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. good morning. thank you all for being here and i'm happy to be join bid supervisor from district ten and our new director of the department of public health. also here are the people from my

office working tirelessly to help protect another generation of san francisco youth from becoming addicted to ecigarettes. that has been lead my chief deputy and chief of strategic advocacy, sarah eeisneburg. in december, the u.s. surgeon general, jerome adams, issued a warning of the epidemic of ecigarette use and called this a cause of great concern. know the risks, take action, protect our kids. he was absolutely correct and we're heeding that warning. today we are taking action to protect our young people. the steps we are taking are necessary and all the more urgent because another arm of the federal government has failed to do its job.

the food and drug administration is the entity responsible for revealing new tobacco products to determine whether they are appropriate for the protection of public health. by law, before a new tobacco product goes to market, the fda is supposed to conduct a review to evaluate risks and benefits of the product on the population as a whole. that's common sense. if the fda determines this poses a threat to public health, it should never hit the shelves. inexplicably, in the case of ecigarettes,s that has not happened. despite the fact in 2016, the fda deemed this a product subject to the jurisdiction. these products were on the street even though the premarket reviews have never been done. in fact, fda has given the ecigarette industry a pass. for no clear reason, they have given the nicotine companies until 2022 to apply for a

premarket review. the result is that millions of children are already addicted to ecigarettes and millions more will follow if we don't act. until recently, we had made great strides in reducing youth tobacco use. the percentage of youth was an all-time low in 2017. there had been a generation of success, kid wer kids were gettf of nicotine. but last year, according to the centre for disease control and prevention, tobacco use among youth rose for the first time since the 1990s. this dramatic reversal is directly attributable to the nation-wide surge in ecigarette use by talents. adolescentses. the use in 2016 increased 14%

and 4.9 million america students reported they were using tobacco products up from 3.6 million students in 2016. use of ecigarettes increased by 27% for high school students and 48% for middle school students. nearly five million american students were using tobacco products. that's a generation of kids, addicted kids facing lung cancer and heart disease and thousands will likely die of preventible diseases if we don't act and that's not high perso hyperbole. tobacco kills more than 480,000 people a year. that's more than aids, alcohol, car accidents, illegal drugs, murders and suicides combined. that is why we're acting now to reverse the tide of ecigarettes. let's be clear, they're product

is addiction. they're in the business of getting people addicted or keeping them addicted. a relatively small number of adults may switch switc from ant useful to turn another generation of kids into addicts and it's up to a government like san francisco to protect our children and today we are announcing we're taking four concrete step. first, san francisco along with the city of chicago and the city of new york sent a letter to the fda that demands that the fda do it's job. we are jointly telling fda to immediately conduct the required public health review of ecigarettes that by law was supposed to happen before these products were on the market. a companion letter includes a rey for the fda to turn over records to my servic office so n

francisco can determine if we need to take legal action if they don't take the public required health review. second, we can't wait on the fda to act. so in coordination and partnership with supervisor walton and i want to thank him for his leadership and vision on this issue, we are introducing today ground-breaking legislation at the board of supervisors to prohibit the sale in san francisco of any ecigarettes that has not undergone pre-fda market review. my ecigarette that has not received fda premarket review cannot be sold at a store in san francisco or bought online and shipped to a san francisco address. this is not an outright ban on ecigarettes. it's a prohibition against any ecigarettes.

so far none have been through the review process required by law. this is a prudent step to know the health and safety implications of products sold here. if the fda has an not approved it and reviewed it, it shouldn't be sold in san francisco. third, on a more local level, we're introducing a separate piece of legislation today, again in card natio in coordinah supervisor walton. this would protect the sale and manufacture of all products including in sanfrancisco, including port property. fourth, my office as part of our review of juuls, operations sent notice to juul seeking an explanation for why juul holds a

license when it maintains it does not engage in sale or cigarette products on the premises. san francisco has never been afraid to leave and we're not afraid to do so when the health and lives of our children are on the line. with that, i would like to turn it over to supervisor walton, who has been a fearless partner and visionary leader both on the school board and now on protecting our city's youth. >> first, i want to thank the city attorney for his fierce leadership on this. i am really sick and tired of the predatory practices for our young people where people are tryintrying to set them up for d habits for a lifetime. this has to stop and ecigarettes are contributing that. when we passed prop 10 in 19198, which wa1998go out and educate t preventing tobacco use,

preventing nicotine addiction and we showed record numbers that we were able to do that and accomplish that. and now we have more predatory practices going after our young people and this, again, has to stop. so i want to thank the city attorney for his leadership on this. as you know we're going to be announcing legislation at this afternoon's meeting. you've heard a lot of the data in terms of the change and shifts from winning people off tobacco to having more and more young people using tobacco and nicotine products. i want to say this, that ecigarettes have been targeting our young people with their colours and their flavours and enticing adolescentses and this is pulling them forked nicotine addiction. we have people addicted to nicotine who would never have smoked a cigarette had it not been for the attractive products that target our young people. so we can see and understand why it's so important to make sure

that if things are not approved by the fda, if products have not been given the stamp of approval by the government, then we know they're not safe and until the fda does that, we have to make sure that these products are not sold in our stores here in san francisco. the city has already enacted ordinance 140-117 prohibiting retail establishments from selling flavoured tobacco products. ecigarettes are flavoured nicotine products. nicotine is what addicts all of our young people and addicts everybody. it is the addictive chemical in tobacco and nicotine and the effect of nicotine is what we have to combat as well. until the fda rules on approval of ecigarettes, we need to prohibit all sales for anyone under the age of 21 and anyone here in the city and we need to make sure that we have a ban on selling products, vaping

products on any city property here in san francisco. what juul is doing is irresponsible and claimed to not be a part of the tobacco industry. i meant with them and they swore up and down they were not connected to the tobacco industry and a week and a half later, they merged with a tobacco company. therefore, not only are they not truthful but irresponsibly focused and working to addict young people on nicotine products so they will be long-time users of nicotine products to make a profit and harm their health. we won't stand for that and that's why we'll fight har in san francisco to avoid predatory products to our young people. i want to thank you all for coming out and we will combat this towards our young people. thank you. >> thank you, supervisor walton. i would like to ask our new director of the department of

public health, dr. grant kofax to say a few words, as well. >> well, thank you. i just want to reiterate this is a major step forward for public health in san francisco, continuing the leadership that san francisco has historically shown in addressing major public health issues. i want to offer my gratitude to city attorney herarra and we know this has been reiterated in the remarks today, that mechanic teethat nicotineaddiction is das damaging affecdamaging effects s brain and it's attracting a whole different generation the youth to nicotine. we know that tobacco is the greatest cause of preventible deaths in this country. ecigarettes are responsible for the increasing levels of

tobacco use that we're seeing in youth. we know that we need to do better. we need to turn this epidemic around. ecigarettes are a gateway drug to tobacco use and that has been shown in numerous studies. so we're here not only addressing the numerous affects being addicted to a substance, the direct effects on nicotine but taking a major step in that gateway from ecigarettes addiction. this is going to save hundreds, if not thousands of lives in san francisco and is a major step forward in breaking this epidemic. again, i'm grateful from the health department's perspective. this is a move in the right direction and major policy advance and the health department is very supportive of that. thank you. >> thank you, dr. kolfax and with that, we're happy to take any questions anybody has.

>> is won't happens to the establishments that has the products on the shelves? do they take them down? >> we have to go through the legislative process and i have every confidence that supervisor walton will sheppard this legislation through as quickly as possible. once that legislation passes and works with the final product, then, yeah, until such time as the fda gave its premarket review and approval, there would not be allowed in either a hard brick and mortar store the sale of distribution manufacturer of ecigarettes and you wouldn't send it online until one or the other products had received the premarket review by the fda.

>> so would this be two months, six months? >> it will be introduced today and we'll be working hard with colleagues to make sure this becomes law. when it does become law, it will take affect 30 days after this is complete. with that said, we'll be working hard to move as fast as possible. i can give you a better answer and response in a couple of weeks. >> why do you all think that the federal government has given a pass to ecigarettes so far and what is the power in strength in numbers? san francisco and chicago all pleading with the ftda to crack down on this. >> i can't answer for the fda but it's pretty darn expoliticcable they have failed to act. the tobacco control act was passed in 2009 and in 2016, the fda said that these products

were subject to fda jurisdiction. yet, they said that they didn't have to first file their premarket review until 2018. and then they extended that to 2022. in the meantime, we've known that ecigarettes, we're talking about 15 years with no premarket review for a product that we know is addicting our kids, a whole other generation of kids to a deleterious drug threatening public health and safety. it is inexplicable and inexcusable to me that the fda has failed to act. the fact that we got chicago and new york to sign this letter in no time should be a message to the federal government that municipalities and localities are not going to tolerate this and we're going to act as

quickly as we can to protect our young people. i have no doubt that as a result of today as action, both that letter and legislation, you will see other jurisdictions step up to demand action from the federal government. if we can't expect that the fda will protect the health and safety of our young people, then i don't know what the function of the fda really is. so hopefully they'll get the message. >> in terms of targeting juuls, would this grandfather them in? will they continue do what they do there. >> good question. under the terms of their -- they have a sublease down at the port and they have said that they are not manufacturing, distributing, doing anything through that facility. at this point, we don't have any evidence that they are in

violation of the terms of their lease agreement. but that's why i sent the insmith demantheinspection demae it's areas they havit's curioust doing any sale on property. if i find they're in violation, i would take action of breaking the terms of their lease. but the legislation that supervisor walton is championing with respect to what is occurring on port property will enshire we will never have a similar circumstance that we have a company like this operatinoperating on similar pr. >> this should be a message to juul or any other corporation that thinks they can come into san francisco and operate in accordance that is against our values here as a city and so, this legislation is going to be focused, of course, and making sure this never happens again on any city property but it's also a warning to juul.

it's also a statement to juul that we don't want them here. we don't want them in our city and so we're going to be fighting to make sure that we figure out and learn if there's anything that they're doing that is not in accordance with san francisco laws and regulations. >> would you eventually want to see juul leave the city? >> i would like for them to have been gone yesterday. we have been clear about that and our neighbors have been clear about that and we definitely would like for them to conduct business somewhere else. >> so excuse me, when the city signed a contract with juul, did they not know what the company did or why did they enter into a contract with the company? >> the city didn't enter into a contract. there's a massive lease developer at pier 70 that had a lease with another tenant and as part of that, there was a sublease between juul and that tenant and under the terms of the agreement that we had with master developer, there were

certain rights that were given up by the city unless there was certain milestones and square footage. so we didn't know about it and weren't aware about it but it has been a lesson learned about how it is that the city engages with massive developers. i can assure you and i'm supervisor walton will, as well, this is a circumstance that will not happen again. >> any other questions? >> thank you very much. [ ♪ ]

as latinos we are unified in some ways and incredibly diverse in others and this exhibit really is an exploration of nuance in how we present those ideas. ♪ our debts are not for sale.

>> a piece about sanctuary and how his whole family served in the army and it's a long family tradition and these people that look at us as foreigners, we have been here and we are part of america, you know, and we had to reinforce that. i have been cure rating here for about 18 year. we started with a table top, candle, flower es, and a picture and people reacted to that like it was the monna lisa. >> the most important tradition as it relates to the show is idea of making offering. in traditional mexican alters, you see food, candy, drinks,

cigarettes, the things that the person that the offerings where being made to can take with them into the next word, the next life. >> keeps u.s us connects to the people who have passed and because family is so important to us, that community dynamic makes it stick and makes it visible and it humanizes it and makes it present again. ♪ >> when i first started doing it back in '71, i wanted to do something with ritual, ceremony and history and you know i talked to my partner ross about the research and we opened and it hit a cord and people loved it. >> i think the line between engaging everyone with our culture and appropriating it.

i think it goes back to asking people to bring their visions of what it means to honor the dead, and so for us it's not asking us to make mexican altars if they are not mexican, it's really to share and expand our vision of what it means to honor the dead. >> people are very respectful. i can show you this year alone of people who call tol ask is it okay if we come, we are hawaii or asian or we are this. what should we wear? what do you recommend that we do? >> they say oh, you know, we want a four day of the dead and it's all hybrid in this country. what has happened are paper cuts, it's so hybrid.

it has spread to mexico from the bay area. we have influence on a lot of people, and i'm proud of it. >> a lot of tim times they don't represent we represent a lot of cultures with a lot of different perspectives and beliefs. >> i can see the city changes and it's scary. >> when we first started a lot of people freaked out thinking we were a cult and things like that, but we went out of our way to also make it educational through outreach and that is why we started doing the prosession in 1979. >> as someone who grew up attending the yearly processions and who has seen them change incrementally every year into kind of what they are now, i feel in many ways that the cat

is out of the bag and there is no putting the genie back into the bottle in how the wider public accesses the day of the dead. >> i have been through three different generations of children who were brought to the procession when they were very young that are now bringing their children or grandchildren. >> in the '80s, the processions were just kind of electric. families with their homemade visuals walking down the street in san francisco. service so much more intimate and personal and so much more rooted in kind of a family practice of a very strong cultural practice. it kind of is what it is now and it has gone off in many different directions but i will always love the early days in the '80s where it was so

intimate and son sofa millial. >> our goal is to rescue a part of the culture that was a part that we could invite others to join in there there by where we invite the person to come help us rescue rescue it also. that's what makes it unique. >> you have to know how to approach this changing situation, it's exhausting and i have seen how it has affected everybody. >> what's happening in mission and the relationship with the police, well it's relevant and it's relevant that people think about it that day of the dead is not just sugar skulls and paper flowers and candles, but it's

become a nondenominational tradition that people celebrate. >> our culture is about color and family and if that is not present in your life, there is just no meaning to it you know? >> we have artists as black and brown people that are in direct danger of the direct policies of the trump a administration and i think how each of the artists has responsibilitie responded ss interesting. the common >> it's great to see everyone kind of get together and prove, that you know, building our culture is something that can be reckoned with. >> i am desi, chair of economic

development for soma filipinos. so that -- [ inaudible ] know that soma filipino exists, and it's also our economic platform, so we can start to build filipino businesses so we can start to build the cultural district. >> i studied the bok chase choy her achbl heritage, and i discovered this awesome bok choy. working at i-market is amazing. you've got all these amazing people coming out here to share

one culture. >> when i heard that there was a market with, like, a lot of filipino food, it was like oh, wow, that's the closest thing i've got to home, so, like, i'm going to try everything. >> fried rice, and wings, and three different cliefz sliders. i haven't tried the adobe yet, but just smelling it yet brings back home and a ton of memories. >> the binca is made out of different ingredients, including cheese. but here, we put a twist on it. why not have nutella, rocky road, we have blue berry. we're not just limiting it to just the classic with salted egg and cheese.

>> we try to cook food that you don't normally find from filipino food vendors, like the lichon, for example. it's something that it took years to come up with, to perfect, to get the skin just right, the flavor, and it's one of our most popular dishes, and people love it. this, it's kind of me trying to chase a dream that i had for a long time. when i got tired of the corporate world, i decided that i wanted to give it a try and see if people would actually like our food. i think it's a wonderful opportunity for the filipino culture to shine. everybody keeps saying filipino food is the next big thing. i think it's already big, and to have all of us here

together, it's just -- it just blows my mind sometimes that there's so many of us bringing -- bringing filipino food to the city finally. >> i'm alex, the owner of the lumpia company. the food that i create is basically the filipino-american experience. i wasn't a chef to start with, but i literally love lumpia, but my food is my favorite foods i like to eat, put into my favorite filipino foods, put together. it's not based off of recipes i learned from my mom. maybe i learned the rolling technique from my mom, but the different things that i put in are just the different things that i like, and i like to think that i have good taste. well, the very first lumpia that i came out with that really build the lumpia -- it

wasn't the poerk and shrimp shanghai, but my favorite thing after partying is that bakon cheese burger lumpia. there was a time in our generation where we didn't have our own place, our own feed to eat. before, i used to promote filipino gatherings to share the love. now, i'm taking the most exciting filipino appetizer and sharing it with other filipinos. >> it can happen in the san francisco mint, it can happen

in a park, it can happen in a street park, it can happen in a tech campus. it's basically where we bring the hardware, the culture, the operating system. >> so right now, i'm eating something that brings me back to every filipino party from my childhood. it's really cool to be part of the community and reconnect with the neighborhood. >> one of our largest challenges in creating this cultural district when we compare ourselves to chinatown, japantown or little saigon, there's little communities there that act as place makers. when you enter into little philippines, you're like where are the businesses, and that's one of the challenges we're

trying to solve. >> undercover love wouldn't be possible without the help of the mayor and all of our community partnerships out there. it costs approximately $60,000 for every event.

undiscovered is a great tool for the cultural district to bring awareness by bringing the best parts of our culture which is food, music, the arts and being ativism all under one roof, and by seeing it all in this way, what it allows san franciscans to see is the dynamics of the filipino-american culture. i think in san francisco, we've kind of lost track of one of our values that makes san francisco unique with just empathy, love, of being acceptable of different people, the out liers, the crazy ones. we've become so focused onic maing money that we forgot about those that make our city and community unique. when people come to discover, i want them to rediscover the

magic of what diversity and empathy can create. when you're positive and committed to using that energy,

>> thank you all for being here so early in the morning. and, i've got to tell you, we're here early because the fire commission has a meeting at 9:0:00 a.m., so

this is the best time. nothing is more important to me in the city than public safety. and as a former fire commissioner, i've worked closely with the department on issues impacting our city. as a former supervisor, i saw how critical the department is in responding to fires and emergencies in the district. and as mayor, i see every day the important role that the department plays in keeping our city safe. and i know how critical this department is when a disaster strikes. we have some amazing men and women who go out every single day to protect our residents and to do the hard work. they run towards the danger. these men and women deserve a leader who has seen what they've seen, who have fought those same fires. who knows what all of them are going through on a

day-to-day basis. and i am pleased to announce that i have chosen a leader for the department that has done all of that and more. it is my honor to announce that the next fire chief for the city and county of san francisco will be deputy chief janine nicholson. [applause] [applause] >> chief nicholson is a dedicated public servant and a tremendous leader and has put her heart into san francisco and the fire department. she has been a firefighter, a paramedic, a lieutenant, a captain, a battalion chief and deputy chief. she will be the second woman to lead this department after chief

joanne hayes white, and the first lgbt fire chief in our city's history. [applause] >> she has survived being burned in a fire in 2009. she has survived breast cancer. she has been on the frontline fighting fires, and she has saved lives as a paramedic. she has done the complicated work as a deputy chief to manage multiple divisions. this woman is tough. this woman is resilient. this woman is a leader. and i am confident that she will lead the department on day one. before bring up deputy chief nicholson to the podium, i want to take this opportunity to recognize our current fire chief, joanne hayes white for her years of service to the city and county of san francisco.

[applause] >> thank you, chief, for not only your work as chief over the years, but also your support during this really challenging transition. and i also would like to thank all of the members of our fire commission. we actually have a quorum here today. the number of interviews that they had to do is the number of interviews i never would want to do for any position. but they were absolutely amazing. president nicoshi, and commissioners, thank you so much for your commitment and the countless hours you spent to help us make the right choice for our next fire chief. i also want to thank so many of the men and women

in the department, again, for your role, for your patience, and all of the work that you continue to do to make sure that our department is one of the best in the country. and, i see that tom o'connor is here. i didn't know you would be here? did you fly back from l.a. -- or d.c.? you didn't leave? i want to thank tom o'connor for being here, who was the executive director of the local 798 union. i know sean buford is in d.c. and couldn't be with us. i see sherman tilman with the black firefighters -- so many people who played a role in helping to make this selection. and the former fire commissioner, thank you so much for being here. this was a very difficult decision to make, and i also want to thank all of the candidates who applied, as well as so many candidates who put countless hours into just

really doing the work so that we could vet everyone and make the right decision here. thank you to our elected officials who are here, including the only supervisor who showed up this morning, supervisor walton. [applause] >> treasurer jose, and our city attorney, dennis. we have so many incredible leaders in our city. and now as we move forward to address what we know are serious challenges that we face as a city with public safety, i know we're going to be in good hands with our next fire chief. ladies and gentlemen, deputy chief janine nicholson. fla[applause] >> good morning, san francisco. i warned the mayor this morning that i'm a hugger, and she didn't want a hug.

just give me the stiff arm. i'm good with that. i can respect boundaries. so good morning, everyone. first of all, i'd like to thank mayor breed for this incredible, incredible opportunity and honor. thank you so much. thank you chief hayes white for bringing me into your command staff. and thank you to all of my colleagues, all of you. i am excited to work for the breed administration, which is one of bold new ideas. i am honored to be able to continue to serve the citizens of san francisco. i am extremely humbled to lead this department and all of our firefighters, e.m.t.s, paramedics, investigators, inspectors, and civilians. one of the things i love about the fire department is that it is always a

team effort. i appreciate the hard work you do every single day. 24/7, 365. you are my family. i love this city and this department, and i love being of service. i vow to work hard, to continue to carry out the mission and vision of the san francisco fire department, and to keep moving us forward in a positive way. thank you, all. and, mayor breed, again, with humility and determination, i accept. now let's get back to work. [applause] >> short and sweet, just the way we like it in the morning. i also want to take this opportunity to recognize

our police chief, bill scott, who is here, and our sheriff, vicki hennessey. thank you both for joining us this morning. at this time, i would like to give our chief, joanne hayes white, an opportunity to say a few words. >> thank you, mayor breed. good morning, everyone. this will be even shorter and much sweeter. i'm thrilled to be here. i wanted to acknowledge mayor breed for her emphasis always and prioritization of public safety of first responders and the critical role that they play in our city. so thank you for that. and i'm also here to offer my heartiest congratulations to janine nicholson. she has worked diligently in over 25 years with the san francisco fire department. she gets the importance of teamwork, which is what we're all about. within our department and working with other city agencies. and i was really proud last year to promote her to deputy chief of of

administration, where i think on top of her excellent career, she got a taste of what it is like to work and juggle different priorities. and you shined in that role. so i wholeheartedly endorse mayor breed's selection. and i wanted to acknowledge the fire commission and the panel that worked to select our new fire chief. we both guarantee, chief nicholson and i, a very smooth transition. i'm here working and i'll finish strong. i know nothing different. the next five to se six weeks will be a period of transition. chief nicholson and i will be working shoulder to shoulder to make sure this city is protected and safe. and that's what we commit to, and that's what the city deserves. thank you very much. and also to the command staff, everybody stand up that is here, that actually works in the fire department. tom sherman, olivia -- this is part of the team. thank you very much.

deputy chief gonzales over there. and thank you to chief scott and sheriff hennessey and other department heads that are here as well. good morning, and have a great day. >> thank you, chief. and the folks who actually, again, did a lot of the heavy lifting, with the countless numbers of interviews was our fire commission, starting with president king cleveland -- when king cleveland served as president, and steve nicoshio carrying on that legacy. i wanted to ask our president of the san francisco fire commissioner, steve, to say a few words, please. [applause] >> thank you very much, mayor breed. we, on behalf of the fire commission, and cleveland commissioner, and covington commission, and commissioner hartiman,

express our support. congratulations, chief nicholson. at this point, as well, we want to thank and appreciate the 15 years of service that joanne hayes white has served this great city. we are looking forward to working together to accomplish what we need to do. we are the fire department, we save lives, we respond to emergencies. we ensure that the buildings in san francisco are safe, and we make sure that our duties and staff are well-kept. thank you very much, mayor breed, for this. congratulations, and as we say, let's get working. thank you. [applause] >> all right. that concludes our press conference. there will be a swearing in at a later date. you all will be invited. i'm really excited about this, along with so many other incredible things happening in san francisco. thank you all for taking your morning to be here.

and, again, congratulations to our new fire chief. and we will be happy to take questions on the side from the press. that concludes the press conference today. thank you. [applause] >> we are approving as many parks as we can, you have a value garden and not too many can claim that and you have an historic building that has been redone in a beautiful fashion

and you have that beautiful outdoor ping-pong table and you have got the art commission involved and if you look at them, and we can particularly the gate as you came in, and that is extraordinary. and so these tiles, i am going to recommend that every park come and look at this park, because i think that the way that you have acknowledged donor iss really first class. >> it is nice to come and play and we have been driving by for literally a year. >> it is kind of nice. >> all of the people that are here.

(roll call). >> item 2, approval of minutes for february 26, 2019 meeting. all that favour? aye. >> approval -- pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

>> please be advised