fertility and infertility. after some discussion, and have encoded a lot of encounters, there are preliminary encounters of diagnoses such as infertility so if a woman were to come in with the desire to be pregnant and in a lesbian couple or a single woman or whatever situation it maybe, if they would be infertile until proven fertile and if the procedure led to pregnancy, then you wouldn't put them on a permanent problem list of infertility, but that problem that was coded for that encounter would, in fact, solve -- be considered payable. the diagnosis can be changed. so if someone does not need a permit diagnosis of infertility

from now until ever, and i asked specifically, what about if a woman came in and had had one successful pregnancy through whatever means, and was now desiring pregnancy again for the same kind of circumstances of having had one pregnancy, would she be considered fertile or infertile? and given the circumstances would be considered infertile at that point, even though she had had -- because this is a new encounter. it is a new time. i think that this covers the situations that might arise that would be -- again, it is not a permanent diagnosis of infertility by any diagnostic criteria. it is a situational -- situational diagnosis. we would cover two episodes. but apparently not the third. but it would cover because we wouldn't know -- at the beginning it would be infertile. whether it is the first

pregnancy or the second. that is my understanding. i have assurances of that. and obviously if that is not the case, we would hear about that quickly and have to amend the policy as we needed to to make it clear. we have all kinds of avenues to gather these problems as they occur. i am comfortable with this in the situation that has been outlined. >> thank you. >> all right. it has been approved. it has been moved and seconded to approve the info tenant -- infertility benefit clarification. all those in favor? >> aye. >> any opposed? it is unanimous. all right. item number 13 please. >> item 13 is reports and updates from contracted health plan representatives. >> hello.

i am with blue shield of california. i just wanted to provide a network update for our access plus trio networks here in san francisco. on october 1st, we sent a letter to 1500 members of our access plus plan to let them know that 48 primary care would be leaving the medical group effective december 31st for -- in and forming a new i.p.a. under sutter. so we were not notified of this change, but in order to comply with our department of managed healthcare compliance for 60 day notification, we went ahead and sent letters out to all of those members who were impacted on november 1st. at this time was still have not been formally notified that these positions will in fact, be leaving. we are assuming that it will, in

fact, take place, which is in violation of their contract with us. so what we have asked them to do is to provide a current capacity for their panels to give us a strategic plan on recruitment and retainment efforts of their existing or remaining physicians so by the next board, i should have for you and overview of the physicians that have left the primary care that are there and what their capacity is to accept new patients and maintain their current panel. i just wanted to provide that quick update. >> how many was that? >> forty-eight physicians, primary care. >> forty-eight. >> so if members are in access plus, it doesn't really change things for them. they will move with sutter. they don't have to do anything. they can keep there dr. -- the doctor even after the change. there were about 48 trio members

who -- sector is not part of the trio product, so those members, we have our customer service teams outreaching, even though they received a letter, the letter is kind of vague because it is mandated. we are doing outreach to those members to let them know that this has occurred and what their options are as well. >> in trio then they would no longer have their doctor. >> yes. they would have to pick a new doctor to stay in trio. >> in and this is in the middle of -- >> the timing is suspect. >> at any rate, i wanted to make you aware of it. you will be hearing in the media that the new i.p.a. is going to be formed by sutter in the city. we are doing our best to ensure that members understand their

options. even those that can move to the new centre i.p.a., so they want to stay, they can, they just have to knew -- choose a new primary care. any questions? >> thank you. >> any public comment on the item? seeing none, item number 14. >> item 14 is opportunity for the public to comment on matters within the board's jurisdiction. >> no public comment. moving on to number 16. >> item 15. opportunity to place items at the board's jurisdiction on future agendas. >> okay. i think we will have a full agenda for next meeting, too. no problems there. any public comment on this item?

all right. if there isn't any objections -- we have an objection. >> no, not an objection. i have a question. >> go ahead. >> i saw there was no financial report in the board's agenda and i would like to know from our chief financial officer that we can say affirmatively that we are in good shape. >> i am chief financial officer. we are in good shape. the audit that is being done will not be issued before after the next meeting in and -- and what is holding it up is a lot of data that they need to have and they need to get the enterprise department that have bonds resting on getting their financials out.

in terms of this fiscal year, there is no anomalies i see so i would affirm we are in good shape. >> thank you. i just wanted to say on the record for this meeting. >> yes. >> if that is -- if there is no objection, this meeting is adjourned.

>> we're here to raise awareness and money and fork for a good accuse. we have this incredible gift probably the widest range of restaurant and count ii destines in any district in the city right here in the mission intricate why don't we capture that to support the mission youths going to college that's for the food for thought. we didn't have a signature font for our orientation that's a 40-year-old organization. mission graduates have helped me

to develop special as an individual they've helped me figure out and provide the tools for me that i need i feel successful in life >> their core above emission and goal is in line with our values. the ferraris yes, we made 48 thousand >> they were on top of that it's a no-brainer for us. >> we're in and fifth year and be able to expand out and tonight is your ungrammatical truck food for thought. food truck for thought is an opportunity to eat from a variety of different vendor that are supporting the mission graduates by coming and representing at the parks >> we're giving a prude of our

to give people the opportunity to get an education. people come back and can you tell me and enjoy our food. all the vendor are xooment a portion of their precedes the money is going back in >> what's the best thing to do in terms of moving the needle for the folks we thought higher education is the tool to move young people. >> i'm also a college student i go to berkley and 90 percent of our folks are staying in college that's 40 percent hire than the

afternoon. >> i'm politically to clemdz and ucla. >> just knowing we're giving back to the community. >> especially the spanish speaking population it hits home. >> people get hungry why not eat and give shop and dine on the 49 promotes local businesses and challenges residents to do shopping and dining within the 49 square miles of san francisco by supporting local services within neighborhood. we help san francisco remain unique, successful and vibrant. where will you shop and dine in the 49? san francisco owes the charm to the unique character of the neighborhood comer hall district. each corridor has its own personality. our neighborhoods are the engine of the city. >> you are putting money and

support back to the community you live in and you are helping small businesses grow. >> it is more environmentally friendly. >> shopping local is very important. i have had relationships with my local growers for 30 years. by shopping here and supporting us locally, you are also supporting the growers of the flowers, they are fresh and they have a price point that is not imported. it is really good for everybody. >> shopping locally is crucial. without that support, small business can't survive, and if we lose small business, that diversity goes away, and, you know, it would be a shame to see

that become a thing of the past. >> it is important to dine and shop locally. it allows us to maintain traditions. it makes the neighborhood. >> i think san francisco should shop local as much as they can. the retail marketplace is changes. we are trying to have people on the floor who can talk to you and help you with products you are interested in buying, and help you with exploration to try things you have never had before. >> the fish business, you think it is a piece of fish and fisherman. there are a lot of people working in the fish business, between wholesalers and fishermen and bait and tackle. at the retail end, we about a lot of people and it is good for

everybody. >> shopping and dining locally is so important to the community because it brings a tighter fabric to the community and allows the business owners to thrive in the community. we see more small businesses going away. we need to shop locally to keep the small business alive in san francisco. >> shop and dine in the 49 is a cool initiative. you can see the banners in the streets around town. it is great. anything that can showcase and legitimize small businesses is a wonderful thing.

>> what a great store. thank you so much for inviting us into your home, your business. we know that this store is named after your great grandmother, and we really appreciate the work that you are doing here with the castro street merchants and all the incredible merchants that are here. hey, richard. good to see you. all the incredible merchants, i'm london breed, i'm the mayor of san francisco, joined by the supervisor of district 8, supervisor mandelman to talk about the shopping and dining and 49ing, that didn't work. but the 49ers are winning. we are here today because we know that we are kicking off the holiday season. and there is nothing like -- nothing like shopping and hanging out at some of our great restaurants and other places in

so many of our neighborhoods that really does put you into the holiday spirit. and so we want to encourage people to shop in places like stag and main, which is an incredible store as you can see, ornaments, furniture, bowls, plates, cups, you can come here and decorate your whole house for thanksgiving tomorrow. so this is one of the most incredible small businesses we have in the city. and i know it's a favorite of the supervisor, along with so many unique neighborhoods. you can go to almost any neighborhood in san francisco and discover something that you probably never saw before. noe valley, the haight ashbury, the western addition, union street, so many great places that you can shop, you can buy gifts that will be unique gifts for our family members and friends, because they are unique

small businesses in san francisco. a lot of love and care goes into these places. and we want to make sure that when you are out shopping this holiday season, that you really look at your neighborhoods and different neighborhoods throughout san francisco and support our small business community. let me tell you. i still use a lot of the same places i've been using since i was a kid. believe it or not, they are still here. i still go to the same dry cleaner. the lady who is been doing my nails for over 20 years is still doing my nails even though i didn't get them done today. the places -- i had the same dentist, a small business owner, since i've had teeth. it's so incredible to have these incredible relationships that you have because it's a personal touch with the people who run these businesses. because most often when you walk into any of these places, nine times out of ten, the owner of the store will be there and that is why he is here today because

he's not only the owner, he's an employee. he works here every single day. so you see him on the news, come down here and see him in person. but part of shopping in san francisco and so many incredible neighborhoods also involve making sure that we are being smart about parking. you know, there's no secret that we have a lot of challenges with car break-ins, unfortunately, but i am proud of the work the san francisco police department has done in reducing the number of car break-ins significantly. and i know chief scott is here with us today to talk a little bit about how we park. i think that helps tremendously in helping to avoid becoming a victim, especially during this holiday season when we know people are paying close attention to what people are doing. we want people to have a great experience. we want them to come here to this store and hang out. then we want them to head over to hot cookie and have a hot

cookie. we want them to enjoy the amazing restaurants, castro, the castro community is our featured neighborhood this time around, shop and dine in the 49. and so we really wanted to highlight this unique place in our city and the supervisor will talk more about this amazing community. but if you can get out there and support our small businesses all over san francisco, i know it will make a real difference. and you'll have a good time. because overall, we want your experience to be great from start to finish. we want the time that you leave your house to the time that you come to the castro, to the two, three, four, five, hours you spend walking up and down market street and castro street and all the bags that you are going to be carrying, you go and you get some food and hang out and then you go home and feel good and relax. that's what i want people to experience during this holiday season in san francisco. so it is so great to have all of

you here. thank you to the castro merchants association for coordinating and thank you, i know commissioner adams is here to talk on behalf of the merchants association. but shop and dine in the 49. san francisco is an incredible, unique place where there is something for everyone. and with that, your supervisor to talk about this community and all the great places that you can visit during this campaign, it will be supervisor. come on up. >> thank you, mayor breed. small businesses in san francisco today. [applause] it is gray and rainy. and i was in puert o vallarta yesterday. it's been a little bit of a gray time in this neighborhood for the last few weeks. there was an awful fire on

castro street. and i know we have a number of businesses represented here who have been impacted by that fire. and i want to thank the mayor and the office of economic and workforce development, joaquin and your team for stepping up for those businesses. and i know you are going to be doing a little bit on that later. but the response from the city, the fire department that was fighting the fire to the folks who came in later to help out the residents and the business owners have been great. and i want to, on behalf of the castro, thank you for that. that's an applause line, yeah. [applause] but i think we also know the castro has had some problems for a while now and some of it is reflective around challenges for retail across the city and the country and some of it is unique to the challenges we have up here, some of the street behavior issues and the real challenges of operating businesses here in the castro. but this is a, as you all know, this is a wonderful

neighborhood. it is a neighborhood that is embedded in the history of this city and the history of this country. world-changing things have happened in this neighborhood, done by, starting with a castro small businessman, harvey milk and his camera shop downcast row street. today is the anniversary of the assassination. some of us will be at a candle-lit vigil later. but this neighborhood is part of the heart of san francisco. so even till today, building on that tradition of harvey milk, there are so many great local leaders, from the merchants, thank you for the work you do and andrea, and all the merchants and staff who courageously stepped in to open this business just about a year ago, steve adams made sure i was here. thank you, commissioner. and you've brought this wonderful establishment to this block, other brave, courageous folks stepped forward every year

to try to share their dream with this community and other communities around san francisco. and it is so easy to go online and buy that thing. but i ask, i hope that san franciscans, if you love your neighborhoods, if you love your neighborhood small businesses, you know, today, take a break on the online purchase, go out and actually support the neighborhood small business and the folks who are working so hard like staff both to share their dream with you and to make these neighborhoods work. we need our small businesses so desperately. they are critical to the vitality of our neighborhoods and they are great. and so i'm just pleased, madame mayor and joaquin, that you chose to have shop and dine start here with this event. i want to thank miriam, wherever she is, the most extraordinary public servant who made this happen. mary ahn gets a little bit of applause.

and tom and my office are working to make this happen. and i want to thank chief scott and the police department for your partnership around some of the issues i alluded to earlier. it is challenging up here, but we are getting tremendous help, i know, and i'm enjoying working with you and looking forward to continuing to work to make this place where people are safe, have fun, and where we have a healthy, thriving community. so with that, chief scott. [applause] >> thank you, supervisor. and thank you mayor breed. first of all, happy thanksgiving, everybody. we have so much to be grateful and thankful for. and i want to start by thanking the mayor for her great leadership in this great city and the supervisor, the office of economic and workforce development, castro merchants association. we have a great city and a great community. and so it's my job and all of our sa san francisco police department officers that you see here, to give you some reminders

to stay safe during the holiday season. as the mayor mentioned, we've made a lot of progress in our park smart campaign, because one thing that we want to do is not make it easy to be a victim. we want everybody to step back and have a good time and do your shopping and enjoy your families, but don't make yourself an easy target. so there's a couple simple reminders. first and foremost, if you are going to shop, you probably are going to have packages and bags and all this great merchandise. make sure you don't leave it in your cars when you go and dine afterwards in the 49, make sure you don't leave it in the car to make it easy for somebody to take it to you. one of the simple things in crime prevention is don't make yourself an easy target. so lock your cars, don't leave anything visible in your cars. if you have merchandise, if you can't carry it with you, put it in your trunk. it's always a good idea, oftentimes if you are going to be dining and you are going to go to the restaurants and take

advantage of the great food in this area, have a plan in terms of how you are going to shop and do your merchandise. a lot of times the stores will hold things for you or you hold it and come back and purchase it after you eat. so there's just some basic common sense things that we can do to make ourselves not be easy targets. here's the other thing. if you see something, report it. say something, call us. we will have officers around this city thanks to the support of the supervisor, mayor breed and the budget we got this year. we have officers on the beat. we have foot beat officers out here in the castro as around the entire city. call us. we are there for you. we want to be a part of your experience, and we want that experience to be a good one. so call us if you see something that's amiss. if you see somebody staring into cars and you think that's suspicious, we don't mind coming out. that's a call you should make to us. lastly before i wrap it up and turn it over to commissioner

adams, pay attention to your surroundings. you know, we are so distracted in today's world. everybody has phones. i think i have two me right now and i'm always looking at them, making sure i answer the mayor's messages. [laughter] but when we do that, it distracts us from paying attention to what's around us. i can't tell you how many people have had their phones snatched out of their hands because they weren't paying attention to what's around them. we can't prevent everything but we can prevent a lot of things. so pay attention. we know people have to make calls and you have to answer your calls, but pay attention as you do that because it just makes for a more vigilant and resilient san francisco when you do that. so have a wonderful thanksgiving. remember to shop and dine in the 49. you'll see many of us out there shopping as well. my daughter is here in town and i promised here i was going to take her shopping. [laughter] so thank you. with that i'll turn it over to commissioner adams.

[applause] >> thank you. i'm going to be very brief. first i want to thank mayor breed, supervisor, joaquin, mary, jorge, for bringing this event to the castro this year. i want to acknowledge the president of the castro merchants who asked me to come in today. and i love this event. we also have several castro board members here, brian springfield, j.b., and isaiah with body. some of the some of these guys have had a rough time with the fires. so if there's anything we can do to come in and support their business. body is back open so you can come shop, eat, drink in the castro. i also want to acknowledge rodney with the chamber of commerce and the s.p.a. is also here today. we've got everybody here. castro, we need some loving here. i especially want to thank the

mayor and supervisor for changing up some of the zoning laws in upper market here where we are now able to fill in second story businesses and ground floor businesses like this one to get them open, to get them open quick and for people to enjoy it. so thank you for that. so with that, happy holidays, everybody. we have our tree lighting on monday at 6:00 at castro and 18th street. so come shop, eat, drink and stay in the castro. thank you. [applause] >> and andrea, come on up. >> hi, everybody. good morning. yes, i'm andrea with the castro community benefit district. we are responsible for keeping the castro clean and safe. so have no fear, we will be keeping these streets clean for all the people to come and shop in the castro.

i want to thank mayor breed for having us here this afternoon. and i also want to thank seth for inviting everybody and opening up his store and taking the risk of having all those cameras. making sure nothing breaks because he has wonderful things in this store. and i also want to thank regina who is here this afternoon with the small business commission. so thanks so much, regina. [applause] so we all know that san franciscans love small businesses. and everyone here has appealed you to do the right thing to shop local and shop in the castro or the haight or wherever your best neighborhood is. but i want to remind everybody why the best reason to shop local, to get out and get offline is because shopping is fun. and it's social. you remember how it used to be when you would go with your best friend and you would go shopping and get that special thing for

your mom or get that special thing for your boyfriend or girlfriend or whoever it was or your dad, shopping is fun. and that's why it's important that you remember you go back to what it used to be like. and i want to encourage everyone to take a challenge this weekend and not shop online. to get out and shop in the castro instead, because, again, shopping is something that you do with your friends and family, and you can enjoy your relationships and build on that and have an experience that is really fun and interesting and unique. and we have some really great, unique stores in the castro, as a matter of fact. there's local take on 17th street where that little f line turn around is, local take. sells hand-crafted artisan kinds of things. so you can go there and you can support local artists, and at the same time you are supporting a small business in the castro. you can also shop here.

you can shop at stag and manor. the castro has three home decor small businesses. there's stag and manor, there's the kenneth winguard store that has really unusual and special gifts, and then there's this little shop that is hidden so if you like to explore the neighborhood, it's down on sanchez street. it's called, i think the address is 286 sanchez. it's called s16 home. they have unique items there for that very special someone in your life or someones. also right next door to this place is the incredible place called d & h sustainable jewelers. this jewelry store is high end. so if you have a special person that you are looking for this incredible, unique piece of jewelry, it's sustainable in nature, which means you are helping the environment, and you are also being able to purchase a really unique piece of jewelry

for that very special person in your life. what else? oh, and i did want to mention there's this very cool shop on castro. we are in the castro, after all. and they advertise themselves as the dayest shop ever, the official name of the store is nobs, it's 432 castro street. you can go there with your friends. they have a runway so you can tryon your newest styles -- try on your newest styles and model and experience what it would be like to walk around in those new clothes. the castro has really unique businesses and it's a fun place to come shopping and i want to remind everybody the castro is open for everyone. we want to serve businesses -- business to everybody. so come and explore the castro during the day. you probably know the castro at

night, but the daytime it's a great place, and experience what shopping is like and purchasing those special gifts for you and maybe even yourselves. so thank you very much. [applause] and i know that seth from stag and manor wants to say a few words. so next up is seth. >> [off mic] >> i didn't even know i was going to be speaking today but i want to say thank you all for coming to stag and manor. it's such an honor to serve this community which is my community, the community i've lived in for many years now. it's been such an honor to have the shop open for a year this saturday with incredible customers coming through every day with so many wonderful things being a part of it all. and i hope we are all just sharing these experiences with all our friends and neighbors to get more people out, because now is the time to really support small business. i'm so happy, andrea mentioned the friends i was going to mention to make sure they got a shoutout. i'll add crystal way, another

long time small business that does wonderful work. come out on next thursday for the castro artwork at one of our wonderful community events. also the following saturday our neighbors are going to be hosting the rocket dog rescue group next door as part of a promotional event to show our community and the way we work together. so again, thank you everybody, such a pleasure. come on up. >> the cookies that -- [off mic] >> finally. >> so everyone gets one. >> these are from hot cookie? >> yes >> wow, look at that. doesn't look like a cookie, it looks like a cake. wow. thank you. all right. >> thank you, again, thank you mayor breed.

such a pleasure to have you in the shop. >> thank you, seth. [off mic] >> well, as was mentioned by the supervisor earlier, unfortunately there was a fire that happened just a few weeks ago. and the amazing men and women of the san francisco fire department did an incredible job. and afterwards, the people from the office of economic and workforce development did a extraordinary job stepping in, meeting with people, working with the tenants as well as the small business owners to provide whatever support we could. we know that experiencing fire oftentimes you lose everything, but then it's not just the people, it's also maybe the employees and meeting payroll

and how you get up and running. you run a small business, you know, you're probably -- you know, again, the person who is the owner and the employee and sometimes you are lucky if you are able to hire other people. and then to add a fire to a situation makes it even worse. but i'm really excited that the city has a disaster relief fund that provides an opportunity to support our small business community in a way that gives them what they need to not worry so much. i mean, it's not a lot, but it is more than what it used to be, which was nothing. and this is an opportunity to support our small business community, because what we want during the time of rebuilding and dealing with all of this, that we provide a little bit of support that will help in whatever way possible to at least keep those persons on their feet as they go through this most challenging process. and so i want to thank joaquin

torres and his office for working so hard. in bureaucratic years, this is really fast to happen. [laughter] supervisor, you know, to have checks ready to go. we are going to be presenting four checks today to osaki sushi. mr. wang, thank you so much. and they had to do work for this. they had to fill out a whole application and everything else. and sam from cafe mystique. met sam on the way in. thank you, sam. thank you. >> i appreciate it. >> and let me tell you, some of these businesses, you have been there since -- who has been there? there was a business that's been there, body oil or body since '89. and body. andrew. come on up. >> isaiah >> oh, who is andrew? [off mic] oh, well, body, since

1989 this business has been in the castro. and how amazing is that? so we are so happy that you were opening right away. so make sure you stop by and purchase some items. i'm so glad to have you. and last but not least, q bar, john? are you here from q bar? here you go. thank you, really. and let me just say how much more important it is that when these businesses that aren't back on their feet get back on their feet, that we support them. and that we go and we visit and we spend money as much as we can, because this i'm sure was difficult. it wasn't just the merchants. there were other people living in the building. i think four are back in their apartments. but there are another eight people that aren't. so very difficult time for all of you. we are glad to have you here today. we are hopeful that the rest of the businesses will open and then that you would get a lot of business so the merchants

association, the san francisco chamber of commerce, you got work to do to advertise for this community, these small businesses, let's support our incredible merchants in san francisco. let's have a good time in the castro. and let's eat these cookies, because they look good. [laughter] [applause] thank you so much. ... ... >> hello everyone. welcome to the bayview bistro. >> it is just time to bring the community together by deliciou

deliciousness. i am excited to be here today because nothing brings the community together like food. having amazing food options for and by the people of this community is critical to the success, the long-term success and stability of the bayview-hunters point community. >> i am nima romney. this is a mobile cafe. we do soul food with a latin twist.

i wanted to open a truck to son nor the soul food, my african heritage as well as mylas continuas my latindescent. >> i have been at this for 15 years. i have been cooking all my life pretty much, you know. i like cooking ribs, chicken, links. my favorite is oysters on the grill. >> i am the owner. it all started with banana pudding, the mother of them all. now what i do is take on traditional desserts and pair them with pudding so that is my ultimate goal of the business. >> our goal with the bayview bristow is to bring in

businesses so they can really use this as a launching off point to grow as a single business. we want to use this as the opportunity to support business owners of color and those who have contributed a lot to the community and are looking for opportunities to grow their business. >> these are the things that the san francisco public utilities commission is doing. they are doing it because they feel they have a responsibility to san franciscans and to people in this community. >> i had a grandmother who lived in bayview. she never moved, never wavered. it was a house of security answer entity where we went for holidays. i was a part of bayview most of my life. i can't remember not being a part of bayview. >> i have been here for several years. this space used to be

unoccupied. it was used as a dump. to repurpose it for something like this with the bistro to give an opportunity for the local vendors and food people to come out and showcase their work. that is a great way to give back to the community. >> this is a great example of a public-private community partnership. they have been supporting this including the san francisco public utilities commission and mayor's office of workforce department. >> working with the joint venture partners we got resources for the space, that the businesses were able to thrive because of all of the opportunities on the way to this community. >> bayview has changed. it is growing. a lot of things is different from when i was a kid. you have the t train.

you have a lot of new business. i am looking forward to being a business owner in my neighborhood. >> i love my city. you know, i went to city college and fourth and mission in san francisco under the chefs ria, marlene and betsy. they are proud of me. i don't want to leave them out of the journey. everyone works hard. they are very supportive and passionate about what they do, and they all have one goal in mind for the bayview to survive. >> all right. it is time to eat, people.

>> we have private and public gardens throughout the garden tour. all of the gardens are volunteers. the only requirement is you're willing to show your garden for a day. so we have gardens that vary from all stages of development and all gardens, family gardens, private gardens, some of them as small as postage stamps and others pretty expansive. it's a variety -- all of the world is represented in our gardens here in the portola.

>> i have been coming to the portola garden tour for the past seven or eight years ever since i learned about it because it is the most important event of the neighborhood, and the reason it is so important is because it links this neighborhood back to its history. in the early 1800s the portola was farmland. the region's flowers were grown in this neighborhood. if you wanted flowers anywhere future bay area, you would come to this area to get them. in the past decade, the area has tried to reclaim its roots as the garden district. one of the ways it has done that is through the portola garden tour, where neighbors open their gardens open their gardens to

people of san francisco so they can share that history. >> when i started meeting with the neighbors and seeing their gardens, i came up with this idea that it would be a great idea to fundraise. we started doing this as a fund-raiser. since we established it, we awarded 23 scholarships and six work projects for the students. >> the scholarship programs that we have developed in association with the portola is just a win-win-win situation all around. >> the scholarship program is important because it helps people to be able to tin in their situation and afford to take classes. >> i was not sure how i would stay in san francisco. it is so expensive here. i prayed so i would receive enough so i could stay in san

francisco and finish my school, which is fantastic, because i don't know where else i would have gone to finish. >> the scholarships make the difference between students being able to stay here in the city and take classes and having to go somewhere else. [♪] [♪] >> you come into someone's home and it's they're private and personal space. it's all about them and really their garden and in the city and urban environment, the garden is the extension of their indoor environment, their outdoor living room. >> why are you here at this garden core? it's amazing and i volunteer here every year. this is fantastic. it's a beautiful day. you walk around and look at gardens. you meet people that love gardens. it's fantastic. >> the portola garden tour is

the last saturday in september every year. mark your calendars every year. you can see us on the website >> working with kids, they keep you young. they keep you on your tones -- on your toes. >> teaching them, at the same time, us learning from them, everything is fulfilling. >> ready? go. [♪] >> we really wanted to find a way to support women entrepreneurs in particular in san francisco. it was very important for the mayor, as well as the safety

support the dreams that people want to realize, and provide them with an opportunity to receive funding to support improvements for their business so they could grow and thrive in their neighborhoods and in their industry. >> three, two, one! >> because i am one of the consultants for two nonprofits here for entrepreneurship, i knew about the grand through the renaissance entrepreneur center, and through the small business development center. i thought they were going to be perfect candidate because of their strong values in the community. they really give back to the neighborhood. they are from this neighborhood, and they care about the kids in the community here. >> when molly -- molly first told us about the grant because she works with small businesses. she has been a tremendous help for us here. she brought us to the attention of the grand just because a lot of things here were outdated, and need to be up-to-date and redone totally.

>> hands in front. recite the creed. >> my oldest is jt, he is seven, and my youngest is ryan, he is almost six. it instills discipline and the boys, but they show a lot of care. we think it is great. the moves are fantastic. the women both are great teachers. >> what is the next one? >> my son goes to fd k. he has been attending for about two years now. they also have a summer program, and last summer was our first year participating in it. they took the kids everywhere around san francisco. this year, owner talking about placing them in summer camps, all he wanted to do was spend the entire summer with them. >> he has strong women in his life, so he really appreciates it. i think that carries through and i appreciate the fact that there

are more strong women in the world like that. >> i met d'andrea 25 years ago, and we met through our interest in karate. our professor started on cortland years ago, so we grew up here at this location, we out -- he outgrew the space and he moved ten years later. he decided to reopen this location after he moved. initially, i came back to say, hey, because it might have been 15 years since i even put on a uniform. my business partner was here basically by herself, and the person she was supposed to run the studio with said great, you are here, i started new -- nursing school so you can take over. and she said wait, that is not what i am here for i was by myself before -- for a month before she came through. she was technically here as a secretary, but we insisted, just put on the uniform, and help her

teach. i was struggling a little bit. and she has been here. one thing led to another and now we are co-owners. you think a lot more about safety after having children and i wanted to not live in fear so much, and so i just took advantage of the opportunity, and i found it very powerful to hit something, to get some relief, but also having the knowledge one you might be in a situation of how to take care of yourself. >> the self-defence class is a new thing that we are doing. we started with a group of women last year as a trial run to see how it felt. there's a difference between self-defence and doing a karate class. we didn't want them to do an actual karate class. we wanted to learn the fundamentals of how to defend yourself versus, you know, going through all the forms and techniques that we teaching a karate class and how to break

that down. then i was approached by my old high school. one -- once a semester, the kids get to pick an extra curricular activity to take outside of the school walls. my old biology teacher is now the principle. she approached us into doing a self-defence class. the girls have been really proactive and really sweet. they step out of of the comfort zone, but they have been willing to step out and that hasn't been any pushback. it is really great. >> it is respect. you have to learn it. when we first came in, they knew us as those girls. they didn't know who we were. finally, we came enough for them to realize, okay, they are in the business now. it took a while for us to gain that respect from our peers, our male peers. >> since receiving the grant, it has ignited us even more, and put a fire underneath our butts even more. >> we were doing our summer camp and we are in a movie theatre,

and we just finished watching a film and she stepped out to receive a phone call. she came in and she screamed, hey, we got the grant. and i said what? >> martial arts is a passion for us. it is passion driven. there are days where we are dead tired and the kids come and they have the biggest smiles on their faces and it is contagious. >> we have been operating this program for a little over a year all women entrepreneurs. it is an extraordinary benefit for us. we have had the mayor's office investing in our program so we can continue doing this work. it has been so impactful across a diversity of communities throughout the city. >> we hope that we are making some type of impact in these kids' lives outside of just learning karate. having self-confidence, having discipline, learning to know when it's okay to stand up for yourself versus you just being a bully in school. these are the values we want the

kids to take away from this. not just, i learned how to kick and i learned how to punch. we want the kids to have more values when they walk outside of these doors.

>> good afternoon, it's 1:00 p.m. my name is miguel bustos and this is a regular meeting of the commission on community investments and infrastructure the successor agency commission to the san francisco redevelopment agency for tuesday, november 19th, 2019. welcome to members of the public and both present and listening. >> clerk: thank you, mr. chair. first order is item one roll call. commissioner brackett is absent. commissioner scott. >> here. >> vice-chair rosales. >> chair. >> chair bustos. >> here. >> and all other members of the commission are present. the next order of business is item 2 announcements. item a, the next regularly scheduled meeting will be held on december