>> good morning everyone. the meeting will come to order. this is october 2nd, 2019, regular meeting of the budget and finance committee. i'm sandra lee fewer joined by supervisors catherine stefani and rafael mandelman. our clerk is linda wong. i want to thank sfgov tv. do you have announcements. >> pleaitems will appear on october 8th board of supervisor

agenda. >> thank you, item number one? >> resolution of amended for the java house restaurant and increasing the monthly base rent to 4,000 and no change to the initial term through august 31st, 2023. >> i believe we have mark to present today. >> madam chair, chair members and board members, i'm the assistant deputy director of real estate and development for the port of san francisco. the item before you today regards java house restaurant, a small restaurant at pier 40 1/2 located next to south beach harbor. the java house restaurant is a long standing port restaurant which has been operated by the family for over 33 years.

in 2006, by their daughter. the java house currently operates under a 15 year lease with the port that expires august 31st, 2023. the original lease covers approximately 14,090 square feet. the original lease provides for the port to receive the greater of guaranteed monthly based rent or percentage rent. the current base rent is $3,314. the percentage rent is set at 7.5% of gross sales for food and beverage. for the period ending 12 months, the 12 month period ending may 2019, the java house reported average monthly gross sales over

$17,000, which did not result in percentage rent being paid to the board. percentage rate has not been paid to the board for quite some time under the lease. also, pursuant to the current lease, java house was required to make capital improvements of at least $346,000 to the facility. due to personal, family issues and difficulty in raising financing, the java house has not been able to complete the capital improvements currently under the lease. these are the signs of a struggling operation which is having a hard time making ends meet basically. in the latest phase of ongoing dialogue with the port regarding coming into compliance for capital improvements and overall desire to improve the operational performance of the restaurant, the tenant has

approached the board with a proposal to restructure ownership and bring in a new investor. under this proposal, the entity would complete the previously required capital improvements and construct an addition to allow outdoor seating and alcohol sales and to make amendments to the lease which improve the financial metrics to the port and provide the tenant with an initial lease term. to that end, the owners of the java house have engaged in negotiations to sell the original lease to a new entity which the current owners retain 15% ownership stake. the new entity would be called frankie's java house, llc with the owner being a well known business man associated with the insurance industry. the frankie's proposal seeks to resolve the current issues related to the completion of

capital improvements and reposition the restaurant into a viable business enterprise. the proposed amendment would require them to make a capital investment of no less than $737,000 into the facility and includes the previously not completed improvements of $346,000. he is willing to condition the extension of the lease on the successful completion of the capital improvements first and to provide a personal guarantee for the cost of all the construction. upon 100% of construction and completion of capital improvements, which must be completed in one year of commercement date of the amended lease, frankies has the right to extend the lease term for 10

years. the direct benefits to the port are the base rent increased to $4,000. the increase capital investment from the original $346,000 into the facility to $737,000 into the facility that also includes an expansion which doubles the seating capacity of the restaurant. so now that 737,000 is put toward an improvement that actually grows the business, creates more sales and hence brings more back to the port. the port will receive a 12% of the proceedings of the sale, which is approximately $63,000. the 12% was negotiated up from 10% originally in the lease. that was negotiated up from 10 to 12. and finally the port will

receive $51,000 as a penalty from the original tenent for not completing the tenant improvements in a timely manner on time. the port is 100% in accord with the budget analyst report and supportive of it. if there's nothing else, i have -- i'll be here for questions and i have a representative from the tenant to answer questions also. >> thank you very much. colleagues, any questions or comments, if not, let's hear from the ble please. >> good morning chair fewer and members of the committee. this resolution approved amended and restated lease between the board and a new buyer frankie's java house, llc for the java house location on pier 40 as the representative from the port stated, this would set rent at $4,000 a month in the first year

increasing subsequent years and provide 7.5% rent on gross sales. the new buyer would be required to put in about $737,000 in tenant improvements. if they put them in within the first year, they do have the option to extend the lease by an additional 10 years from 2023 to 2033. we summarized the rent component on table 2 page 4 of the report, it would be about $1.4 million to the port over the 10 years. we want to call out, this is a sold force lease. there was not a competitive process to select the tenant. there is a port retail policying that allows for sole source if it's a tenant in good standing and financially reasonable to do so. we summarize that on page 5 of the report. the current tenant couldn't be

considered a good tenant in standing, but the assumption if they make the improvements and get the additional 10 years, it will be a benefit to the port, because it's consistent with the port's retail policy, we recommend it. >> let's open this up for public comment? seeing none, closed. i have one question. just for clarification, so it looks as though there are 12 years left on the current lease. this started in 2007, is that correct? >> yeah, it expires in 2023. >> so, they would do improvements and if they do it within a year, they have the option to actually extend it for another 10 years. >> correct. >> would that extend it not to

2023 -- >> but to 2033. >> at that time when they renegotiate -- have the option to extend it for another 10 years, a re-renegotiating then, another rental fee? >> you mean after the 2033? >> so if in a year, they decide to -- we offer them the 10 year extension and then -- are we then negotiating at another rate for the additional -- >> what happens when they exercise the -- if and when they exercise the option, the base rent would rachet up to basically 85% of the percentage rent experience for the past three years. so there's a racheting up and that also happens in year -- well, year five of the option. so half way through the option, there's a market -- it's a

market to market adjustment. so the lease constantly goes up with the market. >> i think you mentioned, i could be wrong, 15% of ownership will be with the original owners or leasees, is that correct in. >> yes. >> if they extend it for 10 more years after the 2023 date, would 15% of the ownership still be -- would we still see the 15% of ownership is with the existing tenant now? >> that's probably no guarantee, if the person may sell out at some point. it's a partnership ownership. so it's hard to predict what would happen. >> there's no requirement. >> correct. >> this has been in the family hands for so long. this is the kind of thing that we actually -- this hand-off, of a struggling business, that is an institution in san francisco. i think it has been recognized

as very much beloved institution along our waterfront and the family has invested so much into the building of this, the name and also i think some of the great affection that san francisco has for the java house, right? so my question is just about the 15% ownership because it would be really nice if they could continue to be part still of what they originally developed. we are losing so many of these institutions in our neighborhoods and it would be nice to see that the original owners would still have 15% ownership. that's the only reason i ask. >> and i think they -- they have experienced personal family difficulties, you know, the spirit has gone away a little bit but they still want to hold on and be a part of it. >> kind of nice. thank you very much. no more public comment. no questions or comments from colleagues, i would like to move

it with a positive recommendation to the board and we can take that without objection. thank you colleagues. madam clerk. >> resolution approving bond or loan for california municipal authority not to exceed 65 million to refinance outstanding debt and refinance the acquisition construction and improvement located within the city owned and managed by healthright 360. >> and we have michelle from the office of public finance. >> thank you very much. good morning. from the controller's office of public finance. thank you for considering the item today. and in attendance, representing the healthright 360. he can speak in more detail about the project if there's specific questions about that. just as a reminder for you and the public, the tax and

financial act allows the tax exemption on interest of certain types of debts. in this case, proposed financing through the california municipal authority through which san francisco is a participating member. notes and bonds and certificate of depreciation. this resolution is before you because federal tax law requires that the governor body in which the project is locating approve the finances after providing opportunity for a public hearing before bonds can be issued on tax exempt basis. the city and county of san francisco is not obligated for payment on the bonds. hearing notice was published on september 6th. the public hearing held at the office of public finance on september 16th and no comments from members of the public were

heard or received. i'll give you background on the borrower. healthright 360 arose out of a merger between two clinics. they started in the 60s to serve adolescences and young adults and opened in 1967 as the first free medical clinic in the country. they were an innovator to giving healthcare services to those who could least afford it under the guiding principle that healthcare is a right and not a privilege. it was to help homeless and runaway adolescences. today it treats people with mental health and substance abuse problems at various centers throughout california, including prison treatment programs and providing drug and

alcohol treatment and mental health services for people transitioning back into their communities. like the free clinics, they have served people who are underserved, homeless and those with h.i.v. and aids. they merged in 2012 and have subsequently added additional clinics and programs that serve san francisco to its portfolio, including asian american recovery services, lion martin health services and women's community clinic. so the project, proceeds from the sale of the bonds will be loaned for the following purposes, to refinance all or portions of outstanding debt obligations financed and refinanced, furnishing of clinics and treatment facilities at hayes street, buena vista west, haight street, coleridge

all within the city of san francisco managed and owned by healthright 360, a california public non benefit corporation with residential treatment services in the city and equipping and maintaining such facilities may capitalize interest on the bonds and pay certain expenses incurred with the issuance of the bonds. they would issue the bonds to not exceed $69 million. bond council on the transaction, the bonds do not con constitute a debt of the city. if there are questions, i'll be happy to answer and the borrower is here as well. >> that was very thorough. thank you. there is no b l.a. required on this. opening up for public comment.

any public comment on item number two? seeing none, public comment is closed. colleagues, any questions or comments? seeing none, i would like to move it to the board with a positive recommendation. thank you good to see you. thank you madam clerk. call item number three. >> resolution retroactively approving the contract for electric monitoring program for term of three years from august 1st, 2019, through 2022 with two one year options to approve. >> we have the sheriff's department here. >> good morning supervisors. i'm here requesting retroactive approval of a contract we have with sentinel. we were here in july and this

body approved the program scope and legislation today approves the contract as a whole, not simply the scope. otherwise it is unchanged. but still i'll give program history. electric monitoring program to provide alternatives to incarceration. fee structure was originally based on ability to pay. in february of 2018, the sheriff waived fees for sentenced participants and in february 2018 an apellet court ruling required courts to consider ability to pay and non monetary alternatives when setting bail or release conditions. this resulted in a significant increase in the number of people who came on to and into electric monitoring as ordered by the courts. monthly participation increased from about 100 before the ruling

to roughly about 400 per month now. and as i said, we were here in july, this body approved the program scope for the contract to begin august 1st and we're here today simply to approve the contract as a whole, which we should have done back then. i have two other slides that -- before you that show the growth and monthly participation that resulted from the appellate court ruling. fees went up, we struggled with this for the budget last year but have budgeted for it in the current year. the mayor's office, mayor's budget office was generous in their funding of this, thank you. and finally this last slide before you, just shows the increase in releases on alternatives. back in september, late

september 2016 we had total justice involved population of about 2150 of which 1350 were in jail and about 800 were out on some sort of alternative. in september 2019, the total number of justice involved people is up to over 2700, the jail population has gone down by about 75, but the individuals out of custody on pretrial release or sentenced to alternatives has gone up. that means that our -- the percentage of people on alternatives has increased from 37 to 53% which is higher than you'll find in other counties in the bay area. >> thank you. yes? supervisor stefani. >> thank you chair fewer and thank you for the presentation. can you talk about the success rates of electric monitoring?

have you noticed anything -- obviously we know why the number of people on electric monitoring have gone up, but i'm just wondering if there's been problems and if you could briefly touch on the success rates? >> well, there's been quite a bit of -- there have been news reports about some of issues that have come up, but overall, for people who are put on some form of pre-trial release, over 90% show up to court. i think overall the program has been successful. continues to be successful. >> and what happens -- i know it says something about the sheriff's department staff will respond and enforce compliance of the program's rules. if -- in that 10% situation, what happens then? >> then we have a warrant services group and the warrant

services group responds as needed. >> okay. >> to people who are not responding in the way they should. >> thank you. >> any other comments or questions. bla please? >> yes, the proposed resolution retroactively approves the program as stated -- excuse me. as was stated, the board did previously approve the terms and conditions of the program but not the contract itself. it is below the charter threshold for board approval but the california penal code does require approval. it would be for three years with a maximum amount of 3.4 million. there are two, one year extensions subject to board approval if they exceed the

$3.4 million maximum. we recommend approval. >> i'm sorry. thank you very much. supervisor mandelman. >> thank you chair fewer. this is a little outside the scope of the contract, but i'm curious if the sheriff's department has thoughts on what accounts for this pretty significant increase in the estimated job population without alternatives to incarceration. you don't have to answer that. it's not related to the contract. >> i think actually if i were the one answering -- asking the question, it would be why is the justice involved population going up so much. i think the fact that alternatives to incarceration have gone up speaks to the city's commitment to alternatives to incarceration. but the increase in the total justice involved population? i'd speak to any number of issues but i would be -- my

expertise is finance. i'm not sure i would want to venture into that area. >> i didn't totally expect you to answer that. but it is a marked increase. thank you. >> certainly. >> i think that there are many questions that i have about this and just about the program in general and why are there some people who can be released without it and why courts are requiring it and what is behind that and have we done analysis or advocacy for those who don't need to be electronically monitored who are employed, have families, stable. i think it's a larger question and the question that supervisor mandelman had, i don't think you

have the answers to that today. but it think it calls for a larger and deeper discussion about the demographics of the people released and the ones not released and for what offenses and the outcomes, too. anyway, today i know you are in charge of finance, open up for public comment. any members of the public like to comment on item 3? seeing none, it is closed. i will move to the board with a positive recommendation and take without objection. thank you. good to see you again. madam clerk, item 4. >> resolution authorizing the execution and acceptance of the first amendment to a lease buy between lexington lion of san francisco and the city for the real property at 350 rhode island street north facilitating the provision of rent credit to the city in consideration of waiver of real estate afforded to the city under the lease.

>> thank you very much. i'm going to make a motion to continue the item but before i do that, i would like to open for public comment. any members of the public want to comment on item 4? seeing none, it is closed. i would like to make a motion to move -- this item to the next meeting next week. thank you madam clerk. thank you. madam clerk, call item 5. >> resolution approving easement agreement between pacific gas & electric company for the exchange of easement areas at airports west of bay shore for the replacement of a natural gas pipeline. >> so we have deanna with us today. i'm sorry, my notes say kathy wagner. please. >> the airport is requesting

approval of the quick claim agreement with pg&e over the airports west of bayshore property. the original easement was conveyed in 1953, it includes a natural gas line, in accordance with u.s. department of transportation departments concerning pipeline integrity. it's necessary to bring the facility into compliance with the federal mandate. a 3700 foot section of gas pipeline will be replaced installing alignment. i'm happy to answer any questions. >> thank you. there's no bla required on this. open for public comment. any members of the public want to comment? seeing none, it's closed. i would like to make a motion to move to the board with a positive recommendation. thank you madam clerk.

item 6. >> item 6, resolution approving a 2011 lease agreement between the city and el al israel airlines limited, effective the following day of the first month and expire june 30, 2021. exclusive use space and joint use space and rent and landing fees. >> thank you very much. >> the airport is requesting your approval of a new lease with el al israel airlines as a significanttory to the 2011 lease agreement for approximately 1 year nine months. through june 30, 2021. this agreement is the mechanism that allows airlines to provide flight operations and rent terminal space at the airport and has a common set of lease provisions such as rent and fees and terminal space and provides legal framework to make an

annual service payment to the city. the airport projects 1.1 million in exclusive space rent over the term of the lease and 889,000 in joint use rent which is determined annually by formula. i'm happy to answer questions. >> thank you very much. can we get a report please? >> yes, the proposed resolution approves adding el al israel airlines to the agreement at the airport, this is the agreement that all airlines sign on to that are operating at the airport, they started operating under permit of may this year. this lease agreement sets the terms for rent and for landing fees and as you see in table 2, page 15 of the report, rent over the remaining term of the lease agreement through 2021 is $1.1 million in addition to

allow paying landing fees to the airport. there will be the total lease agreement for all airlines does expire in 2021 and a new document coming forward to the board. >> any members of the public? seeing none, it is closed. any questions or comments supervisors? >> only to say if my grandma were alive, she would be excited about this item and i want to move forward. >> we can take that without objection. thank you very much. madam clerk any other items? >> no other items. >> this meeting is adjourned. >> thank you. ♪

as latinos we are unified in some ways and incredibly diverse in others and this exhibit really is an exploration of nuance in how we present those ideas. ♪ our debts are not for sale. >> a piece about sanctuary and how his whole family served in the army and it's a long family tradition and these people that look at us as foreigners, we have been here and we are part of america, you know, and we had to reinforce that. i have been cure rating here for

about 18 year. we started with a table top, candle, flower es, and a picture and people reacted to that like it was the monna lisa. >> the most important tradition as it relates to the show is idea of making offering. in traditional mexican alters, you see food, candy, drinks, cigarettes, the things that the person that the offerings where being made to can take with them into the next word, the next life. >> keeps u.s us connects to the people who have passed and because family is so important to us, that community dynamic makes it stick and makes it visible and it humanizes it and makes it present again. ♪ >> when i first started doing it

back in '71, i wanted to do something with ritual, ceremony and history and you know i talked to my partner ross about the research and we opened and it hit a cord and people loved it. >> i think the line between engaging everyone with our culture and appropriating it. i think it goes back to asking people to bring their visions of what it means to honor the dead, and so for us it's not asking us to make mexican altars if they are not mexican, it's really to share and expand our vision of what it means to honor the dead. >> people are very respectful. i can show you this year alone of people who call tol ask is it

okay if we come, we are hawaii or asian or we are this. what should we wear? what do you recommend that we do? >> they say oh, you know, we want a four day of the dead and it's all hybrid in this country. what has happened are paper cuts, it's so hybrid. it has spread to mexico from the bay area. we have influence on a lot of people, and i'm proud of it. >> a lot of tim times they don't represent we represent a lot of cultures with a lot of different perspectives and beliefs. >> i can see the city changes and it's scary. >> when we first started a lot

of people freaked out thinking we were a cult and things like that, but we went out of our way to also make it educational through outreach and that is why we started doing the prosession in 1979. >> as someone who grew up attending the yearly processions and who has seen them change incrementally every year into kind of what they are now, i feel in many ways that the cat is out of the bag and there is no putting the genie back into the bottle in how the wider public accesses the day of the dead. >> i have been through three different generations of children who were brought to the procession when they were very young that are now bringing their children or grandchildren. >> in the '80s, the processions were just kind of electric.

families with their homemade visuals walking down the street in san francisco. service so much more intimate and personal and so much more rooted in kind of a family practice of a very strong cultural practice. it kind of is what it is now and it has gone off in many different directions but i will always love the early days in the '80s where it was so intimate and son sofa millial. >> our goal is to rescue a part of the culture that was a part that we could invite others to join in there there by where we invite the person to come help us rescue rescue it also.

that's what makes it unique. >> you have to know how to approach this changing situation, it's exhausting and i have seen how it has affected everybody. >> what's happening in mission and the relationship with the police, well it's relevant and it's relevant that people think about it that day of the dead is not just sugar skulls and paper flowers and candles, but it's become a nondenominational tradition that people celebrate. >> our culture is about color and family and if that is not present in your life, there is just no meaning to it you know? >> we have artists as black and brown people that are in direct danger of the direct policies of the trump a administration and i think how each of the artists has responsibilitie responded ss

interesting. the common >> what about that great? >> want that great? amazing performances, truly. so these two groups exemplify why we're gathered here tonight, celebrating the rich latino heritage of san francisco. this year, in your program, you see that it says celebrating -- [speaking spanish] >> roots of resistance to showcase latino's long history in san francisco while focusing on our community's tireless word to defend the rights of liberty of those living in our city extends far beyond the gold rush. when this soil was indigenous land, our roots here grow very

deep. they grow from the food we planted, from the tradition passed down, and from the experiences of our ancestors. they grown to the foundation of this city and to the core of who we are. in time, those roots blossomed into our families and our neighborhoods. our community organizations and our schools, our unions, our protests, our leaders, and our movements. today, we are blessed with remarkable latino leaders like treasu treasu treasury -- treasurer, and our judge. and you will hear from the secretary julian castro. tada. [cheering]

>> all of whom are with us here tonight. so many esteemed members of the board of supervisors, all here tonight to celebrate, to recognize, and to respect the extraordinary efforts of our latino community and their place in the city and county of san francisco, so goes san francisco, so goes the nation, so goes the world. [cheering and applause] >> there are not enough words to express how important it is to recognize the contributions we make, especially in the times we live in today. there is no one better to bring us home, to remind us of those contributions than to host our celebration that a mayor, here in the city and county of san

francisco, that has championed our community. mayor breed, mayor london breed. [cheering and applause] >> she has fought tirelessly for building housing and our families, creating opportunities for our communities, to protect us from displacement and ensure that we have the resources to be successful, not only here at home individually, but for our families and for the future. so we are immensely grateful to you london breed for your leadership and advocacy. so please on this esteemed day, latino heritage celebration, join me in welcoming our mayor, lob -- london breed. [cheering and applause]

>> thank you, thank you so much. thank you. first of all, joaquin only did that because he works for me. [laughter] >> but he's an incredible director of office of economic and workforce development, and i really appreciate all the work that he has done to help support our latino communities, all over san francisco. i am so happy to celebrate with you today here in your magnificent city hall. i'm also equally excited to be joined by some of our elected official community, including your chair of the board of equalization, supervisor, our city attorney dennis herrera, so many of our department heads, and i want to say thank you so

much judge flores for being the keynote speaker. we're so grateful for your service to the city of san francisco. [applause] >> roots of resistance, it's the theme of tonight. i want to also take this opportunity to ask each and every one of you to make sure, to look at the back of your program at all the names of the people who are on the host committee. they work so hard and put so much love into this event, and i want to at this time, even though it will take me two years to read all the names, i just want all the host committee members to stand up and please give them a round of applause. [applause] >> thank you. i'm also getting the stink eye

from some other elected officials who i didn't see earlier today, including another member of the board of supervisors raphael mandelman. thank you so much for being here. david, thank you so much for being here and our treasurer that keeps the money in order, jose since n-- cineros. it's so good to have you here today. today we have to be happy and positive, but i have to say, we all know that not only are we not in the best place in our country as it relates to attacks on so many of our brothers and sisters who are a part of our immigrant families right here, even in san francisco, we are under attack in this city. it breaks my heard that time and time again, we are seeing some

of these events play out in policy changes, directives from the president, and number of other issues that we sometimes feel are impossible for us to keep track of. i want you all to know, and you hear it from so many of your leaders here in this city. yes, we are a sanctuary city, but we also are a city that makes investments in making sure that many of the challenges that we know are existing at the borders and at other places all over the country that we are prepared to deal with those challenges head on in san francisco. [cheering and applause] >> when there were threats of

i.c.e. raids, so many incredible organizations, so many of you banded together to be the community resources, to make sure people knew their rights and that families were not torn apart and that san franciscans were protected. i want to thank all of you for being the roots of resistance and making sure you are standing up for those who don't always feel that they have a voice. you are standing up for children who really are not even connected in some instances to their parents. you're standing up for so many people and you basically helped to create the resistance right here in san francisco. let me tell you, there is a recent policy that we got. we got a letter from housing and urban development. some of you know about their atta attacks on some of our immigrant brothers and sisters living in public housing and trying to

force us to not allow people who are immigrants to live in public housing in san francisco. this is coming from the housing and urban development under this president. today, there is hope. a former secretary of housing and urban development who would have never sent a letter like that is with us today. [cheering and applause] >> representation matters. representation matters. representation matters. in fact, when he was a secretary of housing and urban development, he, along with speaker nancy pelosi and our late mayor ed lee, during a time when we were implementing the

rental assistance demonstration program to rehabilitate public housing in san francisco, there were a lot of fears and will the of uncertainty. he came here personally. he walked public housing with us personally. he talked to residents personally to help assure the fears that some people felt around displacement. he was on the ground with us and i was happy to report that because of that effort under the obama administration where he led the housing and urban development department here in the united states, we have been able to rehabilitate over 3,000 public housing units in san francisco. [cheering and applause] >> let me just say, despite who you decide to support for

president, we have to make sure that our voices are heard, that we are registered, we are getting other people registered, and that we make sure that we get out there and vote. in fact, julian castro is the only latino running for the president of the united states right now. [cheering and applause] >> he started off as a city council member, became mayor of san antonio, his brother is a congressman, his twin brother in fact, they have public service in their blood. the reason why he got involved in politics and public service in the first place, had everything to do with his grandmother, who immigrated, your mother or grandmother?

see, i was right, thank you. his grandmother immigrated from mexico, here to the united states, for better opportunities, for a better life to raise her family and that sparked something in him, knowing about the sacrifices she made to get here, what she had to do and what she had to overcome. he was not just content with being happy to be here and being provided an opportunity to get an education, he wanted to make sure he did something to give back to open the doors of opportunity for so many other people. so ladies and gentlemen, at this time i want to allow secretary julian castro to come forward and say a few words. [cheering and applause]

>> good afternoon, let me just begin by thanking you mayor breed for the introduction, but much more importantly than that, thank you for your leadership. y'all have one of the best mayors in the entire united states of america here in san francisco. [cheering and applause] >> i know not just housing but creating opportunity for everybody in the city, that san francisco is a place to move boldly into the future with a place for everybody, you have been a tremendous leader. i want to thank you for having me here today and give a shout-out to our other elected officials, our city attorney, and board of supervisors and state legislation child support d -- legislators for being here

today. i'm happy to be here to be part of the celebration of latino heritage month, as we celebrate a community that has made a tremendous impact on the forward progress of our nation. as the mayor mentioned, i grew up on the west side of san antonio with a grandmother who had come over from mexico when she was 7 years old with her little sister because her parents had passed away. she ended up in san antonio. she got pulled out of school when she was still in elementary, so she never got a formal education, but she became a maid, cook, and babysitter in her career and raised my mom as a single parent. my mother raised me and my brother as a single parent as well. my brother and i are proud products of the public schools of san antonio and to think just

two generations after my grandma got here with almost nothing from mexico, that one of her grandsons, my brother joaquin is serving as a member of the united states congress, representing the area that she came to and the other one is here running for president of the united states of america. [cheering and applause] >> that is the beauty of our country. that is the possibility of a latino community. i'm also happy to be here because i grew up with a mother who was a hell raiser when she was young. [cheering] >> she was part of the old chicano movement. she ran for city council as one of the first latinas to run. on april 6th, 1971, she ran for the committee of betterment,

which slogan was give government back to the people. they were fighting for more resources to go to north side, east side, west side, and south side of san antonio. a journalist asked my mother about her defeat and she said we'll be back. 30 years later, i was elected as the youngest member of city council ever in the city's history at the age of 26. [cheering] >> but here is the point for all of us as we mark latino heritage month, that progress didn't happen by accident. it happened because there were activists marching in the street and picketing. it happened because there were elected officials that were making the right decisions and investing resources in the community. it happened because there were forward thinking leaders of non-profit lifting up the community and giving them the tools they needed to succeed.

it happened because there were teachers in classrooms that went above and beyond to make sure those little children sitting in the seats could get the education they deserve so they could reach their dreams too. [applause] >> it happened because generations of latinos and non-latinos were committed to progress, and that is the spirit that i come in today. i hope that if there is something we can take from this time, which in many ways is the best of times and the worse of times for the latino community, a time when more latinos are graduating from high school and going to college, more with a title of doctor, engineer, architect, but at the same time children are sleeping on floors with no soap and no toothbrush. there are people in cages right now, simply because they want a better life in this country like generations of people have. if we can take anything from that, it's that all of us, no

matter our role in the public sector, the private sector, the non-profit world, that we have a role to play in making progress happen. it's an empowering time in the sense that we have to take it upon ourselves to do something in any way that we can to organize, to vote, to spread the word, to get others involved in participating in our democracy, to put resources where they're deserved and move our nation forward. why wouldn't we? our nation has been at its best when it is inclusive, including with the latino community and all of us here today -- [applause] >> all of us here today know the destiny of this nation is intertwined like never before with the destiny of the latino community and vice versa. in the years to come, as the

latino community succeeds or doesn't, so will our nation. so i want to thank each and every one of you here in san francisco for playing your role, for celebrating this wonderful culture, for showing others that we are achievers, and we're not the stereotype that some leaders paint us out to be, and that we have the same values of family and love of country and hard work that have made this an exceptional nation and that for many generations to come, we are going to continue to write the story of a beautiful nation and more progress in the years ahead. many thanks. thank you so much for having me here today. thank you. [cheering and applause]

>> thank you very much secretary castro. one more round of applause, a san francisco greeting. thank you. grascias. now it is my honor to bring up roberto hernandez and tracy brown. we go back to mission girls from a long time ago. [speaking spanish] >> you know when i get up here, you have to do that response. today, it's an honor to be here in city hall. i got to drive my low rider and park it right out in front.