learn from staff what the best answers are. i want to close by saying that we have talent, resources and some clarity about what our resources are in san francisco, but there remains a gap between san francisco's potential and its current reality. i am deeply excited to do the hard work to close that gap. we have the tools and all of the resources that we need, unlike really any city in the world. i can't wait to get started, particularly with the help of all of you in this room, the press. with that, i'm happy to take questions. malcolm, did you have words to say? >> absolutely. i know i stand between you and the questions for our new director of transportation. i am the chair of the new m.t.a. board. if i seem excited, it's because i am. we are in the process of hiring

a star for san francisco. we are very excited here today. the first person i want to thank is is the mayor, not just because of her commitment and support, but also i want to thank the mayor for not just her support and partnership in this, but the fact that you challenged us you were the result of a challenge to get a bold leader to take this agency forward. i'm grateful for that challenge. that challenge led us to an international search. we searched far and wide. i want to thank the search committee for the wonderful job that was done to conduct a truly international search that led us to someone in our backyard, a san franciscan to run our agency.

what has struck us about jeff more than his expertise, dedication, and his experience is his passion. you just heard it. he recognizes how transportation affects people's lives, making it better when it goes well and worse when it doesn't. with that, we are very excited. i wish jeff the absolute best. i know he won't need luck because he's a true professional and i'm excited to see him be a star and a partner. in my closing comments, i would like to say this, the last few months have been tumultuous at the agency, but not as much as without a director. the acting director kept the ship steady, was professional, calm, and an absolute pleasure to work with. thank you for your service. with that, i will turn the podium back to the super staff to answer our questions.

thank you for the questions. >> what questions do you have? >> [ indiscernible ]. [♪] valencia has been a constantly evolving roadway. the first bike lanes were striped in 1999, and today is the major north and south bike route from the mission neighborhood extending from market to mission street. >> it is difficult to navigate lindsay on a daily basis, and more specifically, during the morning and evening commute hours. >> from 2012 to 2016, there were 260 collisions on valencia and

46 of those were between vehicles and bikes. the mayor shows great leadership and she knew of the long history of collisions and the real necessity for safety improvements on the streets, so she actually directed m.t.a. to put a pilot of protected bike lanes from market to 15th on valencia street within four months time. [♪] >> valencia is one of the most used north south bike routes in san francisco. it has over 2100 cyclists on an average weekday. we promote bicycles for everyday transportation of the coalition. valencia is our mission -- fits our mission perfectly. our members fall 20 years ago to get the first bike lane stripes. whether you are going there for restaurants, nightlife, you know , people are commuting up

and down every single day. >> i have been biking down the valencia street corridor for about a decade. during that time, i have seen the emergence of ridesharing companies. >> we have people on bikes, we have people on bike share, scooters, we have people delivering food and we have uber taking folks to concerts at night. one of the main goals of the project was to improve the overall safety of the corridor, will also looking for opportunities to upgrade the bikeway. >> the most common collision that happens on valencia is actually due to double parking in the bike lane, specifically during, which is where a driver opens the door unexpectedly. >> we kept all the passengers -- the passenger levels out, which is the white crib that we see, we double the amount of commercial curbs that you see out here. >> most people aren't actually perking on valencia, they just need to get dropped off or pick

something up. >> half of the commercial loading zones are actually after 6:00 p.m., so could be used for five-minute loading later into the evening to provide more opportunities or passenger and commercial loading. >> the five minute loading zone may help in this situation, but they are not along the corridor where we need them to be. >> one of the most unique aspects of the valencia pilot is on the block between 14th street. >> we worked with a pretty big mix of people on valencia. >> on this lot, there are a few schools. all these different groups had concerns about the safety of students crossing the protected bikeway whether they are being dropped off or picked up in the morning or afternoon. to address those concerns, we installed concrete loading islands with railings -- railings that channel -- channeled a designated crossing plane. >> we had a lot of conversations around how do you load and unload kids in the mornings and

the afternoons? >> i do like the visibility of some of the design, the safety aspects of the boarding pilot for the school. >> we have painted continental crosswalks, as well as a yield piece which indicates a cyclist to give the right-of-way so they can cross the roadway. this is probably one of the most unique features. >> during the planning phase, the m.t.a. came out with three alternatives for the long term project. one is parking protected, which we see with the pilot, they also imagined a valencia street where we have two bike lanes next to one another against one side of the street. a two-way bikeway. the third option is a center running two-way bikeway, c. would have the two bike lanes running down the center with protection on either side. >> earlier, there weren't any

enter lane designs in san francisco, but i think it will be a great opportunity for san francisco to take the lead on that do so the innovative and different, something that doesn't exist already. >> with all three concepts for valencia's long-term improvement , there's a number of trade-offs ranging from parking, or what needs to be done at the intersection for signal infrastructure. when he think about extending this pilot or this still -- this design, there's a lot of different design challenges, as well as challenges when it comes to doing outreach and making sure that you are reaching out to everyone in the community. >> the pilot is great. it is a no-brainer. it is also a teaser for us. once a pilot ends, we have thrown back into the chaos of valencia street. >> what we're trying to do is incremental improvement along the corridor door. the pilot project is one of our first major improvements. we will do an initial valuation in the spring just to get a glimpse of what is happening out here on the roadway, and to make any adjustments to the pilot as needed. this fall, we will do a more

robust evaluation. by spring of 2020, we will have recommendations about long-term improvements. >> i appreciate the pilot and how quickly it went in and was built, especially with the community workshops associated with it, i really appreciated that opportunity to give input. >> we want to see valencia become a really welcoming and comfortable neighborhood street for everyone, all ages and abilities. there's a lot of benefits to protected bike lanes on valencia , it is not just for cyclists. we will see way more people biking, more people walking, we are just going to create a really friendly neighborhood street.

>> three, two, one. [applause.] >> congratulations everybody. thank you. >> so the project was driven by the need to improve conditions for people biking and walking from beach street to mcallister. between 2010 and 2015, there were 290 traffic crashes including two deaths, 110 bike collisions and 78te 78 pedestrin collisions. the construction was a little over two years. it including pedestrian crossing, better bike facilities, new street trees, we repaved the entire corridor.

fern alley has decorative street plants and new palm streets. cbd helped maintain the alleys and they are planning farmers markets and pop ups and bands. >> the goal was to build on the economic vibra vibrancy of polkt and to provide a safe street for the whole >> usf donates 100-120 pounds of food a night. for the four semesters we have been running here, usf has donated about 18,000 pounds of food to the food recovery network. ♪

♪ >> i'm maggie. >> i'm nick. >> we're coe-chairs of the national led organization. what food recovery does is recover and redistribute food that would go wasted and redistributing to people in the community. >> the moment that i became really engaged in the cause of fighting food waste was when i had just taken the food from the usf cafeteria and i saw four pans full size full of food perfectly fine to be eaten and

made the day before and that would have gone into the trash that night if we didn't recover it the next day. i want to fight food waste because it hurts the economy, it's one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases in the world. if it was a nation, it would be the third largest nation behind china and the united states. america wastes about 40% of the food we create every year, $160 billion worth and that's made up in the higher cost of food for consumers. no matter where you view the line, you should be engaged with the issue of food waste. ♪ ♪ >> access edible food that we

have throughout our lunch program in our center, i go ahead and collect it and i'll cool it down and every night i prep it up and the next day i'll heat it and ready for delivery. it's really natural for me, i love it, i'm passionate about it and it's just been great. i believe it's such a blessing to have the opportunity to actually feed people every day. no food should go wasted. there's someone who wants to eat, we have food, it's definitely hand in hand and it shouldn't be looked at as work or a task, we're feeding people and it really means so much to me. i come to work and they're like nora do you want this, do you want that?

and it's so great and everyone is truly involved. every day, every night after every period of food, breakfast, lunch, dinner, i mean, people just throw it away. they don't even think twice about it and i think as a whole, as a community, as any community, if people just put a little effort, we could really help each other out. that's how it should be. that's what food is about basically. >> an organization that meets is the san francisco knight ministry we work with tuesday and thursday's. ♪ ♪ by the power

♪ of your name >> i have faith to move mountains because i believe in jesus. >> i believe it's helpful to offer food to people because as you know, there's so much homelessness in san francisco and california and the united states. i really believe that food is important as well as our faith. >> the san francisco knight ministry has been around for 54 years. the core of the ministry, a group of ordain ministers, we go out in the middle of the night every single night of the year, so for 54 years we have never missed a night. i know it's difficult to believe maybe in the united states but a

lot of our people will say this is the first meal they've had in two days. i really believe it is a time between life or death because i mean, we could be here and have church, but, you know, i don't know how much we could feed or how many we could feed and this way over 100 people get fed every single thursday out here. it's not solely the food, i tell you, believe me. they're extremely grateful. >> it's super awesome how welcoming they are. after one or two times they're like i recognize you. how are you doing, how is school? i have never been in the city, it's overwhelming. you get to know people and through the music and the food, you get to know people.

>> we never know what impact we're going to have on folks. if you just practice love and kindness, it's a labor of love and that's what the food recovery network is and this is a huge -- i believe they salvage our mission. >> to me the most important part is it's about food waste and feeding people. the food recovery network national slogan is finding ways to feed people. it's property to bring the scientific and human element into the situation. >> mayor breed: hello, everybody. i'm london breed. i'm mayor of the city and county of san francisco, and i am so excited to be here today.

we all know that there is a real crisis in our city, and i know that we hear that word used on a regular basis. but in this particular case what we see happening with those who are struggling with mental illness and substance use disorder and chronic homelessness is something that we see every day and we need to take aggressive action to address that issue. i am standing here with supervisor hillary ronen and mandelman to announce that even though we have had two competing measures, we have come together to do what is in the best interest of this city to introduce today at the board of supervisors a compromise that is going to help us address the

most significant problem in our city. [ applause ]. >> mayor breed: i not only want to thank the supervisors, but i wanted to thank lou girardo. you remember lou has someone who worked with the board of supervisors back in 2012 and 2013 to help with a compromise for cpmc and the community benefits and the work that they needed to do to support san francisco. he's been an incredible advocate on this issue and we're grateful for the work that he has done to bring us to this place. [ applause ]. >> mayor breed: and i want to thank the labor council. kim taveloni is here representing the labor council. thank you so much. our community partners and advocates and so many people who

care so deeply about this issue. you know, i think we need to recognize that everyone that is here today wants our city to get to a better place. we may have differences of opinion of how we get there, but we know that that is at the forefront of what we have to do as a city if we are going to make sure that we help those are who are most in need. so everyone recognizes the importance of coming together today to do just that. i am so proud to be standing here to talk just a little bit about where our system is and where our system needs to go. in fact, san francisco does an incredible job. we serve over 30,000 people in our behavioral health system. but in that 30,000, we know that there are 4,000 that are dual diagnosed and are struggling

with homelessness and we know that we have to do better. this is why so many people are frustrated. not only the people working in our public health system, but people who are the ones who are sadly out there and need our assistance and need us to do better. today with this compromise we are proposing to do better. mental health s.f. is going to be a program that is going to be settled at the board of supervisors with a number of compromises to make the right kinds of investments in the people that serve those with behavioral health challenges and expanding our mental health beds and to work with the community to get community input on changes and making sure that we are collaborating every step of the way. and let me be clear, this will be an expensive program and we will know it.

i have made a commitment along with the members of the board of supervisors to make sure that we are making better investments because it is necessary. those investments will be increasing the pay of some of the employees that are working in this system. it will be loan forgiveness and other programs that we need to do to incentivize people to want to work in this industry and go to city. it will be to make sure that we expand the number of beds. it will be to make sure that we have an advisory committee of people who work in this industry to help advise on policies so that when we make decisions, we're not doing those decisions in isolation. we are working with the behavioral health system, and as i said time and time again there is a real issue around equity.

around those 4,000 people that we know we are not serving properly, 35% of them are african-american. we need to call out the injustices in these systems and make deliberate investments in targeting the population that continue to get left out when we propose new solutions to support the communities that we know are most vulnerable. so we are going to be making deliberate investments around making sure that african-americans are supported as we move this process forward. [ applause ]. >> mayor breed: i want to thank dr. nigusse bland and dr. colfax

because you have been doing the difficult work of managing the system with the resources that you have and not necessarily getting the support that you need to do it and that change starts today. that change won't happen overnight. we will be working towards making this a more justice, equitable, fair system using data, using data and resources, reforming our business tax system that we're working on to identify new revenues and making the hard decisions to revise our happy plan so that we can identify the capital resources needed. although we were looking at years later public health bond on the ballot, i have already sent a letter along with support

from the supervisors to look at a way in which we can move that public health bond to november of next year so that we can expand our beds and we can acquire board and care facilities, and we can continue to make sure that we not only have the people in terms of resources, but we have the capital necessary to expand outthis -- out this system. now, i know that time and time again people talked about what happened in the 1980s when our city was faced with a very still crisis, when we were faced with the aids crisis in our city, and how we were not supported by the federal government and so many people came together and san francisco and san francisco general in particular was the leader in the fight to really focus on addressing the

challenges with aids and h.i.v. in our city. for the first time this year, we have less than a hundred new diagnosed h.i.v. patients in san francisco, which is truly historic. [ applause ]. >> mayor breed: that came with resources and us coming together and bold policy changes. that's what we're doing today. i am so excited for the future of mental health in san francisco because i know that this is the right way to do it. this is the right approach to develop the resources and make the kinds of changes that will help the people that we know need it the most. we have to start looking at mental health in a whole other way than we did in the past, because when you think about it, we have hospitals that deal with

physical issues, right? cancer and if you break your arm or something that you can feel, but what happens when someone is a schizophrenic? what happens when someone develops dementia or these other things. what happens when we are helping those people and meeting them where they are? this is where we need to go as a city and a country. i'm proud to be here to support mental health s.f. and achieving that goal with the members of the board of supervisors. [ applause ]. >> mayor breed: and i want to thank supervisor hillary ronen and supervisor matthew haney again for bringing great leaders in this process. i really, really want to thank supervisor rafael mandelman. we are going to work together to get this done.

so without further ado at this time, i'd like to welcome to the podium supervisor hillary ronen. [ applause ]. >> thank you so much, madam mayor. matt and i are so happy to be leading on this issue together. yes, we did it. we came together and we're looking forward to continue with the bond to lead and fix this crisis in our streets. before i make this comment, i want to acknowledge two people who changed their schedule to be here and might have to leave early, our null elected public defender and district attorney, minora aju and bodeen. [ applause ]. >> they were with us when we announced mental health s.f. and

they are with us when we're announcing its introduction into law in its final form today. thank you for being with us every single step of the way. we really appreciate you and are so excited for your leadership. everyone, we just created the first universal mental health and substance abuse system in the country. [ applause ]. >> if you are homelessness, uninsured, or on mediccal, we will treat you. we will create a plan and a path towards a stable and healthy life and guide you to stay on that path. if you have health insurance but you are not getting the care that you need or deserve, we will stand beside you and we will advocate with your provider until you get the care that you

are legally entitled to. if we see any patterns of illegal behavior on behalf of private insurance companies, we will partner with our city attorney's office and we will hold those private companies accountable. [ applause ]. >> once mental health s.f. is fully up and running, no one in san francisco has to stand alone when they are battling these diseases of the mind. san franciscans, if you see someone suffer secretary-general on the street with mental illness or drug addiction, you're no longer going to have to walk by and feel guilty because you didn't know how to help them, you're no longer going to have to debate with yourself if you should call the police, is that a good or bad thing, you will have a 24-hour,

seven-day-a-week team of mobile clinicians that will come out and assist that individual at any time. [ applause ]. >> guess what? when general hospital psych emergency services is on diversion, there is a new place to go, it's called the mental health s.f. service center. it will be open also 24 hours a day, seven days a week. this mobile team will have a place to take people who will get immediate care from psychiatrists and psych nurses and social workers. guess what? we're no longer going to waste money, time, and the good will of patients and the rest of us, quite frankly, by watching people cycle from the streets to psych emergency services and residential treatment, and right back out on the street where it is almost impossible to get better because we're going to start the office of coordinated

care that are going to help people get on a path to recovery and is going to expand services to ensure that there is availability at all level of treatment, including permanent, supportive housing. [ applause ]. >> mental health s.f. is visionary, universal, bold, comple complete. ladies and gentlemen, it is soon to be the law of san francisco. i want to join the mayor in a few thank yous especially to lou girardo who got us talking again

and to the fabulous place we are today. i want to thank matt haney, my partner in health every step of the way. it is a pleasure working with you and it is so fun to team up. i want to thank you to the mental health committee because this was a team effort. we had incredibly brilliant representatives writing this law with us and serving the bridge between the front-line medical workers, patients, and families, and our offices sciu 21. the national union of healthcare workers. [ applause ]. >> progress foundation. the treatment on demand coalition. and phil ting's office who has

been there from day one and we'll hear from him in a moment. i want to thank our incredibly fabulous staff. we have been living and breathing mental health s.f. for a year. please give a hand to my chief of staff. so my form er aide, ms. morales and abigail moriante. and the campaign team. and to nate albie our special strategist. and finally i wanted to thank all the supervisors who were really there with us from the beginning, all of our co-sponsors, supervisors yee, peskin, and walton and mar who didn't waiver and had our backs.

they were along there right by our sides and we love you for it. finally, i want to thank all of the frontline health workers, including the peer workers, social workers, the therapists, psychiatrists, many of who i see in the audience who do the most incredible and amazing work every day and don't get nearly enough appreciation, we see you and appreciate you and love you and we hope this is going to make your work more exciting and successful. finally, i wanted to thank the mayor and the mayor's staff who we started off with a different vision, but we did that hard work and we sat down. especially dr. colfa scprks -- colfax and dr. bland.

thank you, ms. mayor. can you give a big round of plaza to supervisor matthew haney. >> thank you. i want to echo all of those thank yous that you already heard from supervisor ronen, but there's one that we left out which is supervisor hillary ronen, who did incredible and tremendous work. literally when i got elected, she pulled me in and asked, what do you think about doing a universal mental health care program for san francisco. i said i just got here. how does that work? we brought in an incredible coalition of frontline workers. everyone who was able to help us draft this legislation. so many folks with direct experience working in this system helped us draft what is in front of us today. i want to say this one more time

which is that mental health s.f. will make san francisco the first city in the country to provide universal access to coordinated mental health care and substance use treatment. that is a huge accomplishment. what we know is that there is so many people in our communities, many of whom are living on the streets, others of who are suffering quietly who are not receiving the care that they need. our system does amazing work, but we're not doing enough to recognize that mental health is recognized as a right in our city. if you are sick and have someone you need to talk to, you need to have a system that actually takes care of you, that coordinates your care, and that

doesn't turn you away. mental health s.f. will create a 24/7 mental health services center where anyone can go for care. we will have intensive case management and an office of care coordination so people do not fall through the cracks. we will have a responsive stream so that responders are trained clinicians. i want to echo and shout out the staff that are here because our jails right now should not be the place where people are getting mental health care. we need to have actual hospitals and community care and supportive housing where people are getting treatment. so our excitement to partner with the two of you and to create a system that works is so exciting. we're going to expand our system so we're not putting people out on the street because there is

not a bed available. we need to have a private service for a system that supports people. people are abandoned on our streets, cycling in and out of our emergency rooms looking for residences. we need a system that looks out for them, takes care of them, and has a place for them to go to get the care they deserve. i want to give a huge, huge thank you to mayor breed and her team, dr. colfax and dr. bland. this is the leadership that our residents are demanding. this is the leadership where we work together and we work out our differences, but we also make sure that we're leading in a bold and a truly san francisco way. we are done with the incrementalism. we are done with the tinkering. we need big changes and we need

everyone to receive care. i want to recognize abbey from my chief of staff here. she has been working so hard. and thank you to everyone here with us, we could not have done this without all of you. thank you. [ applause ]. >> sometimes our assembly members go up to sacramento and forget about these members. not phil tang. he has been with us dedicating his time and staff. >> i am so excited to be here today because it's just an acknowledgement of san francisco is that when we come together, we can solve major issues. today is a day when we can all

celebrate where we had a variety of concerns, real concerns about how do we implement mental health s.f., how do we make this program a reality, real issues about how do we offer this in a universal way, how do we make sure that those who need it get this opportunity. i'm so proud of our city that we were able to come together, come together as a unified city, on really what is one of the hardest issues out there. i have gone up and down the state to see what are the best practices of solving mental health. while many of them are here in san francisco, it's very clear if you look at our city. we're not doing enough. we're not doing it in the most efficient or radical or thoughtful way. oftentimes it's something that people ask you or people commonly talk about. when we talk about many of the problems, we all say mental health is one of the major

issues. well, until today, we hadn't really been putting it forward in the most bold way. this is saying that not only is mental health one of the major issues, it is one of the major issues for our city. this is us coming together and saying that we are all going to work on this together and we know this is not an easy problem to solve. this is the easy part. we know that dr. colfax has the hardest part because he is going to have to deliver on what we are discussing. let us own this together and come together as a city and say this is something that we need to solve together because it is something -- [ applause ]. >> -- because it's not about pointing finger s at each othe

or who's doing what. it is an acknowledgement that we need to do more together and as a city enough is absolutely enough. my hope is that this could be a model for what's going to be done at the state and other cities will also take a look and see what we are doing here and seeing if they can replicate it. that's what happens. one of our crazy ideas is crazy one year and five years later, it is the best practice across the state and the country. i believe once we get this right, the mayor is going to have other cities across the country say secretary-general h -- saying, how did you do that mental health program and we are going to make that a reality. thank you to the mayor and supervisors ronen and haney for leading the charge, but most of

all coming together and solving this problem together. thank you. [ applause ]. >> thank you. we've got to give this next speaker, dr. grant colfax, a major round of applause. poor dr. colfax had to start his job in san francisco between a battle between the board of supervisors and the mayor's office. that wasn't easy, and he did it with grace and kindness and willing to work with us. i have no doubt that he's going to do a great job implementing mental health s.f. dr. grant colfax. [ applause ]. >> good afternoon, everyone. thank you, supervisor ronen and mayor breed, for bringing us here today and the city leaders together to solve the most urgent problem facing our city.

you made sure that the department of public health and the clinicians, community partners, clients, patients, the people we serve, contributed their collective wisdom to this transformative plan for asterisk. under your leadership, mayor breed, with the help of people here today, we will make a positive impact in transforming our behavioral health system to serve the people in greatest need. thank you again, supervisor ronen and haney, for your commitment to health and dignity for san franciscans experiencing homelessness, mental illness, and substance use disorders. the department of public health shares the passion and urgency you bring to this vital work. i really want to thank the health department staff who spent lots of time in city hall figuring this work out.

i particularly want to acknowledge including dr. bland, director of health reform, dr. hammer, dr. sung, greg wagner, our finance director who is going to figure out how to pay for all of this, but much of the work laid out in mental health s.f. is under way and many of the people are already doing this work. our incredible street medicine, shelter health, and community outreach teams are building trust with those on the streets, finding ways to engage them and care and saving lives to overdose preventions and saving lives every day to treat their substance use in mental health disorders. the department of health is collaborating with the department of health and homelessness support to make sure that the most vulnerable people on the streets get into

housing and other safe care settings because we know that this is key to helping people in their recovery process. we are already planning to expand the behavioral health access center and to create a methamphetamine service center. we recently released those results. we are focusing on intensive case management so that people on the street can develop strong, trusting, and therapeutic relationships with the persons who can get them the help that they need. we have identified that we need to help more people in this role and serve more people who lead this level of intensive care. thanks to mayor breed's investment, we have seen the addition of 212 behavioral health beds across our system and we are planning to add 800 more in the future. the agreement we are announcing

today will allow us to scale up the things we are doing well, change the things we are not doing well, and modernize our behavioral healthcare system to catch up with behavioral health, so that san franciscans can be confident we are providing the best solutions possible. mental health will allow us to invest in the workforce, both in civil service and community organizations, so that those dedicated to serving others can afford to work here and do the things they do so well. this is a visionary framework, and i'm optimistic that resources will follow. this will enable the department and the community partners to carry out the plans in a way that is evidence-based, that advances equity, and reduces harm. we know that wellness and recovery are possible for everyone. this agreement and the unity we are showing here today are part of san francisco's legacy. we come together to do great

things. we've done it with h.i.v. and with healthy san francisco. now is the time to transform behavioral healthcare. together we can make a difference and save lives. thank you. >> thank you, dr. colfax. now we are going to hear from two members of the mental health s.f. steering committee that are leaders in this field. i also want to correct a mistake. i forgot to personally mention one of my heroes, kim tavaloni, that represented the labor council and played an incredibly important role. thank you, kim. first we are going to hear from the executive director of the progress foundation, steve fields. >> good afternoon. the community-based non-profit agencies were invited to the table by supervisors ronen and

hains rig -- haney right from t beginning of this effort. i think it's been no secret for a long time that hiring people with lived experience to be primary caregivers has been pioneered in one of the richest community-based non-profit systems of care in the country and that's in san francisco. we're proud of that. the process that started back with supervisor ronen and haney coming up with a bold and exciting new idea within not just to tinker around the edges but to go for broke and go for the fundamental idea that behavioral health services should be a right, that access to services should not be denied to individuals because of their

lack of capability and their status in the community and because they have a silent voice that never gets heard. we signed on to that effort because it was exciting and interesting and promised to bring some fundamental change. the promise of the new vision and for addressing the challenge of serving people who are suffering on the street, but also of strengthening a treatment system that is creeking at the edges that without more support is not going to be able to to deliver the services that it has is going to help us deliver the agenda of mental health s.f. without the work of the department of public health and the support of the mayor's office and the incredible staff that showed up to help work through the differences between mental health s.f. and the mayor's proposal, we wouldn't be standing here today.

this represents the best of leadership, two visions that fundamentally were not different from one another but had different approaches had to be brought together because we couldn't lose everything because we had to come up with a way to put everything in one package. it's only within with the leadership of mayor breed and the leadership of supervisor haney, ronen, and the support of members of the board of supervisors. i've been working in the system for almost 50 years and this is the first time i've seen such a confluence of leadership in the political side of the city committed to improving the behavioral health services system here. we all have ideas and energy, and i want to recognize supervisor mandelman's leadership. we know better in san francisco and we're not going to lose an

opportunity because we're going to be fighting for what we believe in on both sides of any issue. so i want to acknowledge dr. colfax and the mayor's staff who contributed enormously to this. we want to acknowledge the advocates in the community who kept the pressure up on all of us to not let this opportunity slip away. it's an exciting time to be in san francisco. it is about to engage in a powerful exercise of implementing a shared vision for behavioral health services for the most vulnerable citizens of our city. community-based providers, the non-profit sector in this city, are ready to begin the challenging work of collaborating with city and county services and with the various other people providing major services to the mentally ill unfortunately in the

criminal justice system and other sectors, to make sure that this is our opportunity to create a program that will become a model. we're excited to be in this engagement with everybody. keep watching, participating, keep bringing your ideas into the system because we're going to build an incredible behavioral health system in this city. thank you. [ applause ]. >> thank you so much, steve. and last but not least, an incredible woman who's going to close this out. jennifer stein, a registered psych nurse and a union leader with sfiu. where are you, jennifer? here she is. [ cheering and applause ]. >> i've heard a lot of constituthank yous, so i'm going to skip that part. it is an honor today to be here

with my colleagues, especially those from the community and frontline staff. we've been working together and are bringing a milestone in our country. the first mental health program for those who made care. this will enhance the lives of residents in the city of san francisco. as a registered psych nurse, it has been my passion and duty to make sure that adequate care is provided to all my clients, regardless of their stations in life. together with supervisors ronen and haney, our community health providers and advocates, the department of health, and mayor breed, we've created something truly revolutionary. [ applause ]. >> we've come together to form a social policy that will serve everyone who has been touched by a mental health issue and also those who were unhoused or struggled with substance abuse. the people from san francisco will benefit from mental health

s.f. for years to come. my hope is that by implementing this new mental health care system and by enhancing and increasing the services that we found, the people here will finally get the care that they need and deserve, regardless of their income or insurance. everyone deserves to have their mental health conditions treated. they shouldn't be in crisis to get care. they shouldn't have to wait multiple days, weeks, or longer to be seen by a clinician. we're we're also suffering with a crisis of bed capacity. i work for the department of public health and my work site is at the behavioral health care center. we have been fighting to make sure that beds do not close that serve people for life. right now, 54 people have been evicted from their homes in san francisco and our mayor has dedicated a promise to make sure that beds at boarding care homes

will be allocated, yes, reinvested in and that these people will not go homeless. today, we do not have a place to move these people into and this is a crisis of the highest order. no one should be destabilized because their housing that the city is providing is going away. so as providers of care and creators of policy, we set a new standard for the country to follow. i'm proud of being part of the process to make a way for those who struggle with minlt and addiction. this is a good way for the people of san francisco. let us hope that this is a national trend because we need and deserve it. america is a rich country, san francisco is a rich city. we can provide this care. thank you all. [ applause ].

>> give it up one more time for jennifer and all our workers who provide care every day. this is a good day for san francisco and a day we came together to address with a bold solution the issues facing our city. i want to say clearly we are not done yet. there is a lot of work that needs to be seen through to fund it and we will need assembly member ting to help us. we're going to have to keep this coalition together. what we did is provide a vision, framework, and a path forward. thank you for your vision. thank you, supervisors, and mayor breed. let's get it done. thank you. [♪]

[♪] >> the commission will come to order. i will take roll call. [roll call]