of parkland throughout golden gate park, but not necessarily through golden community garden. we have it right in the meeting will come to order. welcome to the thursday, march 14th meeting of government audit and oversight committee. i am supervisor gordon mar, chairman. i am joined by supervisor peskin. supervisor brown is unable to join us today due t to illness. i would like to thank samuel williams and james smith for staffing this meeting. do we have a motion to excuse

supervisor brown? >> so moved. >> mr. clerk. mr. clerk that motion is adopted without objection. >> please make sure to silence cell phones. documents should be submitted to the clerk. items will appear on the april 2 board of supervisors agenda unless otherwise stated. >> thank you, mr. clerk. please call item one. >> resolution affirming the board of supervisors per visor commitment to addvensment of racial equity and in the city and county programs policies and veryises in the city programs and policies and services. >> due to supervisor brown's absence i make a motion to continue to the call of the chair. we will take public comment. are there any members of the

public who wish to testify? seeing none, public comment is closed. can we continue this item to the call of the chair without objection? thank you. please call item two. >> item two a hearing to inquire into the circumstances surrounding the retroactive nature of the board of supervisors' approval of the grant agreement between the city and county of san francisco and tenderloin housing clinic and of the first amendment to that grant agreement. >> i would like to pass this off to supervisor peskin. >> commissioner peskin: because trent roar from the human services agency is in san francisco i would like to continue to the call of the chair so we can schedule a time when the head of hsa can contribute. >> i would like to continue to the call of the chair.

>> any members of the public who wish to testify? >> public testimony is now closed. >> can we recommend this item -- can we continue this to the call of the chair without objection? thank you. >> mr. clerk can you call item three. >> heres on the proceed you will mechanics and process under taken by the city's state legislation committee on the city lobbyist when transmitting the city official policy commissions to external bodies and agencies. >> i would like to pass this to supervisor peskin. >> commissioner peskin: this is a subject of great interest to the public. there are no members of the public here today. by way of background, we had a similar hearing to this in 2016 after we found out that an

internal committee to the government here, the state legislation committee had been meeting without public notice or documenting their meetings, and that the member lay i son from the board of supervisors at that time was not representing the views of the entire board of supervisors. interestingly enough at around the same time, the board actually adopted a formal policy position on a budget trailer, the buy right bill, which the mayor, mayor lee at that time ultimately vetoed. it sparked my curiosity on how the city takes positions on state legislation. it reminded me we have a state lobbyist in the state capitol, paul yoder, who is here today. it started an interesting

conversation at the board around how we as the policy body participate in lobbying the state, particularly in a period of time where there are all sorts of state bills that preempt local authority that are of interest to us, and so given that, we have a new mayor and almost entirely new board of supervisors and new state legislation committee which present yee serves on, he asked that i bring this hearing back to committee for refresher for all of us. he wanted to be here in person but he had a conflict but could not be here. what i want to do is start with deputy city attorney john givner to present be what the charter holds, what role the mayor plays, what role the board plays, what is in the administrative code as it

relates to the state legislative committee. with that, mr. givner. >> thank you, deputy city attorney john givner. the charter provides the mayor coordinates all inter governmental affairs for the city. generally, when the city is lobbying the legislature or the federal government or the governor or regulatory agencies, the mayor must coordinate those communications. typically, with the state, she coordinates those communications by directing our state lobbyist. with federal matters, she coordinates those communicates with the federal lobbyist. that is why the contract with those lobbyists is a contract with the mayor's office. the board of supervisors has the

authority to set policy for the city. that is one of the reserve powers of the board because the charter doesn't actually speak to whether the board of supervisors can set the city's position on state legislation, but because of the reserve authority of the policymaking of the city the board has that power. the board adopts that with resolution without reference calendar at board meetings. because and possibly because it was difficult for the board over the years to take positions on -- by resolution on every piece of state legislation, a number of years ago, the board adopted an ordinance creating the state legislation commit d committee d delegated the power to take positions on behalf of the city on matters pending before the

legislature. the state legislation committee which as supervisor peskin says is subject to the brown act and sunshine ordinance holds public meetings to discuss and take positions on behalf of the city on pending bills. if the state legislation committee takes a position on a bill or doesn't, the board can always adopt an ordinance. i am sorry, a resolution taking a position on a piece of legislation, and the board's say is the final say for the city. any resolution the board adopts sets the policy for the city. >> unless the resolution is vetoed. >> any resolution the city enacts following the mayor's consideration. on matters of federal law or state regulation, the state legislation committee does not have authority so the board of supervisors sets the policy for the city. the board could expand the

powers of the state legislation by ordinance or set a separate committee for federal legislation but hasn't done that over years. the mayor coordinates all communications with other government entities. the mayor must conform those activities to the city's official policy, whether the policy adopted by state legislation committee or by the board. what that means is if the board adopts a resolution supporting ab1, the mayor cannot direct the state lobbyist to oppose ab1. if the board says we support ab1 but there are issues that the city could seek amendments on this definition within ab1, then

the mayor can direct the state lobbyist to support and seek amendments. if the board and state legislation committee do not take a position on a matter, the mayor can direct the state or federal lobbyist to advocate for a position that is in her discretion. she must follow the board's policy direction when the board acts. she must follow the state legislation committee's direction when they act. if neither have spoken to set position the mayor has discretion to coordinate communications and say what she will. one final point. because the mayor has the power to coordinate all city communications with the state and federal governments, and other government entities, other officers do not -- cannot lobby the state legislature without coordinating with the mayor.

for instance, the fire department might have a position on a pending state bill relating to fire safety. the fire commission and the fire chief should not be lobbying the state legislature unless they are coordinating with the mayor and the mayor gives the o care. >> how does that relate to department one? >> same is true for department number one. of course, individual supervisors in personal capacities may communicate with state or federal legislatures but should not be using city resources t to engage in that activity and including staff time.

they should not speak on behalf of the city. only the mayor can speak on behalf of the city. >> the state legislation committee consists of who? >> there are representatives from the mayor, the board, the mayor's office chairs the committee. i believe the board has two appointments. the city attorney has a position and beyond that i am totally blank. >> treasure assess or and controller. who is the city attorney on there? >> maryjan-- mary jane winslow. >> what does that seat do? >> that is not held by an attorney in our office although

she coordinates with the executive team of our office in terms of what position our office will take on the state legislative committee. she is a voting member. >> got it. is there somebody there who advices the committee as to what the implications of state preemption or everybody comes with a policy position. >> everybody comes with a policy position. of course, our office, if the committee wanted, could provide more kind of here are the legal repercussions for the city analysis of any bill. >> i have a bunch of questions for edward mic caffeine from the mayor's office. he is not here so we will bounce right to the city lobbyist, mr. paul yoder. i want to thank you for coming

down from sacramento. >> we will go to mr. yoder if you want to tell us a little bit about your firm and your practice, that would be a good refresher. >> absolutely. thank you for the opportunity, mr. chairman and supervisor peskin. our firm has been around since 1978 as a firm still represents the very original first client california transit authorization. 1978 i started lobbying at the age of 14. that is not true. the firm is around since 1978. joshua shaw and i took it over in the early 1990s. we are the founding partners of the firm. we have five partners. there are only three in the name but happy to announce that two

other partners karen and jason will be on the masthead. we are open to suggestions as far as a new name in the future. i have been lobbying for almost 30 years. i lobbied for counties the entire time in my career. first county i lobbied for was san diego county. since then i represented rural, suburban and urban counties. it is about representing cloth local governments. we represent close to 50 local governments in california. i want to make sure you two memberses the board i want to be clear to you that representing the city and county is one of my personal joys in my career and certainly one of my professional

accomplishments that i am very proud of. we do believe for the city and county we have attained an incredible return on investment. everything from the mission rock development, redevelopment unwind facility and movement of warriors arena. 10s of millions of dollars to address homelessness in the city. we take that return on investment for the citizens of the city and county very, very seriously. we wear it like a badge of honor so i am happy to be here today. thank you for inviting me. i will answer any questions you might have. >> i guess one of the questions is how you balance the various city priorities. i mean i assume that when we pass a resolution of support or opposition to a piece, ab or sb, i assume our checker transmits

-- clerk transmits that to you and that is the official policy of the city. how is that with the various clients and the things the city wants, how do you balance that? >> can we tokologiestics first? i want to know the clerk's office is phenomenal about transmitting the position taken by the board like that. we make sure with respect to generally it is on a bill ab123. it could be another issue. wildfire liability earlier this year. we transmit the resolution to the relevant committees. the first committees that bill is going through. may be getting in the weeds too much. technologically things are

changinchanging in san francisc. all of the things i am saying i wish the legislature could synchronize the system to make it universal across committees. it is a hopscotch approach right now. the water parks and water life committee might allow you to upload the city resolution. the insurance committee may request you fax it or hand deliver it or what have you. that is something we are dealing with. you want to make the finer point so the board members understand we are tracking how the committee's need to get positions taken by your board. in terms of balancing, we are constantly aware. we track every position taken by your board. i can produce that matrix at any point in time for you or your

staff to demonstrate we are doing that. we are constantly aware of every position made by your board. >> do you make recommendations to the city or the mayor as to bills that we might want to support or oppose? the example when i it is on the california coastal commission at every meeting sarah christy, who i'm sure you know, comes before the 12 members and says here are 10 pages of bills, we recommend you support this, watch that, oppose this, support if amended, which because of our creation of the state legislation committee rarely happens at the board of supervisors unless one particular bill catches our attention. we don't have that kind of comprehensive up or down or maybe. do you bring those things to the committee and say here are 20

bills you should take a peak at. >> we are on the seventh year of representing the city and county. during that entire time, this is sort of manifestation what makes san francisco unique. what i mean you have so many department heads who are plugged in and creative and so they know what they know, and they are also constantly trying to think of ways to make life better in san francisco. that is a from fasto me say -- a preface to me saying there is no shortage of bills. you have so many people who are paying attention to what is going on in sacramento the average slc agenda as up get to the busy months of the legislative cycle i see nodding heads. it is dozens of bills.

i can't think of an instance where your staff collectively missed one. i can't think of where somebody at some point didn't go this is kind of a big deal for the city. we have never been asked to make that recommendation, supervisor. >> representing numerous different counties, do you see patterns? what are other counties saying about our senator, senator's bill 58 or 50 late night hours and state preemption of certain land use decisions? >> on senate bill 50 it is like sba27, folks didn't have to because they had the educational process. last year there wasn't a lot of educational process. it has to occur this year.

the new twist with 50 is there is also a senate bill 4 authored by bill and mcguire and the suburban parts of the nine county bay air region. i think what most folks are doing are really kind of waiting to see since both of those are senate gills, -- senate bills, what will the senate do on those bills? there is an interesting situation where the senate transportation committee they may have to go to one and another committee what is senate leadership will do is interesting. to try to answer the question specifically as i can, there are a lot of people kind of hanging back knowing that that dynamic committee process is going to happen, and i think a lot of people want to wait and see what

senate leadership and the other senators have decided to do with either of those bills or both of those bills through the policy committee deadline. that is what a lot of our clients are doing is waiting and watching to see how things emerge. i hope that answers your question. >> that is helpful. sb58? >> again that is a bill that we are on our second or third iteration. >> governor brown vetoed that last year. >> you have the broader dynamic where bills vetoed by jerry brown they don't know what governor newsome would do. i will give it another shot. it is not just sb58.

that is a couple hundred bills i could list for you. what governor newsome might do that might be different than governor brown-waite -- governor brown will wait to be seen in terms of patterns. it is interesting seeing who thinks that might be good for the city. ththe bill is optional. it is up to any city that wants to make the best case for being in. for cities that don't like the policy, it is not like the bill would impose anything on their city. if it got to governor newsome and governor newsome signed it. >> these are questions for

mr. mic caffe, he is not here. the contract between the mayor's office and your company is that an annual contract, is there an r.f.p., is it bid out? >> it was rp originally. we emerged as the chosen firm. it was rped again, i believe. give me a second. i want to say 2017. i don't want to answer incorrectly. 2017. >> it is for a term of years, annual renewal. >> initial term and options to extend. >> who is that worth on an annual basis. we have never changed the price in seven years. i owe it to my partners to note that. maybe i shouldn't have. moving on. it is 2 $76,000 a year and as i

said that is the price since its inception. >> thank you for not raising it. chair mar, do you have questions? >> chair mar: thank you. this is very helpful for me inning how this all works as far as our city weighing in on important state legislation and the role that you play. i have a few questions more for my understanding. i want to understand the kind of work that happens conveying our position as the city and county of san francisco on a specific bill. for example, at our board

meeting a couple weeks ago, the board of supervisors adopted a resolution in support of senate bill 233 by senator wiener creating stronger protections for sex workers when reporting a crime what happened after that once you are aware of our position on a bill like that. >> i was actually hoping this morning it would happen. i got the notification from the clerk this morning on 233. i could show you my e-mail to say, hey, the system works. we get that notification. the clerk's office is good enough to not only send it to myself and karen wang and our assistant erica. when the assistant is included

things happen. erica is the one responsible forgetting that resolution to the appropriate committees of the legislature and tracking it in the internal system. that all happens. at some point i want to talk to you both there is a quantity issue every year for the city. i don't want to call it quality issue but highest and best use. if i could briefly. the legislature, the new legislature introduced 2600 new bills. we have flagged based on historical understanding what the city might be interested in, your department, 600 of the 2600. that is a lot. that is probably at least double than for any of our other clients. that is a quantity issue. in terms of highest and best use what the city wants to prioritize in any given year and what should be prioritized legislatively and what should be

prioritized through the state budget process, that is very dynamic and something we try to be at tuned to because of the return on investment we want to produce. so if ab123 is supported we make sure every committee knows you support it but it will go on its own way. payment if the big cities in california are asking for half a billion dollars out of nowhere to address homelessness in california that is a large effort that takes a lot of time and energy. i want to be clear. there are only so many hours in the day. we do have to judge for ourselves because we know we are going to be judged. we have to judge for ourselves how to expend the time and energy on the city's behalf so if that helps. if the board takes a position that isn't just moving along as

i described earlier and it needs a push, then that is where the actual lobbying happens, talking to members, talking to staff, trying to count noses to get the votes for the city's position. in where to put your focus on bills is that something that you are in communication with the mayor's office about? >> yeah, it is pretty clear, and i want to believe that really to almost all of us, maybe all of us, depending on the issue that certain issues have to be prioritized. i haven't mentioned funding for the seawall. that is obviously a budget issue.

with the climate and the king tides and there is senate bill 45 that could be amended to include more money for the seawall. we have $5 million to study and move it further along. that would be an example where i think. i don't know anybody in the city that wouldn't say that shouldn't be a priority of the city and for our firm, but i go back to, mr. chairman the 600 bills. the hierarchy for the 600 bills, i want to be clear just because our firm tracks something doesn't mean the city has a position on it. we want to be aware and not lose site of it. when the slc takes a position that is prioritized because there is a official position on it. that is the way things shake out during the course of the year. >> a few more questions.

we received the memo or i received the memo i think this morning or yesterday the slc adopted a position on it looks like 20 billings. these would be priority bills. >> they would. >> that sounds good. when was the slc created? >> 3 section five point three, five point one how old is that john. >> that pre-dates us representing the city. it was in existence when we came on board. obviously i defer to the city attorney. >> that is something we can change if we want and we can count our own noses.

>> slc plays an important role to bring together the mayor's office and key departments to i'd fithe priority bills and what our position should be. >> yes. >> just getting back to supervisor mar's question. it looks like the committee has been around since at least 1978. there are some sections of this code that were adopted in 1939. maybe it goes as far back as 1939. >> we no, i thinks at the end of the session move quickly when you see a bill that has profound

implications for our ability to continue as local legislators do you sound the alarm? who do you call? >> what happens in our firm technologically we subscribe to a service that lets us see amended bills every morning. we have nine lobbyists and four legislative aids. we wake up every morning and go through the day's amendments. if it is important for san francisco we refer it to the mayors office. i am trying to think of a hypothetical. it might not be the best thing to do, but we certainly know it when we see it, being in the seventh year of representing the city. we make the mayor's office aware of it, frankly, most days before 8:00 a.m. so they get to the desk and might have three, four, 10 e-mails from us. it is the bill.

i actually want t to go to the people working in the city. we don't have to give context like we do in other instances. you might want to look at this because. we refer the bill in the amended form and people here understand why they are looking at it, which is nice. >> i do want to thank you for your help in the last session getting the 1148 passed to allow us to have a transportation network company tax per ride vehicles. >> thank you. i thought today was a commondation for that. >> ab1184 and that was not easy. it was a pleasure working with your staff. >> that was a great team effort. i don't have any more questions

for mr. yoder. i thank you from coming down from sacramento. i am disappointed that the mayor's office are not here. i will get to the bottom of that. i would like to continue this to the call of the chair so mr. m.c.a. ffree can tell us how this works. >> thank you, paul. >> why don't we go to public comment. are there any members of the public who wish to testify on this item? seeing none, public testimony is now closed. any additional comments? >> no. >> can we recommend this item? can we continue this item to the call of the chair without objection. thank you. that completes the agenda for today. we are adjourned. thank you.

>> hi. my name is carmen chiu, san francisco's elected assessor. in our seven mile by seven mile city, we have over 210,000 properties and close to 90% of their are residential like the homes you and i live in, so you might ask, how can we possibly

value all these properties? well, to better understand our work, we need to explain the state's proposition 13 law. in 1978, california voters passed proposition 13. under prop 13, we value your property at market value when you first buy it. every year after, that value goes up by the c.p.i. or the california consumer price index. but if the c.p.i. is more than 2%, prop 13 caps the increase at 2%. we'll walk-through the maximum increases prop 13 would allow. let's take a home with initial value of $400,000. in the second year your assessed value grows by a maximum of 2%, growing from $400,000 to $408,000. in year three, that $408,000 is increased by 2% to roughly $416,000. every year, the value grows by

the maximum rate of 2%, and that is called your prop 13 value. keep in mind as time goes by your prop 13 value may not be the same as market rate. what do we mean by that? let's say over the last ten years, home prices in san francisco have gone every roughly 10% every year. despite that, your prop 13 value is capped at 2% growth creating a difference between your market value and prop 13 value. know that the value recessed when there's a change in ownership. a change in ownership means that the property has a new zoner. maybe through a -- new owner. maybe through a sale, a gift or adding or dropping names through title. at that time the home will be assessed a new market rate. that value becomes a new starting point for the property. just like before, the growth continues to be limited at 2% until the next transfer happens. remember, the new owners are responsible for paying taxes at

the new level from the first day that they own it. value might also be added when construction happens on your property. that would be another instance when growth in your value might exceed 2%. here, we would add the value of construction on top of your existing prop 13 value. every july, we'll let you know what your assessed value is by sending you a letter called a notice of assessed value. you can use that information to estimate your property taxes early. please note that a separate office called the treasurer tax collector's office will send you a letter in october and they're responsible 230r collections. for more information, visit our website,

. >> welcome, everyone. hi. my name is clara filey,and i'm the director of the office of trans initiatives, and i'm so proud to work for a mayor that supports lgbt initiatives in the city of san francisco. [applause] >> today san francisco is launching, open to all, a national campaign to build understanding and discussion about the importance of protecting all people from discrimination. as a federal administration continues to attack our diverse communities, it is important that we stand by our values as being open for all, and call on other cities to follow suit. san francisco is a beacon of hope for the rest of the country, with some of the strongest policies and programs here in san francisco. we make sure that until the work is done, until

all of our communities are safe, we continue to do the great work. because what happens in san francisco happens in the rest of the country. so as we go through our daily lives, from going to the gym or going to the school or hanging out with friends, no one should have to worry about being discriminated because of who they love, because of their race, ethnicity, gender identity, expression, disabilities, or religious beliefs. but sadly our president continues to divide us. but in san francisco, we will continue to share the love. so here in san francisco our diverse communities and our small businesses are the bedrock of our cities. here i go. and despite all of these bias attacks, san francisco will continue to open our doors to all. so today, as we know, we are on the eve of the

equality act being introduced in the senate, in the house. now, more than ever, we need protections. and, like i said, what happens in san francisco happens throughout the country. so now it is my honor to introduce a champion for lgbt rights and diversitiy for all, our mayor, london breed. >> thank you, claire. it is really great to be here with so many incredible leaders, to really launch something that we shouldn't have to launch. you would think after what happened, especially with the history of our country during the civil rights movement, where african-americans were discriminated against, asian-americans were discriminated against, and so many folks were not welcome to do something as simple as eat at a lunch counter, you would think that in 2019 anyone would be able to go any place that is a public business

and be able to get just a basic service that they request. and we know that it is windy out here. [laughter] >> and this campaign -- shoot, my hair is in my eyes. this campaign stems from two -- stems from two men who wanted a wedding cake, who wanted to share their love. and on the day that was supposed to be one of the best days of their lives, picking out a wedding cake, it turned into just really a very serious challenge with being refused that basic option. here in san francisco, we know that we won't tolerate that kind of behavior in anyone who owns a business. if your business is open and available, and you're a public business, then

you either are open to all, or you should find another city to do business in because we won't tolerate that here in san francisco. [applause] >> you know, we still have, as we know, a number of challenges, including, sadly, people, two african-americans who were receiveed in a starbucks. we all remember that. we remember the gay couple who was put out of a ride share. we remember some of the situations that continue to occur all over this country. and today, now more than ever, we need to come together. we need to continue to push and support good business practices because we know that throughout the united states there are still over half of the cities in this country still discriminating against our lgbt community. we won't do business with those states. we won't tolerate

discrimination, and here in san francisco, we will continue to be open to all. so as we launch this incredible campaign that signifies all our great values and what we stand for, we acknowledge so many incredible people who have made this possible. i first want to acknowledge molly, who is with the movement advancement project for spearheading this campaign to advance the conversation, the policy work and collaborations on this subject all over the world. the haas junior fund who funded this campaign. we are going to encourage people to put up these signs and to bring awareness to this very challenging issue. thank you. thank you, the wind is blowing in my eye. i can't even see. i want to thank each and every one of you for being here today. and on behalf of the city and county of san

francisco, at this time, molly, i want to ask you to come up so i can present this proclamation to you, thanking you for your commitment and your work. oh, buried back there. [applause] >> thank you. >> and with that, i'd like to turn it over to supervisor rafael mandelman for some remarks. he represents this amazing district. and i'm always happy to be here. i see all of the incredible businesses and the merchants. this is a beautiful community, and the sun is shining, so we're going to have a good time today. thank you, everyone, for being here. [applause] >> thank you, mayor breed. thank you for your commitment to this community and this neighborhood, the best neighborhood in the world. one of the places where the lgbt civil rights movement began just two blocks down at harvey milk's camera shop.

this is a very appropriate place, of course, to be doing this for people in search of acceptance, refuge, or opportunity, san francisco has long provided a safe place to be who you are. from young queers fleeing violence, to families who immigrate here to create a better life, san francisco welcomes and celebrates our diversitiy. unfortunately, as the mayor noted, in more than half the country, discrimination is still protected under the law. only 20 states provide full legal protection from discrimination in employment and housing. hate-fueled attacks are also on the rise, with the f.b.i. reporting a 17% increase in hate crimes in 2018. even right here in the castro, we continue to see homophobic and sometimes violent attacks on members of our community. as we in san francisco resist a president who works to divide the nation, it is more

important than ever that we lead by example in the fight against hate. by becoming the first city to join the national "open to all" campaign, we can send a strong message that hate will not be tolerated here. today we have the support of 200 national and state organizations committed to civil rights, racial justice, lgbt equality and civil rights. the mayor and i are putting forward legislation that make san francisco open to all. i want to thank claire farley, marianne thomson, who is hiding behind the sign, but is amazing. [applause] >> not to say that any of the other five public servants up here are not amazing, but marianne is

amazing. adrina, at the office of small business, thank you. tom tamprano, also amazing in my all of my office. and we have a number of elected queer and non-queer elected officials here, but i'm super excited we have my predecessor bevin dusty is here. thank you, bevin. i'm going to introduce some more of our electives in a second. i want to thank daniel and the castro association for your great help in kicking off this campaign, and, of course, the staff of "open to all." with that, i'll be introducing our next speakers, two of these amazing public servants. we are so lucky that the people taking care -- collecting and taking care of our money and figuring out how much we have to pay each year are so talented and wonderful. we have our treasurer,

jose, and our assessor, carman chu. please come on up. >> hello, everyone, i'm jose, the san francisco treasurer, and i'm happy to stand here with carman chu. both of our offices work very hard to not only provide funding and the vital income of cash to the city to make its work possible, but between our offices, we actually support hundreds of thousands plus businesses in this city every year. and we do that no matter what kind of businesses they. entrepreneurs come to us and set up their businesses, open their properties, begin to become successes here in san francisco, and we step up and make sure they can be a success right here in san francisco. i'm proud of the work we do in our office. and i stand by the "open to all" program.

[applause] >> good morning, everybody. i think jose and i love getting up together because we're like peanut butter and jelly. a money sandwich partnership over here. but we're all really happy to be here to support the "open to all" campaign. my parents used to have a small business, and my parents were immigrants to the united states many, many years ago, and they, too, faced discrimination. you never knew sometimes if you walked in the door, if you couldn't speak english, what kind of service you'd get. i think a campaign like this is so important because when you see that sign on a window, when you see that sign on a doorfront, you know that people in that store recognize the importance of diversitiy and inclusion. i couldn't be more proud of san francisco for being, i believe, the first city to be doing this. congratulations to molly and claire and to everybody who has been part of this wonderful project. we're really happy to be part of it.

[applause] >> and speaking of all of those incredible businesses here in san francisco that are opening their doors to everybody in our community, i would like to introduce linda o'hara. >> thank you. thank you, mayor breed, for being our hometown girl made good. the mayor of our amazing city, she grew up around japan town, and that is where our family business. my name is linda mihara, and i'm a owner of paper tree. the business was started in 1958 by my mother and father, who are actually here today. [applause] >> we have recently become a san francisco legacy business. we're very proud to be that. to be a legacy business, you have to be in business at least 35 years, and we're entering our 51st

year in business, and we're happy to do so. thank you. san francisco is an amazing city. we are a world class city. we have always been the example of how being -- no matter what your background is, your religion, your sexual orientation, everybody has been welcomed. and we make it work here in the city. we're a world class city because of our world class people. i believe one of the key things that makes san francisco so unique not only are the people, but are the different neighborhoods. so we have our little identities, but we still get together and we mingle and respect each other. we work together and we open our doors to the world. and as a business, having your business in san francisco, you know, we've always run our paper tree as open to all. our family goes back 100 years. through those 100 years, we've experienced, you

know, establishing life here in the states. we've experienced intermment during the war. my dad was actually interned at hart mountain, wyoming. and i know a lot of different levels of discrimination. iinterment is just one example. there are those who discriminate based on who they see in front of you, and i think that's really wrong. everyone has had at least some experience of some type of discrimination. and i think for our family, having lived through that, also coming back to reestablish a business in san francisco, san francisco's japan town, has been a great -- you know, we kind of live by example. you open your doors to the world. and it is amazing what you see. growing up in the business, i had a front-row seat to all those that came to san francisco because san

francisco is such a great city. you know, of course we have those beautiful landmarks. we've got the goldengate bridge and all of those, but it is getting into the neighborhoods and getting to meet the people is really what makes san francisco unique. having us be the first city to jump on board with the "open to all" campaign reminds everybody, yes, as a business owner, you need to be open to all. there is no room for discrimination. there is no room for any of that negativity. we are, as business owners, examples of how it can work and respecting everyone that walks through the door and everyone that comes to visit this wonderful city. we pledged already, "open to all," and so all of the business owners that are here today, i definitely encourage you to think in the same way. go ahead and register, and let's continue to make san francisco the living example of how it should be. thank you very much. [applause]

>> thank you so much. so are we ready to be open to all? >> yes. >> as you can see, we've had our electives already sign this, and the mayor has signed the pledge as well, and as she said, we will not allow businesses in our city that are not open for all because everyone deserves fairness and equality. we're asking other cities to join san francisco's lead to becoming open to all cities across the country. we're asking you to reach out to your favorite businesses and ask them to join this pledge because where we shop and where we spend money, we want to make sure that that is our san francisco values. and, finally, please ask your elected leaders -- so many of them have already signed the pledge, but we're asking leaders to join us today. so with that, thank you, all, and welcome to "open for all" day.

hirs >> president hirsch: call the meeting to order. >> clerk: yes. please turnoff all cell phones and electronic devices as they may disrupt the room. please stand for the pledge of allegiance. [pledge of