problem that resulted in death. so this is that a large portion will be the product that is attractive to children and are concerned that this will con consumer marijuana and safer the same effects. >> a hi-next speaker. i work with tenderloin housing and i am concerned that the store will have a negative impact on the community to encourage drug use in an area with an especially large youth

population compared to other area of the city and also an area where the issue of drug use poses a major problem. our efforts tell others of other parts of the city such as chinatown and the sunset where permits have been denied or entirely outlawed. the children that i work with regularly find themselves in the presence of open air drug use and going to school or walking in the neighborhoods and many don't feel safe and even in large groups with adult supervision. when new businesses are introduced, they should not be ones that will make a community issue already known even worse.

>> next speaker. >> i lived and worked in the tenderloin for 12 years and work with a nonprofit in the 300 block of ellis. i don't want to take the time to repeat what everyone said. i want to express my opposition and i don't think we need a cannabis december pencery in the tenderloin -- dispensary and there is enough on the edges that people with use and urban farm and different ones on the edges of the tenderloin. i want to express opposition we don't need another cannabis store in the tenderloin. >> thank you. next speaker. >> good evening. i live in the tenderloin and opposed to another cannabis store coming from me raising three children and i am also a youth coordinator and i have

seen kids that grow from watch them fwrou from year old to 15 and we miss them after that going to starting with using marijuana and using drugs and sell drugs and going to the the juvenile home and going through this route and having another cannabis store that is legal to raise more problem and to legalize and be in the store doesn't mean that will lose illegal sales on the street. that is cheaper. it is not the solution. the solution is to see the drug

dealers and that business is not going to go away by adding more cannabis or legalize. and the store over there is more valuable to our community as it is as a grocery and convenience for everyone to buy milk or buy bread. and repeated again that we are a community of lot of families and with kids. and so that is my comment. and i still oppose 100% of this. thanks. >> thank you. any other public comment in support of the d.r. requester? okay. we will now hear from the project sponsor. >> president melgar and members of the planning commission, i am teaming up with the equity applicant for the proposed project on 50 # o jones.

and a little background on myself is in order. my father hash running the store since the late 1970s shortly after he came to america. he worked 14, 15, sometimes 16 hours a day to afford my sister and i a better life. our neighbors know me by name and are quick to say how much i look like my dad. due to my father's hard work, i was the first person in nigh family to graduate college, u.c. davis, class of 2006. and the project has something -- has been something that we are very passionate about. the good that the marijuana dispensary can do far exceeds that of a liquor store. to date they have a dispensary to call their own and the tax rate far exceeds anything i will be playing and i have linked up with the anti-homeless campaign with the mural project and hope

to combat homelessness and i have the physical hard copies to reference and emailed them to mr. christianson. and all i can say is that i have called, emailed, sent out community letters and i still to this day have not received any single attempt of communication via any medium. no one from the church reached out email, text, or phone to receive any information given at the meeting. a copy of the community leter is also here in the hard copy as well as the sign-in sheet. i spoke with a representative of the church on september 16, 2019 at 4:30 p.m. for roughly 20 minutes and the only response i got during that conversation is let's see how the d.r. plays out. should you i a prove this corner project, we will have 24 hour video surveillance monitoring as

well as flood lighting that will illuminate both corners of the store, a security guard unharmed will be placed outside to check i.d.s and maintain the surrounding area. a p.o.s. system that links the customer's toid the purchase will also be placed to eliminate underage use and as well as comply with state mandated metric laws and daily limits. despite the references about potential on site consumption, we did not apply for a permit and i will never do that out of respect for my neighbors. thank you for your time. >> good evening, members of the commission. i was going to say afternoon, but we have gone a little far. i am justin gray, born and raised native of the city. i am the cannabis equity applicant for infinty wellness. first i would like to say that i believe this is our last hurdle to overcome to pursue a dream.

cannabis until recently has been seen in a negative light, but we believe wholeheartedly this is a medicine with many uses and we would like to educate the community about them. there will be no onsite consumption and we will brighten the neighborhood with lighting and provide 24-hour video monitoring. and we want to give the neighbors an affordable accessible medicine as well as give back to the community, the community we all know can use improvement. and the last two years have been a roller coaster ride but we have followed the city's rules to the letter and are ready to cross that line. in closing, i would like to thank the commission for their time and consideration, the people that showed up to support us and the surrounding people and businesses that have written letters of recommendation. again, there will over in be any onsite consumption. thank you for your time. >> you still have 57 more seconds. so okay.

that is fine. and we will now take any public comment in support of the project sponsor. if you are here to support the project sponsor, come on up. >> hello, commissioners. i am amos and i am the founder and director of the veterans alley mural project incorporated. organizations created in 2011 buy myself and a fellow veteran who was unhoused at the time. the project was created to allow veterans to paint the stories of the murals on the wall running geary to o'farrell and our project is half a block away from the dispensary and as a reference 25 feet from the church. our work focuses on providing the therapeutic outlets that those in the military and past have experienced trauma and some of the most vulnerable residents. over the years we have grown the organization to become a valuable resource for much of the entire community both housed, unhosed, veteran and

non-veteran. we have transformed shannon to into a community-based art gallery. it tells the story of the neighborhood and serves as a safe space. this is a safe space right next to the church for young people, senior, housed and unhoused residents. we run a community flea market in shannon alley and hold three block parties. the organization believes that this dispensary would be a beneficial addition to the tenderloin with its own unique identity. and with the passing of prop 64 in 2018, dispensaries -- 2016, dispensaries have become readily accessible with many parts of san francisco.

there are dispensaries within the mission, south of market, sunset, and castro districts which are well out of the reach for many tenderloin residents who treat symptoms and residents many of whom are physically challenged are forced to commute to other communities for the vital and basic resource to alleviate pain. having a resource which is within reasonable distance would eliminate this frustration faced by community members. as an organization we have always advocated for the medicinal use for disabled u.s. military veterans. as a community, we veteran face the challenges of high suicide rates, overprescription of antisigh t coic, opioid a-- antipsychotics and presently there are 45 unhoused vetter rarns at the winton hotel at 4405 who face these challenges every day. a dispensary within reasonable distance will be greatly beneficial to their well being. the dispensary at this location will have a calming effect on

the street traffic because they are required to adhere to strict security regulations to provide outdoor security personnel there to enshoo you are that cannabis is not consumed in the vicinity and provide a positive application. >> your time is up. >> i'm done? >> thanks. >> sorry about that. >> next speaker please. >> good evening, commissioners. our mission is to end the crisis conditions of street homelessness but developing spaces of belonging, shared agreements and stewardship. we have spent hundred of hours in the tenderloin over the past year organizing the pilot of a safe, organized space in san francisco and i am here to support the requested change of use to cannabis retail at 50 # o jones. sfhc advocates that informed and

accessible access to cannabis as well as job opportunities should be a strategic part of the solution to address the public health, safety and economic crisis of meth, heroin, around fentanyl sales and use. living without access is a constant stressor on the body and psyche and a large portion of homeless use drugs as a coping mechanism. but substances such as meth, opioids, fentanyl, benzos, and alcohol can cause severe damage to the body and potential fatalities. cannabis, on the other hand, can provide targeted relief for a stress nervous system without the fear of a fatal overdose. it has a growing body of treating pain, ptsd, opioid and meth addiction and some of that research is from our and we are excited to work with the thank

you. >> thank you very much. next speaker please. >> good evening, commissioners, president melgar. i am a public health professional, born and raised in

san francisco and from a medical research and i am here representing myself. i have knowned justin to be committed to serving his friend and community for most of our lives. and as i mentioned earlier in this hearing, i am committed to seeing more equity in the space of cannabis retail and the cannabis markets. i have a relative in the tenderloin near where this space will be. and my relative has signed on in support of the project and wants accessible cannabis near her home. she felt anxious about speaking in public and therefore chose

not to be here this evening. i am familiar that alcohol retail increases the likelihood of public safety concerns. there is an increase in violence and the likelihood for other dangers to public safety with alcohol retail and that same research doesn't exist for cannabis retail. what we do know with the lack of research is when you place a security guard in front of a business, it is highly likely there will be a reduction in the amount of illegal activity that happens on the street. dispensaries, therefore, reduce public safety concerns on the street when there is somebody working in a security role on the street with eyes on the

business and as a result, it is likely there will be a reduction. i hear the concerns. i have concerns about safety in the tenderloin not just for my relative that live there is but also with the understanding that there is an increased -- there is a huge number of children that live in the community. i would like to invite folks with fears object what a cannabis retail means to visit retail sites and get a look t a who is there with what goes on inside and out front and you may have the fears allayed. the federal government does see it as a schedule one drug, but our state and city does not. it is not the same as heroin and crack or meth. it won't bring the same types of problems. thank you. >> thank you. any other public comment in support of the project sponsor?

>> good evening, everyone. i have known justin gray since we were 15. i am in support of it and i have been living in the tenderloin for six years and heard the arguments opened to it and the concern about the children and the safety and it is a rough neighborhood. however, i believe that it would be a good asset to the community and it is already slowly changing in the last six years and with the grocery stores and low income housing being built over the the area and they didn't talk about it, but doing

a delivering service through vehicles. i am a home care provider, so i believe that it would be good for that because i serve as san francisco people who have medical issues from ptsz to physical impairments. and a lot of them do use medicinal marijuana to help with their issues. i think it would be nice to see in that area and there is added security and there is a bar on jones that has a security guard and i don't believe there is a high crime from people smoking weed to going to bar and drinking and going outside with a drunken brawl with somebody.

that is all. thank you. thank you. >> good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and president, i am a tenderloin tenant. and i used to work in the tenderloin. i am frederick beasley. i am a supporter of this because i have rheumatoid arthritis in my knees and my hands. walking sometimes is pretty hard. when i used to be in the neighborhood this, would be great if there was a dispensary to get the meds, go home, and get this and i have never been in a situation where i had to go, oh, this isn't going to work. i used to be an addict and pill popper and medical marijuana changed my life. it helped me. i am in support of it because in

the neighborhoods where you have to go out and if you have bad feet, bad knees, bad back, in a wheelchair and somebody is pushing you, i would feel safe to get the marijuana and go home, but that is all i got to say about that. i feel that to community will benefit from the area and bright area, less traffic for black market sales and a lot of people will be comfortable seeing a security figure in the neighborhood standing up for the community. >> thank you if any other public comment in support of the project sponsor? d.r. requester, you get a two-minute rebuttal. >> the reading that was pulled

from the project sponsor was on sunday at 10:00. we couldn't attend because we were at church. he said in his conversation with me that he thought that church was closed so he didn't come to introduce this proposed change of use and i feel and one individual in that storement cos to our church occasionally so he must have known the church is open and functioning and we are here right next door. but no effort was made from that side and that point of view. i don't know what else to say other than it is just not the right location and we have nothing against the illegalized

use of marijuana and you just approved a location elsewhere in the main traffic corridor on mission, but right there on that corner i have seen so many individuals trying to keep a grip on reality and staring in the gutter for half an hour because they don't know where they are and what they are doing. and lying in the middle of intersection. and trying to figure out what it is that is happening to them. we had a stabbing not too far from our church and we saved the person's life because one of our members called 911 right away. the gentleman was saved and came to church and thank you for our quick action. we have had attacks on the

custodian. it is not the right location for cannabis. >> thank you. project sponsor, you have a two minute rebuttal. >> good evening. i am the land use attorney and here on behalf of the building permit applicant and it is getting late and we are last and i will keep this brief. as stated in the staff report and the d.r. is a general opposition to the use itself and this is principally permitted. there is no evidence of the required exceptional or extraordinary. it was not raised in the d.r. request, but it was raised in the speaking, but nothing to dao with design standards and just about the use and general status of the tenderloin.

that relates to the other testimony is use related. and they have done things the right way and this building permit for minor t.i. work is all they are seeking. therefore, we respectfully request that the commission follow staff's recommendation and to not take d.r. and approve the project as proposed. thank you. >> thank you. >> commissioners. >> commissioner koppel. >> there is a cannabis dispensary that ep opened near my house and highly opposed, very contentious hearing and it opened. space has been open for a couple of months. it is an asset to the neighborhood. there is security on the sidewalk. there is no crime. there is no violence. there is no car accidents.

they check i.d.s. they are not targeting kids. there is not going to be more problems in this project is granted. there's going to be less problems. the people you see on the streets are on other drugs and other hard substances. i am having a hardtime with the layout of that neighborhood and i know what it's like. i would want to see more filled store fronts and more security guards and more businesses with exterior lighting especially this one that is on a corner. 16% tax revenue. 15%, 16% tax revenue, legal businesses. formula retails are leaving the city. we have to get our businesses the ability to stay in business.

and adapt to what we are doing now as opposed to what we are doing yesterday. i don't have a problem with this project whatsoever. it is principally permit and code compliant. if anything, if we don't approve this, we are denying people relief. >> commissioner moore. >> i think there is enough support from the community and i am inclined to support it and making a motion to approve. >> second. not take d.r. >> commissioner fung. >> a they indicated that they would not consume on site. can we condition that? that means we would have to take d.r. to create the condition. yes, you would need to take d.r. to impose that condition.

we would mirror that off -- given the circumstances of the site and the same kind of presence of many people and lack a place to consume at the department and would not recommend that. >> commissioner moore. i would like not to amend the motion for the reasons if stated. if there is ap an i willcation, the ap i will -- if there is an application, they will find the right community support and at this moment i do not want to restrict in it this particular location. >> if there is nothing further, commissioners, there is a motion seconded to not take d.r. and approve as proposed. >> commissioner diamond. >> yes. >> commissioner fung. >> no. >> u a commissioner moore. >> commissioner richards.

>> that motion passes 5-1 with commissioner fung voting against. >> okay. we are adjourned. thank you. >> good afternoon, everyone. i am so excited to be here today with hamilton families, with google, and youtube to really

announce something amazing. a significant contribution that will help us address what we know is one of the most challenging issues we face in the city and in the bay area. that is homelessness, the more specifically, homelessness as it relates to so many families. i am so excited that in san francisco last year, we helped 2,146 people exit homelessness and of that number, 325 families , that was absolutely amazing and we couldn't do that work alone. is a public and private partnership. it is real investments in creativity. took the leadership of families. it took some amazing people to get us to where we are because i know, with about 1800 kids that

we have in our public school system that are homeless, that this is a solvable problem. we can do better because we have amazing, amazing people who care about putting forth the kinds of resources that are going to help us get to that place. today, i will let susan make the announcements. her husband brian is here with her they are gifting a significant contribution to help address this issue to hamilton families. this, again, is how we are going to move faster in addressing this issue because we know that with those families to, unfortunately are homeless, and need a safe, stable, affordable

place to come home, they can't wait another month, another day, another year. we have to get to them now and provide the resources necessary to get them there. it will be significant. so susan and her work with her husband and what they have done to invest in making the kinds of changes necessary to help with this issue is absolutely remarkable. more importantly, it is what others need to continue to do if we are going to get to a better place in the city and in this state as it relates to homelessness. with that, i want to invite up susan and thank you, and thank youtube and thank google and for the work you have done in san francisco and we will continue to do it to end homelessness for our families in the city in the very, very near future. thank you so much. susan?

>> thank you. thank you, mayor breed. i am so glad to be here with you i'm so inspired by your words and all of your leadership and fighting homelessness. i also want to say thank you to all of the people here at the hamilton families for the incredible work that you are doing and the impact that you have had on our community and in the lives of so many different families. sometimes the scale of an issue like homelessness can make us feel like it is impossible to solve. and even though we know how important it is, sometimes we wind up doing nothing because it feels overwhelming for us. now the work at hamilton family shows us how we can make a difference in a tangible way, one family at a time. over the years i have recognized

how serious the problem of homelessness is in the bay area and i have contributed, along with my husband to many different organizations that support people in need, but i'm here today because of an idea that first started with a school project. earlier this year, my daughter was working on a project about homelessness and as i listened to her questions and her reactions, i realized i didn't have a lot of answers for something that was so important and affecting so many families in the bay area. we spent time together researching different solutions, including coming here and that is how we wound up connecting and meeting all of these fantastic people here at hamilton families. we were impressed with all the services that they offer and the way they gave families a fresh start. that is why we are gathered here today to announce the new grants

to further support all of the incredible efforts being done by hamilton families to find permanent homes and meet the needs along the way providing shelter, meals, and more. i want to say we appreciate everything you do, everything from offering counseling and job resources to giving children the chance to succeed at school. so today, google.org is contributing $850,000. [cheers and applause] and together with my husband, we are contributing $500,000 for a total of $1.35 million to boost the work of hamilton families. [cheers and applause]

over the next year, this grant will make an impact in our community and it will help hamilton serve 700 families and find housing for another 200. it will also find an outreach effort, a series of videos and podcasts that will tell the stories of individuals who are facing homelessness. our goal is to help the community understand the problems that can lead to homelessness and also inspire others to get involved in whichever way they can. sometimes the greatest gift that we can offer is our time. in that strain, we will organize an event for youtube employees that come to the shelter to volunteer. we are very excited about that. homelessness is an incredibly complicated challenge for our society, but if we all come together and we look out for one another, our combined contributions can make a big

difference. and so now i would like to introduce my husband who will say a few words and thanks to all of the incredible people here at hamilton families. [applause] >> thank you, and thank you mayor breed. today we are very excited to be here and very honored to be here today. i want to echo susan's comments and say a big thank you to everyone on the hamilton families team. we really mean it. thank you for your hard work every day to help families feel safe and taken care of. you are making an incredible, incredible impact. we are giving families a second chance. we are so grateful for everything you do and we look forward to hearing about all the lives that you will change over the next year. thank you again. now i want to introduce tamika moss and brian stanley from the

hamilton families group. thank you. [applause] >> thank you all so much. thank you susan and dennis, thank you, mayor. thank you hamilton families. i had the privilege of leading this organization and working with susan and her daughters when they came to our shelter, but i just get a represents the incredible work that the staff does on behalf of the families that we serve here at hamilton families. this problem is solvable. family homelessness is solvable and we're doing it together. it takes partnership like this. it takes investments like this and it takes all of us doing our part in order to tackle the challenge of having no family experience homelessness in our community and they deserve that. and every single day, each one of the staff here at hamilton families works on behalf of

those families to end their housing crisis, restore dignity and provide an opportunity for those families to thrive. i'm so grateful to be along for the ride. congratulations and thank you so much susan and dennis. [applause] >> thank you again so much and the entire day area team at google. we are humbled by your support for hamilton families and the communities we serve. when i first heard, i think it was last spring that you had visited the shelter, i was surprised. i think what most struck me was the sincerity of your commitment and passion for this issue and your willingness to lean in with us.

sometimes these things happen. thank you, guys. thank you, all. we know it takes partnerships like this one to help us redefine what is possible and help families stabilize and thrive. i thank you very much for the partnership of google, for your partnership, as well as your husband's partnership, and at the end of the day, opportunities like this give us hope. reminds us that this is not just a moment for the movement, but we are involved in transforming outcomes for san franciscans. on behalf of staff, participant families, thank you to google, thank you to susan and dennis, and thank you to our media partners. the bay area media coalition and the arts and technology group. [cheers and applause]

we are excited to go forward. thank you to your support. thank you. [applause] >> hi, everyone. i am an incoming board vice chair at hamilton families. thank you, mayor breed for being here today. we know you have many requests for your time and we are grateful you could join us here. speaking of gratitude, as a board member, we are so grateful that the city and mayor breed share our commitment and family homelessness. and now we are joined in this work by susan and dennis and google, it just makes us so very proud. as brian mentioned, hopeful. on behalf of our board and all of us at hamilton families, thank you for your commitment and for this extremely generous and significant gift. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. now let's get to work. [applause]

>> my name is alan schumer. i am a fourth generation san franciscan. in december, this building will be 103 years of age. it is an incredibly rich, rich history. [♪] >> my core responsibility as city hall historian is to keep

the history of this building alive. i am also the tour program manager, and i chair the city advisory commission. i have two ways of looking at my life. i want it to be -- i wanted to be a fashion designer for the movies, and the other one, a political figure because i had some force from family members, so it was a constant battle between both. i ended up, for many years, doing the fashion, not for the movies, but for for san franciscan his and then in turn, big changes, and now i am here. the work that i do at city hall

makes my life a broader, a richer, more fulfilling than if i was doing something in the garment industry. i had the opportunity to develop relationships with my docents. it is almost like an extended family. i have formed incredible relationships with them, and also some of the people that come to take a tour. she was a dressmaker of the first order. i would go visit her, and it was a special treat. i was a tiny little girl. i would go with my wool coat on and my special little dress because at that period in time, girls did not wear pants. the garment industry had the -- at the time that i was in it and i was a retailer, as well as the designer, was not particularly

favourable to women. you will see the predominant designers, owners of huge complexes are huge stores were all male. women were sort of relegated to a lesser position, so that, you reached a point where it was a difficult to survive and survive financially. there was a woman by the name of diana. she was editor of the bazaar, and evoke, and went on and she was a miraculous individual, but she had something that was a very unique. she classified it as a third i. will lewis brown junior, who was mayor of san francisco, and was the champion of reopening this building on january 5th of

1999. i believe he has not a third eye , but some kind of antenna attached to his head because he had the ability to go through this building almost on a daily basis during the restoration and corrects everything so that it would appear as it was when it opened in december of 1915. >> the board of supervisors approved that, i signed it into law. jeffrey heller, the city and county of san francisco oh, and and your band of architects a great thing, just a great thing. >> to impart to the history of this building is remarkable. to see a person who comes in with a gloomy look on their face , and all of a sudden you start talking about this building, the gloomy look

disappears and a smile registers across their face. with children, and i do mainly all of the children's tours, that is a totally different feeling because you are imparting knowledge that they have no idea where it came from, how it was developed, and you can start talking about how things were before we had computer screens, cell phones, lake in 1915, the mayor of san francisco used to answer the telephone and he would say, good morning, this is the mayor. >> at times, my clothes make me feel powerful. powerful in a different sense. i am not the biggest person in

the world, so therefore, i have to have something that would draw your eye to me. usually i do that through color, or just the simplicity of the look, or sometimes the complication of the look. i have had people say, do those shoes really match that outfit? retirement to me is a very strange words. i don't really ever want to retire because i would like to be able to impart the knowledge that i have, the knowledge that i have learned and the ongoing honor of working in the people's palace. you want a long-term career, and

you truly want to give something to do whatever you do, so long as you know that you are giving to someone or something you're then yourself. follow your passion and learn how to enrich the feelings along the way. [cheers and applause] >> let's give it up for the tree all right. good evening, everyone. around of applause for the young people theatre company and its director. they were amazing. they will be performing the little mermaid next month at the museum.

bring your family, come out and support. all right. let's get everybody up. are we ready to light this tree? [cheers and applause] [♪] my name is phil ginsberg. i am the general manager of your san francisco recreation and parks department. we want to welcome you to the 90 th, think about that. the 90th annual tree lighting. this started december 20th, 90 years ago on john mclaren's birthday and his spirit is here tonight because it is not raining. [laughter] this is truly one of our signature events of the year. certainly one of my personal favourites. and if you see all the incredible stuff happening here down j.f.k., if you haven't walked down the street, there are rides and food and games and you get a goat of conservatory

of flowers from night bloom or the outside of the building and the inside of the building are all lit up. it is super cool. the start of our show tonight is right next to me. our mayor, london breed. mayor, thank you for joining. we will have you wait just a second. the mayor is a magician and she will make the magic happen tonight with this tree. before we make that happen, we need to acknowledge some other special guests who are here that make this happen tonight. they have joined me on stage. present tonight we have state assembly member phil taking who is right there. [applause] i think our assessor recorder carmen to is here or on her way, and then we have our recreation and park commission, our president, mar buell -- mar you

will and all of the commissioners. we have a number of other folks from the parks and recreation advisory committee who are here who helped guide park policy. we are grateful for their support. and i see a few special department heads starting with our police chief bill scott who is here. i saw deputy chief david lazar, the head of the department of the environment is here. and many other special guests. if i have missed anybody on this stage, i apologize. i saw a project level in the house.

thank you very much. we do events like this four times a year. our family friendly free events would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors or partners including kaiser permanente, byward market , the san francisco parks allianz, i saw the president of the parks alliance in the house, and recology. and of course,, none of this would be possible without the hard work of the best staff. the best and hardest working staff in city government. the recreation and park department staff. let's give them a big round of applause. [cheers and applause] so let me talk for a quick second about the tree itself. this is san francisco's official holiday tree. this tree was planted by john

mclaren. it is a monterey cypress that is over 130 years old. it has aged a little bit. it might have lost a limb or two over the years, but it is still standing tall. tonight it is sporting over 550 lights. and what makes this tree lighting special is that this is the last tree lighting, this is 100 -- the 149th year of golden gate park. so next year we will celebrate the hundred and 50th birthday of our entire park system in san francisco. let's give that around of applause. [♪] i mentioned our partners and i want to bring up one special partner. we have many, that help us

provide programs and provide services for kids and help us to special events tonight. one of those partners is kaiser permanente. tonight, the chief operating officer of kaiser his here to join us in celebrating the start of the holiday season. help me welcome miss miller who will come up and say a few words [applause] >> good evening, everybody. happy holidays. welcome to tonight's festival on behalf of kaiser permanente. we are a proud sponsor of recreation and parks' annual tree lighting ceremony. can you believe it is 130 years old? what we would like to do is celebrate tonight and also welcome you to the theme for this next year which is making friends one data time. the 150th anniversary or celebration of golden gate park. 150 years.

give that a hand. [applause] in honor of that, we come together across this beautiful city to this world renowned park to meet with friends and family and to make new friends as well. reminds me of the campfire song, make new friends, but keep the old. that is how this city grow stronger and strengthens through his relationships. we will continue to support these beautiful events and we hope that you, too, will take advantage of tonight's festivities. thank you again on behalf of kaiser permanente. >> thank you. all right. so she is truly our park champion and chief. let's get it lit, she says. she really likes to party and she is not particularly patient, but let me bring her up. ladies and gentlemen, our mayor, london breed. [cheers and applause] >> thank you.

all right. i love the theme music. first of all, thank you all so much for coming out today and braving the rain to be here with us tonight to celebrate 90 years of a time honored tradition here in san francisco right in front of mclaren lodge. this is an amazing, fun event. fun for the whole family. i love the idea that we have so many incredible officials here, but i will need some kids to help me light this tree. [applause] so i see these patient young people raising their hand right down in the front row. have your parent bring you on up to the side of the stage so you can help me like this tree. [♪] i need some help here with this switch. [♪] all right.

come on up. i think we might be almost at capacity. hold on. come on over. come on, you guys. are you going to help? do you want to help? yes, i love it. you are brave. okay. this is what we are going to do. gather around the podium. gather around the podium, kids. stop trying to crash, parents. all right. because we know how to count, we will do the count down starting from 10, and then we will hit the switch. i will ask you, what is your name? >> jr. >> i will ask you and what is your name?

>> sia. >> i will ask you to put your hands here because when i say to move it and to liked it, then you have to switch it real fast. okay? everybody in this place is going to help us count, but not until we say -- we will start with 10. are you already? are you ready? okay. let's start. ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. [cheers and applause] >> good job. thank you so much for helping us here today. have a wonderful december celebrating joy with your family friends and community. happy holidays, everybody.

[♪] . >> we call this meeting to order. and i apologize for my voice. please call the roll. >> good afternoon. this is the meeting of the san francisco commission on the environment. the date is monday, november 25, 2019 and it a special meeting. the date is november 25, 2019, and the time