selected. some of the units that they applied for were not senior units and they were seniors. some were -- did not meet the income requirements. some were over income, some were under income. [please stand by]

it shows in where everybody is coming from. where they are housed, i am

going all-around the world here. where they are housed, there were 69 households housed in 158 giant158unit units set aside. some were after this reporting period. they are generally across from the whole city. i will tell you before you ask why people weren't housed for displaced tenants, a lot of the buildings in the set were designated for seniors and so the people applying didn't qualify for those units. there were somewhere this preference wasn't even reached because there were so many other applicants. for example alice griffith had a preference for people returning

so they didn't get to the displaced tenants' housing preference in that one. the interest where people wanted to live really plays into they might be applying for units. when it coming down to it, they are holding back and taking the unit that they really want to live in. now, i am moving to neighborhood preference, neighborhood resident housing preference. in that housing preference, there were 8726 applications, with that 40% set aside. for 216 units. some of the projects were ineligible for neighborhood housing preference because of the building size or federal,

state or other funding limitations. but it is clearly there is a wide area that folks are getting into back into the same neighborhood they hailed from. there were 20 closed projects and 188 households who took occupancy in these units. the more it is going on. newly constructed units. so they were under occupancy under that preference. you know, i am telling you about the numbers and the data and the analysis of the data. what we are talking about is people. we are talking about people

getting housed. i would like to introduce you to three households, one from each of these preferences. the first picture is a mother and daughter who were re-housed in the mother's neighborhood of certificate of preference. the mother was a child when her family was displaced from hunter's point. she moved back from fairfield close to family and friends and now she is able to raise her daughter in the neighborhood she wanted her family wanted her raised in but they were displaced. the middle picture is a fire victim. she was displaced from her rent controlled unit from deep five because of a fire. she was able to purchase a unit

in d10 because of the displaced tenants housing preference. finally, this is a father and son. the family purchased the bmr unit as the first home. the cute little guy's parents had been living in a studio with this toddler in d5, also. with the neighborhood preference they were able to purchase a two bedroom bmr in their same neighborhood and they were looking outside of the city because they could only afford the studio that they were raising this boy in. now they are able to stay in san francisco. that is my report. i have the resolution to accept the report and the clerk asked us to do some minor edits to it. it is amended a bit.

thank you. >> thank you so much. colleagues do you have any questions? >> go ahead. thank you very much. i was a legislative aid that pushed neighborhood preference through. that was a large bolder going up a hill and i thank everyone. and the director at the time. i think it was really important because one of the things we kept hearing when we were out in the communities is that i want to stay in my neighborhood with affordable housing if i apply, and i am not able to get these different developments.

i ran into him and he was talking about it. how much it really meant to have a place in the neighborhood that they had been for so long and their support systems in the neighborhood. that was really important. a lot of the development is in certain areas of the city. we have to look at, to be fair, developments, you know, throughout the city and looking to build those developments. the one question i had because the first neighborhood preference that we were age to use was a senior center, kennedy. we were able to use and that had federal funds. when hud had -- because

neighborhood preference is around in new york since the 1970s. talked to hudto say we really need this. one of things they opened up the really bright people from the mayor office office of housing in san francisco had come up with a displacement map, and asked the federal government to use the displacement map, which

was bayview-hunters point, a small part of china town and areas in excelsior also. the federal government actually said, yes, you can use displacement. when you talked about not having this in, not using neighborhood preference in federally funded buildings can you talk about why? we did it at willoughby kennedy senior center. that is displacement. why aren't we doing it in other areas for displacement with federal funding. first of all, we don't have any buildings that are being built with federal funding. the federal funding has in essence dried up.

willoughby kennedy was the last one now time has gone and we are able to analyze and look at whether there really is an impact on the communities to have the preference applied. we have gone back to the state because we do have several buildings with state funding. we will have more with state funding in the future with the recent bonds passed from the state. we went to the state. we showed them analysis and they

agreed that at a lower percentage we would be able to apply the neighborhood preference to buildings funded with their money. we feel that is a real win. it is better than having nothing for neighborhood preference and we are really excited to be able to apply it across the board. in the future we will be able to apply it. >> i dealt with advocates when we were doing legislation. they wants 50%, 60%. also, displacement from the federal government included the mission.

i think in the western addition that was the canary in the cave. we felt like it was too late for the western addition, sadly. there were areas bayview, mission, excelsior that it could be applied to. that is where we got the biggest push from the advo cats. then 40%. now 25 makes it. i just think we are going backwards. i feel like we need to fight for at least the 40. i mean i will definitely. i think we should really push the state for 40. i just do. i think it is something that if we are trying to preserve these neighborhoods with cultural districts and everything else. we have to save the people that live there and give them choices.

one other question. with any of the certificate of preference do you have the numbers how many people just didn't make enough money to qualify for affordable housing? >> i don't have the actual numbers. that is a real problem. >> it is huge everywhere. my district i know and supervisor walton's district it is prevalent because of my prior job i was out there trying to figure out how can we get people in the housing in the neighborhood? one of the biggest hurdles we worked on. people do not make the 35 as as 55% -- 55% ami. the affordable housing is 55% ami. that is $46,500 per year.

people weren't making that. that is something i think we also need to address is that we need to make sure we have our academies from work force, free city college to the places to get people to b to be able to be ready to apply for these. if we have all of the preferences if they don't make enough money. $46,500. we have had this conversation. we have talked each other's ear off about it, that they still, the notion that who are they building this for is still a problem. >> that's right. it is. i think that is the bad news, and i don't know how to make it completely go away. the good news is that the tax credit regulations from the state have recently changed to allow serving households at 30%

ami in tax credits before they were at 60% or 50 or 60%. now we are able to serve folks at 30%. it is awhile for the units to be built, but at least it is a move, a little bit in that direction of being able to serve a lower income household. >> thank you. >> thank you supervisor walton. >> thank you so ever for this report. i don't know if you know this right now. do we know how many clps exist that are not housed? >> let me get the numbers for that, too. we know that there were almost 7,000 households documented that were actually displaced back in the day.

we know that approximately 2000 have used their certificates. others moved and didn't use the certificate. many of them are deceased at this point, almost 2000. then we have on our lists about 925 active people that want us to continue to send them notifications, but of those 900 folks, there are about 200 actively looking for housing. those are the same 200 that are applying to a lot of things going to check it out and saying, no, i will wait or they are not qualifying because of income constraints and they are waiting for something they can qualify. our number that we are really

looking at is around 200 households. it will probably grow. you know what i hear? when we talk to folks that some of them are waiting until they want to go into a senior building. they are going to wait for a senior building that they want to move into to become available. we had many, many, many applications for doctor davis from the certificate of preference holders. >> i am aware why a lot of the clps wait to accept certain housing. as we look at do you know the ethnic breakdown of the beneficiaries of the clps and neighborhood preference? >> we are going to come back to

you in january 2020 with a full demographic report. i can tell you that the certificate of preference program demographics are 99% african-american folks. we will come back with the displaced tenant and neighborhood preference demographics. >> that is key. i remember when we had the neighborhood preference fight, there were a lot of communities that typically would fight together that weren't on the same page around neighborhood preference in terms of what they thought the unattended consequences would be for certain groups, and i think it is important that people see the data how important this actually was, particularly for a black community and communities of color to remain and come back to san francisco as well. how are we informing the communities when there is affordable housing in the

pipeline of neighborhood preference strategies and how these work? >> we just in 2018, we revamped our inclusionary bmr marketing requirements because we weren't -- buildings were coming up and people didn't know there were bmrs in the building. we have them put a sign on the outside of the building there are available units coming up so you know that is something that you can attain. we work really hard with developers, both nonprofit and for profit to do local neighborhood outreach. when people apply through the system, through our on-line application system, first of

all, we have e-mail housing alert that goes out to, i want to say 45,000 people, 47,000 people, and when people apply through dahlia, they put address in, it automatically tells them you get this preference. they have to upload a document tthat shows their address. if they don't upload up to ask them over again. this really matters to get eligible if you go further to upload the document. we have great up take in the neighborhood preference from people. some didn't know they would get it until they actually applied and it was given to them. i don't know if that answers your question. >> have them build all affordable and understanding

where supervisor brown is coming from in terms of lowering income requirements for affordable. i know that. for instance 10a and 11:00 a.m. going as low as 30% and everything. we will check in on that and check on that. that work is being done. we are laser focused on keeping an eye on that in the district as well. >> i want to add that i think the report really does show that preferences as a strategy for housing access is having some useful effect. i appreciate the support. the board is going to get the report on an annual basis. i think it shows a limit as policy tool in the face of the rampant displacement crisis looking at the numbers of applican't in the preference category. i think it was over 9,000 and

less than 300 were housed through preference. it is good to see the numbers. that gap i think highlights the need to tackle the housing speculation and displacement crisis head on as well as have effective preference programs to create better access to affordable housing opportunities for people we feel like should be a high priority. you know, i think above all, we clearly need to build more affordable housing in the city, and to increase opportunities for those in san francisco to have stable housing in the community and city wide. there is a lot of focus on that in the mayor's office to expand affordable housing. as supervisor brown referenced, that is particularly true on the west side in district four that

haven't received investments on affordable housing until now. on the preferences there are no housing preference eligible projects in district four, district one or district 7. the west side of the city. of the thousands of applicants from the west side, most were unhoused by the program. those that applied from my district were housed outside of my district. there were zero applicants able to use the neighborhood preference in district four because there was no project in their neighborhood. i wanted to make those points and maybe ask the question that is on a broader topic. if the affordable housing bond that is in the works passes, will money be dedicated to affordable housing projects in neighborhoods that have been under served, for example, in

district four? >> i don't have the answer to that question. i am sure i can find out where things are going with the bond. i know that every dollar that we get goes towards serving as many people as we can. i wil will will take that back e information. >> since we are really starting to focus on small sites, buying buildings with small sites, and i am not sure how the money in the mayor's office of housing and community development is going to be districted, but there is a lot of buildings that we can buy on the west side, and we have pushed some of the money to do that, $40 million, but i am also looking at because when

you are -- a lot of the buildings you buy, there are a fuelty units in them by -- a fuelty units in them. we want to know that the buildings are going to be up in the neighborhood. that is something we should focus on, too. the small site program and letting the neighborhood know that they can use the neighborhood preference for the small sites and even with the buying the buildings, the unit cost at the higher levels are so much cheaper than building brand-new buildings. i am hoping that mocd is looking at how to fund the small site program even more because i think that is going to impact the west side of the district to have that equal number of units people can actually keep in their neighborhood. thank you. >> sang you supervisor -- thank

you supervisor brown. public comment. any members of th the public to comment on this item? you have two minutes. >> good evening. five earrings today. you all new to city hall. supervisor brown, she has been around a long time. she is new to politics like you all. she hasn't been elected yet but she is selected and appointed.

she is talking about district five where i was born and raised. many are black and have suffered housing. right now redevelopment ocii have obligations they haven't fulfilled yet. we have politicians talking. we can't get the building in your district on fillmore street. you talk about this outreach stuff. i am the master at it. nobody came to me to talk about nothing. let me stop right here before i get too excited, supervisors. i am talking to you and somebody knows who else i am talking to. if you all think you are going to come into my community and do what you want to do with housing, jobs without the community no input, you are doing something illegal in my opinion. all of this posturing, these hearing here. i can't get a town hall meeting

in my district. my supervisor says i am handling too many things. i am here to ask for a public hearing on the addition. the fillmore heritage center. there is no due process. everything is under control in district five. no public comment on what is happening. that has to top is. any other process i want a federal investigation because i am tired of the city politics playing tricks to make me turn to a lunatic. this is my venue to let district five know town hall meeting and you all i want a public meeting what is happening in the western addition. >> thank you. any other members of the public that would like to speak on this item? public comment is closed. colleagues. i would like to make an amendment to make a tilings to

better reflect the substance of the item. can we recommend this as amended to the full board? >> thank you. we can finish up the final item quickly. it is going to be continued. >> miss clerk please call item two. hearing on the process taken by the city lobbyists on behalf of the city and the city's position to external bodies and agencies. >> considering that the upon upn sponsor is unable to attend today. we will continue. we will take public comment because it was on the agenda.

do you have any comments or questions. any members of the public to testify? seeing none, public testimony is now closed. can we continue this one week to march 14th? thank you. is there any other business? seeing none, this meeting is now closed. .

>> shop and dine the 49 promotes loophole businesses and changes residents to do thirds shopping and diane within the 49 square miles of san francisco by supporting local services we help san francisco remain unique and successful where will you shop and dine shop and dine the 49. >> my name is neil the general manager for the book shop here on west portal avenue if san francisco this is a neighborhood bookstore and it is a wonderful neighborhood but it is an interesting community because the residents the neighborhood muni loves the neighborhood it is community and we as a book sincerely we see the same people here the

shop all the time and you know to a certain degree this is part of their this is created the neighborhood a place where people come and subcontract it is in recent years we see a drop off of a lot of bookstores both national chains and neighborhoods by the neighborhood stores where coming you don't want to - one of the great things of san francisco it is neighborhood neighborhood have dentist corrosive are coffeehouses but 2, 3, 4 coffeehouses in month neighborhoods that are on their neighborhoods that are on their own- that's - 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, and where "the rock" holds court over the largest natural harbor on the west coast. - the city's information technology professionals work on revolutionary projects, like providing free wifi to residents and visitors, developing new programs to keep sfo humming, and ensuring patient safety at san francisco general. our it professionals make government accessible through award-winning mobile apps, and support vital infrastructure projects like the hetch hetchy regional water system. - our employees enjoy competitive salaries, as well as generous benefits programs. but most importantly,

working for the city and county of san francisco gives employees an opportunity to contribute their ideas, energy, and commitment to shape the city's future. - thank you for considering a career with the city and county of san francisco. >> we take a lot of pride in what we do. the electric shop covers all of waste water, so out of this location here, we cover everything from oceanside to southeast plant and all the computations including treasure island and yerba buena. we have all the preventative responsibility, maintaining

maintenance and also keeping up with work orders from operations. i would say one of the things fortunately for me is the staff is incredibleably motivated. the staff here knows what to do, how to do the job safely, and it makes my job incredibly easy. >> they know the job, and they know the challenges, and i think it's all about personal pride. they want to do a good job. from our maintenance group to our i.n.c., dedication to the people. when they're going home, and they're crossing the bay bridge, and they get a call that there's a problem with a pump station on treasure island, they return to work. they turnaround in westbound traffic and get back to work and get this pump back in line, and i can't tell you how much that means to me as a boss and the city and county of san

francisco. >> as a group, if they didn't do what they do, the streets would be flooded with waste and gray water, and it could become a health hazard. we take a lot of pride in what we do, and we do the jobs right, and you walk away fulfilled that you've done the city a >> president chow: ladies and gentlemen, i'd like to call the commission meeting to order. mr. morewitz, would you please call roll? >> clerk: [ roll call ]

i believe commissioner loyce would like to say something before we begin. >> yes, i'd like to introduce from the mayor's office. >> president cho >> commissioners, good afternoon. i'm here for one reason. you're rarely ever going to see me here at the commission, but this is important to come to say thank you. to say thank you to greg wagner sitting back there. the mayor would have liked to have been here, couldn't be here, so she asked me to come and publicly state her great appreciation for all that greg has done over the last few months. having to do both jobs and to do both jobs as well as he did is just tremendous. i'll tell ya, i've sat in a number of meetings with the mayor and various department heads. they don't all go so well. they always go well when greg was in there. greg really served this city

well. he served all of you well, the department well, and you should know how lucky you are to have him with you. dr. colfax, you have a good hand to rely on back there, and, greg, thank you for everything. [ applause ] >> i know you want to return to your usual space in the audience, where people can't find you, but on behalf of the health commission, we'd like to present you with a certificate honor, and it reads, as a public health hero, it reads, for your outstanding leadership serving the san francisco department of public health, acting director from august 2018 to february 2019, while still fulfilling your vast duties as cfo, you led the department with grace, dedication, provided stability and vision during a time of

upheaval. we're grateful for your invaluable experience at the san francisco d.p.h. at this time. [ applause ] and the commission recognized that you missed many meals during the course of your tenure. pastry grill for you, as well. >> thank you so much, commissioners. i was not expecting this, but i really appreciate it. it's been an honor to do what i can to help serve. i really appreciate the leadership and the support from the commission and everybody at the department who's doing so much incredible work. so i really appreciate the honor, and i'll in turn honor

all the people at the department that have been going through this with me. so thank you so much. >> thank you. don't leave yet. would my colleagues like to say anything to mr. wagner? commissioner sanchez? >> commissioner sanchez: yes, there comes a time in many people's lives in professional service, in public service, in particular, where certain changes happen and challenges are there, whatever, and it reminds me of a book a long time ago called "men and women to match my mountains," and when we had specific challenges, greg, you not only stepped up, but you kept the ship afloat in all sectors, and you kept the team and the conclusion models where it's been operational with the highest degree of dignity and

professionalism and respect for all our employees and, in fact, what's continued to be one of the best departments in the nation and the world. so i know for all of us it's been an honor to have served you when you first came aboard from a lieutenant, to a captain to a fleet, just awesome. you've served with dignity and respect for all and really kept the spirit and tradition of what we are about at the san francisco department of public health, so thank you for a job well done. >> thank you so much, commissioner, i really appreciate it. >> and i also want to join the chorus and thank you, and especially i think it's not just a challenge, you know, you're doing two jobs while trying to balance a budget for us to present to the mayor, so that's an even, like, taller task than normal people have to do. and you do it with so much grace, and i'm really -- i admire how calm, cool, and collected you've always been.

that's not one time, you know, that you seem like you stress at all, so you make that easy for us, as well, so thank you. >> thank you so much, commissioner, i really appreciate it. >> thank you again, greg. >> thank you all. [ applause ] >> president chow: item two on today's agenda is the minutes from the february 5, 2019 meeting. commissioners, the minutes are before you, any deletions, edits, additions you'd like to make to the minutes? >> move for approval. >> second. >> president chow: all those in favor say aye. >> clerk: we did not take public comment on the item before you voted, and it looks like there's someone in the audience who would like to make public comment. >> mark, where is the timer? >> secretary: this is what we're

going to do. at two minutes the buzzer will go off and you'll finish the sentence you're in and we'll go on. >> two-minute limit you got here? >> secretary: two minutes, yes. >> two minutes, all right. >> hi, michael batrellis. i'm a sunshine advocate, and regarding these minutes from your last meeting, what i want to address is the item about grant colfax is now the head of the department, and what i want to address briefly has to do with what we used to call the swiss recommendations, which said that people, hiv-positive people, hiv-positive people on drugs on hiv meds who were undetectable for at least six months with no sexually transmitted diseases would not pass on the virus, even if they had sex without condoms, and the swiss recommendations are now

the undetectable equals untransmissable. you equals you. my concern, grant, is that back in 2008 when the swiss recommendations came out, you made policy for the health department in the hotel room in boston during the troy conference. i'm hoping that you will not create hiv policy for the city at a conference when you're out of town, and that you will hold at least one public meeting before you make a position. the other item i want to address, you're talking about in the minutes about matters related to what you call zuckerberg s.f. general hospital. well, i'm hoping you eventually get around to addressing how the zuckerberg name needs to be erased for many reasons from s.f. general, and i'm always happy when i see in the chronicle, like i do today,

lawyer best remedy for s.f. general bill. the headline does not say zuckerberg s.f. general, and that is really terrific. thank you. >> secretary: commissioners, i apologize, and you are now able to vote. >> president chow: we return to the calendar item, and i will call the roll for the voting on acceptance of the minutes. all those in favor? opposed? hearing none, before the next item, i want to take the opportunity to welcome dr. greg colfax as the new director of public health. i look forward to working with you again, we had a long relationship, a couple days ago, both in the a.e.'s office, so i'm appreciative of the fact that you're here, and i know you bring a great skill set to the department of public health, and i look forward to working with you again. [ applause ] >> secretary: and item three is

the director's report. >> so thank you for that warm welcome. thank you, health commissioners. as you know, i've been in the job for about six hours, so i really want to express appreciation for a seamless and welcoming onboarding process, especially working with greg and his leadership, mark and look forward to returning to this great city and working with each of you, mayor breed, board of supervisors, the commissioners, to provide san francisco with the right services at the right place at the right time and believe we can make san francisco the place that realizes full health equity so all residents have a opportunity to optimize their health in a city providing safe, clean, and affordable options for all communities. summarizing the written document you have in front of you, first of all, with regard to adult urgent care, mayor breed will

hold a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new clinic space. the center's relocating to first floor in building five on the zuckerberg san francisco general campus and the urgent care will officially open on february 21st, and as someone who worked in urgent care at zuckerberg for almost a decade, i'm pleased to see it, it will have 12 patient rooms, expanding by an additional three rooms in the former space and this was a $1.8 million capital project that was partially funded by prop a and the city's capital budget. so this was a collaborative process with the department of public works, and the urgent care will be the first clinic to relocate to building five as part of the larger long-term effort to relocate primary care services there. second item is methamphetamine task force. as you know, methamphetamine

continues to be a public health issue in the city and mayor london breed and supervisor mandelman announced the methamphetamine task force. the department of public health will lead and coordinate the task force along with mayor breed and supervisor mandelman. challenges for treatment options, policy changes, and integration of behavioral health and physical health efforts to better address this continuing public health epidemic. the task force is going to be multidisciplinary. it will include people from the department, as well as folks from law enforcement, researchers, treatment providers, emergency responders, and so forth. and the goal is for the task force to issue recommendations in fall of 2019 to help move our community forward in addressing this issue. on february 13, the annual

heroes and hearts event was held at pier 48. it was a vibrant evening honoring and commemorating zuckerberg san francisco general and san francisco general foundation invited former congress person patrick kennedy, a national mental health advocate, as keynote speakers, and guests for the inspirational views on mental health and addiction care in america, from kennedy, as well as from san francisco, mayor london breed. a key to the work is the hospital foundation has established a transform mental health and behavioral health fund, which is receiving record breaking support from community and businesses and following up on issues we heard earlier today with the ongoing issues of behavioral health in the city, and really this fund will help in resources, systemic infrastructure, and tests not scaled interventions.

on february 7, the department commemorated -- bought national black hiv/aids awareness day, in partnership with hope san francisco and community members, there was an event held at the community space in sunny dale. the day began with community members speaking their truth regarding black history and several youth recited poems around hiv and hiv testing was made available. the event ended with a positive skit and an incredible dance performance from community youth. and going back to my earlier comments around health equity, we know unfortunately even though we've made great progress in the hiv epidemic, health inequities continue, particularly in the black/african-american community. this event really highlighted those issues and certainly will be a priority as we move forward as a department. speaking of which, with regard to hiv, the lancet health

journal featured the getting to zero initiative, which highlighted our efforts to end the city's hiv epidemic, and you'll recall the mission to getting to zero is downgrading to 90% by 2020. there's a roster membership now of over 250 people with five different community, excuse me, including focusing on scale-up of pro really looking at how adolescents and young adults are cognizant of their risk and what interventions we need to do to prevent new infections. the data suggests the efforts are paying off. in 2013, before the program began, there were 394 new hiv diagnoses, and by 2017 this had fallen to 221 new hiv infections, a 44% decrease, and very importantly, hiv-associated

deaths have also fallen by more than 50% over the past ten years. another key issue highlighted recently in the press, a key program, key initiative, is the healthy san francisco model, which is really served now as a model for health care programming, not only within our city, but has played it forward to other cities and jurisdictions across the -- across the nation. you'll recall health of san francisco offers access to care for those 18 years and older who earn up to 500% of the federal poverty level and have no other health care coverage options. it's offered to qualified residents, regardless of employment, immigration, or health status, and even with implementation of the affordable care act, there are still people who need this important service. very importantly, los angeles and new york city are exploring whether to implement healthy san francisco-like programs in other jurisdictions, new orleans, denver, pittsburgh, and miami have also expressed an interest

in healthy san francisco-type programs. another example where it starts in san francisco and it goes elsewhere, for better. san francisco's measles vaccination rate, highlighting this because it was recently in the news that washington state declared a state of emergency to a measles outbreak, and that has resulted in health officials in our department re-enforcing to families the importance of immunizing their children. thankfully, titan state vaccination requirements have greatly reduced the risk of a measles outbreak here, and since 2015 when california eliminated the personal belief exemptions, students with all required immunizations in the city has increased by 2.4%, and we're at a healthy 94.9% vaccination rate overall, so it's very unlikely that we would see a measles outbreak in this jurisdiction, but again, when we see what's happening in washington, we want to re-enforce the public health importance of getting people immunized.

plans to improve zuckerberg san francisco general, long-term billing practices. we'll go into this later in the agenda today, but just to highlight the fact that on february 1, the mayor and supervisor aaron peskin and our department announced immediate steps to improve billing practices at zuckerberg, so patients who are in the middle of payment disputes between the hospital and their insurance provider, very importantly, this included temporary halt, excuse me, to balance billing patients and mr. wagner will be presenting a little update on this later today. so just a brief update with regard to the activities in the department and those related to the department, and thank you very much for your attention. and if you have any questions, i'm happy to answer them. >> president chow: commissioners? thank you for your report, dr. colfax. >> secretary: i did not receive any public comment requests for this item, although i just see

one, mr. batrellis, you have two minutes. >> hold on, i have a timer here. >> secretary: starting the timer now. >> hi, michael batrellis again. grant, amazing report for only six hours on the job, and my concerns have to do with the getting to zero. first of all, one important issue that's not being addressed by getting to zero is the high price of drugs. i see this as a blot of shame on sfdph that you have not taken public stance, continuous public stance, against gilead in our own backyard for their outrageous pricing on all of their aids and hepatitis drugs. a big stumbling block to getting to zero is the high price of truvada, and i think that you've got to put this on the agenda. now, regarding stigma and getting to zero, one thing that

needs to be addressed are the awful social marketing campaigns that were conducted against gays. in the 1990s and early 2000s. this ad shows a person with an s.t.d. as a walking, talking time bomb. this is from city clinic. this ad creates stigma by equating a person with an s.t.d. as a time bomb. that is not healthy for the community. there were also these ads from the aids foundation about more than just an f. we were continually bombarded, provoked, with these awful social marketing campaigns that have contributed to the stigma and need to be addressed. this is what i want to discuss with you, grant, and lastly, we need a public campaign

congratulating gay men who have survived the epidemic from the activism we did and for surviving a plague. it is time for a positive social marketing congratulating gay men for all that we have done during the plague. >> president chow: thank you. >> secretary: item four, general public comment. mr. batrellis has put in a request and that's the only request i received. >> hi, michael batrellis again. so, grant, i put in a request to meet with you, because i think that you have a terrific opportunity to take some bold leadership on addressing some of the past wrongs and creating an agenda that really puts san francisco at the forefront doing

things that aren't being done, such as this positive social marketing campaign i just talked about. i think that this commission needs to put the high price of gilead's drugs on the agenda. you are paying out a fortune every day to get the hepatitis c cure and provide it to people in the jails. i don't think it's okay that you've not had this as an agenda item. and that can be changed going forward. the last matter has to deal with commissioner dan bernal, who as we all know is pelosi's district manager here. we need to have you holding public meetings in the evening. your boss cannot hold town hall meetings. okay, i understand that, but your duty as her representative, pun intended, is for you to hear public comment at meetings you

organized, regular monthly town halls with you. if you have enough time to serve on the health commission, you have enough time to put on biweekly, if not monthly, town halls to hear from mrs. pelosi's constituents. right now you are not hearing about how constituents want the green deal embraced by mrs. pelosi. is that the timer? >> secretary: no, you have about four seconds. >> four seconds. so, dan, get with the town hall meetings, please. thank you. >> secretary: commissioners, item five is a community and public health committee report back. and i spoke to commissioner loyce, because so many people are here for the employee awards, with your permission, we can come back with that after item six, so everyone can do what they need to do to support their colleagues. so the item six is