>> chair ronen: the meeting will come to order. this is the december 9, 2019 meeting of the rules committee. i am hillary ronen, chair of the committee. to my right is supervisor shamann walton, and supervisor gordon mar will shortly join me. mr. clerk, do you have any announcements? >> clerk: yes. please silence all phones and electronic devices. items acted on will appear on the december 19 board of supervisors agenda. >> chair ronen: just a quick note. i'm going to call items out of order, so i'll call item 1, and then 3 and 4, and end with 2 because it's our longest item

of the day. mr. clerk, will you please call item 1. >> clerk: item 1 is a hearing to consider appointing one member, term ending march 31, 2020, to the commission on ageing advisory council. >> chair ronen: thank you. is mr. cooper here? >> my background, you have aha a recesume and summary to look

over. i went to harvard, and my last clinical environment was with liver disease. i wasn't a full-time clinician, but liver -- liver disease. and about half of people are liver disease, about half on our transplant list had issues with substance abuse, and i often was tasked on having to give lectures on alcoholism and alcoholic liver disease, so i was familiar with that subject. and i took early retirement when i was 70 because they gave me money to get out and decided after a year off traveling that i wanted to work in that area, work in safety net medicine. i had been an activist when i was quite young, kind of let -- or not so young, through college and medical school, and in residency, i let that go, but i wanted to go back to that and work in safety medicine. so i went over to the

haight-ashbury clinic, which was the epicenter, the start of addiction medicine, and they didn't have a job there, but they got me a job the atreasat island, working with the trainees in the job corps a. many of them had issues with homelessness, many of them had issues with substance abuse in their past, and they were trying to get their lives in order and learn a trade. then, there was an opening at haight-ashbury, and i worked there for a while. i had to stop for some personal health reasons, and as i was recovering from some of those, i got to walking the neighborhood and got to know some of the homeless people, and that led me to get involved with that issue, and you did --

and i can that a couple of different ways. i joined d.s.a., with you. worked on proposition c with jennifer, and d, and jessica, and i decided to join her action. i volunteer a couple of nights a month at the m.s.e. south shelter. it's run by the medical students, and we kind of help with medical problems and referrals for residents of the shelter who want to, also parenthetically involved with the beds for babies, so i'm

sure you hear from our colleague who runs the rounds quite regularly. we're her colleague. at m.s.c., i became interested in and all this stuff that was going on about the neediest and who are they and focusing on drug abuse and abuse and mental health, but there are a lot of seniors who have medical issues, who have other issues who i think -- i'm not challenging anyone. i think we need to take care of everybody, frankly, but they're equally vulnerable, if not more so. and when this came up, it was my wife who noticed the opening i think as a way to get out of the house -- oh, this'll be good for you. i won't see you wednesday nights, so that'll be good, i applied for the position. my interests have gotten fairly

broad, but they remain -- i know that the housing stuff has gone over to h.s.h. for elderly, but i think we still need to make sure that commission and that department is supervising it, making sure that their needs are being met, that they're not being pushed aside because of another group who's politically in favor, so that's the main thing. my main job in the first months will be obviously to learn about what they do and how they do it, and then see areas where i might be able to make contributions, like contributions tend to be focused from the point of medicine and medical issues, and i would hope to continue doing that. right now, i know at s.d.a., we're working on an issue around wheelchairs, and

hopefully, you'll be hearing about that as we -- as we begin to refine it and come forward with some proposals for the city. that's about all i can say. if you want another pain in the neck, approve my appointment, and i'm happy to answer any questions that you might have. >> chair ronen: well, i would love a pain in the neck like you -- not just any pain in the neck, but a pain in the neck like you. i want to thank you so much not only for everything that you do but for being willing to take on this role, as well, and i highly, highly recommend and am excited about your appointment. supervisor fewer? >> supervisor fewer: yes, thank you very much. sorry. i just entered the conversation, but i have been watching it, actually, on the screen, and my question to you is in my neighborhood, we are planning the first senior playground in san francisco, an

exercise area specifically with equipment that is targeted towards flexibility and mobility for seniors, so age-appropriate equipment, those type of things on public land. wanted to know how do you feel about that? >> i think that's terrific. i hope the city will put enough money into it so that it becomes effective, and be delighted to watch it and follow up on it. >> supervisor fewer: oh, great because i'd love to work with the commission on this. thank you very much. >> great. >> chair ronen: i think that's all. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> chair ronen: thanks for your testimony. i'll now open this item up for public comment. any member of the public wish to speak, come on up. you'll have two minutes. >> david elliott lewis here. through my volunteer work with senior disability action, i've gotten to know dr. cooper over the past year plus as we

continued to work together under voluntary services plus. and i've just been immensely impressed with his work on our voluntary first coalition, on other senior disability action committees. he's been a measured and quiet voice. he's not the troublemaker in the room like he describes himself. he's actually been sort of a voice of reason and intelligence and wisdom in the room, and we're, like, grateful to have him. he provides a great perspective with his background in medicine, substance abuse medicine, and anybody would be lucky to have him. i strongly support his nomination and support. >> chair ronen: thank you. anybody else like to speak on this item? yes. and if anybody would like to speak on this item, please

lineup on this side of the room. >> hi. i'm here for probably a different reason than a lot of people that come here are. they usually have a lot of very real letters after their name or experience with a lot of different organizations in town or therapeutic centers or whatever. my experience has more to do with the street in a way and with international experience with the drug culture all-around the world. i'm from san francisco. i've lived all-around the world. i speak spanish fluently. i think that that's important -- >> chair ronen: i'm sorry. i'm pausing your time. are you considering item number 1, which is the appointment to the commission on the ageing

advisory council? >> i'm 66. i thought there was some program of reducing drug dealing on the street. >> chair ronen: that's the next item. >> okay. sorry. but i am a senior. what does this program involve? >> chair ronen: sorry. this is the appointment of allen cooper on the commission to the commission on ageing advisory council. >> okay. well, if you need somebody, let me know. >> chair ronen: okay. is there any other public comment on this item, item number 1? seeing none, public comment is closed. [gavel]. >> chair ronen: would you like to make a motion? >> supervisor walton: i move that we move item 1 forward with a positive recommendation to the full board. >> chair ronen: without objection, that item passes. >> clerk: it'll be the recommendation of allen cooper to seat number 2. >> chair ronen: that's right. congratulations, mr. cooper.

[applause] >> chair ronen: and as i aunited stat announced at the beginning of the meeting, we're going to be calling items 3 and 4 next just because item 2 is going to take a long time and items 3 and 4 are going to be relatively quick. mr. clerk, can you read items 3 and 4. >> clerk: item 3 it to -- item number 3 is a motion amending the board of supervisors rules of order to rename the five-member budget and finance committee as the budget and appropriations committee, and to require that the committee to hold special hearings regarding the mayor's budget instructions and budget priorities. and item 4 is an ordinance amending the administrative code to modify the process for the city's adoption of the

annual budget by requiring city agencies to hold public hearings prior to submission of their proposed budgets to the controller and the mayor, requiring the mayor to submit to the board of supervisors a description of the mayor's budget priorities after holding a public hearing regarding these priorities, and requiring the controller to maintain a public website with information about the city's budget process. >> chair ronen: thank you. supervisor fewer? >> supervisor fewer: thank you. colleagu colleagues, thank you to each member of the budget and finance committee for going through the process, and thank you to each of our cosponsors, supervisors mandelman and stefani, and that makes the entire budget committee, supervisors ronen, yee, and walton. but truly, thank you to the community advocates and the

budget justice coalition. this legislation will make changes at every phase of the budget process to ensure transparency and community engagement. departments will submit the proposed budgets both to the mayor and to the board which will help us as a body better understand how departments are allocating funds and for what purposes prior to the june budget process. the mayor will also solicit input on budget priorities through a public meeting format and submit budget priorities to the board. and for the board of supervisors, this legislation will change the name of the

five-member committee to budget and appropriations, and struck the budget chair each year introduce a motion outlining the budget process. >> chair ronen: thank you so much. supervisor mar? >> supervisor mar: thank you, supervisor ronen. first, i wanted to thank supervisor fewer for her outstanding leadership as understanding budget issues and her term on the board. when i began my term in office, i made a commitment to a robust and transparent budget process, so i'm really proud to have worked really closely with supervisor fewer on a comprehensive budget reform legislative package which are just a couple that we'-- of wh we're going to be introducing over the next year.

i specifically want to thank the budget reform working group members, debbie lerman of the human services network. joe wilson of hospitality house, and jennie friedenbach of the department of homelessness. i became even more concerned about -- upon learning about the invitation only closed-door meetings held by the mayor's office in every district without input from the district supervisor or notice to the public. with -- with this legislation, the public will have more opportunities to engage early

in the process when so many crucial decisions are already being made. i am eager to hear what my constituents have to say even before the budget comes to the board -- board of supervisors, and i will be engaging with departments and the mayor's office to ensure the public knows about these opportunities created by this reform. democracy is one of our core values, and it does not begin or end at the ballot box but should be part of the processes with which we govern ourselves with every facet of our lives. i look forward to moving this legislation forward with positive recommendation to the full board, but this is only the beginning. we will continue to work with community advocates on subsequent budget reform legislation to address the structural equities of this process, one which will allow the city to tackle the biggest issues of our time, wealth

equality and its ability to tackle homelessness. thank you. >> chair ronen: supervisor walton? >> supervisor walton: thank you, chair ronen. this last budget process was my first as a member of the board of supervisors, but i certainly participated over several processes over the years, and i appreciate the job that you did during the last process, but even more so that you want to continue to make the process more efficient and particularly more transparent for everyone to get involved in the budget process. so that's why i'm happily supporting this and appreciate all the work that has gone into this. >> chair ronen: thank you. i want to echo you, supervisor walton, as an extended member of the budget committee. i want to congratulate and thank supervisor fewer for running probably the best

process that i've ever seen as city hall, and i've been here ten years, running through these processes. this is no small feat, and i want to also thank you for these changes. i want to tell you about the one that i think i'm most excited about and i think is goes to be more helpful that we in a two-month process have the herculesan task of submitting budgets to the board at the same time that they submit them to the mayor. that will let people understand in detail before the budget gets to the board. it's something that i've often behind the scenes tried to request but haven't had very much success in and only requesting those from the departments that i'm focused

on. we should be receiving those as a matter of course from all departments. i want to tell you how excited i am with that particular part of the legislation. with that, if there's no further comment from my colleagues, i'll open this up for public comment. anyone wishing to speak, please lineup to my right, your left, and anyone wishing to speak please start us off. debra? >> good morning, supervisors, and i share your excitement. i am debbie lehrman from the budget justice coalition, and first i want to thank supervisors fewer and mar, chelsea and daisy, and all of the cosponsors who have signed on, along with the mayor's

office and the budget office. the budget is the single-most important piece of legislation that this board takes on every year, and this will improve transparency and civic trust in government. the budget negotiations often happen behind closed doors. there are boards that don't hold meetings at all, and those that do, some of them don't have a meeting until late in the process, just before it goes to the mayor. it's hard to get budget information from departments. it's either buried on their websites or not on there at all. this legislation addresses that through public hearings, and a centralized website where people can go to one website and find out about the budgets and about upcoming hearings.

this will ensure that the budget reflects community values and priorities through a more open process, and i cannot express enough or appreciation for your support and your vote. thank you. >> chair ronen: thank you. mr. mornino. >> supervisors, matthi matthias mormino. we look through people's budget and annuals, and we find usual suspects like chelsea boillard, who authored a piece around how we should reform our budget. i remember we were talking with supervisor fewer and supervisor mar and saying yeah, we might do that.

but there has been a lot of fighting there. i think it's important that we increase transparency and access. too many times, we ask our constituents, our folks to come out to a hearing, stand in line for hours and hours to get two minutes to speak on something that they're passionate about. and then, as you sit there with them or as they leave the room, they're like what happened? what are they going to say? how is this question that i had a burning question for the police department's budget or the sheriff's department budget, why is it not being answered? you know, i think with this legislation, we start seeing more information come to our constituents so that really the budget process is anchored in community, and so that people that want to get information

about the budget process don't have to go through proxies like ourselves or the coalition but can actually find that information directly on the city's website, which seems a really simple task, but i know that our friends at the controller's office and the city attorney's office, that's not an easy task. so i want to thank everybody at the mayor's office, the budget office and staff, and everybody that helped. thank you. >> chair ronen: hello, again. >> good morning again. david elliott lewis. one of the great frustrations in dealing with city hall at times is lack of opacity and transparency. i think this is a big step forward. the public hearings are

immensely helpful, but the website especially will make it -- make the information useful. i think this should be a best practice for all city hall processes. i know you do it with commission hearings and minutes, but all processes should be as public and transparent as this, so thank you for considering it. thank you for your time. >> good morning, supervisors. i just wanted to echo what the other folks have said. the budget -- and i'm sarah shore with community housing partnership, and i'm with the budget housing coalition. with the folks that i've been working with in coalition, folks who have masters degrees, and in some cases, doctorates,

it is incredibly difficult to find out where the money is going. that's the most important piece of this is, where the money's going, and what are the funding priorities of the city? who's being left out and who's, you know, maybe being disproportionately served? we as advocates for folks who are the most vulnerable in the city deserve and need to know about those things, and we need to know the details so we can advocate in the right way. so i really appreciate this legislation. i think this is going to bring tremendous transparency to the process. the remember site is wonderful -- website is wonderful, but also the fact that the board gets a lot of information and therefore a say in this process is incredibly important, and it actually helps power the district members, constituents, to be able to speak to that, as well. so we just wholeheartedly

support this. i have to say that i was, back in the day, a member of what was called the people's budget, so that's just so thai that the community has been working on this for a very long time and has to put together whole big coalitions and long, lengthy processes just to do the work of understanding the budget and watchdogging it and getting that money going to the right groups, and it should -- [inaudible] >> chair ronen: thank you. are there any other speakers on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. [gavel]. >> chair ronen: supervisor fewer? >> supervisor fewer: yes. i was remiss in saying that the inclusion of supervisor mandelman and supervisor stefani, that means the entire budget committee. i meant to say that supervisor mar and supervisor yee are

sponsors. i want to thank chelsea boillard. i think she has a much deeper understanding of the budget than i do as the budget chair, so i just want to give her a thanks. she's been working on the budget as a community organizer for a really long time. i feel that we are so honored to be able to be in this position that as budget chair and on the budget committee to be able to drive these things, and thank you to my cosponsors. thanks. >> chair ronen: we are the lucky ones. is there a motion -- you want to do the honors, supervisor mar? >> supervisor mar: i would like to move that we move this forward to the -- both items, items number 3 and 4, to the full board with a positive recommendation. >> clerk: committee report? >> chair ronen: as a committee

report? >> supervisor mar: as a committee report. thanks. >> chair ronen: without objection, those motions pass. >> clerk: item number 3 and 4 will be recommended as a neigh.

the task force will identify the underlying causes of the increase in street-level drug dealing and implement

immediately coordinated, evidence-based solutions to urgently tackle this problem. the task force will look at crime prevention, law enforcement, recidivism, long-term employment and alternatives to incarceration. it will have the power to solicit data and research best practices from around the country. the task force will prepare and submit to the board of supervisors and the mayor a plan which will contain a review of the best practices. the goal of this task force is to start in the next couple of months. small businesses right now are suffering and residents are suffering and need a seat at the table where these critical decisions will be made about the future of their neighborhoods and their well-being. we need to come up with strategies beyond solely

policing and incarcerated low level offenders. there needs to be a comprehensive and strategic approach. for those who have applied, if you are not selected to sit on this task force, i hope that you will continue your commitment to the community and will still engage in the task force by attending future hearings and meetings that the task force will have. thank you, and i'm looking forward to getting to work. thank you so much. >> chair ronen: thank you. do any of my other colleagues have any questions? okay. so we have 25 applicants for nine seats. i think it's testament to how important this -- this task force is that we have so many applicants for -- for -- to play a role in fixing this long-standing entrenched problem in the neighborhood and in the district. so we're going to call one by

one those applicants that's true here today. we're -- that are here today. we're going to ask that you hold your comments to two minutes so we can get out in a timely manner. i'm going to call three applicants at a time. feel free to come up in any order and lineup to my right, your left. so i will start with lindsey -- maria richard, lindsay lasalle, and benjamin ambrogi. >> my name is lindsay lasalle. i am an attorney, and really, we work to remove drug use and drug sales to the maximum

extent possible out of the criminal justice system and instead into the public health and other social services systems that can better address the harms of drug use and drug sales and also can better address the harms of criminalization. if we don't want people selling on the street then saddling them with a criminal conviction and a criminal record where they can't enter the employment market and only leave them to enter an illicit market is counter productive. our policies that we have, we intend to be based in science, compassion, health, and human rights. for my part, my portfolio largely focuses on crafting policy solutions in the space of health and harm reduction. my expertise really lies in translating lived experience, international practice, and the research and science to come up with effective solutions, policy proposals, and programs that can be implemented at the

local, state, and federal level. so in the context of drug use, this has looked like access to naloxone, access to medication treatment like buprenorphine. i'm very interested in translating those issues from drug usage and drug sales. we also have a broader report coming out on drug sales next week. for that, i interviewed dozens of people who sell drugs to try to remove the stigma and racism that largely informs who we think sells drugs, and that has a whole host of policy solutions that i would love to bring to the task force and start exploring, so thank you so much. >> good morning. my name's maria richard, and i

am very experienced at using a multifaceted approach to addressing negative behaviors such as the street drug dealing. i've worked for 20 years on the corner at turk and taylor, at 111 taylor as the director of a reentry program. we house over 100 men and women that are returning to the community from prison, and this is another alternative to prison. we have an 85% employment rate on individuals who have extensive criminal history. so i have an excellent relationship with our law enforcement family, with the sfpd, probation, state parole, federal probation, as well as working with just a plethora of agencies to assist our returning citizens in umm canning back into the community. many of these individuals have had an extensive history of drug dealing charges. not all of them, but many of

them have. we strongly believe in a restorative justice model with our program. we have several agencies that are really working on the street that are dealing with this population kind of in a different way. we have given offices to both civic, pit stop, and hunters point family to work out of taylor street so they can be right there. i have worked directly with formerly incarcerated individuals, their families, friend. although i have not personally been incarcerated, i have firsthand experience with the substance abuse issue as well as the arrests, so our main focus is helping to assist through cognitive behavioral changes and making better choices. we obviously deal with this issue, being on the corner of turk and taylor. i've been doing this for 20 years, and i would apply the eight principles of

evidence-based practice that any agency working with or any element working with the incarcerated should be using, and i would use my expertise to help educate other people, what behavioral changes, and what is the best practices to address this revolving door and just change. we definitely go by it takes a village and it takes relationships to address this issue. thank you. >> chair ronen: thank you so much. next speaker, and while benjamin's coming up, if michael brinkofski, pedro florez, and david bercutt can lineup. >> good morning. the more time i spend in these communities, the more i think i can be a valuable contribution to these communities and to the task force because i've seen

the street-level drug deal issues from both sides. a decade ago i know the tenderloin a different way because when i was 20, i was using drugs from the streets of the tenderloin, and it was a daily process, and i observed police strategies that would curb drug sales and use ageaged i saw policies that completely failed. although a lost a lot of my life, i am lucky that i was able to turned my life around and get an education. i work closely with a program called second chance and specifically a professor mobley who taught me about restorative justice. we watched people turn their lives around using new and

alternative programs and staying out of prison. today, i still work in education and also in the law. i'm usually working at a college on post and taylor or i'm working at u.c. hastings a few blocks away. this spring, i worked closely training pro bono attorneys and working with the homeless advocacy project, and i consider myself lucky not only have been able to turn my life around, but to be able to have these two lives and two different experiences that i think put me in a unique position to be able to understand a street level drug dealing task force. i'd like to be able to use that experience to help the community. >> chair ronen: thank you so much. hello again. now's the right time. >> yeah. i tried four times. so my name's david bercutt, and rather than list -- take up too much time listing all the

things i've done, i just would like to say that i've been involved in the drug world since i was a teenager, and i'm 66 now. since 1998, i've been clean with the help of buprenorphine, which is a miraculous substance that can help the city very much. i've been a salesman most of my life. i specialize in communications in helping people paint mental pictures of things, of helping people understand what is being attempted to accomplish, just all forms of communication between the task force and the people on the street requires somebody that knows who they are, where they're from, has lived in their country as i have, that knows a lot of details that you people are probably not even aware of about the business on the

street and how it's run, and where it's run, and where it works back to. it's all very surprising and not exactly what people think, but i believe there's somebody that can really mix with the people on the street who's not afraid of the people on the street and who has a lot of experience and expertise. there's a book i wrote. it's about 220 pages long. it's called drug realities. it's available on the internet, so i've done a lot of communications work, historical work, all kinds of work that are sort of in the background but they're very essential for making a bridge between what you people are trying to initiate and what their realities are on the street, which are so different. there has to be somebody that knows the two things and is able through communication to bridge that gap.

i could name a lot of other things that i've done, but i'm not going to take the time. >> chair ronen: thank you so much. >> okay. thank you. >> chair ronen: thank you. and i also wanted to call jessie james johnson, sam dennison, and portia diction sdiction -- dixson. >> hello. my name is pedro florez. i've worked with the national council on alcoholism and i've led our prevention and diverse programs while working there, so working closely with many families in the tenderloin, which are immigrants and are

forced to live there under the circumstances that we're trying to remedy with the task force. what i would like to do is offer my service, both my insights professionally and my experience in public health and my listed experience as a resident to help support this work. now i realize that this is coming from -- it's not coming from one of your districts, but i hope that this can be an invitation for partnership, because although the tenderloin is burdened with this problem, it is not just in the tenderloin, it is a problem for all of san francisco. thank you. >> hi. my name is jessie james johnson. i'm a poet and a 20-year resident of the tenderloin. i believe i qualify for seats 1, 2, and 3 and/or 7 and 8.

i have letters of support from several community-based organizations, a business owner, one from a property owner, and my landlord. they're included because it's not who i am that are important, but the people that are in my life. these are people who are part of my daily life, people who i have earned their trust and people who i work with. you might know that golden gate is the epicenter of the open air drug dealing. as different as we all are, we are the different people we must come together to address the crisis we find ourselves in. i believe i can help in reaching a consensus. it's heartbreaking to see the people of the tenderloin working against each other.

the visual is an obstacle. i believe that anyone, if asked and given a clear path to follow will step forward to be a part of the solution. some will be challenged to let go of our notion of being victims, and in being a victim, of having no responsibility tot larger community. we have a lot to work through. the solutions we seek will probably not be found in the deliberations of nine people. who matter who is selected today, this task force must engage everyone in this room to be successful. we need to see ourselves as a community not just of people but with compassion to each other. only then can we work towards the solution. >> chair ronen: thank you so much. >> what he said. i'm sam dennison, and for the

last nine months, i've been convening in my living room, a tenderloin committee dedicated to the harms of drug use in our community. submit today mr. haney's -- submitted to mr. haney's office some of the legislation that we're working on today. when i said what he said, i really mean it. i live in a place where one of the people that i treasure the most was shot in the back over a drug deal. somebody living next door to me was shot through a window with somebody who was playing with a gun. i've also seen people get out of jail trembling because they've lost their home and everything. what we consistently do is the same thing over and over again, and i'm heartened to hear that there are a lot of people from the drug policy i lines group and -- policy alliance group and others who will bring to

the table new ideas. i'd like to foster the conversation that there are people who a-- as you know, ths is a very complex issue, and the piece that i have to bring to the table is that community parallel process where we have been engaging with these issues very deeply and thoughtfully. so my hope is that if i am to be part of this task force, that i can bring that element of listening clearly, speaking thoughtfully and encouraging others to really bring their better self-s to tves to the t. thank you. >> chair ronen: and while portia's coming up, i'll call carol shanks, philip sabbagh, and thomas wolf. >> hello. my name is portia dixson.

i'm here -- good morning -- oh, dang. okay. i was a -- i was raised right here in the tenderloin on leavenworth. actually, i was one of the peoples -- i started selling drugs out on the street corners at 13 years old. by the age of 34, lucky i had the support i had. i stopped selling. now i started working for the gubio project. i work for hospitality house, i work for sort. now i save lives, and i also help people get off the streets and get jobs now, but i'm not coming with the extensive background, but i'm one of the people, and i'm shy, i don't know what to say, oh, this is too much, whoa. >> chair ronen: you're doing great. just -- just tell us who you are and what you want to do and

speak from your heart. >> i'm here to take people off the streets and not to jail because jail is not always the way. i'm one of the people, and jail didn't help me. it didn't make me stop. i kept going. what worked was the support from other people, so i've got to go. >> chair ronen: just so you know, you did really, really well. thank you so much. [applause] >> thank you, y'all. >> chair ronen: thank you. >> hi. my name is carol shanks. i work with food justice, community leader, community organizer. i'm also a community activity, and i do a lot of work for different nonprofits in district 6. i'm a native san franciscan.

i am a -- i have experience in incarceration. i have dealt drugs. i am an addict in recovery. i have been out there on the street using. i also have a very, very good rapport with the people on the street, with the drug dealers and the users, which is very, very important, that they have a voice in this process. it's a lot -- it's more complicated than -- than them just being out there, using drugs. it's much deeper, has to do with being homeless, mental issues, and all those issues have to be addressed. it's not only devastating to the community owners, but it's also devastating to the people

out there using and dealing drugs. i have been in meetings with sam in her living room for a few months now in dealing with solutions and helping with limth legislation for matt haney's office in this. i care. i really care, and i just would really, really like to have a seat and be a voice for the people, so i thank you. namaste. >> chair ronen: thank you. thank you. [applause] >> good morning. my name is thomas wolf. i used to be a heroin addict and homeless. i got clean about 18 months ago. i work with homeless veterans,

many of which are dealing with substance abuse. i used to be a drive -up buyer and then i was a walk up buyer. i know what's going on. i've been out there. now in recovery. what i've done is i've gotten some exposure on social media. i've been on the news several times. what i'd like to do is bring some new ideas and solutions to the table for san francisco. i am a native san franciscan, and i do still live in san francisco, and i still live in the city, and i just want to help, so thank you very much. >> chair ronen: as philip comes up, if i could call janet

ector, ibithaj hammond, and sew had a abdue agene, and -- soha abdu ajine and i'm sorry. [inaudible] >> all of this being said, i'm

not indifferent to the struggles that people face. i have been volunteering at healthright 360, tutoring in g.e.d. or in some cases, simply learning to read in the past four years, and i found that to be an incredibly rewarding experience. i believe people deserve sometimes second, third, fourth chances. at the same time, we can't enable people by turning a blind eye to their criminal activity. i'm not going to pretend that i have the answer, i'm simply here as a concerned citizen. i have a strong background in analysis. i have a master's degree in business. i'm real esta i'm retired, and i'm simply hoping i can help this task force achieve its goals. thank you. >> chair ronen: thank you so much.

>> good morning, and thank you for the opportunity to apply for a community on the task force. i have lived in san francisco since 1976, frequently as a resident of the tenderloin. i was born to and raised in the same marginalized condition that currently plague our tenderloin community. i went through my own chaotic drug use, including dealing, and subsequently went through treatment at walden house. as a result, i went onto work at walden house for eight years. i'm currently the manager of the harm reduction programs at glide, providing services to people who are actively engaged in drug use. in my current role, i also

manage the law enforcement diversion program, working in collaboration with the sfpd, the sheriff's office, b.a.r.t. police, the district attorney's office and several branchs of public health, so i have a lot of experience with the community and deep ties with the community, and i think i can bring a unique perspective to the task force that's grounded in the principles of harm reduction practices as well as being a voice for both reason and compassion. [please stand by]