>> chair ronen: good morning, everyone. the meeting will come to order. good morning and welcome to the february 24, 2020 meeting of the rules committee. seated to my left is supervisor gordon mar. seating to my left for supervisor catherine stefani is matt haney. our clerk is gordon an youyoun i'd like to thank sfgovtv.

mr. clerk, do we have any announcements? >> clerk: yes. please silence all phones and electr electron electronic devices. items acted upon will appear on the board of supervisors agenda. >> chair rone >> chair ronen: thank you. can you please read item one. >> clerk: would you like to excuse supervisor stefani? >> chair ronen: thank you. yes. [gavel]. >> clerk: now would you please read item 1. [agenda item read]. >> chair ronen: and we have supervisor peskin. hello, supervisor peskin. would you like to make any

opening comments? >> supervisor peskin: thank you, chair ronen, supervisor haney, and supervisor mar. as you're aware, the board of supervisors gives the board the power of subpoena which was seldom used but was used a couple of times in the millennium tower to subpoena a couple of individuals. it is a lengthy and cumbersome process where the testimony doesn't happen in real-time. by the time you send the subpoena to the full board, four to six weeks have gone by.

a change to the board rules requires an eight-vote super majority, and we fell short by one vote. i felt at this time insofar as the board has the limited power of inquiry and inquiring minds want to know -- of course not to interfere or impede with ongoing civil or criminal investigations, i thought it was time to bring this board back. i know the clerk of this board has some comments or changes. i had a productive conversation with the board's attorney, miss pearson, yesterday, as it related to the administration of oaths in section 3.1, which i would like to actually collapse into -- and i do not

have language before you, but i'd like to collapse that 3.2.1, administration of oaths into 3.3.2 so that anybody that's subpoenaed would be administered the oath. it would not be done abtemporarily, it would be done for any and all individuals who are subpoenaed. and i know that chair ronen also wanted to potentially suggest an amendment, as well. >> chair ronen: yes. but let's first hear from the clerk of the board, angela calvillo. >> clerk: good morning, chair ronen, and thank you for allowing us to make a few changes. page 6, line 2, we would like

to say during a public subcommittee. on-line 7, that would -- as supervisor peskin indicated, that the clerk of the board would sign the subpoena. on line 8, you would add that first word, subject. and after that, you would remove the "s" after hearings and make the final -- a small "f" instead of capital "f." >> supervisor peskin: say that aga -- okay. >> clerk: the last request that we have is that on-line

13, 4.27 is instructing or authorizing the board to have oral motions for a -- i guess this would be for an oath of the full board for an oral motion, there is an existing board rule -- i believe it is 6.7, which is about subpoenas -- and we could collapse the language that you have here into 6.7 of the board rules. so basically, just have organizational requests, nothing substantive. >> chair ronen: okay. just so we don't lose track here, can i entertain a motion to approve changes articulated by the clerk of the board? okay. without objection, that motion passes. [gavel]. >> chair ronen: okay. first, i wanted to make sure i

fully understood supervisor peskin's amendment, which is that in order to administer the oath, the person would have to be, prior to that, subpoenaed by the board. >> supervisor peskin: at any point, a vote, pursuant to an oral motion, directed the issuance of a subpoena, the individual who was subpoenaed would testify under oath. as compared to the way it's currently written, which is in section 3.3.1, it says that the members of the government audit committee could decide whether or not the oath should be administered or not. and so the question that ms. pearson raised with me yesterday is what's the standard? and in reality, the handful of subpoenas that have been issued, all of those individuals testified under oath. so, i mean, this is not going to happen very often, one would

presume. >> chair ronen: right. >> supervisor peskin: and if it's somebody coming that's that weight, a subpoena's been issue, i think under 3.3.2, they just all testify under oath. >> chair ronen: okay. that makes sense to me. okay. so i was one of the three people a few years ago who voted against this almost identical law. >> supervisor peskin: and you're now a cosponsor. >> chair ronen: and now, i'm a cosponsor, and i wanted to explain that. three years ago, i was brand-new to the board, and i thought that it was -- this is a very serious power. the ability to subpoena someone under the penalty and power of

percenta perjury is quite serious and should be taken carefully, the power. and my concern is all the corruption that has been uncovered in san francisco, you know, with all the news stories, that journalists have uncovered, with the admission by our mayor have now involved at least four city departments. this is incredibly serious, and unfortunately, the board has a very limited capacity to do anything about it. not only that, we don't even know what investigations are potentially taking place. we know that the city important is investigating, but -- we know that the city attorney is investigating, but we don't know about the investigation. we don't know if the district attorney is investigating, we don't know if the f.b.i. is investigating, and we don't know if the ethics commission is investigating.

that is because all of those parties have to do so with a degree of confidentiality, and the board of supervisors isn't any more apprised of what those investigatio investigations encompass than the members of the public. i've had constituents ask me -- word of corruption has been there at city hall forever, and why haven't you done anything about it? and it's frustrating to us that we don't have more power to do something about it because, you know, as someone who believes in government's basic ability to take care of people who cannot take care of themselves, we cannot have the faith of people if there is low level or

high level corruption happening at all times. unfortunately, it's become such a part of the culture in this city and county that we must use all the power at our disposal to root it out once and for all. that is why i have changed my mind on this piece of legislation, so much so that i am now a cosponsor of it. having said that, it makes perfect sense to me that city employees are exempt from this power. city employees are protected by unions, are protected by laws, and the h.r. department, and there's various ways to deal with problems that are deeply part of our lives here in san francisco. but i do not understand why department heads are not included in this. department heads have inordinate responsibility in

our city and county. they are the managers and should know what's happening in their departments, and i think that we should add them as parties to this law where the board of supervisors is able, when appropriate, to subpoena department heads and administer the oath of office where the government audit and oversight committee thinks that possible. i know there is some concern about overuse of this law, and what i would say is that let's see, let's try it out. let's see what happens. does the g.a.o. overuse its power? well, we can scale it back if we need to. but right now, it is incumbent on any city official to root out the widespread corruption in this city once and for all.

we must restore the faith of every san franciscan, and our process must be above board. so i'd like to see what everybody thinks about it. supervisor mar? >> supervisor mar: thank you, chair ronen. actually, i'd like to thank supervisor peskin for bringing this motion forward. as current chair of the government audit and oversight committee, i agree with you and also with chair ronen about the importance of this motion and in really streamlining the board's ability to issue subpoenas and administer oaths at this point. and i -- you know, i wholeheartedly agree that, you know, right now, you know, with ongoing and -- and widening investigation into corruption in multiple departments in the city, you know, and in the

investigation by multiple parties, it's very important for the board's role in providing oversight and even looking at new policies to address the widespread corruption here at city hall to -- that these stream lined power of subpoenas and administering of oaths is very much needed right now, so thanks again for bringing this forward. i would like to be added as a cosponsor. >> chair ronen: supervisor haney? >> supervisor haney: thank you, and thank you, supervisor peskin and ronen, for bringing this forward. so i want to understand a little bit more of this piece around the city employees. so currently in the legislation, city employees are completely excluded or --

>> supervisor peskin: so through the chair to supervisor haney. no. the board has unfettered power to subpoena any employee. when this came through previously, board local 21 was concerned about -- not about department heads, who they do not represent, but about rank-and-file employees, engineers, architects, and the ability of a subset of the board, namely two of three members of the board who are members of the government audit committee, having that file over rank-and-file employees. so we added that to local 21,

but the board has unfettered power to call city employees. i absolutely support modifying this again to make it clear that government heads would be responsible to a government audit subpoena. >> supervisor haney: that makes sense, the change, and i'd love to be a cosponsor. >> supervisor peskin: so colleagues, i think we have a number of changes, and if they are acceptable to you, we can have miss pearson craft those between now and your next meeting. >> chair ronen: that sounds great. miss pearson? >> deputy city attorney ann pearson. may i ask a question? there is a restriction to administer an oath to a city

employee, but i don't see a restriction currently on the power to issue a subpoena. i want to clarify that to the extent that you are trying to make clear that you may issue a subpoena to a department head, the restriction is not currently there. >> supervisor peskin: good point. i think what we would like to do is make sure the subpoena is applicable to a department head. >> chair ronen: can you explain that again, supervisor peskin. >> supervisor peskin: thank you for that catch. why don't we make it clear that the committee could administer the oath for a department head but not other city employees. >> chair ronen: okay, great. before we move on, i wanted to

open this item up for public comment. is there any member of the public who wishes to speak? seeing none, public comment is closed -- oh, wait, sorry, yes, we do have. come on up. >> good morning. my name is jerry dratler, and i served on the civil grand jury twice. we do know that city attorney herrera is not an objective investigator. i support supervisor peskin's motion to expand the subpoena powers of government audit oversight committee. i believe the expansion needs to include all city employees. further, the idea that a corrupt city government can investigate itself is illogical. san francisco needs to bring a

private investigator with sterling reputation and integrity to root out corruption that currently exists. this is the only path forward for restoring the public's confidence in city government. thank you very much. >> chair ronen: thank you. next speaker? >> thank you so much, supervisor peskin, for introducing this legislation. we are facing one of the most pernicious situation in san francisco, the homeless crisis that we're facing, we do see department head acting improperly and irregularities are about, so we do need your legislation.

however, as my colleague noted, we do need to have the power to subpoena city employees. when you're investigating a department such as d.p.w., we want to know who knew it, when they knew it, and what effect this knowledge had on city affairs. to echo what mr. dratler said, we actually filed complaints regarding d.p.w. and their law splits several times and the city attorney actually dismissed it. so in events like this, who are you going to subpoena to find out what went on? i will bring to you another situation, that only weeks after this investigation started, mayor breed appoints mr. hillis, rich hillis was utterly unqualified, you know, for the job. the two qualifications, minimum requirements that were posted for this job was never met.

this was unfair to women of color who applied for this job, and they deserve to be heard. that's why we implore you to investigate how mr. hillis was appointed to this job. why is it that, you know, someone didn't have 12 years of planning experience, city and regional planning, that was cited in this job? >> chair ronen: thank you. next speaker. >> good morning, supervisors. anastasia yannopolous. i support the motion. it's wise to bestow authority on the government audit and oversight committee to issue

subpoena duces tecum and to produce documents, records, and other tangible objects that are relevant to an authorized investigation. however, unless supervision to exempt government employees is removed, it's weak in this climate of corruption that you've all noted today. so i ask you to remove this exemption. we're still reeling from the appointment of rich hillis as the director of san francisco's planning department and ask why was he appointed without the required educational background and experience while women of color were passed over? thank you. >> good morning, supervisors.

thank you for addressing this crisis, and i do not think it's too strong a word. i think we do have a crisis. and also thank you for extending the proposed legislation of department heads. i would like to ask while we respect the independence and the rights and privileges of our bargaining unit employees, where there's a level of senior staff below department heads that's not represented, i don't know, but whether there's a level of senior staff that are below senior staff but not represented, as well, so we need to be reaching as department as we can in to staff when we extend this power. thank you very much. >> linda chapman. i'm going to speak for the late, great nob hill

homeowners. for 14 years, 15 years, when i was the principal organizer, i'm not aware of any situations except or -- for one or two. i became again after our membership director unfortunately decided to dissolve the operation because we were no longer meeting at city hall every week. we suddenly had these groups calling themselves lower polk neighbors, for example. what could be more corrupt -- i started by telling the supervisors good people were driven out. sent us corrupt managers, chris schulman, and whoever his assistant was.

and they tell us those are community stakeholders, you know, the most corrupt people that could possibly ever be, and people had no chance if they went to the planning commission. people at the planning commission were nodding their heads in agreement, that they were agreeing to do things that these corrupt people would go in, make a vote. i couldn't be a member. they wouldn't let me pay dues because then, i could vote. they were being paid to do this. they were making money, and in many cases, they were being paid by the city like now. these corrupt people who claim they're stakeholders and doing things against the neighborhood, and being encouraged, also, by the innocent -- >> chair ronen: thank you so much. is there any other member of the public who wishes to speak on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed.

miss pearson, you're clear about the amendments -- fantastic. so i will make a motion to continue this item to the next rules committee -- >> clerk: you'd like to accept the amendments first? >> chair ronen: well, can we do that or do you need to draft them first? >> if they have been sufficiently described here, you may vote on them, and i will draft a motion that states the vote. >> chair ronen: okay. can we make a motion to do that? okay. then the motion passes. and we will hear that next on. >> clerk: march the 2nd. >> chair ronen: march the 2nd. >> supervisor peskin: see you next week.

[gavel]. >> chair ronen: mr. clerk, can you read the next item. [agenda item read]. >> chair ronen: thank you very much. and i'll call up the applicants, and if you could keep your comments to approximately two minutes, that would be great. and i'm going to call you in order. is hanley chan here? and then next, we'll call up jason chittivong. >> good morni >>. >> chair ronen: good morning, mr. chan. >> good morning, supervisors. i want to thank you for the opportunity to reapply for the veteran's commission. i spent my school here, former navy, former national guard. i want to continue my work. i'm working on an ad hoc

committee, working on getting a paid park. san jose, our next-door neighbor city, happy hall ooll park, if you show a veteran's i.d., you get in for free. basically, that's what we should do for our veterans. i want to continue working on housing for our veterans and much, much more to do. i'll actually make it brief. i'm supporting my partners, and thank you. >> chair ronen: thank you. jason chittivong, and next

we'll have william barnickel. >> thank you, supervisors. i'm here to announce my candidacy for the commissioner. i was a combat marine in 2000-2004 during my initial push in iraq. during my time at san francisco state university, i have pushed to help veterans with student housing and assisting them with other aids as in vocational materials and stance. i am currently right now working with the veteran justice court serving as a mentor coordinator, providing education as well, and benefits, to help them through their treatment and rehabilitation. my objective to be part of the v.a. commissioner is to provide reports, updates of our treatment program and see if we

can provide more assistance and services to them. and also, housing, because one of the biggest issues that we've been facing with all of our veterans going through treatment is the challenge of them having a stable home. i've been a board member of the bay area student leadership council here in san francisco. i've served two years as leader of the national san francisco chapter, and i'm also here in support of mr. bill barnickel. thank you. >> chair ronen: mr. barnickel, and we'll hear from douglas boullard. >> good morning, commissioners. i thought i had three minutes -- >> chair ronen: we have two minutes because we have so many candidates. >> okay. good morning. i'm bill barnickel. i'm a retired united states air force.

duty, honor, and country, and our core values in the air force are integrity force,' excellence in all we do, and service before self-. these are words that i have lived by in my civilian military and also before that, in my military career. after church one day, i asked the father if he was ever in the military? he said yes, i was a gree green beret. if you remember pat tillman, he was in the nfl, and he wanted

to be a green beret and join his brother. people said, why would you give up $5 million a year? he said it's my calling. well, this is my calling. i want to thank my veteran's office and others for all their support. without them, i could not accomplish my mission. i have organized two jobs a year, city college and others, and we placed over 400 part-time jobs and full-time jobs. in collaboration with the institute on aging which is the lead agency with the department of insurance and attorney of justice, we started a veterans program. these efforts earned us a 2017

aging innovations award and a national award for our program. [inaudible] >> during my four years, i have not missed a meeting. [inaudible] >> i have also received an award from my district 4 supervisor, gordon mar. and also, in 2019, i was acknowledged veteran of the year by state senator wiener. supervisors, it's great getting all these awards, but the biggest award and biggest accolade is i can get a call from a wife and say thank you

for your help getting us benefits. as you can see, supervisors, this is my calling, and i want to continue my journey and i request your approval. >> chair ronen: thank you so much. thank you for your service. >> thank you. >> chair ronen: next, douglas boullard, and then after that, eric deng. hi. >> thank you, chair ronen, supervisor mar, supervisor haney. thank you for giving me a minute to speak. some of you may know me as the junior rotc director at lowell, and i've been doing that 22 years. frankly, it's the joy of my life, probably more fun than anything i got to do in my previous 23 years in active duty as an army engineer officer. my last assignment as active

duty was in 1992, at san francisco state university, and i now consider san francisco home. i got my instincts for serving from my dad, who served in monmany positions in the town and served on the school board there. i have a passion for serving those that are kind of on the margins, and oftentimes, our veterans find themselves there. and so i -- i really want to have that opportunity to serve them. i've been a member of the v.f.w., the american legion, the ausa, and many other

activities. most recently, i was part of a contingent to go to the philippines to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the letay landing. i look forward to this opportunity, and i thank you so much. >> chair ronen: thank you. good morning, mr. deng. >> my name is eric deng, and just a little bit about me. i spent five years in the air force, just separated about a year ago. i'm a son of two immigrants, and my parents moved to the u.s., like probably most immigrants, in search of a better life and in search of the american dream, and hopefully to provide a better life for their children and future children, as well. part of that, why i served, i

wanted to preserve that opportunity for others. part of my wanting to serve here today is to making sure that we extend that opportunity to our veterans and folks who have put their time and energy on the line. my background is in program management, team management, but i do have a lot of experience in cross functional team management, creating a space for folks and a space and environment highlighting what are the key issues, and distilling those items into key action items that we can enact, move forward, and make things better. i'm definitely no stranger in terms of coordinating across different teams and different organizations with different incentives. additionally, i think i can provide a unique perspective to the veterans affairs commission seeing i just completed my transition out of the military just about a year ago and am working for a nontradition education system here in the

city, and i think i'm just a little bit closer to the challenges that veterans face when they first transition and leave the military. so if appointed, i'd really like to focus on workforce represent, create a workforce across the city as a whole to allow veterans to connect across all experience levels. i know the value that city college provides for our veterans, and of course the office of economic and workforce development with the mayor. so thank you so much for your time and for your consideration, and i appreciate it. thank you. >> chair ronen: thank you so much. randall knight, and then we'll hear from courtney miller. >> hello. my name is randall knight. i'm originally from new york, and i served in the military

from 19 t98 to 2005. i've noticed that there has been a similar pattern of housing needs, medical services, and a total unaware that there are benefits and resources that are out there to veterans. a lot of these organizations are started by other veterans themselves, and are privatized. government -- i have found out that government institutions are allotting this money to those who are interested and who know how to get those helps to those individuals who need those helps. in these last three years, i've become a san francisco resident, and i consider this to be my home. i enjoy it here, and the people that -- the connections that i've been making with other vets has been outstanding. i've taken the time to branch -- make a podcast as well as reach out to other veterans needing housing, as

well. i feel honored to serve, and continue to fight for others like myself. >> chair ronen: thank you so much. courtney miller and then daniel shaffer. good morning. >> good morning, supervisors. after commissioning from west point, i've spent my first five years on duty serving in the army's light active division. during that time, deployed to both afghanistan and iraq. after returning from my old deployment, i was selected to serve in arlington, and the tomb of the unknowns there. in response to the challenges that i experienced during my transition, i cofounded an organization focused on

supporting female veterans transitions both before, during, and after, and i'm confident that the lens i would bring to the commission is unique, recent, relevant, and would be incredibly complementary to those that are currently serving on the veterans commission. thank you. >> chair ronen: thank you so much. appreciate it. daniel shaffer and then robert wining or wining. sorry if i'm mispronouncing your name. hi. >> good morning, chair ronen and members of the committee. thank you for having me here today. my name is daniel shaffer, and i'm seeking appointment to the san francisco veterans affairs employee. i held various positioning, managing organization ones ranging from 40 soldiers to 2500 in various ranges of

service. i am now here with the hope of continuing my service to the veteran community. my transition from the military was difficult. i left the service as a disabled veteran, unsure of how you would simulate into civilian life. i felt alone and new little of the benefits available to me. this feeling has been shared by my friends and soldiers, pushing them towards isolation with nothing but their memories to keep them company. moreover, i've lost many friends to the demons they brought home with them. i believe my service is relevant to the commission because of the challenges of my transition. i know what it's like to have a disability that people cannot see. we are facing an epidemic that we must do better by people that have served our country. my goal is to make sure that

every veteran can understand and can achieve all the services that are available to them. when i reflect on the mentors that i've had and the number of mentors that i've had, i can't help but think of the number that are underserved because they don't have the right knowledge or know the right questions to ask. thank you for your time today. >> chair ronen: thank you so much. robert wining, is he here today? i don't see him. kyle zeck is not here, either. okay. unless there are any comments from my colleagues, i'll open this up -- any members of the public wishes to speak? and are applicants allowed to comment on other applicants? >> clerk: yes, they may. >> chair ronen: okay. you may comment on other

applications but not your own. >> bill barnickel. i'm in support of hanley chan. he's one of our newer commissioners. he's done an incredible job. it's important and paramount that we have a person like him. he's very active in the community. number two, jason chittivong. he put together a team of mentors for veterans who have been inkocarcerated, and they' done a great job rehabilitating them. it's imperative that we have people like jason aboard. doug miller, i've then for a while now, and it's imperative that we have people like him on the board. these three people, if we miss

them, we miss having them on the board, and i just feel it's imperative. thank you. >> good morning. i'm here to speak on behalf of eric deng. he's a friend and colleague for about a year. i see the way that he works and shows leadership and respect to his team and nurtures new ideas and hears new points of view. i think he'd be an excellent addition to this commission, and i hope he gets a chance. >> good morning, supervisors. my name is edgar de leon. i'm a cofunder for reach across america where we remember veterans over the holiday seasons by placing wreaths on their headstones. i'm also the sound producers for the san francisco national cemetery here in the presidio.

i'm here to support bill barnickel and doug boullard. they're great advocates for what i do in the community at large. i've known bill over the last two years. he's provided his services as emcee for the ceremony. he's garnered certificates fromcrfrom catherine stefani's office, district 2, and helped our wreath programs by garnering the help of our rotc cadets here in san francisco.

>> -- that they had while they're on active duty, and even injuries that happened out of the military. he spends his time -- i always say be a lot more like bill. bill spends his time taking vets to the v.a. center for ptsd counseling. he'll stop and talk to a stranger and then connect them with services, so he kind of goes above and beyond outside the meetings to connect veterans in the community that he doesn't even know, somebody that doesn't wear a hat,

doesn't wear a shirt, or doesn't wear a pin. bill spends a lot of his time going to the san francisco cvso, helping veterans file claims, with the g.a., with food stamps, with community services, with housing, education, the veterans justice corps. kind of stays with them and keeps them from falling through the cracks. i'd say, you know, this commission, i served on it in 2012, and it had a tendency to surround people that are like minded. i would say those three veterans push the limit, and they go beyond, and they

challenge. it's a war on -- but they actually do -- [inaudible] >> chair ronen: thank you. >> good morning, supervisors. i'm a member of the veterans commission, and i'd like to say i'm impressed by the candidates that we have this time, which i think is a good boding for the veterans affairs commission. i'm here to speak out in support of douglas boullard in his application for the commission. i think he has the work ethic and character to be a positive addition to the commission. as a vietnam era veteran, he has the ability to link very well with others, and for those of you that know him, doug can talk to anyone, and he frequently does. all over the place, all the time, to endless detail. now, i make fun of him about

that, but he has the ability to connect with many individuals. he has been serving as an instructor at the university and high school level for a number of years, and he wants to take those efforts and focus them on those leaving the military, as well. i think doug has the collaborative mindset, the work athick, and the personal nature that will make him a very positive addition to the veterans affairs commission. in addition, i'd be remiss if i didn't submit my colleagues, as well, bill barnickel and hanley chan, for their reappointment to the veterans affairs commission. thank you. >> good morning, supervisors. my name is david chen, and i am a small business owner in approximate bayview-hunters point. i am a veteran of the united

states coast guard. i know hanley chan, and i did not know there were any services available to me. he brought me to the veteran's affairs offices, and helped obtain services for me that i didn't even know were available. i believe that he would be -- his work continues -- he needs to be there. that's it. thank you. >> chair ronen: thank you so much. next speaker. >> i am the executive director of the a. philip randolph association of san francisco. i'm here in support of hanley chan. a lot of people don't realize i was born in san francisco, and

the hospital that i was born in no longer exists. my mother was an active duty petty officer in the u.s. coast guard when she gave birth to me at letterman hospital. so i'm truly a military brat, a san francisco native, and as you guys just heard from my other half, david, i'm also married to one, as well. but i supported many community members and leaders on various city commissions whose work impacts the community that i serve, and i'm really proud to stand in support of a friend and colleague that i've gotten to know over the last year because his office is a block away from mine -- actually, his office is across the street from our. i know hanley is a veteran and builds relationships in the black community. he's the only veteran that's

reached out, come into my office and extended knowledge, relationships, resources to not only educate me but any of the clients i serve. so, you know, now we know about business resources, health care opportunities for veterans, and i think that speaks volumes to his character, so i thank you for your consideration. thank you. >> chair ronen: thank you so much. good morning. >> good morning. good morning, supervisors. my name is ken lomba, and i'm the president of the san francisco deputy sheriff's association. i'm here in support of hanley chan. he's been very instrumental for our union. he's actually helped us make connections and contacts for our veterans members and also been instrumental in setting up information events. as well as we are in support of bill barnickel, jason chittivong, and doug boullard.

i believe they'd all do an excellent job, and i'd like to thank them for their service while i'm here. thank you. >> hi. good morning. my name is gilbert dare, and i'm here in support of bill barnickel. my father is a combat veteran from world war ii. he was awarded a purple heart, and little did we know, he was entitled to benefits for his service. on his own, i believe about 12 years ago, he went out and got his benefits. a few months ago, i met bill on a business call. one thing led to another, and i let him know that my dad was a veteran. immediately he asked me, does your dad receive any benefits, and i said he does. he goes, are you sure he's getting what he needs? and i said well, what do you mean by that? so in typical bill fashion, in

his heartfelt, caring way, we discussed his needs and, you know, his experience. and he says i think your dad is entitled to more benefits. and so my dad's 95, and through bill's help, we -- we've received in-home nursing care, physical therapy, new hearing aids, and increased benefits. so i'm here in support of bill, and he's a very heartfelt man, and i would like to see him continue in his role as a commissioner -- [inaudible] >> clerk: thank you. next speaker. >> supervisors, it's an honor to be before you again to speak up for the candidates that you have, and i know you have a tough job ahead of you for deciding who's going to be on the board because there's only four slots.

commissioner william barnickel is a seasoned, experienced veteran who's currently on the commission for reappointment. through commissioner barnickel's due diligence, he was able to get and keep 14 veterans from being rehoused due to the landlord building home commission. commissioner barnickel has also, through his merit, earned the distinguished san francisco veterans of the year award for his mutual help on this within our community here in san francisco. commissioner chan is a seasoned and experienced u.s. navy-national guard veteran who is presently a veteran's affairs commissioner who is up for reappointment. commissioner chan has reached out to me the other day to come and show appreciation for the

military veterans from the san francisco sheriff's department. commissioner chan is very in touch with the veterans community, and in process of working with two areas of interest in the san francisco community. the first one is getting free access to the state parks and recreation, and the state level recreation b.m.r., as well. jason is currently managing the veterans justice court as a men tar coordinator. -- mentor coordinator. i was so impressed with sitting down with both --

[inaudible] >> chair ronen: thank you. thank you so much. thank you. next speaker. >> good morning, supervisors. my name is linda yee. i hope you don't just consider bill barnickel for the next four years as a commissioner, i hope you appoint him. i can't say how much he did for my 96-year-old dad who served in the borna war theater. i helped him through the application process. it was really difficult. we waited, and we waited. two years later, no word from the veterans administration. so i finally contacted congress woman jackie speier's office, and they said my dad did not qualify. so i appealed that decision. still, no answer. then, a year later, i

accidentally met bill barnickel, and through a mutual friend, i told him his story. he told me to contact and set up a meeting with those kind folks at the san francisco county veteran's service office. i don't think it took more than a few months, and he got the award, so it was really a big learning process, but it was something my dad earned because he fought for this country from 1942 to 1945. my dad was finally getting his pension at age 93. today, he's 96. he would have been here today, but it's difficult for him to get around. he fully supports bill for helping him. i don't see how you can have anybody else do the job that bill did for my dad and other elderly veterans just like him. so do the right thing, reappoint bill as a commissioner of veteran's affairs for san francisco. thank you.

>> good morning. my name's carl pang. i'm currently employed by the city since 1962, served in the marine corps. i applied for my veterans assistance. the first time i went out to the hospital, the doctors had the nerve to tell me yes, you do have cancer, but you're making too much money because you're still employed. i ran into bill about a year ago, and i told bill my story. bill says that's ridiculous. so i was able to go out with bill. and i judge a person not by what they say, but what they do. bill really pushed everything through, and just not quite -- not quite a month ago, i got 100% disability from the v.a. so i really appreciate

everything that mr. barnickel has done, and they're all good commissioners. thank you. >> city leaders, neighbors, and veterans of san francisco, thank you for taking the time to support san francisco and its people. my name is nicholas, and i live in ingleside. i'm a combat wounded veteran, decorated with a purple heart, operation iraqi freedom 2004. right now, i volunteer with jason. i met jason at sfsu where he led veteran students to access benefits and service. he's personally assisted me in accessing my benefits and care. he's organized and educated veterans at sfsu about the city and federal options for care. thanks to jason, i will be a

homeowner in 60 days through the b.m.r. program. jason was promoted to look at sfsu veterans office to officially work in a capacity to help veterans get through the education system. for the past year, jason has volunteered without pay at the veterans justice court first as a peer mentor and then as a peer mentor coordinator. he assists the most destitute among our community to access health care and housing and apply for their benefits and engaging with the veterans administration health care system through the city's department of health and human services. jason will be an invaluable

asset because of his continuous self-less service in the community. he urges veterans from any situation to get on their feet and get to a better place. i think jason chittivong will bring our veterans home. further, i'd like to add that bill barnickel -- [inaudible] >> clerk: speakers time has elapsed. >> chair ronen: thank you very much. thank you so much. next speaker. >> good day, supervisors. my name is irwin umbau, and i'm a managing supervisor of citibank. i'd like to support bill barnickel about three years, and i think the three words that can describe him are

dedication, motivation, and commitment. my nephew, who recently separated after seven years from the air force, came to me and said i'm separating into civilian life. bill took him by the arm and walked him through the process of getting all his benefits. bill and i study martial arts in the same school. there was a veteran there who separated from the navy, and he walked him through the whole process of getting health care, education, housing, and career development. i participated in a lot of his efforts, and i look forward to participating with him in the future. i have not been with him socially where he has not found a veteran to help. i hope that helps you. >> good morning. my name is gordon tan, and i'm

born and raised in san francisco. i'm here in support of hanley chan. i've known him for many years, and i know his dedication with the commission. he's always hard working, has a good network of people that he knows, so i think he provides good support for all the veterans out there. thank you for your time. >> chair ronen: thank you so much. next speaker. >> good morning, supervisors. my name's vern glen, and normally, i talk about nothing but sports. i'm a t.v. guy. thank you for the applause. but i'm here for hanley chan, so i'm going to step out of the sports land and talk about him. we go back 20 years, and i've never seen him stop. i don't know where he gets his energy from, but you watch him work a room, you watch him fight for you, and it will just be unbelievable. paul mayamoto went for sheriff. how did that work out?

got sworn in about a month ago, and when he needed help, he called hanley chan, and we saw the end result. he's the kind of guy that just will not stop and just continue to fight. you need him on your team, you want him on your team, so hey, hanley chan, just remember the name. >> chair ronen: great voice. >> good morning, supervisors. my name is vernon xi. i'm a product of san francisco. i was born and raised in san francisco, product of the rotc program in high school. shortly after i graduated high school, i enlisted in the united states marine corps. after i separated, i was very unaware of my benefits, and i've been out for four years, and i have finally started

applying for benefits. after i met hanley chan, he's constantly reaching out, making sure i'm speaking to the right people, getting the kacare i need, so i support hanley chan. thank you. >> good morning. my name's bob vicari, robert vicari officially. i'm here to represent bill barnickel for one main reason. he got me what i deserve. i'm a veteran in the korean war. i ran into bill in the sunset, and he had heard i ran into

trouble with the v.a. getting hearing aids. he said you should be getting hearing aids. you're a combat veteran. he took me down to the city, at 2 vanness. i met a guy named gallagher, and then i went to the v.a. center, met a lady by the name of liz. i had a couple of interviews, down in texas, got veterans evaluation services, got into the mix, and not only -- i got my hearing aids, but they treat me very nicely over at the v.a., and the only thing i can say after everything has been said thus far is that he's your man, and he's my man for sure. thank you very much. >> chair ronen: thank you so much. >> good morning, supervisors. my name is victor olivari, and

i'm the chairman of the veteran's association. i don't envy your job. this is the second year that we've had a ton of overwhelming candidates. i did try to make your job easier to commence a rules committee to review all the applications and then recommended them to the commission. the committee is recommending douglas boullard and courtney miller. the only job we're responsible is advising the board of supervisors and mayor about policies that might affect veterans. if there's a fifth person that

you really like, please let us know, and we will do our best to make sure that person gets in front of the mayor's office. the commission right now is made up of 11 men and three women, which i think is something very important to note. we have eight people of color, that's four a.p.i., one african american, one hispanic, one middle eastern, and one lgbt. what we are missing is gaps in experience. we need subject matter experts, and this is well beyond public comment or any support of candidate. we have gaps in workforce development, education, housing, project management, and employee resource group development. so with that in mind, beyond the official recommendations of the board, i wanted to highlight the applications of three other prospective applicants in case you do not wish to fill those other two

seats. those are eric deng, daniel shaffer, and jason chittivong. thank you for your time, and i'm available if you have any questions. >> chair ronen: thank you so much. next speaker. >> good morning. my name is ralph martinson. i'm here supporting bill barnickel. i met bill, and he got to know me a little bit, and he said, marine, i'm going to help you. that was difficult for me. it's sometimes difficult for some of us to reach out for help. i know that after i was discharged, honorable discharge in 2006, operation iraqi

freedom combat tours, immediately went to graduate school, got married, things were looking bright, but i was carrying some things that hadn't been resolved just yet, and bill was there for me. bill said i'm going to take care of you, marine, and he dogged me out. i was trying not to go to the best of my ability, and he just stuck with me every step of the way. to this date, besides the ratings and benefits, just the help received, whatever it is, the mental health counseling, the supports, financial help, i think it really stopped me from going in a really wrong turn in my life, and i always appreciated him for that. >> chair ronen: thank you so much. is there any other member of the public who wishes to speak? seeing none, public comment is closed. [gavel]. >> chair ronen: so you all have

left us with an impossible task. it is just incredible to see the breadth of dedication to one another. i want to thank you all for your willingness to serve. all -- both of my colleagues want to speak. i will just say that i am very in favor of reappointing hanley chan to seat nine and william barnickel to seat three. clearly, you are going above and beyond your duties in providing support to fellow veterans, and i just want to thank you so much for doing that and explain -- and support your renomination to the commission. i also believe that women are underrepresented on this body, and so i would like to support

courtney miller for another seat on the commission, and then, the remaining seat, it's very difficult to say, but i wanted to hear from my colleagues before making a decision. so supervisor mar? >> supervisor mar: thank you chair ronen. i also want to thank all of the very impressive applicants for not just your willingness and serving on the veteran's affairs commission, but for your service to our country and your dedication and service to san francisco. as the son of a veteran and somebody who has family who are veterans, it's just inspiring to me to see all the different ways you're helping in our city. i -- yeah, i guess i -- this is a really hard decision to make,

you know, as chair ronen has stated. and i -- i also support the reappointment of hanley chan and bill barnickel. i have worked very closely with both bill and hanley on veterans issues and been really impressed and inspired by all of the direct work that both of you are doing to support individual veterans and families navigating -- to navigate our challenging service systems and bureaucracy. but also, you've done so much to educate me and other city leaders on the needs of our veterans community and towards improvement to our system and towards services to veterans. and i -- i also am supportive of doug boullard as a new appointment to the commission. doug is somebody that i've gotten to know very well

through his work as a jrotc program at lowell, but also citywide through the jrotc program, so i'm impressed by doug and his dedication to young people and his mentoring of young people through the jrotc people and what he's done to bridge the work between the veterans and military and the commission. >> chair ronen: thank you. supervisor haney? >> supervisor haney: yes. i also want to thank all the folks that came out and applied. it's amazing to hear about everybody's extraordinary service and how you continue to help people in the community, especially veterans in our city. i know for bill and for hanley

and for all of the members of the commission, you all go above and beyond, and it's just extraordinary how many people you're able to connect with and support and be there for. so i just want to appreciate all of the members of the commission, and everyone who applied, for those who wanted to be on the commission, because we have a limited number of spots, i hope that you continue to be engaged, and i hope that there are ways for the commission to promote and support your leadership in the meantime, and hopefully, you'll have a spot on the commission at some point. i also just wanted to give a shout out to hanley who's somebody it seems like most of us know, and just thank him for being everywhere and for educating all of us and elected officials about the needs of veterans in our community. and then, i also wanted to

speak to doug boullard. he's somebody i got to know very well when i was a school board member and have always appreciated his role especially working with young people and just the professionalism and the effectiveness with which he does his work for jrotc. even when there was disagreements with the school district -- sometimes there are -- he always was an effective voice for leaders and veterans on the jrotc. i'm a guest on this committee, so i would defer to the chair on the final recommendations. >> chair ronen: okay. so listening to the comments, i will make a motion to move forward with positive recommendation william barnickel to seat three, courtney miller to seat six, douglas boullard to seat eight, and hanley chan to seat nine. and if i can take that without

objection, that motion passes unanimously. [gavel]. >> chair ronen: thank you so much. [applause] >> chair ronen: for those of you who didn't get a seat, please reach out to the mayor's office, and commissioner hanley can be helpful with that. thank you so much. mr. clerk, can you please read item three. >> item three is a hearing considering appointing one member, indefinite term, to the street-level dealing task force. >> chair ronen: thank you so much. give you a minute -- if you could please take the conversations outside, we still have business. i'd appreciate it so much. thank you. thank you. supervisor haney, do you have any opening comments? >> supervisor haney: sure. so i want to thank the rules

committee for making the appointments previously to the street level task force. this task force has actually already started to meet, and unfortunately -- >> chair ronen: sorry. if there's any further conversations, if you could take those outside, thank you so much. thank you. >> supervisor haney: thank you. unfortunately, one of the members, janet hector, who was previously appointed, had to withdraw. so we have six applicants for this one seat. some folks are here today with us, and some were not able to make it. we've read all of the applicants beforehand and have

considered any applicants. [inaudible] >> i got myself back together, and now, i have my own office that i help people -- homeless people get -- acquire housing every day, and i'm standing here in city hall. and i just think i have a good outlook on how -- like, give a good information on open -- like, the task force and ways to help either the people dealing drugs get programs or

focusing on the drug aiddicts getting programs. and thinking more of the drug dealers, getting help for them, seeing if they're willing to use their skills for other purposes, but that's what i'm here for. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. >> good morning. i'm kenneth kim. i'm a licensed clinical psychologist and senior directing programs at glide. i was really exciting about janet joining the task force because of its charge. she's someone who's incredibly knowledgeable about this information. for myself, i came into this work growing up in approximate government housing myself, being exposed to violent crimes myself. most of my experience has been

in foster care, so my experience in drugs have been through foster parents, mostly in contra costa county. impart i am part of the community advisory committee, and i think my strength is being a bridge between the mental health systems. i've managed medicare contracts for ten years, and really, the challenges on both sides. with my work in glide, i helped lead the safe injection sites, what they look like, and how to apply the principles. i've been involved in the 300 ellis block safety group, as well as becoming a member of tndc to help them with their

member services. so in a really short time, i've been all over and appreciate advocating for all sides and also creatively pushing for a systems change, which i know this group is charged to do. so thank you for your consideration and your time. >> chair ronen: is there any other applicants that is present? we will now open this item up for public comment. any member of the public who wishes to speak, please come on up. >> good morning, supervisors. i'd like to speak in support of nicholas parise. he is -- i work at hospitality house and have known nicholas for the past year. he has a lot of integrity and potential leadership. recently, he -- he presented to our entire staff how to use

narcan to save lives on sixth street, which he had done himself. so i would like to speak in support of his application. thank you. >> good morning, supervisors. my name is mike. i am the clubhouse director for the boys and girls club of san francisco right here in the tenderloin. i am here to -- i don't have the words today -- for dr. kenneth kim. i've known dr. kim for several years now. he is someone who's from the community in that he's knee deep in the work that we're doing on a system basis. if we're looking for someone that has a multifaceted

approach, multifaceted ideas, dr. kim is probably one of the best people i can think of. whether it's systems driven work, community driven work, dr. kim has done it all in spades. i think this committee is a -- or this task force is a great way to kind of get things started, and i think dr. kim's perspective in all this work will be beneficial. he has mental health and behavioral health background, and i think we all know that the levels of trauma that come from street level drug dealing is multifaceted. it's not just being against the rules or breaking laws, there's a lot of trauma that goes with street level drug dealing, and whether it's the people dealing

drugs, or the people using drugs or the community, dr. kim brings a specific experience to that work all at the same time. thank you. >> morning, supervisors. my name is kate robinson from tenderloin community benefit district. i'm here to support ken kim for seat number two on the street level task force. not only do i think dr. kim is extremely qualified for the seat, i also think it's appropriate to have the seat remain with glide in respect to their lead program and harm reduction programs. i think it's critically important to have glide and particularly dr. kim at the table for this task force. i've worked with kim in partnership over the last two years with the block safety group and the 300 block of

ellis, and his intelligence, his commitment to solutions, his ability to really bring people together with opposing views. i urge the supervisors to appoint ken kim. thank you. >> chair ronen: thank you so much. >> can i give you my card, too? thank you. good morning supervisors.

i'm associate director of the ucsf community engagement. through ctsi and ccsi, ucsf is striving to make our science more useful and applicable to keeping our communities healthy and safe. our approach is to promote health and health care equity and patient centered care through partnership and collaboration. for the past five years, i've had the honor to serve on the tlhip advisory committee, coordinated by st. francis hospital and foundation. it's a unique platform for stakeholders to collaborate.

i'm very fortunate to have the opportunity to build these bridges of health and health equity. the tlhipcac that i met ken kim. ken serves aresource and a -- as a resource and leader on drug addiction and drug use. ken's exceptional knowledge comes from the depth and breadth of his clinical administrative experience which in turn comes from a lived experience, living in public housing. ken's seemingly inexhaustible passion for better health care in district six drives him to help others, and my institute's included, to build their capacity --

>> chair ronen: thank you so much. is there any other member of the public who wishes to speak? seeing none, public comment is closed. [gavel]. >> chair ronen: supervisor haney? >> supervisor haney: yes. i'd like to thank mr. nicholas and dr. kim for applying. for anyone who wants to attend, there's sort of a more public feedback meeting that's going to happen this wednesday. the whole task force will be there. so again, i just want to appreciate you both for applying. i'm going to make a motion to appoint dr. ken kim to be appointed to sit in vacant seat two. >> chair ronen: and without objection, that motion passes

unanimously. thank you so much, both of you, for your willingness to serve. mr. clerk, can you please read item 4. [agenda item read]. >> chair ronen: supervisor haney, would you like to make any opening remarks? >> supervisor haney: yes. i want to thank all of the applicants, including those of you who are still around, for joining us today. the soma community stabilization fund was created in 2005, and its mission is to stablize the community and promote equity through funding recommendations and priorities that mitigate the impact of development. some notable highlights of the fund's investments include the build out of the soma child care center at transbay, seed funding for the bill soro

housing, acquisition for a new permanent location for soma playas, and much more. throughout the fund's history, the board of supervisors has always honors the recommendations of the c.a.c., and so it has real influence in shaping the neighborhood and prioritizing investments to stablize residents and businesses. it is critical this responsibility is held by people who know and have been invested in soma. their expertise, history, and relationships in soma will be critical in making decisions for allocating these public dollars. i want to thank claudine, adele, and we appreciate your years of work and dedication to the c.a.c. and its members.

today, we have eight applicants. one applicant withdrew their application, and i know some applicants are here and some are not. i know we've reviewed all the applications beforehand and reviewed all the information submitted by the applicants. so for the applicants that are here today, if you can lineup and approach the podium one by one and share a brief statement why you would like to be a part of the soma stabilization fund. >> chair ronen: come on up. >> hello, supervisors. thank you for the opportunity to present my qualifications for the soma stabilization fund. i will quickly run through the various small business projects that i have worked on over the last 11 years, the majority of which have been in or near soma. in 2009, i opened farm table, a little cafe that could, and a social experiment where everyone shared a single table. in 2012, farm table built a

community funded parklet, and in 2014, i was hired as a consultant by the american skefsh to conservetory theater. in 2018, i cofounded jolene's, located on the soma mission border. today, i'm also here as a representative of the leather lgbtq cultural district enforc enforced by board president bob

colfar. i am deeply invested in the preservation of soma's lgbtq culture to preserve, promote and protect small businesses in soma. >> chair ronen: thank you. next speaker. >> good morning. good morning again, supervisors. i apologize. i forgot to state my name. i'm allen sampson minello. i thank you for your time today. i work in your district, and i live in your district, so that's kind of cool. any ways, i -- i'm here today to speak as a current member -- or as a member of the soma stabilization fund. i served in the past -- the past 15 years, i served almost

ten of those years, and four of these years as the chair. i lived -- i've been living in san francisco for 30 years, and i -- 15 of those years have been working or living in the south of market area. i was the artistic and managing director of a performing arts center on sixth street for the filipino american community. i've also worked very closely with many of the soma community organizations as a voluntary supporter and community advocate including somcan, the oasis for girls, west bay, and of course the united players. i'm very proud of the work we have done as a c.a.c., and thank you, supervisor haney, for listing our accomplishments. that's going to give me a little bit more time to talk

about what we see for the future of the c.a.c. we're very excited to continue our work. there's still much more stabilization that needs to be done with many of the organizations in the south of market area. as you know, with the rampant development that's going on in soma, it's very crucial that the fund continues, and i am very excited -- i would like to continue my work with my colleagues on the c.a.c. reading the list of applicants coming in, it's even more exciting because we have some folks that are applying that have really strong integrity. i know that's my time, but i'd also like to speak on behalf of chris roam asmasanta.

she had to leave for a meeting with the san mateo housing authority. she is applying for seat four, which is the housing seat. she has served for -- on the soma c.a.c. for eight years. she lived in soma for eight years, also, and is familiar with the services and the nonprofit organizations. she has a background in urban planning and housing. she's worked for various cities and counties in the bay area, addressing the need for affordable housing. while at the c.a.c., chris worked with the staff and community organizations, along with the san francisco land trust to pilot our small sites on the natoma street. subsequently, this launched the city small site program. chris is excited to continue the work of stablizing low-income residents in the south of market area. thank you for your consideration, supervisors.

>> good morning, supervisors. i am here, applying for district six, seat seven. i think that i've been in san francisco for about 20 years and soma about ten. i think my connection to soma and the small business owners could add to the stabilization of the neighborhood. i think moving forward especially after a major purge happening now, we should potentially see some major growth and in moving forward, i would like to be an assess to the community as well as a valuable resource to the businesses and the community in the neighbors alike. i don't have a tremendous amount of spare time, but any free time that i could add and help with the community and the

growth is certainly appreciated on my side. i thank you for your time this morning. yea for veterans, and go task forces -- drug task forces, and thank you for your time. >> chair ronen: there's no more applicants here. we will now open this -- oh, raquel, come on up. >> good morning, supervisors -- still morning, right? my name's raquel redonidiez.

during the years when we foughtor the -- fought for the rebuilding of the elementary school and the park, i'm excited for the opportunity to help serve on this committee to prioritize funding for cultural preservation, community facilities, and the expenditure of fees for central soma. i'm also excited to serve with the other applicants, both those who have previously served as well as those who have put their names forward. it is a critical time for our community who's made our home here for over 100 years as we learn just how many community members we have lost in the last few years of hyperdevelopment and displacement in the neighborhood. we know we've lost half of our population since the last census. but we are a resilient

community and we will fight to continue to make the south of market a viable community for everyone. as with the rincon hill plan, this new phase of the stabilization fund must ensure that development fees from central soma are used to mitigate harm that will be caused by the luxury office and hotel developments and the great need for affordable housing. there must also be strong alignment with the stabilization fund and other soma advisory committees. i hope to serve on this committee, and lastly, i'd also like to contribute to having the c.a.c. play a larger role in weighing in with the board of supervisors and also mohcd

to address -- to, you know, not only on policies and strategies for community development but also to advise against initiatives that contribute to displacement and bring harm to the community. thank you. >> hello. my name is michelle olivas. i'm trying to say a lot really fast. so i am born and raised in san francisco. i have spent the last 20 years of my life in soma as a soma resident, and so my reasons for wanting to serve on this committee are both personal and professional. on the personal side of things, like, i've shared often my youngest daughter refuses to sleep in her bedroom because her windows open onto our alley, and she's traumatized by the fighting and the things she hears out on the street. in her 13 years, she has seen more dead bodies on her way to

and from school than i did in my entire k through college education, and i grew up in the mission when gang violence still had a way more significant impact than it does now, and that's unacceptable. there's a very different reality for folks who live in soma than those who come there during the day or have their businesses there. for me, it's important to have a resident voice on the committee. secondly, when the stabilization fund first started, we were squatting at the rec center and had about three or four staff program. we are now a 501-c-3, and we have a staff of 30. for me, it's important that we take full advantage of this

opportunity. the stabilization fund that was sunsetting was a great opportunity for folks to stablize their services. when we deal with folks and families daily, we need their c.b.o.s to be stable, so i'm ready to make sure that they are stable and not always in crisis because that ripple effect hurts our community just as much as the gentrification and the development does. thank you. >> chair ronen: now we will open this up for public comment. any member of the public who wishes to speak, please come on forward. come on up. you might be our only speaker, so come on up. >> take my time -- just kidding. hello. my name is paul barreira. i work with soma filipinas.

i'd like to say that the soma c.a.c. is a really important body, and i support everyone who's put their names forward. the body is a crucial place for soma projects and people to find their space for expression. i work closely with many of the applicants, including chris, allen, john elberling, raquel, kim -- let me make sure i don't leave anyone out -- caroline and misha, and even those that i don't know personally, i appreciate they're willing to serve in this capacity. i hope that the future of the soma c.a.c. can help address displacement pressures as well as enable the many facets of the filipino and working class communities in the soma, to continue to fluorish, so i hope that all of these applicants will find support from you. thank you. [inaudible] >> chair ronen: seeing none,

public comment is closed. supervisor haney? >> supervisor haney: thank you, and thank you to all of the applicants, and for the folks who are serving on the stabilization fund now, thank you. what i am going to do is we have -- so there's seven seats and there's also a number of alternate seats. what i'm going to do is make a motion to appoint five members, s and then, for the applicants that aren't being appointed today, your application will remain active, and i'd like to bring this back in march to make the final appointments. i'm motioning for john elberling to fill the seat of a senior resident of soma, mish a, raquel to represent an arts or cultural organization in soma, allen to fill the member

seat who has expertise in employment development, and adam to fill the small business seat. so for the other folks, we will continue to have your applications be active as we make the final decisions at the next meeting. >> chair ronen: okay. >> clerk: madam chair, just so you note, the specific qualifications are not assigned to a specific seat number pursuant to the vacancy notice, so the qualifications for this body is floating, and that information is appreciated, but we still need to assign to a specific seat number. >> chair ronen: okay. >> clerk: thank you the qualifications for all the seats are the same, so they must -- >> supervisor haney: so i just need to assign a number to them? >> clerk: yes. >> supervisor haney: okay. so -- all right. it doesn't really matter, does

it? just in that order, john to seat one, misha to seat two, raquel to seat three, and adam to seat five. >> chair ronen: without objection, that motion passes unanimously. [gavel]. >> chair ronen: mr. clerk, is there any other items before us today? >> clerk: there are no other items before us today. >> chair ronen: thank you. the meeting is adjourned. [gavel]

>> shop and dine in the 49 promotes local businesses, and challenges residents to do their shopping within the 49 square miles of san francisco. by supporting local services in our neighborhood, we help san francisco remain unique, successful, and vibrant. so where will you shop and dine in the 49? >> i am the owner of this restaurant. we have been here in north beach over 100 years. [speaking foreign language] [♪] [speaking foreign language]

[♪] [speaking foreign language]

[speaking foreign language] [♪] >> this is a huge catalyst for change. >> it will be over 530,000 gross

square feet plus two levels of basement. >> now the departments are across so many locations it is hard for them to work together and collaborate and hard for the customers to figure out the different locations and hours of operation. >> one of the main drivers is a one stopper mitt center for -- permit center. >> special events. we are a one stop shop for those three things. >> this has many different uses throughout if years. >> in 1940s it was coca-cola and the flagship as part of the construction project we are retaining the clock tower. the permit center is little working closely with the digital services team on how can we modernize and move away from the paper we use right now to move to a more digital world. >> the digital services team was

created in 2017. it is 2.5 years. our job is to make it possible to get things done with the city online. >> one of the reasons permitting is so difficult in this city and county is really about the scale. we have 58 different department in the city and 18 of them involve permitting. >> we are expecting the residents to understand how the departments are structured to navigate through the permitting processes. it is difficult and we have heard that from many people we interviewed. our goal is you don't have to know the department. you are dealing with the city. >> now if you are trying to get construction or special events permit you might go to 13 locations to get the permit. here we are taking 13 locations into one floor of one location which is a huge improvement for the customer and staff trying to work together to make it easy to

comply with the rules. >> there are more than 300 permitting processes in the city. there is a huge to do list that we are possessing digital. the first project is allowing people to apply online for the a.d.u. it is an accessory dwelling unit, away for people to add extra living space to their home, to convert a garage or add something to the back of the house. it is a very complicated permit. you have to speak to different departments to get it approved. we are trying to consolidate to one easy to due process. some of the next ones are windows and roofing. those are high volume permits. they are simple to issue. another one is restaurant permitting. while the overall volume is lower it is long and complicated business process. people struggle to open

restaurants because the permitting process is hard to navigate. >> the city is going to roll out a digital curing system one that is being tested. >> when people arrive they canshay what they are here to. it helps them workout which cue they neat to be in. if they rant to run anker rapid she can do that. we say you are next in line make sure you are back ready for your appointment. >> we want it all-in-one location across the many departments involved. it is clear where customers go to play. >> on june 5, 2019 the ceremony was held to celebrate the placement of the last beam on top of the structures. six months later construction is complete. >> we will be moving next summer. >> the flu building -- the new building will be building.

it was designed with light in mind. employees will appreciate these amenities. >> solar panels on the roof, electric vehicle chargers in the basement levels, benefiting from gray watery use and secured bicycle parking for 300 bicycles. when you are on the higher floors of thing yo of the buildt catch the tip of the golden gate bridge on a clear day and good view of soma. >> it is so exciting for the team. it is a fiscal manifestation what we are trying to do. it is allowing the different departments to come together to issue permits to the residents. we hope people can digitally come to one website for permits. we are trying to make it digital so when they come into the

center they have a high-quality interaction with experts to guide then rather than filling iin forms. they will have good conversations with our staff. >> my background is in staff. engineering. i am a civil engineer by training. my career has really been around government service. when the opportunity came up to serve the city of san francisco, that was just an opportunity i really needed to explore. [♪]

[♪] i think it was in junior high and really started to do well in math but i faced some really interesting challenges. many young ladies were not in math and i was the only one in some of these classes. it was tough, it was difficult to succeed when a teacher didn't have confidence in you, but i was determined and i realized that engineering really is what i was interested in. as i moved into college and took engineering, preengineering classes, once again i hit some of those same stereotypes that women are not in this field. that just challenged me more. because i was enjoying it, i was determined to be successful. now i took that drive that i have and a couple it with public

service. often we are the unsung heroes of technology in the city whether it is delivering network services internally, or for our broadband services to low income housing. >> free wi-fi for all of the residents here so that folks have access to do job searches, housing searches, or anything else that anyone else could do in our great city. >> we are putting the plant in the ground to make all of the city services available to our residents. it is difficult work, but it is also very exciting and rewarding our team is exceptional. they are very talented engineers and analysts who work to deliver the data and the services and the technology every day. >> i love working with linda because she is fun. you can tell her anything under the sun and she will listen and give you solutions or advice. she is very generous and

thoughtful and remembers all the special days that you are celebrating. >> i have seen recent employee safety and cyber security. it is always a top priority. i am always feeling proud working with her. >> what is interesting about my work and my family is my experience is not unique, but it is different. i am a single parent. so having a career that is demanding and also having a child to raise has been a challenge. i think for parents that are working and trying to balance a career that takes a lot of time, we may have some interruptions. if there is an emergency or that sort of thing then you have to be able to still take care of your family and then also do your service to your job. that is probably my take away and a lot of lessons learned.

a lot of parents have the concern of how to do the balance i like to think i did a good job for me, watching my son go through school and now enter the job market, and he is in the medical field and starting his career, he was always an intern. one of the things that we try to do here and one of my takeaways from raising him is how important internships are. and here in the department of technology, we pride ourselves on our interns. we have 20 to 25 each year. they do a terrific job contributing to our outside plant five or work or our network engineering or our finance team. this last time they took to programming our reception robot, pepper, and they added videos to it and all of these sort of things. it was fun to see their creativity and their innovation come out.

>> amazing. >> intriguing. >> the way i unwind is with my photography and taking pictures around the city. when i drive around california, i enjoy taking a lot of landscapes. the weather here changes very often, so you get a beautiful sunset or you get a big bunch of clouds. especially along the waterfront. it is spectacular. i just took some photos of big server and had a wonderful time, not only with the water photos, but also the rocks and the bushes and the landscapes. they are phenomenal. [♪] my advice to young ladies and women who would like to move into stem fields is to really look at why you are there. if you are -- if you are a problem solver, if you like to analyse information, if you like

to discover new things, if you like to come up with alternatives and invent new practice, it is such a fabulous opportunity. whether it is computer science or engineering or biology or medicine, oh, my goodness, there are so many opportunities. if you have that kind of mindset i have enjoyed working in san francisco so much because of the diversity. the diversity of the people, of this city, of the values, of the talent that is here in the city. it is stimulating and motivating and inspiring and i cannot imagine working anywhere else but in san >> hi, i'm lawrence corn field. welcome to building san francisco. we have a special series, stay safe. we're looking at earthquake issues.

and today we're going to be talking with a residential building owner about what residential building owners and tenants can and should do before earthquakes and after earthquakes. ♪ ♪ >> we're here at this wonderful spur exhibit on mission street in san francisco and i have with me today my good friend george. thanks for joining me, george. and george has for a long time owned residential property here in san francisco. and we want to talk about apartment buildings and what the owner's responsibilities might be and what they expect their tenants to do. and let's start by talking a little bit about what owners can do before an earthquake and then maybe after an earthquake. >> well, the first thing,

lawrence, would be to get together with your tenants and see if they have earthquake insurance or any renters insurance in place because that's going to be key to protecting them in the event of a quake. >> and renters insurance, there are two kinds of insurance. renters insurance coffers damage to goods and content and so forth. earthquake insurance is a separate policy you get after you get renters insurance through the california earthquake authority, very inexpensive. and it helps owners and it helps tenants because it gives relocation costs and it pays their rent. this is a huge impact on building owners. >> it's huge, it really is. you know, a lot of owners don't realize that, you know, when there is an earthquake, their money flow is going to stop. how are they going to pay their mortgages, how are they going to pay their other bills, how are they going to live? >> what else can property owners do in residential rental housing before an earthquake? >> well, the first thing you want to do is get your property assessed. find out what the geology is at

your site. get an expert in to look at structural and nonstructural losses. the structural losses, a lot of times, aren't going to be that bad if you prepare. an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. get in there and get your property assessed and figure it out. >> so, what is a nonstructural issue that might cause losses? >> well, you know, pipes, for instance. pipes will whip around during an earthquake. and if they're anchored in more numerous locations, that whipping won't cause a breakage that will cause a flood. >> i've heard water damage is a major, major problem after earthquakes actually. >> it is. that's one of the big things. a lot of things falling over, ceilings collapsing. but all of this can be prevented by an expert coming in and assessing where those problem areas and often the fixes are really, really cheap. >> who do you call when you want to have that kind of

assessment or evaluation done? >> the structural engineering community is great. we have the structural engineers association of northern california right here in san francisco. they're a wealth of information and resources. >> what kinds of things might you encourage tenants to do besides simply get tenants renters insurance and earthquake insurance, what else do you think tenants should do? >> i think it's really important to know if they happen to be in the building where is the safest place for them to go when the shaking starts. if they're out of the building, whats' their continuity plan for connecting with family? they should give their emergency contact information to their resident manager so that the resident manager knows how to get in touch. and have emergency supplies on hand. the tenants should be responsible to have their extra water and flashlights and bandages and know how to use a toilet when there's no sewage and water flows down.

and the owners of the building should be proactive in that regard as well. >> so, george, thank you so much for joining us. that was really great. and thanks to spur for hosting us here in this wonderful exhibit. and thank you for joining us

san francisco, 911, what's the emergency? >> san francisco 911, police, fire and medical. >> the tenderloin. suspect with a six inch knife. >> he was trying to get into his car and was hit by a car. >> san francisco 911 what's the exact location of your emergency? >> welcome to the san francisco department of emergency management. my name is shannon bond and i'm the lead instructor for our dispatch add -- academy. i want to tell you about what we do here. >> this is san francisco 911. do you need police, fire or medical? >> san francisco police, dispatcher 82, how can i help you? >> you're helping people in their -- what may be their most vulnerable moment ever in life. so be able to provide them immediate help right then and there, it's really rewarding. >> our agency is a very combined agency.

we answer emergency and non-emergency calls and we also do dispatching for fire, for medical and we also do dispatching for police. >> we staff multiple call taking positions. as well as positions for police and fire dispatch. >> we have a priority 221. >> i wanted to become a dispatcher so i could help people. i really like people. i enjoy talking to people. this is a way that i thought that i could be involved with people every day. >> as a 911 dispatcher i am the first first responder. even though i never go on seen -- scene i'm the first one answering the phone call to calm the victim down and give them instruction. the information allows us to coordinate a response. police officers, firefighters, ambulances or any other agency. it is a great feeling when everyone gets to go home safely at the end of the day knowing that you've also saved a citizen's life.

>> our department operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. >> this is shift work. that means we work nights, weekends and holidays and can involve over time and sometimes that's mandatory. >> this is a high stress career so it's important to have a good balance between work and life. >> we have resources available like wellness and peer support groups. our dispatchers of the month are recognized for their outstanding performance and unique and ever changing circumstances. >> i received an accommodation and then i received dispatcher of the month, which was really nice because i was just released from the phones. so for them to, you know, recognize me for that i appreciated it. i was surprised to even get it. at the end of the day i was just doing my job. >> a typical dispatch shift includes call taking and dispatching. it takes a large dedicated group of fifrst responders to make ths department run and in turn keep

the city safe. >> when you work here you don't work alone, you work as part of a team. you may start off as initial phone call or contact but everyone around you participating in the whole process. >> i was born and raised in san francisco so it's really rewarding to me to be able to help the community and know that i have a part in -- you know, even if it's behind the scenes kind of helping the city flow and helping people out that live here. >> the training program begins with our seven-week academy followed by on the job training. this means you're actually taking calls or dispatching responders. >> you can walk in with a high school diploma, you don't need to have a college degree. we will train you and we will teach you how to do this job. >> we just need you to come with an open mind that we can train you and make you a good dispatcher. >> if it's too dangerous to see and you think that you can get away and call us from somewhere safe. >> good. that's right. >> from the start of the

academy to being released as a solo dispatcher can take nine months to a year. >> training is a little over a year and may change in time. the training is intense. very intense. >> what's the number one thing that kills people in this country? so we're going to assume that it's a heart attack, right? don't forget that. >> as a new hire we require you to be flexible. you will be required to work all shifts that include midnights, some call graveyard, days and swings. >> you have to be willing to work at different times, work during the holidays, you have to work during the weekends, midnight, 6:00 in the morning, 3:00 in the afternoon. that's like the toughest part of this job. >> we need every person that's in here and when it comes down to it, we can come together and

we make a really great team and do our best to keep the city flowing and safe. >> this is a big job and an honorable career. we appreciate your interest in joining our team. >> we hope you decide to join us here as the first first responders to the city and county of san francisco. for more information on the job and how to apply follow the links below. >> growing up in san francisco has been way safer than growing up other places we we have that bubble, and it's still that bubble that it's okay to be whatever you want to. you can let your free flag fry he -- fly here. as an adult with autism, i'm here to challenge people's idea of what autism is. my journey is not everyone's

journey because every autistic child is different, but there's hope. my background has heavy roots in the bay area. i was born in san diego and adopted out to san francisco when i was about 17 years old. i bounced around a little bit here in high school, but i've always been here in the bay. we are an inclusive preschool, which means that we cater to emp. we don't turn anyone away. we take every child regardless of race, creed, religious or ability. the most common thing i hear in my adult life is oh, you don't seem like you have autism. you seem so normal.

yeah. that's 26 years of really, really, really hard work and i think thises that i still do. i was one of the first open adoptions for an lgbt couple. they split up when i was about four. one of them is partnered, and one of them is not, and then my biological mother, who is also a lesbian. very queer family. growing up in the 90's with a queer family was odd, i had the bubble to protect me, and here, i felt safe. i was bullied relatively infrequently. but i never really felt isolated or alone. i have known for virtually my entire life i was not suspended, but kindly asked to not ever bring it up again in first grade, my desire to have a sex change. the school that i went to really had no idea how to handle one. one of my parents is a little

bit gender nonconforming, so they know what it's about, but my parents wanted my life to be safe. when i have all the neurological issues to manage, that was just one more to add to it. i was a weird kid. i had my core group of, like, very tight, like, three friends. when we look at autism, we characterize it by, like, lack of eye contact, what i do now is when i'm looking away from the camera, it's for my own comfort. faces are confusing. it's a lack of mirror neurons in your brain working properly to allow you to experience empathy, to realize where somebody is coming from, or to realize that body language means that. at its core, autism is a social disorder, it's a neurological disorder that people are born with, and it's a big, big spectrum. it wasn't until i was a

teenager that i heard autism in relation to myself, and i rejected it. i was very loud, i took up a lot of space, and it was because mostly taking up space let everybody else know where i existed in the world. i didn't like to talk to people really, and then, when i did, i overshared. i was very difficult to be around. but the friends that i have are very close. i click with our atypical kiddos than other people do. in experience, i remember when i was five years old and not wanting people to touch me because it hurt. i remember throwing chairs because i could not regulate my own emotions, and it did not mean that i was a bad kid, it meant that i couldn't cope. i grew up in a family of behavioral psychologists, and i

got development cal -- developmental psychology from all sides. i recognize that my experience is just a very small picture of that, and not everybody's in a position to have a family that's as supportive, but there's also a community that's incredible helpful and wonderful and open and there for you in your moments of need. it was like two or three years of conversations before i was like you know what? i'm just going to do this, and i went out and got my prescription for hormones and started transitioning medically, even though i had already been living as a male. i have a two-year-old. the person who i'm now married to is my husband for about two years, and then started gaining weight and wasn't sure, so i we went and talked with the doctor at my clinic, and he said well,

testosterone is basically birth control, so there's no way you can be pregnant. i found out i was pregnant at 6.5 months. my whole mission is to kind of normalize adults like me. i think i've finally found my calling in early intervention, which is here, kind of what we do. i think the access to irrelevant care for parents is intentionally confusing. when i did the procespective search for autism for my own child, it was confusing. we have a place where children can be children, but it's very confusing. i always out myself as an adult with autism. i think it's helpful when you know where can your child go. how i'm choosing to help is to give children that would normally not be allowed to have children in the same respect,

kids that have three times as much work to do as their peers or kids who do odd things, like, beach therapy. how do -- speech therapy. how do you explain that to the rest of their class? i want that to be a normal experience. i was working on a certificate and kind of getting think early childhood credits brefore i started working here, and we did a section on transgender inclusion, inclusion, which is a big issue here in san francisco because we attract lots of queer families, and the teacher approached me and said i don't really feel comfortable or qualified to talk about this from, like, a cisgendered straight person's perspective, would you mind talking a little bit with your own experience, and i'm like absolutely. so i'm now one of the guest speakers in that particular class at city college. i love growing up here. i love what san francisco

represents. the idea of leaving has never occurred to me. but it's a place that i need to fight for to bring it back to what it used to be, to allow all of those little kids that come from really unsafe environments to move somewhere safe. what i've done with my life is work to make all of those situations better, to bring a little bit of light to all those kind of issues that we're still having, hoping to expand into a little bit more of a resource center, and this resource center would be more those new parents who have gotten that diagnosis, and we want to be this one centralized place that allows parents to breathe for a second. i would love to empower from the bottom up, from the kid level, and from the top down, from the teacher level. so many things that i would love to do that are all about changing people's minds about certain chunts, like the transgender community or the autistic community. i would like my daughter to know there's no wrong way to go

through life. everybody experiences pain and grief and sadness, and that all of those things are temporar r >> so today, we have come together for a historic day. today, we gather to honor 50 years of pride. yes, 50 years. [applause] >> this anniversary was hard fought from the days of the freedom -- freedom parade to compton cafeteria riots, to all the work across this country that we continue to do for freedom. and if we look, our theme for this year's pride is future of hope. and if we look to the next 50 years, we have a lot to be

hopeful for. we look at our past and marriage equality, to the first day at city hall when the first couple was married. we recognize lesbian and lgbtq folks across the city. we remember the work that we have to do across the country as trans kids are being refused access to bathrooms in our schools. we remember the families that standup for them, and we remember the work that we still have to do because this generation is hopeful. this generation will continue to be hopeful, and there's so many reasons why we have this hope. some of that comes from our elected officials, some of that comes from our own journeys, but we know we cannot do this work without the leadership in our city, and i am so proud to work for a leader in this

amazing city who's not only spear headed the work of so many of us and supported so much of lgbt quality here in san francisco but also is continuing that effort forward, our mayor, mayor london breed. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: first of all, thank you, claire. thank you to the freedom ban of frisk. thank you to s.f. pride and supervisor mandelman and so many elected leaders and department heads here in san francisco to celebrate the beginning of pride in san francisco, 50 years of what i think has been an amazing accomplishment, so thank you to the board members, to the president, caroline. thank you to our new executive

director. like, so many great things are happening in this city and so many great things are happening with pride. and i know -- i get really excited, because even though it's february and we are not expected to have a number of activities, especially the parade, until june, it's going to be so exciting that we have to announce it now. we have to get everybody excited about what's to come because there is nothing that we do better than celebrate in san francisco. we celebrate our history, we celebrate our diversity, we celebrate what makes san francisco so unique. and we know that this -- in this city was the epic center of what has occurred that has led to so much to support our lgbt community, and i'm really proud to be in a position as mayor to help support and carry

on some of the many policies that we know are necessary to continue to make sure that there is hope for future generations. in fact, trans home s.f. has been an amazing accomplishment in this city, and thank you, tony newman, for our leadership. we've got one of our first buildings, and there's lots more to come, along with wraparound services for our trans seniors. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: and in san francisco, we do celebrate a new record low of new h.i.v. infections, less than 200 last year. thank you, dr. brent colfax, for your leadership in the department of health. we know we will continue to make those investments that we'll get to zero. we know that we did the count around homeless youth. about 50% of the youth that are homeless in this city identify

as lgbt, and we want to make sure that we help the next generation of young people growing up in this community so that they have hope. so many great things but also so much more work to do. and i am really confident in the leadership of this city to really help us move forward on so many different levels. as we think about just the attacks that we have been under. i mean, we just had a visit from the other number 45 here this weekend, and i can't help but think about not only our city being under attack, but also our lgbt community, where we continue to fight for things that we shouldn't have to at this point. you know, when i think about just what we're celebrating in the month of february, black history month. black history is american history. we're celebrating lunar new year. chinese american history is

american history. lgbt history is american history. we are all a part of the fabric of what makes our city and our country so great. so we will not be silenced. we will continue to lift our voices and celebrate what makes us so great, what makes us so unique. and during the month of pride, we will just do it with that much more flair. so thank you all so much for being here. here's to 50 more incredible years for future generations to come. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. thank you, mayor breed. and one other note i'm just so proud of, thanks to the mayor's leadership, we've invested over $1 million in the next year to seniors. so thank you to the department

of aging and adult services, and thank you to all of those in our city who made sure that we were brought to this 50 years and continue to be brought to the right place. so now, a leader that we know will continue to bring us forward in the next 50 years, our new director of pride, fred lopez. [applause] >> hi. good morning, everybody. how are you? excited? s.f. pride, #sfpride50. before anything else, i just want to convey our sincerest gratitude to the mayor, to supervisor mandelman and all these elected officials today for coming out today to start the celebration right. every city department that is present, we want to thank you

for your unwavering support for san francisco's most iconic went. it may cost millions of dollars to produce, but it wouldn't happen without the amazing work of our departments, employees, and volunteers. [applause] >> as claire said, the theme for san francisco pride is a generation of hope, and it was originally suggested by pride member larry nelson. that spirit of hope will become visible at the beginning of june when the rainbow flags go up along market street, much of market street now newly car free. on saturday, june 37, civic center will once again become a site of celebration. all weekend, with crowds in the

tens of thousands we're expecting. it's going to be a big year, and we're excited for it. then, as clair has mentioned, for many of us, the center piece of pride, the parade, on june 28. 50,000 marchers are expected to be in the parade, all cheered on by more than 100,000 spectators -- it's going to be quite a spectacle this year. [applause] >> if your organization or group is thinking about marching, we encourage you to register soon because we think the parade might run out of space earlier as it has in the years past, so that's great. for the past two years, our partners at cbs bay area have live streamed the parade so that people around the world

can see it live. wear something cute, and call your mom, because you're going to be on t.v. that's exciting. thank you to our friends at kpix. [applause] >> that's not the only new development for 2020. on april 17, an exhibition entitled labor of love, the birth of san francisco pride, 1970-1980 opened at the gobt museum in san francisco. it'll be up in the museum until january 2021. further, starting may 7 in the city hall in the north light court, the historical society and san francisco arts commission will mount a photography exhibition called 50 years of pride, so make sure to check out the amazing history that we can learn from. our entire team at san francisco pride is working hard to ensure that we are ready for

this monumental event, and here are some ways in which our communities can help. applications are now open for our volunteers who provide power during the event. i want to acknowledge that in this room, there are some former community grand marshals and honorees, like our board president, carolyn, was once an honoree, and others. if you want to raise your hands, folks who have been honored in the past. thank you for all of your tireless work. that spirit of tireless volunteerism is at the core of san francisco pride, and that commitment goes both ways. in 2019, we were pleased to go nate more than 203 -- donate more than $203,000 to ongoing bay area nonprofits, which adds to our total of more than $3

million since 1997. [applause] >> finally, 2020 may be the 50th anniversary of pride as a march and a celebration, but san francisco's pride began way before 1970. the compton cafeteria riots took place in 1966. as we look forward to the next 50 years, let's always remember the valuient struggles of previous -- valiant struggles of previous generations, and as hectare remilk said, all give them hope. and here at pride, we always will. thank you so much. [applause] >> thank you, fred. we're so excited, and we know

that pride is in great hands. thank you. so it is my honor to introduce our new pride chair, carolyn wisenger. >> thank you, fred, thank you, mayor breed, thank you to my aunt who has threatened bodily harm if i don't mention them. as fred mentioned, the board is excited about completing our three-year theme with this year's generation of hope. while we are excited about the events leading up to the pride weekend, we are most excited about what that word hope represents. as a community, we are in challenging times, and being in pride, it's so different. there is more required now that we are headed into 50. the organizational needs aren't the same as they were in 1970,

and either are the needs of the community that we represent. there's more required in the way that we represent community, there is more required in the way that we support our community, and there's more required in the way that we are supported. now the last leg to 50 is always the hardest leg. some of you may have been married 50 years, and you know it's hard getting to 50. it doesn't get easier as we march in these last months to 50. as someone who grew up in a church that's now 75 years old, i remember in 1995, and how hard that last road to 50 was. i remember the struggles, and i remember the squabbles, and i remember the day it seemed like it would all fall part. we are in a crunch time now, but we as a board continue to believe that it is important to have a celebration that is reflective of the community we serves, and important to be reflective of all of those

voices, and to make all those voices be heard. i remember when bishop carlton pearson said we have to remind them of the hope, so that's what we're going to do, and we ask you to join us for that. [applause] >> thank you. so 2020 is kind of an incredible year. also, it's not the 50th anniversary, and also, we need to get out there and vote. every one of you matters, so let's get out there and do that. so now, it's my honor to introduce our only out gay supervisor who has been doing some incredible work not only in his district but for the lgbt community at large and in san francisco at large. please welcome supervisor raphael mandelman.

>> supervisor mandelman: good morning, everybody. it does -- you know, february does feel like a slightly odd time to be celebrating time, but i will say there's never a bad time for the queer community to take the mayor's balcony, so we are happy to be here. and madam mayor, i think it is just worth noting the extraordinary collection of queer department heads you have, from clair farley at the o.t.i., and grant colfax at the department of public health, and jeffrey tumlin, and sherreen mcspadden. you have a very queer administration, and we are quite appreciative of that. [applause] >> supervisor mandelman: the trustees never get acknowledge them, so i'm going to acknowledge them now. we have our past president, alex randolph of the college

board, and our current president, tom temprano of the college board, doing great and important work. you know, as i -- and then, i also do want to congratulate fred lopez. thank you, fred, thank you, carolyn. thank you to the whole board. pride has never been easy, but it is important, so i -- this year is particularly important and seems to be particularly challenging, and i know you will get through it, and i am grateful for what you are doing to get us through what will be an amazing 50-year celebration, so thank you. [applause] >> supervisor mandelman: i was trying to think about that 1970 gay-in, the people who participa participated in that. the next 50 years, what did they imagine it would be like? did they imagine that in a few

years, a gay man would get elected supervisor in san francisco? and after that, rainbow wave after rainbow wave would come crashing down until the last election when we got a record number of gay, lesbian, and bisexual people elected, even in virginia. they would not have imagined the extraordinary community response that would come to it. tom and i were just over at the airport where the quilt is getting brought from atlanta. it is finally coming home, and there's going to be a fantastic rollout of panels of the last ten years on april 3, 4, and 5, and everybody should come. but the resilience of the gay community, responding to that crisis and building an aids movement, they had no idea.

and would they have imagined same sex marriage? no matter how you feel about pete buttigieg, would they have imagine that a gay man would be one of the leading candidates for presidents this year? and gay c.e.o.s, and so much of what they imagined would have come to pass. i don't think they would have imagined that the mayor of san francisco would have been an african american woman who grew up in the projects, and i do think they would be particularly amazed and delighted at that prospect, because harvey milk talked about the uses and those who had been left out of the power structure in the 70s, and those who had just begun to imagine that there might be a universe where they can take power. so it's amazing with our department heads and our mayor

i don't remember, san francisco -- and our mayor, san francisco is living up to the hope. i feel like i have generationally benefited so much. and in a lot of ways, the work is about building, acknowledging the institution like the lesbian gay freedom ban. that was a great moment for the city, but some of those other great moments, a second building, and now having purchased a third site and affirming lgbt senior housing. thank you, mayor, for that. there's just around the corner from that, the gay men's chorus. they are becoming the national lgbtq center for the arts, and

we got some help for them into the budget last year. again, thank you, madam mayor, and thank you to my colleagues on the board. we have inherited so much, and so i think going forward, obviously, the obligations to move forward on that, and to fulfill the unfulfilled promises. in 1970, we knew that people had been left behind, and in 2020, we know that people have been left behind. we need to eradicate the epidemic. we need to reach folks who have not been reached, and so the work of justice which they know we needed to do in 1970 and '80 and '90, and they know the work that we need to do. it was the work of 50 years, so it was exciting, and now, fred

lopez is going to come back. [applause] >> that's a great way to sort of summarize all the amazing things that are happening in san francisco. we are so incredibly fortunate to live in this amazing place and be supported by all of these amazing people and institutions that surround us. i do want to say quickly that i make sure i acknowledge the board members of san francisco pride who are here. give us a wave. [applause] >> and san francisco pride wouldn't happen without a really talented teams of contractors or staff. if you're a contractor or staff, give us a wave. [applause] >> great work. finally, as raphael said, it is a little

♪ >> about two years ago now i had my first child. and i thought when i come back, you know, i'm going to get back in the swing of things and i'll

find a spot. and it wasn't really that way when i got back to work. that's what really got me to think about the challenges that new mothers face when they come back to work. ♪ >> when it comes to innovative ideas and policies, san francisco is known to pave the way, fighting for social justice or advocating for the environment, our city serves as the example and leader many times over. and this year, it leads the nation again, but for a new reason. being the most supportive city of nursing mothers in the work place. >> i was inspired to work on legislation to help moms return to work, one of my legislative aids had a baby while working in the office and when she returned we had luckily just converted a bathroom at city hall into a

lactation room. she was pumping a couple times a day and had it not been for the room around the hallway, i don't know if she could have continued to provide breast milk for her baby. not all returning mothers have the same access, even though there's existing state laws on the issues. >> these moms usually work in low paying jobs and returning to work sooner and they don't feel well-supported at work. >> we started out by having legislation to mandate that all city offices and departments have accommodations for mothers to return to work and lactate. but this year we passed legislation for private companies to have lactation policies for all new moms returning to work. >> with the newcome -- accommodations, moms should have those to return back to work. >> what are legislation?

>> we wanted to make it applicable to all, we created a set of standards that can be achievable by everyone. >> do you have a few minutes today to give us a quick tour. >> i would love to. let's go. >> this is such an inviting space. what makes this a lactation room? >> as legislation requires it has the minimum standards, a seat, a surface to place your breast on, a clean space that doesn't have toxic chemicals or storage or anything like that. and we have electricity, we have plenty of outlets for pumps, for fridge. the things that make it a little extra, the fridge is in the room. and the sink is in the room. our legislation does require a fridge and sink nearby but it's all right in here. you can wash your pump and put your milk away and you don't have to put it in a fridge that

you share with co-workers. >> the new standards will be applied to all businesses and places of employment in san francisco. but are they achievable for the smaller employers in the city? >> i think small businesses rightfully have some concerns about providing lactation accommodations for employees, however we left a lot of leeway in the legislation to account for small businesses that may have small footprints. for example, we don't mandate that you have a lactation room, but rather lactation space. in city hall we have a lactation pod here open to the public. ♪ ♪ >> so the more we can change, especially in government offices, the more we can support women. >> i think for the work place to really offer support and

encouragement for pumping and breast feeding mothers is necessary. >> what is most important about the legislation is that number one, we require that an employer have a lactation policy in place and then have a conversation with a new hire as well as an employee who requests parental leave. otherwise a lot of times moms don't feel comfortable asking their boss for lactation accommodations. really it's hard to go back to the office after you have become a mom, you're leaving your heart outside of your body. when you can provide your child food from your body and know you're connecting with them in that way, i know it means a lot to a mommy motionlely and physically to be able to do that. and businesses and employers can just provide a space. if they don't have a room, they can provide a small space that is private and free from intrusion to help moms pump and that will attract moms to

working in san francisco. >> if you want more information visit sfdph.org/breastfeedingatwork. ♪ >> welcome. thank you all for being here. it's just a wonderful, joyous occasion to celebrate such an important accomplishment. and without any further adieu, i would ask you to join me in welcoming to the dais our mayor london breed. [applause] >> thank you, thank you don. well, first of all i'm really excited to be here today. i remember when i was

campaigning to be supervisor of this district, one of the things that i made a priority when i got elected was to focus our attention on rehabilitating public housing in this city. and we've set out on a journey and i've gotta tell you that it was not easy. some of you know that i grew up across the street in plaza east before they were what they are now, when they were similar to the pink palace. which is now called rosa park apartments. the conditions that existed there, we all remember, we never had showers. we had problems with roaches and rodents. we had mold. we had just the kinds of conditions that no one should ever have to live in. and, sadly, you know, i mean, it was a community and i loved my community and i appreciated what my grandmother tried to do and