the fire department. it is always a team effort. you are my family. i love the city and department and i love being of service. i vow to work hard -- to work hard to carry out the vision of the san francisco fire department and to move us forward in a positive way. if i were to give a little advice to women and queer kids, find people to support you. keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep trying. you never know what door is going to open next. you really don't. [cheers and

>> welcome everyone. [applause.] we are pleased this afternoon to get started on this big project in front of us. we are going to be having some seismic upgrades, a new elevator, we have a two story building wit out an elevator. we will have that for patients and staff. we are happy to have the mayor, supervisor, director of health, director of primary care, finance guy. you can't do things without the finance. we are happy he is here. our patient advisory committee is here. of course, several members of maxine hall's family are with us today. this work honors who she was in

this community, a leader and we want to keep that work going caring for the people in the community. we are excited about the project and i want to welcome mayor breed, who grew up in this neighborhood. please join us. [applause.] >> mayor breed: thank you. first of all, hello, hello. this is somebody taped the microphone. i am going to hold it like this to make sure everybody can hear me. you grew up in the neighborhood. in fact i spent a lot of time at ben franklin middle school where that is when i was a handful. i turned out okay. all is good. just remember when any of you are working with the young kids that are a handful, you never know what is going to happen. it could be someone who just really surprises you and becomes

all you ever dreamed they could be. that is the spirit of today and the spirit of maxine hall. i am excited to be here. we have incredible community treasures that are forgotten. the work we have to do to make sure this clinical was prioritized in the 2016 bond to help address disparities in communities around clinics and healthcare and support was a lot of work. to arrive at this occasion, and i can think about, you know, so many amazing leaders in the community who photo help take care of our kids, seniors to provide resources and services, and maxine hall represented that. that was the work she did her entire life for this community. why it is be fitting her legacy

carries on through the health clinic supporting those vulnerable in the community. we want to know why it is called maxine hall in the first place but more important the lady behind what made it is a community. thank you again. yes, this is happening. this is happening no more moving up the stairs real slow, no more helping to carry people who can't walk up the stairs. we are finally going to get an elevator in this place. let me tell you. an elevator may not sound like much to some people. when you don't have one and don't have one that works right like we did at the cultural center before we redid the elevator when people got stuck in there.

an elevator is everything. today we break ground on really what will be an incredible facility. thinking about the needs of the patients that this clinic supports, thinking about the fact that, yes, there are people that have challenges with behavioral health and need a safe place to go to in the community with people who they trust that they could talk to. i see a lot of the staff on the sidelines of people who work to keep this place running every single day. thank you so much for your dedication to the community, for your compassion and work and your patience as we provide the important services that our city needs. we also need to have the important conversations around getting rid of the stigma attached to seeking out help for those who are mentally ill. people suffering with depression

and sometimes dementia and not sure what to do, and making sure we have places family members can access to get people help and support and treatment they need. this has been an amazing facility, and people here have made do with what they have, but now it is time to get something better. better exam rooms to meet the needs of the patients, nicer bathrooms with new fixtures and water that works. making sure the little things and how people feel about walking in the facility changes because it is going to be a new facility, but it is important people understand this is about the people that access this facility every day, whether they work here or they use the facility for various things or they come by to pick up healthy fruits and vegetables and the great things and programs that

maxine hall has offered for so many years. protecting and supporting this vital community resource is critical to the success of the future of the city. i am happy to be here today. all is not lost, when this facility closes to be done on time and on budget, we have a temporary location near the community center. we will make sure that folks in this community know that is the case. just because a facility is shut down doesn't mean the business can't continue. the business of the people in serving this community has to continue. i want to thank the staff for their flexibility and the community for their patience. i want to introduce your supervisor brown who worked as ad for me when we were fighting for the fight that places in our

community especially maxine hall need priority and in city bureaucracy years from 2016 2016 passing the bond and preparing and getting the project ready to 2019 breaking ground, not bad in city bureaucracy years. [applause.] >> ladies and gentlemen, your supervisor vallie brown. >> commissioner brown: thank you for coming. i want to thank a few people. department of public health, thank you for pushing to make sure this happened in a way that cares about the community. i want to thank the san francisco health network, department of public works. i recorded when you said, yes, ma'am, we will have that done. i will keep playing the recording to you.

mayor's office of disability. reverend brown and the naacp was very instrumental and the community center and of course our mayor london breed. [applause.] you know, when i first started really getting involved in the neighborhood, it was over 20 years ago as a neighborhood activist. i remember someone telling me the story, and this is maybe 12, 13 years ago. about maxine hall. they said you need to know this story if you are going to be an activist. when i heard the story and the kind of woman she was and the kind of fighter for the community. it gave me that kind of passion to do more. when i found out her tragic how she tragically died and how the community said we are never

going to forget her and making sure that she was never forgotten in the work she did. she was vessel less. i'm sure her family will have stories to tell you about how selfless she was. she was a community organizer and activist. for me that gave me a path forward of how i should push forward, how i should never take no for an answer. it also is personal for me. with the center opening, you grew up in utah. half native-american, on and off reservations my whole life growing up. we never had healthcare, ever. if i ripped open my knee i went to the vet to get it sewed up because it was cheaper. when i was 14 and my mother turned 40 she passed away with undiagnosed diabetes.

she had no idea. i think if we had a maxine hall is along the path of our journey she could have gotten a checkup. she never got a check up. she could have had that checkup and that she would have probably, you know, lived on. her life was cut short at 40 years old. when i think about healthcare and i think about healthcare for all and justice, i feel that this is something that i fight for every day because it is personal to me. i want to thank doctor james for all of the work you do because i know it is not easy. [applause.] and your amazing staff. i have a quick story. when we were looking for a space to spring some trailers so maxine hall would not close down, there was one area we were looking at. i won't tell you where.

we got a huge push back from the community. i said why? this is amazing. we got a push back. they didn't want it. i worked with mayor breed and we said let's take it right in the community of maxine hall? we went to the ellie hill hutch community around there and i have to tell you everyone was excited and said, yes, bring the trailers here so services will continue. i want to thank the community for being open when we need those kind of direction to make sure that everyone gets service. thank you everyone for coming on this lovely day. [applause.] >> we want the teens coming over, especially rowdy ones.

bring them along. we want to acknowledge james. we learned a lot from him. roland pickens who helped us as well. [applause.] >> i want to welcome grant colfax to the stage. doctor colfax was a resident at maxine hall. i want to say one of our loungest serving staff member is tanya thompson. she has been here for 30 years. she started at the age of four. (laughter). >> she was one of the people who welcomed doctor colfax when he came as a resident. she had him seeing patients from the get-go. thank you for being here. >> good afternoon, thank you for

being here for this exciting day. mayor breed i would like to thank you and your leadership for making this help, supervisor brown thank you, muhammad you are crucial. i want to thank roland pickens and the team and staff at the clinic who do the work every day. i came back a couple weeks ago. i was here as a resident in 19 1994. the remarkable dedication that everybody has to the community and, most importantly, to the patients that get the care they need. the work around integrating mental health with physical healthcare, the fact there is a methadone clinic add join -- add

joining this clinic. i think tha that is the legacy f maxine hall and this click. now we will turn the -- the clinic hasn't changed in terms of the physical piece. where you get care and what it looks like. healthy environments, positive spaces improve mental health. help peak struggling with substance abuse. decreased stress. i am excited to see what we can do here in 14 months on time and budget. let's get going. thank you. (applause). >> i think we have the director who is going to say a few words.

>> thank you to the health department. we have developed a very great long-standing partnership. we have delivered many projects together. of course, the biggest one we have projects in the southeast, south center coming up, renovations. we are excited on this project. we are doing pretty much everything. the project management, construction management, architecture is all going to be done by the public works staff. we are excited to work on that. the funding as you heard the mayor say came from the 2016 public health and safety bond, which is very important. i want to thank the voters for making that funding available to us.

i think some of the key elements you heard about having an elevator makes a huge difference. we will get a new elevator and make the building seismically safe. in the event of an earthquake or disaster the building will be operational for 72 hours or more. new consultation rooms when people come to use the facility, larger exam rooms, everything with the funding we are excited about. i would like to thank our project team and all of the staff from public works for working so hard to get us here and the contractors working on. the engineers are going to make sure we deliver the project in the 14 months. that would be winter of 2020.

i am excited and i hope it gets done on time and on budget. thank you very much. [applause.] >> we want to hear from one of our patients. our patient advisers are a group of people who bring wisdom to us. we are grateful for their work. we want to hear from them. this is a pamphlet for patients to best access their care. it was thoughtfully done. we give this to all patients. thank you for being our patient today. >> thank you, doctor james. i have been a patient here good years. i receive the best care.

i have been to a number of other clinics. this is above all of them by far. i work with the central city which may or bleed knows about. i have been there for about 10 years, i am a housing peer counselor. i am also on the gourd for the pack committee and new member of the city-wide pack team. also, i have been on the sro task force for six years. the clinic, remodel is something that we have desperately needed.

inches i have been on the board for the past two years. every meeting is about the remodel work. we are glad to see it finally coming together. thank you. >> we have to have the raffle. marty made all of this come together. her mother is a talented artist who put together the pieces for us. ms. charlene hill, who is maxine's daughter. [applause.] >> this is rosalyn frazier. [applause.]

we grew up together. >> matthew rothschild. (applause). >> one question for people. what is 1181 golden gate. who can tell me what that is? >> the new location for the clinic. >> that is where we will be for the next 14 months. visit us there as well. we are counting on our patients to be with us. we will have you back in 14 months and two days for the celebration.

he is bringing champagne so don't miss it. here we go. five, four, three, two, one. [cheers and applause.] we spoke with people regardless of what they are. that is when you see change. that is a lead vannin advantage. so law enforcement assistance diversion to work with individuals with nonviolent

related of offenses to offer an alternative to an arrest and the county jail. >> we are seeing reduction in drug-related crimes in the pilot area. >> they have done the program for quite a while. they are successful in reducing the going to the county jail. >> this was a state grant that we applied for. the department is the main administrator. it requires we work with multiple agencies. we have a community that includes the da, rapid transit police and san francisco sheriff's department and law enforcement agencies, public defender's office and adult probation to work together to look at the population that ends up in criminal justice and how

they will not end up in jail. >> having partners in the nonprofit world and the public defender are critical to the success. we are beginning to succeed because we have that cooperation. >> agencies with very little connection are brought together at the same table. >> collaboration is good for the department. it gets us all working in the same direction. these are complex issues we are dealing with. >> when you have systems as complicated as police and health and proation and jails and nonprofits it requires people to come to work together so everybody has to put their egos at the door. we have done it very, very well. >> the model of care where police, district attorney,

public defenders are community-based organizations are all involved to worked towards the common goal. nobody wants to see drug users in jail. they want them to get the correct treatment they need. >> we are piloting lead in san francisco. close to civic center along market street, union plaza, powell street and in the mission, 16th and mission. >> our goal in san francisco and in seattle is to work with individuals who are cycling in and out of criminal justice and are falling through the cracks and using this as intervention to address that population and the racial disparity we see. we want to focus on the mission

in tender loan district. >> it goes to the partners that hired case managers to deal directly with the clients. case managers with referrals from the police or city agencies connect with the person to determine what their needs are and how we can best meet those needs. >> i have nobody, no friends, no resources, i am flat-out on my own. i witnessed women getting beat, men getting beat. transgenders getting beat up. i saw people shot, stabbed. >> these are people that have had many visits to the county jail in san francisco or other institutions. we are trying to connect them with the resources they need in the community to break out of that cycle. >> all of the referrals are coming from the law enforcement

agency. >> officers observe an offense. say you are using. it is found out you are in possession of drugs, that constituted a lead eligible defense. >> the officer would talk to the individual about participating in the program instead of being booked into the county jail. >> are you ever heard of the leads program. >> yes. >> are you part of the leads program? do you have a case worker? >> yes, i have a case manager. >> when they have a contact with a possible lead referral, they give us a call. ideally we can meet them at the scene where the ticket is being issued. >> primarily what you are talking to are people under the influence of drugs but they will all be nonviolent. if they were violent they wouldn't qualify for lead. >> you think i am going to get arrested or maybe i will go to

jail for something i just did because of the substance abuse issues i am dealing with. >> they would contact with the outreach worker. >> then glide shows up, you are not going to jail. we can take you. let's meet you where you are without telling you exactly what that is going to look like, let us help you and help you help yourself. >> bring them to the community assessment and services center run by adult probation to have assessment with the department of public health staff to assess the treatment needs. it provides meals, groups, there are things happening that make it an open space they can access. they go through detailed assessment about their needs and how we can meet those needs. >> someone who would have entered the jail system or would

have been arrested and book order the charge is diverted to social services. then from there instead of them going through that system, which hasn't shown itself to be an effective way to deal with people suffering from suable stance abuse issues they can be connected with case management. they can offer services based on their needs as individuals. >> one of the key things is our approach is client centered. hall reduction is based around helping the client and meeting them where they are at in terms of what steps are you ready to take? >> we are not asking individuals to do anything specific at any point in time. it is a program based on whatever it takes and wherever it takes. we are going to them and working with them where they feel most comfortable in the community. >> it opens doors and they get access they wouldn't have had

otherwise. >> supports them on their goals. we are not assigning goals working to come up with a plan what success looks like to them. >> because i have been in the field a lot i can offer different choices and let them decide which one they want to go down and help them on that path. >> it is all on you. we are here to guide you. we are not trying to force you to do what you want to do or change your mind. it is you telling us how you want us to help you. >> it means a lot to the clients to know there is someone creative in the way we can assist them. >> they pick up the phone. it was a blessing to have them when i was on the streets. no matter what situation, what pay phone, cell phone, somebody else's phone by calling them they always answered. >> in office-based setting

somebody at the reception desk and the clinician will not work for this population of drug users on the street. this has been helpful to see the outcome. >> we will pick you up, take you to the appointment, get you food on the way and make sure your needs are taken care of so you are not out in the cold. >> first to push me so i will not be afraid to ask for help with the lead team. >> can we get you to use less and less so you can function and have a normal life, job, place to stay, be a functioning part of the community. it is all part of the home reduction model. you are using less and you are allowed to be a viable member of the society. this is an important question where lead will go from here.

looking at the data so far and seeing the successes and we can build on that and as the department based on that where the investments need to go. >> if it is for five months. >> hopefully as final we will come up with a model that may help with all of the communities in the california. >> i want to go back to school to start my ged and go to community clean. >> it can be somebody scaled out. that is the hope anyway. >> is a huge need in the city. depending on the need and the data we are getting we can definitely see an expansion. >> we all hope, obviously, the program is successful and we can implement it city wide. i think it will save the county millions of dollars in emergency services, police services, prosecuting services. more importantly, it will save

lives. [applause]. >> and so many incredible community leaders and friends who have gathered here today to support the signing of what i believe is important legislation that will hopefully make the changes in the city that are necessary to address what we know our inequalities and services, resources in general, and we know, as a city we have

work to do. in fact, we can take this conversation back to two years ago. starting with the unfinished agenda under the san francisco redevelopment agency, recommendations back then of what should be done with the disparities that exist in the african-american community. later on down the line, when gavin newsom served as mayor, he agreed to work with us and create a task force which produced a report that really highlighted the challenges that continue to persist in the african-american community despite changes, despite investments, the same problems that we are talking about today, were problems that were highlighted, yet there weren't significant changes made. in growing up in san francisco, i can't help but wonder, where did we go wrong?

what worried the mistakes that we made, and how are we going to push forward the kinds of policies necessary to fix it? one such policy i'm really proud of that i helped to produce when i was on the board of supervisors, people try to fight is on it, people told us it couldn't be done, but thanks to our late mayor ed lee, former supervisor melia cone, we were able to finally get neighborhood preference legislation passed. [cheers and applause] let me give you an example of what a difference that makes. we know the challenges that exist with access to affordable housing. time and time again we get asked if -- to support affordable housing in our community. but when the time comes to move into that housing, the people who grew up there, the folks so crowded up in their houses and living with their mamas and grand moments could not get

access to those units. the first project where we were able to use neighborhood preference was the willie b. kennedy apartment. because of our efforts, 40% of the 98 units was the people who lived in the community -- community first. in fact, roughly 23 of those residents were african-americans from that community. [applause] we understand that it may seem like a small number, but in comparison to the number of african-americans who would get access to affordable housing, it is a big deal that we were able to accomplish this, but we know that there is so much more work to be done because when you look at the disparities that exist in san francisco, sadly the numbers are clear. high school dropouts, disproportionally

african-americans are in the higher numbers of dropouts and suspensions, but less than 6% of the population. you look at the homeless population, you look at the challenges with mental health, disproportionately african-americans are impacted by that. you look at access to housing and a number of other issues. the list goes on and on. i get that we are looking at an office of racial equity for the purposes of dealing with challenges that exist with minority communities, but let's face the facts. sadly, time and time again, we have seen, on many occasions, the african-american communities lose time and time and time again. we can't just keep talking about these statistics and saying that we care about what happens to this community, and then also criticize me when i deliberately put money and resources into

supporting and targeting this community so that we can really provide the change that we need. we need action. we need consistency. we need a change like never before. the office of racial equity is really about making that investment. it is about saying that we are tired of the reports, we are tired of the promises, and we need to start putting our money where our mouth is. on this issue and so many other issues. so i just want to take this opportunity to thank again supervisor sandy fewer and supervisor vallie brown for their courage. [cheers and applause] for their courage. for being leaders. for being unrelenting. for consistently talking about this, talking about the need to make real change. the african-american community

may be less than 6% of the population of this city, but guess what? we are still here. we still matter. and it is time we come together and make real change. [applause] it is time we come together and hold one another accountable, but also lift one another up. >> here is the opportunity to work with an office to provide that change. i went over my time, but i am excited about this. it is why we put money in the budget to make sure positions are funded. nobody debated whether or not it should be, and now it is time we continue to work with this office so that policy is brought forward, so that more investments are brought forward, and so that everyone in this city, and all city departments understand that when i say we

are going to look at everything through a lens of equity and make the kinds of deliberate changes and investments to address what we know has been a problem, then that's exactly what we are going to do. [applause] at this time, i would like to welcome up to provide remarks, supervisor sandra lee fewer. [applause] >> thank you, mayor breed. i'm so proud to stand here today with the mayor and supervisor brown, and also my colleague and all of you as we sign this legislation to create an office of actual -- racial equity into law. i'm a fourth generation san francisco and -- san franciscan and chinese-american. i remember growing up in a san francisco where there was more opportunity for everyone. i remember when we had an

african-american population of over 15% here in san francisco. i remember the time when we had nader -- neighborhoods with small businesses that were owned by african-americans. this is a very important moments today because, quite frankly, this is one of the reasons, the main reason that i ran for supervisor. i think that -- [applause] it is so delightful and refreshing that we have a mayor that actually impress it -- embraces this. we need an interruption and we need to interrupt what is happening and how can we get back to the san francisco values that we are all so proud of and we all love. when you come to san francisco, you expect to see diversity. when you come to san francisco, the self-proclaimed, most progressive city in the united

states, you expect to see people of color thriving here and yet we are not seeing that. i would like to take a moment of appreciation to really think my legislative aide for doing this work. [cheers and applause] and also district five legislative aide. [applause] and from the human rights commission thank you. this is the hard work of determined women that we will write this and we will write it good. historic race discrimination has manifested as exclusionary and destructive policies like creating obstacles for chinese residents from owning businesses the racial segregation to

neighborhoods, and the internment of japanese americans and the destruction of historically black neighborhoods in the name of urban rule. now racial -- it is not disclosure neri policy, but rather in the inaction of government to address and protect these past harms done. it is more insidious, and more harder to address. we see now incredible racial disparities in so many areas of life but also let specific islanders -- we see these disparities showing up in employment, our schools, housing , and the healthcare system and more. these disparities prevent people from color in our city from leading lives that are happy, healthy, and economically secure today, we are taking a stand in

san francisco to say we will not stand for systemic racism. this legislation is a critical step in acknowledging the history and the current conditions of communities of color and making strong and concrete commitments to address those conditions. >> thank you, supervisor fewer. at this time, the co-author of the legislation, supervisor vallie brown. [applause] >> thank you, mayor breed for your support and your kind words i want to thank supervisor fewer intimate -- director davis for your fierce advocacy and hard work on this, but i also really want to appreciate the people behind us. a lot of times we push them in front that have really got into the weeds to work on this. might aid, thank you -- my aid,

thank you. i know supervisor fewer already thank you, but i have to thank you, too. you have to have a doublethink here. district 18, chelsea, and then human rights commission, i want to thank brittany, raise your hand, brittany. thank you. everybody wants to know who she is. and other than the other h.r.c. stuff that worked really hard on this. they really went deep and really drafted some amazing legislation for us to move forward. i really want to thank all of you for joining us here today for this historic signing of this office of racial equity. this office where we will work

-- we will build and work on the legacy of the human rights commission, and it is a powerful tool to break down years and years of structural and institutional racism. our work has just begun, though, but we can't do this alone, and that's why we are all here today we need the support of each of you to repair past harms and work towards a brighter future. it's all about time, it's all about time. i am so proud to stand on this land that we are here on and organize on behalf of the board. when i think about the native american community in this city, the highest population of women that are murdered are american indians. think about that. when they say we are 1%, why?

this is something that i know we will dive deep into because these are things that matter to our community, matter to the city, matter to the elected officials, and as the years when i was a legislative aide, we used to do policy, we used to do funding, thinking we were really going to help a community, but we didn't know if it would work or not. for me, this office of racial equity will work with the community and bring things to us this is -- isn't that what we want? don't we want the community to bring the policy, bring the funding suggestions to us? they have to come from the community, not from us telling you what you need. i am just really proud to stand here today and be part of this. lastly, i want to make an important distinction. equality means treating everyone the same. equity means ensuring everyone

has what they need to be successful. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you supervisor brown. now a few words from the director of the human rights commission in san francisco, cheryl davis. [cheers and applause] >> this is quite an emotional day for a lot of different reasons. i want to first recognize the commissioners that are here. they are here from the human rights commission. this work, i was just telling someone, it is actually just the perfect storm in terms of how it came out. i remember when mayor breed was president of the board. we had a conversation with james bell from the burns institute in oakland about the needs of doing something around racial equity. she was committed then and we were really try to figure out what it is that we wanted to do. what did we need to do, how did

we work to build allies to move this forward. when supervisor fewer came into office, one of the first thing she said to me is we need to do something around racial equity in the city and she specifically said, i want to know what we can do to do better by african-americans and black people in san francisco. that was unusual, right? this idea that somebody who wasn't black was interested in doing right by black people was new for me. and then supervisor brown, they developed an equity program with the office of economic and workforce development for african-americans in the western addition, fillmore, to help them develop the way to have access to city help. put money for them to get paid to tell us what to do. when we talk about being committed to the work, i really

have a little tolerance for people who just like to talk and i would like to say these three women have been committed to the idea and notion of racial equity and getting to the people who have been most harmed by the disparities and putting their money and their mouth where the work needs to be done. [applause] and i say it is a perfect storm because when i look around and i think about felicia jones and dante and the folks who have been pushing on the inside to say that we need to make change, michelle and cheryl, the folks that have challenged us, but at the same time, i think about ruth and their work in the mission. and the work that is being done. this idea that we want to transform city hall is not about transforming the work that happens in this building, it is about understanding how the work that happens in this building impacts everybody outside. [applause]

so they won't. i am so full right now because i know that there is not just the accountability and the demand to make this happening from -- happen from communities, but these three women, coupled with the men over here from the board of supervisors, they will make it happen. nobody here is afraid to be told that it is being done wrong and that we need to redo it. if you want it to work right, you all need to make sure that we are held accountable. i am excited about what is to come and being held accountable and moving this thing forward, and as mayor breed said, bringing the change that we have been waiting for for 50, 60, 70, 100 years. thank you for being here today. [applause] >> thank you. as i said to all of you before,

as someone who was born and raised here, i'm so honored to be the mayor and i still can't believe what an incredible opportunity this is, but i can't also help but think about the need to make sure that even though there were mistakes that were made in the past, that change the dynamics of our city, in the past, we have an opportunity to make things better in the future. we have an opportunity not to repeat the mistakes of the past and no, i can't turn -- turn back the hands of time, but what i can do is make sure that the policies and the investments and the decisions that we make now have a better impact on future generations to come. today is an opportunity to do just that. ladies and gentlemen, let's get this legislation signed. [cheers and applause]

are we ready? [applause] >> hi, i'm corn field and

welcome to doing building san francisco, we are doing a special series, called stay safe, how you can stay in your home safely and comfortable, and we know that an earthquake is coming and there are things that you can do to reduce the effects of the earthquake on your home. let's take a look at that. >> here at the spur urban center on mission street in san francisco talking about staying in your home after an earthquake. i have guests today, pat buscavich and his dog, harvey and david, and both structural engineers and we want to talk about things that you might do before an earthquake to your home to make it more likely that your home will be ha bitable after an earthquake, what should we do? both structural and maybe even important non-structural things. >> you hear about how to prepare an earthquake kit and

brace your book shelves and water tank and that is important. what you have to be careful is make sure that you are not going the easy things to make yourself feel better. if you have a bad structure, a bad building, then you need to be looking at that and everything that you do to keep your collectables in place is small and compared. if you have taken care of your structure, then there is a lot of stuff that you can do in your house that is non-structural and your chimney and water tank. >> let's talk about what the structural things might be. >> and he is exactly right. you don't want to make the deck chairs safe on the titanic, it is going down, you are going down, you have to make sure that your house is safe. there are basic things that you need to do including bracing the water heater, not just because of fire hazard but because of the water source and the damage, but basic things are installing anchor bolts, and adding plywood and strapping your beams to column and posts to footings and

foundations are really easy things to do and most contractors can do the building department is set up to approve this work, and these are things that every home owner should do, and it is a little harder because you have to get a building permit and hire a contractor. but you want to be able to after a big earthquake to climb in bed that night and pull the covers up and say i don't have to worry about going to a government shelter. >> that is the main focus that it is great to have an earthquake kit to be able to bug out for 72 hours. here is a better idea, stay in your own home and in order to do that you have to be make sure that your structure is okay. if you have a house, the easy things to do with the wood construction is feasible. if you have a renter or you live in a concrete building, you need to talk to the building own , and make sure they have done their due diligence and find out what the deficiencies are. >> when i have looked at damaged buildings,vy seen that

a little bit of investment in time and money and structural work provides great dividends. >> especially if it is the wood frame, typical house that you can do the things that i was talking about, the anchor and the plywood in the first garage area, you know if you refinanced in the last three years, get some of that savings and it is a really good investment. and the other thing that i try to tell people, earthquake insurance is not the solution to the shelter in place, if there is a big earthquake and your building is damaged, you are not in your house, you may be somewhere else, if you work in the city, it is going to be really hard to commute from sonoma, you want to do what is necessary so that your house is retrofitted and a couple of years of earthquake premium could get you to a level that you could be in the house after a significant earthquake and it may have damage and there is still a shelter in place where you are at home and you are not worried for the government taking care of you and you are living in a place where you can go to work and you want to have

your wood frame house is really easy to get to that level. on top of the wood frame house, i mean every wood frame house in the west half of the city have a water tank and the water tank fall over because they are gas fired and start fires. and that is something that you could do for yourself, and for your neighbors and for the whole city is make sure that your water tank is braced. >> if you look at the studies that are predicting on fires, we are going to have a lot of fires and for every water tank that is braced there is a potential of one less fire that the fire department is going to have to fight and we don't want to have any more fires than we need to. so bracing the water heater is the first thing that you want to do. >> and so easy, and you go on-line and you google, earthquake, water and heater and you google the sites where you can find the details and you can put them out there on the hardware store and you can hire a small contract tore do that for you. that is a couple of hundred bucks, the best investment. if you are in other types of building it is complicated.

if you are in a high-rise building you just can't anchor your building down because there are no anchor bolts, but at that point, the tenant should be asking questions of the owner's and the managers about earthquake preparedness >> and don't take the easy answer, oh, our building is safe it was designed to code. that is not the right answer, ask the tough questions and see if you can get a report that has been given to you. >> what is the right question? will i be able to stay in my home after the expected earthquake? is that a good question to ask? >> yeah, you may be more specific if you talk to the owner, if it is not a recent building, if it is ten or 20 years old see if they had an inspection done and there you will have a written before that will tell you all about the structure. >> thanks, pat. >> thanks, harvey. and thanks david for joining us and thank you for joining us on

>> good morning. this is the regular meeting of the abate appeals board. i would like to have everyone turn off electric devices. next is roll call. we