sfhousing.org, that is where you can do an on-line application system. >> so i guess in summation, we do have issues regarding housing. not just accessibility, but housing, period. i was just surprised. >> are there any other questions by council members? >> yes, we have. the first council member -- i sound like a game show host, no disrespect. >> yes, you would. >> the next council member that would like to speak is helen smolinski, and after that, orkid sasounni. >> yes. just briefly, miss yanga. in addition to the planning department, the assessor's

office. there's something within the assessor's office where you can apply and say i'm doing this to make my house accessible for a disabled person. let's just say there was a lot of back and forth and you know -- to -- to no good end at the end, you know? they just wore us down, but that's something else that should be looked into, considered, etc. because we're making our home accessible. and it was -- and maybe -- and maybe -- and you know, maybe this issue is part of my frustration when i'm talking with you, so i apologize. >> no, right. >> it's just it's government bureaucracy, and you're the face right now. you're a good sport for listening to us. >> no. you clarify what the issue is so we can make sure we note that. as i said, we are talking to other city departments, and if we can make sure that we raise

these particular issues with their sister agencies -- >> yeah, it impacts the property values. >> okay. property taxes. >> all right. orkid? >> all right. i just have a few comments. i think the hardest part in this issue of renting is the deposit that's required. landlords say you don't meet what's required for the deposit, and they don't have enough money for the deposit, so that's an issue which is a barrier. and then, there are cultural issues in working with people with disabilities, and it's a barrier for them, and that's something that people confront on a daily basis, so i really

think that it's an attitude within government -- or city agencies that need to change, as well. and -- it's the culture of the city and how it runs that these agencies and the representatives within the agencies don't know how to work with people's disabilities. >> all right. we're going to go to staff in just a moment, but i just want to say to you you've heard all the comments of my colleagues here, and i think we certainly have given you a good amount of things to think about, to be sure. and i want to commend you for coming to speak us to and to hear our concerns. a few years ago, i was involved to some extent in the field of

real estate as a realtor, and i quickly found that -- and i wanted to focus to some extent in -- on people with disabilities. yes, there are some people with disabilities who can afford to purchase homes due to their income, but i quickly found there was a large number of persons who could not afford it, certainly here in san francisco. and it was a real eye opener, if you will, to me. and i knew this could be true, but i guess sometime you's you got to be out there in the middle of it. it's not just the economic aspect, although this's critically important as noted by helen, but it's the accessibility issue. housing can be affordable, but if they're not accessible,

people with disabilities can't move there. that's just the reality. so there you have it. i want to go to -- oh, did you want to respond? >> no, i just wanted to say thank you. >> all right. anyone from the staff want to comment? >> thank you, council members, for being willing to be open and to be put on the spot and for responding so candidly. i appreciate it. we really appreciate hearing this. one of the things that i want to offer is if you're willing to send this set of questions to me, i'd be happy to distribute it to this group so that everybody can have a chance to think through anything that maybe wasn't addressed that was one of your questions. maybe they are he -- make sure they're not on the survey. >> well, even if they are on the survey, i think it's good to get multiple per expespecti

even if it's on the survey. one thing i looked up was if you wanted to address accessibility in the way that helen was speaking to it in terms of physical accessibility to the space, was write-in answers. i want us to be thoughtful of it how we're weighting how folks answer those questions because of different definitions of what housing access means. so we're happy to work with you more and provide subject matter experts or whatever you need in

this iteration. we're very open and thankful for this conversation. i just want us to be mindful of current definitions. i just wanted to say a few things. one, when we send up the council, i'm also happy to provide information on the dalia portal. the dalia affordable housing team has presented to the mayor's disability council in the past, but it might be time to invite them again. we did try to bring them in today, but they weren't -- they weren't available today. but i would very encourage us to also hear from the portal team so you actually understand how -- when we do have accessible units available, how that information is made available, and you may have

suggestions towards that, as well because it's a portal that's in development, so i'd like to encourage that. >> thank you. >> and that's it from me for now. >> thank you very much. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you very much, nicolle. anyone else from staff? >> not at this time. >> not at this time. okay. so let's go to the bridge line. are there folks on the bridge line who would like to comment -- oh, before i do that -- okay. got to back up. first off, i just want to thank you again for making your presentation to us. it was tremendous. i commend you under a bit of fire. we do take your comments seriously and we do want to work with you. i just want to say that and that will conclude your part of the presentation. >> thank you. >> all right. so let's see...first wh -- fir

want to do, are there any other people in the room. >> there's public comment. >> and there's someone on the bridge line. >> all right. someone on the bridge line. we'll get to the bridge line in a moment. >> so you want the public comment first? >> yeah. i think we're supposed to do the public comment first and then the bridge line. >> okay. this is loretta litke, am i saying that right? >> i'm a disabled senior. i have m.s. it took me about ten years to find housing including through the city. i was told that -- i was literally crawling up the stairs and they told me you don't need housing because i had an apartment. i finally found housing, and i want accessible housing that's

financially beiaccessible. i have cried so many times because of those -- may they rot in hell. is there any way i can the city into not using bridge property management? any other groups that will do management? okay. 'cause they're taking over 50 more places in california this month. i've been there three years -- [inaudible] >> there's another comment -- >> okay. is there another comment?

>> yes. my name is teresa flandrick and i work at senior and disability action and i try to work with agencies to get deeply affordable housing especially for seniors and people with disability. so because we believe that there is an affordable crisis, there has been a lot of housing built in market rate which makes a lot of it unaffordable. i live in north beach -- there are many seniors -- as you know, north beach, chinatown, we have the greatest concentration of seniors and people with disabilities. our s.r.o.s, which are last affordable places, which are also being used for high earning young tech workers because you can get more money

from them. so we are fighting very hard to keep and preserve the housing we do have, but to make damn sure it is accessible. there are many ways that things can be done, but we also need to make sure that we are building housing that is from day one accessible, and so senior and housing that accommodates also wheelchairs, right? all sorts of different mobility mechanisms that people need in order to simply enjoy life. so one of the things that we have seen and which is a problem that i forgot to mention in our focus group yesterday with these folks is the idea that there are a lot of people, some who have small children with disabilities who

for a long time were carrying their children down the three, four flights of shares but now, the oldest is a teen, and that just can't happen anymore? the woman can't continue to carry her child down the steps. so asking for a ground-level unit, yes, she could do that, leave her three-bedroom unit for a two-bedroom unit on the ground level, but she would then be required to pay market rate for that one. even though she's in a rent controlled, a much lower -- a much larger unit also with a view, that shouldn't be, and that happens in many different buildings. so to truly keep the housing we need and make it accessible, people need to have the disability to move from a third floor to a ground-level floor

without being charged an outrageous amount. >> thank you. >> all right. thank you very much. are there anymore people from the public who wish to speak? >> no more public comment. >> no more public comment? all right. i'm going to the bridge line. last, but certainly not least, by any means, is the bridge line. is there anyone on the bridge line who would like to comment? >> yes, there is. >> all right. who do we have? >> this is helen walsh. i'm going to speak again on information and communications. i kind of echo what the commission has been saying in regards to inclusion of -- on surveys of the disability community. both we are community as individuals with diverse disabilities that are low-income that are having issues finding housing. and if our data is not included in the surveys, general

surveys, we're missing out. children grow up with disabilities and there are children that need accessibility as they're growing up. as able bodied people age, we need accessible housing. so i think it's really important on the survey to find a way. i appreciate that there'll be a focus group, but i also think on surveys, because the data is missing in all our departments in cities and this municipality, that i can see, it's important to start raising these questions to the low-income housing and disability issues. i'm hoping the survey is included in an accessible format.

i think it's great that it has different languages. i'm hoping that this survey also, if it does have a printout or is accessible to people that are deaf-blind, i think it's important that we get our data in some sort of form in our city so that our planning and our strategic planning is a lot better so that we can serve more people, and we can ensure that housing is accessible for the citizens of san francisco or any other place. that's my comment. >> fantastic. thank you very much. is there anyone else from the bridge line who would like to speak? going once, twice, three times. all right. so i think -- boy, someone's phone's going off. i'd like to conclude this presentation. it certainly has generated a

lot of discussion and collaboration. we want to be -- i should say have a voice in the issue of affordable housing and -- and accessible housing going forward, and so we'll be looking at this very carefully as we go forward. all right. so we have concluded two very important presentations today. running a bit behind schedule, but it's okay. i think we've got plenty of time. now we're going to go to something that is going to be really good, i have to say. before i was on this council, i've been to ceremonial situations before, and i've

heard discussions take place. this is the first time i get to be involved with it. but we're going to have a ceremonial item here. we're going to honor donna adkins. and donna is the former programatic access. she's moved on, but she's certainly made an outstanding contribution to the work that she's done over the years. i just wanted to give an opportunity for minute who wants to say something, but i just wanted to kick it off by saying that i think it was a couple years ago when i first came onto the council, donna was one of the first people that i spoke to, and i went to my interview back in -- i think

it was january -- well, it was a couple years ago, and saw donna in the office on disability. i've seen donna at other meetings. she's active in the community. she's been to meeting with the california council of the blind in san francisco. she's very thoughtful, and that's the thing that i'll always remember about her. left the meeting at the end, and she assisted me, you know, down stairs to get a cab out on market street. could have done all that on my own, but donna was there in the moment of need and gave me some direction on how to do it in that place. so i really want to thank you, donna, for all the work you've done and for being as thoughtful and understanding as -- as you've been. and that's what i have to say. >> jim, do you want to invite

donna up? >> oh, yes, donna, i do want to invite you up. >> hi, donna. >> hey, donna. >> hi. >> first of all, i want to thank the cochairs and council and staff for having me on a sunny friday afternoon. it's very lovely for you to honor me for doing something that for four years, i just really enjoyed doing as part of my job. i've seen many iterations of staff over that time. carleton, nicolle, and nate and nicolle are still over there, running the ship. and i've seen many iterations of council, including star and harry and roland and chip and denise, who was still with us.

but one thing i will say about this particular group of council members, i'm excited because i've seen this group for almost two years together, i think, and you each represent a different lens on a particular disability. and i think that's really important to the city and county of san francisco. i think that this particular group really does represent people with disabilities in the city and county of san francisco quite well. i was chuckling while helen was talking because that is the type of dialogue i expect this council to engage in regarding some of the pit falls around accessibility in the city and council. so i appreciate you having me here. it's lovely to be here. i'm looking forward to seeing all of you in lots of different places in my new role as the

disaster prep person, because as you all know, disaster preparedness means persons with disabilities, too. regardless of my position in the city, this is my commitment to you. i will always have a lens of accessibility and thoughtfulness and inclusion because at the end of the day, we are all going to be a person with a disability, so the more we have people like you with that advocacy, the more work we're going to get done in the city. so thank you for having me, i'm happy to be here, and thanks. >> all right, donna, thank you. [applause] >> no, i'm glad you spoke. i was going to give you an opportunity to do that. and we do want to hear from you. so now, is there anyone from the council who would like to make any comments?

>> yes. through the chair, i would like to announce myself, denis. jim touched upon your thoughtfulness. you know, there's so many things i could say and i don't want to embarrass you so i think i'm just going to focus on a couple of points. you know how much you mean to me and the council. one of the things that stood out the most besides your compassion and understanding on disability issues how you respected and understood and worked with each member of the council through the years that i've known you.

not just through commendation but sensitivity and understanding what they need in order for them to sit up here and do their job. of course you were great on all staff here on administrative work, you know, to support the council and to assist us, but a lot of times beside. you know, you're a colleague, a friend, an educator. you taught us a lot. whatever we asked you to do, even if it wasn't in your job description, you always did it. i want to thank you for that. i mean, we know that we always have colleagues and friends at m.o.d. that we work well and all treat us with respect, and like i said speak to the individuals that work there and the leadership, of course, but everyone is amazing that we work with, but i want to thank you for never getting impatient, never getting upset. i don't know what you were thinking, maybe, but you were really -- you were really great, and it was a pleasure. and i learned -- i learned a

lot from you, so i thank you. and since you mentioned a little bit about what you'll be doing in your job, i'm going to open that up as a presentation opportunity in the future to come. >> absolutely. >> so i think you'll be stuck one way or another in coming back and seeing us. but thank you for all that you've done and the support in accommodating what i need to sit on the council here and making it, you know, very pleasant. so -- >> thank you, cochair. >> thank you. i will quit talking now. >> no, no, no, stay right there for just a few minutes. i just want to make sure in case anyone else wants to -- >> election will be after you. >> okay, alex, you're on. >> oh, kay. >> i started it off, we had denise, alex, kate, maybe more. so -- >> i just want to say thank you so much for helping us out.

and i'm not sure if you remember, i remember you saying you'd always come back, so once you got back, you helped me and retrained me. so thank you, and i'm sure that you're going to sit as soon -- sooner or later, so thank you. >> thank you, alex. and i'm glad you were able to make it work for you to come back and be on the council. you're a good fit. >> all right, kate. >> yes. donna, you're one of the first

people i met once sitting on the council. you expect something from people that are on the council. i remember when i don't do something i think oh, i don't want donna to know but that's good because you have high expectations of the people that serve here. i appreciate that because it makes me feel that i'm valued as a member and i'm honored to be on this council. you're one of the reasons that i feel this way. >> thank you, kate. >> yes, you do set high standards. so i've -- i've learned from and benefits, as well. anyone else? >> through the chair, myself. i'd like to present her with an

award. this is here by granted to donna donna adkins for excellence on the mayor's disability council. i'll walk it down with a little gift from the council. >> thank you, and i will, on monday, the first thing i will do is find a place in my office to put that. >> okay. >> do i see a giants flag? >> oh, yes. >> i think tickets would fit in there just fine. >> yes, thank you, sally. you will be missed, donna, that is for sure. >> okay. and i have one request for the council before i go.

thank you. this really means a lot to me. if someone would be kind enough to reach out to council member kostanian, that would be the best. she's been on the council longer than i've been on the council, and she couldn't be here today. that would mean a lot to me. >> i will do that. >> both of the cochairs will reach out to her. >> thank you. >> thank you. so i think that's all. staff? would anyone from staff like to -- >> i don't think anyone from staff can say good-bye to donna. on behalf of our department, we miss you and we're so proud and privileged to have had the chance to work with you, and your spirit will always be

engrained in the walls of what you're doing, so thank you very much. >> all right. anyone else from staff? let's go to the general public. there might be some folks out there who might want to make a comment or two. we'll go to the bridge. all right. what about the bridge line? they're not going to let me forget about the bridge line. anyone from the bridge line? no? all right. anyone from the public? >> not at this time. >> not at this time. okay. well, then, this has been a very meaningful ceremony to me, and to everyone on the council and the staff. and we're just so grateful to donna, again, gratitude and thanks. we can't express that enough. all right. so the next information item is number ten -- oh, no, wait a minute. let's go back to nine, public

comment. items not on today's agenda but within the jurisdiction of the m.d.c., is there -- do we have any speakers cards? >> no, i don't have any -- oh, sorry. i don't have any speakers cards. >> okay. now we can -- any -- any public comment from the bridge? all right. information item -- let's see -- where am i at? yeah, correspondence. do we have any correspondence at this time? >> hang on. we're having a technical moment. one second. are we -- all is well? >> there's no correspondence. >> no correspondence? okay. let's go to item number 11. are there any council members have comments or announcements?

>> none. >> hearing none, okay, very good -- well, no. if there's none at this time, maybe the next one. so that brings us to the final item, which is number 12, adjournment. do i hear any call for adjournment? >> i'll move to adjourn. >> all right. second? >> second. >> all right. moved and seconded, so i declare this meeting to be adjourned. [gavel]

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>> everything is done in-house. i think it is done. i have always been passionate about gelato. every single slaver has its own recipe. we have our own -- we move on

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

where we will be visiting. we want to make sure that the area has the gelato that you like. what we give back as a shop owner is creating an ambient lifestyle. if you do it in your area and if you like it, then you can do it on the streets you like.

you. >> when i first moved here people come to san francisco to be the person you want to be can be anyone you want.

>> the community is so rich and diverse that i'm learning every single day san francisco is an amazing photoy town historically been base on evolution and that applies to every single professional field including philanthropic arts today what i do is photo based art manifests traditional forest and some colonel lodge and other frames of digital forest is a meeting that has been changing like super rapid and the quality is not extended by the medium if you took forest in school or you get a job in a newspaper they'll give give you a list of how to create a philanthropic story my goal to break down that model and from a to b that is unique

and allows the ability to incorporate different types of i believey about propels someone through the rise and a fall of their own experiences one of the main things i'm trying to contribute it unconditional narrative form the narrative art of photograph the in between of photos how does a group of photos come together as how to use the space between photos to alight emotional responses from the audience and bring innovation and create bodies of work that narratively function the way that photos do san francisco as the commission came out and you visited me and one of their prerestricts was to find an art with enough work to fill a large says that a quad

down the hallway downstairs and we hung that quad to feel like a train station that constant sensation from all different directions some of the major characteristic of the landscape festivities the blur of the train their 70 miles per hour and they're not perfect as opposed to to what landscape will look like it creates a dichotomy for people insides the train not just the story of the subject it is not just the visual design the composition juxtapositioning, etc. not just all autobiography boo-hoo it creates pictures with meaning within them

and then some of the portraits feel awkward some of them feel welcoming and the person that mime making the picture is really comfortable and other ones feel awkward and weigh i didn't and tense that sensation is counter to what we feel like makes a successful portrait that sensation makes that work it is hard to be an artist in a city is 100 percent focused an business the cost of living is expensive and to value your success not scribble on financial return creates a conflict between the paramount egos in san francisco today. >> you see a lot of artists

leaving for that reason because you need space to make work my ultimate goal to make work that firms people firms this gift and just the experience of life and of their worst and of the amazement the wonderment of everything around us [♪]

>> my family's starts in mexico in a small town. my parents are from a very, very small town. so small, that my dad's brother is married to one of my mom's sisters. it's that small. a lot of folks from that town are here in the city.

like most immigrant families, my parents wanted a better life for us. my dad came out here first. i think i was almost two-years-old when he sent for us. my mom and myself came out here. we moved to san francisco early on. in the mission district and moved out to daily city and bounced back to san francisco. we lived across the street from the ups building. for me, when my earliest memories were the big brown trucks driving up and down the street keeping us awake at night. when i was seven-years-old and i'm in charge of making sure we get on the bus on time to get to school. i have to make sure that we do our homework. it's a lot of responsibility for a kid. the weekends were always for family. we used to get together and whether we used to go watch a movie at the new mission theater and then afterwards going to kentucky fried chicken. that was big for us. we get kentucky fried chicken on sunday. whoa! go crazy!

so for me, home is having something where you are all together. whether it's just together for dinner or whether it's together for breakfast or sharing a special moment at the holidays. whether it's thanksgiving or christmas or birthdays. that is home. being so close to berkley and oakland and san francisco, there's a line. here you don't see a line. even though you see someone that's different from you, they're equal. you've always seen that. a rainbow of colors, a ryan bow of personalities. when you think about it you are supposed to be protecting the kids. they have dreams. they have aspirations. they have goals. and you are take that away from them. right now, the price is a hard fight. they're determined. i mean, these kids, you have to

applaud them. their heart is in the right place. there's hope. i mean, out here with the things changing everyday, you just hope the next administration makes a change that makes things right. right now there's a lot of changes on a lot of different levels. the only thing you hope for is for the future of these young kids and young folks that are getting into politics to make the right move and for the folks who can't speak. >> dy mind motion. >> even though we have a lot of fighters, there's a lot of voice less folks and their voiceless because they're scared. ♪ >> about two years ago now i had my first child. and i thought when i come back, you know, i'm going to get back in the swing of things and i'll find a spot. and it wasn't really that way

when i got back to work. that's what really got me to think about the challenges that new mothers face when they come back to work. ♪ >> when it comes to innovative ideas and policies, san francisco is known to pave the way, fighting for social justice or advocating for the environment, our city serves as the example and leader many times over. and this year, it leads the nation again, but for a new reason. being the most supportive city of nursing mothers in the work place. >> i was inspired to work on legislation to help moms return to work, one of my legislative aids had a baby while working in the office and when she returned we had luckily just converted a bathroom at city hall into a lactation room. she was pumping a couple times a day and had it not been for the

room around the hallway, i don't know if she could have continued to provide breast milk for her baby. not all returning mothers have the same access, even though there's existing state laws on the issues. >> these moms usually work in low paying jobs and returning to work sooner and they don't feel well-supported at work. >> we started out by having legislation to mandate that all city offices and departments have accommodations for mothers to return to work and lactate. but this year we passed legislation for private companies to have lactation policies for all new moms returning to work. >> with the newcome -- accommodations, moms should have those to return back to work. >> what are legislation? >> we wanted to make it

applicable to all, we created a set of standards that can be achievable by everyone. >> do you have a few minutes today to give us a quick tour. >> i would love to. let's go. >> this is such an inviting space. what makes this a lactation room? >> as legislation requires it has the minimum standards, a seat, a surface to place your breast on, a clean space that doesn't have toxic chemicals or storage or anything like that. and we have electricity, we have plenty of outlets for pumps, for fridge. the things that make it a little extra, the fridge is in the room. and the sink is in the room. our legislation does require a fridge and sink nearby but it's all right in here. you can wash your pump and put your milk away and you don't have to put it in a fridge that you share with co-workers. >> the new standards will be

applied to all businesses and places of employment in san francisco. but are they achievable for the smaller employers in the city? >> i think small businesses rightfully have some concerns about providing lactation accommodations for employees, however we left a lot of leeway in the legislation to account for small businesses that may have small footprints. for example, we don't mandate that you have a lactation room, but rather lactation space. in city hall we have a lactation pod here open to the public. ♪ ♪ >> so the more we can change, especially in government offices, the more we can support women. >> i think for the work place to really offer support and encouragement for pumping and breast feeding mothers is necessary. >> what is most important about

the legislation is that number one, we require that an employer have a lactation policy in place and then have a conversation with a new hire as well as an employee who requests parental leave. otherwise a lot of times moms don't feel comfortable asking their boss for lactation accommodations. really it's hard to go back to the office after you have become a mom, you're leaving your heart outside of your body. when you can provide your child food from your body and know you're connecting with them in that way, i know it means a lot to a mommy motionlely and physically to be able to do that. and businesses and employers can just provide a space. if they don't have a room, they can provide a small space that is private and free from intrusion to help moms pump and that will attract moms to working in san francisco. >> if you want more information

visit sfdph.org/breastfeedingatwork. ♪ ♪ >> shop and dine in the 49 promotes local businesses, and challenges residents to do their shopping within the 49 square miles of san francisco. by supporting local services in our neighborhood, we help san francisco remain unique, successful, and vibrant. so where will you shop and dine in the 49? >> i am the owner of this restaurant. we have been here in north beach over 100 years. [speaking foreign language]

[♪] [speaking foreign language] [♪] [speaking foreign language]

[speaking foreign language] [♪] [♪]