i guess not. i mean, i think part of it is we know, you know, only certain places people can get congregate meals. some of the home delivered meals also do two meals, so that might factor into the actual number of meals, people are getting one meal, right, going for lunch -- >> the only thing i figure out, usually the home delivered meal, especially for the meals on wheels, they deliver two meals. so -- >> that would double, right. so, yeah. >> and sometimes caretakers are allowed to get home delivered meals if it makes it easier for the client to complete, to eat, so sometimes maybe three meals. >> right. >> i haven't thought about that one. the other question i want to ask is the national health care decision day is just one day. event, the whole week, or just

one day? >> i think we are planning on the one day. we talked about both, the week and the day and at this point we are talking about most things happening that one day, which is april 16th. >> thank you. thank you very much. >> thank you. we will see you in two weeks. >> any public comment? announcements? motion to adjourn. >> so moved. >> so moved. >> thank you.

>> my name is randy shaw and i'm

a director of the tenderloin housing clinic appeared eight years ago, in january of 2011, i realized there was something really wrong with the tenderloin , that we don't have enough lights period people say they don't feel safe in the tenderloin at night, and it is because we don't have streetlights. just coincidentally with that, see pmc was planning on building a new hospital -- cpmc was planning on building a new hospital. and i thought the biggest impact would be all the cars driving up the street to get to the new hospital so that it was really important for the pedestrian safety of the tenderloin to have more streetlights, so i asked mark aronson, who happens to be here today, a professor at hastings, if his class would do a study analysing the existing streetlights, and here on

february 6th, 2011, they did this beautiful ten page study, which became the basis for our request. i also asked a member of the p.u.c., an engineer, for the per light cost, so i could -- took those numbers, and asked the then mayor, ed lee, if you could get us the money from cpmc. we figure the cost of adding lights would be $3 million. so i asked the mayor to ask for $3.5 million figuring there would be some bargaining. they would bargain with us, and i thought well, we asked for $3.5 million, we are pretty safe to get $3 million. if you know ed lee and how much he loved the tenderloin, he met with cpmc, and he got us $4 million. a million more dollars than it we needed. he said randy, i want to make

sure we have enough money. he was smart. so what happened was a board of supervisors approved at all in 2012, but then cpmc had to downsize the project, and it started again in 2014. in 2014, we had a little bit of a conflict with city officials. you see these beautiful teardrop lights qantas everyone like those lights while we are a historic district. we had engineers who said we are not putting in those lights. we are putting in the modern lights because they work better for lu d. we are having an argument on taylor street of august 2014. and i said to him, let me put it to you this way. mayor lee wants teardrop lights. do you want me to tell the mayor you are not agreeing to what he wants? he did the same thing to mayor breach. you get mayors who really care

about the tenderloin like them, in the city bureaucracy starts listening to the neighborhood. that is what happened. it took a very long time. i used to joke about harland kelley at the p.u.c. that whenever he saw me across the street, he knew i would harangue him about the delays. i have e-mails from the staff saying, randy, we are really sorry, but worse case scenario, it is finally going to open in the end of 2015. we finally thought it was going to open earlier in 2018, twice the wrong hardware was delivered , and barbara hale who is the assistant, since i don't know how this could happen. it is never happened before. twice they sent to the wrong fixtures, were finally, on december 21st, they were installed, and they're all in all the north-south streets, and eddy street, and i think it is

all really fitting in perfectly with mayor breed overall strategy for the tenderloin. from the first week she came into her job, she was here on a friday in the tenderloin. in the last 12 months, we have seen more police activity in the tenderloin then we have seen in years. we know it is a mayor who is paying attention. and the police are working hard to, but the mayor, as a team, i want to thank mayor breed for joining us today and for her support for the tenderloin. >> thank you randy. i am really excited to be here today. i know i have only been mayor for a short period of time. i think throughout the time, i have been in the tenderloin almost every single day. i came out here because first of all, a lot of the folks that i grew up with live out here and spend a lot of time here, and

they want their community to be safe too. we have to make sure that the resources that this community needs, so kids can get to school safely, so that folks who live here and especially our senior community, so they feel safe in their community, i want to see him clean streets in the tenderloin, i want to see safe streets and the tenderloin, and i want the people who live here, who spent time here to take care of the tenderloin too. this is an effort that is so critical to the success of this community, and i say yes, community, because there are so many people from so many parts of san francisco that live here, that enjoy this community. some amazing park space, and part of what our responsibility is is to make sure that the resources that this community needs, they get. that is why this opportunity for lighting, and i know people are thinking, well what is the big deal about lighting? it is a big deal.

every community in this city, they want pedestrian lighting. they want teardrop lighting. lighting fixtures that look this beautiful. the tenderloin, we have made it a priority so that this community knows it is a priority , that we are going to continue to make sure that the resources are brought to this community on a regular basis. i want to thank cpmc for their community benefit package that includes funding for not only pedestrian safety like these lights, buffer housing opportunity, for job opportunities, they are a part of the tenderloin community and so they have invested in the tenderloin community. in addition to all of that, there will be free services and care at the package to take care of the residents of this community. it is absolutely amazing. is a true testament to a real partnership between cpmc and the city and county of san francisco i can't wait to be there in

march when we cut the ribbon to open the new hospital on van ness avenue. i also want to thank harland kelly and the guys and gals at p.u.c. for your work. thank you so much for finally getting this job done, because a randy, not only did he harass the mayor at the time, he harassed every mayor of the board of supervisors, and that is why we finally have got it done, and yes, in less bureaucracy years than typical. i also want to thank the san francisco police department. thank you for so much for the officers who continue to walk the beach and develop relationships with the community on a regular basis. it definitely means a lot to have community policing so that members of our community feel safe when they are walking the streets. thank you to so many folks who are a part of really the driving force.

they are the reasons why we, as a city, pay a lot of attention to providing resources to the community, starting with randy shot in the tenderloin housing community clinic, essential safety s.r.o. collaborative, thank you so much. [cheers and applause] >> u.c. hastings, and unite here local two. incredible partners. people who are fighting and advocating for the tenderloin. i have made a commitment as i have said to you all before that we will continue to invest, invest, invest in resources. in fact, many of you heard about the significant amount of money that we actually came into recently. it is a one-time fund, and my proposal with conversations with so many people here today includes a significant investment, especially in the tenderloin community. make sure that you pick up the phone and call your supervisor and other supervisors to let

them know that the tenderloin will get its fair share of resources, and will not be forgotten. we will make it clean and safe for all of the residents and visitors alike. thank you all so much for being here today. [applause] >> thank you, mayor breed. as the mayor pointed out, the reason we have lights, the money came from cpmc, and one of the interesting things about the experience, there was a whole big narrative about how difficult it was for cpmc to work with certain people in the city, but their representative, from the very first time i met him, he said of course, we want to do streetlights pick whatever it costs, we want to do it. that is a fact. that is what he said to. it may get him into trouble forgiving us so much money, but he said cpmc wants to increase lighting in the tenderloin. it wasn't like the pole or the fighting, it was great. let me introduce -- i want to make sure i get your name right.

pamela kentucky -- kanaki. >> we indeed want to have safer streets in the tenderloin. so as you heard, i am the chief operating officer at cpmc. we have been part of san francisco neighborhoods for over 150 years. we are very excited, as mayor breed said to be opening our new hospital and our new campus just around the corner from here, on march 2nd, less than two months. as a not-for-profit organization , centre health believes in getting -- giving back to the communities. and these lights that everyone is talking about are one of the ways that we are working with our neighbors, the city, to make our communities better, safer and healthier. in fact, a couple days ago, last friday, i was going to dinner in the tenderloin and i noticed the

lights. i mentioned to my husband how beautiful the lights, how bright and beautiful they were, and so we are very pleased and proud to be part of the city, and the tenderloin. thank you very much. [applause] >> our last speaker, there is the empire market right across the way, which is benefiting from all these lights, and they have been a running that market for decades. she would like to explain what the lights mean to her. bora? [cheers and applause] >> thank you very much. good evening everyone. my husband and i own empire market right across the street. my family, which includes my children who live in the tenderloin for many years. i work at our store at night so my family is happy to have additional lights that will

improve safety on sidewalks. during the daytime, a business owner and resident, we walk through sidewalks all the time. we are faced every day with safety issues, however, i am glad to know that new lights will offer a much safer situation. we will be able to know what is going on the sidewalk outside of our family business neighborhoods. thank you very much. [cheers and applause] >> it turns out that the lights actually got on before jane kim left office, within a few days. jane kim by unexpectedly, so she

would like to say a few words. [cheers and applause] >> so it really is incredible that these lights have come on. just a couple of days before my turn was ending, only because this was one of the first projects i worked on when i came into office in 2011. it only took a little over eight years, but this did really begin in the community first, when the negotiations with cpmc began about the move of their hospital to the van ness core door, and has a lot of questions about the impact that this hospital would have in terms of traffic to the neighborhood, in terms of economy, and many other things. it was groups like central city s.r.o. collaborative who had been working collaboratively on passages to increase adult presence on the streets as kids walk and back doors walk back and forth between school and afterschool programs, and i see many of our partners are here today.

and randy, who talked about a study of how this neighborhood had the least number of streetlights at night of any neighborhood here in san francisco. so this, along with the pedestrian safety improvement really became the priority at the community and how cpu josie beat -- and how cpmc could make this neighborhood safer and stronger. there are many steps along the pathway to get here, of which they were not the major obstacle because they committed to this program so early on. i can't mention how many neighborhood studies and community processes that our offices worked with so many of the community leaders here over the last eight years to make that happen. i want to give a huge shout out to the public utilities commission. i know the general manager is here. [cheers and applause] >> the staff really did a tremendous amount of work to move this money that has been committed to, which i should note, also went to the tenderloin museum that was standing behind here today, and we actually had to repurpose

other city funds to come to help fund with cpmc originally, which is a street lighting funding program, and the p.u.c. made that happen. and whether the challenges we are getting, we need to connect it to our infrastructure, to so many other design challenges, and then different wants from the community. the p.u.c. really came out, along with the mayor's office of economic development, working alongside our community leaders to make sure that this happened within eight years. so i just want to wish everyone a big round of congratulations. our neighborhood really does work together to make this community safer, and i want to thank our mayor for her strong commitment to making sure that the tenderloin continues to be invested in heavily and strongly , and prioritized over her time as mayor. thank you very much. [cheers and applause] >> and matt haney is out of town or else he would be here, our

new supervisor. thank you all. if you have any questions or anything important to ask to folks, enjoy the lights. the darker it gets, the brighter they are. thank you all. [♪] >> 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. >> 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 live. me and my children, we love in here, we -- just being with my grand kids and loving somewhere and having somewhere is home. we love being together, and

your heart -- wherever your heart is, that makes it home for you. >> san francisco is surrounded on three sides by water. the fireboat station is integral to maritime rescue and preparedness not only for san francisco but for all of the bay area. >> fire station 35 was built in 1915, so it's over 100 years old. and behind it, we're going to build fireboat station 35. >> so the city's capital planning committee, i think about three years ago, issued a guidance that all city

facilities must resist sea level rise. >> fireboat station number 35, construction costs are approximately $30 million, and the construction is over complicated because the float, it's being fabricated in china and will be brought to treasure island where the building -- the actual fire station will be constructed on top of it, and then brought to pier 22 1/2 for installation. >> we are looking at late 2020 for completion of the fireboat float. the historic fire house will remain on the embarcadero. we will still respond out of the firehouse with our fire engine and respond to medical calls and other incidents raratin the district.

>> the if a sill has to incorpora incorporate five to 6 feet of sea level rise. it's built on a float that can move up and down as the water level rises, and so it's on four fixed guide piles, so as the seas go up, it wican move and down with the bay. it does have a full range of travel from low tide to high tide of about 16 feet. so that allows for current tidal movements as well as several extra feet for sea level rise in the coming decades. >> the fireboat station float will also incorporate a ramp for ambulance deployment and access. >> the access ramp is rigidly connected to the land side or more of a pivot or hinge connection, and then, it's sliding over the top of the float. so then that way, the ramp can, you know, flex up and down like

a hinge but also allow for a slight -- a few inches of lateral motion of the float. both the access ramps, of which there's two, and the utilities, need flexible connections when connecting from the float and back to the building. so interesting power, water, sewage, it all has flexible connections to the float. >> fireboat station 35 will provide room for three boats and one fire boot. >> we would like to establish a dedicated marine unit that would be able to respond to multiple incidents. looking into the future, we have not only at&t park, we have a lot of kayakers, but we also have a lot of developments on the southeast side, including the warriors stadium, and we want to have the ability to respond to any marine or maritime incidents along all of

these new developments. >> there's very few design references for people actually sleeping on the water. what we really looked to were cruise ships, which are, you know, larger structures, several times the size of station 35 but have a lot of people -- a lot of sleeping, but they're really the only good reference point. and so we looked to the cruise ship industry that has kind of an index for, you know, how ma many -- how much acceleration they can accommodate. >> it's very unique. i don't know about any other fire station built on the water in the united states. >> the fireboat's a regional asset that can not only be used for water rescue and stin wishment of fires, but we also do environmental cleanup. we have a special rigging that we carrie that will contain oil spills -- carry that will contain oil spills until

viermsal can come out. this is not a job, it is -- environmental can come out. this is not a job, it's a lifestyle, a community, and we're willing to help people any way we [gavel]. >> chair fewer: the meeti