>> president yee: okay. good afternoon. welcome to the march 17, 2020 regular meet ongoing -- meeting

of the san francisco board of supervisors, even though it's not regular. madame clerk, the roll? fewer present. haney present. mandelman present. mar present. peskin present. preston present. ronen present. safai present. stefani present. walton present. president yee present. all members are present. >> president yee: thank you. would you please join me in the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic, for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

>> president yee: so on behalf of the board, i would like to acknowledge the staff at sfgovtv who record each of the meetings and make the transcripts available to the public online. thank you. madame clerk, any communications? >> none to report, mr. president. >> president yee: thank you. i do want to take this opportunity to share with the public that given the stay-home order issued yesterday by the mayor to reduce the spread of covid-19, the board of supervisors will continue to meet and deliberate on essential

action items during this time. members of the public are advised not to leave their homes unless it is essential, however, we recognize that open access to this government body is a basic tenet of democracy and civic engagement. to the extent possible, we're working on ways to allow for remote public comment during this emergency order. we are in extraordinary times and want to ensure that members of the public are able to engage in the safest way possible. during this emergency we'll -- we may also be moving the board of supervisors' meetings and committee meetings remotely through video conferencing. these meetings will still be streamed online and to the public over sfgovtv. colleagues, we are in this crazy time and would like us to

formally decide on these future possibilities once the system is up and running. i would to ask for a motion to allow remote teleconferencing of future board of supervisors' meeting and remote public comments? can i have a motion? made by ronen and seconded by safai. madame clerk, please call the roll. >> on the motion, mandelman aye. mar aye. peskin aye. preston aye. ronen aye. safai aye. stefani aye. walton aye. yee aye.

fewer aye. haney aye. there are 11 ayes. >> president yee: thank you. the motion passes unanimously. thank you, colleagues, and members of the public. as we're still finalizing details of the remote access, please continue to check our website at www.sfbos.org for updates for future meetings. i want to remind the public we have teleconferencing over this emergency period. we will return to meetings back at the board of supervisors chamber as soon as we feel appropriate to do so. and we look forward to that time when we're back to business as usual. please stay safe and stay home. if you are able to.

call 311 if you have any questions or need nonemergency assistance. 311 is for nonemergency. today, we're approving the minutes from february 11, 2020 board meeting. are there any changes to the meeting minutes? seeing none, can i have a motion to approve the minutes? motion made by supervisor fewer and seconded by supervisor preston. without objection, those minutes will be approved as presented after public comment. colleagues, i want to take a moment to explain several agenda changes we intend to make during this meeting. first, when item 16 is called, the public hearing on the findings and recommendation of law enforcement staffing

numbers, i will ask for a motion to continue item 16 to the date of april -- i'll give you the date later, but basically, it's not crucial they present today even though it would have been a good discussion, but we can wait for that to happen. now, to the purpose of this continuance, circumstances are changing rapidly with the covid-19 disease and the city's response is ever evolving. for item 25, supervisor ronen is requesting this body to meet as a committee of the whole for the public hearing on the city's preparations on response to this health emergency and global pandemic. originally, this public hearing was scheduled for special

meeting on thursday, march 19, 2020, but due to the urgent nature of the health emergency, i do not believe it is prudent to wait until thursday to provide important information to the public and learn the city's response. i'll be asking for a motion to amend item 25 to reflect the public hearing for today's meeting in addition to thursday's meeting. if necessary, to ensure the public can learn information today. further, before the public hearing takes place, i will be introducing an imperative item to call for a closed session to also take place today at 3:00 p.m. the closed session will be to discuss potential threats to the security of or the public access to public buildings, services

and public facilities during the local health emergency. with the following department heads reporting. that would be william scott, chief of police, sheriff of the sheriff's department, chief of the fire department, chief of staff for the mayor's office, city controller, director of human resources, executive director of department of emergency management, director of health for the department of public health, executive director of human services agency, director of department of homelessness and supportive housing, director of san

francisco international airport, port of san francisco. as already indicated, after the closed session, the public hearing on city preparation will be called and open to the public. it is urgent we have an open discussion about policy proposals and responses to the economic health service and housing impacts with respect to the covid-19 health emergency. do any of my colleagues have questions? okay. madame clerk, can you please read the consent agenda. >> items 1 and 2 on consent. if a member objects, an item may be removed and considered separately. >> president yee: anyone want to sever any items? seeing none, madame clerk, i think we already called roll.

can we just take this same house, same call? okay. this item is finally passed unanimously. these items. let's go to regular agenda. call items 3-5 together. >> items 3-5 are three resolutions submitted to the board from the airport commission. for a term of ten years, a minimum annual guarantee of $240,000 for the first year of the lease. item 4, resolution to approve the terminal 3 boarding area f food and beverage kiosk lease between sidewalk juice as tenant and the city acting through the airport commission for a 10-year term and minimum annual guarantee of $136,000.

item 5, resolution to approve the terminal 3 boarding area f between elevate, a joint venture and skyview concessions. >> president yee: same house, same call? without objection, these resolutions are adopted unanimously. please go to item 6. >> resolution to approve and authorize the director of property to lease real property at 1156 valencia street at base represent of 400 -- rent of $400,000 a year to expire february 28, 2023. plus two-year option to extend and authorize the reimbursement of $300,000 toward the cost of lease hold improvements and to

execute the documents and make modifications in furtherance of the lease. >> president yee: same house, same call? this is adopted unanimously. >> item 7, resolution to authorize the department of public health to accept and expend $3 million grant to the tipping point community to participate in a program entitled hphh, tipping point. to create new psychiatric respite center beginning january 16, 2020 through january 15, 2022. >> president yee: colleagues, same house, same call? without objection, this resolution is adopted unanimously. let's go to item number 8. >> item 8 is resolution to authorize the san francisco police department to accept and expend $66,000 grant from the

state of department parks and recreation to procure equipment and gear for the period of november -- period to commence following board approval through november 30, 2020. >> president yee: same house, same call. adopted unanimously. >> resolution to provide revenue bonds for the financing and accusation of 108 multifamily rental using product consisting of three structures. >> president yee: colleagues, can we take this same house, same call? without objection, this resolution is adopted

unanimously. madame clerk, let's go to next item. >> item 10, resolution to approve and authorize the execution of loan agreement with mission housing development corp, california limited partnership in an amount not to exceed $28 million. >> president yee: colleagues, can we take this same house, same call? without objection, this is adopted. item 11. >> item 11 resolution to urge the administrative staff of the department of public health to include frontline registered nurses and physicians in their decision-making process to implement to the extent possible an expedited hiring process to less than 90 days of application, to see staffing requirements with contracted registered nurses by implementing a ceiling of 5% or less. and to provide annual violence

prevention and disaster preparedness training. >> president yee: same house, same call? without objection, this resolution is adopted unanimously. >> item 12 is ordinance to amend the police code to make existing exemption to paid parental leave ordinance for employers with fully paid family leave policies consistent with recent changes to state law. >> president yee: colleagues, can we take this same house, same call? without objection, this ordinance is passed on first reading. >> item 13, ordinance to amend the administrative code to require that mayoral and board of supervisors appointments to re-entry council expire following a member's hiring. and to require that the fifth officer be a formally incarcerated member and to increase the number of 12 to 13,

the number of members that constitute a quorum? >> president yee: same house, same call? this ordinance is passed on first reading unanimously. >> item 14, motion to approve the treasurer's nomination of meagan wallace to the oversight committee for term ending june 17, 2022. >> president yee: same house, same call? without objection, this is approvedly. >> item 15, a motion to appoint janice petty to the commission on the aging advisory council for term ending march 31, 2022. >> president yee: same house, same call? without objection, this motion is approved unanimoussy. -- unanimously. >> president yee: madame clerk,

even though it's not quite 2:30 there is nothing to discuss to continue an item. could we take it right now before the time set? >> clerk: no, mr. president, but we could go to roll call for introductions. >> mandelman submits. mar? >> supervisor mar: thank you, madame clerk. colleagues, i have one resolution i'm introducing today that relates to the topic of the day. san francisco has led the nation as the first place to enact mandatory paid sick leave as well as family friendly workplace and paid parental laws. these were ground breaking, but they were not designed with public health emergencies in mind. san francisco must lead once again to ensure that everyone is

economically healthy as well as physically healthy and workers can afford to shelter in place. the emergency expansion of paid sick leave announced by mayor breed yesterday is a positive step forward, but it's not enough to leave it up to the employers to decide. over the weekend, the house of representatives adopted a comprehensive coronavirus relief bill that includes expanded paid leave, but shockingly, it exempts the largest employers who represent 54% of the workforce. the largest corporations don't need a bailout. workers do. we need all hands on deck from washington to sacramento to city hall to ensure our workers are taken care of. so today i'm introducing a resolution along with supervisor haney urging action to expand access to paid leave during public health emergencies. we need to make sure workers know what rights they have and

that those rights are enforced and protected. some will have accrued paid sick leave they can use under san francisco's paid sick leave ordinance and some will be eligible for unemployment insurance, but not all employees know their rights or how to access the benefits. so this resolution calls for the creation of a multilingual workers right hot line so everyone can access the information and rapid enforcement action to know their rights and protect them. we need to expand workers rights where they feel to meet the urgency of our current crisis. under the law today, there is no assurance that workers who must stay home will be paid. under the law today, non-traditional workers, domestic workers, laborers and undocumented workers do not have access to safety net programs like unemployment insurance. under the law today, nearly one quarter of the united states

workers receive no form of paid sick leave. so this resolution urges the united states congress to mandate that all employers provide their employees with additional 14 days of paid leave during public health emergencies. with public funds provided to make it possible for small and medium-sized businesses to comply. and it further urges action by congress to the governor and state legislature to meet our current needs. with this resolution, we will support bills on the state and federal level that would move us toward these needs and commit to act locally to fill gaps where state and federal action falls short. the rest i submit. >> clerk: thank you. supervisor peskin. >> supervisor peskin: i've got one in memoriam that i submitted and in the interest of time will submit the rest.

>> president yee: supervisor ronen skipped? >> no, i'm after preston. i don't know how that happened. i'm sorry. >> thank you. supervisor preston? >> supervisor preston: thank you, madame clerk. colleagues, i have several items today and just wanted to start by thanking deputy city attorney for moving very, very quickly on these items. i greatly appreciate it with everything going on. i appreciate the quick turnaround. so, first, i am introducing a resolution calling on the governor, the courts, and the mayor to immediately suspend all eviction activity, except

evictions necessary to protect for safety. i'm sad to report as i speak today, eviction notices are still being served in san francisco and eviction cases of our residents are still moving forward in our courts. this is absolutely the last thing we need right now. to quickly recap where we are in residential evictions, there has been a lot of discussion and activity. i introduced an ordinance last week to ban nonpayment evictions arising the crisis. the mayor and i had an opportunity to meet and she issued a directive against nonpayment evictions from covid-related loss of income. this was an important step. it's a start, but unfortunately, it's not enough. i urged mayor to broaden her directive to create a real eviction moratorium that is comprehensive and includes no fault evictions.

barring action on that, we'll continue to move forward with the ordinance i introduced last week, tailored to make sure we address no fault evictions. i want to thank the mayor's office for her work on these issues. sophia kitler. the san francisco superior court has given at best a mixed message. the court changed its website in a way that suggested that all jury trials, including eviction cases would be continued and delayed for 90 days, but tenant attorneys are told it's business as usual and eviction cases are proceeding in the courts. people obviously cannot shelter in place if they're having to show up and defend themselves from eviction, so i call on the san francisco superior court and state judicial council to make sure these cases are postponed and wanted to thank the folks at

the eviction defense collaborative for bringing this to our attention. the governor has weighed in with an executive order as you know, yesterday, this was an important step forward. i'd like to thank the governor for this action and in particular the ordinance lays out the stakes and why keeping people housed is so critically important. however, like the mayor's directive, the governor's executive order addresses nonpayment arising from loss of income and does not address other types of eviction, so our resolution urges further action from the governor. colleagues, i've seen a lot of good from folks in the last week with outpouring of neighbors reaching out. some of those include landlords in my district, but, unfortunately, there are those who seem to lack the most basic compassion at this time and it's to deal with them that we must

take the actions at all level of government to stop evictions during this crisis. i want to thank my cosponsor on this resolution, supervisors ronen, haney, mar and fewer, and look forward to working with you all to pass this resolution as quickly as possible. second, i'm introducing an emergency ordinance to protect small businesses from eviction due to nonpayment of rent arising from covid-19 measures. i want to thank my colleague supervisor ronen, who i've been working with closely on this issue for more than a week and we've been trying to find a way around state law limitations and fortunately, some of those were lifted yesterday by the governor. even before this public health crisis we heard daily from small businesses worried about making rent and the current health crisis has made those fears more intense and immediate. and many businesses are

wondering if they'll ever financially be able to reopen. with april 1st approaching, many are concerned about paying the rent when the revenues have been reduced and in many cases complete completely eliminated as most businesses have been shut down. the fear eviction and default is real and growing. we need to make sure help is coming from the many levels of government. locally, the private sector. small businesses, as we know, are the life blood of our local economy and define our neighborhoods. so thanks to the executive order issued by the governor. yesterday, we were freed from some of the limits that normally restrict our ability to take action around rents and evictions when it comes to small businesses. so to make sure that businesses are not displaced and permanently closed during this

state of emergency, and after the state of emergency, i'm introducing an eviction ordinance covering small businesses, the first of its kind in any municipality in california. i want to recognize in addition to deputy city attorney, business leaders, including kristin evans and the fillmore merchant association and the small business commission for their advice and counsel on this measure and for their advocacy. i understand from a press release that i received while walking into the chambers today that the mayor has announced an intention to move in a similar way around to prevent small business evictions. i welcome learning the details of the proposal which we haven't seen to date. and finally, with apologies for the long roll call for introductions, there are others

we will submit on, but one other, which is that as we urge everyone to shelter in place, we obviously have many who have no shelter. even as units sit vacant across the city that could be housing folks that are vulnerable. one such property that is vacant in my district is 555 fulton street, which many of you will sound familiar to you, because it's been at the center of the ongoing corruption investigation in the federal -- the criminal complaint. what a lot of folks don't know about 555 fulton, it's a vacant, 139-unit building sitting there, turnkey ready, with permissions for folks to reside there. we have a family sleeping on mats on a floor, kicked out,

despite our shelter in place, they're kicked out each day in the morning to fend for themselves for the day. and we also know a considerable number of the people who are most at risk right now in our homeless are seniors. we need to house these folks in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus. i think the property at 555 fulton presents an opportunity to help meet this need. that's why i issued a letter to the owners of the property urging them to use these available units for temporary housing for homeless families and seniors. and given the severity of the crisis and the importance of the shelter in place directive, units that have not been committed to buyers should be made available for temporary occupants. i want to assure all with vacant

units, now is the time to step up and contact your district supervisor and make these units available for temporary occupancy. as a remind der, san francisco has a good samaritan law, so if you provide temporary housing you're not necessarily making a long-term commitment to house folks indefinitely. we'll need all the units in the days and weeks ahead. thank you. the rest i submit. >> supervisor ronen: yes, thank you, colleagues. and first i just wanted to thank every city leader and member of our departments who have been working around the clock on this crisis and to protect as many people as possible. your work is amazing and i wanted to appreciate each and every one of you. i speechly wanted to -- especially wanted to thank my colleague, dean preston, never

been so happy to have a leading tenant rights attorney on the board of supervisors as i am right now, the ability to write your own legislation with the help of the city attorney office in this matter has been incredible and i really appreciate the work that you've done to stop evictions, not just nonpayment, but no fault evictions of resident and commercial businesses. thank you so much. it's been a joy to work with you. thank you on that. and towards that end, supervisor preston and i, together with supervisor haney have also been working on a small business rent stabilization loan program for the city and county of san francisco which would help to stop the irreversible loss of small businesses due to the coronavirus public health emergency. because of restrictions on travel and gatherings, patronage

has decreased to small businesses substantially, putting tens of thousands of small businesses and hundreds of thousands of workers at risk. it has businesses scrambling to see how to stay afloat. some businesses won't survive without us. they need our help and need it now. the state and local officials are working to open the way for supervisor preston to introduce the legislation he just announced preventing small businesses from being evicted. there are now some immediate resources on the way for shop owners. and it is an essential, but businesses will need more than a stopgap moratorium. they will need replacement income to pay rent the minute that moratorium is lifted. and honestly, it is discouraging

that our state lawmakers have passed a $1.1 billion measure that includes nothing for individuals and small businesses. and then they suspend the legislature for four weeks. i want to interlude to say that i'm proud of us, colleagues, for continuing to work nonstop during this crisis. it did shock me to read this morning that the state legislature has recessed until april 13th. i've been depending on the legislature to pass several laws and for us to fill in those gaps, but now it appears that -- it's hard to defend that we may be the only game in town for a little while. that has upped my urgency when it comes to the workers that supervisor mar just listed that are left out of state and federal programs. it's incumbent upon us more than ever to lead the way here.

so this rent stabilization loan and whatever is coming on behalf of independent contractors and immigrant workers is at the forefront of my mind. i also wanted to thank supervisor mar for taking such a lead in the area, especially with jobs of justice, which is an organization that works with workers that earn money in non-traditional ways and are in the low age workforce. i wanted to mention that the federal business administration has declared a disaster in the bay area, while impressed with speaker pelosi's ability to broker an agreement for action, it doesn't go far enough. that's why this rent stabilization at the local level is needed. this will open the door for larger economic injury disaster loans, but everything i've heard

about the small business administration at the federal level, it will take a long time to get it up and running. and it may be very hard for small businesses to access. and it may be impossible for many to apply. these loans in cases -- in many cases will have to be secured and will require a level of proof and documentation and bureaucracy that many of our small businesses will not be able to get through. so my legislation is intended to respond to the urgency that our small businesses face right now. i've been working with the treasurer's office to move quickly to create a $20 million small business rent stabilization program. i'm introducing the ordinance authorizing the city to secure a line of credit and accompanying ordinance creating the funds.

the city will provide no interest loans to cover three months of rent, mortgage or other fixed operating costs with no payment due to the city for 12 months. i have heard some comments that $1.1 million gross receipt threshold is too low. and i'm really open to feedback on this issue. we can change that amount at committee without expanding the time for us to pass this ordinance. this will help businesses hold on through the immediate month ahead and will pair well with the federal and state help. the treasurer has included a generous estimate of $600,000 to cost the total cost of the program, $300,000 for staffing. current interest rates are expected to cost $250,000, but

the appropriation will accommodate $300,000 just in case. because these are no-interest loans, this will be the city covering the interest rates from the bank. again i wanted to thank supervisor preston and haney. i am asking and have asked president yee to waive the 30-day hold. ideally, i'd like to hold the committee this week or next and get this before us at next tuesday's board meeting. as the covid-19 crisis evolves, we want to send a message loud and clear, san francisco small businesses and employees, we've got your back and you're not alone. the second item i'm introducing is a resolution together with supervisor mandelman. we have a constituent who often

talks to both of us when she reaches out -- she's my constituent. catherine kuszczak, thank you for the suggestion. she reach out urging us to enter a resolution and talk to grocery stores, hours or time periods where only those that are strictly sheltering in place, but need to access groceries can have time where they're not going to have contact with people who have not been sheltering in place to get those groceries. so we're introducing a resolution today in order to urge those stores that are considered essential to have senior-only and

immuno-compromised only shopping hours. we will send that to the organization and as many essential business groupings that we can find and we'll be asking the mayor to include this official petition on behalf of the city. once it passes on outreach that the city is doing for coronavirus. with that, the rest i will submit. >> clerk: thank you. supervisor safai? >> supervisor safai: thank you, madame clerk. i have one item. it's part of the conversation that is happening at the national level. i think it's many of the things we're hearing about on the national level are emanating from the local level because we're the ones dealing with this on a daily basis and have the most interaction. so some of the things you've talked about in terms of eviction defense, i know last week we introduced resolution on banks, moratorium, utilities, moratorium, so people wouldn't get their services shut off, we

need to do more to put pressure on the banks. i think that is coming. i think there is a time when people are not going to be able to pay their mortgages as well as their rent. what i'm calling for today, a conversation is happening at the national level, but it's essentially a resolution urging the united states congress and the executive branch to enact an economic stimulus package that relates to the coronavirus, giving every american and adult $5,000 for every 30-day period that this national emergency stays in effect. they need to survive. without income, because they've been asked to stay home, they won't be able to do that. here in the chamber, we're deemed essential employees. our salaries ill continue. there are certainly salaries that will continue. when you're talking about

janito janitors, hotel workers, small businesses and all of us and the mayor have talked about, so many people will not be able to go to work. without going to worker they're not going to receive a paycheck. and without a pay check, how are they going to survive? i've been talking with and working with janitors on a daily basis and working with their leadership. we've been talking to hotel workers, those in the tourist industry. i know that the tourist industry as well as the hotels have been talking with supervisor peskin and the mayor's office how we might be able to change many of these hotels into shelter in place for those who need it, for the need of quarantining and how are those buildings and all those places being cleaned by hotel workers and janitors and so on. so this is important aspect. there is a conversation that

will come -- hopefully sooner rather than later -- once there is immunization, that immunization will be free to every american in the united states or any individual living in the united states and there would be a robust paid leave, sick leave package. anyway, i don't know if we'll be able to vote on this at a certain time. i would ask the president to waive the rule, but we wanted to get in on the record so we could have this conversation and push -- we happen to have the luxury of having speaker of the house represent san francisco, so hopefully this package will be talked about. hopefully they'll be expanding it beyond a $1,000 check to every american and increasing it to a point where it's usable, particularly in the bay area. just also wanted to say, i've been monitoring all my colleague's work they've been doing in terms of getting information out. i want to appreciate all the hard work that every one of have done contacting your

constituencies, contacting your providers, getting the information out as quickly as you can. it's helpful, because we're all able to feed off of one another, the mayor and her team, the clerk included. all of us out here doing our job. something i might have missed, maybe supervisor peskin and his team are dealing with, or whoever it might be, but it's been helpful to have the information on social media and the way you're getting it so quickly to constituency. thank you, mr. president, and the rest i submit. >> clerk: president yee? >> president yee: i have two imperative agenda items today. the first is motion to convene in closed session today at 3:00

p.m. to discuss the potential threats to public services and facilities which i discussed previously. this an important meeting given the sensitive nature of emergency we're in. and i want to thank several of you that have brought this up. in particular, supervisor peskin for really putting a lot of meat into the thought of why we should do this and how we're going to do this. the second is demotion to concur with the mayor's supplements due to the proclamation declaring an existence of a local emergency that were issued on march 11, 2020 and march 13, 2020. these include important orders that allow for deadlines to be suspended during the emergency and allows bodies such as the board of supervisors the ability

to attend meetings remotely. these supplements to the emergency order need to be ratified by the board in seven days. as such, i hope we can approve this motion later today. the rest i submit. >> clerk: thank you. supervisor fewer? >> supervisor fewer: thank you. colleagues, today i am introducing a resolution that calls for every san francisco resident to step up and do their part to help stop the spread of the coronavirus and help each other during this crisis. these are unprecedented times and unprecedented times calls for unprecedented actions. according to the "new york times" today, drawing on a scientific report, without action of individuals to suppress new cases, 2.2 million people in the united states could die. we're all needed to step up and

fight this crisis. today, i'm calling on residents, elected officials, and community-based organizations to join forces to unite and protect our communities. this is something everyone can and should do. the treasurer office was in the news discussing her experience in italy during the outbreak. she made a good point. people here have been focusing on the economic impacts of this crisis which is obviously important to all of us, but our top priority at this time must be to contain the virus and preserve human life. i'm introducing a city-wide callout for every san francisco resident to step up. i'm asking for every supervisor's office to take leadership to ensure in their districts there is a streamlined conduit for accurate up-to-date information to reduce calls to 311 and public health. i'm also asking them to

coordinate volunteer efforts in the community to assist with community-based organizations, food delivery, distribution, food preparation, supporting small businesses and checking in on neighbors and friends. i'm asking the department of disability to expedite the volunteer screening process, to get more volunteers to the food and delivery service. i am asking for everyone to do your part. if you're able bodied, help unload groceries and package them. if you have a car, bicycle, scooter, help deliver a meal. if you're homebound, call a friend who is vulnerable to check in with them. or join a phone tree to check in on isolated seniors. if you want to support small businesses in your neighborhood, buy them from online. make a donation to the san francisco food bank.

do something. if you are sick, stay home. if you think you have been exposed, stay home. follow public health mandates. take this seriously. being a san franciscan means something. yes, we are complicated, we are also compassionate. we care and when we need to, we step up. this is our strength and the core of who we are. we can do this. in doing so, we can save lives and show the rest of the country how absolutely fabulous we are. today, i am also introducing a resolution that calls on governor newsom to if have a moratorium on small businesses and follow new york's need by allowing on sale to sell alcohol. this pandemic will have a

listing effect on our economy for years to come. we must do everything we can to help our small businesses stay open during this unprecedented time. especially our corner stores and small grocers who provide crucial access to food and other resources. for hundreds of thousands of residents in the city. a moratorium on fees would provide overdue relief for small businesses struggling to weather this storm. the governor should also take action to temporarily alter state alcohol licensing policy by allowing bars and restaurants with on sale alcohol licenses to sell food and alcohol for o offsale. by allowing our bars to sell alcohol along with food, we can provide immediate substantial lifeline, hopefully preventing closures. to be clear, this policy change would only apply to purchases

that include food as alcohol alone is not an essential service. new york has already taken the step to allow residents to order in from their favorite restaurants, bars, wineries and other establishments. california should follow before it's too late for small businesses. by urging the authority to make this small change to our state alcohol licensing laws, the governor could save treasured institutions across the city and help ensure greater access to food delivery at a time when social distancing is an imperative to public health. finally, colleagues, i want to make a couple of other comments as each and every day we learn more about the ripple effects related to covid-19 crisis in our necessary efforts to spread the illness. today i'm reminding everyone that during this busy time it is also the time to fill out the

united states census. the census happens only once every ten years and it's important everyone fills it out. the remain in place order, all outreach has been suspended, so we're asking people to go online and fill out the census information. it gives us an accurate account about our population. some of the top census funded social services in san francisco are children and education, transportation and infrastructure, and housing. i just completed the census myself after receiving my notification to participate in the census last week. i urge everyone to do the same. it only takes a few minutes and it is online at

finally as budget chair, the economic impacts are likely to be staggering while the mayor and board are looking at ways to support small businesses and families, we'll see a big impact on city revenues. more discussions to the city's economy and the city's budget will progress in the coming weeks, but i just want to note as others have, this city truly needs leadership from the state and federal government to help provide relief. locally, we will need to rethink our approach to the budget process. my office will be working with the budget committee members, departments and mayor's office to discuss possible changes and share updates as soon as possible. thank you. the rest i submit. >> clerk: thank you. supervisor preston? >> supervisor preston: apologizies, i forgot to request to waive the 30-day rule to emergency ordinance as related

to evictions. >> no you did, you said it. >> president yee: before supervisor haney, i'm getting texts from my staff who i usually have to listen to. my staff is pointing out that we are not practicing good social distancing, so i'm going to recommend that the end people stay at their desk for now and the middle person stay in the desk and the other two back up so you're six feet away. so like supervisor mandelman, could you back up a little bit? thank you, i don't want to get in trouble with my staff. >> thank you, president yee. i also just want to acknowledge all of the work that everybody

has been doing and to thank everybody for their leadership at this time for all of you who are here as well as the mayor and her staff. i know everybody is working harder than ever during the time of this crisis and so i want to appreciate everybody. i have a few resolutions i want to speak a couple of other issues that other folks introduced. the first is i'm costate-sponsoring resolution with supervisor mar closing the gaps that exist on paid sick leave and other types of leave that individuals, workers, need to be able to access right now. in these times of great need, we want to make sure that our workers know that we support them and currently california law and san francisco law does not include sufficient provis n provisions for the health crisis

we're facing. we want to change those laws at the federal and state level. business 6 has a high concentration of businesses, hotels, bars, cafes, arts, and like many of you, i've been hearing about the challenges they're facing. supervisor mar and i introduced a resolution that calls for the support of a number of bills that can help to provide needed leave and relief at this time. the first is the family first coronavirus response act, h.r.6201 which was recently passed by the u.s. house of representatives. as written, the bill would amend the family and medical leave act and expand needs related to the coronavirus, but it exempt large employers with 500 or more employees. we're asking that the act be amended to apply to all

companies, including those with 500 or more employees. we call on governor newsom and the california legislature to address gaps in financial support or paid leave for workers ordered to stay home. there is a bill, ab3123 that protects workers from retaliation when they take leave during public health emergencies like the epidemic. they can use their earned sick leave if their place is ordered close, or if the employee is providing care or assistance to their child whose school or child care provider is closed by order. under this proposed bill, if an employee is complying with an order issued by public official, ab3123 states that employer may not discharge or retaliate against that employee. we also want all of the effected

workers to access information, so the resolution calls for oawd to jointly create a multilingual hot line for san francisco workers to access information and rapid enforcement actions to protect the rights and benefits to eliminate language barriers. we know that the health of our residents comes first and in order for folks to be certain they're safe and secure in following the health orders, whether that is any individual resident but especially low wage workers in the heavily impacted service industry, hospitality, tourism, folks who are already having a hard time struggling in one of the most expensive cities in the world, this is especially trying time for them and we have to make sure that our laws reflect the needs of our workers right now. we are also looking at the ways to close the gaps here locally

and our own paid sick leave laws. secondly, i'm introducing a resolution in support of emergency earned income tax credit which would provide a tax relief check between $1,000 and $6,000 to every american who earned less than $65,000 last year. as supervisor safai spoke about, it's critical that we call on federal and state government to step up. the level of need and impact is far beyond what we could provide on our own. there would be more than 200 million american workers who would qualify for the tax relief and we have to prioritize the needs of our workers as events are cancelled, work hours cut and they're laid off. the goal of the earned income tax credit, within three weeks, 200 million americans would

receive tax relief checks followed by monthly payments through the end of 2020. in our city, many that employ working class people will have a significant climb in their consumer base. we have a hotel occupancy rate that has plummeted from 80% to 20% over the course of just one week. the proposal would serve independent contractors and hourly gig workers by providing a refundable tax credit, equal to 100% of family leave wages by employer. i know many of us are concerned about the fact that there are many independent contractors, gig workers, ride-share drivers, who are not going to be able to access the same level of unemployment, don't have access to paid sick leave and other things that can protect them during this time. so across the board earned income tax credit that would come in the form of a check

immediately to families would alleviate the devastating impacts that people are feeling right now. this is one of the things i think the federal government can do to assist us during this time. i want to speak in support of two of the measures that were introduced by me colleagues, supervisors preston and ronen. i know many of us have heard extensively from small businesses in our districts, folks who are having to shut their doors because of the prohibition on certain types of businesses being open. dramatic loss of revenue, fear they have to lay folks off and can't pay their rent so i'm really excited to be cosponsoring the two ordinances, one that would offer this small business loan program for businesses. many folks need urgent injection of cash. this would provide that. and also giving them the same

assurance we've given residents, which is not have the fear of eviction over their head. these are two important things. i've also reached out to sfmta and am going to engage with their board about some of the questions around enforcement and fee enforcement locally. and we'll beutting something forward around that to make sure that during this time we're not putting excessive and unnecessary burdens on our residents because of either tickets or fees that can add up and create unnecessary burdens making it difficult for them to abide by the health measures as well. the rest i submit. >> clerk: supervisor ronen? mr. president. that concludes the introduction of new business. >> president yee: i see there is probably going to be public comment short, so i won't divide it up, because there are items

we need to hear since it's about already past 3:00. i'll take public comment on -- general public comment. go ahead, sir. >> 36,000 people died last year of the flu. 50 have died of the chinese wuhan virus. why isn't somebody saying this? and fewer are believing the democrats, honestly. this is nothing more than a new russian collusion hoax by the democrats. that is exactly what it is. and nobody here is saying anything because you hate trump, you hate america, and that's your goal, okay? that's your goal.

36,000 died of the flu last year. we've had 50 so far. that's how many get hit by lightning. that's how many are eaten by sharks totally every year. having said that, i am asking people to read luke 21 for an hour, nothing but luke 21 for an hour, do mark 13 for an hour, and then matthew 24 for an ohou. thinks the longest discourse that christ gave. it answers two questions. question number one, when is the temple going to be destroyed? and number two, when are you going to return? jesus said this, there will be signs in the sun, moon and stars and upon the earth there will be distress of nations with -- the sea and the waves roaring, men fails them for fear of looking

after those things which are coming upon the earth. two years ago we had a total solar eclipse, think about that, coast to coast. the last time that happened is 1776. it's true 99 years before the one we just had, we had a coast to coast, but that was not only in the water. this was only in the water. this is a sign. and it's still not too late -- [bell ringing] >> president yee: any other speaker? >> president yee: madame clerk, any callers on the line? >> i believe there is one, mr. president. >> president yee: let's make it happen. >> i'm on the phone ready to make public comment at the board

of supervisors. >> please proceed. >> just one moment, i'll start my timer here for my two minutes. and here we go for two minutes. hello, my name is michael. i'm a public advocate for the city. first of all, thank you for taking remote public comment. i ask that you in the future have public comment at a fixed time for every meeting at the start of the meeting, take 15 minutes of public comment so the public knows when to call in to make public comment. that is how berkley and oakland city councils deal with general public comment. my next item is every supervisor i am asking you to hold regular virtual town hall meetings about the coronavirus epidemic. please start using zoom for

regular virtual town halls. my next item is, i'm calling on every member of the board of sups on the d triple c to immediately resign. supervisors, you have one job, protect the city from the coronavirus. supervisors cannot moonlight with a second job. you need to pass a law that prevents supervisors from doing any other job but being a member of the board. finally, i'm asking every district business organization -- [bell ringing] -- to set up senior citizen shopping hours. i'm a senior citizen with aids. i need to know there is a special time in the morning for me and my husband to safely go shopping at stores in the

castro. again, please set up seniors shopping hours in your districts so we can take care of our supplies. thank you very much. [bell ringing] >> president yee: any other public comment? seeing none, the public comment is now closed. >> madame clerk, at this time it's past 3:00, i would like to call item 27 out of order. >> the board convene in closed session to consult with various

department heads, police chief, fire chief, chief of staff, the director of the department of human resources to discuss the potential threats to the security or the public access to public buildings during the local health emergency regarding the novel coronavirus disease, covid-19. >> president yee: we have an imperative item which requires the board to adopt two separate findings by eight votes before unanimously adopting the item itself. let's take the sunshine ordinance finding first. is there a motion that finds this resolution is imperative as to threaten serious injury to the public interest and thus meeting the standards of the sunshine ordinance made by supervisor peskin seconded by supervisor walton. without objection, this finding is accepted.

now, to the brown act finding. is there a motion that finds that the need to take action came to the attention of the board after the agenda was posted and thus, the motion meets a standard of the brown, motion made by supervisor peskin, seconded by supervisor stefani. without objection, this is accepted. we already had public comment on this item or we have general public comment. is there any -- >> mr. president, just caution, please call for public comment on the imperative motion? >> president yee: sure. we'll take public comment on this item. is there any member that wishes to speak on the imperative item. seeing none, then public comment is now closed.

now, on the substance of the imperative motion itself, a roll call vote. madame clerk. >> mandelman aye. mar aye. peskin aye. preston aye. ronen aye. safai aye. stefani aye. walton aye. yee aye. fewer aye. haney aye. there are 11 ayes. >> president yee: okay. then without objection, this motion is approved. so now we will be moving into closed session, so i ask the public to leave the room and --

--. . ... >> president yee: so the public is still welcome i guess. we have another imperative item i forgot. i don't know i guess i'm supposed to do something? madame clerk, call item 25. >> >> clerk: item 25 motion directing the clerk of the board of supervisors to schedule a committee of the whole hearing on march 19, 2020 at 11:00 a.m.

for members of the board of supervisors to convene and departments to report regarding city preparations in response to the covid-19 health emergency. >> president yee: i'm totally confused. this is not on there. i understand there are amendments that would like to be introduced by supervisor ronen. are you ready? >> supervisor ronen: i'd like to amend item 25 to replace march 19 with march 17. >> second.

>> president yee: motion made by supervisor ronen and seconded by supervisor preston. i don't think this is an imperative item. that's why it's so confusing. there has been a motion made and can we take this without objection? then motion passes. >> mr. president, i'm assuming the time doesn't matter, it says 11:00, should i strike the 11:00 a.m. as well. >> supervisor ronen: i'd like to do an additional motion to strike 11:00 a.m. >> president yee: okay. >> as the seconder, basically the thursday meeting is being supplanted by today's meeting. i maintain my second on the second motion. >> president yee: okay. any objection? without objection, the motion carries.

i'm sorry. this is really confusing, so bear with me, folks. i'm supposed to take 3:00 imperative item 27 first, then we come back to the items. got it. all right. colleagues, now i have to ask the public to leave if there is any more public members in here. all right. sheriffs? deputy sheriffs, can you

>> we don't do that in america. >> i know. >> because there's a huge distance between that kind of invasion and the stuff i'm talking about, which is stuff that we can control. we can control muni. we can arguably vote bart. there's a huge difference between monitoring people on their cell phones that we do not do and will not accept in our culture and what you are recommending. can you bringhat together quickly now, sir.

>> i would say the key issue is for us to minimize, to the extent possible, nonessential travel, including locally and we don't have a campaign to do that right now. becausbecause what happens is tt this is so massive, so massive, that a lot of the enforcement happens from the peer pressure and they see what other people are doing. so at this moment, even for this order, we don't have a massive campaign yet to really, really enforce how important it is to not be out. >> as the chief health official of this town, who is not dr. colfax, how are you relaying that to the mayor, to other officials in this town with the urgency that you're expressing to the elected body of san francisco right now? >> that's a great question.

today has been spent mitigating and trying to understand how the order applies or doesn't apply to them. >> you have gone through three steps we should take as a city and what would the three steps be? >> at this moment today, i would not do more than we're doing today until -- because i'm being honest with you. because i think, like i said, this started sunday morning as we started looking at putting everything together and it happened so fast. >> started on january 28th and

santa clara blew up and god bless you and your five colleagues and that precipitated to mayors. and we will probably in a few minutes actually take action to ratify our mayor's order. but what three steps or one step or two steps, how would you step this up if you want to flatten the curve? >> again, ilet's say you won't w transport, we would have to figure out how to support people in place. if people can't get around, how will we support people? we need transportation so essential workers are able to move around. that's one area. the other area that was mentioned earlier and i will tell you what i lose sleep over,

i feel that we may be able to -- this broad measure may able to mitigate infection among the general population who is able to sheltener place, understand the issues, et cetera. and where i start losing sleep is that even if everyone there did a great job, our vulnerabilities are, again, we already know they'll be our condegrecongregate living and wn have an explosion in those populations. so those are areas i believe we need a lot more work in. >> but doctor, isn't our transportation system congregate living? >> it's not congregate living. again, to the extent that people separate in transportation -- i'll just give you an idea, just

because sometimes people don't understand this and this is from experts that study this. is that it's not just the contact -- it's the contact rate, the distance and the duration. so, for example, in the models that have taken the covid, basically one-third or actually let me just put it to you this way. we cut up a pie into six pieces and two of those pieces, two out of six or one-third transmission occurs in the household. because prolonged contact. and that's one of the reasons why congregate living is so critical. we know in sros, you have people living in crowded conditions and multiple families in one room. that's where infection can happen. schools is one-sixth and workplace is one-sixth and the community in general, the

community in large, when you put it together will be two pieces, two out of six or one-third. so it's not -- it really depends on duration. you're absolutely right about transportation. to the extent people are crowded, to the extent people send prolonged periods of time, the risk goes up. but if i hop on bart for a 20-minute ride, that's different than living with somebody and being with them for hours or being in a restaurant where you're not just spending prolonged periods of time but you're doing a lot of exchange. so transportation is a vulnerability, but it's also an essential infrastructure and we'll have to figure out how to tackle that one. >> so doctor, i will stop after this, and i don't want to be argue goargumentive, but you to, it's exploding. it's not an air-borne disease but a droplet disease and if i

touch something and then improve touch my eye or my nose or my mouth, then i can get it. what i'm trying to talk to you about is the recommendations that you would make to the mayor, to this body or, actually, under state law in your absolute authority and weirdly enough and i've never had this conversation with anybody who has the powers that you actually personally have. there are no greater powers that a chief health officer has under state law. you actually don't have to come to us. you don't have to go to the mayor. these powers are actually held by you personally. so what i am asking you is what

steps would you take if you tell jeff tumlin that you have to do this, as a matter of law, he has to do it whenever you issue the order. you are the most important individual person in this town as a health official. so the questions that i'm asking you are not arbitrary. they're not capricious, but they're the most important questions that could be asked in public, in this town, at this time, noting that we're doing much better than santa clara and much better than any other neighboring county. >> so let me tell you what -- i'll try to explain this to you, but i spent a huge amount of time thinking about this. and so this is just a little diagram i drew today. we are -- >> you can put it on the overhead. >> this is a little bit embarrassing.

but we have pulled every lever. we have pulled every lever and one thing i didn't mention of the levers we pulled, what we're doing is beyond mitigation. it's actually called a suppression strategy. we're not just trying to flatten the curve. the idea behind flattening the curve is, from some of the papers estimate up to 80% of the population will become infected, up to 80%. the question is, do you want that 80% to get infected in a short period of time now or do you want it to be flattened out? that's the mitigation strategy, the flatten-the-curve strategy you've been hearing about. what we've embarked on is called a suppression strategy and it's more impressive than the mitigation strategy. that's the fourth one you see here and we're trying to get the reproductive number less than

one. why are we moving in that direction? because there's so much uncertainty. we don't know. there is a role -- we know it's definitely droplet spread, when you're close by, in fine aerosoles and we are assuming that with asymptomatic infection, when you have 100% people of the susceptible, that's like dropping a match and it may be only a few matches, but it's dropping a match on gasoline because everybody is susceptible. we have to learn to do it better and faster. at least with the modeling papers are telling us, for us to be successful, we would have to do this for more than three

weeks, going on into months. so the question that these papers ask is that how do we begin, if we're successful in doing the suppression strategy, how do you take your foot off that accelerator? that means that we would have to have a public health infrastructure that is able to do these other strategies that other countries are doing and doing well because they have an army of people that do contact tracing and quarantine. we havour public health infraste is so small that we don't have enough to do syphilis contact investigation. so we are down to the bare bones in public health infrastructure. these other countries have invested in the public health infrastructure, so they have all of the people to do, all of the contact investigation and case isolation, contact investigation and quarantine in following everybody, because we know that

containment strategy works and we need a modern surveillance system. we would need to do massive testing. we would want to test as many people as we can so that we can identify who's infected so we can isolate them. so those two components, containment and surveillance system is really critical. we don't have that right now. we would need investments of them. >> on that depressing note -- >> hold on, sorry. >> the thing is to realize if you're looking at south korea, singapore, they are countrying that are doing this. so it can be done. it's just that we have to have the will to invest in the public health infrastructure that's required to be able to pull back on a very aggressive strategy until a vaccine becomes

available because that's what we're waiting for and that's not coming for at least a year. >> supervisor safaye? >> so i think you said a lot of what i wanted to ask for. it sounds like from everything, all of the resource and reading i've done, we are taking the most aggressive measures, probably, in the united states. >> as of today, yes. >> so we are taking the most aggressive measures and what i've heard you say is, you need a little bit more time to understand how much suppression is working, and reading also today that the cdc and, also, the federal government is encouraging more private testing to the point where we might have at some point the ability to do thousands of more tests. can you talk a little bit about that? with all due respect, to supervisor peskin, it's important to talk about transportation where that could lead and where we are, but

there's been a conversation about trade-offs and what that could mean in terms of essential employees being able to get to where they need to go that don't necessarily have access to automobiles, right? >> right. >> i think that's something you're weighing, so could you talk about the testing and the trade-offs in terms of allowing the suppression to take time? >> yeah, so testing is going to be, in my mind, will be very, very critical, especially for people that have mild symptoms, because oftentimes -- right now, as you know, as dr. colfax said earlier, our testing is being reserved for people at higher risk and oftentimes we tell people just stay home and recover. we don't know what they have. we want to know what they have. we want our surveillance systems to know -- we want to be able to tell that person who has a mild illness, you don't have covid, don't worry about it, get better, go back to work. but if you do have covid, we

absolutely want you isolated and so this is really critical because that's where a lot of the infections are happening because people have mild illness. they're out and about and contaminating surfaces, infecting people and people don't realize they're becoming infected from somebody because you can't tell when somebody has mild symptoms. one thing we'll be pushing for, our public health surveillance system, we only receive at the health department positive tests. we don't receive all of the negative tests. so, for example, what they did in santa clara, they looked at the negative tests and they found that 11 people showing up with influenza-like illness, 11% of them tested positive. that's a high number. we need to have a surveillance system so we need to make testing reportable by law so i can tell you what proportion of ilis are covid because that

lives us an important idea of what is happening. so testing is critical and what was the other one? it was about essential workers? >> the trade-off in terms of further than what we do. >> that's the other one that we really struggled with, but we know because of unaffordable housing in the city, the vast majority of our workforce lives outside of the city. and so, we need them. we need this army of workers here with us, whether they're cleaning sros or whether they're an epidemiologist. we need them and want them to get here safely and so the public transportation plays that important role. , including police, fire, public safety and all other public workers that have to commute here. >> just based on the orders today in terms of the essential workers, there's more than just police, fire and others that are

deemed essential. >> correct. >> there's a whole bevy of people that are essential workers that need access to public transportation. so what i would say, work wig the sfna, are there things we can do in terms of the drivers or the other workers that are there, kind of informing people as they go in whether it means ensuring people are doing social distancing? are there other things we can do to manage our public transportation system in a more healthy way? >> you're absolutely right and i think the most important thing is going to be social distancing and environmental disinfection and educating everybody when they go in and out of transportation to -- actually, you'll notice that i cleaned the platform before i put my books down. so it's really developing a super awareness. i won't touch that. developing a super awareness of how you can become infected and it has to go, also, into

transportation, as well. >> i guess my point is a little bit more refined in the sense that because of your position and because of your direction and because of the directives that you can give, working with our bart board and with our sfmta, could you give specific instruction -- because we have a lot of essential workers that are still in the city that would be redeployed to help with this and also as a part of this containment strategy as people are getting on and off public transportation. >> yeah. i'm not sure what -- is there a specific intervention you're thinking about? >> giving them the instructions on what to do and having additional people? right now on a muni-bus, you only have the driver, for example. does it make more sense to have an additional person on there to make sure people are doing the appropriate thing? >> anything that adds to the effort, absolutely, and i think that's one of the challenges, is

that, yes, when you sit down and resign -- when you sit down and resign a process, you will discover that, yes, we need more people to do those types of things. i haven't sat down and thought about resigning transportation, but there are people that specialize in just those types of things. there's scientists that are called implementation scientists and their sole mission is understanding the science of behavioral change. how do you understand how people interact to optimize the behaviour change that you want? and there is a team of implementation scientists at ucsf looking at these types of questions. the challenge that we have is that hours matter. and so this is where these things, where even though we have implementation scientists, we'll have them look at, for example, how to help people stay

at home and what are the barriers and unable enablers tot home? how can we use evidence to do that? unfortunately, if we don't work fast enough, it may help us a few months from now but not today. >> besides that, is there something the sfmta and staff can do now, ensuring people aren't sitting next to one another? >> absolutely. right now it's going to be social distancing, disinfection, making hand sanitizers available and all of the real basic things and not asking people to push -- so, for example, i'll give you an example, these doors right here, right, these doors should be open, right? you should at least have one door open so people can walk in and out without touching surfaces. if you have 500 people here, you

have 500 people touching a common surface and you could have infected 500 people with one door. >> isn't that muni? >> that's my point. that's my whole point. up have to really sit down and design the system so that people are minimizing -- supervisor ronan heard my speech, minimizing contact with surfaces and so it's not just my voluntary contact. it's designing the environment so that they don't have to make that decision, right? if a door is open, you don't have to push it. and if you have hundreds of people going through a door and a hundred people are pushing it, that's 100 exposed people. you have to take that mindset. >> i guess that would be my last thing, through the chair. >> but this is a lot of work. everything that i'm describing is a lot of work, including the social distancing, having ads, having all of it resigned so

that you're making it safe for essential workers to come to work. >> thank you. >> so supervisor peskin? >> thank you, president yee. on your example of the door, we walk into city hall and that door is closed and that one is using the same handle for this building. so everyone just echo that and everyone needs to be thinking about their workplace and thinga door or wearing a glove or washing your hands, that's absolutely essential. and i think -- obviously there are things like testing that we, as a body may not have access

to. we made a big step yesterday in having folks shelter in place and probably the single biggest thing we can do is to consistentlily anly get the wor. i will say the mayor and folks who spoke at the press conference yesterday, i think, delivered a very clear and strong message. so i think there is good messages and some of the materials we share do that. and i guess it's partly a comment and partly a question because i'm curious what's in the works on this. but we in this body, i think, are particularly connected to our constituents and have the ability to get the word out in substantial way.

what i don't see happening more broadly in terms really getting the word out around the importance of all of the measures that you're talking about is robo calls, standardized emails coming from every department and every supervisor and frankly, everyone who ever ran for office in this town and whether they won or not, to their lists. and phone trees and phone banks. i mean a lot of the things that many of us did to get elected here in this body are the ability to reach out to thousands of people. doing that, i think -- amber alert on the phones, i don't know if that's an option of getting forced communications to cell phones. we talk about buses and i agree with supervisor safaye of having someone on the bus to walk

through the bus but signage. instead of advertising product, let's put stuff up that's jarring and talks to people about these issues. so i think there's a huge amount we can do and i think it has to happen really quickly and i think the more our offices and certainly my office to invite you to -- if there's a campaign, a real robust campaign, i'm not aware of it. we're trying to do our part and all of us on this board are, but the sooner the better in terms of getting out the word in a more robust way. the laugh thing i want tthe lasa contrast to what some of the other speakers and particularly director roher spoke about, i think your point, if i'm not missing it, even if we do all of that right, even if we ramp up testing and even if folks follow the instructions that the mayor and department of public health

and yourself gave to everyone yesterday, that we run the risk because of congregate living weighingsesituations, that it es again or emerges. and so that's a real disconnect, i think, to when we were hearing about the priorities here. frankly, i think one of the things that seems to be being deprioritized so some extent is -- i mean, we're moving folks one from congregate living situation to another one, maybe a better one, and we don't have a great plan around folks who are unhoused. and so, i wonder if you could just talk about your -- whether there is a disconnect between your view on that and other city leaders or if i may be mischaracterizing or misinterpreting the difference. >> so right now, i don't represent any policy option from

the health department around that, wit but i can tell you -- >> whoa, whoa, whoa, you're not the health department. you're accorded certain powers of state law. you are not the health department. you have certain, specific powers, sir. >> i agree, but i also work for the health department, but let me explain to you from a public health perspective, from a public health perspective, housing first is the way that we think about how things should be. and so we feel that people in terms of dignity, equity and compassion should have access to dignified housing like every other human being and that's the public health ethic and that's the public health approach. i know it actually plays out ind the real world may not be that but that's how any public health practitioner would tell you,

housing first is our goal. and i would say -- and i know that's how the health department operates, just like we also work in the area of harm reduction. and i agree with you, just now speaking from a disease transmission perspective, i become concerned about shelters. i know, for example, with tuberculosis, which is airborne, historically people who are outdoors caught thank you bur s less than those in shelters. and to the extent people are housed in situations that reduces that, that's absolutely better from an infectious disease perspective, yes. >> if i could just follow up, though, on that last point. so what would be -- what is your

recommendation regarding folks right now in congregate living situations? i mean, because what i was hearing earlier is that it is not the top priority to get them to the extent they can be in individual units. i mean, what we're hearing is there may be in excess of available hotel rooms, frankly, or at least many. >> yeah, so i guess there's probably -- i'll tell you what i think the challenge may be and that is, so, for example, let's say you were exposed, ok, and you needed to get housing so that you can be quarantine, it would only last for 14 days. and i think that's part of the challenge, is that these places -- what we're trying do is, we're trying to interrupt

transmission. so it's great that all of these rooms are becoming available because i can just tell you, a few weeks ago, we were having trouble finding one. from our perspective, we need places for especially people who are positive, people who are symptomatic and you would like them to be in their own location with their own bathroom so they're to the infecting anybody and that would be the ideal situation. that's what we want. that's why all of the effort went to that criteria. the problem is it's temporary. if you have limited number, you have to move people in to finish their quarantine in 14, or they recover and have to move out because you need that space for other people who will be going in there. so it's not a permanent solution. >> but there's a policy.

it's only -- >> i'm telling you from an infectious disease perspective. >> but it's only a limited number because we allow it to be, either because we're not recruiting more units at a certain point or not exercising our city power or asking the governor to exercise his power to commandeer units. there's no lack of vacant units in the city and county of san francisco right now to house -- now, there are issues around some individual's fitness to live without supervision in separate units, but there's a heck of a coldfront of folks who could live in a unit like that. >> you're right. >> and my frustration in hearing that we could do everything right and it's that congregate living environment and folks who are homeless, where you still wouldn't be able to control future virus spread. it seems like that should be a top priority right now and i'm

not laying this on you. >> right. >> if your recommendation is that if those units are obtainable, right -- >> from a disease transmission perspective, you're absolutely are right. and i can just tell you, a few days ago, no one -- like, when we first embarked at looking for rooms, you know, the hotel occupancies were 90% and nobody would talk to us and weren't return or phone call. we're iright now we're in a dift situation where we have a lot more available to us because occupancy rates are a lot lower and now businesses are willing to work with us and so you're absolutely right. from my perspective -- so i think we're moving into a world that didn't exist even a few days ago. so i think that's important. >> thank you. i just want to, in conclusion, say that i think that we --

fortunately the number of the units is increasing and i appreciate the folks stepping you and making units available. the units are out there and hopefully folks will come forward voluntarily and if not, we need to figure out how to take those units and every hour and day matters in terms of disease transmission. so thank you so much for your work. >> supervisor hainey. i know you have a huge amount of influence of what we do from a health perspective and i think what supervisor peskin was leaning into, we need you to intervene more than you are, i think, in this question of what is happening with the thousands of people on our streets and thousands of folks who are in and in our shelters. earlier tonight, and this is the disconnect that supervisor peskin is pointing out, director

roher stood up there and i said will we get people to hotels? he said that's not the priority because the public health's position is that people should be in congregate settings and people homeless, it's to get them in congregate settings which seems to me, from your perspective, not what the department of public health's perspective is and whoever we have to get clarity here, is that for people who are currently homeless and even not yet tested or quarantined or whatever it is, that the best place for them is a room for themselves. and so, for the director of hsa to stand up there to say the director of public health's position is to put people in congregate settings -- >> let me explain how that might have happened. first of all, i completely agree with you. everything that you're saying is from a disease transmission perspective, having your own

room is the best, absolutely. i completely agree with you. i think probably what happened is that this order here was put together in a matter of hours with counci counsel from six dit counties. to show you what they put here for homeless, if you can see it right here, so it says individuals experiencing homelessness are exempt from this section but strongly urged to obtain shelter and governmental and other entities are urged to make such shelter available as soon as possible and to the maximum extent practical. so there's nothing in this order that prevents us from doing more and i think maybe this may have been interpreted because it is a help officer order but it was

crafted to be consistent across counties and that may be where some of that interpretation comes from. >> i know we're going on and to wrap this up, i'm concerned that it seems to me, hsa resident for securing these placements believes it the position of the department of public health or the health officer that you would prefer that people are in congregate settings rather than hotel rooms. that is what he suggested there. and second to that, the situation right now with people who are in shelters and navigation shelters, they're sharing rooms and, as you know, in santa clara, there was the first death and the individual was somebody unhoused. it doesn't mean they're more likely to get it but more vulnerable, so the situation in the city right now, from a public health perspective, to make it clear to the policy makers and administrators who

are dealing with the shelterings and the policies around housing is really important that you all get on the same page. because not only did he say that something that seemed to be the wrong thing here but they're doing it because that's what you told them to do and it sounds to me like you believe the opposite of that. >> yes, i completely concur with everything that you're saying. they may have misinterpreted this or took it verbatim, but i absolutely agree with you, that what you want is what i want. and i will make sure that gets communicated clearly and that everyone here -- and that's what i said earlier, that even if all of these other things work, that's why i worry so much about the congregate living and homeless, is because we know that they're at increased risk because of their living conditions. to the extent we make that better and they have the same

dignity, equity and ca compassi, that's how we should do it. >> supervisor furer. fewer. >> there isn't a campaign but it's our job as supervisors in our district to do the campaign and to get the word out and publisize it ourselves, quite frankly. i want to mention we what heard from hsa, there was a lack of workers or a shortage of workers to work and actually to supervise some of the -- if we were to put people in hotel rooms, we heard there were 19,000 people in sros and 10,000 unhoused folks and that would be 29,000 people. in these hotels rooms we're putting people in, we have to remember that many have been chronically homeless for a long time and have not lived in this type of a setting. so the support system for this, it is about, also, coming with a

mandate around housing, getting our unhoused population into housing should also come with a mandate about workers and increasing the wor workforce for this. what we've heard, there's a shortage of workers and why we can't do some of this is because we don't have the workers to work in so many facilities. so i think that with the mandate comes, also, another mandate about a worker shortage. thanks. >> supervisor ronen. i'm the last on the roster, doctor, so thank you so much. i just am such a fan of yours and really admire all of your work and appreciate you're here and answering all of these questions after everything you're doing. so i'm trying to understand now the extent of your power. so could you issue an order that requires all homeless

individuals in san francisco to be housed in individual units? >> so it is true that the powers are broad. however, it's really under the construct of this local health emergency that you have to approve and extend for every 30 days.

-- the incentives to employers. but it looks like only 20% of the funding is supposed to go to small businesses. so that means 80% of the $10 million go to large businesses. so i'm wondering what the thinking is around that? that seems out of line with what i think that most of the proposals have been around expanded paid leave which has been two weeks of paid leave. that would be a mandate on employers with financial support targeted -- targeting small

businesses and medium-sized businesses and not the large businesses. >> first let me say, supervisor, that this is designed to be a very nimble program so we're responding in real-time. it's also focused on the individual -- excuse me -- focused on the individual, the low-wage worker as well in addition to small businesses. so we may -- once we see where the application levels are coming in and an understanding from a further perspective for those small businesses operating and who can provide paid sick leave, where the pressure points are for them. so this is not a set in stone program. and we will look at who is actually coming forward. and one of the reasons that we designed it this way in terms of a minimum wage component here was so that when there are opportunities to support low-wage workers that the nexus between the minimum wage worker and the support that is provided for them and a nexus between them and what their actual hourly wage is, that there's an incentive for them to come forward.

and it would skew towards supporting low-wage workers. again, it's not static. it's meant to be a nimble program. and we'll assess it as it continues. and there are large employers who do have part-time employees and lower wage employees and we'll look at those granulely as those application comes in to see what support can be provided to them as well. >> and so thanks for that explanation. yeah, i look forward to seeing how the actual uptick and participation of the program looks like. but did you -- did you consider structuring it more as a direct mandate on employers and expanded paid leave -- which is what i think is called for. and even the current democratic leadership, you know, in congress have proposed with financial support for small and mid-sized businesses to comply? >> not at this time. i think that also because of the economic pressures that employers are facing across the

board right now, the pressures that those individual employers would be facing in any situation, especially, i mean, in this particular situation, is important to pay attention to. so we will be seeing again and assessing how the applications come in and the various conversations with employers. but i do encourage, please, more of these questions and if you're hearing that this program is not working in a way that you think is best to serve those vulnerable members who are looking, again, to ensure they have similar leave and employers have the opportunity to say to their employees if they're not feeling well as their work is continuing, that they have an area where they can provide relief. >> great, thank you. and i just had a question around the small business support. >> yes. >> and i had a meeting with about a dozen sunset district businesses earlier today and, you know, i heard directly from them about the challenges that they're facing.

i think that they made it pretty clear to me that while some of the programs that have been set up like the deferral of taxes and license fees and the different types of loan programs that are being made available are certainly helpful, what's really needed is direct financial assistance right now. otherwise, you know, a lot of them and many businesses in the city are really going to go under in the next -- in the coming weeks really. >> that's right. so . >> so i think that the small business resilience fund is what is really needed. and it's great that it started up like you said even in the short time that it's been set up. and we've already gotten three times more applications for it than we have funding for. and even just based o on going f the figure that you said there's a projected 11,000 businesses that are impacted right now in the city. and that was before the -- you

know, the recent escalated actions. and if you're looking at $10,000 of support to those 11,000 businesses that comes out to $110 million. so i guess that my question is what is the plan to really have the resources that are necessary to provide that direct support to small businesses that are really under threat of going under right now in our city? >> that's a conversation that we're having from an economic perspective with the treasurer and tax collector and the budget office and the budget director where we'll draw from as a city and also as a community in terms of what the business community can provide as well. and the resources that they can bring to bear to support the small business community as we consider all of the priorities in the city. obviously, very much so as you have seen me do consistently, advocating for the needs of the small business community and i

will continue to do so to make sure in policy conversations that the weight of the pressures that these business owners are experiencing are present in the room when we're having these policy conversations. thank you. >> thank you. >> two more, supervisor haney and -- >> all right, i'll be quick. first you are doing a great job and i know that you have a lot coming at you and you have a small team and impressed by the work that you're doing. so thank you. >> thank you. >> we just saw the governor put out something today where he thinks that the schools are going to be closed in california through the summer. so the amount of time that we were thinking in terms of people needing to figure out how they're going to take care of their kids, potentially it's extended a lot longer. one of the things that i think that would be helpful for us to do, and maybe it comes from the state or not, is to provide clear guidance to families and parents about how they should approach applying for benefits,

what rights they have to assert at the workplace, you know, all of those things that really hasn't been out there. i know this is the first week of it, but to a degree that if there's something that you could prepare that with the school district that is specifically for parents or caregivers to be provided for them, that is something that is their rights to prepare and what their rights are and what benefits they can claim. and the other quick things, and for people continuing to work like people who work at grocery stores and walgreens and things like that, and that may be and putting their own health at risk, have we thought as a city that we're thinking about this for our non-profit workers but and with emergency powers to make sure they're still on the

frontlines and going into work, particularly if -- it's okay if you haven't thought about those things. >> if i may supervisor, yes, it is something that we have thought about and some of the questions that we have, i have been encouraged by the businesses that i have been visiting in terms of the direction that they're providing, not only to their staff it seems, again, it seems that in addition to members of the public who come in to have directions about social distancing as people are entering a place of business and certainly we have seen that in some neighborhood grocery stores as well in terms of the amount of people that they're letting in and larger grocery stores as well as with the number of people they're allowing in to make sure that there's a ability to practice the distancing here and asking people from a public health perspective to take the best practices very deeply to

heart and also to follow the intent of the order themselves. and there's more to do there. and as it relates, absolutely, i think that it's essential in our communications with the next step and, again, thinking about taking a few steps back now that you have the governor of california telling us that -- on how we plan for that to make sure that we have the right investment, strategies and plans in place to help people -- to help people through this. >> and just last thing, again, just something that you might look into, i know that we're not really at a place yet -- and we will get into this place of thinking how to get people back into the workforce, particularly as we hear that maybe unemployment is going to go up and sooner than later you might have some companies that are in certain categories and such who actually are going to be interested in hiring at this time or having people work remotely or there's some

opportunities that may be coming in later, but i'm just wondering about all of the people who are just, you know, we'r were workig somewhere and they're out and they'd like to be working right now or at least in the near future. >> that's a conversation, again, that is one of the pillars of our next steps as we think about immediate steps and short-term mitigation measures that you want to put in place. and that we have already put in place. what are the longer term recovery actions that we need to think about and we have begun to have some of those conversations and thinking about the best and the appropriate structure should look like for doing so. what the engagement is from other partners, not only within the city and with the city proper but from our university system to make sure that we're drawing on the best practices and the thoughts that people have regionallily and even nationally on how to do this work. so absolutely. >> again, thank you, i appreciate you and i'm grateful that you're in this role at this challenging time. >> thank you very much, supervisor. >> supervisor mandelman?

>> yep, thank you director for all of your work and your accessibility and availability and a lot of people in city government right now you're confronted with the needs that far exceed your and our collective capacity and it's heartbreaking and hard and you're continuing on to try to address them and so thank you for that. >> thank you. >> i think that supervisor haney raises an interesting point and there are many industries and occupations, including in city government that have been really been hurting for applicants in the last, you know, year, months, years and so there may be opportunities going forward to connect people up with opportunities that are, you know, like safeway posting 2,000 new positions where they're hiring and there was more that i was talking to a business that is open in my district, and, you know, a food serving business that is, you know, has a lot -- still is hiring. so i think that there are jobs out there. some of what we may be able to

do is to connect people with jobs. i also just wanted to -- since we had a conversation about grocery stores to brag on a grocery store in my district, canyon market, which i just heard that is opening up 7:00 to 8:00 in the morning for seniors to do their shopping. and so good on you, canyon market. and then we've also been in conversation in the last 24 hours with safeway and whole foods, i think that they are similarly doing -- making arrangements for senior-only hours to allow folks who are having to shelter in place but maybe are in a vulnerable group to get their shopping done. so my hope is that by the time that we vote on our resolution that there will be a thank you to all of these good actors in the grocery industry who have stepped forward in the next week to create these opportunities for people who are potentially health compromised to get their -- to get their food. >> that's right. thank you.

>> thank you. and i just want to echo supervisor haney's complements tcompcomp liments toyou. a quick question about sick leave. can you explain how workers would access it and given how many workers are most likely going to be laid off, do we expect that there's a major portion of the workforce left that will be eligible for this sick leave program? >> well, as you can see, i don't have the full data numbers but i can bring those to you in a later time just in terms of the essential services. i think that is a great focus right now, especially as supervisor haney was saying with the populations of the businesses that will provide these essential services and the jobs that they're creating. again, you wanted to have an opportunity so that employers are saying that i want to keep you on and you're not feeling well and you should not be coming in and i have a resource for you and that's why there's

the importance of what the numbers of paid sick time that an individual business has for their employee and drawing down on the federal government's program for those 80 hours and see how that looks like and how that applies to our folks. and the next step of having 40 hours available for individuals should the employer pay for those employees within those essential services. that is one of the next steps as we take a very short breath to look at what we have been rushing to put together that is beneficial for folks and what to do to invest in those areas. >> so someone wanted to take advantage of this today, how would they do it? >> so, for example, let's say that there's -- well, a barbershop is closed. there's a employer who is doing

the federal program. and the next step is that as we receive applications that i don't believe that we have yet or questions about the paid sick leave question as of yet, and is that those employers are reaching out to say that i'm interested in the program because it would be a reimbursement of the payment that the employer made to the employee and this is a partnership between our office and h.s.a. and olsc, and the office of labor standards and enforcement. and, again, we're building up this application so that we have it ready for folks so you can see it and, again, any guidance or thoughts, and we are really pushing hard ahead here so any kind of considerations that you have about this are welcome as well. >> great. and just the last question,

before i let you go -- could my office and maybe -- i don't want to volunteer supervisor mar but i know this is something that we have both been working on closely and any other sup office that wants to join -- to join you in creating an official work group around non-traditional workers, independent contractors and immigrant workers, the workers not eligible for unemployment insurance so that we can collectively brainstorm how we're going to assist them through this period? i know that many organizations from the community would like to have a place to do that strategy and to give their input and their expertise. >> we have begun to hear from some constituents in your district specifically. it was almost like it just happened after i had asked the staff to check in with the program to find out what they're hearing from folks as well. how they're faring right now. and then almost immediately after we heard from the economic

development agencies in your district who reached out to find out where there's opportunities to have these conversations. and the same from chinatown and my conversations with the new director malcolm young and i'm having those conversation as well. >> we would love to be at the table with you and to be brainstorming that. thank you. >> thank you all. >> thank you. >> supervisor ronen, what would you like to do -- continue or -- keep on talking -- because everybody -- >> i know that everyone -- >> everyone is not present. >> first of all, thank you so much to all of my colleagues. i think that this is really important to be able to have this open session and to discuss it. and it looks like matt is ready to jump and to get out of here. but i wanted to just have a moment longer if you would

indulge me to have a discussion amongst ourselves about what, if anything, that your office is working on. so that we can make sure that we're not duplicating efforts. you're saying no. and that we're working together as opposed to both working on the same thing. i mean that everybody's time is so limited and important right now and i feel like we should be working more collaboratively than we ever have before. so i, you know, just gave away aside from the legislation that i introduced to help small businesses, i really want to be looking at and concentrating and working around independent contractors and immigrant workers and basically the workforces that are left out of the state and federal programs. so that's something that i'm going to be focusing in on. if anybody else wants to chime in with areas that they're looking at, that they're trying to specialize, so that we know who to call and start working

together with, i'd love to hear from any of you who want to share what it is that you're focusing on at the moment. >> quickly from me -- a lot of things as i have mentioned about the child care thing and it went directly and then have them fix it. and i would be -- i think that several people mentioned seniors and for me i'm not working on any specific thing, but it's my interest, and once i get from te field itself what is not working, that's when i'd come up with solutions. so, again, you know, i'm interested in working on that and nothing specific but if anybody else is interested we could put our head together and come up with solutions. supervisor mar? >> yeah, so, again, i have been

working on some of the worker impacts issues, in particular the independent contractors and the gig workers and also with supervisor haney. and then also the expanded paid leave. we're seeing if there's gaps -- some gap that we still need to fill here locally that will be not covered by the state and federal legislation moving forward. >> thank you. yeah, a couple things. i've been working with supervisor mar on gig workers and ride-share drivers and folks who are kind of in that space, and so it sounds like there's an overlap for us to work together there around the expanded leave as well. and then also homelessness and folks who are in supportive housing, shelters and navigation centers and spending a lot of

time thinking about that and how to get people off the street and into shelter or into a housing. and also bathrooms and hygiene at the time when we have so many people still on the streets and how do we get them access to more bathrooms and wash stations and things that really ensure as much cleanliness as possible. i mentioned it earlier that i'm thinking a bit about folks who are continuing to work right now. so if you're working at a grocery store, kind of how we are dealing with some of the labor issues there. and then as many of you are thinking also about schools and families a bit, i have some particular populations that are having challenges right now. so treasure island in particular is very isolated and so we're working together to try to make sure that they have access to food and addressing food insecurity and some of the different areas of my district.

>> i think that we can fulfill a useful function for our constituents in getting information out as quickly as we can and so i have my legislative aides that are doing a lot of responding to emails from people who have questions and doing -- trying to do as much social media as we can and put out newsletters as appropriate. i am trying to figure out, you know, i that it will be hard going forward -- the right balance between pressing on things that i think are important and not making a system which is super stressed right now even more stressful for all of those who are participating in it. and so i -- you know, i -- yesterday i found out that like i think that a lot of us did that the order that went out on sheltering in place for a moment -- well, the guidance went out that they would have to close and i felt that it was worth some intervention. and i did intervene.

but as i think that a number of us did and we got a better outcome out of it today. but i also feel like in terms of legislation or pushing on ideas, i'm somewhat trying to restrain myself in recognition of the limited capacity of our city attorney and also the fact if i try to talk about public health with anybody in the public health department i'm taking them away from, you know, the things they really must address. so i think that is not to say that we don't weigh in. i think that supervisor peskin recognized a couple weeks ago the need to start planning for people on s.r.o.s and had an impact in the city planning for that and i think that it was necessary but i also think that we also need to be a bit aware of kind of that balance. and then i think that, lastly, as a member of the budget committee that i think we are heading into a budgetary situation that is worse than maybe supervisor peskin thought in the great recession.

but i don't think -- i'm not sure that anybody else -- some of the legends saw it, i guess, but i think that it's going to be worse. i think it's going to be amazingly awful and we're going to behaving conversations about how do we prioritize the things that we absolutely have to be, you know, for the most vulnerable and the most dependent on public services, and i think that those are the hard conversations that i think we're going to be having when we are -- as we emerge, when we emerge from the public health crisis aspect of this. or maybe in tandem with it. so i am, you know, i think that is going to be a set of very unpleasant conversations that i don't look forward to. >> supervisor peskin. >> thank you, mr. president. to you and your office and to the city attorney, albeit we've had a few unpleasant interactions in recent time, thank you for the closed session

and the open session and thank you to all of my colleagues for having what i think is a very, very important dialogue in the biggest crisis that any of us will face. and thank you to the department heads and the representatives of the mayor's office who participated over the last many hours. yeah, we have a financial crisis. and, yes, we don't print money and our money will ultimately be limited. but i totally concur with all of you and all of us and i think that we are first responders in a certain sort of way. but most of our people who actually have access to the internet, most of our people who are english speaking people of certain means, will be able to

garner this information. our actual jobs, individually and collectively, as supervisors, and as a city, is to communicate with those people who are the hardest people to communicate with over social media, and over the internet, and over email and we're going to have to do that door-by-door, hand-by-hand at six feet apart. and those are the people that we actually have to help save. so i think that is actually as we stratify what we're doing within our offices, i can blast out the same stuff that all 10 of you can blast out and we're all doing a great job at that, but we've got to actually go find our folks in chinatown, our folks in the valley and our folks on irving street and our folks on clement street.

that is actually what we all have to do right now. and i love all you guys and this is a pretty weird situation. >> supervisor? >> thank you, president yee. just the same in terms of the work that we'll all do together. of course i'm going to be supporting our protections and making sure that our small businesses are whole and looking at basic income resources for the undocumented populations and for low-income families that don't typically receive a certain level of resources, so they can be sustained through this crisis that we have in front of us right now. those are the things that we'll see from my office and we'll continue to have conversations about that. >> supervisor safai? >> thank you. so many of the things that you are all doing in terms of dealing with your constituents, i think that there's a lot of overlap.

i know that we talked a little bit about the simple things but also simple in the sense that it sounds simple to talk about but difficult to implement which is getting groceries to seniors or vulnerable populations that are asked to stay in their house. so thinking about that. and a lot that i have responded to is around organized labor and working with organized labor in all capacities, whether it's nurses or ensuring that we did in terms of hiring, whether it's construction workers and how they'll be impacted by the shutdowdown, which construction workers are working on projects that are essential or not essential. and we had conversations about housing construction in general. and the building department is shut down right now. so whether there is an effective order to stop all construction, if there's no inspectors in the field, there is no construction happening. although been in good communication with our city

administrator and they're working on plans on how to adjust that to ensure that the right people are there and right orders are there. so she and i have communicated a few times today. and the planning department as well. but housing will be prioritized in all forms. whether it's one unit, up to, you know, 250, but they want to keep that going. including those in the pipeline. and how that affects people that are in the business of building. also talking with the teamsters and in understanding how the orders impact their daily lives in terms of garbage collection and what times of day. and there's conversations about when that will happen. so you should be prepared. i'm sure that saw? some information that went out that the routes would start earlier than they have in general. and some of the -- so essentially -- you know, and today now talking about the bus drivers and those that are doing

that work and ensuring that they're safe and the buses are clean and things all around organized labor and many of the things that other supervisors have talked about -- immigrants, and seniors and child care providers. and those that are the most vulnerable. so to supervisor peskin's point, to look at how the staff and myself can help to support those in need in our district. thank you. >> supervisor stefan. >> thank you, president yee. i'm definitely focused on messaging everything that we can in a way that is coherent and cohesive and everything from the mayor's office. but i am paying particular attention and acknowledging that this is a particularly difficult time for those that suffer from anxiety, depression and addiction. and i want to make sure that i

am communicating resources to those who do suffer from all of this because this is a time where it's anxiety producing for anybody. and if you suffer from depression, it's really hard to look forward into the future and wonder when this is going to stop. and addiction, i have to tell you that knowing people that rely on meetings for their sobriety and those meetings aren't there and making sure that i can connect people to resources. we have the mental health hotline which is 855-845-7415 and we have the suicide 415-781-0500. and, of course, we're in a shelter in place situation and not everyone has a home that is

easy to be in. and if you are co-quarantined with an abuser and worried about having to self-isolate in a dangerous home situation, i want to make sure that people know about the national domestic hotline at 800-799-7233. and, finally, again, with regard to addiction and alcohol and drug addiction, just making sure that people know that there's free help out there with alcohols anonymous and narcotics anonymous and online meetings at weconnectrecovery.com and there are people that can help. you're not alone. there's no shame in needing help for all of these things. it is okay to be anxious. it is okay to be depressed. and certainly it's okay to have an addiction that you're trying to recover from. so i just want to know -- people to know that i'm really trying hard to reach out and to connect people to services. we have empty beds right now in our health department that can

connect people to recovery programs. we have many empty beds. and i am working with people to make sure that i can reach out to communities and to get those beds filled. and, finally, something that i'm doing with my kids is that we're focusing in on acts of kindness. and we said the other day that this is very contagious, but kindness is also contagious. and acknowledging all of the people in my district that are reaching out and helping people and engaging in acts of kindness because we don't have time to be mean to one another. we don't have time to be testy with one another. this is a time when we must be kind and i am glad that my children and i are really making sure that we make an effort to every night to talk about where we are seeing acts of kindness. and i have to say one more thing, gigi and i watched the mr. rogers movie last night and there's that thing, what does he say to kids -- when you're in a

situation like this, you look for the helpers. and we're looking for the helpers. and i am so happy to be on this board where i know that all of you, all of my colleagues who, like i love, and maybe you don't all love me, but i do -- and i really -- we're in this together. and we're all helpers. and really i'm glad that we have had these hearings. i think that all of us are in public service because we love it and all of the department heads that we saw today we want to help. and i will be focusing on this. so thank you supervisor ronen. >> supervisor peskin? >> thank you, president yee. and thank you to president yee and supervisor ronen and supervisor peskin for calling for these and leading these discussions today. i think that it's really important. and i think that as a new supervisor i'll tell you that one of the most wonderful things

is the brown act and one of the most frustrating things in our state is the brown act and to casually have conversations with so many important things that we all need to collectively discuss. so i appreciate this forum for us to get some of those conversations going outside of one-on-one or small group meetings. i want to echo and really appreciate a couple comments that supervisor stefani just made with acts of kindness around this time and folks suffering from mental health issues and anxiety and depression. i think that it's hard enough for folks who are not suffering from mental health issues to process all that's going on, and it's that much harder for folks who are, and so i appreciate you listing those resources and acknowledging folks who are really struggling in this time. so i don't think that it is --

you know, i don't think that it's a secret that certainly the housing first model that dr. argon talked about resonates very much with me. i mean, right now it's health care and health care workers. and in housing. and in homelessness issues that i'm primarily focused on with incredible amounts of overlap between those. some of it we have already been moving on and i'm committed to making sure that we have no evictions during this time at all and that we're moving folks from homelessness into vacant units around the city. also working on a number of issues around small businesses that we have talked about, both in terms of eviction protection and in terms of the fund that supervisor ronen has been leading on. and i also am looking at and look forward to collaborating with folks on the broar