also. >> i am an investigator two at the office of the chief until examiner in san francisco. as an investigator here i investigate all manners of death that come through our jurisdiction. i go to the field interview police officers, detectives, family members, physicians, anyone who might be involved with the death. additionally i take any property with the deceased individual and take care and custody of that. i maintain the chain and custody for court purposes if that becomes an issue later and notify next of kin and make any additional follow up phone callsness with that particular death. i am dealing with people at the worst possible time in their lives delivering the worst news they could get. i work with the family to help them through the grieving process. >> i am ricky moore, a clerk at

the san francisco medical examiner's office. i assist the pathology and toxicology and investigative team around work close with the families, loved ones and funeral establishment. >> i started at the old facility. the building was old, vintage. we had issues with plumbing and things like that. i had a tiny desk. i feet very happy to be here in the new digs where i actually have room to do my work. >> i am sue pairing, the toxicologist supervisor. we test for alcohol, drugs and poisons and biological substances. i oversee all of the lab operations. the forensic operation here we perform the toxicology testing for the human performance and

the case in the city of san francisco. we collect evidence at the scene. a woman was killed after a robbery homicide, and the dna collected from the zip ties she was bound with ended up being a cold hit to the suspect. that was the only investigative link collecting the scene to the suspect. it is nice to get the feedback. we do a lot of work and you don't hear the result. once in a while you heard it had an impact on somebody. you can bring justice to what happened. we are able to take what we due to the next level. many of our counterparts in other states, cities or countries don't have the resources and don't have the beautiful building and the equipmentness to really advance what we are doing. >> sometimes we go to court. whoever is on call may be called

out of the office to go to various portions of the city to investigate suspicious deaths. we do whatever we can to get our job done. >> when we think that a case has a natural cause of death and it turns out to be another natural cause of death. unexpected findings are fun. >> i have a prior background in law enforcement. i was a police officer for 8 years. i handled homicides and suicides. i had been around death investigation type scenes. as a police officer we only handled minimal components then it was turned over to the coroner or the detective division. i am intrigued with those types of calls. i wondered why someone died. i have an extremely supportive family.

older children say, mom, how was your day. i can give minor details and i have an amazing spouse always willing to listen to any and all details of my day. without that it would be really hard to deal with the negative components of this job. >> being i am a native of san francisco and grew up in the community. i come across that a lot where i may know a loved one coming from the back way or a loved one seeking answers for their deceased. there are a lot of cases where i may feel affected by it. if from is a child involved or things like that. i try to not bring it home and not let it affect me. when i tell people i work at the medical examiners office. whawhat do you do? the autopsy? i deal with the a with the enou-

with the administrative and the families. >> most of the time work here is very enjoyable. >> after i started working with dead people, i had just gotten married and one night i woke up in a cold sweat. i thought there was somebody dead? my bed. i rolled over and poked the body. sure enough, it was my husband who grumbled and went back to sleep. this job does have lingering effects. in terms of why did you want to go into this? i loved science growing up but i didn't want to be a doctor and didn't want to be a pharmacist. the more i learned about forensics how interested i was of the perfect combination between applied science and criminal justice. if you are interested in finding

out the facts and truth seeking to find out what happened, anybody interested in that has a place in this field. >> being a woman we just need to go for it and don't let anyone fail you, you can't be. >> with regard to this position in comparison to crime dramas out there, i would say there might be some minor correlations. let's face it, we aren't hollywood, we are real world. yes we collect evidence. we want to preserve that. we are not scanning fingerprints in the field like a hollywood television show. >> families say thank you for what you do, for me that is extremely fulfilling. somebody has to do my job. if i can make a situation that is really negative for someone more positive, then i feel like i am doing the right thing for the city of san francisco.

>> good morning, let's get this press conference started. hi, everyone, i'm mary of the city and county and san francisco, and also resident. welcome to the lower hate, everybody. i am here with sorrow who is the owner of café international, which is really an important legacy business that really holds this community together, and your supervisor, vallie brown. [applause] >> you know, this café is one of the small businesses around our city that are more than just a small business. they are spaces for our neighbors together across close-knit communities, they are where young people get their first job opportunities, and they are an important part of our workforce. as i said, they are where zahra,

the owner of were of café international, and in immigrant who can create new opportunities for themselves and countless employees. well we know that small businesses in san francisco employ more than 350,000 people, and make up 95% of our businesses, and generates millions of dollars for our economy, what i love most about our small businesses is the opportunities that they create for the people. the opportunity to grow a community, grow our skills, and grow our people -- our future. from here in my home district of the western addition, lower hate neighborhood, out to the

excelsior. we have hosted roundtable meetings with small business forms to provide faces -- spaces were businesses can talk about their concerns and their challenges. today, i am so excited to announce that we are working to make it easier for small businesses to not only survive in san francisco, but to thrive in san francisco. that is what today's announcement is all about. is not just for people to open and run their businesses, but for people to find employment at small businesses and for small business owners and employees to have a seat at the table where we are having -- making the decisions about our budget investments. first, let's take a step back and think about what it means to start a small business in san francisco. i hear from people all the time what a great idea and new innovation they want to do. then they are confronted with bureaucracy at city hall. it is such an incredible

challenge. san francisco has loan programs in place that help people through our office of economic and workforce development. we have issued more than 20 million dollars with 90 4% repayment rate, which is incredible. these loans have estimated to create 1300 jobs. this includes our revolving loan fund, the fund provides low interest loans with flexible terms and support for small businesses that help to keep them stable and to help them grow. with my proposed budget, we are adding an additional $1 million to this incredible program. this funding will support city sponsored small business loans that will help more small businesses to get out and run and create more job opportunities. finally a small businesses grow and thrive, sometimes they need

key improvements. one like we were able to do right here at café international , which is now a.d.a. accessible, and i'm so excited about that. even though people have always found a way to get in there and get their coffee and their snacks regardless of the barriers that existed, but heck, why not make it easier. so part of our investment will include new things like awnings and doors and windows, and upgrades to interiors, new equipment, or improvements to me businesses a.d.a. compliant so that people with disabilities can access those businesses easily. through our invest in neighborhoods and the s.f. sign program, we have business -- we help businesses cover some of the costs to make these upgrades because when our businesses shine, our communities shine. that is why i am committed to providing an additional and this year's budget $2 million this is

with specific focus is in the excelsior, the bayview, the lower fillmore, and right here on the street. we know that when we make the small business investments that our community succeeds. let's say, you open a business and you go through the registration process and many of your small business owners have told me of these experiences and only to have the doors shut in your face because of what you did or didn't have, and you're told you will have to pay hundreds of dollars for a permit or a fee that you didn't even know existed if you are a small business owner, right -- raise your hand if you have encountered that. exactly. if those registers -- for a permit for the fire department, for who knows what else and i

want to be clear that these fees that the city charges is not intended to make doing business in san francisco harder, but we know that that is something that we need to address, so i was really determined with what i heard from small businesses to eliminate all city fees, but my staff wouldn't let me do it. so instead, until we can basically do the report, do some more investigation, determine what is needed, in the meantime, i'm allocating in this year's budget, $2 million in funding for relief for small businesses for refunds for some of those fees that we know are challenging for people to do business. with our proposal, we estimate that more than 8,000 businesses,

almost 9,000 businesses will qualify from some sort of reimbursement for certain fees that have really impacted our small businesses, and it may seem like a small amount, but it will make a difference in our ability to allow small businesses to have the kind of support that they truly deserve, until we can eliminate the fees. when i think back, growing up in san francisco, i remember the small businesses. i still go to the same drycleaners that i have been going to since i could even afford a dry cleaner, i am still going to the same nail shop and the person who does my hair, my same dentist since i have had teeth. and when i think about san francisco, what i want to protect is what makes us a special and diverse city. it is our neighborhood. it is our small businesses, it is like knowing you can go to zara and she can basically give you advice on how to take care

of your kids, how to discipline your kids, how to take care of your mom and give you a cup of coffee at the same time. this is what this is about and protecting businesses are so important we are also going to invest an additional $4 million in grants for small businesses. grants to provide additional support for small business and nonprofit that want to relocate in places where we have a number of vacant storefronts. because we know that is another challenge that exists in our communities where you know that there are vacant storefronts and there is difficulty in accessing those storefronts. we have to do more, as i said, to make the kinds of investment that not only provide, you know, the support and get rid of the layers of bureaucracy, but we also have to provide the financial investments that are going to help businesses get into business, but also stay in

business. these are some of the largest investments ever made in this city to support our small business community, and we still know that there's more work that we can do to better improve what is happening in san francisco, especially when we make decisions, when we make policy decisions, and unfortunately sometimes, we lose a small business because of his bad policy decisions. as we work through the bureaucracy, as we work through making the kinds of changes that are going to make things better for small businesses, this is a first step towards demonstrating that we are committed to supporting our small business community, and we are here to receive feedback in other ways in which these programs are working and making a difference in your communities, and of course, there is still more that we know we need to do, but this is the beginning of what i think is a bright and prosperous future for our small businesses

in san francisco, and i want to thank all of you for being here today. and someone who has been an incredible small business champion on the board of supervisors, who is working on legislation around vacancy controls, who is working on making sure that we have opportunities to have more legacy businesses, and funding for those legacy businesses, which is equally important, is a committed former resident, but now living in another part of d5 , but you all remember her, because she used to pick up trash in front of your businesses, that is why we know, and we love vallie brown because of her commitment to the residents of district five. ladies and gentlemen, your supervisor, vallie brown. [applause]. >> thank you. i really appreciate everything you were doing, giving the funding forward so we can actually address these issues. i guess you i will have to

legislate things to get that done, but i really feel that in these times when small businesses are struggling, the city needs to step up and do better. we need to make sure that streamlining, when people get in , trying to open their businesses, it doesn't take them a year and a half to pay rent and open a business if they want to have a couple of businesses able to go into one bigger space , that should be easy for them. we need to make it easy. in these times are we have amazon and all the other home deliveries, we need to make it easy for businesses to not only survive, but to prosper. this was personal for me because i lived in the lower hate for 20 years. it is my heart. i have to join you -- tell you, at café international, over 15

years ago, and the patio, that is where we started the first neighborhood association. we also started the first merchant's association. we argued about how many trees should we plant, and how many bar crawls should we have to get those money -- the money to plant the trees. all of this, the merchants were there, the merchants came forward with the residents, and said, your priorities are our priorities. the whole foods across the street, that is the original whole foods, everybody. there we are. yes, mike's barbershop has been there since the sixties, zara and café international, 27 years , has she been serving coffee to the neighbors, giving them advice, and also listening to their issues, and ricky records, two jacks, from 20 years plus. i mean this is the kind of

businesses that we want and that we crave. when i say to my friend, let's meet for coffee or dinner, i don't say, come to my house, i say let's meet in the corridors. they are the extension of our living room. they are an extension of our home. when we go out, i want to be somewhere when i feel like i am at home. where i can talk to mike at the barbershop or others. i can't imagine not being able to go out my front door and go to a store that i love, or a café that i love and then i can meet my friends, so i am here today to say, all of a sudden, we weave ourselves in the fabrics of these neighborhoods, and we need to be -- we need to support our merchant corridors because they are part of our home. i know you are nervous, but i told her, just pretend she is

behind the counter, giving advice, and speak from the heart i want to thank everyone here today, and i, as your supervisor , will be working on creative ways, legislating them, to make it easier for merchants, and to make sure our corridor thrives. thank you. i will introduce her. because she has given me advice many times. and even though i moved, i still come in here, and after a busy day, i sit there and say, tell me what is real. i will have few tell her what is real right now, and your beautiful café, after the renovation, it is amazing. i want you to come up and tell it from the heart. thank you.

>> thank you, mayor breed and supervisor brown for the introduction and for coming to café international for this very important announcement. through the mayor and supervisor vallie brown in the office of economic and workforce development, café international, we have received a lot of money. our beautiful interior and exterior, with has a san francisco shine. café international is not only a community hub. with the health and support in the city and the mayor, we continue to serve our community and keep it healthy and vibrant. mayor breed, thank you. supervisor vallie brown, thank you for all your support. these two people saved the café.

thank you. and thank you everybody, and come and get coffee. [applause] >> now we will have comments from mario who is the president of the district council of merchants. >> good afternoon, everybody. mayor breed, thank you very much for having me speak here, and supervisor vallie brown, thank you for all you have done for this neighborhood. this is kind of my stomping grounds when i was younger, and i'm proud to say that as president of the council of district merchants, it is a member of the council as well as upper. the council stands to represent those who are underrepresented, as the mayor has said earlier, small businesses have been struggling. that doesn't mean we're down and out. we are not looking for a handout , but we do need to help out. when times are tough, community

-- communities need to get together. i commend the mayor for having that roundtable that you had a few weeks ago. she gathered many of us businesspeople together and she hurried as speak, not only did she hear us, but she listened. not only did she give our complaints and concerns, bed we told her what things we contributed to the community as a small business merchants. it is a symbiotic relationship. small businesses would not be there without the neighbors and the customers. we pretty much defined the neighborhood. most of us adopt our names based on our commercial corridor. it is something that is precious to us, it is unique to us, and if it is anything else other than that, then we become a suburb. then we are no longer a unique city called san francisco, which is one of the most desirable cities in the world. i would also like to say that i commend the mayor for not just listening to our needs, but

responding to them. when it comes to the shine program, when it comes to the revolving funds, and also the assistance with fees, sincerely, mayor brown, i thank you, because we were heard. it was a gesture. i hope it was just a start, and i hope if you need any help with that legislation, i've got your back on that, too, but the fact that we were heard, the fact that someone acknowledged that there is a problem, maybe we need a little bit of help, it goes a long way. i am one of those people that said, it is necessary, but also after that dialogue, we need some action, and we need follow-up. it is, it is a symbiotic relationship. we all grow together, we all sleep together, but it is important that we are heard and now we look forward to working together, not one-sided versus the other, but as one team holding hands and walking through this process together because it does take a village.

on that note, i laughed when i heard of her story because i too am an immigrant. i beat her here by about 25 years, and i've acclimated quite well, but i walked up and i started chatting with her, and she started chatting with me in arabic. or arabic was much better than mine, but what got to me is when the mayor mentioned that you came over there and she started to give advice, because 35 years ago, that was my mom and her little corner grocery store. should be sitting there giving these guys advice on how to run their marriages, their households, and a couple of them were esteemed attorneys and appointed judges on the federal court circuit, so it was kind of funny to see where some of our leaders know where to get the best advice. on that note, thank you very much. thank you for having me, and a look i look forward to working with you. thank you. >> thank you for being here. i also want to take the opportunity to acknowledge the

new head of the san francisco chamber of commerce, rodney phone, thank you for joining us here today, because it has to be about protecting and supporting our small business communities so we are all working together to do that. now that we are wrapping this up , a couple of things, get your food and your coffee from café international before you go back to work. if you need a haircut, mike will take care of you across the street. if you need groceries, you can go to whole foods, which is a local grocery owned place, and you will take care of their needs. everything you need before you go back to work, or you go home, it's right here in this neighborhood, at these incredible small businesses, usually staffed by the people who actually owned them and work day in and day out to take care of the people of this community. again, that is why we have to take care of them and make the right investment in our small businesses all over the city and county of san francisco so they cannot only survive, they can thrive, and we can be the city

that we truly know how to be. thank you also much for being here today. >> shop and dine in the 49 promotes local businesses, and challenges residents to do their shopping within the 49 square miles of san francisco. by supporting local services in our neighborhood, we help san francisco remain unique, successful, and vibrant. so where will you shop and dine in the 49? >> i am the owner of this restaurant. we have been here in north beach over 100 years. [speaking foreign language]

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

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

[singing] >> express yourselves. [singing] [singing] [♪] [singing] [singing]

[singing] [singing]

[singing] [singing] [applause]

[singing]

[singing] [singing]

[singing] [singing] [cheers and applause] [cheering]

[speaking spanish] [cheering] >> mr. peters -- [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] [cheering] [speaking spanish]

>> colleagues and special guests , welcome to this momentous occasion. [speaking spanish] >> i particularly want to thank a former commissioner and former vice president of the board, mark sanchez, for their sponsoring of the resolution that made this day possible. thank you. [applause] >> i want to thank all of our students for engaging in the process and evolving in their thinking. our faculty and staff, our parent and community at large for their support. think youth -- special thanks go to our muralists for countless hours designing --

[cheers and applause] >> countless hours designing the beautiful murals right across our office. and to marita and ray for their contribution, to make our main mural possible. gracilis. i think i have developed a reputation for talking a little too much. today, however, words cannot express my appreciation to the name change committee. we are in a -- a fluid and adaptable bunch. the commitment, the energy, the dedication, the excitement and love for the idea where a constant in every single act we

took to get to this stage. to you, thank you. [applause] [speaking spanish] to every single parent who helped us along the way. our parent volunteers, supporting us throughout this process. without you, this would not have happened. [speaking spanish] [applause] >> it is not about just talk, talk, talk. let's celebrate. let's begin our celebration hearing our fifth-graders in their own evolution. [cheers and applause]

>> welcome parents, families, students and community members to this special event. my name is lucy sylvester. [speaking spanish] >> today we are celebrating the renaming of our school. i have to be honest, when my fellow fifth-grade peers and i heard the news renaming of our school, we were not happy. many felt confused and upset because we felt as if we were losing our attachment to the school. we really didn't know who she was or what she did. [speaking spanish]

>> in class, we began a learning about this person through read aloud his, watching a documentary, and hearing from other people who know about her. little by little, we started changing our minds because we shop -- saw what she did for foreign workers and other people now we think it was a good decision that the school name was changed, as she deserves a school named after her in san francisco. [cheers and applause] [speaking spanish]

[applause] >> the fifth-graders are lucky enough to have been elected for the mural product -- project. we begin to brainstorm ideas for what would go on the wall. without a be a good idea to show the work that she did in order for the farmers to have their rights. through this mural, we want to show the community that our school is teaching students how to advocate for themselves and others. [speaking spanish]

>> today we feel proud to be at this school. we hope that the future students that attend the school follow the beliefs. [speaking spanish] [applause]. >> thank you and have a great rest of your day. [cheers and applause] [speaking spanish] >> that is what education is supposed to do.

help the kids come to their own conclusions. and we will introduce our superintendent, dr. matthews, to give us some remarks. >> it afternoon, everyone. -- good afternoon, everyone. what a great day. yesterday it rained, it's supposed to rain tomorrow, but when you are doing something extremely special and extremely important, look how the sun comes out. [cheers and applause] i want to thank the students, families, teachers, and the community leaders and teachers who are here today. in order for this to happen, it takes great leadership. i want to acknowledge our school board who is here. you'll be hearing from him in a minute. i want to also acknowledge our former assembly member and

former board of education minister who is here, and a special thank you to principal rodriguez. [cheers and applause] it is truly my honor and quite a privilege to be here today to celebrate the renaming of this school, and what an honor it is to have dolores huerta hear herself in attendance. she has dedicated her life are fighting for civil and human rights of those who are oppressed and disenfranchised. these are the values that we teach our students each and every day here in san francisco unified and we strive to embody as educators. in fact, some of our school districts are exactly what she has dedicated her entire life to

to persist through challenges, and to make sure that she stands for the rights of those most vulnerable in the community. [applause] >> here in this district, our vision is to provide the opportunity for every student to become multilingual and multicultural. multilingualism and multiculturalism are assets we aim to develop and nurture in our students. it is an essential part of the graduate profile as we prepare our students for the skills that they will need to be successful in this 21st century. we have over 70 language programs in our schools throughout the district. the schoolwide spanish immersion program here at this school offers students at least half of their instruction in spanish from kindergarten through to the fifth-grade. [cheers and applause]

>> this passion for social justice and the commitment to serving its community are evident here at this school. this school bearing the name of a lifelong champion for these ambitions and it is a great honor for the school district for our entire city and it is our honor. we thank you for allowing us to name the school after you. thank you so much. [cheers and applause] [speaking spanish] >> we welcome our first graders, who in collaboration with san francisco developed a project about heroes.

[speaking spanish] [cheers and applause] [singing] [♪]

[singing] [♪] [singing]

[speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] >> when you save people -- then you are a hero. then you are a hero. >> she was a teacher. she asked her mother his wide the women said to her -- [indiscernible] [indiscernible]

>> we have no break, we have no water. [speaking spanish] >> she said strike. they raised up their voices and they marched. [speaking spanish] >> they stood up for all of the farmworkers.

they stood up for all the people [speaking spanish] >> she was a peacemaker. >> people didn't agree with her. >> people hated her. [indiscernible] >> they believed dolores had a superpower. they used her power, they used her words. [indiscernible]

[indiscernible] [chanting] >> working together to do the right thing. working together to do the right thing. [cheers and applause] [♪] [♪]

[singing] [cheers and applause] >> wow. [speaking spanish]

[cheers and applause] [speaking spanish] >> all i have to say is i am glad i am not following this, but someone else is, and that someone is commissioner mark sanchez. [speaking spanish] >> good luck, commissioner. >> you are my hero. you are the hero of my family, you are a hero for all of us. i want to read the resolution that president mendoza read and i wrote in october, it passed by the entire board of education. whereas fairmont elementary is renowned school with a long

history of providing excellent academic opportunities to the neighborhood community and across san francisco, the school is highly sought after by families who value is schoolwide spanish dual immersion program. and it was founded in 1864. and by many accounts, established the first p.t.a. in the state of california. and whereas according to the neighborhood, the history project, the founder of the fairmont school, it has a significant history and legacy. the track that became known as fairmont heights plotted during the civil war will be the oldest neighborhood in san francisco. for more than 150 years, the school has educated generations of san francisco children on land once owned by the last mexican in the area. you brought this sun, the politicians brought the wind. [laughter]

>> i can barely hold this paper now. the communities dedicated to ensuring that all of its students have access to an education with a strong commitment to the development of their creativity, equity, empathy, self reflection and deep love of learning. and whereas the community has committed itself to the proposition of renaming the school because she has dedicated her life to improving the lives of others -- others. in her battle to provide access to the voiceless, to the hopeless and to the oppressed, and a commitment to creating a space of awareness and justice based on evidence of hard work, sweat, tears, and blood in her own unwavering resolve to deliver a message a better tomorrow. she has become an institution herself, an institution that safeguards and fights for civil and human rights, of those who feel the system encroaching on their dignity and efforts to

thrive. she cofounded the united farmworkers and helped organize the strike in 1965. she was a lead negotiation or -- negotiator in the strike. she is the originator of the fate -- phrase -- [speaking spanish] [cheers and applause] >> we will get there. she has received numerous awards for her advocacy including the foundation, outstanding american award. united states presidential eleanor roosevelt award for human rights in the presidential medal of freedom. she was the first latina inducted into the national women's hall of fame. [cheers and applause]

>> therefore, be it resolved that the san francisco board of education accepts the community proposal to rename the school to dolores huerta elementary school and as the superintendent said, thank you for allowing us to name the school after you. thank you to the school community. you have done an amazing, brilliant job. thank you very much. [cheers and applause] >> thank you, commissioner. and now we are going to invite a special guest to come up. that is supervisor safai for some remarks, please. welcome. >> good afternoon, everyone. good afternoon, everyone.