a great year for san francisco, 72. [singing] it's been a long time, been a long, long time. since we've seen a district dime. been a long time, in a long time , been a long, long time, gonna make it shine. been a long time, been a long time, been a long time. you're going to make it turn out fine. thank you, and welcome back. >> next speaker, please. >> my name is mark darrell cox. , the previous speaker, he was talking about scripture. [please stand by]

>> in 2026, 2001 began the third generation. the fourth generation begins in 2026. this country will lose six cities. san francisco will be lost by water. you better build refugee camps. san diego will be lost by water in 2026. after those two cities, by water destroyed, chicago and dallas will be destroyed by wind -- >> next speaker, please.

next speaker. [indiscernible] >> go ahead. >> hello, supervisors. we have seen a dramatic increase in inhabited r.v.s moving into our neighborhood. who we have a few people living in vans on this block, they're always quiet, friendly, we would have them over for holidays and we would pay them to do all jobs around the neighborhood. where -- whether as one or two vans, there is now 20 inhabited vehicles and trailers, debris, feces, needles, water, wastewater, dumping, and blocking of the sidewalk. at the moment there is a drug operation right across the street from my home.

at night there are a group of eight cars that come out and park on the sidewalks all night. they blast music and sell drugs. that attracts other cars are outside of our community to drive through the main purchases there is a constant flow of traffic, loud music, altercations and gas and power generators making noise all night from about 10:00 p.m. until 8:00 a.m. we have asked the people living in the r.v.s and cars to keep the noise down, but it is only getting worse and there were more people yelling and fighting at all hours of the night. the music is so loud and our children cannot sleep. we have had to move them to sleep on the other side of the house to lessen the noise at night. there are some new cars and debris blocking the sidewalk. we now have to go around the corner with our strollers. >> we have been using a nonemergency. >> you can have your own two minutes. >> thank you so much. i will reset the clock for you. >> i appreciate that. we have been using the not urgent police line on multiple times for multiple weeks, and

sometimes we have to call multiple times and nights. we have yet to have a patrol car come to check it out. there are people who have been unsafe with drug use, they have filed numerous 311 request online -- we have never heard regarding our calls and request which has brought us here today. five years ago we had a bullet go through our house. our older son's exterior belgium -- bedroom wall, and it ended up in our living room. with a the new escalation of drug activity, we fear this could happen again or worse. here is what we need and what we humbly request your help with. one, we want the r.v.s moved out and signs to be put up prohibiting camping in the neighborhood and we immediately asked that the r.v.s on the 1500 block move between -- from between our streets to at least around the corner outside of the residential part of our neighborhood to a street that is

more industrial so we can have enough sleep and function and work, and kids can go to school, and three we want the noise ordinance and forced -- noise ordinance and forced. >> i am a musician, and i make a loud music for a living, but there is a time into place for it. a neighborhood where there's working families were trying to sleep and go to school, there is a time and place for loud music. we really appreciate this. >> thank you. >> my name is bruce. i have moved into a senior apartment a year ago. i have a studio apartment and an embarrassment of riches. i stayed in shelters a great deal of my life, but i have to tell you, there's still people

that are out on the street. we actually need more shelters. it is cheaper to put people -- at my place, i could put half a dozen people in their. i think there are -- there is the agreed ethic and the elitist ethic. there are people who are trying to get either people in s.r.o. places or out on the street and they don't have anything in between. we need that.

we desperately need shelters because there's not enough room for everybody. as well as private shelters as well as public. we need to get people out of tense if they want to get out of tense and put them in places. we need at least warehouses for people. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> board of supervisors, my name is john. i am an attorney and a member of direct action everywhere which

was one of five organizations that reached out to mayor breed and this body during the recess to ask for your support for a bill of rights for nonhuman animals. we did so because what happens to nonhuman animals in the bay area, as well as everywhere is an atrocity, and i use that word because this is not an issue around which much rhetorical clarity exists. governments and industries use terms like humanely raised and animal welfare standards to reinforce the idea that there is a right way to inflict violence on other beings, but when the we shed our cultural conditioning and we step back and objectively look at the facts that billions of animals are just as smart, just as emotive as our dogs and cats are being confined and mutilated and killed, the degree

to which reality and our values diverge becomes apparent. i would encourage everyone here, as well as your staff, to look at documentaries like earthlings , or dominion, on the investigations and rescues of direct action everywhere to get a real sense of what is going on we are approaching this body because san francisco has always been at the forefront of social causes that soon became adopted everywhere, including the disability rights movement and marriage equality, and including the animal rights movement. we worked closely with katy tang last year to make san francisco the first city in the whole world to ban the sale of fair, and now cities everywhere are starting to adopt similar bands. >> thank you. next speaker.

>> hi, good afternoon. i have made that mulch was drive today from reno, nevada. on august 24th, my vehicle was burglarized at mission street in a parking lot. i am a nevada resident, so my life is in nevada. my vehicle, that day in broad daylight, at 3:30 p.m., they got into my car and took everything under the sun that i had owned. i lost over $55,000 worth of stuff, including my wedding ring i implore all of you, board of supervisors, where you guys know that this is an imminent and a prevalent issue in your city to make this a safer city for people like us who are travelling. this is not time -- not the first time my vehicle was burglarized. in 2012, the same thing happens. i should not be coming into the city and removing my belongings

and valuables just so i can go and shop into safeway at 3:30 p.m. in the afternoon. it is not fair, nor is it right. i also an challenging your separation of power, like you went ahead and said, that come together and do something about this, police because last month, august long, you had 2,153 burglaries that have only been reported. that is 59 averaging even one day. it is not safe, it is not okay. this is not acceptable. i understand that you guys have a lot on your agenda and there are a lot of things that need to be done but this is not safe and it is not okay for this to happen. >> thank you. next speaker. >> good afternoon. i am a member of s.o.s. nicaragua san francisco. we are a social political

organization based in the bay area. we came together last year in april of 2018 because of the repression by the ortega dictatorship that is going on in nicaragua, and we do several events. we have an ongoing purchase every friday at 21st street. we have a speaker coming next week from nicaragua who is a political prisoner and a leader in the prison movement and my friend will speak more on that. thank you. >> thank you for your time. we will be having -- [speaking spanish] -- the national leader, the worker with nicaragua which is similar to what -- to watch they were doing here. protecting the rights of farmworkers. in nicaragua at the moment, the crisis that is happening is already being suffered here in the san francisco bay area.

we are having many people come into the san francisco bay area due to the humanitarian crisis. at the moment, i hear that it has to do with land rights. it has to do with human rights, and -- [indiscernible] he will be stopping by here to provide a conference in the san francisco bay area, which all of you are invited. i encourage you to be, if you cannot make it, send one of your representatives to represent you in this conference. we really need the san francisco supervisors to understand that they limit the nicaraguan community. thank you. for more information, you'll be receiving a letter in your offices with more information on how to rsvp for this event. thank you.

>> thank you. >> i'm also a member of the group. i really appreciate that we can have the time to address you in this regard, but it is so important for the nicaraguan american community. thank you for your support in the future. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker. >> good afternoon. welcome back to reality. my name is matt sutter. i'm here speaking on behalf of -- [indiscernible] it is pretty upsetting, guys. we have big problems going on here. i am here today to speak because i refuse to be reticent. i want to remind you what it

means to be self expressed and come back to the truth of who we are. you should all ask yourselves, why are we working in this career, which we have chosen, and then examine how your decisions are affecting people and their families. we have been pleading with you to help us and make an important and necessary decision to buy back our medallions now. and also, in return, i believe we deserve a chance to have a nontransferable medallion. the pain and suffering that we have gone through and -- a

couple meetings ago, supervisor walton pointed out, although unfortunately after you had made a decision to push the vote on the homeless issue to march. he said, and i will quote, i don't see the word delay with crisis. we are in a crisis. it is time to step up like i have been asking you guys. we need some answers. >> thank you. >> thank you. august, a period of recognition. one from marijuana, a slang, to cannabis.

something that gives it a little bit more respect because it has been medicinal for thousands of years. hookers and prostitutes now are sex workers. let's give them a little bit more dignity. when i was in grade school, that started the fall of rome. i couldn't understand it but it was basically -- incompetence and the emperors. here we are in the united states of america, moving on up. trump's words inspire killings, inspire people to pull guns and shoot. that leads to the assault weapon semiautomatic his, they need to be banned. i have come to this just in the past month, useless, worthless in our society.

it is time to bend them completely. directv, the last three months, my television hasn't had channel four or channel five. if you have a local station in your area that is broadcast and given to you over directv or any other sport cast supplier, they should not be able to ban a local news station ever. we have enough problems trying to get as little news as we can. distributors should not be able to ban our local t.v. networks. inc. you. >> okay. thank you. any other public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. okay, madame clerk, please call

the for adoption without committee agenda. items 2323 out of order -- not out of order. >> items 2323 were introduced for adoption without reference to committee, unanimous vote is required for a resolution on first reading today. alternatively a member may require a resolution to go to committee. >> would any of my colleagues like to sever any items? supervisor stefani? >> item 20. >> item 23? >> twenty. >> i would like to sever item 23 >> okay. thank you. >> on the remaining balance of items, please call the role -- please call roll call. [roll call]

there are 11 aye. >> okay. items 20 and 21 passes. >> twenty and 22. >> mr. president, 21 and 23 were approved today, were adopted. >> okay. >> correct. >> supervisor stefani wanted to sever item 20. >> item 20 is a resolution to declare that the national rifle association is a domestic terrorist organization and urging other cities, states, in the federal government to do the same. >> supervisor stefani? >> thank you. colleagues, i know that you know i introduced this after the mass shooting at the gilroy festival,

being outraged just by that shooting, since we have been on recess. we have seen more carnage across this country. mass shootings in el paso, texas , where an individual filled with hate and racism targeted our latin x. community, armed with an ak-47 assault rifle with extra magazines. he killed 22 people and injured many more. hours later, in dayton, ohio, nine dead and -- in 302 seconds and 22 injured. this person was armed with an a.r. 15 pistol fitted with an extended magazine that can hold 100 rounds. this weekend in odessa, texas, seven people were killed by a gunman, 22 others were injured, with 15 different crime scenes, as the individual, it was banned from owning a firearm, purchase one from a private seller because no background check was required.

the n.r.a. has done more to graduate and create the gun violence epidemic terrorizing our country. they buy off politicians, that gun violence legislation, prevent gun violence research and tell us and everybody that it is video games, movies, mental illness, every country on this earth is exposed to these issue and influenced in equal measure yet only in the united states faced this mass gun violence. the difference is guns. none of our. countries have assault rifles on their streets. the homicide rate in the united states is 25 times higher than any other high income country in the world. the n.r.a. want you to believe that the solution to gun violence is more gun ownership. we have a gun ownership rate two times higher than that of any other country in the world. there are 393 million guns in

this country which means there are more guns than people and we know if more guns meant more safety, then america would be the safest country in the world. the n.r.a. exists to ask -- to spread information and puts weapons in the hands of those who would harm and terrorize us by blocking commonsense, gun violence prevention legislation, and by advocating for dangerous legislation like stand your ground laws, permit list carry and guns and schools from kindergarten on up through university. when they use phrases like i will give you my gun and you pry it from a cold, dead hands on bumper stickers, they are saying , there is debate about public safety that should be met with the violence. when they hold and national conferences and expeditions, they aim to intimidate those who have already been terrorized and knowingly threaten anyone who would organize against the financial interest. the n.r.a. conspires to limit gun violence research, with

strict gun violence data sharing , and most importantly, aggressively trying to block every piece of sensible gun violence prevention legislation proposed on any level, local, state, or federal. over the recess, we had a rally on the steps of city hall, and i want to thank mayor breed and supervisors walton and brown for joining me. we held that rally to urge majority leaders of the senate, mitch mcconnell, to bring a background check bill to a vote in the senate. one that passed in the house. it has been sitting on his desk for over 200 days, and he refuses to bring it up for a vote. had that passed, the gunman in odessa, texas, might have had a background check in the private sale. mitch mcconnell refuses to bring that legislation up. why? because the n.r.a. has given mitch mcconnell $1.4 million, it is no surprise that he puts the

n.r.a.'s business over safety of our families and communities, and it is time this ends. the n.r.a. stokes fear and promotes a culture of hate that is killing our fellow americans. they are misogynists who are fine with arming domestic abusers, even knowing 92% of all women killed with guns in high income countries, 92% in 2015 were from the u.s. in an average month, 52 american women are shot and killed by an intimate partner in this country and many more are injured. it is time to read this country at the n.r.a. and call them out for who they really are. they are a domestic terrorist organization. i urge your support and i urge the support of every county in this state. thank you. >> okay, can we take this item same house, same call? without objection, this resolution passes unanimously.

madame clerk, call item 302. >> item 22 is a resolution to urge the department of homelessness and supportive housing to implement urgent policy changes to serve pregnant individuals, families living in single occupancy units are doubled up families and urging the department to pursue additional policy changes in coronation with the board of supervisors. >> thank you. colleagues, go ahead, you can speak first. >> we looked at this resolution at our last board meeting prior to the recess and i want to refresh our recollection because of the content. this urgent resolution catches the just of a certain urgent policy change under discussion between the department of homelessness and supportive housing. individuals struggling with homelessness and their representatives in the mayor's

office. these include policies that will help pregnant women to gain access to services and housing much earlier in their pregnancies than the third trimester which is the current situation. it helps to eliminate the difference in the definition of homelessness that the city utilizes versus the federal government, and the impacts on on house families and individuals as a result. finally, it supports the continued dialogue about how we can address the homelessness crisis in our city, with a focus on developing and implementing best practices as situations and demographics change. i want to thank supervisors fewer and haney for your leadership and your staff's work to help put forward this resolution, and also i want to thank supervisor peskin and supervisor brown for co-authoring.

colleagues, i thank you for your support on this. supervisor haney? >> yeah, thank you, president yee, for your leadership on this , and especially as well to supervisor fewer for all of your support on these critical policy changes these are two very important policy changes that would enhance access to some of the most vulnerable members of our community, particularly pregnant women who are homeless, and ensuring that they have access to family services and prioritizing the knees of families who are doubled up or living -- prioritizing the needs of families are doubled up or living in s.r.o.s. we know very well that the population of children and families in s.r.o.s is one that is very extensive in our city and has particularly a needs

that must be addressed, social and emotional impacts have expensing homelessness with doubling up and living in s.r.o.s and right now, it does not provide the adequate access for them to get housing or even receive services. these policy changes have been top priorities for homeless family service providers and i'm very excited that we have now started a dialogue with the office of department of homelessness to be able to move these forward thank you to our other co-authors and supervisors , peskin and brown. >> okay. supervisor stefani? >> i wanted to thank my colleagues for this resolution and add my name is a cosponsor, please. >> thank you.

supervisor walton? >> same as supervisor stefani. >> thank you. can we take this item same house , same call? without objection, this resolution passes unanimously. okay. that will bring us to our next item, which is closed session. madame clerk? >> item 19 is a closed session for the board of supervisors to convene on september 3rd, today, for the purpose of conferring with our receiving advice from the city attorney regarding the following existing litigation, in which the city is a petitioner, and pacific gas & electric co. is an adverse party this closed session can occur today, this afternoon. it was pending approval of a motion that was approved a moment ago by the board of supervisors. public comment actually did occur on that motion during general public comment, but i understand you were going to

just ask for public comment on this item one final time. >> correct. before we convene closed session , are there any public comments? >> the california's -- you're putting aside california state funds and taxes, $21 billion to pay off lawsuits that have been filed against pg and e. for the destruction of personal property and wrongful death lawsuits with the fires that the transformers have caused throughout the bay area and causing well over 50 people on or about to lose their lives. those people got on repairable harm, and for gavin newsom to sit up there and take funds to pay off their lawsuits, is a

disgusting and an insult on everybody's intelligence. and by the same response, you got over 28,000 people -- homeless people in the overall city and county of san francisco bay area, and he is sitting up there, spending that type of money, paying off a lawsuit for pg and e. how come nobody have you complained about that? that is disgusting. and for him to sit up there and have approximately a minimum of 8,000 people that are homeless in san francisco, and then turn around and give another billion dollars to the behavior section of the overall health department , and give a statement that that will help the homeless problem, is another insult on everybody's intelligence. what will the behavioral health department do? tell them to behave differently than what they are doing? and what is he doing spending taxpayer's money going over to

guatemala? he is spending money to go over there. that is another example of misappropriation of funds. you've got thousands of people that are homeless, and the main street that goes to the building in sacramento -- [indiscernible] >> thank you. any other public comment on this item? >> san francisco government t.v. , overhead, please. >> pg and e. should have been taken over a long time ago by the city of san francisco. they are wall street players.

that is first and foremost, that is probably what america is all about right now. how about a new board of directors for pg and e. at some point in time? fifty 7% blue-collar workers -- 57%, the blue-collar workers, the people that they put on the advertisement after they have a crucial fall down and say, our workers are the best in the world. eleven% engineers, 5% finance, 3% legal, 4% administrative, 13% residential, commercial rate payers on the board of pg and e. the next time we come around. if you guys want to take it over , you have my blessing. thank you. >> thank you. any other public comments on this item? seeing non, public comment on closed session is closed.

we will be convening in closed session in just a moment. i failed to make some amendments on item 22, and i would like to ask that we send the vote -- rescinds the vote. i guess we need to take roll call. without objection, we will resend the vote. as i mentioned, there are some amendments that i would like to incorporate into the resolution, just to basically clarify further what is intended. i don't know if i should read it does everybody have a copy of this? yes?

okay. if everybody has a copy, do any to read this into the record? >> mr. president, i don't believe the deputy city attorney has a copy. let me just hand him his copy. >> while you're looking at that, i will just read it into the record. these are three clauses. the sitting county of san francisco's definition of homelessness in individuals and families living and supervise probably and privately operated shelter designated to provide a temporary living arrangement with the primary nighttime residence that is in the public and private place, not designed for or ordinarily use as regularly -- regular sleeping accommodations for human beings, including car, park, abandoned building, bus or train station, airport or camping ground doubled up in the homes of families or friends, staying in

jails, hospitals, and rehabilitation facilities, and families living in single room occupancy, s.r.o.s. whereas historically the city has made an effort to include individuals in these living situations by surveying nonna jails, hospitals, and rehabilitation facilities to identify individuals believed you otherwise be homeless, and has included this data in the appendix and the 2019. of time count, but has not included this data in the body of the report due to an updated methodology, and where as using the updated methodology, the 2019 . of time count on the homeless population reviewed a 17% increase in homelessness from 2017 to 2019,

so those are the three where as clauses. i don't think it will change anything. correct? okay. so i am making a motion to amend can i have a second? okay. without objection, can we take these amendments as is? okay. can i have a motion to pass this resolution as amended? made by supervisor haney and seconded by supervisor walton. can we take this same house, same call? this resolution as amended passes. okay. sorry about that. let's go back to our closed session. colleagues, we will now be convening in closed session. members of the public, you will need to clear out and exit the chamber. sheriff, lock the doors behind them. we will reopen the chamber once

we finish this closed session and the public will be allowed to reenter. okay. are we ready? >> okay. we are now backing open session. may i have a motion that the board finds that it is in the best interest of the public that we not disclose the closed session deliberations. made by supervisor peskin seconded by supervisor ronen. because this is a different house, do we need to take roll call? >> we will note for the record that a supervisor was not present. >> then motion passes.

then i would like to have a motion to continue the closed session to october 1st, made by supervisor peskin and seconded by supervisor walton. without objection, that passes. okay. madame clerk, please read the in memoriam. >> today's meeting will be adjourned in memory of the following beloved individuals. on behalf of supervisor stefani the late kirby walker, on behalf of supervisor peskin, for the late charles redneck and mr. lauren morrison. >> colleagues, that brings us to the end of our agenda. madame clerk, is there any further business before us today >> that concludes our business for today. >> all right, thank you. meeting adjourned.

>> san francisco and oakland are challenging each other in a battle for the bay. >> two cities. >> one bay. >> san francisco versus oakland. are you ready to get in on the action? >> i'm london breed. >> and i am oakland mayor libby schaff. >> who will have the cleanest

city? >> we will protect our bay by making our neighborhoods shine. >> join us on september 21st as a battle for the bay. >> which city has more volunteer spirit? which city can clean more neighborhoods? the city with the most volunteers wins. sign-up to be a bay protector and a neighborhood cleaner. go to battle fo. >> good morning. welcome to life learning academy. my name is craig miller. i am a founder and the chief operating officer at the school. we are so thrilled to have everybody here today to celebrate this milestone event for the school, to provide a home for the kids who need us the most. terry and i and the entire life learning community could not be more grateful to all of you for

everything you've done. i'd like to thank the sponsors for today's event. bear with me, it is a very healthy list. the northern california carpenter's regional council, ey, lows, jamel and tom perkins, linkedin, russell reynolds first bank, community vision and capital consulting, rubicon, kayhill construction, and oliver and company. i also want to recognize a few donors who have made the dorm possible. tipping point. valerie powder, the zeler box

foundation, the louis r. laura foundation and linkedin. this group, along with the city, and sfusd exemplify a public-private partnership model that has come together to meet the needs of young people in san francisco. we are honored to have mayor breed with us here today and to have mayor willie brown's daughter, susan brown, here with us as well. without question, it is because of the support of mayor breed and mayor brown that we are standing here today about to open this beautiful dormitory for kids. [ applause ]. >> it's pretty cool. i would like to begin our program by introducing susan

brown, who is going to comment on her father's long-term commitment to life learning academy. susan. [ applause ]. >> thank you very much, craig, for that very warm introduction. i'm susan brown and my father is willie brown, former mayor of san francisco. he was unhappy because he could not be here today, but he asked me to see what i could possibly say. so i'm here to give you a few words. so our family is extremely proud and extremely happy and extremely excited for these dormitories. in 1998 when my father was mayor, he formed a partnership. and because of that partnership, life learning academy exists. what began with that partnership

would culminate into what you see here today life learning academy, an organization which not only provides excellent educational excellence and experience for students but has acted as a catalyst for change for so many people who have walked through the doors. hundreds of lives have been positively impacted by -- through their programs over the years. and the dormitories today is a goal that they set, which is basically their mission statement at life learning academy. so it is my great honor to introduce to you today the principal of life learning academy dr. terry delane. [ applause ]. >> okay. some people out there who really know me know that i don't need a microphone, but i'm going to do what i'm told to do today.

number two, i left my notes at home. so what i'm going to have to do is just go from what i know. i have been here from day one for 20 years i have witnessed kids come through these doors and in this school and commit to change and commit to non-violence. i am really lucky because i am somebody that has never forgotten where i come from. when i was 16 years old what stands out in my mind as a runaway and heroin addicted, i was with a boyfriend who was really violent. one night he beat me up, threw me out of the apartment we were in, in the middle of the night. what stands out for me is i was sitting on the street corner

crying and alone and trying to figure out who to call. everyone needs to have somebody to call. not too long after that i got a chance -- a second chance at my life and i went to delancy street foundation, where my life was saved. i met mimi and i learned about community and i learned about fami family. and it has been my mission because i know that i owe for the rest of my life to right what's wrong for our kids. and especially those that don't have a safe place to live. [ applause ]. >> this building which you will all see is not a dorm.

it's a home. what it represents is love and support where these students that live here will be able to thrive and grow and have the best of what they deserve. to build a circle of support of which you all are now a part of. when we go through this dorm, you will see how covered we are. we have the willie brown memorial -- mayor willie brown memorial family room. we have mayor london breed's beautiful baskets that she sent to us yesterday for every kid that's going to be living in there. we have mayor ed lee's legacy in

our memorial garden named after him. we can't be better covered than that. [ applause ]. >> i am managing not to break into sobs because this is such an amazing day and i am thrilled because it is now our mission to make this a model so that other schools know what is possible when you can no longer go home each night knowing that you have kids that you love every day that don't have safety, not okay. and can nobody tell you what can't be done. now i'm tired of yelling at you all. it's not your fault. sorry, craig is used to that. he said, no, that's not you yelling. that's you talking. so i have here with me a young

woman named lynnie. i call her lynnie and i've known her since she was 16. she knows what it's like not to have a safe place to live and she found herself a family. and then after being in a few high schools, she came to life learning academy and thrived. i want her just to tell you a little bit about herself and she came here from long beach to be with us. she is family for ever family. our life learning family has been going on for 20 and our kids never forget us. so i'd like to introduce lynn ward. [ applause ]. >> good morning and thank you so much for having me. my name is lynn ward and i'm a proud alumni of life learning academy.

i was raised in a housing project by my grandmother. i'm the youngest of five sisters born to parents struggling with addiction and mental illness. i found comfort in books early on and excelled academically. i earned scholarships. i was always seemingly good on the surface, but my life home was very chaotic. the environment was making it hard to succeed and my neighborhood was filled with the enticing entrapments of the street lifestyle. this all came to a head in my junior year in high school where i was incarcerated for a robbery with a group of girls. this was a culmination of a long-time struggle for me on two diverging paths: the school or the streets. i had a choice to make and it grappled internally with this decision. i had a hard time believing in myself and could not see that

there was a life different than the one i was born into. so there i was facing serious charges, kicked out of high school. i needed a change in my life and my best friend's dad asked if i was ready and to make a phone call. that phone call was to terry, the principal of life learning academy. i interviewed with her, and during my conversation i realized my life was not a game, that turning my life around was important to her, to the school, and that i had a community that was willing to support me. i knew this because terry told me herself that she would be on me like white on rice. those were literally her words, and she was. so was my college councilor, the vice principal. i knew the school's number and terry's cellphone number by heart because if i missed school or was late, they were calling me and asking me where i was at.

a kid like me, that's what i needed. i needed caring and constant adults who noticed when i missed class, provided me with the resources to earn money and the environment to self reflect. i needed real conversations about the struggles i faced and opportunities for future success. i graduated this past june from cal state university long beach with a master's degree in political science. [ cheering and applause ]. >> i am a senior employee with a small business in long beach, having been with the company for four years. i'm a mentor. i volunteer. i like to travel. i like yoga. i live a positive life. without life learning academy, i would not be where i'm at today. sorry. life learning academy helps give you the building blocks to build my life to something better than i thought i could be. because of the impact on me, i

was invited to speak about life learning academy at a conference this past october in san francisco. mayor breed gave the keynote address at the conference and i was fortunate enough to meet her. she took time to talk to me. she offered me an unpaid internship upon graduation. like me, mayor breed was raised by her grandmother and the housing projects of san francisco and was able to fight her way out through the support of her community and educational opportunities. i admire her because she's charted a path for herself, rising above the obstacles to become the first african-american woman mayor of san francisco. [ applause ]. >> she never forgets where she comes from, where we come from, and continues to advocate for more equitable society, especially for youth, evidenced by, among other things, her ongoing support for l.l. a. that is why i am so honored to

introduce her today. ladies and gentlemen, mayor london breed. [ cheering and applause ]. >> mayor breed: thank you so much. thank you so much. it really is an honor to be here and let me just say thank you to lynn. we are so proud of you and this is what this school represents. i got to tell you, when i was growing up, we didn't have life learning academy. in fact, the very same kind of circumstances that lynn experienced was the same kind of circumstances that i experienced. the reason why i was raised by my grandmother had a lot to do with challenges with my family. and unfortunately, it didn't end up so well for my brother, who's still incarcerated, and my sister who i lost to a drug overdose. so i'm one of six siblings who

was really fortunate to have supportive people in my life. that's why the work that i do is so important to support young people, because i know the difference that it can make. so when i worked here at the treasure island development authority many, many years ago -- some of you probably didn't know that -- i remember the day that mimi silver came to the treasure island development authority, building 1, and someone said, well, mimi is downstairs and they called upstairs. they're like mimi silver, send her up right away. people lost it because of the fact she was there because they knew how hard she worked for the community. she along with others were really putting together under the leadership of the former mayor willie brown this incredible life learning academy and i had the pleasure of

working on the lease to get this thing done. i'm really proud of the work that i did. i made the mistake of attending the first graduation 20 years ago. for those of you who go to this graduation, you make sure you have your tissue because i was -- i think i was sitting next to mike delane, terry's husband, and i was boo-hookiing the whole time. these people couldn't believe they made it through. i remember the story of one of the young men who said he wasn't going to school that day when the delancy van showed up to pick him up. and the guy who was driving said i'll be right here waiting until you get into the van. they would not take no for an answer. they were on those kids like white on rice. they were not going to let one

of those kids fail. so that's why today is so incredible. it's long overdue. it's long overdue to have a place for kids who may not have the best environment at home, where we know the challenges of sometimes living in poverty can take you in the wrong direction. where we have seen too many of our kids cycle in and out of the criminal justice system, when we know they have so much indecreed potential to do amazing things. providing a safe place for them to be, a safe place to call home and be amongst one another and a supportive environment where they are part of a real family, because delancy street is a loving family, they provide love and good food and hugs. terry hugs everybody. that is w