, that the streets have been a lot cleaner. >> he is one of the happiest people i know, just doing his job, that is keeping the trash out of the street and keeping our neighborhood clean. so he's our little hero, super hero. >> only thing that's going to get in my way is the trash, and i know how to sweep that out of the way. like i said, if people is fine,

we have nothing to worry about. life is what you make of it, and that's for real. friday, it's raining. so? i'm out here. i love what i do. >> our corridor program is made up with a combination of employees, and human resources agency who are helping people get back on their feet in the workforce. >> as a homeless person, i'm glad that public works has given me the opportunity to work, and give me a job and -- so i give it 110%. >> public can really help by picking up their trash and not throwing it in front of me. >> i make sure i even encourage my own kids to -- you know, if you're outside, you see something, go and pick it up. don't leave it there. go put it in the garbage.

it doesn't hurt to do that. >> you can't get it all, but you can get most of it. >> help us keep san francisco clean. it's a beautiful city. it seems like it's hard to keep it that way, but it's not if everybody be a team player and work together. >> look at that beautiful jellyfish. the way to speak to students and motivate them to take action, to save the planet, they do, they care and my job is to speak to them in a way that they can understand that touches their heart and makes them feel powerful with simple actions to take every day. ♪

♪ >> i was born and raised in the desert of palm springs, california. my dad was the rabbi in the community there. what i got from watching my father on stage talking to the community was learning how to be in the public. and learning how to do public speaking and i remember the first time i got up to give my first school assembly, i felt my dad over my shoulder saying pause for drama, deliver your words. when i was a kid, i wanted to be a teacher. and then when i got into high school, i decided i wanted to get into advertising and do graphic art and taglines and stuff like that. by the time i was in college, i

decided i wanted to be a decorator. but as i did more work, i realized working my way up meant a lot of physical labor. i only had so much energy to work with for the rest of my life and i could use that energy towards making a lot of money, helping someone else make a lot of money or doing something meaningful. i found the nonprofit working to save the rainforest was looking for volunteers. i went, volunteered and my life changed. suddenly everything i was doing had meaning. stuffing envelopes had meaning, faxing out requests had meaning. i eventually moved up to san francisco to work out of the office here, given a lot of assembly through los angeles county and then came up here and doing assemblies to kids about rainforest. one of my jobs was to teach about recycle, teaching students to reduce, reuse, recycle and

compost, i'm teaching them they have the power, and that motivates them. it was satisfying for me to work with for the department of environment to create a message that gets to the heart of the issue. the san francisco department of environment is the only agency that has a full time educational team, we go into the schools to help teach children how to protect nature and the environment. we realized we needed animal mascot to spark excitement with the students. the city during the gold rush days, the phoenix became part of the city feel and i love the symbolism of the phoenix, about transformation and the message that the theme of the phoenix provides, we all have the power to transform our world for the better. we have to provide teachers with

curriculum online, our curriculum is in two different languages and whether it's lesson plans or student fact sheets, teachers can use them and we've had great feedback. we have helped public and private schools in san francisco increase their waste use and students are working hard to sort waste at the end of the lunch and understand the power of reusing, reducing, recycling and composting. >> great job. >> i've been with the department for 15 years and an environmental educator for more than 23 years and i'm grateful for the work that i get to do, especially on behalf of the city and county of san francisco. i try to use my voice as intentionally as possible to

suppo support, i think of my grandmother who had a positive attitude and looked at things positively. try to do that as well in my work and with my words to be an uplifting force for myself and others. think of entering the job force as a treasure hunt. you can only go to your next clue and more will be revealed. follow your instincts, listen to your gut, follow your heart, do what makes you happy and pragmatic and see where it takes you and get to the next place. trust if you want to do good in this world, that

. >> president cook: welcome. glad you're here. this is the regular meeting of the board of education of the san francisco unified school district. this is january 29, 2019. this meeting is now called to order. miss casco, roll call, please. >> clerk: thank you. [roll