certain certain tha . >> president serina: thank you. commissioner? >> yeah. the training program will encompass multiple training levels for caregivers and unpaid staff, so are some of these members not paid, like family members? >> no, it's not training for respite care workers. these are people that would be hired in the community. >> okay. so it's all aimed towards people that are paid? i was curious about that phrase. and then, how do people learn about this program? >> well, self-help, we'll be doing outreach within their community in particular because it is the asian and pacific island community, they have a pretty brought reach, and they also have programs that can

feed into it internally. >> it's not a problem of not filling -- >> no. i anticipate it's going to be very successful. >> okay. thank you. >> thank you. >> i know self-help has their own inhome support staff service. is this training also open to the citywide besides their own staff? >> oh, absolutely. they'll be doing outreach to the wider community, not just their own staff. >> okay. another question i have is, like, the fringe benefit for part-time is 27%. isn't that a little bit high? i don't know -- i've been out of the workforce for such a long time. what does the 27% include? i know that when i was working, you have to pay health benefit for people that work 20 hours and up per week, but some of

them are at, like, 10%, so are they still paying the housing insurance or what? >> yeah. i mean, the way the staffing is -- i mean, some of these, they're being shared across programs, so for example, you know, the compliance officer, they're directing 10% of their salary towards this, but that officer is a full-time officer. >> so that's why they have the full fringe benefits? >> correct. >> president serina: okay. any other comments or questions? tiffany, what language will the training be provided in? >> i have the information right here. so self-help, maybe they can speak to this better, but they have capacity for cantonese,

mandarin, and vietnamese. this is winnie. >> good morning, commissioners. we have the training staff with capacity to deliver training in english, in chinese and with a career advising staff that has the ability to provide coaching services in can tonese, vietnamese, and tagalog. >> president serina: thank you. any further discuss discussion? any public comment? seeing none, call the question. all in favor? all opposed? motion carries. item d, requesting

authorization to enter into a new grant agreement with self-help for the elderly for the provision of a workforce support program during the period of february 1, 2019 through june 30, 2021 in the amount of $548,935 plus a 10% contingency, for a total grant amount not to exceed $603,829. welcome back, tiffany. >> gcood morning, commissioner. the needs assessment report confirmed that clients who are connected to daas services have positive experiences and enjoy their participation. the report also revealed that not all older adults and adults with disabilities know about the services available to them through the department, and

there is a need to boost awareness of daas funded programs and services. consumers in districts one, two, four, and 11 in particular participate less in services than in other districts, and although limited awareness is not the only contributing factor, it was a finding that was noted throughout the needs assessment support. the peer ambassador program is one of several approaches the department is using to increase visibility of our services. by using peer ambassadors and a word of mouth approach, the department will have a new way and opportunity to share information about services, and the consumers will have another way to learn about services they may need from a source they trust within their

communities. self-help for the elderly will hire four peer ambassadors to work in the districts i mentioned. at least one ambassador will be dedicated to each district to ensure continuity. they will share information about daas services within their appropriate district. they will use information tailored to the tridistricts a the communities within those districts. daas will work closely with self-help to ensure accurate information is distributed. peer ambassadors will be connected to our benefits and resource hub. they will have a working relationship with the adrcs

within the districts. the daas hub and adrcs are great resources that the ambassadors will be able to access and refer consumers to as needed. collectively, the ambassadors will provide information to at least 200 organizations and businesses annually who have connections to consumers that we serve with the specific intent of increasing awareness about daas programs and services. thank you, and i would be happy to answer any questions you might have at this time. >> president serina: commissioner pappas? >> yes, i'm joining the other commissioners in asking an entry question. when we include the programs, those include the dignity fund programming? >> yes. >> president serina: any other commissioner comments or questions? commissioner loo. >> okay. i have a question. in the table a, it said they

were going to hire five -- >> yeah, sorry. when i said that, i realized i had said four because i was not reading my notes correctly. they are actually hiring five. the minimum is four, but they're overcommitting, if you will. >> but my question here is on the salary sheet, it just says two peer ambassadors instead of four or five. >> because they're leveraging another source for the other two -- or actually, the other three. >> okay. that's what i think is really kind of nice is if they're matching, it would appear in the budget so it would make it

cli kind of clear. >> on the budget revenues, on the summary sheet, it has match three, so it has the match there. >> thank you. my apologies. >> no worries. no worries. >> president serina: thank you. any other comments or questions? any comments or questions from the public? hearing none, may i have a motion to approve? >> so moved. >> second. >> president serina: thank you. any further comment? all in favor? any opposed? thank you. >> thank you very much. >> president serina: thank you. item f, requesting authorization to enter into a new grant agreement with kimochi, inc, for sustainability for nonprofit licensed residential care facilities for the elderly, rcfe, during the period of march 1, 2019 through june 30, 2020, in the amount of 175,3 #

will $4 plus a 10% contingency for a total grant amount not to exceed $192,922. well come, fanny lappitan. it's been a while. >> yes. good morning, commissioners. i'm fanny lappitan, program coordinator for long-term operations at daas. i'm seeking authorization to enter into a new long-term agreement with kimochi. rcfes are assisted living facilities that have long been preferred community alternatives for those who are able to live on their own. they provide an increased level of care in a supportive and

safe environment with 24-hour supervision for individuals aged 60 and over. in recent years, the number of rcfes in san francisco have costed due to decreasing population, and inadequate funding. the smaller facilities have accounted for the greatest number of closures, making it difficult for lower income individuals to secure care. as mentioned earlier, there's an assisted living work group that's tasked by the long-term care coordinating council which recently researched this issue and its recommendation of support for this needed service are currently being considered by the city. this grant will support the sustainability of kimochi home rcfe by providing access, and quality care service. it's to provide care for 20

residents over the age of 60 who are able to independently walk. it is a two-story facility with eight single occupancy rooms and six double occupancy rooms. the facility is currently owned and operated by kimochi. it is currently serving a majority of residents of monolingual japanese or those who speak english as a second language. kimochi has been built from the ground up in 1983, and no major renovations have taken place since that time. the funds from this grant will be used in three areas. first is to update their safety and security measures. the second is to improve accessibility of rest rooms on the first floor and the third is to modernize the facility which is showing 3.5 decades of

wear and tear. these updates and improvements, kimmy chee home will update the rcfes ablt -- kimochi home will update the rcfes ability to support the residents. the funds through this grant will help support the long-term safety of economy owe chee home and potentially create savings in maintenance and utility costs in the near future, allowing for increase in their general reserves and helping to maintain a sustainable business plan. a kimochi business administrator will be responsible for completing the projects and will do so in such a way to minimize the disturbance or negative impact on the residents as much as possible. at this time i'd be happy to answer any questions the

commissioners may have commission scolaire de la capita capitale -- may have. >> president serina: thank you, fanny. that was a very comprehensive report? commissioners, any comments or questions? >> is the whole kimochi home taken at this point? >> i'm just going to calling shawn for more comprehensive information? >> we currently have 17 residential residents and when we have beds available, we serve those rooms for respite care, so seniors who know they're going in for surgery or have a scheduled operation can reserve an open room so that they can stay with us for a few days before they go home and make sure they're ak and reduce the risk of hospitalization. so we're currently full with 17

residents and three residenpit residents. >> so do you have a waiting list? >> we don't have a waiting list with this right now. one of the things we'll track with this is the interest in our home and full-time residency by hopefully growing our wait list so we can fill empty beds. >> i presumed kimochi owned the building. >> yes, we do own the building. >> thank you. >> president serina: thank you, commissioner. any further comments or questions? any comments or questions from the public? hearing none, may i have a motion to approve? >> so moved. >> president serina: second? >> second. >> president serina: any further comment? thank you. all in favor? all opposed? thank you. motion carries. item g, requesting authorization to enter into a new grant agreement with self-help for the elderly for

sustainability for nonprofit licensed residential care facilities for the elderly, rcfe during the period of march 1, 2019 through june 30, 2020, in the amount of $302,451 plus a 10% contingency for a total grant amount not to exceed $332,696. welcome back, fanny. >> thank you. good morning, commissioners. th autumn glow provides assisted living in a unique 24 hour residential care in the hayes valley located at 654 groev

grove street. it has capacity for other cultural and language needs. the funds through this grant will be used to access safety, security, and the quality of services delivered to residents, and this includes infrastructure improvements, accessibility improvements, technology infrastructure upgrades, safety and security improvements, and there'll be training from a registered nurse and nutrition improvements from a registered dietitian. with these upgrades, they will provide upgraded safety and security measures, and providing sustainability for at least five years after the grant ends. it will help support the long-term building safety and minimize the use of reserve funds that can be used for

emergencies in unexpected business challenging. autumn glow's director of housing services will be responsible for the various services and will have oversight of the construction to ensure project completion within the deadline. they have a plan to minimize disruption or negative impact on the residents as much as possible while this is happen. i'd be happy to answer any questions. >> president serina: thank you, fanny. any commissioner questions? commissioner loo? >> autumn glow serve only chinese? >> they don't just serve chinese. they do -- let's see, the demographic at this time is 72% chinese but they also have 14%

vietnamese and 17% mandarin. >> president serina: any other questions? >> how long have they been in hayes valley. >> oh, they've been in existence for 18 years. >> oh, all right. thank you. i live near there, so i hadn't realized how long it had been there. >> president serina: thank you. any further comments or questions? any comments or questions from the public? hearing none, may i have a motion to approve? >> so moved. >> president serina: second? >> second. >> president serina: any further comments or questions? all in favor? opposed? the motion carries. thank you very much, fanny. is there any general public comment right now? >> winnie yoo, self-help for

the elderly. commissioners and director kaufman, thank you very much for the self-help for the elderly to implement these pilot projects and for the opportunity to serve additional clients through the dignity fund mission population in need skpr , and we really look forward to updating on the implementation of these programs, and thank you again. >> president serina: thank you. any other comments or questions? you have a question, commissioner loo? >> since self-help is going to do the peer ambassador program, i'm just wondering if the department has updated their brochure of various kinds of services because i think we have new sorts of services added since the dignity fund kicked in. >> so we are in the process -- we have, commissioner, a

service location and current services available. i think it was last updated in 2016-17, and we are in the process of updating is now. hopefully -- it now. hopefully, it'll come out later. so we -- every month we have a meeting, things change slightly sometimes, so that is the goal to be as current as possible, but it does take time to implement that information. >> and it'll be in different languages? >> oh, that is an excellent question. that is something i will look into. i don't have that information now, but that is an excellent question. i will follow up with you. >> president serina: any other general questions? any other questions from the public? any announcements? hearing none, motion to adjourn. >> so moved. >> president serina: thank you very much.

>> in november of 2016, california voters passed proposition 64. the adult use of marijuana act. san franciscans overwhelmingly approved it by nearly 75%. and the law went into effect in january of 2018. [♪] >> under california's new law, adults age 21 and over can legally possess up to 1 ounce of cannabis and grow up to six plants at home. adults in california can legally give up to 1 ounce to other adults. >> in the state of california, we passed a law that said adult consumption is legal. if you are an adult and in possession of certain amounts,

you will no longer be tried. you will not be arrested or prosecuted for that. that is changing the landscape dramatically. [♪] >> to legalization of cannabis could bring tremendous economic and social benefits to cities like san francisco. >> this industry is projected to reach $22 billion by the year 2020. and that is just a few years away. >> it can be a huge legal industry in california. i think very shortly, the actual growing of marijuana may become the biggest cash crop in the state and so you want that to be a legal tax paying cash crop, all the way down the line to a sales tax on the retail level. >> the california medical industry is a 3 billion-dollar industry last year. anticipating that multiplier as

20, 30, 50 times in the consumer marketplace once adult use is really in place, you could go ahead and apply that multiplier to revenue. it will be huge. >> when that underground economy becomes part of the regular tax paying employment economy of the bay area, it not only has a direct impact, that money has a ripple impact through the economy as well. >> it is not just about retail. it is not just about the sensor. is about manufacturing pick a lot of innovative manufacturing is happening here in san francisco in addition to other parts of the state as well as the cultivation. we should be encouraging that. >> there is a vast array of jobs that are going to be available in the newly regulated cannabis industry. you can start at the top tier which a scientist working in testing labs. scientists working at extraction companies. and you work towards agricultural jobs.

you have ones that will require less education and you look towards cannabis retail and see traditional retail jobs and you see general management jobs. those things that are similar to working at a bar restaurant or working at a retail store. >> we are offering, essentially, high paid manufacturing jobs. typical starting wage of 18-$20 an hour, almost no barrier to entry, you do not need an education. >> that means that people who do not have college educations, working-class people, will have an opportunity to have a job at cultivating cannabis plants. there's a whole wide array of job opportunities from the seedling to the sale of the cannabis. [♪] >> last year, they said 26 million people came to san francisco. >> the tourism industry continues to be very robust here and the city and county of san francisco is about a billion-dollar industry. >> if we use a conservative

cannabis user adoption rate to 15% that means 4 million tourists want that means 4 million tourists want to purchase cannabis. and we need to be ready for th them. >> in 2015, as adult use legalization efforts gained momentum in california, the supervisors created the san francisco cannabis state legalization task force. this task force offered to research and advice to the supervisors, the mayor and other city departments. >> we knew that adult use legalization was coming to the ballot and stat that would bring with it a number of decisions that the city would have to make about zoning and regulation and so forth. and i decided at that time, at a know it was a great, that rather than have a fire drill after the ballot measure passes, as suspected it would, we should plan an event. so i authored a task force to spend a year studying it and we

made it a broad-based task force. >> we prepared ourselves by developing a health impact assessment and partnered that with key stakeholder discussions with washington, oregon, colorado, to really learn lessons from their experience rolling out both adult and medicinal cannabis. >> within days of the passing of the proposition, ed lee called on agencies to act decisively. >> he issued an executive order asking the department of public health, along with planning and other city departments to think through an internal working group around what we needed to do to consider writing this law. >> we collectively, i would say that was representatives from g.s.a., as well as the mayor's office, met with a lot of departments to talk through what prop 64 and the implementation of prop 64 it meant to them. >> the mayor proposed an office of cannabis, a one-stop shop for

permits allowing operators to grow and sell cannabis. >> he wanted a smart structure. he wanted a regulatory structure that ensured that kids didn't have access and community's were safe and that consumers were safe. and he wanted to ensure, more importantly, it was a regulatory structure that encouraged diversity and inclusivity. >> this is an office that will be solely charged with a duty of wanting not only the policies that we create, implementing and enforcing them, but also executing the licenses that are needed. we're talking about 20 different licenses that will put us into compliance with what is happening on the state level. >> this is a highly, highly regulated industry now, at this point. we have anywhere from 7-10 departments that will be working with these industry participants as they go through the permitting process. that is a lot of work at a loss

of coordination. we are creating a permitting process that is smart and is digital. it is much easier for the user and for community input, and is less mired in bureaucracy. >> for the first time ever in san francisco history, standalone licenses are available for all aspects of the nonretail side of the cannabis industry. now, a cultivator can go in to the department of building inspection and to the department of health and say, with this first registered and temporary license, and then what will eventually be a permanent license, this is the project, this is what i am going to do. >> very rarely in city government do we interact with industries that are asking to be regulated. these guys want to be regulated. they want to be compliant. they want to work with the city. that is rare. >> san francisco has created a

temporary licensing process so that the pre-existing operators here in san francisco can apply for a temporary state licensed. >> we have taken teams of up to 12 inspectors to inspect the facility twice a day. we have been doing that with the department of building inspection and the department of public health. and the fire department. >> it is really important for the industry to know that we are treating them like industry. like manufacturing. like coworkers pick so that is the way we are approaching this from a health and safety and a consumer protection network. this is just the way practice happens with restaurants or manufacturing facilities. >> because there are so many pieces of industry that people haven't even thought about. there are different permits for each piece. you have to set up a permitting system for growing, for manufacturing, for testing. for delivery. for retail.

you have to make sure that there is an appropriate health code. certainly the regulation of alcohol in terms of restaurants and retail it's probably a model for how this industry will be regulated as well, both on sale and consumption. >> it is completely uncharted territory. there is a blessing and a curse with that. it is exciting because we are on a new frontier, but it is very nerve-racking because there's a lot at stake. and quite frankly, being san francisco, being the state of california, people are looking to us. >> we hope that cannabis does become more of an accepted part of society in the same way that alcohol is, the same way coffee is. >> it is a very innovative fear, particularly around manufacturing. san francisco could be an epicenter. >> san francisco can be a leader here. a global leader in the cannabis movement and set a bar just to

other communities and cities and states and this nation how it is done. [♪] ] >> thank you all very much for coming out on this rainy san francisco day to help us celebrate a landmark project for the people of this city. my name's ed reiskin. i'm the transportation director here in san francisco, and really glad to be able to be here today to celebrate long-planned improvements for one of the most important corrid corridor in our city. it was more than 30 years ago that some folks were looking at

our city and thinking about the future of it and back then identified the geary corridor as one of the most important corridors for transit in our city looking forward into the future, and they were right, because fast forward 30 years later, the geary corridor is one of the highest if not the highest bus ridership transit corridor in the western united states. it's -- you have -- it's pretty impressive. it's alone -- if the geary transit were its own transit, it would be among the largest transit systems in the bay area, so the folks back then had it right when they recognized the importance of the geary transit system to san francisco. so fast forward to today. we at the sfmta have been maded improvements over the years within the constraints of the

street as it is to try to add more service, to try to improve the service. but the project that we're breaking ground on today really takes that a quantum step forward in terms of not just making improvements to muni but also upgrading the infrastructure, modernizing the infrastructure and making the street safer, which is really pulling together a number of different city priorities and bundling them into one project here that we're breaking ground on today. that kind of project, hitting that many city policy goals, doesn't just happen. it takes a lot of work from a lot of leadership, a lot of our community partners. you'll hear some of them speaking today, but it also takes policy and political leadership, so i want to acknowledge the sfmta board of

directors, our chair heinicke and director torres, art torres is here. it takes the board of supervisors who sit as the transportation authority board, and vallie brown is here, the supervisor from this district. it takes leadership from the top, and from the time she took office, three priorities of the mayor have been upgrading muni, and making our streets safer. it wouldn't be the same without here, so please join me welcoming our mayor, mayor breed. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: hello, everyone. exciting day to be here. every time i come to the neighborhood, i think about my childhood, and i actually grew up right down the street. and we used to take certain

routes when we were kids. we would hangout -- i mean, i went to rosa parks elementary school, but we would hangout and jump the fence and play on the playgrounds. then, we would walk across geary beforehand, and we would not necessarily walk across the lights. i think the video game frogger was probably designed because we would leapfrog through the streets which were definitely not safe as kids, and that's why this project is so important. we would head over to japantown and hangout at japantown bowl. and back then, things were a lot different. we had fun as kids, but we got into trouble probably some here and there by crossing the streets where we shouldn't have, and we really want to focus on trying to make san francisco a better, more safe place, and make our public transportation system a lot more reliable than it had been in the past.

i think about, you know, just what we've been able to accomplish in this community. you know, a lot of great improvements in our public transportation system. in fact, when i served on the board of supervisors, because there was a geary limited, which is now the geary rapid. i didn't understand why the fulton and the 510 and all these buses that came between the west side and the east side transportation, why we weren't thinking more about our transportation systems and thinking more about the 510-r. thank you to the sfmta because it's been a great addition to our public transportation system. but i also think about the past. if we had built all of our transportation systems underground, it would be even a more amazing system with not only better transportation but

safer transportation. this project today as we break ground on what i think is going to make such a significant impact on this community but also folks who live in the west side of the city, people who rely on the 38 geary, whether it's the rapid or the regular 38 geary, to get to school, to get to work, to shop, and to do the kinds of things that so many people want to do on our public transportation system. providing the geary b.r.t. i think is going to change how people are getting around, making it a lot more efficient and making our public transportation system much more reliable than it had been in the past, and that's what this project is about. it's also about safety and improving access to our public transportation system for people who are seniors and those with disabilities.

i know that this community wanted to save the laguna street stop because we have a lot of seniors who use that stop, and going up and down the hills are not necessarily an easy thing as you get older, and we were able to do that because of this community. we also know the laguna street -- the webster street bridge is something that was important to this community and particularly to the rosa parks elementary community. so we've been able to do things and making sure your voices were heard as we move forward public transportation here in san francisco for all residents. so i'm excited to be here today because this is a long time coming. yes, when we did the central subway, and we visited the -- there was this big machine called big bertha, and we got a chance during that ground breaking to write, you know, messages on big bertha, the -- what do you call it, the thing -- tunnel what?

the tunnel boring machine, the thing that's driving the hole underneath the ground, and i wrote on big bertha, see you on geary boulevard. well, my dream project is to go underground on geary boulevard, but the money is not necessarily this to do that. but we're doing the next best thing. we're providing bus rapid transit service on geary boulevard with the goal of improving public transportation on one of the busiest corridors of our city. it's going to make an impact, and i'm excited because it's going to be a challenge. congestion is a problem in san francisco. people are frustrated. there's a lot of construction that's happening. and what i want people to know is i gueet that we have challenges, and we're going to be doing some short and

long-term fixes to address those challenges. but just imagine before any of us was born, some of our leaders made a decision to go underground then and were inconvenienced at that time how we would be dealing with a better transportation system now. we have to make some tough decisions to improve transportation for future generations. that's what this is about, improving our system for the future so that the future generation of san franciscans are not pointing the finger at us and blaming us for not doing the right thing and making our system better for all of us. i also want to take this opportunity to talk just a little bit about safety and safety on our streets because we know, sadly, more recently, there have been a number of fatalities that have happened because of collisions. and part of what we need to do,

yes, is improve our public transportation system, but more importantly, improve our infrastructure so that people are safe on our streets. and also one of the things that i am pushing for is making sure that our police department, they're issuing more citations for those drivers who are basically creating a bit of a nuisance on our streets, the people who are driving too fast, and that is just really a problem. so i know none of us want to get a ticket, so i want you all to slow down. people are walking, people are riding bikes. seniors are trying to make it across the street and may not make it across before the light changes. we have to do more as a city to protect residents, and that means making improvements to our infrastructure and holding people accountable who are out there, creating challenges on the road. not an easy thing to do, but a necessary thing to do as we improve our infrastructure.

i know congestion is frustrating. i know that people want to get from point a to point b, but i ask you to be patient with us. i ask that you slow down, and i ask that you continue to support these projects that are going to make our city better, make our public transportation, and make our city safer in the long run. with that, i want to introduce someone who has had an important role in helping me who, when i was on the board of supervisors, we were able to secure funding for this project, as i said, we were able to save the webster street bridge, and we were able to save the laguna street stop. and as someone who has played an important role in this community and all the challenges it's faced in the past and will continue to face in the future is your supervisor, vallie brown. [applause] >> supervisor brown: i just

want to thank everyone for being here today. i also would like to thank the rosa park elementary school. mayor breed, you missed their performance, and that would have been your favorite part of this. that was an -- amazing. i usually don't quote famous figures, but i think mark twain has a good quote for this particular day. good things come to those who wait if you don't die in the meantime. and i think a lot of us have a few gray hairs since prop k passed in 2003 for the b.r.t., the geary b.r.t., but here we are, and i'm really excited about this, and i'm really excited to look around the room and see so many people that were part of this process. and i know i've talked to a few of you, and you all remember the meetings that we would have year and year, and they were up in the cathedral, and i think

someone reminded me, one meeting -- community meeting, someone stole the comment box. so -- yes, yes. so this has been a journey. but i'm very excited about this project. you know, the geary b.r.t. has 54,000 riders a day. so if we're able to save two minutes of every san francisco ride, that's 18,000 hours a week. that is 75 days a year that we save san franciscans. that's pretty amazing. if -- this is something that mayor breed and i have dealt with for years, the safety of the geary boulevard through vanness through stannion, and i know she had talked about it,

but there has been tragedies. people have been hit and killed there, and it's something that we've looked at, everybody has looked at it, how to make it safer. the geary boulevard has eight times as many collisions as anywhere else in the city, and that's disturbing when you think about that. so what is exciting about the geary b.r.t. is it actually will be working on pedestrians safety. and just adjacent here to japantown, it's going to be happening, and that's exciting, and so many of you in this room have been fighting for this for years. and it also is going to bridge the community back together with japantown and the western addition that was separated by this huge busy freeway and redevelopment, and something that we're going to make good onto bring these communities

closer together with this kind of pedestrian safety. so i wanted to thank everyone for coming, and i want to thank sfmta and all their great staff that has put up with all of us through these years. and i say let's get the -- let's get it started. and i think this is the ground breaking. i'm not really sure -- or we're planting something, not really sure. either way, thank you, everyone, and we'll see you soon. [applause] >> good afternoon, everybody. i'm malcolm heinicke. i'm the chair of the sfmta board. it's very nice to be in this building not yelling at my daughter to dribble more with her left-hand. so thank you all for indulging. it's great to have a school like rosa parks named after our

community's history. my fellow director on the board, art torres is here. you may remember him as a state senator, leader of the california democratic party. also went to church with rosa. he has wonderful stories of her. i think it's great that we have our own pioneer from the neighborhood here today as our mayor. mayor breed, it's really a privilege to call you our mayor. [applause] >> so in addition to being nice to the mayor, what qualifies me to be the chair of the sfmta -- she didn't appoint me, but i really just respect her in her own right, of course, is that i ride the system every day. it is my primary form of transportation. i get to work, i get to the gym, i get to my children's events on muni. and i live in a part of town where i can ride the

underground. i ride the metro every day. when it works, most of the time, i have a ten-minute commute free of obstruction, and i feel like a real san franciscan. i'm not polluting the air, i'm not congesting the streets, and i'm taking, quite frankly, is what is the most efficient route for me. i want that experience for all san franciscans, and here, on geary street, as the supervisor mentioned, we have 54,000 customers a day. 54,000 customers who don't have the free, unobstructed ride that i do, at least not now. mayor breed is exactly right. we could have made choices earlier, but going back in history doesn't help us. making the right choices now does help us. so with mayor breed's leadership and the leadership of my fellow directors, i'm proud to be delivering a product that as i've said many

times before will be the above-ground subway for our residents. it will priev efficient service and hopefully, the folks who ride this will have the same feeling i have about my commute. this is the most efficient and attractive way to go. that's how we will reduce congestion, pollution, and accidents. now, this isn't just a transit efficiency project, this is a very significant and broad project that as director reiskin said will increase pedestrian safety, increate cyclist access and of course make the overall system work much better. so i am very proud to be here as we move around some dirt in planters to signify the opening of this project which is really just going to be fantastic and serve these customers so well. and -- and one of the things i get to do here, i have the privilege of introducing director nuru to you all, this

is a partnership. sfmta works not only with the mayor's office but with our partners in other departments, including the department of public works to bring all these projects together, and we're so grateful for that partnership over the years. and i will say personally, i've been doing this now for 12.5 years, i'm grateful for all the support you've shown us over the years. please, come celebrate with us. [applause] >> chair nuru: thank you, director heinicke, thank you, mayor breed, thank you, director reiskin. i want to begin by just taking this opportunity to reiterate our commitment from san francisco public works to the city's vision zero goal of making the streets safer for all users, whether you're driving, you're biking, or you're in transit. every traffic fatality here in

our city is heartbreaking. and when we lose someone, whether it's a neighbor or classmate or someone, these are situations that are frankly unacceptable and preventible. and so i'm excited about the improvements that are coming to geary boulevard. and as the population in our city continues to climb, our city is getting more congests and, we have to double down on our efforts to make our streets much safer and improve the transportation infrastructure. one of the exciting parts for us is while we are improving the transportation infrastru infrastructure, we are going to be improving many of the sewer and water lines along geary, which will be ensuring the customers and businesses that you will continue to have quality utilities.

the geary b.a.r.t. -- b.r.t. is making safer crossings, making greater visibility between traffic and pedestrians, and slowing the traffic down in our city, which is something our city really needs. we will also be repaving a significant part of geary so that people who drive will have a much smoother and safer experience while they're driving on geary -- on geary boulevard. this project is a major undertaking, and we heard that many agencies are involved, but also, a huge partnership with the community, so -- that have been involved in bringing the project to fruition, and at this time, i would ask tilly chang from the transportation authority who's been a major partner to say a few words.

[applause] >> thank you so much, mohamed, mayor breed, and honored guests. i'm so delighted to be here on behalf of the transportation authority to congratulation the sfmta and our partner agencies on this very happy day, and the entire community, really, for this collaborative effort. as mayor breed mentioned, this has been a long time coming, and recognizing that the plans began well over 30 years ago as well as the vision for this area. this muni vision was expressed as early as the 2001 plan, carried forward in 2003, and then carried forward by voters in the prop k expenditure plan. because we all recognize to bring the community back together and heal the division that had been created through the earlier development of the

division section, but also improve the ridability for the 50,000 riders who use this essential corridor every day. so i just wanted to recognize all the hard work on this project, from board members past and present, c.a.c. members past and present, and i see many of them here in the audience today. i'll just recognize a few, ben horn, richard hashimoto from japantown. i'm sorry if i missed a few others. we welcome the community effort from the members, the merchants, the riders, and you're seeing the fruit of that collaboration in the designs that are kicking off today. of course, this is an essential transit safe reliability and travel time improvements, as supervisor brown mentioned in fantastic fashion with the 75 days a year of travel savings

when you add it all up, but it's a significant safety project and a way to knit the community together. i just want to thank all the hard work that my team and many others across the city family have devoted in all the hours and the outreach and the funding phase, and working with groups like the japantown task force and fillmore communities and the merchants such as everything from the cpmc which just very happily opens at the intersection of vanness and geary to the smaller businesses and the medium sized businesses in the japantown area, the fillmore, all those folks who will be able to be confident that we have safe and accessible routes to essential transit services for the commuters again and everybody who relies on this important

line. so i just want to thank everyone for your hard work, your collaboration. mayor breed, thank you. especially when you were on the board of supervisors to challenging us to really work with the community to ensure that we were listening to them, whether it was the laguna stop, whether it was the western street bridge, whether it was making sure that we were maintaining access for everyone and preserving as much parking as we were. i think we were able to maintain 95% of the parking along the corridor. these are really important features that we can ensure a complete project. we were even able to ensure north-south travel and integrate the masonic project. so i thank all the agencies and p.u.c. now. we're really going to be able to upgrade the p.u.c. infrastructure. we were able to provided about

$13 million in local fund along with g.o. funding to collaborate on this project. i want to make sure we gather very soon, i think in 2021 for the ribbon cutting to celebrate this important improvement but also ahead to delivering the full project together in the coming years. thank you so much. five, four, three, two, one. here we go. [cheers and applause]

[roll call] >> directors, you have a courtroom. item three is a prohibition of sound producing devices during the meeting. the bringing and use of sound public -- sound producing electronics are prohibited. any person responsible for one going off maybe asked to leave the room. cell phones on vibrate do because microphone interferences of the board respectfully requests that they be turned off item four, approval of the minutes. there are two sets from march 19 th in the march 26 special closed session. >> is there any closed -- public comment on the minutes item?