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tv   Government Access Programming  SFGTV  February 19, 2019 10:00pm-11:01pm PST

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live here. we're raising our family in san francisco and just to be able to continue to be here is the great >> 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
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for our love ♪ [♪] [♪] [singing]
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♪ [singing] [singing] [singing]
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[singing] [cheers and applause] >> please welcome, chris verdugo , executive director of the san francisco gay men's
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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
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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
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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]
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>> 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
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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.
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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]
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>> 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
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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]
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>> 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]
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>> 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
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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
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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]
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>> 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
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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]
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>> 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
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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]
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>> 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
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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.
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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
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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]
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>> 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
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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.
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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
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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
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, 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
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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.
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[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]
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>> 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
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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.
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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
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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] [laughter] >> what more could i say. and mary did such a fabulous job of talking about kaiser that i couldn't possibly add anything to that. thank you. that was.
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i did want to think and say kaiser is exceptionally proud to be a member of this community and the contribution that we make to the community are part and parcel of the tremendous fought pride that we face too many members who are in this room. just as a tiny little sidebar, nationally, it was just a shade on the 13 million members. i haven't -- i have opened enrolment forms. now, need to tell me for just a moment. i am going to introduce you to mere free, and they provided me a right, and it is a lengthy write up of the impressive accomplishments of this woman, so it will take me a moment to, okay. [laughter] honored to introduce agreed she first public office when she was
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elected by the voters of the board of supervisors all the way back in november of 2012 got representing district five in san francisco. we also would like to note that district five includes san francisco's medical center on geary boulevard. [laughter] she was born there for three years cap next she supervisor pack and was reelected to the present november 2016, and she was reelected president of the board two months later. there is no way i could remember all of this. as president of the board of supervisors, she has served as
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the second highest ranking official in san francisco, leading the legislative body of the city, and overseeing a 10 billion-dollar budget with 30,000 employees. as city leader, she has focused on eradicating homelessness, increasing affordability, increasing affordable housing, and kaiser has appreciated deeply her partnership with the community benefit program, and the supportive safety net in our community. she is a native san franciscan, she was raised by her grandmother and the plaza ease public housing western edition. [applause] she, of course, graduated with honors from her high school, and attended the university of california, earning a bachelor of arts in political science, and a minor in african-american
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studies. she went on to earn a master master his degree in public administration from the university of san francisco. before her election as supervisor, she served as the executive director of the african-american cultural complex in the western edition for more then a decade, and as the san francisco redevelopment agency commissioner for five years. she was reappointed by gavin newsom to be a san francisco fire commissioner where she served until her election as the board of supervisors. please join me in welcoming the phenomenal mayor, for the great city of san francisco, mayor london breed. [applause] >> it is always so weird to hear people talk about you when you're standing right there.
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thank you, i was born at kaiser, and the community that i grew up in. thank you for delivering me. [laughter]. >> good morning, everyone. this is a great opportunity to learn what people think about our cities, and for staff and i to really talk about the future of our city, and what we will do to make it even better than they are now. our city is deeply connected around housing and transportation and homelessness pick residents from both our cities across the bay to visit families, to work, to enjoy our nightlife and all of the great events we have in san francisco. we are to cities, but we are one region. as we are seeing our economy begin to grow, we face real challenges. we have not built enough housing, and we know, even
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though there was just talk of san francisco doing really well, i have seen to be too many of the people that i actually grew up in san francisco leave our city, and even leave the bay area because they couldn't find affordable housing. housing that is actually affordable to their income. there are no easy fixes. and i know staff share my commitment to building more housing. we both believe in solutions, whether it is our work with the housing plan, that i know the mayor talks about a little bit more detail later, are partnering with state representatives and our new governor. housing can no longer be a city by city issue. we have to work, we have to work together, large cities or small, or the bay area will not be affordable for workers and family. our cities will never solve this crisis alone, that we can do better.
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since taking office, this has been my focus. to get rid of the barriers and bureaucracy that get in the way of housing production, and to build more housing for people of all income levels. san francisco, are ready in my short time in office, i am moving forward with 300 million-dollar affordable dollars affordable housing bond. i directed my department of building inspection to get rid of the bureaucratic red tape that gets in the way of building we had 900 us -- accessory dwelling units backlogged. imagine putting 900 units on the market? eliminating the backlog, and most recently, i put forth legislation to eliminate the fees for in-laws, and affordable housing, 100% affordable housing during affordable housing projects, providing more affordable housing, and to get these in-laws into the market. [applause]
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>> i am proposing a chart -- charter amendment to make affordable housing and future housing as a right, so when proposals are put forth that meet the zoning requirements, we need to get it built. no more delays, no more bureaucracy. most recently, i saw the affordable housing people clapping over there. most recently, i just appointed justin true with us today, as a director of housing delivery. his sole job is to cut housing development in half. you have a lot of work to do. you don't have that much time, i am giving you a year. we know there are many factors that go into our housing affordability crisis, so you can't just throw up our hands. we have to dig in, and have to get to work. otherwise our residents will
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suffer, and the economy will suffer. we also need to invest in our transportation system. congestion is choking our roads, in the transit system are suffering from decades of underinvestment. we need stronger collaborative, especially to fund transformative changes, and to improve how we move people around the area. that means a second to translate some more people can access our mission bay neighborhood to get to the new center. means continuing to expand ferry service, and in fact, today, we are announcing the opening of a new ferry gate to san francisco which will double the downtown capacity. i am really excited about that. we are investing in public transportation, it is good for our city, but it is also good
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for the environment. fewer cars on our roads mean lower greenhouse gas emissions. our workers and residents need to real transportation options, and we will reduce congestion on our streets and our bridges. as we build more housing and invest in our transportation system, we have to expand housing for homeless residents, was sadly, we know, so many of them suffer from substance use disorder and mental illness. i see what everyone else sees on the street. i frustrated, just like the mayor is frustrated, but i really am optimistic about the future and what we are doing to work to get people housed, and to get them the services that they need, and in many instances, a lot of work and wraparound services are required but while we have much work to do, in san francisco, we are seeing some results. in fact, at since i've taken office in july of last year, we
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have been able to get almost 1,000 people off the streets. almost 1,000 people. [applause] >> we've done this by expanding our shelter capacity. we've added a number -- we've added 338 new shelter beds to our system, and we also did this by reconnecting people with their families and other cities across the country through our homeward bound program. we are working to meet what is an ambitious goal by adding another thousand shelter beds by next year. we added 50 new mental health stabilization beds, and by this year, we will add 100 more mental health stabilization beds to help people suffering from substance abuse disorder and mental illness. we have to provide a variety of solutions to address this challenge. it is not a one-size-fits-all, it is not an easy problem to solve, but i'm optimistic about
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the future, and what we are doing in san francisco. but we also need to invest in our workforce, because even with a strong economy, there are people who are being left behind take our low unemployment rate, a sure sign of a healthy economy. when you look to meet those numbers, unemployment among african americans african-americans are three times that number, and among latinos are two times that number. we must try to promote everyone's success in the workplace, and in the community to make sure everyone is able to thrive in our cities. i will not be satisfied riding on the success of the incredible economy until we are able to bring everyone along. [applause] >> in san francisco, we have our
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city build program, which many of you in this room have partnered with us on, and we are grateful for that. is a little workforce experiments that has grown to be a model in the nation. we train -- we have an incredible success rate of 80 4% of those hundreds being placed into permanent jobs, men and women from city build our building this center now, and they will build our next generation. and just as important, is they will have stable, good paying jobs because of the training that they received. and we are expanding beyond the city build, just last month, i got the news that every mayor hates to get, that one of our companies shifting its stores and laying off his entire workforce. hundreds of cherry drivers were going to be out of work, but
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working with our office of economic and workforce development, our m.t.a., and the teamsters, we quickly came up with a plan to get these laid-off workers with licenses. we have a shortage of over 300 munimobile drivers, so what a great opportunity. for those who didn't have the proper licenses, we quickly enter that into our brand-new city ride program so we can help them get their licenses. we have a transit operations shortage that is hurting our city. and these drivers can help us with getting more buses on our streets, and getting more people trained to drive them. we look forward, we took a losing situation, and turned it into a win-win for the city, ad for the workforce. we have other efforts like our healthcare academy, our hospitality initiative, tech s.f., all these programs create opportunity for our residents to find careers in the economy.
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it is not only our adult workforce that i'm focusing on, i want to create opportunity for our kids so we can break the cycle of poverty and create new pathways for everyone in our city. we can create the workforces that we need for the future right in our city if we begin to invest now. at 814 p.m., i got a job with the training program working in a nonprofit agency. i was in the polished mayor that i am today, really difficult to deal with as a teenager, but given this opportunity, i really learned what it meant to work in a professional environment, what it meant to earn a paycheck, and i met people who believed in my potential. it is where i started, and what led me to my current path. this is why i decided to launch
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what is my signature initiative, opportunity for all. i am committed to making sure that every high school student in san francisco has access to a paid internship opportunity, in any interest -- any -- in any industry. [applause] >> whether it is the construction industry, healthcare industry, the city and county of san francisco, the tech industry, all of your companies will play a role in helping by providing a job for a young person, and if you are not prepared to deal with the challenges of teenaged kids, you can also help invest in our program by making a contribution so that we can place young people and in places all over our city. mentor and youth, if there are some great ways, i'm really excited about this program because it will change our future, and make things better for the next generation.
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by opening up the doors of opportunity to them. we can change what we see, and what we feel in our streets with your help. mentor a high school student from our public schools, hire someone you might not traditionally extend a job offer to, but who may have the potential, engage with the next generation knowing it's not about how it benefits your company, but how you can change their life tomorrow. the way that we create a more equitable society, a better bay area, at bay area where we have just an incredible future with housing and transportation systems that work, and people who are employed, and less homelessness, is by making sure we are making the right investments today, and working together to accomplish those goals. again, i'm optimistic about the future. in the future starts today with
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our investment and our commitment to rolling up our sleeves and getting the job done , especially for the next generation who are counting on us to make good decisions today so that their future is brighter. thank you all so much today -- thank you all so much for having thank you all so much for having me here today. - working for the city and county of san francisco will immerse you in a vibrant and dynamic city that's on the forefront of economic growth, the arts, and social change. our city has always been on the edge of progress and innovation. after all, we're at the meeting of land and sea. - our city is famous for its iconic scenery, historic designs, and world- class style. it's the birthplace of blue jeans,
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>> tenderloin is unique neighborhood where geographically place in downtown san francisco and on every street corner have liquor store in the corner it stores pretty much every single block has a liquor store but there are impoverishes grocery stores i'm the co-coordinated of the healthy corner store collaboration close to 35 hundred residents 4 thousand are children the medium is about $23,000 a year so a low income neighborhood many new immigrants and many people on fixed incomes residents have it travel outside of their neighborhood to assess fruits and vegetables it can be
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come senator for seniors and hard to travel get on a bus to get an apple or a pear or like tomatoes to fit into their meals my my name is ryan the co-coordinate for the tenderloin healthy store he coalition we work in the neighborhood trying to support small businesses and improving access to healthy produce in the tenderloin that is one of the most neighborhoods that didn't have access to a full service grocery store and we california together out of the meeting held in 2012 through the major development center the survey with the corners stores
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many stores do have access and some are bad quality and an overwhelming support from community members wanting to utilities the service spas we decided to work with the small businesses as their role within the community and bringing more fresh produce produce cerebrothe neighborhood their compassionate about creating a healthy environment when we get into the work they rise up to leadership. >> the different stores and assessment and trying to get them to understand the value of having healthy foods at a reasonable price you can offer people fruits and vegetables and healthy produce they can't afford it not going to be able to allow it so that's why i want to get involved and we just make sure that there are alternatives to
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people can come into a store and not just see cookies and candies and potting chips and that kind of thing hi, i'm cindy the director of the a preif you believe program it is so important about healthy retail in the low income community is how it brings that health and hope to the communities i worked in the tenderloin for 20 years the difference you walk out the door and there is a bright new list of fresh fruits and vegetables some place you know is safe and welcoming it makes. >> huge difference to the whole environment of the community what so important about retail
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environments in those neighborhoods it that sense of dignity and community safe way. >> this is why it is important for the neighborhood we have families that needs healthy have a lot of families that live up here most of them fruits and vegetables so that's good as far been doing good. >> now that i had this this is really great for me, i, go and get fresh fruits and vegetables it is healthy being a diabetic you're not supposed to get carbons but getting extra food a all carbons not eating a lot of vegetables was bringing up my whether or not pressure once i got on the
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program everybody o everything i lost weight and my blood pressure came down helped in so many different ways the most important piece to me when we start seeing the business owners engagement and their participation in the program but how proud to speak that is the most moving piece of this program yes economic and social benefits and so forth but the personal pride business owners talk about in the program is interesting and regarding starting to understand how they're part of the larger fabric of the community and this is just not the corner store they have influence over their
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community. >> it is an owner of this in the department of interior i see the great impact usually that is like people having especially with a small family think liquor store sells alcohol traditional alcohol but when they see this their vision is changed it is a small grocery store for them so they more options not just beer and wine but healthy options good for the business and good for the community i wish to have more