hour. it was, like, the scariest thing i'd ever done, and i think it was when i got hooked >> and welcome to the regular hearing for thursday, april 30th, 2020. before i begin, as has been the case for our remote hearings, i'd like to enter the following announcement into the record that on february 25th, 2020, the mayor declared a local state of emergency related to covid-19. furthermore, the mayor and governor have suspended -- suspending select laws applicable to commissions and making it possible to hold commission hearings remotely. and on april 3rd, there was

authorization from the mayor's office to reconvene remotely through the end of the shelter-in-place. recognizing that the commission's consideration of certain projects is an essential government operation. and it directs the commission to prioritize the action items pertaining to infrastructure and housing and small business. and i will also in advance remind members of the public, staff, and the commission that this platform is not perfect and that at times becomes clumsy. we have learned that at&t's bridge conference is finicky. so in advance we do request your patience. there are built in delays in broadcast from the live events to sfgov-tv and the audio feed into the live events. so enable the public

participation sfgov-tv is broadcasting and streaming this hearing live and we will receive public comment for each item on today's agenda. sfgov-tv is broadcasting and streaming the toll-free phone-in number across the bottom of the screen. comments and opportunities to speak during the public comment period are available via phone by calling 888-273-3658. and entering the access code 3107452. pressing pound. and pound again. and when we request public comment, you will be directed to press 1, and then 0, to enter into the queue. you will be lined up in the order that you press 1 and 0. all right? when you're allotted time reaches 30 seconds remaining you will hear a chime and then at

the end of your time i will direct staff to move to the next speaker. all right? i'd like to take roll at this time. commission president koppel. commission vice president moore. >> present. >> clerk: commissioner diamond. >> here. >> clerk: commissioner fung. >> here. >> clerk: commissioner imperial. >> here. >> clerk: and commissioner johnson. >> here. >> clerk: thank you, commissioners. first on your agenda is items proposed for continuous. case number 2015-010401047d.r.p, discretionary review for continuousance conti conuance. the project and hub, housing sustainability districts and to

make the case. and item 3 for continuous to make 142020. and items 4a and b for 2015 2015-000940g.p.a. and p.c.a.-01, for the market activity and plan amendment adoption of the general plan amendments and planning code amendments are proposed for continuance. excuse me, items 4c and d and e for case number 2015 2015-000940map-002, and for the market octavia amendments, zoning map planning code business intact code regulation and implementation program are all proposed for continuance.

and item 5, the certification of the impact report is proposed for continuance to may 14, 2020. and items 6, for standard environmental requirements, code amendments and are proposed for continuance to may 21, 2020. and items 7a and b, the commercial use operation and variance are proposed for continuous to june 11, 2020. and item 8, case 2018-001031 2018-001031-3219 for missouri street discretionary review. and it's proposed for continuance to june 11, 2020. and item 9, at 17 178e e-cliff

item. and item 10, case 2018 2018-0001088cua-4211, conditional use authorization for continuance to june 18, 2020. and item 11 -- >> president koppel: (indiscernible). >> clerk: yeah. on the phone line if you can mute your telephones we would certainly appreciate that. >> clerk: item 11, at 1926 on madero street. and case 12, at 3754 pacific avenue for continuance to june 23rd, 2020, and item 13 will hazardous procedures informational presentation is

proposed to continuance to jewel 23, 2020. and items 14 case 2020-00103... 24th street, conditional use authorization is proposed for indefinite continuance. further, commissioners, under your consent calendar we did receive requests from the office for items 16a and b, case numbers 2018-01065cua at 55 commission street for the conditional use and variance and that is proposed for continuance i forget now to june 11, 2020. i have no other items proposed for continuance.

why don't we go ahead and open up the q. and a. session. and members of the public if you wish to speak to any of these continuances, only on the matter of continuance this would be your opportunity to press 1 and 0 to get into the queue. jen, is anyone on the line wishing to submit testimony regarding the matters on the continuance calendar? you may be needed.

>> i can hear you but for some reason i was miewtded but i was unable to unmute. >> clerk: you're unmuted now. >> can you hear us? >> clerk: okay, she seems to be able to hear on the audio. >> okay, i'll try to take that first call.

>> clerk: how many callers do we have? >> we have eight. you didn't hear that? >> clerk: no. >> okay. we're going to have to rebridge again. >> clerk: all right, my apologies. as stated this is still a bit of a clumsy platform. we will break for five minutes and then reconvene when the at&t bridge has been reestablished. >> jonas, i think that i got it. >> clerk: you got it? >> yeah, let's see again. caller, can you -- [no audio]

>> we'll need to rebridge. >> clerk: okay. we'll take a -- so if everybody could just hold on and if the callers can re-call in me see. >> clerk: okay. so, again, my apologies, but if any member of the public wishes to submit your testimony to the items proposed for continuance, this would be your opportunity to call the 88-273--- >> (indiscernible). >> clerk: enter the access code and press pound and then

pound again. and then 1, 0, to enter into the queue. i will provide you with a couple minutes to call back in and then when you see a number of speakers or callers online, go to the question and answer mode, please. >> your conference is now in question and answer mode. to summon each question press 1, and then 0. you have five questions remaining. >> good afternoon, commissioners, corey smith on behalf of the coalition. are we doing comments on continuance right now or still waiting? >> clerk: we are taking comment on the matters proposed for continuance.

>> fantastic, thank you, jonas. good afternoon, commissioners. corey smith on behalf of s.f., and speaking of the hub area plan, i understand that it is getting continued today but i just really wanted to emphasize after four years of conversations with the community that all of these things do have a clock. and we don't want to miss out upon all of the tremendous benefits associated with this plan, and so looking forward to continuing to move the process forward on may 14th. thank you. >> you have five questions remaining. >> good afternoon, commissioners. audrey rail, and the san francisco coalition. i'm calling in support of the item number 10 for 4211 26th street to be continued to

june 18th. this item was not noticed properly because, a, it was in a notice, it referenced the item to be a single family home. and also they were missing plans on the existing structure, two-unit structure, that is sitting on the site currently. so we appreciate the item got continued and we look forward to the hearing on june 18th. so, please, accept our continuance for this item. thank you. >> you have four questions remaining. >> hi, this is jeremy shaw with shaw architects calling in about our item number 16 for 5500 mission street. we've been in talks with the

supervisor and his staff and we've agreed to continue until june 11th to make sure that we're following best practices in terms of how we can provide more homes for elderly. thanks. >> you have four questions remaining. >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is sarah ogilvie and i'm calling in enthusiastic support of a continuance for the hub project to may 14th and i'm really, really excited to see the opportunities for more homes to be in progress and planned for there and i would really, really hope that you understand that the community's need for housing is great and that this opportunity to move forward should be expeditious. and i'm just very thrilled to

watch everybody engage and to take action on that project. it's really delightful. and i'm thrilled and i know that i speak on behalf of many other members of the community who are very excited. and also i want to commend the commission for extraordinary work on making remote public possibility. really appreciate it. thank you. >> you have two questions remaining. >> good afternoon, commissioner. ryan patterson. calling in regarding item 12, for 3074 pacific. our office represents the requester and we understand the public sponsor has requested an accelerated hearing. we support staff currently proposed date of june 25th,

and while we understand the desire for an earlier hearing, there are a lot of projects with long-standing applications that are all being pushed back to june. including some of mine. other neighbors i understand have also emailed you to support staff, the continuance to june 25. shelter-in-place we understand is extended to may 31 which makes it impossible for my client to come and to participate in person which he'd like to do. as well as other neighbors. we're hopeful that also that the staff will have continuance and sufficient time to reach an amicable resolution. and i represent the project sponsor on items 7a and b, 552 and 554 hill street. we are having continuance to june 11th. again, we understand the need for this for all of these projects. thank you very much for your time. >> you have one question

remaining. >> good afternoon. sarah hoffman, i'm an attorney for item 1, 804 22nd street. we would like it to be continued to may 21st. we currently are having discussions with the project sponsor involving this matter and i believe that a little more time will be beneficial there. thank you very much. >> you have zero questions remaining. >> clerk: okay, commissioners. again, my apologies for that clumsy start for our hearing but the matter is proposed for continuance are now before you.

commissioner johnson. >> supervisor johnson: thank you, items 1 through 14 (indiscernible) and also (indiscernible). >> clerk: item 16a. >> thank you. >> i'll second that, zonance. >> clerk: thank you. on that motion then to continue all items as proposed, commissioner diamond? >> aye. >> clerk: commissioner fung. >> aye. >> clerk: commissioner imperial? >> aye. >> clerk: commissioner johnson? >> aye. >> clerk: commissioner moore. >> aye. >> clerk: and commission president koppel.

motion passes unanimous let's 6-0 and this places on your consent calendar. >> i'm sorry, item 7b to be specified -- >> clerk: thank you, acting zone administrator. i appreciate it. now commissioners that will place this under your consent calendar and all matters under the consent calendar are considered routine by the commission and may be acted upon by a single roll call vote by the commission. there's no separate discussion of these items unless so requested, in which the matter should be removed from the consent calendar and considered as a separate item under a future hearing. and 150waverly place, continual use authorization. and item 17, case 2019-004021c

at 1331 through 1335 grant avenue. continual use authorization. and item 18, the conditional use authorization. and item 19, 2019-201940cu 554 street. and item number 20, 1880 clement street. continual use authorization. item 21, case number 2021... 18th street, continual use authorization. those are all of the matters under your consent calendar. we did receive a request to pull grant avenues off of consent and here at the -- under the regular calendar. are there any other items that

the commissioners would like to remove from the consent calendar and if the members of the public would like to remove any of them from the consent calendar, now would be the opportunity to hit 1 and then 0. if we could go to the q. and a. , please. >> your conference is now in question and answer mode to summon each question press 1 and then 0. >> clerk: so at this time this would be your opportunity to simply request that any of those items to be pulled off of consent. why don't we take the first caller. you have any? >> you have one question remaining. >> yeah, hello. i wanted to let the commission know that the hearing is not

being televised on sfgov-tv. the small business commission is running late or something, but no part of your hearing is being televised. >> clerk: mr. williams, did you want to submit a testimony related to a continuance matter? >> no. but i did want to alert you -- and the commission that this is not being televised. >> clerk: it's not televised but it is still streamed via sfgov-tv. thank you. >> it's not. i'm -- it's not being streamed. and it's not being televised. i'm on the computer right now. none of it has been. >> clerk: we were advised by sfgov-tv that it is streamed live. >> you were misadvised. the special small business commission is being livestreamed in place of the planning

commission. >> clerk: there are multiple channels, mr. williams. so thank you -- >> i'm aware of that. i checked both channels and the other channel is showing... something completely different. >> you have zero questions remaining. >> clerk: commissioners, would any of you like to remove any items (indiscernible). >> president koppel: commissioner moore. >> i ask for the removal of grant street from the consent calendar. a lot of questions came in and we should discuss it as a group. thank you. >> clerk: okay, any other items to be pulled off of consent -- >> president koppel: commissioner --

>> i would -- i would support commissioner moore's request to take grant off the consent calendar. >> president koppel: is that a motion? >> clerk: we don't need a motion. >> president koppel: okay. okay. >> thanks. >> clerk: well, we need a motion to approve matters under the consent calendar. >> president koppel: commissioner moore? >> move to approve all items on the consent calendar except for item 17, 13, 51, 1355 grant avenue. >> second. >> clerk: thank you, commissioners. on that motion then to approve your consent calendar with the exception to item 16a and b, which were continued and item 17

which will be considered under the regular calendar. on that commissioner diamond? >> aye. >> clerk: commissioner fung. >> aye. >> clerk: commissioner imperial. >> aye. >> clerk: commissioner johnson? >> aye. >> clerk: commissioner moore. >> aye. >> clerk: and commission president koppel. commissioner president koppel? >> aye. >> clerk: thank you, commissioners. on that motion it passes unanimously 6-0. and that will place us under commission matters for item 22, the draft minutes for april 16, 2020.

do i hear a motion? >> i pressed the button -- move to approve. >> second. >> clerk: well, we should take public comment, actually. >> your conference is now in question-and-answer mode. to summon each question, press 1, 0. >> no comments so far. >> clerk: thank you. commissioners, then there's a motion that is seconded to adopt the minutes for april 16, 2020, on that motion, commissioner diamond. >> aye. >> clerk: commissioner fung. >> aye. >> clerk: commissioner imperial. >> aye. >> clerk: commissioner johnson? >> aye. >> clerk: commissioner moore. >> aye. >> clerk: and commissioner

president koppel. that passes unanimously. and placing us to item 24. >> president koppel: commissioner moore. >> i wanted to commend the architect shaw for postponing or continuing 5500 mission street. i believe that it's really to look for higher standards of care with respect to elderly care facilities and convalescent homes given the lessons that we are learning nationally, and not just locally, from the major outbreaks of coronavirus in those facilities, i believe that it is within our responsibility to ask for higher standards of care when looking at these facilities and applying standards that may not even have been tested before. i saw a number of potential issues in the application as it

stands and i know that mr. shaw will work with the a.i.a. to raise the standard of care for what he is proposing. i very much appreciate it. thank you. >> president koppel: commissioner johnson. >> thanks. i want to note that the (indiscernible) is it streaming the planning commission hearing? i want to make sure that we're giving people the right link that is streaming the current hearing to address the comment that came up before. so if that could be addressed, we'd appreciate it. >> clerk: so we were advised

that sfgov-tv would have a link to our broadcast. and right now i am on my ipad on sfgov-tv that is broadcasting our proceedings. there may have been a delay in that. but i believe that we're up now. >> jonas, can you confirm where that link is? because somebody put it on the chat, but where -- >> clerk: it's on sfgov-tv, their second channel. >> okay, because i didn't find it either at first. >> clerk: they recently switched over from the small business commission to us. but if i'm not mistaken they did have a separate link on their

web page directing people to our livestream. >> thank you. >> clerk: okay, i will also just remind people to set to chat on this live event is really just used to speak. so brigette and jeff, if you could delete your comments, we would appreciate it. so if there are no additional comments from the members of the commission -- we can move on to department matters. item 24, director's announcements. >> jonas, just a couple items. hello, commissioners and thank you for bearing with us. i think that you were emailed earlier today and we will post

this online as well as under the director's report for next week. so the public has it. so we kind of put together a memo that shows our guidelines and goals for public participation for our comprehensive plans and policies both during this covid crisis and we expect as that we come out of it we're going to have some limitations on how we conduct public meetings. obviously, you know that it's crucial for us to engage the public in our work, especially when doing larger community funding and policy projects. we've got that housing element coming up and we can count on robust public input for that. so we have published guidelines or put together guidelines internally and i would say that we're relying on a number of ways to communicate with the public. if we can't do the typical public meetings. everything from email and mail to posters, to video postings as

well as online forums that the public can participate during and that we can record. so, please take a look at that. and if you have questions or comments we can address them next week. and i also wanted to note that we published the 2019 quarter 4 housing development pipeline dashboard recently. it had showed a slight uptick of projects in the pipeline and a couple percent increase, and i think that what is most notable is that it shows a 26% increase in while it was under construction. at the end of last year we had over 10,000 units under construction. obviously, we anticipate that that's going to change and we don't know to what extent as we entered into this crisis and as we come out of it.

so we'll keep you posted on that. thank you very much. >> clerk: thank you, director hillis. item 25, the review of the past events at the board of supervisors, board of appeals. and our historic preservation commission. >> aaron star, with legislative affairs. the first item at land-use hearing this week was supervisor peskin's occupancy or l.l.i.o. ordinance. to regulate the dwellings units between 30 and 365 days and depends on the number of dwelling units in the building. the ordinance also amends thed ministrative use for non-tenant uses for the renting of a unit to a corporate entity or other non-natural person. commissioners, you took action on this item on january 30th and recommended approval with modifications. and those modifications include enacting an interim control on

new l.i.o. and collecting data on the scale and location of l.i.o. activity, and clarifying admin code amendments for non-profit organizations. and monday's land use hearing after supervisor peskin gave an overview of the ordinance, supervisor preston proposed an amendment to the ordinance that would allow for educational institutions to continue to lease housing to their faculty. supervisor peskin expressed his support for the amendment. other comment was largely in opposition to the ordinance. the central complaint came from owners of small buildings of less than four units that would no longer be able to lease units for less than a year. after public comment, the land use committee moved to incorporate supervisor preston's amendments and recommended the ordinance to the full board of supervisors. next the committee considered supervisor ronen's review ordinance that proposes to have office uses within the zoning district and also requires c.u.

for services. and this item was recommended approval with modifications. those modifications include, one, limiting the office prohibition to the mission area plan. two, maintaining the existing permissibility of medical and financial and professional service uses. and, three, a grandfather clause for applications no later than the introduction date of the ordinance. and at the land use hearing, supervisor ronen's office had a one-week continuance to continue to craft and to refine the grandfathering clause. commission chair peskin did open up the public hearing for comment. all six speakers requested that a grandfathering clause to be added to the ordinance. ononce the public comment ended they continued the item one week to may fourth of this year. and at the board of supervisors, full hearing this week, there were no planning department items and that concludes my motions. and i'm available for questions

if you have them. thank you. >> clerk: thank you, aaron. seeing no questions, there was no board of appeals report for our hearing and they will reconvene next week. commissioners that places us under general public comment. at this time the public may address the commission. except agenda items. with respect to agenda items your opportunity to address the commission is afforded when the item is reached in the meeting. each member of the public may address the commission for up to three minutes. when the number of speakers exceed the 15-minute limit, the general public comment may be moved to the end of the agenda. members of the public who are phoned in now is your time to press 1 and 0 to get into the queue. if we could only up the q. and a. please.

>> your conference is now in question and answer mode. to summon each question, press 1, and then 0. >> clerk: is anyone in the queue? >> yes. >> you have four questions remaining. >> good afternoon, commissioners. neighborhood council. so i'm asking the same question that i asked a few weeks ago -- do the tenants' lives matter? in the past few weeks there were at least one previously tenant occupied project before you and it was more than disappointing to see that the planning staff misrepresenting at least one of these projects. and downplaying the tenancy status of this property. commissioner imperial, last week

you asked the planner assigned to the illegally demolished property at 4118 21st street if someone in the planning can confirm that there was a tenant living in the unauthorized dwelling unit. and here was planner's response. when we look at the unauthorized dwelling unit we take a look at if they meet the physical definition of what would mean a potential unit. and then we look at a whole host of other things, including eviction documents and board records. in this instance it did not meet the physical definition, so concerns were not raised and we did not have to go this path at all. and here's my question -- what are the department's criteria for meeting the physical definition for an unauthorized dwelling unit? in this case the building was already demolished and, mind you, illegally. there was an hrma file, a document accepted and approved

by the planning staff for the property was described as a two-unit structure. even the u.s. postal service has a record of this property as having a second unit called 4118 and a and a half 21st street. but that didn't matter to the planning because it seems that the department creates its own reality. the reason that i'm bringing this up is because i see this as a pattern. there was another property that was continued to june 18th, it was on your docket, but thankfully it was continued. and this was another tenant occupied property that is slated for demolition. there are two units in this property. and, unfortunately, the department representing it as a single family home. because it's sitting on an h.r.1 zone law but that shouldn't matter. there's a record of this property as two units and the rent board has a record of this property having evicted the tenant for a mere $6,000 in

2016. yes, $6,000 got this tenant moved. and we are going to be talking more about this when this case is going to be before you. but back to my question. it's an implied matter. i would appreciate if somebody could give me an answer what the department uses as a criteria to deem a property existing and tenant occupied? thank you. >> you have three questions remaining. >> hi, this is sonya trout and i'm calling to ask what is happening with the housing affordability strategy presentation. it was on -- i thought that it was continued to today. but it wasn't on the agenda. i'll send you guys a letter on what i thought about it. and i was going to talk about it

now, and now when i have the prior comments, there's new demolition controls where if there was a tenant in the last five years, that tenant gets a right to return to a similar unit at their old rent. and so if the planning department thinks that whether there was a unit or not depends on what -- you know, what the planning department's records -- like, literally none of that matters at all under state law. so my email is sonya@nblaw, and so previous commenter, if you want to get in touch with me it sounds like the city hasn't read the new demolitions control program in s.b.330, the planner should know about it. okay, bye. >> you have two questions remaining.

>> hi, the coalition for san francisco neighborhoods, and san francisco land-use coalition. and the san francisco -- it was san francisco's mandate to -- (indiscernible) the building is crumbling. the newly appointed planning director will soon learn that stream lining seqa will not overcome the aging infrastructure, deteriorating transportation and no lack of developer funding. many of the projects planning approve will either be stalled or financially collapse. and they have large residential property that can no longer finance the projects that they wish to build with or without the planning commission's approval. and they have requested (indiscernible) on a

$995 million loan for its massive residential development in san francisco. the debt is secured by the property in san francisco which is 3,165 units. it's the largest multifamily property in san francisco and the second largest multifamily property in the west. the property developers have a shortage of finance because the banks have cut the amounts they will have for a property value. and this is both residential and commercial particularly hard and the banks have left many firms high and dry.

developers can only expect to fund around 60% to 65% of the cost of development from the banks or the senior debt providers. this means that the developer must put up more money themselves or raise additional finance from another source. inevitably at higher interest rates. thank you. >> you have one question remaining. >> hello president koppel and planning commissioners. how frustrating it is for commissioners, project sponsors and the public to conduct hearings without being able to display and view documents relevant to an agenda item on the overhead projector. last week the commission couldn't see the historic evaluation report, h.r.e.

official documents that contradicts the project sponsor's contention that 4118 21st street is a single family home. have we had the ability to view the documents, the commission would conclude that the official regular crews is a one-stories, two-unit building. also san francisco planning department records for the address is an official document. i was unable to display as proof that the project is only 2,671 total gross square feet. most troubling for me is the tenant advocate who hates to see tenants displacement going on in my neighborhood with my inability to display an official document i obtained from the rent board. behind the x that says that there was an eviction. it's called the settlement and

release agreement for the buyout of the tenant at 4118 21st street, prepared by zach's law firm. to contest the planner's assertion on record that the rent board records were looked at. and we can't prove a tenant lived in the space other than the primary dwelling unit. the planner should -- did not look to see that there's a legal document stating that the occupant occupies a portion of the property known as the premise on the first floor of the property. the tenant had a rental agreement with the premises, with the move out to leave the keys to the entrance of the hallway on the kitchen counter of her premises. and, furthermore, a simple u.p.s. online post office inquiry proves that the planner could have done that and found that 4118 and a half 21st street has now been able to

deliver to that address. got it? you've got to do something better about tracking tenants. they are being displaced left and right and -- and the property private sponsors are allowed to just get away and say whatever they want. thank you. >> you have zero questions remaining. (please stand by)

>> at 1335 grant avenue, and a 558 square foot art

gallery as 1331grant avenue. and common space at the rear for receptacle storage. it includes a remodel, with the existing overflap band, and an aluminum forefront. with new clear-story windows with glazing. the subject site is not located within 600 feet radius of a parcel containing existing private or public school or a parcel for which a valid permit from the city's office of canada's retailer or a medicinal cannabis retailer is located. the department has received 15 letters of support for the project. three after the publication of the staff report, which include letters from the north beach business association, and the north beach neighbors' neighborhood organization.

in addition, the department received a form letter with 23 signatures from neighboring residents and merchants. the letters of support reference that this use will provide a good for which the community has expressed desire. the business will improve safety, security, and cleanliness along grant gl. and it will provide an increase in commercial traffic, which will benefit the commercial corridor. the department has received one letter of opposition, noting that the sponsors kept their existing dispensery open during the recent health situation. they received a letter requesting they be pulled off to address concerns of traffic and storefront independence. i would like to make it known that a storefront merger is prohibited in the north beach, per planning code sections 708.3. and double parking is a

mandatory condition of the good neighbor policy, for canada'cannabis' businesses owners. the department finds the project is, on balance, consistent with the north beach neighborhood commercial business and the policies of the general plan. the project adds diversity to the existing neighborhoods and supports the city's equity program, administered by the office of cannabis. and they find it to be necessary, desirable, and compatible with the surrounding neighborhood, and not to be detrimental to the ad vaintd adjacent properties. this includes staff's presentation, and i'm available for questions. and the project manager has a short presentation. you may unmute yourself and begin. >> you need to press star

6 to unmute yourself. you will have five minutes for your presentation. are you prepared? >> yes. can you hear me? >> we can, thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners. my name is elrich newman. i'm a native san francisco sansanfranciscan, i lost my mother to drug abuse, and was raised in foster care, bouncing from group home to group home, never having a stable home or school. when i turned 18, i found mu trumy true passion, which is cannabis. i started from the bottom, doing janitorial and maintenance, and over the years gaped mor gained more ande experience, from manufacturing, production, consumer service, sales, inventory control, marketing, and employee management. through the office of cannabis' equity program, i now have the opportunity to run my own business in a field i'm very

passionate about. i've been mentored by nate and jesse for almost a decade now. and they have taught me during mis my time working at barberry coast. and i plan to implement this at barberry north beach to work hand-in-hand with the neighborhood and the community to great a great north beach experience for everyone. this project proposes bringing the first medical and adult-use cannabis to north beach. north beach is an historically significant business, and one that has a distinct character and culture. it is important that north beach's first cannabis retail store be compatible with the neighborhood character, and be operated by experienced operators. a barberry coach dispensary is a perfect fit for north beach. we currently have two locations in san francisco, and have been

offering a clean, safe, and comfortable space for cannabis users for over seven years. it prioritizes hiring san francisco natives and trains and promotes within the organization, and maintains hiring practices to reflect the diversity in san francisco. they appreciate the nuances of north beach, and want to build a store that fits into the neighborhood and provides a business and service that the neighborhood will be proud of. the outreach process for this project began nearly two years ago. the community has been very supportive of the project. the overwhelming majority are supportive of the project and anxious for it to open. grant avenue has suffered from closures of businesses, and a new, well-operated local business with an excellent reputation and local roots will help stimulate the

corridor. the business will have a guard and lighting in the front of of the stoash, store, which include safety and cleanliness. and it will provide an increase in commercial foot traffic, which will benefit the entire commercial corridor. the subject parcel is not located within a 600-foot radius of a parcel containment containing an existing private or public school, or within a 600-foot radius of a parcel from which a valid permit for a cannabis retailer or medicinal cannabis retailer has been issued. although there are sensitive uses in the neighborhood, there are none in the area immediately ashed the around the proposed site, and there will be no negative impact caused by the storefront. there are numerous bars on this block of grant avenue, which are consistent uses with the dispensary, in that they cater to adults 21an and

over. the project adds diversity to the existing neighborhood serving retail corridor by installing a new use in the north beach district. the proposal includes restoring the historical facade of the building, and installing a.d.a. access, and having two separate and distinct businesses. the storefront next door will operator as an art gallery and merchandise store. it will provide an additional place for people to brows. browse. it is located in a pedestrian-oriented neighborhood. [buzzer] >> the store will primarily serve neighbors and individuals who work in or who are already visiting north beach. and the operators will designate green street as

the uber and lyst drop off. wthank you guys. >> thank you. sharon, why don't we go ahead and open the "q" and "a" please. >> your conference is now in question and answer mode. to summon each question, press 1 and then 0. >> if the member of the public is prepared, you may submit your testimony. >> you have two questions remaining. >> i'm dan acorini,

president of the north beach business association. and i want to make a statement strongly supporting the effort to open a di dispensary by the north beach broadway area. my business is on grant avenue, and we need to fill up these vacancies. and they are the most appropriate, most professional group of people to open a dispensary in north beach. please vote to support them being able to do this. thank you. >> you have one question remaining. >> hi, my name is kathleen dooley. i've been working with barberry coast for over two years now, on making sure that the new

dispensary complies with everything that is legal and needed, and, also, i have been in constant contact with all of the neighborhood, all of the merchants, and we have made sure to accommodate all of their questions and needs, which is a role that i will be continuing to do permanently. i am a former owner, for 20 years, of a shop on grant avenue. i am well-acquainted with the needs and problems of our particular neighborhood, and i'm particularly sensitive to anyone who reaches out with an issue or a question. thank you. >> you have zero questions remaining. >> commissioners, the matter is now before you.

>> while i'm waiting for some of the other commissioners to chime in, i just wanted to say for a second that this operator has opened a dispensary in the sunset district, where i live, and (indescernable). i've just been nothing but delighted. [audio is cutting in and out] >> i appreciate the fact that the present sponsor is not trying to have (indescernable). i think it is a really good thing for the city to have more dispensaries in the outlying neighborhoods, that previously haven't had them, as far as i inequity, and the support from the neighbors is important to me. >> commissioner moore. >> i have a couple of pick

picky questions. my questions are directed to staff and principle. i'm in support of this dispensary. i have questions relative to missteps and what is in the preamble. there is a reference to a duly-noted on april 9th. we did not have a duly-noted meeting on april 9th where this particular project was discussed. later on there is a reference, somewhere in the text, about the polk street zoning district. we're not on polk street. we're quite far away from there. and there are a couple of other inaccuracies that were missed. but one thing i would like to be more sure of is the fact that while there is a distinct explanation that an art gallery would be next door, i would like to see a confirmation that this art gallery could

never be annexed to accommodate an expanded dispensary use, such as a vaping lounge or anything of that kind. when there is a description of merchandise, perhaps we could hear a little bit more about what merchandise? i'm assuming you're not intending to sell edibles at that particular site. the subdivision of the space makes the art gallery space, or whatever will be in there, a little less workable. because at this moment, the back of the house is only being attributed to the dispensary itself. so i'm wondering, there will be a shared use between both establishments? because i think an art gallery will need a little bit of back of the house space as well. and that's a question to either the planner, for the proof part of the question, and the applicants, for the second

part of my question. >> sure. thank you, commissioner moore. the inaccuracy of the 9th, you are correct. i will correct that. that was because of the shelt ishelter-in-place order. thank you. in terms of the joining of spaces, north beach does have quite strict standards, to not allow mergers of the spaces. we looked at this spot pretty carefully in terms of our policy discussion, to ensure they were still separate and distinct storefronts. so for the planning code, there was not a lot to be combined. and if they sought to expand the existing use in any way, even if it was a few square feet, they would have to come back to you for a conditional use authorization to expand the existing cannabis retail, if permitted. so any sort of expansion would come back to you.

i think the project sponsor can best explain why they needed this layout. >> i think you explained it well. i still would rather like to see a prohibition on that space. because in the absence of having a real full explanation of how the art gallery works, i would prefer to have it more strongly on record that there will be no expansion allowed into the space. when we looked at -- in comparison, when we looked at polk street, we continued the project twice in order to get a better understanding of that particular dual space and how it would be used. and ultimately the applicant came back with two distinct business descriptions and plans, for the operation of two separate spaces. i would personally like to see the similar clarity here, that there is, indeed, no future pbilityd

possibility for expansion of the space. >> sure. and i think that can be added. >> good afternoon, commissioner moore, this is brandon halihan. can you hear me okay? >> yeah, we can hear you, brandon. >> i can hear you. >> so the art space, that corridor going to the back, we wanted to install an egress from the space, and that was the important part of having that back hallway, from the dispensary side. and there is a large -- at least to a large space, as well, which we have a lease on the entire basement, and the art gallery will be used in the basement. we can't use the basement for the dispensary because it can't be part of (indescernable). so the basement is going to be under those sub-lease of the art gallery. we have an agreement with jeremy fish, who is a north beach artist, who agreed to manage it and

operate it, and he has an entire roster of local artists that he is going to curate out of that place. and we have no intention to attempt to merge the storefronts. going through the neighborhood process and the public outreach, we made it very clear that was a big issue. and we committed that that was not in our plans, and we were able to negotiate this art gallery solution, which we thought was a really big success for grant avenue. and, yeah, so we don't have any intention on using that space for anything to do with the gallery. and the only sort of merchandise that would go out of there is things that are related to the art design, maybe t-shirts or posters or things like that, that they sell out of there, but with the art. no cannabis products or anything like that. >> thank you.

>> commissioner diamond. >> i have a question for staff on the type "c" consumption conditions. so i'm hoping, based upon conversations at the commission, that staff is working to a standard approach for when -- for how you deal with type "c" consumption. for example, on the polk street, the staff had recommended, i believe, 311 notice, but the commission decided to be a little stricter, and having prohibition on "c," because the adjacent yoga studios next to the rest of the space, they felt that consumption on site for type "c" was inappropriate. and then last week, with 24th, you recommended 311 notification, in the event they wanted to pursue type "c," based on

the fact there was residential in the same building. i believe we went with that recommendation. now on this project, where there is residential above, you're recommending a prohibition on type "c." i'm wondering if you can address that, if there is some special circumstances here, that makes you believe that 311 notice is not appropriate and a prohibition is better? or has the project sponser simply said he is not doing type "c," so you put in a prohibition? i'm trying to understand the overall contact so we can try to get to some consistent approach going forward? >> sure. yeah. so i think this is another unfortunate incidence of shelter in place. the goal of the department is to do 311 notification of standard condition for cannabis retail when residential units are above. that way it can be looked

at in a case-by-case basis. and if the neighborhood was in opposition, or any specific groups, a d.r. could be filed and bring that forward to the planning commission. this was an instance where had shelter in place not occurred, we would have put that 311 condition on, but unfortunately, there was a miscommunication there. that's why it was a prohibition. it sounds like we were amending the idea -- or a request from the commission to amend the motion and add a certain condition. we can certainly add or alter this condition about onsite consumption by the designer. >> mr. christiansan, did you want to chime in? >> yes. this is michael christiansan with the

department staff and the cannabis coordinator. we did intend to stand standardize this process, trying to bridge the per misabilitperpermisability. in cases where we don't have consumption proposed, rather than a prohibition, we would prefer to input the process requirement if consumption is wanted to be added in the future, to not pre-judge the request before we actually have anything to review. in this case, you know, following that line of reasoning, a process condition would be something more similar to a notice requirement or requirement for mandatory discretionary review.

if the commission wants to see it come back. and this case is also relatively unique in that although it is well-assigned for this space, it is a narrow space and functionally may not be able to accommodate a consumption space at all. but, as we said, we do recognize this inconsistency, and we want to be standard and fair as we implement this program, and we're happy to have that conversation in the future. >> thank you, michael. i do understand that commissioner diamond may be experiencing some technical difficulties. i provided her with a call-in number, so they may have a followup question when she calls

back in. commissioner imperial? >> i have first -- first, i support commissioners moore and diamond and the staff in terms of, like, no expansion of this lot. also, i do agree that we do need to standardize when it comes to the different types and also in terms of the onsite consumption. my question to the planner, or to the staff, or maybe also to the owner, when it comes to -- i guess when it comes to the products of the

cannabis, it looks like -- how is the loading and unloading going to take place for the products for this establishment? >> i think the sponsor would have the best answer for that. >> yes. testing. can you hear me? >> yeah, we can hear you. >> so the loading will have to be done during office hours, through the front. you need to have a second -- a second door to do deliveries or product intake during business hours. because we only have one door, we have to do it off-hours through the front door.

>> thank you. >> maybe twice a week at the most. >> commissioner moore. while we most likely will not be able to get a standardized set of conditions today, what i remember very vividly is commissioner fong, a few weeks ago, reminding us about what it will take, should a vaping room and onsite consumption ever be attempted in a building that has residential before. it was an incredibly vivid descrirntiodescription, and it s actually for that reason that i would prefer for this project to have a prohibition on the adjoining space becoming,

at any point in time, being concerned as a vaping room. the 311 notice would not be comfortable for me. i would like to take it further and have a prohibition on the adjoining space. i hope i can get commissioners' support to amend the motion that that event. otherwise, i think it is a fine project. it is a great location. it is a good space to have a dispensary, all of that, except to have more clarity on the next door space use. >> commissioner, would you like to chime in? >> i would like to provide an additional piece of information for the commission. if the sponsor were to come back in the future and want to expand and use that kind of art gallery as a consumption lounge, that would not be

permipermissable. they cannot be located at the front of the site. it has to be a back of house location. you're current mission for approval contains a prohibition on type "c" consumption. so if you would like to maintain that, that would not be an amendment to the motion. you're amendment already contains a prohibition on type "c," smoking and vaping. >> thank you, commissioner. commissioner johnson? >> thank you. wi wholeheartedly agree with commissioner moore. thank you for that update. >> yes. >> i, too, want to uphold the prohibition of type "c" use, and we'll keep that in the motion, and also add language in the finding, prohibiting any cross-use of the two

spaces. that they are two separate entities, but they will -- we will ensure that there is not a cross-use of the two spaces. and i would love some help on some actual -- what the language or the wording of the finding could be, or that we could use. generally, i would make a motion to approve with that added condition. >> i'll second that. and then call on commissioner diamond. >> i was going to second it. >> can somebody help with phrasing it properly? joannajonah, can you? >> the motion is to approve this project with conditions as amendmented tamended,with the addition of te

cannabis and no cross-use between the two spaces. if that is sufficient, there is a motion to have been seconded. on that motion, commissioner diamond? >> yea. >> commissioner fong? >> yea. >> commissioner imperial? >> yea. >> commissioner johnson? >> yea. >> commissioner moore? >> yea. >> commissioner koppel? >> yea. >> that motion passes unanimously 6-0. commissioners, under item -- on item 26a and "b," 00861, 701 harrison street, for a large project authorization and office development. staff, are you prepared to present? >> yes.

staff is prepared. >> great. thank you. >> good afternoon, commissioners. i just want to confirm that everybody can see the presentation on the screen. >> we can, thank you. >> the first item before the planning commission is a large project authorization pursuant to section 329 and 848, to allow construction of the seventh story, a 95-foot tall one-inch office building, with ground floor commercial along harriharrison street. pursuant to planning code sections 321 and 322, to allocate 41,991 square feet. commissioners, as a reminder, this is the first (indescernable) before the commission since the adoption of proposition "e." the findings are currently reflected in the draft

motion before you today. the project includes a seven-story mezzanine, measuring 58,538 square feet with approximately 8,539 square feet for commercial use. there is 16 bike kel 16 bicycle parking spaces. and it includes 5,108 square feet of usable open space. space. >> to date, the department has not received comments, but has received one inquiry regarding the notification process during the shelter-in-place order. the project has 49,199 square feet of now office, which falls within the af

available full feet for projects. this project properties approximately 5.5% of the currently available small cap pool. any subsequent increase in office square footage, including changes to the retail, or modification of the bicycle parking areas, would remove the project from the small allocation pool. the project would get approval from the large application pool. it would be required because of the requirements that would be triggered if they were proposing more than 50,000 square feet of the office. [audio is breaking up] >> as well as the housing linkage fee, and the health care facility

through (indescernable). the department recommends approval, and the project is on balance, consistent with the general plan and the planning code requirements. this concludes staff's presentation, and i am happy to answer any questions. >> are you prepared to make your presentation? you may need to press star 6 to unmute your phone. you will have 10 minutes. >> can you hear us now? >> we can, thank you. >> great. thank you. good morning, commissioners. this is dan pratten for the project sponsor. we're here this afternoon requesting your approval for a small-cap office building on a surface parking lot at the corner of third and harrison. this is a project that

fully complies with the central soma plan. we're not seeking any code exceptions, and the planning department concluded that the project won't have significant environmental impacts. we completed a shadow study. that includes the ellis street community garden, which is a private, but well-loved, garden on the block to the north of the site. this is a zero parking project that will support the city's investments and transit, and it will allow the ground floor to be given over to retail uses. because of its proximity to the freeway, the sponsor viewed it as a perfect site. we expect about 275 permanent jobs when the building is complete. the project will also do its part to find affordable housing, transit, and other community improvements, with just shy of $6.7

million in one-time impact fees, along with ongoing melarus. for those that don't have a calculator handy, those one-time fees amount to about $114 per square foot, which is one of the highest impact use structures in the city. the design, which our architects will speak to here in a moment, will be a nice complement to the 725 harrison project, which is an independent project that takes up most of the rest of the block to the west. we hope you'll agree this project fulfills the objectives of the central soma plan and respectfully request your approval. with that, i'll turn it over to our architects to make a brief design presentation, and, of course, we'll be available to answer any questions you might have. thank you. >> i here with scott moto architecture. the first slide

illustrates the project's location, situated at the intersection of third and harrison street. >> this view, looking south towards the intersection, the building is situated at the compliment complemencomplement e major highway intersections. it defines the 85-foot high street wall. this inflection responds to the adjacent building scales, and it becomes a way to break up and articulate the building's simple form. it helps draw the eye towards the corner and the main lobby entrance on

harrison. there is an added layer of aluminum sides to modulate daylight. it offers subtle appearance. some of the (indescernable) are removed to further articulate the facade by creating two multi-story glass forms. it architecturally emphasizes the corner. the next slide has two views, looking southeast and northwest. we also developed this design on third street, i should say. southeast and northwest. we also developed this design considering the building's side, looking up and down. the mid-section changes from having more or less visible reflection, depending on your point of view. the design is more

articulate than the typical side property line (indescernable). there is the possibility for integrating the placement of public artwork here. the next view on harri harrison street, looking northeast, we also considered the design of the building in relation to the wide range of nearby building scales as well. from the immediately adjacent two-story scale to the large tower in the distance. the two-story black and metal portal defines the main lobby entrance on harrison street. the next view is the corner close-up street view, looking south at the corner. this close-up shows how the facade is above the ground floor to reveal a

classy front store. it is punctuated by the black and metal, defining two small retail entrances on third, and an office lobby entrance on harrison. there are street trees and they are planted wide on the harrison street. >> hello, this is marsh comaho, and i'll continue the presentation. next we have our ground floor plan at street level, which includes two mid-sized retail spaces, with landscaped entries, a separate office entry along harrison street, a widened 15-foot space. there are spaces between street trees. for a typical office plan, the third floor plan, shown here, this

demonstrates the effect on the plans of the infected building envelope, which also occurs on the fourth floor. we worked to compact the elevator and stair court to the interior property line, in order to ma maximize flexibility. next we have level six, which has a cut-out that offers visual connectivity to the office space below on level four, and it will increase the natural light to areas that are further away from the building's cucurtain walls along third and harrison street. as we travel up to the mezzanine level, set back 15 feet from the property line, it includes a two (indescernable) it offers direct access to the project's common open space, via a roof space at the corner of third and harrison street.

the rest of the roof level will have greenery. finally, the higher roof, located above the mezzanine, will screen in the mechanical equipment, which includes a raise of solar panels. the building section here further illustrates the pop-up for the mezzanine, the two upper floor eight atria,and the 10-foot 9 floor to ceiling on the office floors. we focused on robust materials that will weather well. we proposed a curtain well of insulated glass and aluminum, looking like corrogated metal. we introduced black and steel at the base, which will have a natural

petina. the elevation drawn along third street illustrates the facade composition, with the mezzanine pop up, and a third and forth floor inflation setback in relation to the neighboring historic building, housing the rako photo center. and finally, the elevation drawn along harrison street illustrates the mezzanine pop-up, and the third and fourth floor inflection setback. that concludes our design presentation. thank you for your time. we're available and happy to respond to any questions or comments. >> is that the end of the responsthesponsor presentation?

>> yes. >> excellent. thank you. if there are no immediate questions for this sponsor, members of the public, if you wish to provide testimony to this item, please dial the 888 number, with the access code, and press 1-0 to enter the cue. jan, why don't we go to the "q" and "a," please. >> your conference is now in question and answer mode. to someone each question, press 1 and then 0. per miskt you have one question remaining. >> hello, commissioners. this is david wu. we are asking for a continuance of this proposed project due to

several concerns. the project is located within the fel filipino heritage district, and yet the developer has not done any outreach that we are aware of. the cultural district is not even recognized in the planning documents. as you know, it was created to help stabilize the filipino community in the south bay market. this project speaks to none of those goals. and with covid-19, with non-profits and small businesses desperately trying to stay afloat. the proposed project is located next to the youth and family special youth district, which is not referred. it must be recognized and identified by the planning department and the developer, and the project must reflect their goals in any proposed development. as you may know, community stakeholders have long been advocating for the strengthening and expansion of the youth and

family s.u.d., which we hope can be put forward as part of the filipino's culture. it underminds the 50,000 square foot small cap, by trying to push forward a 58,000 plus. and it is not a community-serving use in the south market. it also appears that the shadow ban of the proposed project, such as part of the mid-block alley that is proposed by the development at 72155 harrison street. and we request that the planning commission suspend items that are not essential to move forward with at this time when community and input is severely limited. thank you. >> you have one question

remaining. >> good afternoon, commissioners. oszi realm. i would like to echo david wu's comments about the outreach to the community. also, i would like to remind you that we are going through an unprecedented economic and health -- public health menace that is going to change business as usual. so my concern is this: why are we approving office spaces when we don't even know who is going to be staying in san francisco and who is going to be leaving? and by that, i'm not only talking about the common people, the poor people who cannot pay their rent, after some six weeks to eight weeks of not having a job to get paid for. but i'm also talking about businesses, including big

businesses, that some of them have actually come to the realization that since they have been doing so well from having their white collar workers working from home, there may not be a need to actually have an office or headquarters in san francisco. sure, they might have something, but they probably are not going to keep these offices for the full number of employees that they had before covid-19. so why are we doing this now? what's the urgency? why shouldn't we not wait until we see the aftermath of this horrendous calamity that has hit our city and the globe? there is no rush. nobody is standing there waiting for these offices to come alive. i really urge you to postpone this, not to next month or the month after, but please postpone this until we have a better understanding of the economic downfall of covid-19.

think about it, what financial institution is going to actually provide the loan and financialization needed to build these offices? basically u-you're going t, you're going tobe issuing en, but nobody is going to be building, simple as that. so please postpone this indefinitely, until we have a better understanding of the economic fallout from covid-19. thank you. >> you have zero questions remaining. >> jan, why don't we go ahead and leave the "q" and "a" open, in case any additional callers come in late. commissioners, the matter is now before you. >> commissioner diamond? >> yes. i have two questions. could the project sponsor

please address the concern that was raised about lack of reachout to the neighborhood groups? >> yes. dan pratten for the project sponsor. we did actually contact a total of 34 different community organizations at the outset of this project to solicit their input at a neighborhood meeting. we did have six people attend that meeting. they were largely neighborhood business owners who were enthused about the addition of new workers and a new building to take the place of a parking lot. they were retail business owners, nightclub owners, who have been among the hardest hit by the current economic situation.

and i think they are very eager to see more activity be brought to this neighborhood. we are, of course, more than happy to continue working with the filipino cultural district and other neighborhood organizations on ways that -- ye can incorporate some of their concerns. and to the project, one idea that immediately comes to mind is the use of some or all of our 1% for art requirement to add a culturally appropriate piece of art to the building. we would be more than happy to commit to a condition of approval requiring us to engage in that future consultation with them. i do, however, want to speak to this notion that

what we should do right now is wait and see. commissioners, i am paying people in my office not to work. i know that there are a number of people in the trades who are out of work. i think we've all seen the unemployment numbers that came out today. and i would argue very strongly that the delay serves no one. waiting to see serves no one. what the city and what the country need s is a rapid return to normal. that rapid return to normal means getting back to business as usual, and, you know, letting projects like this proceed quickly so that when we turn the corner, when we have a vaccine, when we have the public health situation more under control, we can put construction workers to work on this site, we can put office workers in

this building. because i am convinced that this situation is not permanent; it's temporary. it's severe, but we will turn a corner. and when we turn that corner, we ought to be ready to roll. >> thank you. could you just tell me directly whether or not the neighborhood groups that raised concerns about your not reaching out to them did receive notification about the meeting that was held? >> um...so i believe, um, this is the -- we notified the south market community action network, um, and the soma leadership council, the people organizing to demand environmental and economic rights, as well as -- as well as todco. i don't believe that the other organizations that i

heard speak today are actually on the planning department's official neighborhood notification list. and so -- or they weren't, perhaps, not at the time that we held the outreach meeting. but we did outreach to all of the organizations that are registered with the planning department. >> okay. thank you. and my second question is for staff. and, that is, the concern that was raised about the lack of reference to the youth and family district and the filipino cultural district in the various reports that were done. if staff could address that concern, please. >> sure. the project is not within the use and family special youth district, which does havhave land-use controls, so that's why there is no reference to that.

the project is within the soma cultural district, as the members of the public stated, but there are no land-use controls associated with it put into the motion. >> thank you. >> commissioner imperial. >> thank you, commissioner diamond, for asking those questions. and referring to other -- the cultural heritage district and the youth and family zone. those are actually the two things that i find very -- like, outstanding issues, the fact that the planning department did not include the filipino heritage community in this document. therefore it reflects on how a sponsor should do outreach, too. second, they referenced the use of family zoned district, even though it is not inside the youth

and family zone, i believe it should still be referred to. just because there are -- i believe right across this developmenfrom this develot there is a school. and also the effects on the shadow impact. it does not say, of course -- ie the percentages, and it will not impact any rec and park uses. however, there is a school nearby. and will that -- is there a shadow analysis on the ground that is close by? so because of the lack of references to this zoning, it limited -- and there is a lack of information -- it is limited in what the scope of this project is going to be affected. and second -- and thirdly, because of the area right now -- we are going for

small office allocation cap, which actually should trigger a large office allocation, and also because of that, we don't have -- or we do have required the sponsor to include housing, whether it is inclusionary or to provide ven rent allocation. it seems like they're trying to figure out different things that should be allowed pa because of the zoning inside and also the compliance that it should be in. so, pardon me, i do not support on the approval of having this under the small office allocation cap.

>> commissioner johnson. >> thank you to commissioners -- >> ske excuse me, i think i was ahead of you. i pressed -- >> yes, i see your name. >> go ahead, commissioner moore. >> sorry about that. i just wanted to express my support for comments made by commissioners diamond and commissioner dayo. i was actually disappointed by not seeing any reference to the youth and family zone, particularly because they are really only half a block away, which is basically a an adjacency that is really close. it is becoming further and further boxed by a large, more offices than anything else. i believe that we need to find a way that they can

participate in this discussion. as we move forward, there will be other projects of equal size, all coming in, i think, under small cap. and i'm trying to figure out if we should not start looking at housing sites in these particular locations. we have essential soma plan dominated by office uses. and i believe that there needs to be a little pushback that some of these medium sites are very appropriate for adding additional housing, rather than more offices. i appreciate the designer of the building. there is definitely thoughtfulness about the building as an object, in the circumstances where it occurs. i can support its design, but i think it does not answer a number of policy questions, including the side for housing, and the side adjacent to the youth and family zone.

[please stand by]

>> the concerns of commissioner imperial and fellow commissioners. >> do you want to chime in. >> this is rich with department staff. i wanted to address some of the comments and concerns i hear from commissioners on the staff report. in most cases, you know, when we craft the draft motions we are looking at the applicable controls that would apply, and this project was mainly about

office with ground floor retail, the ad adjacent districts don't have reference towards those specific land uses and how we would apply any specific control within them. for example, the soma youth and family district mainly requires conditional use authorization for the whole series of land uses like bars and restaurants and other things. the cultural district, obviously, is an important part of our work within soma and within the central soma plan, we are happy to bolster up the findings or draft motions accordingly to provide necessary references. we didn't see anything in the legislation provided for the cultural district to connect it to the kind of office uses and land use controls that we have.

>> i think the conversation in the comments. i want to make a note about prop e and prop n. this is a small cap office allegation. we see those coming right up to the 50,000. iif they want to additional office they would have to trigger it at that point. likely there won't by. we will probably go negative at the end of this year when central soma projects move forward. i wanted to give you that context, also. >> commissioner moore. >> i apologize, but the flatness of the screen will make what i

say an attack on you. i am going to suggest that at any time are we objectly gated to look at city and context? if you look at the application as an office building, then i would say it does not even model the surrounding buildings. it fails on that. it doesn't address the other circumstance, the proximity of the youth and family zone and the cultural district. it fails on both ends. i can live with what you say, but i believe we need to stretch our responsibility talking about buildings in context, and there are many contexts in which we address this. for that reason, while this is a good building, there are several question marks and omissions i would bring to your attention. >> commissioner diamond.

>> question and comment. this is for staff. is this a co-come -- code compliant project? did they meet all of the notification requirements? >> this is code compliant and has been duly noticed. >> in light of that, i have two thoughts. one, i guess i would be prepared to approve if it is code compliant and meets our requirements. that being said we should look at the requirements about note affection and outreach -- about notification and outreach and adjacent to districts that would be appropriate to reach out. that would be a suggestion to staff to take a look at how we approach proactively requiring project sponsors to reach out. on the other hand, if this is

code compliant that met the requirements i would be prepared to approve it today. >> commissioner imperial. >> i would like to ask it looks like there will be more small this kind of project will come in. i guess the planning department or planning staff that we look into having a strong community benefit, having a strong where the community is really outreached to and having a high priority for affordable housing when we look into the small offices. there is going to be more developments like this, however, for this i still want to be consistent with my decision. i just don't think because it

goes beyond the required small office allocation cap, i will not be able to support this development today. >> commissioner moore. >> could you please explain to the commission why the department used that calculation versus the actuals for the building as the total? >> sure. department staff. we basically used the gross square footage of the office use. in this case even though the total building is 58,000 square

feet they have ground floor retail, which doesn't count towards their office use. they are only providing for basically 49,999 square feet of office use within the remainder of this. if they were, for example to change use of one square foot in the future towards office, we would basically rescind the small cap and require them to go back through the large cap authorization. for now what the project before you is small cap. it is under the 50,000 square foot threshold. the project appropriately aligns with what is allowed in the zoning. >> could i take that further? we all are aware not just rent there is a definite decline in ground floor retail. we are seeing more and more buildings around five or six years where ground floors

intended for retail use, those spaces are filled. the harrison third street corridor is not the most retail focused corridor at the moment. it is kind of a little questionable why we are allocating as much ground floor retail going full well the difficulties of even getting tenants in a better location than this one. >> in theory, the sponsor could do a change of use in the future to something else. i will say the central soma special use district prohibit i won't say prohibits but doesn't call office use active on the ground floor. they would have to get a variance from planning department controls if they seek the use and other complications with the kind of large cap office. it is definitely something that we are seeing kind of in a lot

of projects throughout the city. >> planning department staff if i could interject. ground floor commercial uses are required along third street on this portion. this is actually a mechanism for which the project is code compliant. there might be project flexibility on harrison but it is required on third street. >> with that being said this may be the time to revisit those policies and see how we can move successfully with it in the future. that is not the discussion for right now, i want to make a note the commission consider that as a future discussion. >> commissioners, does anyone

dare make a motion? >> commissioner imperial. >> i forgot to delete my comment. i was not making a motion. >> commissioner diamond. >> move to approve. >> second. >> commissioner johnson do you want to add anything? >> i would like to incorporate something that the project sponsor brought up that they would look to work to incorporate the cultural heritage of the surrounding neighborhood into the building, interest the findings. >> we could add that as a condition of approval if the maker of the motion is amenable the project sponsor continue to work with the neighborhood

community organizations in relation to cultural heritage district and to incorporate any programs with the project. >> i think it is an excellent amendment. >> commissioner moore. >> if the maker of the motion is amenable i would like to broaden your suggestion to the extent that adding the work would follow the conversation with the neighborhood group if they are amenable or if there are variations on that idea. since we did not have the discussion i do not want to use

a band aid because we feel it is appropriate, let them amend it themselves. >> that was the intent. >> i believe the amendment is broad enough to include not just the 1% art component but any produce number of programs related to the project. >> including outreach to the neighborhood group themselves that they can derm what is best for them? >> they would have to do that to communicate with the neighborhood organizations regards the cultural districts. >> thanks for clarifying that. >> i second it if that is the case. >> very good. commissioner koppel has seconded it. we will make that note. commissioners if there is nothing further there is a motion seconded to approve with conditions amended to include a

condition directing the project sponsor to continue working with neighborhood organizations regarding the cultural heritage district and incorporating those programs into the development. on that motion commissioner diamond. >> aye. >> commissioner fung. >> aye. >> commissioner imperial. >> aye. >> commissioner mar. >> aye. >> commissioner koppel. >> aye. >> that passes 6-0. i would like to thank you for your patience for the sort of clumsy beginning to this hearing. there were a number of outstanding factors outside of our control, but thank you for sticking with us. i would like to extend that same amount of gratitude to the members of the public that stuck with us. thank you. >> thank you, commissioners.

>> we are going to adjourn the meeting now. >> thank you. >> thank you all.

>> hello, everyone. good morning. the meeting will come to order. this is been may first, 2020 meeting. i am joined by committee members shaman walton and matt haney. our clerk is ms. linda wong. i would like to thank matthew from sfgovtv for broadcasting this meeting. could we have a motion to excuse supervisor mandelman. >> so moved. >> thank you so much. roll call vote. [roll call] >> three ayes. >> thank you, very much. madam clerk, do you have any

announcements. >> due to the covid-19 health emergency and the public the board legislative chamber and committee rooms are closed but members will participate remotely. so the comments will be available for each item on this agenda channel 26 and sfgovtv.org are streaming the number across the scene. each speaker will be allowed to speak. comments or opportunities to speak during the public comments period are available via phone call by calling (888)204-5984 access code 350-1008 and press pound and press pound again. when you are connected, dial 1 and 0 to be added to the cue to speak. you will be lined up in the system in the order you dialed 1 and 0. while you are waiting, the system will be silent.

the system will notify you when you are in line and waiting and all callers will remain on the line until it's open. everyone must account the delay and speaking discrepancy between live coverage and screening. call for a quiet location and you can e-mail me. that is linda.wong@sov.org. you can submit public comment. it will be included in the legislative file as part of the matter. written comments may be century a u.s. postal service through city hall, room 244 san francisco 94102. finally the item after is

expected to be sent to the full board as committee reports for consideration on may 5th, 2020. >> thank you, ma'am add clerk. call item number 1. >> clerk: y. he is madam chair. item number 1, emergency ordinance to limit the spread of covid-19 by requiring the city through service agreements with third parties to provide that equipped with handwashing facilities as a purpose and shelter people within three weeks of the effective date of this ordinance. members of the public who wish to provide public comment on this item should call the (888)204-5984 access code 350-1008 and press one and then 0 to lineup. >> thank you, very much. our speakers today are supervisor matt haney and (inaudible). i'm sorry, if i butchered your

last name. also public works ca caro short, bruce robinson. supervisor haney, do you have opening words? >> i do. first of all, thank you so much supervisor fewer for having this emergency meeting. i really appreciate it and i know that this is an issue that you've been very vocal on and very committed to as well. i really appreciate your leadership and really facilitating this emergency meeting and thank you also to supervisor walton who has been very supportive, i believe is a co-sponsor of this legislation. we've got folks from public works here. i just want to say, at the outset, it's been really refreshing to have your leadership, and your department has been very responsive on this and the ceta action and partnership has really been impressive. i want to thank you for your

support and your leadership in working to get this right. the need for this is probably pretty obvious and clear. one of the most important things that we can do during this pandemic is make sure that people have access to basic hygiene and this was an issue before this pandemic but during this crisis, it's so critical that people who don't otherwise have access to basic hygiene have it. it's available very close to where they are and it's immediate. it's accessible and at longer hours and the danger, if we don't do that, is that this pandemic spreads and the crisis goes on much longer. of course, we are concerned about a number of populations in

particular. one is obviously are many people on the streets who continue to be unsheltered who are living without houses, who don't have a bathroom of their own and their ability to access bathrooms when they need it is critical. and that includes handwashing stations as well. there are also a lot of other populations. folks who are out on the streets all the time in district 6 and district 10, nine other parts of the city, who should have access to handwashing station and bathrooms who are not homeless as well. there are also people who are out working like delivery workers and taxi drivers and need and deserve access to these handwashing stations and if you are out there and come across someone or had to touch someone or something and something happens, you need to modally beo

wash your hands to stay safe. we have introduced this ordinance, which would significantly increase both bathroom and handwashing station access to meet the international crisis guideline of one bathroom per 50 unhoused individuals during the state of state of emergency. this will help people keep safe and prevent the spread of the covid-19 for all of our residents. the un also states in an emergency, ultimately, one bathroom per 20 people is the post emergency standard and the american red cross and fema have cited the more robust one bathroom per 20 people guideline during a crisis. we think it's important to set this standard. i do want to say there's been movement on this towards this goal from the department of public works. we introduced a resolution and unanimously passed a resolution in march around this same issue

and since then the department has added 15 new pitstops which is really appreciated. it has now responded -- since this ordinance has been introduced, by adding additional toilets. so they will be able to update us on that progress. i still don't believe that we need to go further and we need to make sure these bathrooms are where people are. if they are -- i've heard and we're going to discuss bathrooms being open in parks, which is really fantastic and a way to increase access. i want to make sure that the bathrooms are where people need them and where people are living on the streets and congregation of people and we're committed to and need to work much quicker to get people in hotel and inside and make sure everyone has a room their own and a bathroom of their own during this time and

we know tonight there are people, thousands of people who are still living on the streets. many thousands more who lack access to bathrooms. the cafes are generally closed and the restaurants are generally closed and the people and places people used to go to the bathroom, like the public library and other places are all closed. so we have to step up and do more. and i know we have, i believe a presentation at least some comments from the folks from public works and again, i just want to thank them for their responsiveness and their partnership on this as well as in my office, honey mahagney. we have amendments but it would be great to first hear from the department. >> thank you, very much, supervisor haney. i believe we have a presentation from the department of public works. >> let me see if i can share my

screen with you all. >> sure. >> so, good morning supervisor fewer and supervisor haney and supervisor walton. i'm a acting and director of the public works department. you know, i just want to say first and foremost, and supervisor haney, you are right, this is something that in public works you take seriously and the pit stop program is something that we see as a vital need here in the city and it's something that we take as a great amount of pride in doing. this program provides the city

and the residents with clean and safe public toilets. it also acts as a place where needles can be disposed of and and we tried to focus these in the pit stop program and the location of them in the city's most impacted neighborhoods. this is something the public works in the city could not do with our partners in the community. they are staffed with a paid attendance through non profits and these intended insure that the bathrooms are clean and safe and they're being used for their

and the pit stop program at public works began in 2014 and it began in the tenderloin and grown to a total of 24 sites as across the city and totaling 42 neighborhoods -- i'm sorry, totaling 42 toilets in 13 neighborhoods. and we have the location for the pit stops, based on and the street cleaning data. if we see that wir we're gettina lot of requests about human waste or animal weight in certain neighborhoods and we're going to those neighborhoods

very often to do and the steam cleaning and things like that, that's where we start to consider the placement a as a ay put stop. we work within our partners within the city family, hsa and hsh if we see as encampments. we consider it in those areas as well. i also wanted to mention that we collaborated with the recreation and parks department and they have developed, as a park stop program, which is a model after the pit stop program and it provides 57 staff toilets across the city at seven locations the book that pit stops are -- only

staffed as during the day, over the past year or so, and if they're looking to expand the student provide 124 hour service in the beginning in progress of last year and we actually did, as a pilot program, provided three locations with 24 hour service. those are currently in, as a tenderloin, castro and the south of market. we've seen that the usage of the pit stops and for those in locations as increased by 76% over that period. this is obviously a good thing for us. there's also something that we wanted to start really thinking about when we had a covid-19 crisis that came up as well.

i go into that later. but again, i do want us to mention with responsible to talk about it is that -- there's a cost as associated with this. for example, if the city were to expand in the pit stop program for all of its non 24 hour sites and make those 24 hours just in the last couple months of the year, that would have a cost of about $1.2 million. so, the cost of doing so on an annual basis would be an additional $6 million. this is something that public works is open to doing but again, there is a cost to doing so and we would be willing to have those conversations though.

>> so, just to give you an idea of the over all uses, we're looking at 300,000 uses a year which as equates to one plus every couple minutes. we've also seen that we collect about 80,700 needles every year so the needles that are being found in playgrounds, parks and sidewalks, we've also seen the placement of the pit stops, we have a reduction at the steam and cleaning request by -- as about a third. this has been a very (inaudible) program in the city and it's modeled by other major cities

across the country whether it's miami, denver, and los angeles and again, i can't emphasize enough the value that we get from our as attendants and they do a great job and keeping the pit stops clean and it's not just the pit stop and the surrounding areas of the pit stops as well we have seen they saved lives when they they can otherwise provide help and again, they really have acted more as partners to us here at public works and i can't say enough about them. now, as you know fortunately

fast forward and covid-19 and and they pinpointed out the thing we saw when we went into to shelter in place, that was the right thing to do but did have a negative impact on large areas in the community because there's no longer access to toilets in the libraries, in the rec centers and things like that because those were now all closed. so public works partnered with hsa and we were able to, as identified, for several locations across the city, based on they began popping up we

began analysis with reps from a hsh and based on that we did checks to evaluate the slope of the area, and considerations if it was available face on the street. we worked with our partner to block certain parking spots if we needed to so this was, as a team effort, as across the city. at the end of the day, it resulted in us being able to secure what is now a total of 37 different toilet at 43 different locations across the city. it was rolled in april of this

year. i also want to emphasize that all the of the toilets that are part of the covid-19 response and are open 24 hours a day and seven days a week. and so, based on the analysis from the united nations have provided at the one (inaudible) for 50 unsheltered residents, and the city has this amended target because we currently have, as 136 toilets, across 63 locations. that is made up of the 42 of the

pit stops and toilets and the 37 additional that were put in place for covid-19. i would want to emphasize we're not done yet but there's work we can do regarding outreach and things like that to make sure that if individuals know and where they are and that's something and the public works is doing right now and working with our partners on the hot team and things like that to provide additional outreach (inaudible). at the same time, we're also going to be continuing our efforts to monitor and the usage of the toilets in place and trying to revise the locations of those toilets as the needs change. like, for example, the thing we're also looking at right now

and working with the e.o.c. and setting up state sites across the city for our unhoused residents and if that's the case we will also be providing toilets and those locations as well at handwashing stations and this last slide gets a look at cost that are associated with the pit stop program with the covid-19 toilet. as you can see, this is not necessarily as a low dollar program and it's the right thing to do and again we did want to

share these costs with you and this cost you see are only the cost that are related to and renting in the toilets and us paying as the monitors in the attendants if you will. is this does not include the cost of the people here at public works so it does not cover the cost for our people that work on a contract team and as a fantastic job and managing these grants and the finance team of helping us to manage these costs they come in and the government affairs and communications team that works on the flyers and the other outreach materials so again, this is only the cost we play as our outside vendors if we were going to expand the program

beyond the current pit stop program and we would likely need to start adding staff they are stretched thin and the size of the program has grown and quickly which is say good thing but again, we're at a point where we have probably needed to reconsider in the staffing that would be needed to add expanded programs and beyond this. so that concludes my presentation and i will be happy to answer any questions. >> thank you for the presentation. president yee. >> supervisor yee: thank you, director. is wave 2 already implemented? is wave 2 representing what you need to get to the ratios that

this legislation is asking for? >> that's a good question. president yee, wave 2 has already been put in place. i believe it wouldn't be in place in the third or first week of april. so the numbers that are in the presentation, are the numbers that are all in place now. >> so, my question is, how many more can we need to put up if we were to reach that goal that is asked in this legislation and how much more would they cost? >> we're (inaudible). the goal with the work. so, the legislation calls for

102 toilets and we're currently at 136. we're over what is called for in the legislation but we may need to still respond to, for example, if we don't have enough toilets in the tenderloin or the mission or in the bayview just because there could be, as a hotspot that we see a group of encampments opens up and we'll need to re-evaluate the need as based on that. >> ok, thank you. thank you for the information. that's helpful. >> supervisor walton. >> >> thank you, chair, fewer and again thank you director alrich. i don't want to mess up your last name so i apologize for not calling you by your last name. i appreciate the presentation and i want to reiterate how important our pit stop restrooms are and the fact that they're more than just toilets because

of the practitioner and because of the cleanliness around our pit stop sites and the way that they work with the surrounding community. it's very important. they're trained in c.p.r. as you talked about directors, they are savely saving lives and i've witnessed on video pit stop practitioner administers narcan to individuals and providing c.p.r. they do more than monitor toilets. they are part of the community that they're participating in. we have seen a major increase in encampments and where they're con agree gating so it's very important that we do have pit stops and hand-washing stations increasing the spread throughout. i was on the phone yesterday with some constituents about everie encampments that have grn

and so i want to say of course i'm fully in support of this legislation and fully in support of the pit stops program and what the providers actually benefit to the community. so thank you. >> supervisor haney. >> thank you. thank you for those comments and the presentation. i have a few questions and comments and amendments that i have that are intended to address some of the things i'm going to bring up. i appreciate that the pit stops have been added. and the commitment to bathroom access. i want to underscore related to president yee's comments. nearly half of the bathrooms that you have right now that are being counted are in parks. i think 57 of the 136 that you mention there. and in addition, we've added a

number of bathrooms recently, less than a quarter of our bathrooms are open past 8:00 p.m. and so i want to ask about access. the purpose is for bathrooms to be near where people need them during this crisis. i believe 20 of the toilets that are being counted as meeting our bathroom access needs are in golden gate park, for example, when i believe especially in the evening and nights that people are supposed to be camping there. obviously, in many cases, parks are -- we're not allowingen camments there, et cetera. can you speak a bit about the bathrooms in the parks and whether you believe that those are accessible and what the bathroom counts look like right now in the parks.

i'm having a hard time seeing that as something that we should count as part of this when those toilets are really generally for times in which the parks are heavily used for exercise and i mean we have, for example, we have one in day's park in south of market. that park, as i understand it, has been closed so can you clarify a bit the role of the bathrooms in the parks and how we count those of meeting the goal and intense of this ordinance? >> yeah, i mean, i would have to speak to my colleagues at a recreation and parks department to truly understand the accessibility of all the parks in the restrooms and i can tell you that i am aware there are some toilets and in the parks

that they have been open in response to health crisis and specifically i know the park in the bayview at mlk were opened up and they are staffed. i want to say 8:00 to 5:00 in the evening in response to a small encampment that is there. i can go back and speak to my colleagues at recreation and parks department to better understand if they have opened up all of their facilities. i can tell you for sure they're opening them up at a case by case basis. >> thank you. i appreciate that because. >> the intention is to have m

are in parks that are open sometimes but not now and because of the changes in rec and parks and also these bathrooms are accessible. you know, i understand that maybe not every bathroom needs to be 24 hours. we didn't put in this legislation that every one of these needs to be 24 hours. i appreciate those have been added are 24 hours. at the same time, they should be close to encampments where people need them and they should have a range of hours that support that accessibility. there's something i want today ask about which is bathrooms that are currently out of commission. there are bathrooms that are closed down. there's one that is on south ns and chavez and have there been efforts to open up the bathrooms that have been closed?

>> yes, we are, we actually just did a walk through in the tenderloin on tuesday morning and we noticed there were a few of the co toilets closed. we reached out to the provider that was doing the servicing of the toilets and they told us, there's one that i guess there was some mechanical problems with that one and we are -- we are in the process of trying to get those fixed and to get those back online. because those are honestl honesf our best options because they're there fixed in place and we wouldn't have to try and rent as a toilet from a vendor and things like that so we are actively trying to get those

back online and i'm hopeful we'll do so within the nueces county few weeks. >> that's great. i appreciate that. couple a couple of last things and maybe you have comments and give amendments. on the funding it's my understanding that last year, there was an announcement from public works and we passed a budget -- those seven pit stops were never deployed and some of the funding that is being used to expand the pit stops during this emergency was pulling from the funding allocated by the mayor and board for those seven pit stops that were never actually put out. is that correct?

>> i believe they are using some of the funding to expand in the current programs. i think that we were able to procure in the process of trying to procure additional pit stops that the city would own and we're any time middle of that fitting cross we're using that same funding tand we're using th fema, is that correct? is some of the funding for this expansion reimbursable for us? >> as my understanding that the funding or the funding for these will hopefully be reimbursable

but i'm not sure if they'll be reimbursed because it's going to be as availability of funds. it's my understanding speaking to the controllers office, that the bulk of the it's reimbursable. >> last question i had, it's my understand taking responsibility for handwashing stations and i know the bathrooms have handwashing stations but i think there's a valuable for these stand alone handwashing stations and they're -- i will be honest here, they're inadequate and often broken in district 6 at least. and they should be much more present and the toilets themselves don't necessarily

serve as standards for these handwashing stations and sometimes they have lines and other things and you can just easily come up and wash your hands and i think it's something that we want to encourage people to do and especially in our can you talk about how many more we're planning to put out? and the approach for the stand alone handwashing stations? >> i can tell you, i don't believe there's a map for those but you are right about the hsh. it would seem that public works would be better suited to manage those and so we're doing that and recently put those under as

a contract. and to cover those. sorry. i had a technical problem there. actually, i believe that there is a map of the handwashing stations. we can do more with regard to outreach in the education as it relates to the handwashing stations. one thing we recently discovered is that the firm that we're using to monitor the handwashing stations was only contacted the vendor to have the vendor come in and do the su servicing so we asked them to contact the vendor and public works so we can be as more responsive to the needs because i'll be honest with you, and supervisor, and the usage

surprises us as far as the volume. and so what we've happened, there was handwashing stations that was cleaned and it was jush soap or water. so what we're going to now in public works, making it passes to add these handwashing stations. to your point, it doesn't help to have it there if it's not going to be operable. and again, i'll take responsibility for that that we just can't see it in the volume that we thought would be happening. we're seeing people and wash your dishes and bathe themselves which is all fine so it's more usage. it means that we, as a department needs to take our water trucks there and fill them

up more often. >> yeah, it would be great to have a sort of a set of a goal from your office around how many you are going to put out in a clear map and a strategy around it. it's a really important thing. maybe even as important as the bathrooms right now in some ways. the issue of people bathing themselves is also something to flag which is we're all taking on more than different response abilities now but they're also a huge need for people to be able to shower and do other types of hygiene. i think many of them are not able to access right now. the handwashing stations i think is say really important part of this and i hope that with this ordinance, it can be more clearly set with the goals and the tracking and the map and the additional sites. i'll pass it over and i have some amendments. >> i'd like to make a comment. i just want to say, i really

appreciate the work that public works has been doing in such a short timeline. i realize that this (inaudible) people on the streets and also people living in tents. i just wanted to say that i can't agree with you more about the staffing of the pit stops and i feel like and my neighbors also really appreciate this staffing. they are so professional and i drive by and check in on them. they're always in a good mood. i feel better they're there also and they do a great job. i also can't say enough about the staffing there. supervisor haney i want to push back on the bathrooms in the park. 70% of the golden gate park is my district. we're not allowing camping, we're not removing tents from the parks. as people are going out and using our parks more and more to get recreation, as you mentioned in your earlier comments, it

should be for regular people also who are housed -- not regular, but people who are housed that actually should be washing their hands and using the bathrooms. quite frankly, in san francisco, and as you traveled around the world you will know that we don't have a lot of public bathrooms for people to use and quite frankly, the facility, those are flushing toilets, we don't have to buy the pit stops for them and i don't think it's a question of and or or, i think it is a question of how many more do we need for specific purposes. i actually think more rec and park bathrooms should be open to the public. with the recreation is closed, think that in my neighborhood, i had zero service force unhoused people yet growing, growing tent encampments and i think if we're talking about accessibility

for encampments it's different than saying, these bathrooms in the parks shouldn't be included in how many bathrooms that are accessible. we should look at how many rec and park facilities that we have are accessible and should be we be opening more because those are actually in our recreation centers interested in the heart of our neighborhoods also. more accessibility for everyone to use bathrooms and to be able to wash their hands is important. there's a shortage of porty pot tees and getting the physical things, the toilets themselves and so we have these facilities and we should be able to use even more bathrooms and make them accessible to we're not incurring the costs, quite frankly, of renting a port-a-potty. i understanden camments are growing and popping up

everywhere and the parks are owned by our managed by rec and park are stationary but actually these are institutions already in our neighborhoods that people already always have relied on through the decades and for them to be closed now, also has another burden in our neighborhoods. i don't have a lot of public bathrooms in my neighborhood and quite frankly, the pit stop are the only public bathrooms that i have open in my neighborhood. and so, i don't think it's a question of should we, you know, but you are seeing that there are these one to the parks and should they be counted. they should all be counted as access but i understand for specific purposes. i just want to say that we also have public showers that we even as a city and county in san francisco and when you say people need showers, i absolutely agree. we do have public showers in the city of san francisco that

taxpayers have paid for, we're just not able to access them. that's another -- when we look at public works and what they're doing we should look at the available resources that we do have that we have through the city and county of san francisco. we had a 1989 earthquake we were able to put showers into the hall of justice quite frankly and build them quickly and so, these are the conversations thae are saying that we need more because we're having more encampments and i am experience tents in any neighborhood with zero services for unhoused people except the pit stops. i understand -- my district isn't a district that 60% of the homeless folks. i understand it's a whole different ball game in your district. i also just want to say that every assess able bathroom that we have that we can open, i think we should open them.

and then there's another conversation about having the pit stops. within our own communities, we have bathrooms we could be opening up. then i will now -- can i clarify one thing. i want to say, i could not agree with you more. i think what i really want to know is just making sure those bathrooms are in the parks that people are still relying on or still open and accessible. i had some examples in my district where, if we're counting the park bathrooms but they're not open, that doesn't make sense. let's take advantage of the bathrooms that are there like you said, and let's make sure that they're accessible and let's look at the use ratesser and. if they're accessible and people are using them they should be count. i'm not saying they should only be in district 6, it's really important they're everywhere throughout the city and looking at that map, there's a lot of

gaps where we have parts of the city who don't have bathrooms and if the parks are open because we have bathrooms there let's do that. let's count those and let's make sure as you say, they're really open and accessible to people because they should be. >> absolutely. what i'm looking at maps, i know within that map where there aren't pit stops and there are public toilets and bathrooms there they're just not open. i think that in a city as rich as san francisco, quite frankly, even during this budget deficit time or recession, is that human lives come first and should take precedent. when we are looking at the inability to actually rent some more port-a-pot tees we would look where we also currently

have that. toilets and sinks that are actually working and not covid-19 era we had time that we actually had them open for the public and they were accessible to the public. so thank you. i guess we're not in argument but we're just saying -- >> i agree with you. we should make sure they're open and if there are any that are closed, look at how we can open them. >> make sure people know they're open. >> supervisor walton, thank you. >> thank you, chair fewer. actually, supervisor haney's earlier statements were going to mirror some of the things i was going to say but i 100% agree in terms of making sure that what we have available is accessible. if you look at a district like district 10, where we have increased number of folks living in vehicles and areas where they're actually there parks and they're not created equal in terms of parks and restrooms and

public bathrooms and we have seen a increase of folks living in vehicles and living in areas that are aware. we don't have the number of parks and restrooms that the company of the parks in certain parts of the community and i want to commend d.p.w. for the increased number of pit stops we've seen in the district. we still have certain areas where parks are not in close proximity regardless of our rec and park director will tell us that we have a park close to every human being in the city but that's not the case in some areas and so, pit stops are very important for that aspect and just the last thing i will touch on. we actually have a safe sleeping space where folks have been at martin luther king playground and there's a rest room there. it does close at 5:00 and rec and park have been great in

terms of trying to staff it and clean it up in the mornings. the reality of it is, a pit stop with a practitioner in terms of cleanliness and safety and in terms of the additional supports that come with an area that is highly concentrated with people and i just unhouse people and to your point in terms of everybody has accessibility to a rest room, these practitioners that come along it's unmatched in terms of the service, the level of service that they provide. >> thank you, supervisor. supervisor haney. >> >> so, we have two amendments and one of them i think kind of hits on this point here which is, to make sure that the bathrooms are open. we mean the bathrooms need to be

open and so there's a couple ways to do this and i wanted to get, we talked about that i little bit and supervisor mar asked for an amendment saying that the bathroom shall be open 24 hours a day and that would mean a pretty large increase -- because we only have, just the new ones plus the other three are open 24 hours now and this many bathrooms that are open at least 12 hours a day, because i know some of them are open 8:00 to 8:00 -- can you speak on the issue of hours because it's to

make sure that there are this many bathrooms and they're open and not just that they're in existence. >> see, i would like to clarify too. the ones i was speaking b. those are all open. there are some others within the rec and park inventory that aren't but of the 57 toilets that i included in our total to get to the 136, all of those are open and the both of them are open 8:00 in the morning until 8:00 at night and there are two that are open but the bulk is within the rec and park facilities that i've been counting are open 8:00 to 8:00. at the same time, we can

certainly do i think your question is really getting to are we -- are the toilets that welcome back open 24/7, those need to be in the hotspot areas. as a placement standpoint, we tried to focus those on as the covid-19 toilets they're all 24/7 access and those have been in large part placed based on need. what is the most as immediate need in response to covid-19. so we tried to address that as a replacement to it because again, it's an issue of trying to find the toilets because they're having a hard time trying to find them and the other issue is the staffing. for example, at night they try and add an extra staff person from the attendance side just to

make it safe and again that's on top of all of the work that the operations team does within public works to support those and again, i also want to emphasize the operation's yard here at public works does an amazing job of keeping this program going. >> supervisor haney, do you have an aspirational goal or is your amendment something -- i'm asking because i don't think i have a fiscal analysis on this amendment if you are adding saying that this is an ordinance that you want done immediately and we're doing this or is this a goal we'll set this goal because i would need at budget

committee the number of, fiscal number of the impact it would have. i would like to see this amendment so i didn't know what was in the amendment. if you don't mind, may i (inaudible). so could we have a report, please. >> good morning, chairs. fewer, members of the committee and just to speak what we had in our report, we presented a lot of the information and because they add new pit stops in the month of april there are now 136 toilets, our estimate was to meet the unsheltered population the minimum would be 104 so right now it does exceed the minimum that is required under the ordinance and we do this in detail.

all of the locations and hours including the park pit stops and many of them are not 24 hours. we did calculate what the cost would be to add to 24 hours. to just increase the 24 hours for the existing 21 public works pit stops in our 24 hours, we estimate it to be about $100,000 a week or a million dollars over 10 weeks. and then to add the parks stops, to increase it around-the-clock coverage that would be $25,000 a week over 10 weeks and the basis was there would be a one to 50 ratio during the nighttime hours as well as the daytime hours and as this is a supervisor if we consider approval to be a policy matter and i'm available for any questions. >> thank you, very much. supervisor haney, would it be ok if i called public comment now?

>> yeah. >> thank you, very much, supervisor. madam clerk, can you please see if anyone would like to comment on item number 1? >> operation is checking to see if there are any callers in the cue. please let us know if there are any callers that are ready. if you have not already done so, please press one and then 0 to be added to the cue. for those already on hold, please continue to wait until you are prompted to begin and speak. >> thank you, very much, madam clerk. >> there are no callers wishing to speak. >> there are no callers in the chair. i thought someone else was on the line. thank you very much. public comment is now closed. supervisor haney. >> so, to be clear and i think if there was an analysis of this

and it would be my goal that the pit stops would be open 24 hours a day so it would be the additional 21 it sounds like pit stops for those to be open 24 hours a day. do we have a fiscal analysis of that what that expansion might be? >> supervisor fewer, our report we estimated 100,000 a week or a million dollars over 10 week period. and that is for the pit stops. the first amendment is to section 4a page 5 line 24.

all pit stops shall be open 24 hours a day. >> ok. >> and then the second amendment would be right after that. and it would say bathrooms shall be accessible in areas with the highest need and restrooms and hair room stations shall be provided within a thousand feet of an encampment. that second amendment is one that i believe they said it's something that they would be able to do but for the second one it's also kind of a policy thing but i wonder if the department department works can comment on 29th one around a thousand feet of an encampment. >> i believe it's their policy

already. >> yes, we certainly do try to place the pit stops where they're most needed and certainly if there'sen camment in the area we will place emphasis up there. >> thank you, very much. >> does that conclude your amendment. >> to clarify, you are asking for the existing pit stops to be in fact 24 hours a day at a cost of a million dollars over 10 weeks, is that correct? is that correct ms. campbell? >> yes, that's correct. >> thank you. >> and that you would like to pit stops to be 1,000 feet from any encampment, is that correct? that is an amendment to your

existing legislation? >> yes. >> ok. >> is there any other amendment? >> i'd like to now call on our city attorney harrison to see whether or not these are substantive. thank you. >> city attorney? >> good morning chair fewer members of the committee. no, as related to those amendments are not substantive, they're slightly different from the ones that were prepared by my office so i wanted to just ask some clarifying questions in the same way that you did, madam chair, and i wanted to just confirm so that we can accurately capture them should they be approved that the intent is only to require that existing pit stops be open 24/7 and with respect to the location

requirement i wanted to ask for confirmation whether that applies only to the existing pit stops or to all new bathrooms. >> does it apply to all new bathrooms? >> supervisor haney, did you send us a copy of those a amendment this is. >> i'm not sure. >> i don't think i have seen them. >> i'm looking for it. >> they were distributed earlier this morning. i see it right here. so supervisor haney, if you would like, what we can do is that these are not substantive, we could pass this out of

committee as your legislation actually states now. you can work on them and mention when it it comes to the board on tuesday, you can actually make those amendments on the floor. after you confer with the city attorney. and clarify which ones we're talking about and i appreciate that. >> supervisor haney, are you requesting that this is out of committee at the committee report? >> yes,. >> thank you very much. >> madam chair -- >> yes, please. >> i also want to -- and i want clarification.

we may have time. if we talk about expanding all the current pit stops to 24 hours there are some in location where that might not make the most sense just based on usage so i would hope we would have an opportunity to talk about that and i also want to clarify, i am not sure if we do that will all those costs be reimbursable from fema because the covid-19 (inaudible) i'm certain those would be reimbursable. the expansion of making all of the pit stops 24/7 might not be just because of the population that are being served by some of those. >> so, and i appreciate that. i will work with you to make this work. a eye.

>> to finalize your amendments and we will make a motion to pass this to the full board without the amendment with a positive recommendation as a committee record to the next board meeting of the board of supervisors. is that correct, supervisor haney? >> absolutely. thank you so much chair fewer. >> thank you. >> roll call vote, madam chair. [roll call]

>> mayor: i'm san francisco mayor london breed. i want to thank you all for joining us here today. i'm really excited about this small business forum that is so desperately needed for so many businesses in

our city. this pandemic has had not only a tremendous impact on our overall city and our public health, but it has also had a tremendous impact on our financial health, and especially many of our businesses in the city. the people who own these businesses, the work force of these businesses, it all will be very difficult as the few -- as the months to come, when we begin to look at ways in which we can open and provide new guidelines around opening businesses. we know that financially so many of our businesses are hurting now. they need support now, and also will need support in the future. some of the programs that we put forth here in the city, immediately, almost, was to defer the payment of business taxes until next year. we actually extended the

deadline for fees, as well. we provided resources for paid sick leave so businesses can extend paid sick leave payments to their employees. we provided grants and loan opportunities with no interest and flexible repayment schedules. we have also provided arts grants for so many of our artists who rely on performances and other events in order to take care of themselves. as someone who not only loves san francisco, but as someone who uses so many of our small businesses, whether it is the drycleaner that i have been going to since i could afford a drycleaner, or the person who does my hair or my nails or the musicians that play at the lounges and restaurants that i love to go to all over the city -- all of these

very unique businesses are what matters to the people of this city. they are part of the fabric of our city. and i want to make sure that as we propose more funding and more support on the local level, that we are connecting to the people who need these resources the most. and we are also making sure that federal and state resources are reaching all of you. so today we are here with the director of the department of the office of economic and work force development. joaquin torres, and if you want to look up some of the services we have, visit oewd.org. joaquin runs that department. and even before this pandemic, i have been really laser-focused on trying to eliminate fees that make it difficult for small businesses, in

particular, to be in business in san francisco in the first place. so even though this pandemic is challenging, i am so hopeful it will be an opportunity to provide some much-needed long-term relief for our businesses in san francisco. joaquin will be leading those efforts. we also have the president of the small business commission, cynthia huey, who will be moderating this discussion, and we have the director of the chamber of commerce here as well, native san franciscan rodney fong, who has been a business person pretty much his whole life. the wax museum -- i don't know about you, but i went to gallileo high school,and we used to sneak into the wax museum when i was a kid. so i owe you some ticket money, rodney. so between the wax museum, the restaurants and the hair and nail salons, the barber shops, the masseuse

locations, all of these great things are really what make san francisco so special. and we know that the sad reality is that because of the pandemic and because of the requirement around social distancing, it is not as simple as those institutions and those businesses can actually go back to work, number one. and, number two, when you go back to work, the likelihood that you're going to be able to make sufficient revenue to cover the expenses you haven't been able to cover for months is going to be challenging. so this is our opportunity to hear from businesses, to make sure that not only are we putting forth good options to support you, but they are affectively working to serve your businesses, and that we are doing everything we can to come up with the kinds of things that are going to help you in the long run. so with that, i want to turn it over to our director of the office of economic and work

force development for a few words. and then rodney fong will say a few words, and then we'll get to cynthia, and she'll moderate this discussion. thank you all for joining us here today. >> thank you so much, mayor breed, and thank you, again, for your leadership and the pressure you place on our office to make sure we're reaching the needs of our small business communities across the city and in our neighborhoods. and thank you for the idea of bringing us all together through this townhall so we can have an opportunity to hear from each other, and our answers about some of the most pressing questions facing small businesses, and the relief you have been driving us to deliver for our small business communities. whether we talked about grants or loan products or deferral of fees, it is all grounded in wanting to see our small businesses be successful here, not only with what the city can provide, but complementing the wrap-around efforts of

the state and federal resources that both essential to our relief and recovery efforts. a few things before we jump in, we know generally, based on some conversations that we've had, we've seen a 70% decrease city-wide. and certain areas and industries are hit even harder in terms of the sales that are out there. we know that we're already seeing 14,000 businesses being affected, 166,000 employees at this moment in time. we're expecting larger hits as time goes on. in addition to over 70,000 people that have already applied for unemployment in san francisco alone. we know that we are dealing with unprecedented challenges here in san francisco, but we, through our office of economic and work force development, and mayor breed, we're standing ready to support the small business community at this time, and especially with the partners we have joining us today and in our communities. both in the past and also in the present, and we're very much looking forward to the future. so looking forward to answering some questions here today.

now, i'll pass it over to the president of the chamber of commerce rodney fong. >> thank you, joaquin first of all, i want to say hello to everyone. we're in this together. we're all feeling the same things, we're all feeling the same frustration, the level of fear going on, but hopefully we'll get through this together and support our way through a great recovery. i want to thank mayor breed and all that her office has been doing, and joaquin has been working like a work horse over the last four, five weeks -- it seems like months, i'm sure -- but he and his staff are doing a great job. they have been working extremely hard. just a little bit of recap: over the last few weeks, the city and the mayor have deferred some of the business registration fees. and they deferred them until september. that adds up to about $49 million in cash flow to the city of san francisco. several fees that apply

to storefront businesses have also been deferred until september, helping to preserve another $14 million in cash flow. i want to be very clear that the mayor is clear about this, we are going to be looking at a significant deficit in the city of san francisco, the bay area, the state of california, and so we're talking about a million dollars out from the city that we won't have in revenue. we will have to all pitch in. we'll all have to figure out how we save and go back to san francisco in an even better way. if we want to start talking about recovery tomorrow, we've got to start planning it today. i'm happy and delighted to tell you that the recovery task force kicked off last friday. it is about an 80-person task force led by myself, carmen chu, jose gonzales and rudy representing labor. 80 seems like a lot of people, but when you

look at all of the different sectors and industries and non-profits, it is a good representation of a lot of people who have shared interests. again, we're going to have to all work together. it is not just one industry here in san francisco that is better than another. i want to also mention that we're going to have to rely on our public health department to lay out new guidelines. we are essentially reinventing ourselves in a great way, bringing in technology that might be able to help us in a better way and create a better san francisco. i want to touch on three points, though, if i can, pretty briefly. this is one where probably from a commerce perspective it doesn't emerlogicalseem logical. the public school system and private school system implementing guidelines to get kids and teachers safely back into the school affects the whole area. not until moms and dads

feel safe, do we get a full workforce. it is important because a busy downtown san francisco supports so many businesses as you know. all of the sandwiches get bought and kids get picked up at lunch, and it is important that somewhere e that wehave a busy . the second main point i want to make is small businesses will need to pivot. we'll have to reinvent ourselves, get creative, and we're going to have to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers that we naturally are. there is no greater test than this one to figure out how it will be different. restaurants may have to change their seating arrangements, going town to not a full house. here in san francisco and los angeles, it is very difficult to make money without a full-seated restaurant. and we're going to have to figure that out. that means takeout and maybe retail inside of a restaurant. maybe other clothing

produced by someone related to the restaurant, creating a lifestyle. all of the pivots are going to require us, the city, government, and private sector to be flexible with our permitting process. to look at permit streamlining, to allow change of use permits to occur. maybe temporarily, just as we get back up, and then we can tighten them back up, but we need to be in this all together and be flexible. the third thing i want to mention is public health. the mayor has disown such done agreat job in listenig to public health. and we'll rely on them to tell us what is best practices. i hope the departments listen to small business, and small business actually steps up and says, you know what? no one knows how to run this nightclub better than we do, and here are some suggestions we think we can voluntarily put down, something we can live with financially,

operationally. we look at the changes and the way they're going to occur, they're very much operational. there is one piece that has been floated around, and that is an idea of a certifcate of healthy places, voluntary standization, much like standization -- standardization, much as a food place has to have a safe handling permit. i, again, wanted to stress that creativity and ingenuity will get us largely out of this. and what will set one business apart from another is how safe and clean it is. if we can do that independently and collectively, san francisco can be a better city. so i'll stop there. >> mayor: all righ all right. thank you, rodney. commissioner huey, if you want to get some remarks, and then we can go right into the question and answer. >> sure. thank you very much. thank you, everybody, for logging in today.

my name is cynthia huey, and i'm a small business owner in the city. and most recently, as a commissioner on the small business commission. i just really want to express how grateful i am to be a san franciscan right now. i was just outside on saturday, singing with my neighbors, and it was an amazing feeling. so i'm incredibly appreciative of show everyone in our communities have come together to fight for and support the health of all san franciscans. you know, just a quick story i wanted to share. i was recently in a west portal merg merchant's meeting, with mayor breed as well -- you probably had no idea i was there. i was watching you during a meeting, and i could see you in your little zoom box, typing away. and i was just floored that this is our mayor. this is our mayor.

you were in the chat to try to answer everybody's questions and connecting people. and i was so proud of the fact that i live in a city where our mayor just digs in and is doing the work. and so i just wanted to say from the very bottom of my heart, thank you so much for trying to help us all through this. it is an incredibly challenging situation, time. i can't even imagine, but i know we're going to all get through this. and i believe in your leadership, and i really thank you. >> mayor: thank you, commissioner. >> so, i think, also, all of us have all of the programs and things memorized right now, all of the wonderful grants we can apply for and all of the loans and all of the different things that i think have been mentioned already, but i also wanted to highlight the work of the office of small businesses. they've been fielding hundreds and hundreds of phone calls and e-mails

every week, trying to get business owners connected with resources, and really doing a lot of one-on-one counselling. so i wanted to thank them. and thanking everybody on the panel. rodney, your expertise today, and also leading us into the recovery. and joaquin, i don't know how you do this. you're in every single meeting, and somehow you're in 20 places at once, but thank you very much. so at this point, let's -- i just want to move into the questions, if that's okay with everyone here? >> yes. >> great. just to give everyone some context about the questions, the vast majority of people who are c.p. for today's talk are also c.p.'d with a question. and these are questions that have been asked over and over again. starting with joaquin, what is the status of the city's grants and funding programs for small businesses impacted by covid?

>> yes, thank you very much for the question. as the mayor said, for up to date realtime information, please go to oewd.org, and click on covid covid-19, and it will list all of the resources available, and what is implemen complementary from the state and local levels, ready to reach out with you online, connect with you on the phone to guide you through the process and help you navigate this very difficult time. in addition to that, also private resources available, newly-announced grants that are accessible to you. please do frequently visit that site. it's where we try to put everything we have available. we started out with a million dollars before we had the shelter in place, to support small businesses with grants, up to $10,000. since that time we have doubled that grant pool so we could serve over

200 businesses through that effort, with grants up to $10,000. we also heard that some of the resources were not reaching some of the soul proprietors. and we'll be publicizing that on our website. we have a little over 127 grants from that first allocation. and secondly, the mayor introduced the gift to s.f. fund here in san francisco, so we could coordinate, and, mayor, thank you so much for the leadership there. so we will have private resources available to support us with a loan program, a zero percent interest program. we have a partner surntlcurrently that accepted applications. we received over 4,000 businesses who submitted that application. we want to reinforce

that the resources we have able right now, from a city's perspective, are greatly exceeded by the demand. which is why it is so important that today, if folks have not been aware -- i'm sure everybody is in the small business community -- thae federal sba program -- those applications opened up this morning at 7:30 a.m again, go to our website for more information there. where you can learn about additional partners, financial institutions, who can also help you in getting those applications filled out. why is that important? because many banks are only working with their clients, and prioritizing them on a first come, first serve basis. there are billions of dollars being held for other smaller lenders, other smaller banks and cdcdfis, and making sure thethat the public knows

they are there. please do take the initiative right now, reach out to our hotline, as you mentioned, cynthia, and get realtime information from us, with any questions you may have, you will get a response and talk to a person when you reach out to us. so i think i'll leave it with that. as a final piece, the mayor also introduced a neighborhood mini grant program on friday afternoon. it is also meant as another fill the gap in some of the most underserved neighborhoods. given the fact we do have a financial crisis, we wanted to make sure we're finding those resources as we have them available, and delivering them where they are needed, again, focusing on those who may not be able to access other resources in other ways. and also ensuring that women entrepreneurs, from a city-wide perspective, had access to those grants as well. thank you so much.

>> thank you. so many of the fees and fines that small businesses have been experiencing have been deferred now, i think, until september, is what you mentioned? are there long-term plans for small businesses to be able to navigate those fees beyond that? since many of us were already struggling to pay those before this. >> mayor: definitely. thank you, cynthia, for the question. that is one of the areas that i'm laser-focused on. because the fact is some of the businesses that are being required to close under our ordinance are not generating any revenue. and the fact that we would expect businesses to pay these fees during times that they're not even open and able to

generate revenue is not right. so we are working to figure out how we can deal with the fees overall, and what it would mean to reduce, or to eliminate, certain fees for a time period, or what have you. we are definitely looking into that because as what was said by rodney, what we've seen, we're talking about somewhere around $49 million. the city is facing a significant budget deficit, but we also can't balance our budget on the backs of businesses that won't be able to reopen if we continue to burden them with even more city fees. so that is something that we're definitely focused on. it is something that i care about. i care about dealing with that, to try to remove that barrier. but i also want to be clear -- i think, first of all, we have so many

businesses that are going to be struggling even after we begin to reopen. there are businesses that are having challenges now. they're going to have challenges after this. but then there might be businesses that are okay. and we want to make sure that those businesses that are okay, that they continue to pay what they owe, if they can afford to do so. because there are going to be a lot of businesses that can't. we want to be fair because this impacts all of us. when the city is not able to generate sufficient revenue, it makes it more difficult for us to provide more resources to those businesses that are struggling the most. in fact, we mentioned gifts to s.f., where i'm actually raising private dollars to support small businesses. there are only three categories in our give to s.f. program, and one is food insecurity, one is for housing and to help with people that might be facing eviction, and the most

important category here is small businesses, and making sure that we have more resources. we need to maximize the amount of resources we're able to provide in order to help carry businesses that need it the most through this pandemic. so it is definitely something that i'm committed to addressing. and this is where i'm going to count on the business community as i try to propose legislative changes through the process. we're going to need people to be supportive of that. because it is really going to be -- it's going to hit our budget hard, but i think the benefits of supporting our small businesses outweigh the need for us to collect these fees from our already suffering businesses. >> thank you very much. this question, i think rodney would be the person to direct this to. along with the fines and

fees, i think one of the things top of mind for small businesses is also commercial rent. so what programs are there, or what types of resources do you have to help some of our small business owners with, to negotiate rent changes, rent relief, with their commercial landlords? >> that's a good question and it is a tough one because at the moment, there is not necessarily any relief for landlords. in san francisco, a very old city, many of our landlords are small businesses, too. they have mortgages, insurance, and their own obligations. so i think the battle is they want to not have vacancies. i don't know any land owner who wants to have a vacancy. if you're a tenant with a small business, you should begin a dialogue with your landlord, if possible, to see if there is any kind of deferment. i stress to you they are also under the same

pressures, with mortgages and such. but there are private arrangements, and those kinds of conversations would be very helpful. >> okay. thank you. mayor breed, many small business owners have not even heard back from the sba jet o yet on their loans. do have you an update on the federal assistance program? i know this morning there was new funding added to that, but do you know anything beyond, or how the city can help advocate some of the small business owners who haven't even had a chance to -- >> mayor: yeah. and joaquin can provide some insight into that. his office is working on trying to get access to that. >> absolutely. that is one of the biggest questions for us, in terms of where is accessibility happening. almost immediately we were on the phone with financial institutions when we were getting questions across the

city about what does this program look like? everything was rolling out so quickly, everyone was scrambling to understand -- even their own lenders, who they had a relationship with, would provide them guidance or even a response. what we're monitoring very closely now, both treasury sisnaros and the recorder, cameron chu, reached out to the financial institutions to ask, how are you communicating with your clients? what is the process by which you will be processing applications? what is important to know right now, is based on those conversations, the mayor asked us to make sure we were submitting those concerns from the general politics to the speaker's office, part of our federal advocacy. that's why we saw this funding that was reserved specifically for smaller lenders, so folks had many outlets to access though federal

relief funds at the same time. so as we see that program roll out today, we'll be monitoring it in realtime to find out what the responses are like. the silver lining for us that we're seeing right now, but we'll still be watching closely, is the fact that there are those dollars that are held for smaller institutions, and we can see what relief is provided to the small business owners that take that path, as they begin to work with their financial clients, the large banks and the sba around their own applications. i do encourage every small business owner that has an application to reach out to their lender with some followup questions, in terms what have will their process be? we'll also be feeding that back on our website at well. we'll have that additional information, too. but we're looking forward to monitoring this and seeing how this new version of p.p.p. is going to be administered, and what

we'll need to provide. >> and just a followup question about the p.p.p. how will small businesses reach the levels so that we're eligible to receive those loans from the federal government? >> mayor: and i will say that one of the reasons why i created the economic recovery task force is so that when we're able to provide a window of opportunity for a particular industry to open, we want to make sure that before that happens they know what the requirements are going to be. and so that they can get ready. so on day one, they know what to expect. we have been talking to the speaker about that particular requirement because when you think about it, with restaurants, if we're going to be looking at reopening restaurants and changing their capacity, then there is no way that they're

going to not only be able to afford to bring back all of their employees, but the likelihood that they will even be able to afford their rent and other expenses is going to be really, really challenging. and so i think that part of our goal with the economic recovery task force is to look at ways, working with the department of public health, to provide guidance for these industries, to help people to get ready, so on day one they know what they're going to be able to do. but the speaker has been absolutely incredible, and is aware that this could potentially be a challenge in light of the need to impose new restrictions on businesses that may make it difficult for them to be able to bring back their employees. the other thing that the economic recovery task force will do is also look at ways to ensure that our workforce adapts to what our new normal is. we have folks from the

academic world who many of our institutions were asking them to look at their classes and what they have available, in order to retrain people for maybe a new opportunity that they may not have thought was possible. because they're not able to return to their job. and so we're looking at other industries. we're looking at how many contact tracers we're going to need, because until a vaccine is found, there is a need to identify when someone has a virus, who have they been in contact with? not just in their immediate family at home, but others in other parts of the community, along with more testing. this is going to be necessary for us to open and to remain open so that we don't see a significant surge in the number of cases. so it's going to take a major effort to start thinking differently about things won't necessarily go back to

the same. but i think that there is an adjustment that we can make, if we're prepared to make it, and our economic recovery task force is going to play an important role in helping us do that. and i'm going to continue to advocate not just the speaker, but our senators as well, we have a great relationship with kamala harris and other. we have con tact contact with te mayors about what adjustments need to be made because we'll all be in the same boat. >> i'm going to kind of backtrack a little bit into a question that was asked many times. many small business owners are reporting seeing an increase intents and street, unsheltered homelessness in commercial corridors and other in other words. in otheother neighborhoods.whao help the homeless, who

are at a greater risk of contracting coronavirus? >> mayor: if you own a business, you know the challenges of homelessness don't go away because there is a pandemic. in fact, they've been worse for us. although we've been able to get close to a thousand people into hotel rooms, the ability to address homeless in the age of social distancing has been so difficult. and so what you're seeing is we are ramping up our hotels, but we also have to have staff and meals and cleaning and services and management of these hotels to ensure that staff and the folks who work there are safe, but also the people who are located in those hotel rooms are safe as well. it is a massive undertaking, requiring a significant increase in our capacity. and it is really taxing

on our workforce. and when i say our workforce, is no it is not just people in the city and non-profits, all of the employees that are disaster workers -- we've had to retrain librarians and rec and park staff and other people who have not hired to do these jobs, to work with this population in these capacities. we are not going to be able to place our entire homeless population into hotel rooms. but what we're trying to do is get creative around how we're able to provide them help and to find safe locations where we can divert the tents off of the sidewalks, off of the streets into larger areas and larger parking lots. specifically we're looking at everett middle school as an option, and we're working with supervisor mandelman on that. and we're looking at other locations in the bay view. we have trailers that we

received from the state and that we also purchased, that we plan to place at pier 92, to move people out of tents and into the shelters, people who are residents of the bay view. we're trying to get creative to try to get as many people off the streets as we possibly can. it is challenging and will continue to be challenging. but we're going to continue to do the very best that we can. and i cannot, you know, commit to seeing this major change around the removal of tents if we don't have places for people to go. we have to make sure that we have restrooms, wash stations, and other things when we take responsibility for any of the folks that are housed intents at this time. we're going to continue to get creative and provide informal locations and work with the department of public health and the department of homelessness to do just

that. and i will say, as much as we've been able to do, not only providing meals to our shelters, meals to these hotels, and meals to people who are in tents, and cleaning services and other support, it continues to be a challenge to ramp up to the number of staffing that we need in order to meet what we see a significant population of homeless people in our city. >> just to kind of start talking a little bit more -- to talk a little bit more about recovery and reopening, what do you think will the new standards look for operating a business in this city? we have different types of needs for different high-contact industries, such as restaurants, hair and nail salons, like you had mentioned,

dental offices, things like that. what are your thoughts on that? >> mayor: so i'm glad you asked that question, because, again, part of our goal with our economic recovery task force with a lot of the different industries, we want to work together to provide those guidelines. so, for example, most of what we see happening with the department of public health and the decisions that are being made are centered around what we need to do to protect public health. so it focuses on trying to keep people apart from one another in order to avoid getting the virus. and what we're experiencing with our economy, and what we're seeing with the numbers, they have real concerns about opening up too fast because we still see the number of hospitalizations have gone up. we still see, every day, an increase number in the number of people who are positive for covid-19, and we've had

23 deaths, over 1400 cases, and about 85 people who are hospitalized. so they are not comfortable we are out of the woods because those numbers continue to rise you say flattening the curve, but it is pretty flat, relative to most other major cities, but it has not dropped. and what we've done today, for example, in extending the stay-at-home order for an additional month, during that time or goal is to not sit around and wait until direction is given from the department of public health. we are going to provide the guidance for how we can get back to opening up some of our businesses. so, for example, just think about it, the restaurants have delivery and pickup services. we have non-essential businesses that possibly, with the right kinds of guidelines, could potentially be open for the same pickup

and delivery services as well. the place where i buy my candles, you know, where they have, you know, all these knick-knacks and things that i like to buy. why not make sure that those small businesses that serve our communities have the pickup and drop-off service. and what we have to do, and what i'm hoping or economic recovery task force will do with these various industries, are what are some new guidelines for various industries? because i'm not going to wait around for the department of public health to say, okay, yes, it is okay to open our hair salons and our barber shops. what i want to do is get ready for that and provide for them the suggested guidelines, get them to agree and to allow some of these places to start to reopen. because that's where we are now. we have to start working on this now. so, for example, if we

set up guidelines today, that three weeks from now, or four weeks from now, this is what a beauty salon needs to be doing in order to get open, then they can get prepared for that. and they can start booking appointments and working with their costumers. if they can only have one person in the shop at a time -- what does that mean? i'm not suggesting that that is going to happen, because part of it is contingent upon what happens with our numbers. what happens with the number of people who are infected. and so we are open to suggestions from our business community. if you have a unique business and you don't necessarily interact with the public, but you have items that you sell and your not online, but there is a way you could provide pickup and delivery, what does that look like? i think we have to start having those discussions now, so that we can get people ready. if they're going to need to wear gloves and masks

when they're doing certain services, we need to get people ready so they have the supplies that they need. that is a continued conversation i'm hoping we will focus this additional month of may on those kinds of solutions because when we reopen, it will not be business as usual. things are going to be a lot different, especially in light of not having a vaccine. there are going to be some challenges with large-scale events. there are going to be challenges with nightclubs, with hair and nail salons, but it doesn't mean that we should not look at ways we can reopen and make sure that we're practicing certain techniques or requirements that will help limit the number of people that would be infected. >> this is our last question, maybe for rodney.

how can small businesses and small business owners be leaders in the recovery efforts? >> yeah. i think the mayor spoke well about creativity and ingenuity. we want everyone to figure out what they want to do next and how their business is going to shift. i will share that there is one website, where there is a public survey put out by the recovery task force. 1san francisco.org francisco.org/covid-19 recovery. we want to have more students foopportunities for pee to give structure. hopefully we'll have a playbook. there will not be an exact plan, but a whole list of plays that we can put into play, that she can pull from that will have a matrix of.

as this changes, it is very different -- in fact, maybe an earthquake recovery would be somewhat easier than this recovery because it may have some start and stops. we'll try to have as much information with regard to making opportunities from the public. >> thank you. i wanted to thank everybody for being on this panel today and sharing advice, encouragement, all of these things, for all of us because we need it right now. mayor breed, would you like to close this off today? >> mayor: yeah. first of all, thank you, commissioner huey, for your work with this. you mentioned in the beginning that you had a number of people who registered and provided questions. so i want to ask you to make sure that joaquin gets that list with the questions, and he and his team will respond to those questions to try to do what we can to

make sure that we are answering them. you can also e-mail joaquin or e-mail me at mayorlondonbreed mayorlondonbreed@sfgof.o rg. it is better if you reach out to me by e-mail, not on social media because i'm not allowed to get on official media because my staff, they are trying to -- they won't let me do stuff. [laughter] >> if you respond to me, we'll get back to you as quickly as we can with your questions. joaquin and his team have been great with providing resources for small businesses. i'm on the phone regularly, not only trying to raise private dollars to support our small businesses, but also trying to redirect funds and figuring out creative ways to support

our small business community. i also just want to repeat one of the things i've said. as we start to propose policies that can help our small business community, we're going to really need the small business community to rally around those policies because we know that it's a matter of whether or not you will be able to even reopen as we start to open our doors here in the city again. so it is important that we hear from you, that you, of course, are paying attention to what is happening around the policy discussions, that you're contacting your board of supervisors and making clear to them what is important to you. again, i know it is a real struggle. it is a real struggle. and what we want to do is make sure that we are helping to meet the needs of people who need help now. and we want to get to people, and we want to be as supportive as we possibly canment and we can.

and we know that we are all going through it, whether it is our business or in our personal lives, as all of us are required to stay at home. i just really want to express my appreciation to so many people in this city who have just followed the orders and have put us in a situation where our numbers, in comparison to other major cities, are absolutely remarkable. we're not out of the woods yet. we can't let up just yet, but what we can do is start to look at creative ways to get back on our feet again, to get back to opening businesses or industries with certain guidelines that are approved by the public health department. that's really where i want to get to. so send us your suggestions. send us your comments. send us your love. no complaints, please, because (laughing) --

you can send complaints, i'm just kidding. send us e-mails with what you suggest that we do to help make things better for you because we really are in this together. and it is going to take a lot of hard work and a lot of patience to get through it. we appreciate you all being with us today. and hang in there. and, you know, make sure that you do everything you can to bring our businesses back to our city. and i'm going to do everything i can from the mayor's office to support you in doing that. >> thank you. thank you, mayor breed.

>> good afternoon and thank you for your patience. i'm mayor london breed and i'm joined by the department of

human sources, trent roher and department of housing, the police chief, bill scott and you'll be hearing from some of them in just a moment. as of today, we have 1,490 cased of those reported in san francisco with chinatow covid-1d sadly, we have lost 23 residents in our city. you can find out more information at datasf.org/covid-19. our tracker with a number of details around neighborhoods, of around race and ethnicity and other information on this tracker that we will continue to update. in addition, there is information on this tracker, as well, regarding our hotel rooms and the number of hotels rooms that are available and also

occupied by homeless individuals, our public health and our public safety workers and so lots of great information on the tracker. today, as i'm sure you know, that the area county health officers announced additional details regarding the stay-at-home order which has been extended through the month of may and the new guidelines include outdoor businesses, the ability to open outdoor businesses, like fle fle marketd hiking and fishing and golfing and these are things that can be done through social distancing and it's just providing additional opportunities for people to not only have some flexibility but to get back to work and speaking of getting back to work, they've provided the opportunity for construction to resume in our city.

that's all construction projects. and this is really great that we are at this point, but i want to be clear that we have a long way to go. and the work that the economic recovery task force is doing to work with the department of public health, to provide guidelines for various industries as we look into the future and reduce the curves and get back to the lives we know and love, we know there will be real changes. our goal is to work on what those changes might be and to provide guidelines in advance so that so many of our businesses in san francisco are prepared when we are able to resume business. and i know that this will be a

gradual undertaking and we appreciate, again, your patience and your cooperation as we deal with this very challenging time. i'm committed to not only getting through these next few weeks, but also making sure that we are able to provide you wail a little more guidance, a little more certainty and understanding about exactly what could potentially be available. we know that so many of you are anxious to know that if you are able to go back to work, what will happen with schools, what will happen with children, what will happen with ederly parents or exposure for yourselves and those are the kinds of things we want to make sure we have the answers to as we gradually begin to reopen various sectors in our city. so again, thank you for your cooperation and thank you four r your patience. i want to talk a little bit

about how excited i am that construction is able to resume in san francisco. it not only means opportunities for the people who are working in this industry, to go bac baco work -- and again, there are guidelines that are been put in place to keep workers safe, but it provides the opportunity to continue what we know important construction work around housi housing. housing production is necessary because even though we're in the midst of a public health crisis, we are already experiencing a huge homeless challenge. and the need to make sure that we are not stopping housing production because of what will be needed on providing us the ability to move forward and to make sure we have this much-needed housing.

it's so important to move forward and so, we know that this has been a problem in our city and it's something i've been pushing for, this challenge of providing housing and the issues around homelessness because of this crisis could potentially get worse and this is why it's so critical that we continue to build housing and so, i'm excited about this and i know that this will make a real difference in our city and in the bay area. housing shortages, as we also know, lead to higher costs and higher housing costs leads to more people becoming homeless. from this population, they cannot just stay at home, because they don't have a home. we see playing itself out all over the city with the number of tent encantments and so far we've placed almost a thousand

people and s in hotel rooms whie been an incredible logistical challenge and continues to be. but as we've talked about before, we need hotel rooms for front-line workers who are out there, working every single day, essential workers who are putting their lives on the lines because we don't want to risk them in affecting other people and their families. in addition to securing and staffing hotel rooms, we're creating alternative shelter locations, including 120rv 120 v trailers at bayview and hunter's point. this will provide a safe place for people who are homeless in the southeast part of the city. and i want to be clear that these rvs will serve the bayview, hunter's point community and trent roher will

speak more in detail, but the hotel rooms we are provides are for people who were homeless in san francisco before this crisis. the rvs that we are providing in the bayview hunter's point are for the bayview hunter's point community and we are only going to serve during this crisis -- and i want to be clear because i've heard a lot of conversations, a lot of talks and a lot of feedback from people out there on the frontline, where people are showing up in san francisco from other places and asking where their hotel room is. that's a room problem for me because again, we have a real challenging problem as it relates to homelessness as it is and i want the message out loud and clear that the people who are already in our system of care, we have a coordinated system to help and if you were

no in the system in thnot in the beginning, we will not prioritize you for the resources that we have available. you will not be prioritized over them. so i want to make that loud and clear. only people who are currently in a homelessness system of care may qualify for the rooms and at bayview hunter's point or other folks in the coordinated care system may qualify for the rvs and trailers we have available. no one from other cities should be coming to san francisco, expecting they'll get prioritized over the people who are here. and to be clear, we are going to have -- we have enough challenges with trying to provide services and support to our existing residents and we are most likely not going to be able to serve everyone as hard as we are trying to do exactly

that. so i just want to be clear so that we can make sure that that word gets out because sadly, that is what we see happening and playing itself out on our streets. and what i want to also talk about is density and crowding and how there's a national conversation around the fact that places that are more dense, that have a lot of housing are places where there are real challenges with the virus. in san francisco, in particular, we have been able to not necessarily reduce the curve but keep it relatively flat as a result of the work that we have all done together, but we also know that the lack of housing, the inability to have places for people to live where they have

their own bathrooms and their own kitchens and they're not sharing these congregate living spaces and more importantly, we know that the cost of living has made it difficult for families who are living with one or two families and extended family member exposs and those are thes of environments that make it possible to spread the virus quickly and the conditions that people sometimes live in are very challenging and this is, again, why the need to build more housing and to have more opportunities for people to not be in units where there is crowding or overcrowding is important, especially during a pandemic as we can see. we've also seen how our low-income communities have been hit harder, in part, because people in those communities are often forced to live with multiple roommates or other family members in the same unit. and this is what i moon b mean e

housing impacts, the fact we're not building enough faster is having a tremendous impact on our city. although in comparison to other cities, san francisco is relatively flat. i mean, we are the second densest city in the country. yet, we have not experienced, you know, close to the impacts that other cities who are far less dense than we are have. so i wanted to spell the myths of the need to not produce more housing as a result of this pandemic. it is a serious need in our city executive wanand i want us to co move in this direction. it's one of the reasons why i, along with the president of the board of supervisors, norman yee, we moved forward the balance bobalboaresident projec.

this will create permanent jobs and 1,100 new homes with 50%, which will be affordable right next to city college. there will be housing for teachers, for families, for low-income residents. there will be a great new addition to the neighbor near public transit and near city college and this is absolutely incredible and this is what we need to do. and it's really why i am very surprised and extremely disappointed that the board of supervisors yesterday decided to continue the mission rock project, the mission rock project which provides 1,200 homes, 40% of which are affordable and 14,000 construction jobs and over 10,000 permanent jobs. when we're thinking about what is happening with this pandemic, we can't wait around to move these projects forward.

people have lost their jobs. over 60,000 people in san francisco have filed for unemployment and we anticipate that 40,000 more will. we can't stop our economy. we can't stop moving forward. people are going to need tack as to employment opportunities and people are going to need places to live. so it would be interesting to hear exactly what the reason is for why this very important critical housing and job's project was delayed by the board because this does not help our city move forward. finally, i want to talk about the support we announced yesterday for workers. in san francisco, we have a law that requires employees who don't provide insurance to pay into a fund that gives workers access to funds for health spending. and you think the city's

bureaucracy is challenging, i mean this program which is meant to help workers and the challenges that they have had in maneuvering this system has made it difficult for them to access money that they're entitled to. and we're not just talking about a few dollars. we're talking about in this particular case, $138 million. it's just sitting in healthcare accounts and because of restrictions and bureaucracy, it's too hard to spend and yesterday, we were able to announce what we did to fix it and i will tell you this is something we've been working on for a long time. and thanks to the city attorney's office, the office of economic and workforce development, some people from labor and other great minds, we were able to come up with a really great solution so that we can get the hands, the money from this account directly into the hands of the people who need

it the most. and so, we are going to do just that. every single person who owns one of these accounts and there are over 100,000 accounts, will now be able to access this money and we will make it easy and quick for them to get it. this is really something that will help tremendously with what some workers and in many cases, these are the workers who have most likely been laid off from work and could use what could amount to anywhere on average $1300 per person. so i'm really grateful to all of the people who worked on making this resource available. as we deal with this real challenge around public health, simultaneously, we must ensure

that the things that we are able to do and provide, we need to do it. people need to work and they're going to need jobs when this is over. people are going to need to have places to live. we're going to continue to need to deal with the challenges around homelessness and so, this will be very difficult and require some very difficult choices. an estimated 1.1 to 1.7 billion-dollar budget deficit is nothing to sneeze at. so as we are making decisions today, we have to be mindful of that and what that means to the success of our city and the future. the success of our economy in the future. and those are the reasons why these housing projects are so critical, the job opportunities that they create are so critical, our work to support,

our existing residence, including our existing homeless population and to not increase that significantly is so critical. it's why we have to draw the line somewhere because we don't have an endless pot of money available to serve everyone who needs it and that is going to be our challenge as we go into the future and make the decisions we need to make around public health and safety and our economy, it's important that we do everything we can to support our existing workforce, to support our existing homelessness population and to get through this pandemic together. so with that, i would like to introduce -- dr. kolfax is not with us, but dr. philips from the department of public health will be providing an update.

>> good afternoon, i'm dr. susan philips. thank you, mayor brisked. breed. today there are 1,497 san francisco residents with confirmed cases of covid-19. and a total of 23 people in san francisco have died. i send my condolences to their loved ones.

mayor breed also begins her remarks with these numbers as a way to honor those who have become sick and those who have died. but also an and important reminder to us all. even though we have made tremendous progress as a community to slow the spread of the coronavirus, it is still here and can spread as easily as it did a month ago and will thrive if we let it. we announced when the stay-at-home order expires sunday night, a new one will take effect. that will last through the end of may, giving us time to build the systems we need to support or recovery. i know this is hard. i greatly appreciate the sacrifices everyone in san francisco and the greater bay area have been making. when we think about the family and friends we are missing, we must remember, they are the people we are protecting by staying apart. when we think about the jobs changing or lost, we must remember or economy would face

even greater setbacks if we did not slow the spread of the virus and we are slowing the spread of the virus. we have saved lives. we have to keep it up. our goal is not changing. we want to slow the spread of the virus and see san francisco and the bay area recover. imaginesince january 21, we havn responding to the coronavirus our top priority. since february 25th, when mayor breed declared a local emergency, we have mobilized the entire city to slow down this deadly threat and to keep our health system stable and ready to care for all who need it. since march 16th, when 7 million people in the bay area joined the fight, we have stayed home to protect one another. today, we renew our commitment to the fight. we will continue staying home, continue covering our faces when we have to go out and continue

to keep six feet away from people outside of our households. yet, we will also make a few minor modifications when the order takes effect on monday. the new orders allow for some lower-risk outdoor jobs and activities to resume. for example, as the mayor said, all construction may start again as long as each project follows the safety protocols in the order. certain outdoor businesses can open and that means nurseries and gardeners, for example and it does not mean that a restaurant can open its outdoor patio. we can get outside for exercise and the city has closed roads in golden gate park and mcclarin park to make that easier but we can't share equipment, whether that's a playground or basketball or have physical contact with anyone outside of our households. while san francisco and the bay area keep up the good work that has gotten us this far, here is how we at the health department and city government will prepare for the future. we will continue to follow the

science data and facts. we will continue to build out the public health infrastructure to support a gradual reopening and eventual recovery. we will watch a state level to track our progress and these are the questions we'll be asking. number one, is the number of patients in the hospital with covid-19 decreasing or staying flat? number two, do we have enough of the critical personal protective equipment, ppe, for all of our healthcare workers? number three, are we expanding our testing capability to meet the need, especially for people in vulnerable populations? number four, do we have the capacity to investigate every case of covid-19 to trace each person's close contacts and to isolate and quarantine the people that need it? and number five, is the total number of cases of covid-19 in san francisco and across the bay area decreasing or staying flat?

as we expand testing, we expect the number of cases to increase at first as we are doing more of this testing. we'll be looking at the rate of positive cases to help us gauge the spread in the community and once we've billed out our full testing program and have increased access to testing, we then will be looking for the cases to flatten and go down. we've been laying the foundation for recovery from day one and testing is really an important part of that strategy. we have expanded testing from when we first began testing in our public health laboratory on march 2nd and we'll continue to increase testing in san francisco. to date, we've collected close to 18,000 test results and expanded testing criteria as supplies permit. today, we are able to test anyone with any symptom compatible with covid-19, as well as people without symptoms we find through contact tracing and investigations. the next steps in our expansion of testing will include people living in congregate settings

and healthcare workers and we're working with the zuckerburg initiative. there's research underway that using testing to help us learn about the prevalence of the virus in our communities. and three recently announced or even started projects will test residents in the mission, a random sample of the pay area and healthcare workers. each of these will provide important data and insights to help us see a clearer picture and make well-informed decisions. we are also getting ready in other ways. we are learning everything we can about this virus, developing more sophisticated responses to outbreaks and training a small army of contact investigators. we're working with the human service's agency and the department of homelessness and supportive housing to provide safe housing in hotels and shelters for people experiencing homelessness with and without covid-19 and we must continue this focus on our vulnerable populations as they will remain at highest risk from the virus as we start to open up.

that means people who are over 60 or with certain chronic health conditions and we must continue to prioritize them and people living in congregate settings, such as long-term care facilities, homeless shelters, sros and jail. as we look ahead to our renewed stay-at-home order, let keep these vulnerable people in san francisco in mind and remember that the virus exploits long-standing inequities and let's work together to protect everyone we can. thank you for continuing to stay home, for staying six feet apart, for covering your face when you go out, for washing your hand frequently. s frequently. together they're make a big difference and we're making a big difference. let's use the next month to get these habits engrained so we can open as safely as possible is i'll now turn the podium over to chief scott.

>> good afternoon, everyone. again, i would like to thank our mayor, london breed, for our outstanding leadership during this time and our director of health and his leadership team including dr. philip for their leadership. we continue to staff to help prevent the spread of covid around the city and our officers are out in parks and some of our more popular spots and they will

continue to remind people about social distancing. in some cases, we provided face coverings to help people to comply with the public health orders. we've received complaints regarding alleged violations of the public health orders and they are taken seriously and investigated. we're finding, as i've said in previous preferences, that the majority of people in san francisco are cooperating and complying wi with the health ors but we have cited individuals who have flouted the order. we have 19 citations that we've issued, up several citations since we spoke. the break-down is ten businesses and nine individuals and we've admonished or -- we've issued 86 warnings and as i've stated from, those incidents in which we have taken reports. that breakdown is 52 businesses

and 34 individuals. you can visit our covid-19 website on the sfpd's website to learn more about the enforcement protocols. we continue to use a path of progressive plans and that means education, asking for voluntary compliance, warnings and citations when necessary. we work with director cheryl davis, with our hrc and other community advocates in trying to get the community with us to help spread the covid-19 virus, to help prevent the spread of the covid-19 virus. and that has been largely effective. we want to continue that path and again, when you see our officers out there, we will be engaging with the public and we'll do everything that we can on this weekend and moving forward to help prevent the

spread with this latest renewal of our public health order. we're glad to work with the community and i would like to specifically thank, again, dr. cheryl davis and many of the other community stakeholders who have been working withs. we're still seeing decreases in crime overall, 19% decrease in violent crime and 34% decrease in property crime this week and a 23% decrease in overall crimes which equates to 142 fewer crimes. but we have had some issues that i want to point out to the public because we're going to need the public's help to make sure that number one, we look out for each other. secondly, when you see crimes, we need you all to report crimes. a couple of things i want to make note of, year-to-date, we have two homicides above where

we were last year. we have 14 homicides year to date and we were at 12 last time this year. a disturbing trend that we're seeing is we've had four ederly victims robbed, some at gunpoint, over the past 11 days. these are all women and they were all robbed of their purses and this is just simply unacceptable. so i ask all of you to please -- let's look out for our most vulnerable population, our ederly and our city and let's not have this happen to our most vulnerable population. and these folks were, in some cases, thrown to the ground and a couple of them were at gunpoint. our victims were ages 85, 69, 70 and 84 and that's simply unacceptable. and we have enough challenges in our city with the covid-19 pandemic and this is just that

we cannot tolerate. so look out for your neighbors, report crime when you see it, call 9-1-1 when you see things that look suspicious, text 9-1-1 when you make the call but we need these crimes reported, but we have to make sure that we don't have people in our city victimized. we've also seen a couple of shootings that are very concerning, including one overnight in the bayview hunter's point area, where over 100 rounds were fired. now, nobody was hit, thankfully, but this is, again, unacceptable. our investigators are working hard to make sure that we try to solve this crime and put these folks where they belong and that is in jail. but we can't allow this type of violence in our cities and although crime in down, we have challenges we need to tack example we will need the public's help in working with us

to keep our communities safe. we've continued to investigate reports of burglaries in our city and as i've stated in the preferences, crime overall is down but we've seen an uptick in burglaries, particularly commercial burglaries. our officers have been on patrol, and we've made arrests and to date, we've had 34 instances of books where additional challenges of loots have been adding because these burglaries occurred during a public health emergency. i want to again thank the district attorney and his office for working with us on that. this weekend, moving forward, tomorrow, thursday, and through the week, i want to remind everyone that if you have to travel, travel only when it's necessary and essential. act responsibly and maintain a social distance of six feet. please wear your face coverings and we will again be out in the hot spots this weekend and we'll

enhance that deployment this weekend to make sure we're educating the public, but also for those people that aren't complying, we have to go to a more aggressive nature on making sure we get compliance on social distancing and the wearing of face coverings. so we'll be out and about moving forward as we have been, but we'll step it up a notch. i want to thank all of the people in san francisco and people who come to our city to work and to visit, for their compliance up to this point and we want to continue to keep the momentum going and to prevent the spread of this virus and flatten the curve. so again, i ask for voluntary compliance but know that the san francisco police department is out there. we're go tokin go go to be engae need your assistance to make sure that we stop the spread of this virus. again, i want to repeat, the crime reporting numbers as i close, for those individuals who

have a nonviolent or crime that has occurred where you don't need immediate police services, call (415)553-0123. or you can utilize the 9-1-1 or the san francisco police department website to file a report or to request a report. again, thank you all for your cooperation and let's keep our momentum going so we can stop the spread of this virus.

>> good afternoon, i'm the executive director of san francisco's human service's agency. as i've spoken about before, the human service's agency role in the emergency response includes provision of mask care and shelter. from the onset of this crisis, our mayor and the city agencies have prioritized safeguards for populations who are most vulnerable to the coronavirus, including our homeless residents. we're following the latest guidance from public health experts to minimize exposure for those who do not have adequate housing, to safely shelter in place and to ensure that there are enough beds in our hospitals to treat patients with covid-19. and to this end, we focus not own on improving the health and safety, as i've said before, inside our shelters and navigation centers, but moving individuals who have heightened

risk due to age or underlying health conversations from our shelters, streets and hospitals into hotel rooms. san francisco continues to adapt to the needs of out residents and adhering to the public health guidance at a pace we've never seen before. i'm incredibly proud of the achievements of our city workforce, our public agencies and under the leadership of the mayor to provide thousands of hotel rooms to some of the most vulnerable residents. with the addition of the alternative housing program dashboard, to the city's open data attacker, the publi trackee better insight for those in need at this difficult time. as of today, we have 2,741 rooms under contract at 19 hotel locations throughout san francisco. the city has moved over 950

people from shelters, the street or hospitals into hotels thanks to the careful guidance and coordination from the department of public health and supportive housing. i want to emphasize and to clear up any misunderstanding that the city continues to implement or hotel plan and we continue to bring hotel rooms and other housing options online to meet the needs of these vulnerable populations. as i said, we have 2,741 rooms cutely under contract and wcurre have 2,153 rooms. it's important to note that these are all in a negotiation stage and at different stages of the negotiation and some are farther along than others and from our experience, we know that even if we move far along in the negotiateds negotiationss

we cannot come to an agreement. the mayor mentioned pier 94 and the trailers and recreational vehicles that we are going to activate. and i want to provide an update and detail on that today, as well. in march, as the city continued to strengthen this response to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, we announced the leasing of recreational vehicles to provide indoor spaces for homeless individuals to help protect them from covid-19 and to help protect the surrounding communities. the city is now operationallizing a temporary shelter using these lease recreational vehicles to new resources provided to us by california's office of emergency services. 29 recreational vehicles and 91 trailers arrived at seawall lot 344, known as the backlands of pier 94, to provide indoor shelter for homeless individuals

living on streets or in shelter in district 10, including the bayview community and southeast sector of the city. i want to give a huge thank you to the port of san francisco commission for approving our land-use agreement for this critical need last night in a unanimous 5-0 vote. following the assessment of several public lands, the city selected this location for the rv and trailer deployment because it provides land management, utilities and rent relief through a partner city agency. , adequate ac acreage and a direct benefit to people in neighboring communities which i want to speak to now. we've come to understand that across the nation, people of color and low-income communities have been hardest hit by the coronavirus. sadly, we know these

disproportionate impacts are found here in san francisco. we've heard from dr. kolfax and the department of public health that locations in the city that are most affected by health despairties, income quality and social racism are the most affected by the pandemic to date. this data trend of positive cases in our communities of color demonstrates the city's ongoing focus on equity and efforts to support vulnerable populations during the coronavirus response. during yesterday's port hearing, the port commission president characterized district 10 as ground zero for the coronavirus in sanfrancisco. this district has the second highest rates of those experiencing homelessness in the city, more than 1800 people and the majority of which are living unsheltered. we hear the community's call to bring forward immediate solutions and strategies to address these inequities.

the new shelter location will provide temporary housing resource for at least 120 individuals in the eas in the st sector of the city. we will prioritize those aged 60 or older or underlying health conversation making them extremely vulnerable and susceptible to covid-19. by prioritizing people experiencing homelessness, the shelter site will not only prevent people from getting infected but help to reduce the spread of coronavirus in the community. the temporary shelter site plan for pier 94 will be developed and managed by the human service's agency, the department of public health and the department of homelessness and supportive housing. it will include 24/7 site monitoring and security, asle well as meals and animal care. we're drawing on the expertise to implement screenings that will continue to protect the

guests from the spread of the coronavirus. similar to our leased hotels, we want to provide people with what they need to shelter in place. while the location does not have any immediate residential neighbors, we're approaching the development of this temporary shelter in a responsible way, addressing the safety and health concerns of the surrounding port tenants and the supporting community. i want to express our sincere gratitude to our partners, at the port for preparing the staging area and the utilities and all of the trailers and rvs have been delivered and are on site now. we anticipate the shelter being ready to accept guests next week and will operate throughout the duration of san francisco's declared health emergency. we've said before that are our capacity to contain the coronavirus and flatten the curve to stop the spread depends on the ability to protect all people in san francisco, to

acquire compassion from every community across san francisco to step up and take action. this shelter is an important part of the larger city efforts that we continue to implement to provide equitable, temporary housing solutions for vulnerable populations in need during this stay-at-home order. i'll now be available for questions. >> we will begin the q and a questions with dr. roher, and this is from the san francisco public press. >> question: is there still a plan to lease 700 hotel rooms for first responders and covid-19-positive homeless people in san francisco? >> as i said in my remarks, the city continues to implement the plan that we announced seven weeks ago. i don't know and i'm not aware

of an announcement that went out that said we were ceasing this plan, despite comments in the community. we continue to implement this plan. we've brought online over 2700 units and our negotiation with 14 hotels, totaling over 2,000 hotel rooms. >> question: can you provide an update on reaching that goal and a timeline for filling these rooms? >> it's difficult to project a timeline. each hotel has to be negotiated individually and sometimes the owners are local and sometimes on the east coast and sometimes international groups. each contract has provisions unique to the hotels and it's difficult to estimate the time for negotiation. in addition, we've said before once the hotels are under contract, it tables takes a nuf days to secure the appropriate

staffing, supplies and then to move individuals in the rooms. and so i can't give a definitive timeline on when we will reach our goal of 7,000, but i can say is that we have brought on, as i said earlier, 2741 rooms, at 19 hotel locations and our negotiation with 14 other hotels, totaling 2,153 rooms. it's also important to note that the response to this pandemic requires multiple housing solutions. in addition to the hotel rooms, i talked about the 120 rvs and trailers and we have 643 beds at congregate sites to provide places to shelter for folks who have passed through their theird phase and they're now no longer infectious and we'll be placed in congregate shelters and we

are planning for sites, for covid-positive individuals who need more intensive supervision and medical support in a congregate setting. >> the next questions are for mayor london brisked. breed. madam mayor the first question is from kathy novack. >> question: imgrant and undocumented workers are calling for my assistance beyond the 5 him thousand from give-to-sf for

$200 gift cards. will more help be available for more undocumented communities. >> we have identified around $6 million for undocumented people who have been laid off, as well as many of our low-income families and we havee working on philanthropic support and what we have done to make resources available from the state. we know some may not qualify for benefits and that it's important to provide the resources and we definitely plan to. >> the next question is from sf

chronicle. >> question: the board of supervisors is exploring legislation for sanctioned encantments in the city. are you open to the idea? why or why not? >> so we have already begun exploring locations for sanction ten encantments in the city and we want to make it clear that our priority is for the people, the homeless people who have been in san francisco before this pandemic and the priority has been our hotel rooms, dealing with our challenges, with our shelters and focusing on our vulnerable populations, the trailers that we just announced today. so moving full speed ahead in trying to make sure that we are meeting the need and in the process, we have identified a number of locations that we are seriously considering and as soon as we are able to get those up and running, wel we will. >> the next set of questions for

dr. susan philips, the department of public health. >> questions for the chief? >> no questions for the chief. >> your first question is from mission local. >> question: why does the city

have the capacity to do 4,300 tests a day, but it's only doing 700 or so? why not use the unused capacity to test at congregate living places? >> thank you for the question and opportunity to elaborate. we think testing is an important component of our moving forward as we outlined in the five indicators that we'll look at. so while we do have 4,300 test slots available in our laboratories that we directly work with, both at our public health laboratory, at the clinical laboratory, the san francisco general hospital and with our partners at ucsf, we need to match that test with collection supplies. so we need to get the specimen from the patient, take it to the laboratory to be run in that capacity and both numbers have to match. until last week, we were having real challenges with our supply of testing specimen collection materials to do the tests. that has improved and so now we

are more able to ramp up testing. so one of our main goals is to increase that number, the 700 number that was cited, that you cited is higher than it had been a week ago or days ago and so we're heartened by that and we need to continue to increase that. so now we recommend that people can access testing for a wide range of symptoms that are compatible with covid-19. they also should access testing if they speak with one of our skilled investigators and are told they may have been in contact to a person with covid-19. so with both of those expansions, we are anticipating that testing will increase. we are also focused on trying to ensure safety for populations in congregate settings. testing is one part of that, but not the own part, there is a lot of prevention work our teams are doing in those settings. but expanding testing to those sites is a priority. so you will see the numbers reported of tests completed go

up over the coming days or weeks. >> the next question is from wilson walker, kpix. >> question: in regard to the city testing well below current capacity, do you think people in san francisco are aware of the testing opportunities now offered by the city? >> great, yes, again, another good opportunity to reinforce and clarify the importance and the increased access that we're promoting now to testing. so it's only been within the last week that we have increased or expanded the symptoms that were qualified from testing and we've brought online more testing capability within the city. i want to remind people that testing may also be quite available through their own providers. there are private providers in the city that have access to testing and the ability to get those results back in much faster time than true even a few weeks ago or months ago. and so that is important to understand and continue.

the city expanded options for testing, including our city test sf sites which are important for people to know about. they're located in two places and one is at piers 30 and 32 on the ebarcadaro and so ma at seventh and brandon streets. people can gone online through sf gov and sign up to have testing there without requiring providers' authorization if they're not able to easily access the test in any other way. people experiencing any of standpoints osymptoms with covit opportunity to get tested and this is a good opportunity to make people in san francisco aware that resources are available to them in addition to their routine care at their provider. >> the next question is from joshua sabatini. >> question: under the health order, can the city's golf courses open as early as next week and are people permitted to play tennis under the new health order, as well?

>> the answer for golf courses is yes. people are able to utilize golf courses and those can be open under the new health order next week. for tennis and other sports that utilize shared equipment, even though people are able to maintain their fisca their physl distance, they're sharing the ball and that would not be allowed. >> question: there appears to be confusion over whether summer camps are allowed under the new health order. are summer camps allowed? >> so childcare provision or recreational activities such as summer camps are allowed to provide childcare for workers doing essential work, including under the broadened definition of these orders. ithey cap cap allow for cleanin,

face covering and groups with dedicated caretakers and teachers so the answer is question but there are caveats to keep people safe. >> question: how will the city enforce safe distance orders on construction sites. >> through the department of building inspection. >> question: is the city presuming workers coming down with covid-19 were exposed on the job. >> so for people who develop covid-19 and tested and are positive, we interview every single one of those people as part of our case investigation and contact tracing work that you heard as another pillar of the work that we need to build up and be ready to do as we loosen the shelter-in-place orders further into the future. we would be interviewing people and through that answer view, we woulinterview, wasthis a resulte exposure or community exposure

and we would do further investigation before assuming it was or was not. >> question: can you please explain why some outdoor businesses, like flea markets, have been cleared to open while restaurants with outdoor seats have not? >> yes, and i want to remind everyone that the orders are regional orders and that's really important because as all of the orders have been taking this regional approach ensures that we have the best possible outcomes since we cross the county line so often. this was by the health officers. for flea markets and other outdoor markets such as that, the transaction can happen with relatively small amount of contact and the seller and buyer can wear masks the entire time. for a restaurant, even if they were able to do spacing of the patrons, space them out, it's very difficult to maintain spacing for the server, for the

actual restaurant employee. and in addition, in order to eat, sit down and eat at the outdoor space, people are removing their masks and that combination of risks to the workforce and the risk potentially to other patrons with having masks removed was the reason that restaurants, outdoor spaces were not allowed under the new order. >> to follow up, what progress has been made to determine additional health code regulations for restaurants when they do reopen. >> yes. so i think that that will be in progress over the next month and there are steps that restaurants and other businesses can take now and many have adapted their models to really focus on take-out or delivery, but there are models put in place to think about spacing for patrons when that is allowed for ways in which the weight staff and other restaurant workers can be kept safe. so there will be more guidance and information to come specifically to restaurants. >> thank you, dr. philips.

the next question is for dr. abigail kahn, homelessness and supportive housing. >> question: is the rvs will be reserved for the bayview hunter's point area, what resources will be offered to the homeless community throughout the area. >> i think you heard a part of this answer from dr. roher from

the service's agency. i want to underscore, because a part of the values of the department of homeless and supportive housing are to be as honest as possible with people experiencing homeless and i want to underscore while unsheltered homeless individuals are on the list to move into hotels and we are working as fast as we possibly can to stand up more hotels, those resources are limited and standing up hotels is a significant piece of work. and so, what i want to underscore is that while we know all people in san francisco and vulnerable residents are really suffering, it's really important that those who have been in san francisco and who have roots in san francisco and known to our homeless response system, these individuals have been waiting for ten years on our streets to

get help and these are the individuals that we will be looking for. when we do have rooms available. and we are looking for vulnerable individuals based on age and medical conditions as we've discussed many times and we need all of our counterpart sister communities to be doing the same kinds of work and we know that they are. we talk with them twice a week and we know that hotels are a part of the plan for all of the surrounding areas. and so, if you're experiencing unsheltered homelessness in san francisco and you're not from here or known to our system of care, you are not going to be able to move in quickly to a hotel room in san francisco. that's part of the honest city thahonesty thati need to provid. it's not that we don't want to help you. it will take a tremendous amount of time and we need you to return to your home communities and get the resources there. so we will be placing people in our system who are known to our

system who are vulnerable. to the specific question around gegeography. are they in our system and have san francisco roots and where are they located? this is similar and we know where people are experiencing homelessness and know where it's increasing. it's increasing in the bayview, and increasing in the tenderloin and hence our focus on the tenderloin to move people from that community who have been unsheltered in that community historically into hotel rooms and we will be looking at impacted neighbors across the city with the same lense. >> thank you. that concludes or questions for today's press conference.

>> announcer: you're watching "coping with covid-19." today's special guest is dr. steven getnick. >> hi, i'm chris man us and you're watching "coping with covid-19." today my guest is the director of the behavior therapy center of san francisco and professor emeritus in counseling psychology at the university of san francisco. doctor, welcome to the show. >> thank you. >> let's talk about managing anxieties during this pandemic. what types of issues are people facing at the moment? >> there are a number of issues and i really want to point out that this is affecting everyone and has come on very quickly. so it is normal.

if you are not experiencing some anxiety, something is a touch off because this affects us all. i think some of the main ones are our health and worried about getting the virus and our developing serious complications. i think for a lot of people who are single, living alone, in isolation, has been very difficult. i think being in close quarters with people who we normally have some space from now are together 24/7. that's produced a lot of stress and anxiety. that loss of connection with others. we already addressed. and having kids home. for a lot of people. >> yes, absolutely. what are the other problems

that they might have? >> i think without that dynamic, the good things are not a problem. it is the difficulties we have. and when we're together 24/7, again it's like hooking everything up to an amplifier. >> so, what kind of problems could be created from working home from home, perhaps for the first time in your career? >> a lot of people are not used to working at home and a working at home just isn't the same. for one thing, there is a lack of social interaction. some people find that that affects them greatly. some people are actually finding they're getting more work done at home without distractions from work. the lack of structure is probably the most common. we see it here with work at the office. people are kind of watching. we know that our schedule is, suddenly you're at home and you are on your own. >> absolutely. if those are some of the issues

people are facing, what are some of the techniques people can use to overcome their anxiety? >> caller: i think there are many. one of the first is how managing and keeping track of your thinking, we think and talk to ourselves a lot. that's normal. we have a dialogue with ourselves often and we need to monitor that a bit. people tend to ruminate versus problem-solve. that is they tend to worry about all the things that might go wrong. and what i suggest is, look, there are things that can go wrong, but ruminating about the worst-case scenario is not going to be very productive. sit down, figure out what the things are that you have to deal with and try to problem-solve. i think any of the self-control techniques for anxiety can be helpful.

and there are dozens of them. the common ones are meditation, relaxation techniques, yoga, for example and another is diaphragmattic breathing. if you google that, you can learn diaphragmattic breathing in about 10 minutes online. it's incredibly simple and it is a really nice way to reduce anxiety in the moment. self-control procedures, exercise. whether if you're fortunate enough to have equipment at home, that's great. if you're not, get outside and go for a walk, keep your safe distance, of course. but you need to be active. that's helpful. >> i think people marry be dealing with information overload at the moment. how do you suggest people manage that? >> i was just going to say that. i think it is really important to kind of limit the information you get. not in terms of accuracy.

i think in terms of accuracy, you want to identify a few sites where people are coming with evidence-based information and scientific information so you can form yourself well. once you've informed yourself, you need to not be watching all day long. i've talked to people who are mesmerized from the tv and a it keeps that anxiety going so you need to limit your viewing for sure. this can be stress for people who have economic concerns and worried about their family and friends and loved ones who are essential workers. what would you suggest they do to help manage anxiety and stress? >> there is a number of things. one of major ones for depression is behavioral activation. simply, it really means that people will tend to not be

depressed as a number of reinforcing activities to engage in. whether it is hobbies, you read, you listen to music, you crochet, you -- whatever. these kinds of things are very important so you want to make sure that you're engaging in activities that literally make you feel better as opposed to sitting around ruminating, worrying about the worst-case scenarios that might happen. >> what about trying to do some self-development? >> yeah. it's a very interesting time. i've talked to a couple of my own clients who are finding, in a very positive way, that this isolation, while at first can generate a lot of anxiety, particularly if you're just not good at living alone. for a number of people, it's giving them a chance to sit back and really think about what is important in their lives, what are the priorities. i think that maybe if there is

any silver lining in this epidemic, it's really forcing all of us to kind of rethink what's really important. >> indeed. you know, though, at the same time, there are people who are feeling very lonely at home. how would you encourage them to overcome that? >> you get online. facetime, skype, zoom, like what we're doing right now. you can stay connected. it's very possible. most connections are important. we are social critters and we need that connection. i think for people who don't have those options, pull up photos, take a look at pictures of family. you need to stay connected. and it's very important. >> and finally, do you have any suggestions that are specifically for families? >> yeah. well, again, i think one of the interesting things that's come about from all of this, is i talked to families on video is

they're obviously spending more time together. while it's a bit awkward, particularly for parents who are in the house working a lot. it's a chance to really deepen relationships and spend more good, quality time together. i think parents really need to step back and kind of plan their day a little bit. not micro manage it, but have some ideas. can the family play games together? a lot of people i talked to, they're even together as a family for the first time. so i think there are a number of things that people can do. i think it is qulaouzful for the families to take five, 10 minutes and say how did the day go? i talked to someone in the phone book before we started who said they noticed what time of day all their anxiety kind of comes together and they

start sniping at each other. now they're taking a few minutes at tend of the day to say, ok, how are we doing? >> i think they need modeling good behavior, something you can do within the family, too, to try to -- >> that's right. i think that's relevant. very relevant to how children are going to do. most of the research from crises, particularly things we can't control showed that children do as well as their parents do. so i think it is important for parents to think about how they're react aing and they stay calm because whatever they do is modeling, coping for their children. so, that can be very useful. it can also be problematic. >> when we talked earlier, you mentioned that acknowledging that your kids are afraid is important. >> yes. i think that ties to your last question. i think modeling -- you know,

it's not incompatible with saying, yeah, you know, mom or dad is a little nervous, too. it means a lot of stuff is going on, but we're going to be ok. we're going to stay together. we have our time together. we're going to be safe. we'll -- fill in the blank. so you can do both. you can re-assure but in a realistic way that once the kids know it's normal to be anxious in these times. >> thank you for coming ton show, doctor. i really appreciate the time you've given us. >> you're welcome. thank you for having me. >> and that is it for this episode. we'll be back with more covid-19 related information shortly. you have been "coping with covid-19." thank you for watching.

my name is doctor ellen moffett, i am an assistant medical examiner for the city and county of san francisco. i perform autopsy, review medical records and write reports. also integrate other sorts of testing data to determine cause and manner of death.

i have been here at this facility since i moved here in november, and previous to that at the old facility. i was worried when we moved here that because this building is so much larger that i wouldn't see people every day. i would miss my personal interactions with the other employees, but that hasn't been the case. this building is very nice. we have lovely autopsy tables and i do get to go upstairs and down stairs several times a day to see everyone else i work with. we have a bond like any other group of employees that work for a specific agency in san francisco. we work closely on each case to determine the best cause of death, and we also interact with family members of the diseased. that brings us closer together also. >> i am an investigator two at the office of the chief until

examiner in san francisco. as an investigator here i investigate all manners of death that come through our jurisdiction. i go to the field interview police officers, detectives, family members, physicians, anyone who might be involved with the death. additionally i take any property with the deceased individual and take care and custody of that. i maintain the chain and custody for court purposes if that becomes an issue later and notify next of kin and make any additional follow up phone callsness with that particular death. i am dealing with people at the worst possible time in their lives delivering the worst news they could get. i work with the family to help them through the grieving process. >> i am ricky moore, a clerk at the san francisco medical examiner's office. i assist the pathology and

toxicology and investigative team around work close with the families, loved ones and funeral establishment. >> i started at the old facility. the building was old, vintage. we had issues with plumbing and things like that. i had a tiny desk. i feet very happy to be here in the new digs where i actually have room to do my work. >> i am sue pairing, the toxicologist supervisor. we test for alcohol, drugs and poisons and biological substances. i oversee all of the lab operations. the forensic operation here we perform the toxicology testing for the human performance and the case in the city of san francisco. we collect evidence at the scene.

a woman was killed after a robbery homicide, and the dna collected from the zip ties she was bound with ended up being a cold hit to the suspect. that was the only investigative link collecting the scene to the suspect. it is nice to get the feedback. we do a lot of work and you don't hear the result. once in a while you heard it had an impact on somebody. you can bring justice to what happened. we are able to take what we due to the next level. many of our counterparts in other states, cities or countries don't have the resources and don't have the beautiful building and the equipmentness to really advance what we are doing. >> sometimes we go to court. whoever is on call may be called out of the office to go to various portions of the city to

investigate suspicious deaths. we do whatever we can to get our job done. >> when we think that a case has a natural cause of death and it turns out to be another natural cause of death. unexpected findings are fun. >> i have a prior background in law enforcement. i was a police officer for 8 years. i handled homicides and suicides. i had been around death investigation type scenes. as a police officer we only handled minimal components then it was turned over to the coroner or the detective division. i am intrigued with those types of calls. i wondered why someone died. i have an extremely supportive family. older children say, mom, how was your day. i can give minor details and i

have an amazing spouse always willing to listen to any and all details of my day. without that it would be really hard to deal with the negative components of this job. >> being i am a native of san francisco and grew up in the community. i come across that a lot where i may know a loved one coming from the back way or a loved one seeking answers for their deceased. there are a lot of cases where i may feel affected by it. if from is a child involved or things like that. i try to not bring it home and not let it affect me. when i tell people i work at the medical examiners office. whawhat do you do? the autopsy? i deal with the a with the enou- with the administrative and the

families. >> most of the time work here is very enjoyable. >> after i started working with dead people, i had just gotten married and one night i woke up in a cold sweat. i thought there was somebody dead? my bed. i rolled over and poked the body. sure enough, it was my husband who grumbled and went back to sleep. this job does have lingering effects. in terms of why did you want to go into this? i loved science growing up but i didn't want to be a doctor and didn't want to be a pharmacist. the more i learned about forensics how interested i was of the perfect combination between applied science and criminal justice. if you are interested in finding out the facts and truth seeking to find out what happened,

anybody interested in that has a place in this field. >> being a woman we just need to go for it and don't let anyone fail you, you can't be. >> with regard to this position in comparison to crime dramas out there, i would say there might be some minor correlations. let's face it, we aren't hollywood, we are real world. yes we collect evidence. we want to preserve that. we are not scanning fingerprints in the field like a hollywood television show. >> families say thank you for what you do, for me that is extremely fulfilling. somebody has to do my job. if i can make a situation that is really negative for someone more positive, then i feel like i am doing the right thing for i am doing the right thing for

good morning, everyone. the meeting will come to order. welcome to the april 27th, 2020 meeting of the rules committee. i'm supervisor hillary ronen, chair of the committee. with me on the video conference is rules committee vice chair catherine stefani. i'd like to thank sfgov for staffing this meeting. mr. clerk, do you have any announcements? >> clerk: yes. due to the covid-19 health emergency and protocols, board members, city employees and the public, the board room is closed. however, members will be participating remotely. this caution is taken pursuant to the statewide stay-at-home order and proceeding local, state and fed