dial 1-408-418-9388 and the access code (146) 861-6748. members of the public will have the opportunity to address the commission during public comment and others can wait for the particular agenda item. making a comment on that item. comments will be addressed in the order they are received. when the moderator announces that the commission is taking public comment, members of the public can raise their hand by pressing star 3 and you will be queued. callers will hear silence when waiting for your turn to speak. operator will unmute you. when prompted callers will have the standard three minutes to provide community. ensure you are in a quiet location. speak clearly. and turn off any tvs or raid owes around you. item one roll call.

president francee covington is trying to log on. vice president kathrin feinstein. >> present. >> commissioner stephen nakajo. >> i am present. >> commissioner ken cleveland. >> present. and there is a lot of feedback at least on my end. a lot of feedback. >> i am experiencing the same thing commissioner cleveland. >> i think everyone needs to mute -- >> mute if you are not speaking. >> commissioner rodriguez. >> present. and chief of department jeanine nicholson. >> muted for me. >> i am present and if everyone can mute when they are not speaking i think that would help with the feedback. if you are not speaking, just mute. >> item 2, general public comment members of the public may address the commission for

up to 3 minutes on any matter within the commission's jurisdiction that does not appear on the agenda. speakers shall address the remark to the commission as a whole and not to individual commissioners or to department personnel. commissioners are not to enter into debate or discussion with the speaker. the lack of a response by the commissioners or department personnel does not necessarily constitute agreement with or support of statements made during public comment. is there any public comment? i will go to the log. caller two would you like to make public comment? caller two? caller three would you like to make public comment?

caller three? we have no public comment. >> all right then. public comment shall be closed. let us move on to the next item. >> an item 3, approval of the minutes. discussion and possible action to approve the meeting minutes of the regular meeting on august 12, 2020. is there any public comment on the minutes? let me check. caller two. do you have public comment? caller three would you like to make public comment? caller three? nobody wants to make public comment. >> no public comment being

heard, is there a motion? >> so moved to approve. >> is there a second? >> second. >> thank you. vice president feinstein how do you vote? >> i vote to approve. >> a commissioner nakajo? commissioner nakajo how do you vote? >> i vote to approve. thank you. >> okay. the motion is unanimous. item four. budget overview. mark corso deputy director of finance and planning to provide an overview of the current budget. i will pass the ball to him. >> thank you. i don't actually have a full presentation so i was going to give it oral.

>> okay. >> good evening, commissioners. chief, mark corso in finance and planning to give an update on the budget process in the most unusual year. i don't have a formal presentation per se as i mentioned but i wanted to give an update and answer any questions the commission may have. when i presented at the last commission meeting, it was after mayor breed proposed her budget to the board but before our budget hearings at the board. so it was kind of in between. i am happy to report with last-minute negotiations last night and this morning we are essentially done with our process. the city's process is still going on. not exactly complete yet but i can speak to that in a second. but just to highlight the last couple of weeks we had the initial hearing in front of the board's budget and appropriations committee on friday august 14. this was a chance to have the chief give an overview of the department and the budget and highlight some of the changes that were made to our budget both positive and negative. obviously this was a new process for all of us and as the hearings were conducted

virtually. there was no discussion of any of the budget analyst recommendations at the first meeting. and after the presentation the chief fielded some questions and we were to reconvene the next thursday the 20th for further budget discussion. during the week leading up to the second hearing as well as the subsequent days after the department worked closely with the board's budget analyst on proposed reductions in advance of the recommendation to the committee and we were providing justification, documentation for our budget as submitted. the initial reduction proposal that we received from the budget analyst was approximately $2.2 million. it was heavily focused on one-time savings from our fleet and equipment allocation in the budget which was -- which is an engine truck and couple of command vehicles. over the next few days leading up to the hearing on the 20th we worked to narrow down the list and we were successful in all aspects except there were a few

items, very important equipment items, a ladder truck and the command vehicle, which we weren't able to come to an agreement with the budget analyst. we set off to make our case at the committee t a the hearing. the chief did a great job advocating for our department and highlighting the work we still as much as we have done with our fleet plan, we still have quite a ways to go. we highlighted how covid and the budget's reductions t fleet allocation was already reduced in the mayor's budget let alone in the board process. the department fought hard to demonstrate our need and priorities and continue to advocate. i think by the end of the hearing, there was recognition from the board and the committee members about the needs for the department pertaining to equipment and fleet. but there was still a desire for some additional funding reductions to be made to the department given the current economic situation as well as some of the board's public priorities. over the past few days we have

been negotiating with the committee and we have come to an agreement on a reduction plan. in total we are looking at a $300,000 reduction in both fiscal years for a total of $600,000 and this is mainly from overtime. but as a result of agreeing to the reduction we were able to secure funding for the truck and command vehicles and that is great news for us. and this reduction we agreed to can be managed by us and will not impact services in the budget years. given the fiscal environment the city finds itself in i would say we were successful this year. the agreement we came to was reported at today's budget and appropriations committee meeting earlier this morning where they were wrapping up the budget discussion. the other piece i wanted to mention was the crisis response team that was briefly discussed at the last commission meeting. this is a joint effort between the department's ems6 program and the department of public health. in our budget we talked about a

$2 million allocation from the mayor's office for the pilot program with the intention that along the line -- down the line there would be additional bond money off a ballot initiative that would be available if passed to expand this program. so the original allegation was designed and the program at least initially was designated for two teams per day. this came up in the budget discussions at the board level and mainly through the d.p.h. budget but there was a desire to expand that program to six teams per day which is significantly increasing the scope of the program. a lot of those final talks on budget are still underway but there are positive signs for additional resources to support that. we should have an update at the next meeting but this is one of the pieces that the final pieces of deliberation. and all signs are positive for now and we will keep everybody posted on that. with that, our process for our pretty much the regular operating budget is complete and the board process is ongoing. today was designated to be the last day for committee hearings and would be final deliberations

at the committee level before having the budget approved and sent to the full board. currently today's meeting is still ongoing. they are in recess right now and scheduled to reconvene late they are evening. they are finalizing negotiations for add backs and other budget negotiations. it is an 'tis pauted it will be forwarded to the board in late september and signed off by the mayor on october 1. so with that, i am happy to open up to any questions you may have. >> all right commissioners. >> commissioner: commissioner rodriguez. i don't hear commissioner rodriguez. i think he's on mute.

i am not hearing anybody. >> commissioner: can you hear me? >> yes yes, we can hear you. [inaudible comment] >> i don't know what that is. >> i'm sorry. you were cutting out a little bit. can you repeat the question please? >> commissioner: could you explain to me what the crisis response team is? >> absolutely. so i will let chief give a little more detail but in short it is kind of a joint operation from the department of public health and the fire department to kind of expand the city's resources for mental health and behavior health. part of the overarching mental health sf program and do you want to add more details on that chief?

>> i sure can. good evening, commissioners, vice president feinstein, assistant deputy chief ems yes. the crisis response team is under the division of ems with chief payne who is the ems section chief leading this particular effort. this is a joint project with dph where we will be sort of similar to what we are already doing with ems6 but instead of at ems captain and ems6 captain with a behavioral health rider from street medicine with d.p.h. and this will be two d.p.h. personnel. behavioral health clinician as well as a peer support person. thaw will be able to go on essentially going to be adjusting the calls that are for the behavioral health crises of the patients on the streets and those are called and coming in through usually the police department and usually those

kinds of calls for well being checks mental health issues. and those are the kinds of calls we will be starting to address. with that type of a team being able to go in a van, they will be able to assess and then if necessary transport patients to alternative destinations to get more of the specific treatment that they need. rather than kind of a law enforcement approach this is much more of a behavioral health approach. that is what we are starting off with probably one 24/7 team as far as ems is concerned as well as trying to ramp that up with additional support and additional vehicles as the program goes. >> glad to hear that. thank you. >> no problem. >> i believe commissioner nakajo has a question or comment. >> commissioner: thank you very much vice president feinstein. director corso good news. >> yes.

>> commissioner: yourself and the chief -- and the managers have done a hell of a job. i hear scenarios that we're complete and we're done, that is very good news and that in turn is agreeing in terms of reductions to the tune of did you say $600,000 over two years? >> correct, sir. >> commissioner: that's an astonishing accomplishment given the scenario that is occurring currently with the city and county in terms of all departments. i also wanted to remark to the chief of the department in terms of the narration of being able to maintain our -- did you say engine and the truck? >> yes. >> commissioner: and i think that, again it is remarkable

and the other day i was on the phone for 10 hours at the city department's budget hearings to the general public. 10 hours. 10 hours of trying to get in public comment but 10 hours of listening and folks throughout the city and county of san francisco asking for restoration of dollars to the various programs and a lot of folks talking about the sheriff's department and the police department. i think that it is remarkable that the city and county understand and recognize the credibility of the work with the ems6 to move from two teams a day, is that what i am hearing, to six teams per day. >> correct. >> commissioner: that is a major major accomplishment as well as an uncrease and chief tong, you will have to do quick

training and to implement that and the questioning and timing to implement six teams per day between the city and county? >> yes commissioner. the initial implementation is aiming for the end of november for the first unit. hopefully increase the second unit by the end of february and then in the -- i think by the end of fiscal year to ramp up to the six and this is dependent on additional funding from the other legislative measures. >> commissioner: this is in partnership with the department of public health chief tom? >> correct yes. >> commissioner: again our colleagues within the fire commission this is a great accomplishment and it shows me that the city and county understand and see the effectiveness of what we bring

as the san francisco fire department. i think it holds true with all the things that was done from suppression to prevention to ems and the state of cooperation as you will, with the evidence of the city and county. i have no other questions vice president feinstein. i wanted to congratulate director corso on the accomplishment. >> thank you commissioner nakajo. i think everybody on the commission would agree with you and your comments. that really is a remarkable accomplishment given the circumstances we're in as a city and county. so congratulations to the whole team that worked on this. really be proud. be proud. anybody else have comments on this? okay.

we'll check for public comment. one moment. call one would you like to make public comment? hello? okay. line two, would you like to make public comment? >> no comment thank you. >> there is no public comment. >> all right. thank you madam secretary. >> public comment is closed. >> we will go to the next agenda item number and that is chief of department's report. report from chief of department on current issues activities and events within the department since the fire commission meeting on august 12 2020,

including budget academies special events communications and outreach to other government agencies and the public. and report from administration deputy chief jose velo on the administrative division fleet and facility status and update finance and support services and training within the department. >> i believe you are muted, chief. >> good evening, everyone vice president feinstein, sister and chief nicholson. as you heard from director corso it was a team effort for this budget with the board of supervisors and i am really pleased with the outcome, so thank you for your kudos but it

was definitely a team effort. the main thing with the budget is i did not wan it to have any operational impact whatsoever, so -- and we did actually meet that. while we still need more rigs, more trucks more engines and all that, we didn't get the truck and the engine and the command vehicles cut. and that is great during this horrific financial time for us. in terms of the crisis response team in the budget to commissioner rodriguez we're going to have to hire some people for this and this is -- i have been talking about ems6 jumping up and down about community medicine since i began as chief because of the effectiveness and really just the impact and humanity and effectiveness. and finally everyone else in the

city government has seen it's specially during cog vid. everybody wanted ems6 on their team. and so this really did take off. i believe the police have over 21000 behavioral calls and so we will be responding to many, many of them and mutual aid. i know chief velo will speak about mutual aid and the fires going on around us and the companies that we have deployed and really proud of everyone. we did and we did an immediate needs and saved a lot of people's homes. as of now we still have crews out fighting at two different fires, but chief velo will definitely update you on that

report. we did have a member whose home burned down and a retired member whose home burned down. fortunately the member -- the current member rented his home but still so we have been working with him to try to find sites and housing and it is only the san francisco credit union website if you want to offer any help. and we have had quite a few members who have had to evacuate their homes. and then let's see. i wanted to let you know that our physician the off for about a week. she had to have a knee surgery. she came through that today. so think a good spot for her.

and and to talk a little bit about racial equity action plan. there is now an office of racial equity in the city and they have been helping every department sort of come up with their own -- with parameters and guidelines so we can come up with our own plan as it and as it speaks to hiring and barriers to getting hired here. when i came in you didn't have to have an emt license, and i think that can be a barrier for certain communities and looking at things like that and promotion and all sorts of certain things and chief velo makes me speak to that as well but a group of 52 members working together to make stuff happen. so really pleased with that.

and then i do have a policy call at 6:00 with our mayor? a and the mayor is and the mayor is focused on getting businesses opened in a safe manner. big farmhouse to the fire marshal and a total of almost 1700 business ap i will cases and we have been able to approve 1200 of them. that givers you an idea of the numbers and volume coming through the fire's offers and they have their hands marshal offices and there are many transit only lanes that are coming forward proposed throughout the city. the m.t.a. is starting with

geery from 33 tord stanion. and we will see how it all works out because people are using vehicles because they are worried abpublic transit, but we will be able to use these lanes for emergency access. and our fire training fall fail, we are in talks with our real estate division and they are working proactively on our behalf. it is in the works. nothing is signed off or completed yet, but we are pushing forward. that concludes my report for today. >> thank you. >> i saw that president covington has joined the

meeting. would you like to take over, president? >> i will let you finish this item madam vice president if you might do that for us. >> all right. i'll do my best. >> thank you and do we have any public comment? i will check. caller two would you like to make public comment? caller three would you like to make public equipment? >> the question for which and where would i best try to reach out on that? there an sfmta commission?

>> can somebody answer him? >> chief i didn't hear the question but if it's about an m.t.a. commission those are -- >> krebbing. the question question as i understand and ran it would best be in his corner to direct the concerns and comments to san francisco mta or the commission. >> sfmta absolutely. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> that is all public and then popular comment will be closed. any of the commissioner have comments on the chief's report?

i see none. i'm sorry president covington forgive me. sorry. >> that is quite all right. i did have a few questions and i apologize for being late, but for some reason i could not get in. and i just wanted to know an little bit about the work group. and i want to know how does the person become a member of the work group. do you select all members or do they apply to be part of the work group? how does that work?

there is the application process last year and we asked for people to sign up and get the work done and the focus matter experts. you select every person for every work group. >> chief please. and so like the chief said the process was the application process and the committee names were listed on the general order and based on that order they submitted applications with the interests they had and to limit the number of groups to share through the department and that

particular committee and form submitted to us. the interest or expertise and they submitted the list. once that is compiled work with my assistant to put it together based on the preferences and request to accommodate all of them as possible. some folks only requested one. that was easy to place. and we list in order of priority. and that is how with that work and participated at least. after the general order and from

the ems. >> who are you referring to? >> chief tong and that is great. the general order would go out and people would apply to you and you consult with other seniors. and what happens this is the question for the chief of the department. or perhaps for you. we heard during the last meeting about the equity initiative. and i wanted to and i don't have the list of the members of that work group. >> that was separate and i came after because the board of supervisors plan came after that report came out.

i will share that committee. it was just formed two months ago and we still have applications reviewed because of that. we have 20 members that are part of the committee. and i will be happy to share that with you. >> that would be good. i also noticed we don't have a grants committee. has there been any discussion regarding that? >> not since the last time we had it and if mark wants to share that a grant rider and homeless security and the course and the grant rider and all the inputs from the committees that come up and will go through. >> and the grants committee would be extremely helpful under

budget and finance, but there has to be keen emphasis on grants and how people in the department can lobby for their particular specialties or whatever. but now we have a full-time grant writer and someone else and it would be good to have members of the department be involved in the process of what grants are most key and just be able to have a robust conversation about that. so if you could get back to me on that, that would be good. so equity is going to be forming and there may or may not be a grant committee, but there will

be some focus on grants since we have a lot of competition in the city. >> and as the chief was saying we have been working with all the committees and part of the directive is for those committees to come up with both priorities in terms of asks as well as any grant opportunities they find and to get that up the chain to chief and then we work with mark corso and our fabulous grant writer and whoever else we need to make that happen. we are getting all these ideas and requests from these committees.

>> again i think it would be helpful to have a separate grant work group to decide which grant and you can't apply to all the -- for all the grants that you would like to apply to because we have limited person power. but if we have work groups and that is something to consider. there was something else i had a question about. and with the work groups i see that health and safety doesn't have any -- or perhaps it does have paramedics on it but i didn't see that they were lifted. and also communications. >> for the health and safety

committee that is a committee based on the m.o.u. with equal member and that is a separate committee. >> just related to the memorandum of understanding. the other one they weren't on -- oh was communications. i didn't see any paramedics -- >> i will have to look at that because i thought we had folks there but i will have to look at the list, president. >> all right. if we could ground that out a little bit more, that could be great. inthat is all the questions i have for the chief of the department right now. are there any other commissioners that have questions? no more questions for the chief of the department.

thank you. and vice president feinstein thank you very much for filling in for me. we'll have the next item please madam secretary. >> an it has been called. chief bellow will present his report and he has the ball. >> thank you. >> just don't let me touch it and we will probably be fine. >> can you see that presentation? >> awe yes. perfect. and deputy chief administration this is my july 2020 commission report and like the chief said, i will give a brief update on the mutual response we have and one is the complex in santa cruz county which this morning is 19% contained.

and the l.n.u. complex fire which is 33% contained. and it is the cal-fire unit that is responsible. normally fires are named by the street or the address of the fire but in this case a complex means multiple lightning strikes that happened in an area. and in order to manage the complex and the ccu is how far we go in the unit. we have 51 # folks there. we have work in many more fires than that. we have work and vacuville asked for help with the neighbors because the city was being burned down in their western side and our folks were there for 23 hours helping in that fire. and the hormel fire which is a branch of the river fire and the

czu and two representatives to the puc operations center to make sure the assets for the city were paramount priority. these are folks i was getting and wednesday night in vacaville and this is from the salinas where the p.i.o. from the local firefighters posted this on social media thanking us for showing up and being there and helping. tremendous response. a lot of feedback from folks from the bay area about this incredible part we play. and these are the committees

meeting for the last few months. one of the priorities was to update the policies procedures, manuals. another is to identify grant opportunities and how much they would like to go and apply for. so instead of doing the work and they are the experts and they can provide us with information and exactly where they need and prioritize those requests too. and that is what they have been working on. as far as training we were happy to have commissioner feinstein preside over the valuation of the 15th ems academy where we named 12 new member. fine were level two promotions and three were level three promotions for paramedic firefighter and paramedic on our commission. it was very fun day. the committee with the academy and i was told that one already

passed the retest and we are almost done with that. the new assignments for second house have been published and will start moving in the next couple of weeks. for those who aren't familiar to do six months on the truck and six months on the engine and get a full training before they complete one year. some go from front to truck and some from truck to engine. our reserves which falls under the jurisdiction of chief of training have been quite busy with the fires you saw from last commission meeting and they have been assisting in the fires a lot. and we are keeping the skills sharp to respond and help with the fires. also the commission and training and other things we move on is technology to deliver training through video and other media. so one of the things we did on october 22 2018 is a high-rise fire that presents significant challenges for us any time we have a high-rise fire but it was

very well done. we put a video you might have seen on emails that described the lessons learned for this fire and future training and high-rises and we can learn from this as always. it took a little bit to get it done and it was very well produced and very well done. our team has been quite busy and this past weekend we did the outdoor training and outdoors and in the meantime a tremendous oment of work and food banks and testing sites. they have been activated and are quite busy from the parks with a

covid-19q&a session that we published for the members and share the information we have as far as the members and shared through video as well, too. the continue to work on the injury prevention and we have talked before about the application and mental health resources and every month with incentivized members and they have prices for that too. and as the chief said, she is off this week and will be back

next week and helping out more that the doctor is not here and she has experience in occupational health. we are happy to have her and for the meantime she will be helping dr. burke in the office and to share information about covid. we have random testing going on and push action testing going on and help in the office with promotions and physicals and the breathalyzer test and make sure they are up to date and tested. and helping with the incident accident team. and talk about the fleet and the facilities and give you progress reports on that. 35 that you can see for the interior or first second floor

is moving along. and remind what this is supposed to look like in the future this is the artist rendering with the new space that will be impressive and we can't wait for this completion. and station 49 moving along to the delays for the contractor and is also puc and related delays is now moved to mid december to early january and moving along with that to anticipate the report. and what it is is that we have all stations with host hours that are not basically safe. we through the bond movie we

have been able to take off those because they are not safe and collapse into the structure. so this is used to dry host and made of cotton and hanging through the pulley system into the tower and dry it out and put it back in service. there is no need to dry it out many days and mostly removed as one station that will stay hours and reinforce and redone. as the historical aspects that will be ocean avenue and they will be redone or reinforced as the standards to meet earthquakes. that is all i have. again, my report is comprehensive and i am happy to answer any questions on that report or anything i spoke about

today. madam secretary? >> we are on mute. okay. i will check for public comment. no public comment there. would you like to make public comment? >> no just congratulations to sffd. >> thank you. that is all public comment.

>> you are on mute. thank you for your report and with the chiefs when you give your report. with the structure and the committee and the 23 committees and separate committees and is 24 to 25? i am excited about that former executive rake. and go through and with the

organizational person and that with the to talk about the new era of chief nicholson and with the participation to get the membership and there were vendors who wanted to put in oxygen systems to help the various buildings. that is a lot to do with high-rises to have systems and

with the el vators and the hose and i think all of those questions and processes throughout the committee format is really important. to participate in the affinity groups as well. thank you madam president. >> thank you commissioner nakajo. commissioner cleveland. >> thank you, madam president. thank you chief for your report. i had a couple of questions and the events by rank. what is the 3807?

this is the injury report that doesn't require treatment by emergency room or even paramedics with transport. so for example, somebody is hurt at the station and long enough to put ice or ibuprofen and we do that because that injury and that is documented for the future. the 5020 is with treatment right? dp is disability pay. >> okay.

when we talk about the fire station from the dp and they are very much behind to do that so how many sites do we have? >> we have an update since that report was published and i double check on that, too. ed what happened is a member that worked on this project retired and their contact number and email was effective and sending emails to get update and it was going nowhere. as of now we only have two left that need to be worked on for bicycle and lanes and with the

top half. and emergency generators and with the is even more important and that is the case, correct? that is the case we rent them and have the function. >> thank you. project seven was cancelled and i wondered why and how extensive was that renovation project.

and is there any future for renovating our station 7? with the division of training and the mutual response. the issue is the additional training and some money will go to that station and now we will allocate the money we have for training and see what that is left. and that is one of the top priorities and that will be redone and we are hoping to get the same model construction as station five. to be in the division house and copy and paste and put in that request and depend on how much money we have left and to allocate that or pursue further

bond money for that in the future. >> and to do some training at training seven. will we consolidate that into the new facility? >> that will be the goal and that will be determined. and the only thing is the beautiful tower there too, and we don't want to lose it. >> i notice we lost some data in the m.i.s. performed a routine upgrade to the fire portal system and after upgrade support services that many years of fall fail and maintenance data were missing. that is july 30 this year and still trying to recover. do we have that data? that is correct and they are

working on that. >> good evening, commissioners. dawn dewit and support services and after they did the upgrade, the facilities manager noticed some of the past information is missing and she is working closely with m.i.s. and more so we have a progress history of what is going on and not as if we have lost anything that is work that needs to be done and mostly closed issues from 2013 and we like to retain that so get patterns. >> when we try to renovate older buildings it is difficult to

find the blueprint. and we are shooting in the dark sometimes. so i understand that is important but not critical. >> you answered my question on the purpose of the towers. i was wondering why we were decommissioning the hose towers but you answered that. appreciate that. on the ambulance deployment facilities did pg&e energize effectively? >> i can let chief dewit speak about that. >> they were just out there today, as a matter of fact, and i think they left today just shy of completing the work so will be energized soon and the next step will be commissioning which is to go through every electrical function and the hvac

system the fire alarm system and go through and make sure all of those systeming work properly. we're on our way. >> okay. in the report it talks a tbt hose tender specs and the quantity that you spit out. >> are we getting the full as poped to six or two as opposed to four? what was number of host tenders cut down from? >> so i believe we have three left in the budget and i will let director corso speak about that and through the mayor's budget to reduce and guy-last year's budget and this year's budget and market view. >> absolutely, chief. good evening, commissioner. the original allocation in the budget was 4 in the general fund budge and 1 through staut funding and the mayor's process for balancing two of those were reduced in the budget for the

purchase of three units. >> we do have the money for three host tenders. >> correct. we have $3 million. >> that is fantastic. i am sure that is fantastic news the the rest of us as well. any research being done on noncarsnogenic pp sneshgs >> good timing. we have a committee formed doing the contractors and one of the main concerns we have is we are meetings with the transferrer after exactly that to try to find the equipment that doesn't have p-fast. the chlorinated thing that makes sense because it reflects water and moisture but it has a negative effect on our health. we don't think the industry is there yet but there is some manufacturers that are clearly working towards that because of the demand from the fire service

is exactly that. we want to have gear that not only we used to and go to and working on that. we have one manufacturer we have identify and we will lnt to all-them and to operate with the industry standards and what the industry is offering as far as that. that is one of the number one priorities for this one of the best gear for us is to have that priority. i am assisting because i can help with some of the knowledge that we have members of 798 working on that and members of the foundation and also members of training on that, too. we have several folks >> very good news. how many manufacturers produce ppe for firefighters? >> the main one and the big ones we have about fiver of them.

and the minor ones that can't produce one a year and we buy it, but about five of them. >> i think it might be -- i think if the department and l.a. and new york and chiefs from other a few other major fire departments in the country join together in a letter and send it to the five manufacturers saying we want to have the production and to have the impact to do a collective letter like that. so in the actual process and the committees have 1/3 of firings and intercolluding the international firefighters and chiefs and to talk to one member they are pushing that as a top priority with the

standards that meet the thermal stability and protection that we need bounce that off. >> and that the conversation is active and that is good news. thank you for your excellent report. madam vice president, do you have questions? >> no. >> thank you. i have two questions. and so just learning how things work. how do you choose who goes? that is number one. number two the removal of the hose towers how does that happen? do you work out the grid?

how does that work and how is that work awarded to? >> i will answer question one because i am the one that coordinate that. and i will let chief dewit answer question two. we do have the collection and volunteers and the specific training and april may we normally train them to have the skills and adapt and train them on the constant available list. and every day when we work, we are signing up for being a volunteer and based on the criteria we set up and who is working and who is off duty and can choose the members and the goal is to get out the door quicker than not and coming from home takes longer and we have

some volunteers and we are back filled every time somebody goes out and cover them at home. and the oes and the incidents and get reimbursed for every firefighter that goes out the door and back fill and maintain in the stations. and immediate need. and in the nine counties have a major emergency and we might send them for pre-amount of time not to exceed 24 hours and come back. those are not reimbursed and the pure mutual aid and help the local city and come back. that is going to turn out to be the big incident that has multiple resources and the folks that are currently assigned to fires and being reimbursed to be there and help them out. and then chief dewit and answer

through the question of the towers. it is through contract and the bid. >> thank you. >> and i don't have any questions at this time. thank you very much for your report chief velo. >> just one thing to answer the question about the hose tower removal. so those projects along with other kinds of projects that are too large for the ecw and the bureau of building repair go out to bid for either a job order contract or larger company depending on the works and d.p.w. and managed the bid and choose either the lowest price or the best quality and based on the criteria and they have selected the contractor to remove the subtower. >> thank you. >> thank you. all right. any final questions from anyone?

>> madam secretary, please call the next item. >> item six commission report. report on commission activities from last meeting and august 12 2020. >> and thank you. is there any public comment on commissioner's report? is there anything to report, commissioners? we are all pretty much sheltering in place. we don't get out much anymore. do you have anything madam secretary and i did do a volunteer for a food bank and check public comment here. i did call for public comment and yes please check and caller three and caller three would

you like to make public comment? >> caller two would you like to make public comment? caller two doesn't answer me. all right. there is no public comment. >> public comment is closed and we will go on to the next item please. >> item seven, agenda for next and future fire commission meetings. >> and we do have los bomberos coming to present at the next meeting and the closed session and the findings of fact. >> all right. thank you. are there any other suggestions for the next meeting? all right. i think we have to have budget item so that we can be updated by mr. corso and his crew.

is there anything else that anyone can think of at this time? okay then. as time moves on i am sure we will add another item. i would again like to thank you very much for your patience. my patience was truly tried this evening. and i am glad everybody else stayed cool and calm. i will entertain a motion to adjourn. >> so move. >> second. >> thank you. i agree we should adjourn. >> commissioner nakajo. >> i agree. thank you very much, commissioners. >> commissioner rodriguez?

>> i agree. thanks for the report. we are adjourned at 6:23. >> be safe everyone. commissioner thank you. watching. >> you're watching coping with covid-19 with chris manners.

today's special guest is julie kirschbaum. >> hi. i'm chris manners. you're watching coping with covid-19. today, i'm speaking with the executive director of the sfmta. thank you and welcome to the show. >> thank you for having me. >> can we begin by talking about the services that have been suspended and there have been changes to the services that are still running? >> absolutely. we've had to make really significant changes to our services in response to covid-19. initially going down to as few as 17 routes. these are routes that people use to get to work or the hospital grocery stores really to make the most essential trips that are needed throughout this process.

we've been fortunate over the last say five or six weeks, that our staffing levels have gotten better and as we've increased our cleaning capacity, that we've been able to add some community services back. we've added a shuttle on pacific avenue which is helping seniors get to grocery stores in chinatown. we've added a community inline bus in ingleside and we've been adding more service to our core network. our corridors like mission street potrero near s.f. general, and really needing increasingly more and more service in order to prevent spacing and -- keep spacing and prevent crowding on the bus. >> thank you. what measures have you been

taking to prevent passengers on the bus? >> your safety has been our top priority and is guiding everything that we do. the most critical thing that we're doing is the mask requirement, where we're requiring people if you're going to ride muni to do it safely protecting yourself and others from germs. we've also implemented back door boarding, so except for our customers with disabilities that will need the support of the front door the ramp or the leader, we're asking customers to enter from the back to give extra spacing to our operators. we've provided operators with all of the protective equipment that they need to do the job safely including gloves and masks, and we're really fortunately that our bus -- fortunate that our buses are equipped with a plexi glass

door that creates an operating space for our operators. and some of services like the cable car historic trolleys we don't have that same protection we suspended early on in this process. we want our operators to have the physical separation that they need to stay safe on the road. >> absolutely. so how have you been managing physical distancing on public transportation? what happens if a bus gets full? >> great question. we have reduced the number of people that we consider a bus to be crowded so heading into this we might have had 70 or 80 people on the bus. now, it's closer to 20. we also are monitoring our passenger loads. both our operators are monitoring them as well as we're monitoring them remotely from our transportation

management center. if the bus does get too crowded the operators have a drop-off only sign and they stop picking passengers up until enough exit the vehicle. it might be a little bit inconvenient if you're waiting for a bus and it doesn't stop to pick you up but there's another one coming behind it so we can make sure that you have social distancing throughout this process. >> what other ways have you been letting passengers and residents know about these changes and new policies? >> we've been using all methods to keep customers informed about all of these changes. we've put up almost 2,000 signs and posters at our bus stops in multiple languages, letting people know when routes have been eliminated when hours have changed, when service has

changed. we've also been putting it up through social media and neighborhood groups, and also really relying on the media and press to notify customers about changing. we want the public to know what to expect in this really unique and unusual time to make things as convenient as possible. >> quite right, yes. other than the operators themselves i know you have a very large support staff. have you made changes at your muni facilities, as well. >> sfmta has 29 facilities, and enhancing safety at those facilities has really been a team effort. we have an amazing custodial crew that's been doing deep cleanings. we were able to take staff that had been cleaning the subway stations and dedicate them to

our facilities. we have also seen staff at every level jump in and help with daily cleanings in places like common areas, desks tools. everyone is pitching in to wipe stuff down which makes a big difference. we are proud of the fact that we haven't had any clusters of staff who have had the virus or really any examples of staff catching it from each other, and we feel it's because of the steps that we're taking to keep people safe at work. we're also taking ideas from everywhere in the organization. that includes safety briefings rather than doing them in a small room doing them outside in a parking lot. in order to get to job sites, staff had previously taken

three or four people in a city truck. now, we're taking them in a bus so they can actually space out during the trip to the site. >> oh, that's great stuff. when we look at the transportation system as a whole, what additional steps have been taken to encourage people to consider alternative forms of transit. >> we have been looking at it as a system in part because the bus system is doing less than it has in the past because we have fewer routes and because we have fewer people riding. one example is our e.t.c. program, which is a taxi-based program that seniors and people with disabilities can sign up for and use a taxi for essential trips at a highly discounted rate. we're also looking at a transit

system that people can get out walking or biking. >> how are we planning on next steps as restrictions ease and we move into phase two and eventually phases three and four? >> i think probably our biggest thing that we're getting ready for right now is the start of school in august and make sure that we're ready, not only to accommodate all of the general activities like going to restaurants and recreation, but also getting kids to school safely. we're also looking at what are other cities doing around the world that we can learn from and that's where we are forming our work, as well. we are really fortunate that we had an opportunity to skype with taipei, a city that's had a lot of success addressing the virus. the mayor actually joined the

skype call and one of the things that they shared with us their biggest success has come with 100% compliance masks on mass transit. in other cases, monitoring for temperatures and really making sure that people were riding, that they were riding healthy, so we're trying to model and apply those best practices to our system and learn as much as we can through this process. >> well that's fantastic information. i really appreciate you coming on the show miss kirschbaum. thank you for the time you've given us today. >> thank you. >> thanks again. well that's it for this episode. we'll be back with more covid-19 relates information shortly. you've been watching coping with covid-19. i'm chris manners. thanks for watching.

we are celebrating the glorious grand opening of the chinese rec center. ♪ 1951, 60 years ago our first kids began to play in the chinese wrecks center -- rec center. >> i was 10 years old at the time. i spent just about my whole life here. >> i came here to learn dancing. by we came -- >> we had a good time. made a lot of friends here. crisises part of the 2008 clean neighborhood park fund, and this

is so important to our families. for many people who live in chinatown, this is their backyard. this is where many people come to congregate, and we are so happy to be able to deliver this project on time and under budget. >> a reason we all agreed to name this memorex center is because it is part of the history of i hear -- to name this rec center is because it is part of the history of san francisco. >> they took off from logan airport and the call of duty was to alert american airlines that her plane was hijacked, and she stayed on the phone prior to the crash into the no. 9 world trade center. >> i would like to claim today the center and the naming of ait.

[applause] >> kmer i actually challenged me to a little bit of a ping pong -- the mayor actually challenge me to a little bit of a ping- pong so i accept your challenge. ♪ >> it is an amazing spot. it is a state of the art center. >> is beautiful. quarksrights i would like to come here and join them

>> hi. i'm chris manners, and you're watching coping with covid-19. today, i'm going to be talking about checking with your neighbors. >> start off by giving your neighbor a call to see how they are or if they need help. if they don't answer don't get anxious. try again later. check to see if their car is parked nearby. are they lights being turned on and off during normal hours? if you still can't contact them contact your other

neighbors and see if they've had contact with them recently. you can also leave a note in their mailbox, and when you do get in touch with them ask if they'd like to share their emergency contact information. if you're getting groceries for a neighbor, get a mask and sanitizing wipe. put the groceries by the front door and then move back and call them from the sidewalk. if you need to ring the doorbell don't use your hand. use the wipe or paper towel that you brought. when you call stay on the sidewalk at least 6 feet away from them. as you're talking to them, ask about any other help they might need. some might need further assistance with groceries or just need to chat. maybe they might need you to pick up prescriptions from the

pharmacy. and as always, as soon as you get home, wash your hands. here's a quick recap. >> well that's it for this episode. i hope you found it useful. go to sfgov for >> i am vivian coe. carman chu co-founded the

challenge along in 2018, along with the department on the status of women, as well as the league of women voters in san francisco. our mission is to raise women's voices and their voting power. you can learn more about our initiative on our website wchallenge.org. before we start, i would like to thank our w challenge partners and supports and occur co-hosts -- and our co-hosts listed in the shared screen before. for organizing today's event, as well as kicking off a social media campaign as this year's challenge. we want to encourage more women to vote especially for this upcoming election. we'll share more details later on in the program. you can learn more about the initiative on wchallenge.org 100 women. today's event will stream live on sfgovtv.org youtube

channel, as well as the city's facebook and twitter accounts. i want to thank our colleagues here from sfgov tv for working in the backgrounds and making this event as successful as possible for everyone. you can feel free to share the links and host a watch party if you want on your preferred social media platforms because we will be having them on facebook and twitter. this session will be recorded for future references. so let's get started. happy women's equality day. may i kindly ask the president of the commission on the status of women to join us, bree anna swat, to officially kickstart the celebration of today's event. thank you. >> thank you so much vivian for the kind introduction. and really thank you to all staff for making this happen. i know we would normally be on the steps of stahl. but i appreciate everyone's

creativity and flexibility of making this a virtual event as well. my name is brianna and i'm privileged to serve as the president of the nation's strongest commission and department on the status of women right here in san francisco. it was on this day 100 years ago that the 19th amendment was added to the constitution of the united states. in the process of extending the right to vote to women across the country. and on november 2 2nd, 1920, more than 8 million women voted for the first time in the presidential election. the moment was a culmination of a movement made with tears pain sweat, a long strug that will included activism and leadership of black, indigenous, and women of color, too many who who were later written out of history books. these women who fought, marched, organized and protested for decades to gain the right to vote. we are right to celebrate this day as a milestone and recognize

that equal votes rights were not achieved for all women through the 19th amendment. the voting rights act passed 55 years ago, brought us closer to equal voting rights. however, the struggle continues. and the need for vigilance goes on. as we were reminded in '21 when the supreme court gutted, these attacks on the democracy continue through this very hour the tactics evolve. but honestly the intent remains the same. it was once literacy test, and outright violent intimidation. today we see the closing of polling places in communities of color be and attacks on voting by mail. in short, the fight continues on for the right to vote. today is more than a day of celebration but to continue in the struggle and the moment to look ahead to the next 100 year years. and 9 moment to ensure our

democracy is truly representative. over the last century women have also fought to gain access in classrooms, board room and elected it office -- elected office. we have seen the power of women's leadership with each advance. we see that diverse voices and perspectives, equity and inclusion bring new ideas new insights to the halls of power. we've seen that right here from our vantage point in san francisco, with our own representative nancy pelosi, the first and only woman to serve as speaker of the house our two female senators and now vice presidential candidate kamala harris. as i said earlier i wish we could all be gathered in person together. this is not how anyone could have imagined 2020 would look. but it also reminds us how important it is to have strong and capable leaders. and how connected we are together. in honor of our ancestors, our foremothers, our sisters and the struggle, i am so proud to kick off this event and to bring

together our two city female elected officials, women who not only forged the path but always bring others along with them. carmen chu as served as the elected assessor since 2013. her efforts in the in performing the office and successfully reversing decades of old backlog earned her office the prestigious 2020 good government award an hon father recognizing the excellence in public sector management and stewardship. assessor chu has also recently taken on a new leadership role to co-chair the economic recovery task force using her fiscal expertise to help san francisco through an unprecedented economic impact from covid-19 pandemic. on top of all of this she is vice president of the california assessors' association served on the employees retirement system board overseeing the

investments of $26 billion in public pension system and a little provides direction on the executive board of spur, a non-profit focused on developing regional solutions to cross-county challenges like housing affordability and climate resilience. in addition to all of these wonderful things and all of these new roles she has a new role as a mother. and is forever a public servant with her values rooted in her experience growing up as a daughter of immigrants. thank you for your leadership assessor chu thank you for being here. and finally it's my honor to welcome our mayor, london breed. in 2018 mayor breed was elected to be the first african-american woman and the second woman in san francisco's history to serve as mayor. she was re-elected for her first full term in november 2019. she led san francisco's emergency response to covid-19 with grit and grace. and is currently guiding the

city's phased reopening and economic recovery. recently mayor breed announced -- since becoming mayor her priorities have included helping the city's homeless population and to care and shelter and adding more housing for residents of all income levels. helping those suffering from mental health and substance-use disorders and ensuring that all san franciscans have access to a thriving economy. furthering san francisco's leadership and combating climate change and honestly the list goes on and on. so thank you all again for being here. i'm excited to get this conversation started. >> thank you, breanna, for such

a nice introduction. we will now ask our assessor carmen chu, the co-founder of the w challenge to give some introduction remarks as we are awaiting for the mayor to join us shortly. >> thank you. first off, i want to just thank everybody all of our partner organizations, breanna, for your wonderful and warm introduction. thank you all for joining us in this virtual way. i think that this is a special day a day that i think as breanna mentioned, women were able to win the right to vote. it did take decades, though for indigenous women and women of color to also be able to participate. so i think as we take the moment to celebrate this milestone in our history it's also important to recognize that the struggles for participation, the struggle for representation still continues even as we speak. it is highlighted not only from what we're seeing from the federal attacks, in terms of women's rights and the place of women but also when we're thinking about even how we are all seeing the response to

covid-19. i think it's not lost on so many of us that covid-19 though it is a disease that impacts everyone, it has not been impacting our communities in an equal way. we've seen a disproportionate impact on our lateef hasani gray hat latinx communities. women bear the brown in the industries most impacted negatively by covid-19, health care sectors, education childcare. and not only that, but we are also seeing that women also are playing a role of double duty, even triple duty when it comes to not only balancing their jobs employment careers and also childcare and elder care. this is something that is intimately experienced by so many of us. for myself, as a young mother, with a 15-month-old daughter and having my elderly parents now sheltering in place with us, i

feel that impact. and yet i find myself really understanding how fortunate i am even to be in a place that i am now and to be able to still have a child. so many of the people that we're talking about have lost their jobs, are on the verge of losing their businesses and their homes. it really does highlight the importance of recognizing the impacts of covid and the opportunity to really step up. and so today we have a unique opportunity to be able to talk about women leadership, especially at this time. i think as breanna had mentioned earlier, there's a cross section of home things happening, in addition to the challenges that we have with covid-19, we're seeing wildland fires across the state of california, that's brought about by climate change. we're not only seeing that, but continued challenges at the federal level when it comes to our immigrant communities and people of color. and so again we're really, really excited to have the mayor today to be able to speak more

about women's leadership and the importance of that going forward. and so i see that our mayor has joined us. and so i want to welcome london to the program. i think today's going to be a very -- it's going to be a unique opportunity. we rarely have the chance to be able to interview each other and have a candid conversation. so it will be a lot of fun to be able to do that today. but just a moment right before you came on, mayor breed breanna was able to share some really great information about your bio. today people are really looking forward to get to know more about you and your leadership style as we go forward. i think as you know we started the w challenge a few years ago and you've been a strong supporter from the beginning. i think one of participated every single year that we have come together to talk about the sponsor of voting and women's participation. this year our challenge is to really make sure we're highlighting the 100-year history of at least 100 great

amazing women leaders. so we really want to tell the story of women's leadership through the years. and how we all build upon those histories, in order to be where we are today. so again i'm super excited to bring mayor breed on to the show today. i'm going to ask you the first question. but actually before we do that, why don't i ask you to introduce or say a few words if you'd like to to commemorate the 100 year-anniversary. >> well, thank you so much, carmen. it's, of course, always great being with you and talking about important issues in our city, pour importantly celebrating 100 years of women receiving the right to vote. we all know sadly, with the history of this country, that did not include women of color. and we know that, you know, when i think about from a perspective of where we are now in this country, and how there is finally a reckoning that is

occurring around race and around inequality and what's happening to people, as a result of that spark that sadly involves the death of george floyd, i think this is the perfect time to start to have these honest conversations about this. because from my perspective, you know our differences are what makes us a better city. it's what makes us a better country. i hope my phone is not too loud. i don't know how to turn it off. but it makes us a better -- it makes us a better city. it makes us a better country. and i think that it starts with the next generation and it also needs to be embedded in our young people at an early age that in a way that could effectively allow for change. because the sad reality is we know a lot of this is taught in the home. it's taught, you know early on.

and it develops into who you are as a person naturally. we have to get to the point of all of that. we have to be prepared to have the honest conversations about our differences, you know how we all fit into this world. and how working together we can make things better. and i've got to be honest. no one does that better than women. [laughter] but we are, you know, multi-taskers and it's naturally who we are. so as we celebrate, you know the right to vote for him, we have to also keep in mind there was a time that women couldn't vote in this country. there was a time that black people couldn't vote in this country. there was a time that folks were discriminated against and hung just because they wanted to exercise their right. we dishonor their memory and sacrifice when we don't show up to make our voices heard.

that's the celebration should remind us about those people and what they sacrificed and how we have appear obligation to not only exercise our right to vote ourselves but to make sure that we are lifting up others to do the same. and that we are also making it clear to the next generation how significant it is for them to do so as well. >> yes. >> glad to be here. absolutely. i think the points you make really do resonate, because i think that the fight continues right. even now i mean we're continuing to see the inequities continue to be part of our daily lives. we need to really speak honestly about it. it is really hard. it is hard to talk about race, because it's uncomfortable. unless we start to get to a place where we can do that, i don't know how we start to dismantle what's there, right. and even within the last covid response we've been seeing a lot of rise in anti-asian

sentiments, people blaming the asian community for what's happening. i think even then we need allies, we need people to say that's not right, that's not okay that's not the reason why we are in the place that we are. and so i think there's a lot of -- there is a lot of hurt and there's a lot of healing that we need to be responsible for. >> yep. and also, carmen, you know think about -- i don't believe there's one person on this earth who hasn't been disrespected in some way. >> absolutely. >> and they now that hurts. and it doesn't feel good. i'm sure you've been called racial names. i've been called names. and when you think about that, why would you want somebody else to feel that way. >> that's right. >> and i think that we have to start to get to, you know, the root causes of how those things developed. and we have to have honest conversations. and just, you know, for example

i still have people in my family who make certain comments and use certain, you know racial slurs that i have to correct. and they're basically like well we always said that. and i don't do it because i'm mayor. i want to be clear. but i do it because it's offensive to the people that claim we respect right. it's like when you use those terms and you don't understand it's not appropriate. why would you continue to do that. so don't tell me you have a friend who is gay or you have a friend who is chinese and you have a friend who is this and they don't have a problem with it. i don't care. i have a problem with it. >> yeah. >> because i would be offended if someone used certain comments and words against me. but we have to also educate our family members especially our

older family members about terminologies that are just not appropriate to say about other people. >> yeah. and i think that it's absolutely true. i think the more that we can personalize and share with our family what our expectations are and what it means for people, i think the better -- i think we all grow up with certain experiences and we all have preconceived notions about people and we all have ways to shortcut what we think. but ting what is important that we recognize that they exist, right that we might have biases that exist. and make sure that they don't drive how we make decisions or they don't drive how it is that we interact with people. i think that's what's really important. it's not to say that any of us are perfect or we don't have biases. but it's to recognize that we do. >> yeah. >> to make sure we don't let that motivate us, right. i think as you mentioned when we have an opportunity to give a

different perspective when a family member or anyone is making a generalization about a particular community it's to say why do you say that. i don't think that's true. that generalization actually is wrong. what would you think if they said this about our community right. it's to make sure we kind of do that we continue to grow and evolve. we're in the middle of a global pandemic. no one thought we would be having to deal with something like this. not only that. we're say it's where we have conversations and we're having a reckoning when it comes to institutional racism, police brutality. so i want to know what does it feel like to be mayor of a city like san francisco during this time. do you thinking about a woman mayor makes a difference? >> oh, my god. carmen -- >> it's a big question.

i mean no one can prepare for this kind of thing, you know. >> well, i'll just say that, you know i'm very spiritual. and when i became mayor even to this very day based on my circumstances, i still can't believe that someone like me could actually be mayor of san francisco. it still -- it's almost unreal. i wake up in the morning, it's like yep you're still mayor. and it's still blowing me away. and then when i think about what i have come into and my personal background and my experiences. talking about creative in times such as this. and that was kind of the message. and because i will say -- i was in my head wondering what's going on here. you know, is this the end of the world. like global pandemic.

the fires, the unrest, all of the protests, all of this stuff. i was just like wow. and then our president, right like this is like almost as if i'm watching a movie. and it's not real. but it's real. and it's our life. and what i realizeif i were not mayor how would i want to feel. and how would i want my leaders to waive in a way that help -- to behave in a way that helps reassure me that things will be okay. >> yeah. >> and so that's how i've made the decisions that i have made. and by being completely honest with the public every step of the way. and also letting the public know we don't know what the future

holds, which you typically as a politician should not maybe say or people think you should not say. but i think that, you know we as women we're kind of realists. and we feel strongly about -- like, for example your mother, you know, you know how it is where you want to do everything for your kids, but you also have to say no. we can't. >> oh, my gosh. i told you. i don't say no. >> i'm going to get you car carmen. you have to man up. [laughter] but you've got it like -- but part of saying to our children is to protect them. >> yeah. it's part of what is important in our natural -- this is naturally how we are. we're nurturing people as women in most cases. and we care about doing what's right for folks. and i think that has been a guiding principle for me

because it's not easy, of course. and, you know like, for example, you think that it doesn't hurt my heart to see people sleeping on the ground or -- it's not that i don't like seeing it it just hurts. it's a human being that's sleeping on the ground. and in my mind i can't help but -- when we go past and, you know, honestly i pray for them and i also ask god to help give me the strength to be able to do this job and to make things better for people. it's not about the complaints. it's about the need to try and get people to help and the support that they need. so i think, you know in terms of governing it's just -- i am doing the best that i can. i am listening to various advisers but also members of the public with their emails and their comments and their suggestions and trying to make good decisions. because a lot of people are

counting on me. they're counting on me. it's not london, it's the mayor as a symbol of, you know, the leader of the city. and they're counting on me to make good decisions to keep them safe. and so that's how i see my job. and it's important to make sure that we're doing what we're doing. and that's really why when -- i mean we can't just do one thing, we have to do a lot of things. and that's why i was like, carmen is one of those people that i respect, as it relates to money management. [laughter] and fiscal responsibility. she's like bringing in the bread. but also the accountability and everything. she's the perfect person to help with the economic recovery and what that entails. plus on top of that you're very thoughtful in how you think about things. you're not just thinking about a business, you're thinking about the people because of your family, right. and your experiences growing up and your mom and dad.

you're thinking about those experiences and how they had to struggle. >> yeah. >> and you know what people are going through. and so i guess i'll go into my next question -- my question my first question to you is it's like as a daughter of immigrants, and a small business owners how did your personal experience shape you as a person and as a leader for a time such as this? >> yeah. i mean, i think just going to a point thaw made earlier when you were talking about, you know -- what is it like being kind of a woman leader too. i don't know -- i think that when i've seen with you has just been this real collaborate approach. i'm not sure that any other elected mayor would have asked another elected person to help do the work that you asked me to do on the economic recovery task force. and i think that says a lot about how you approach things which is let's bring in people

to help be problem solving together. and i really appreciate that, because i'm not sure that anybody would just do that, right. i think that says volumes. you know, in terms of being, you know how it is that we approach leadership especially as you grow up, i think especially for me i saw my parents really struggle right. i was a young girl i never saw my parents. i was a latchkey kid. my mom and dad were working every single day. they would go to work, i'd be at school already, they wouldn't come home until after i went to sleep. i really rarely saw my parents. and i think seeing how hard they worked it's -- it's a symbol of sort of how hard it is for a lot of small businesses to make it and to survive. and i think seeing how they struggled seeing how they were discriminated against because they had an accent or how people didn't street them the right way when they went in to ask for help because they couldn't say it right or had an accent, that

really hurt me. when i think about public service and the things i hope to do, it's to really try to create opportunities for people and make sure that everybody knows that they're worthy. it doesn't matter where they come from or how much they have or how they can speak. they're worthy as individuals. and then i think now especially as a young mother too i love my daughter so much. she's really changed i think my perspective and, you know, my patience. and i realize that, you know, when i see the love that i have for her, hurts me to think that there are other kids who don't have the same support who potentially are going hungry who don't have the same opportunities to succeed. and that hurts me. because i just turn that around and say, what would i feel if that was for my daughter. what would i feel if she didn't have the chance to be loved, to be fed to feel safe to feel like she could be whatever she wanted to be. that kind of feeling helps me

today. keep on making sure that you create opportunities that you help people have a job that you can support families the best that you can. you know we're not going to be perfect. and i like when she said earlier about being honest with people about where our problems are. we should tell folks, let's be honest, here's where we have problems. here's what i need help with doing. here's what the city needs to do to pull things together. and we're not perfect. but this is what i'm going to do about it right. i think it's important to tell people that, because, you know in terms of leadership it's really important to be transparent with people because you lose the integrity, you lose the only thing that you have going for you which is, you know what you represent and what you say. are you going to say the things you say you're going to do. are you going to do the things that you say right. if you lose that, you lose integrity you lose people's trust. i think that's really embedded from the lessons that my parents have taught me.

but i think also again i think just being someone who, you know feels who is a mother, who kind of sees the struggle that my parents went through, i don't want to see that for other people. i want to do everything i can to change that. so i think being on the economic recovery task force i think about that every single day. i think what can we do as a city to help to save that one more business save that job so that people have the chance to be stable, you know. and have opportunities. what do we need to do to make sure that actually kids are not going to fall behind. like you know the distance learning is what we're doing right now, it's a travesty to not provide education to our young kids, who will fall further behind if we don't get it right, if we just don't figure out a way. i think those are the things that really just drive me as a leader to say what are those struggles that people feel, that i know from my own background that can really help to change things. i think you and i have the same

experience,. it really drives us. >> yeah. >> i think it kind of goes back to i think about the conversations you and i have had, where, you know, we are kind of commiserating over something really terrible happening, like something that was just like ridiculous that was happening in politics. you know, politics is tough because despite the best intentions sometimes, things get said a different way it's represented in a way that's different. sometimes things are just really hard. so i'm curious to hear from you about what is, you know, what is it about your life or your experiences that helped to motivate you when things are hard? you know, because being mayor you get a lot of criticism for things that you can control and things that you can't control right. and, you know how do you deal with that? and what kind of keeps you centered? >> well just think about it carmen can you imagine the fact

that you and i both came up under some of the most challenging of circumstances that we'd ever be in positions like this. >> yeah. >> it starts with that number one. number two, as hard as things are now things were worse when i was a kid in terms of my life experience. so when i tell people like i grew up in public housing i didn't just grow up there i had every single experience directly in my household family situation, where when you talk about domestic violence when you talk about drugs, prostitution grandma raising me criminal justice system, mentally ill. all of these things -- welfare food stamps, you know clothing with holes in them and everything else and criticism and fights and drama and lack of

access to things. anything that anyone probably talks about, that they care about in terms of helping people in, you know the most challenging of circumstances, i probably experienced it directly in my household. and the reason why in some circumstances i don't into depth about some of those really tragic stories is because out of respect too my family members. -- respect for my family members. out of respect for not putting all of their business out there because i'm the one in the limelight. and i don't want to expose them to, you know, challenges. i'm able to talk about my sister, who died from a drug overdose because of how it impacted me personally, you know. i talk about my brother because my brother was okay that i talk about his unfortunate situations. you know but, you know, like just experiences that i had,

when i think about, you know, like being a kid in the midst of those challenges and not being able to escape that world, you know i just -- you know, that is really what drives me. because i know that my experience is not unique. what is unique that i'm in a position like this coming out of those circumstances. and this is why this work is so important to me, because i know that there are other young talented people out there that just need a chance. they need a chance. they need a support system. so as challenging as a time that we're having right now and as much criticism and i may receive it pales in comparison to what i

experienced growing up. that's why i feel confident about my strength and my ability to take on a role like this. because i feel like i was prepared to be in a situation like this. it's so interesting because yes it's hard, yes sometimes it's frustrating. and there are setbacks and disappointments and struggles associated with this work but i feel optimistic about our ability to really make a difference. a mayor would ask another elected official to, you know it's not just that i asked you, it's just i also have to listen to what you're advice is, even if i disagree with it. part of that is really how i

work, because it's not just about me. i feel like it's important as a leader that you bring other people along and you're prepared to listen, it doesn't just have to be your way or the highway. and so i think my experience of growing up and seeing how infective that kind of approach has been and how it had a negative impact on people that grew up like me is why i do this. because i want to change things genuinely. the only way you're able to do that is by making sure you're making good decisions and you're always keeping in mind the people that we're here to serve. so i want to go back -- i know, you know, we're talking about our various experiences. but i just want to jump in, because when you first became a member of the board of supervisors you were the only

asian woman to serve at that time. >> yeah. >> and i just want to know how did it feel to be on the board? because the board of supervisors right now is a hot mess. and there's always a lot of drama, you know i served on the board, too. but there were other women. you left me. [laughter] i was like, no carmen, don't leave me. >> i went downstairs. >> but tell me when you first started, because you weren't trying to run for office. you weren't trying to be in politics. you were just dealing with the money and the finances and trying to do your job. tell me what that was like for you. >> yeah, i think for me, you know i'm -- by nature i'm probably more of an introvert than anything, you know. i think people kind of like you are? how can you be a politician. by nature that's what i was. my parents were always like, you're so shy, are you ever going to make it in this world.

are you going to hide behind me all the time, right when i was younger. we all kind of learn and we grow. you know, i had been in the mayor's budget office for gavin newsom at this time. i enjoyed the policy work behind the scenes and getting down to the nuts and bolts of things. at the end of the day when we talk about policy, ultimately when you want to look attack priorities of a city and the values of the city, you see where the money is spent. because that matters, right. where you put your resources matters and it speaks about the values that we have as a city. and so that was really kind of where i started. and then i think overnight mayor newsom, at the time appointed me to be a member of the board. and it was -- it was under a cloud of challenges in the asian communities right it was. it was then when the supervisor of district 4 was under investigation. i remembering about the only asian supervisor at that time.

it's a heavy kind of burden in a way, because you feel like you have to represent all of the chinese community, all of the asian community right. and what does that mean? because our community is so diverse right. i can't possibly represent the perspective of every single person. but it felt very heavy. and i asked myself why am i the only asian-american in the city, where we have such a large population right. the other thing weighing heavy on me at the time and played out during the election, a lot of people were basically saying that i didn't have sort of the right to be the representative, because i wasn't born in san francisco right. and there was nothing that more kind of offended me than that, to think that if i wasn't born here so if i was an immigrant or if i was someone who had moved here but cared a lot about the city, that i didn't have an equal right or i shouldn't have a voice, offended me to the soul. because it kind of just said,

what does that mean about my parents who emigrated here and worked so hard. are you saying they don't have a right to participate or have a voice also, right. i remember when i was running it was under this cloud of, well, are all asian politicians corrupt, you know because it wasn't just -- there were a few other issues that had happened. i think it was just this feeling of needing to make sure that i comported myself that was above and beyond, to make sure i left no doubt that that's not the all asian-machineries behaved -- all asian-americans behaved. make sure that you are representing in a way that you leave room for people to come behind you, right. i didn't want to be an example of yet another asian-american politician who was disappointing the community right. and so i think it was just -- it was a big challenge because there's so much kind of going on at the same time.

but i'm happy that we have since that time have had many more folks rise and be elected. and i think we need to continue to support that. so i think the work that we can do to continue to mentor young people and especially young women i think is really really important. because i think sometimes people just need to see that it's possible. you know i said that to you before right, too. you know when someone sees that -- as someone who went through all of the hardship that you went through who grew up facing all of the challenges that you did were able to -- was able to become the mayor that's inspiring, right. just that example and just seeing that is inspiring. for someone to say i'm looking at carmen and i'm that shy kid who no one really paid maybe that much attention to. but she can become an elected person and do good things, too. that's inspiring, too. those are the examples we need to show is that not all leadership styles are the same. but we can all succeed as

leaders right. and so i think that's something that has been imprinted in me i've kind of realizing this. >> yes. i'm sorry. >> go ahead. >> a really good point about where, you know, different styles of leaders, right. and i like that. but we both have very, you know, unique backgrounds that have, you know, involved struggle in some capacity. i think it also developed -- it also helps us to develop a appreciation and respect for one another as well, which i think is also important in the world of politics. how we treat each other even in the midst of our disagreementses, it's so important because that's one of thing biggest challenges that we face. and when we have disagreements and we start to do the personal attacks and some of the other lies and other things, it just

doesn't set a good example i think for young generations. we're just as bad what we see happening in the white house with we go that route. >> that's right. i want to ask you a personal question, but a fun one, which is what is something that no one knows about you? a fun fact. >> okay. a fun fact. one of my absolute favorite shows that i watch all the time people would not believe it, it's "fraser." [laughter] i love "fraser" because listen, this is a tough job. you know how like at night i try not to watch the news or nothing too serious before i go to bed. and most of the time and i just

kind of to laugh and smile or do something more happy, i watch "fraser." >> so i have to admit, my guilty pleasure is watching korean dramas. those romantic dramas. love them. >> oh, my goodness. yeah. i just -- and i love out loud a lot of times when i'm watching "fraser." all my by myself normally. [laughter] that would probably surprise a lot of people. >> so kind of getting back to a bunch of encouraging this idea about encouraging women to participate. you know, i want to know what do you think about -- what would you say to someone on the fence about participating? and if someone is thinking about running for office or wanting to do something where they get on a commission or something like that how -- what do you think people need to do to prepare for that experience. what would you say to those women? >> well, what i would say is when you feel something, when

you want to do something then you should go for it. part of what you want to make sure is you do your homework to prepare. that you know exactly what what your roles and responsibilities are and the position that you're going for whether it's a request to me to be a member of a board or a commission that i have the ability to make appointments for. or if you decide to run for public office. you know, when i decided to run for supervisor i wanted to be a good supervisor for the people of the district i represent, where i grew up in. and so that entailed making sure i knew how to do policy and legislation and i understand how the process worked and the city worked. and the good news i'd been on commissions and other places. so i understood it. but i actually went back to school late in life, before i ran, to get my master's in public administration. and i ended up graduating from

u.s.f. with honors, because i was committed to making sure that i was the best policymaker for the people that i represented. and i'm not suggesting that you do that. it's just that whatever role you want to play, you set your sights on that role and you make sure that you're prepared to take it on and all that it entails. and unfortunately in the world of politics, and in the world of public service, it also comes with its fair share of criticism. and i think it's going to -- it's really important that you have thick skin. and it's important that you have -- i'll tell you i made some mistakes along the way. because, you know, i want to be honest. i'm a girl from the projects. don't come for me unless you want me to come for you. so i have made some mistakes early on where i have cursed some people out and did some things. and what i had to realize is if i want to represent people it

can't be about me any more. so i can't do what i typically would do if it's just me, when i'm entering the world of politics. so i had to grow a lot in the position. part of it is just really making sure that you make yourself into the best person you can be. you just the best job you can be and you remember you're there representing other people. don't let yourself get in the way of that. >> i agree. and i think, you know i second that point that you make about sort of making sure that you're prepared and know what is required of you. and i think it's also about being prepared to make hard choices. >> yes. >> because it's easy to kind of just fall with the rhetoric, where the wind is blowing. it's really hart not to go -- hard not to go in that direction. people ask us to be leaders to say based on what you know and where you want to do for community, is this the right choice or is it not. sometimes may not be convenient,

right. it may just be the thing that is not the most popular thing that people want you to do. but you think it's the right call. i think it's important. i think two other things that you mentioned earlier, i think is really important. optimism. if you're not somewhat optimistic about being able to make change politics and public office isn't for you. because you've got to be tenacious, you have to believe that you can do something. it's easy to get discouraged if you don't. a story of tenacity. i don't know if you remember, london you and i were on a trip to israel right before the mayor made an appointment to the district 5 seat. do you remember this? >> yes yes. >> and i remember -- so, you know, ultimately the mayor ended up appointing someone else right. and london still ran right. she's like well, i'm still going to run. i still want to do this. she ended up winning, right. i remember on that trip -- i remember seeing you. you were like what's going to

happen. she was thinking about it the whole time. even though we were looking at different things, learn being you know the diaspora. she was tenacious and wanted to do the job. because it came across, right. those a few other things. you have to be optimistic that you can make change and be reallying to work hard. the changes that are really worthwhile, are hard to get to. >> yeah. it just want to add. i know we have to wrap it up i see your communications person. i just want to add that you also -- i think it is important that you are really prepared to make the hard decisions. and at the end of the day when you make that is the right decision not for your political career, is it the right decision for the people you represented. never lose sight of that. >> yeah. >> there were a lot of things that i supported that no other candidates supported when i ran

for mayor. and people were trying to tell me to change my position. i said but that's not fair to the public. they need to know who i am as a person and the kinds of decisions that i'm going to make. and that's what's so critical. don't change who you are to fit into it. that's where sometimes people go wrong because of what they see in the political climate. >> yeah. totally agree. because ultimately something has to ground you, right. the things that we talked about, about the things that motivate us to do good, if you keep on changing what that is, i'm not sure you industrial a direction any more, right. >> totally. >> i really enjoyed our conversation. >> thank you. >> it's been a lot of fun chatting with you. and really just kind of -- i think it offered people a really unique look into how you think about things and, you know, i think it's a great opportunity to just highlight, you know, an amazing job you're doing. thank you for all of your leadership, especially during a hard time and for joining us. and with that i'm going to turn it over to vivian so that she

can help us wrap up. >> thank you madam mayor. thank you madam assessor, for such a great conversation. i really hate to interrupt and come in and end it. it was such a great conversation for all of your stories and sharing your thoughts and the passion behind running for offices. those are really great lessons for us to learn. so at this point i also want to just quickly go into our t-our w challenge 2020. as you may all know, that ever since the w challenge has launched, we have been creating a new challenge every year to uplift women. also trying to encourage more women to vote especially for this upcoming election, it's so important for all of us. we're going to be running a ten-week social media campaign starting from today and all the way up to the election day. we have 100 women from the past century that we have selected. they are local, they are great.

they've been part of all of the suffrage movement, as well as other social justice movements as well. so we encourage everyone to go on our website. i'm going to be quickly going into it sharing it on our screen right here. if you go to that home page, all you need to do is to click on the 100 years of women leaders here. then you can read about the details of our campaign. but basically you just need to select two to three women each week and feature on your preferred social media platforms #wchallenge and encourage more women to do that. so we're hoping that by uplifting these stories, we are able to encourage more women to vote and take leadership. just in honor of all of these women that were before us and all that they have done to grant the right that we have today. so thank you so much for everyone who is joining us. we are inviting our partners as

well alison go president of the league of women voters san francisco here to give us the final remarks to end today's celebration. thank you. alison the stage is yours. >> thanks. thank you for having me today. i am so touched and really energized to hear the stories and experiences of madam assessor and mayor breed. you know both as a young woman and an immigrant really thank you for really your leadership in sharing these moments with us. thank you for everybody who helped plan this amazing event today. i know normally we would be on the steps of city hall. this is pretty great to hear everyone's stories. i can feel the energy throughout san francisco and a huge thank you to our volunteers kathy bar who really helped to put this together, on behalf of the league as well. my name is alison go. i'm the president of the league of women voters of san francisco. we're a nonpartisan volunteer-run organization focused on non-partisan voter

education and advocacy efforts here in san francisco. you know, this election is unlike any election before and unprecedented challenges. every single time we hear this is the most important election yet. actually it's true this time. and with covid-19, the state of california has nailed -- mailed every single voter a battle. this is really, really great. many of our fellow san franciscans may not be used to the voting process and there's a lot of misinformation out there on how to get the ballot, how to transmit the ballot and election security. first step, making sure you're registered to vote. if you're already registered you'll automatically receive your ballot during the first two weeks of october. and if you're not registered or if you've moved recently or maybe changed your name, you need to re-register. remember that the voter registration deadline is october 19th. you can register to vote or re-register on our website at.

wehavelinkstoallofthesethings. and then again if if you're not sure of the voter status and you want to double check sometimes, you can double check the voter registration online, same site. you can check what address they have on file to make sure you get your ballot on time. if all of this seems like a lot to remember, go to lwvsf.org and help make your plan to vote whether it's mailing your ballot in dropping it off downtown at the auditorium or even dropping it off at your local polling location, just make sure that your vote is counted this november. the league also puts out a lot of non-partisan voting material. for example, our proand cons guide offers an easy easy to read ballot measure.

the guide is budget -- put together in many languages to reflect the community in san francisco. next month we're hosting candidate forums for several of the board of supervisors races. specifically district 1 7 and 11. these are free, they're going to be open for the public. we will broadcast these over zoom and we'll post them afterwards on our youtube page and they'll be broadcast over at sfgovtv.org. thanks to our partnership with them. and guess what, these with always be found on our website on the vote page. the page will be updated throughout the fall as more of our materials come out. there will be a really great one-stop portal for all of this information. so thank you for having me. these next nine weeks, let's get our friends, family, neighbors colleagues to commit to vote. and make sure that they have a plan to vote, whether it's in-person or with the mail-in ballot.

please go to wchallenge.org especially the women here today. thank you for having me and please stay up to date on everything the league is doing. you can follow us on facebook or on twitter. or which by visiting us on the website. >> i just saw in chat we have a series of events coming up also. 5:00 today i believe the league is having a partnership with the mechanics library and also talking about the suffrage movement and tomorrow in partnership with the public library the neighborhood history project is also having a presentation about the first suffrage march that is happening and was led by a san franciscan from glen park. so stay tuned. you can also visit wchallenge.org under events to check out those activities that are ongoing. so thank you again for everyone.

this concludes our virtual celebration of women's equality day 2020 today. thank you very much. we spoke with people regardless of what they are. that is when you see change. that is a lead vanning advantage. so law enforcement

assistance diversion to work with individuals with nonviolent related off offenses to offer an alternative to an arrest and the county jail. >> we are seeing reduction in drug-related crimes in the pilot area. >> they have done the program for quite a while. they are successful in reducing the going to the county jail. >> this was a state grant that we applied for. the department is the main administrator. it requires we work with multiple agencies. we have a community that includes the da, rapid transit police and san francisco sheriff's department and law enforcement agencies, public defender's office and adult probation to work together to

look at the population that ends up in criminal justice and how they will not end up in jail. >> having partners in the nonprofit world and the public defender are critical to the success. we are beginning to succeed because we have that cooperation. >> agencies with very little connection are brought together at the same table. >> collaboration is good for the department. it gets us all working in the same direction. these are complex issues we are dealing with. >> when you have systems as complicated as police and health and proation and jails and nonprofits it requires people to come to work together so everybody has to put their egos at the door. we have done it very, very well.

>> the model of care where police, district attorney, public defenders are community-based organizations are all involved to worked towards the common goal. nobody wants to see drug users in jail. they want them to get the correct treatment they need. >> we are piloting lead in san francisco. close to civic center along market street, union plaza powell street and in the mission, 16th and mission. >> our goal in san francisco and in seattle is to work with individuals who are cycling in and out of criminal justice and are falling through the cracks and using this as intervention to address that population and the racial disparity we see.

we want to focus on the mission in tender loan district. >> it goes to the partners that hired case managers to deal directly with the clients. case managers with referrals from the police or city agencies connect with the person to determine what their needs are and how we can best meet those needs. >> i have nobody, no friends no resources, i am flat-out on my own. i witnessed women getting beat, men getting beat. transgenders getting beat up. i saw people shot, stabbed. >> these are people that have had many visits to the county jail in san francisco or other institutions. we are trying to connect them with the resources they need in the community to break out of that cycle.

>> all of the referrals are coming from the law enforcement agency. >> officers observe an offense. say you are using. it is found out you are in possession of drugs that constituted a lead eligible defense. >> the officer would talk to the individual about participating in the program instead of being booked into the county jail. >> are you ever heard of the leads program. >> yes. >> are you part of the leads program? do you have a case worker? >> yes, i have a case manager. >> when they have a contact with a possible lead referral, they give us a call. ideally we can meet them at the scene where the ticket is being issued. >> primarily what you are talking to are people under the influence of drugs but they will all be nonviolent. if they were violent they wouldn't qualify for lead. >> you think i am going to get

arrested or maybe i will go to jail for something i just did because of the substance abuse issues i am dealing with. >> they would contact with the outreach worker. >> then glide shows up, you are not going to jail. we can take you. let's meet you where you are without telling you exactly what that is going to look like, let us help you and help you help yourself. >> bring them to the community assessment and services center run by adult probation to have assessment with the department of public health staff to assess the treatment needs. it provides meals, groups, there are things happening that make it an open space they can access. they go through detailed assessment about their needs and how we can meet those needs.

>> someone who would have entered the jail system or would have been arrested and book order the charge is diverted to social services. then from there instead of them going through that system, which hasn't shown itself to be an effective way to deal with people suffering from suable stance abuse issues they can be connected with case management. they can offer services based on their needs as individuals. >> one of the key things is our approach is client centered. hall reduction is based around helping the client and meeting them where they are at in terms of what steps are you ready to take? >> we are not asking individuals to do anything specific at any point in time. it is a program based on whatever it takes and wherever it takes. we are going to them and working with them where they feel most

comfortable in the community. >> it opens doors and they get access they wouldn't have had otherwise. >> supports them on their goals. we are not assigning goals working to come up with a plan what success looks like to them. >> because i have been in the field a lot i can offer different choices and let them decide which one they want to go down and help them on that path. >> it is all on you. we are here to guide you. we are not trying to force you to do what you want to do or change your mind. it is you telling us how you want us to help you. >> it means a lot to the clients to know there is someone creative in the way we can assist them. >> they pick up the phone. it was a blessing to have them when i was on the streets. no matter what situation what pay phone cell phone somebody else's phone by calling them

they always answered. >> in office-based setting somebody at the reception desk and the clinician will not work for this population of drug users on the street. this has been helpful to see the outcome. >> we will pick you up, take you to the appointment, get you food on the way and make sure your needs are taken care of so you are not out in the cold. >> first to push me so i will not be afraid to ask for help with the lead team. >> can we get you to use less and less so you can function and have a normal life, job place to stay, be a functioning part of the community. it is all part of the home reduction model. you are using less and you are allowed to be a viable member of

the society. this is an important question where lead will go from here. looking at the data so far and seeing the successes and we can build on that and as the department based on that where the investments need to go. >> if it is for five months. >> hopefully as final we will come up with a model that may help with all of the communities in the california. >> i want to go back to school to start my ged and go to community clean. >> it can be somebody scaled out. that is the hope anyway. >> is a huge need in the city. depending on the need and the data we are getting we can definitely see an expansion. >> we all hope, obviously the program is successful and we can implement it city wide. i think it will save the county millions of dollars in emergency services police services,

prosecuting services. more importantly it will save lives. >> hi, i'm chris manus is sfgov tv and you're watching "coping with covid-19." today i'm going to the gas station. [music playing] now, these are just my stories. i'm not a medical professional of any kind. i'm a video guy. and the reason i'm getting gas so we can go to the doctors. if you want to get the most

up-to-date and definitive information about the coronavirus pandemic, i highly recommend the f.a.q. that is available at sfgov. there's great info there. today i'm taking two plastic bags and a hair tie and following the new bay area guidelines and i'm wearing a mask. i'm taking the smallest number of items with me. just my car key, credit card, i.d., the bags and the hair tie. i don't want too many items to wipe down later. as aleave, i put on the outside shoes i've left on the porch. can i track the virus inside with my shoes? i honestly don't know. but my floors are cleaner now. when i get to the gas station, i get out of the car, remove the gas cap and put the big plastic bag on my right hand and secure it with a hair tie. there are three main share surfaces here i'm concerned about touching. the p.i.n. pad, the pump handle and the button to select my gas. after i use my card, i put it

into the smaller bag and stash it. most gas stations have a paper towel dispenser or maybe there is a piece of paper already in your car that you can use. once i fill my tank and replace the pump, i walk to the trash can, roll the hair tie up my arm and let the plastic bag fall into the can. on my drive home, i'm careful not to touch my face. i leave my outside shoes on the porch and as soon as i get through the door i wash my hands for at least 20 seconds. next i wipe down my credit card, i.d. and my car key and, as an extra precaution, i wipe down the front door nob and clean the sink taps. finally, wash my hands again. that's it for this episode, i hope you found it helpful. thank you for watching. >> the market is one of our

vehicles for reaching out to public and showing them how to prepare delicious simple food. people are amazed that the library does things like that. biblio bistro is a food education program. it brings such joy to people. it teaches them life skills that they can apply anywhere and it encourages them to take care of themselves. my name is leaf hillman and i'm a librarian and biblio bistro is my creation. i'm a former chef and i have been incubating this idea for many years. we are challenged to come up with an idea that will move the

library into the future. this inspired me to think, what can we do around cooking? what can i do around cooking? we were able to get a cart. the charlie cart is designed to bring cooking to students in elementary students that has enough gear on it to teach 30 students cooking. so when i saw that i thought bingo, that's what we're missing. you can do cooking classes in the library, but without a kitchen, it's difficult. to have everything contained on wheels that's it. i do cooking demonstrations out at the market every third wednesday. i feature a seafood, vegetable, and i show people how to cook the vegetable. >> a lot of our residents live in s.r.o.s single resident occupancies and they don't have access to full kitchens. you know, a lot of them just have a hot plate, a microwave,

and the thing that biblio bistro does really well is cook food accessible in season and make it available that day. >> we handout brochures with the featured recipe on the back. this recipe features mushrooms, and this brochure will bring our public back to the library. >> libraries are about a good time. >> i hired a former chef. she's the tickle queen at the ramen shop in rockwood. we get all ages. we get adults and grandparents and babies and, you know

school-age kids and it's just been super terrific. >> i was a bit reluctant because i train teachers and adults. i don't train children. i don't work with children, and i find it very interesting and a bit scary, but working here really taught me a lot you know how easily you can influence by just showing them what we have and it's not threatening, and it's tasty and fun. i make it really fun with kids because i don't look like a teacher. >> in the mix, which is our team center, we have programs for our kids who are age 13 to 18 and those are very hands on. the kids often design the menu. all of our programs are very interactive. >> today, we made pasta and

garlic bread and some sauce. usually, i don't like bell pepper in my sauce, but i used bell pepper in my sauce, and it complemented the sauce really well. i also grated the garlic on my bread. i never thought about that technique before but i did it and it was so delicious. >> we try to teach them techniques where they can go home and tell their families i made this thing today, and it was so delicious. >> they're kind of addicted to these foods, these processed foods, like many people are. i feel like we have to do what we can to educate people about that. the reality is we have to live in a world that has a lot of choices that aren't necessarily good for you all the time. >> this is interesting, but

it's a reaction to how children are brought up. it is fast-food, and the apple is a fast-food, and so that sort of changes the way they think about convenience, how eating apple is convenient. >> one of the things that i love about my program out at the market is the surprise and delight on people's faces when they finally taste the vegetable. it's been transformative for some people. they had never eaten those vegetables before but now they eat them on a regular basis. >> all they require is a hot plate and a saute pan, and they realize that they're able to cook really healthy, and it's also tasty. >> they also understand the importance of the connection that we're making. these are our small business owners that are growing our food and bringing it fresh to the market for them to consume, and then, i'm helping them consume it by teaching them how

to cook. >> it connects people to the food that they're buying. >> the magic of the classes in the children's center and the team center is that the participants are cooking the food themselves and once they do that they understand their connection to the food to the tools, and it empowers them. >> we're brokering new experiences for them so that is very much what's happening in the biblio bistro program. >> we are introducing kids many times to new vocabulary. names of seasonings, names of vegetables names of what you call procedures. >> i had my little cooking experience. all i cooked back then was grilled cheese and scrambled eggs. now, i can actually cook curry

and a few different thing zblz and . >> and the parents are amazed that what we're showing them to cook is simple and inexpensive. i didn't know this was so easy to make. i've only bought it in the market. those comments have been amazing and yeah, it's been really wonderful. >> we try to approach everything here with a well just try it. just try it once, and then, before you know it, it's gone. >> a lot of people aren't sure how to cook cauliflower or kale or fennel or whatever it is, and leah is really helpful at doing that. >> i think having someone actually teaching you here is a

great experience. and it's the art of making a meal for your family members and hope that they like it. >> i think they should come and have some good food good produce that is healthy and actually very delicious. >> cooking is one of my biggest passions, to be able to share, like my passion with others, and skills to h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h

h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h

h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h [♪]

>> i am the supervisor of district one. i am sandra lee fewer. [♪] >> i moved to the richmond district in 1950 mine. i was two years old. i moved from chinatown and we were one of the first asian families to move out here. [♪] >> when my mother decided to buy that house, nobody knew where it was. it seems so far away. for a long time, we were the only chinese family there but we started to see the areas of growth to serve a larger chinese population. the stress was storage of the birthplace of that. my father would have to go to chinatown for dim sum and i remember one day he came home and said, there is one here now. it just started to grow very organically. it is the same thing with the

russian population, which is another very large ethnic group in the richmond district. as russia started to move in, we saw more russian stores. so parts of the richmond is very concentrated with the russian community and immigrant russian community, and also a chinese immigrant community. [♪] >> i think as living here in the richmond we really appreciate the fact that we are surrounded three natural barriers. they are beautiful barriers. the presidio which gives us so many trails to walk through ocean beach for families to just go to the beach and be in the pacific ocean. we also also have a national park service. we boarded the golden gate national recreation area so there is a lot of activity to do in the summer time you see

people with bonfires. but really families enjoying the beach and the pacific ocean during the rest of the time of year. [♪] >> and golden gate park where we have so many of our treasures here. we have the tea garden, the museum and the academy of sciences. not to mention the wonderful playgrounds that we have here in richmond. this is why i say the richmond is a great place for families. the theatre is a treasure in our neighborhood. it has been around for a very long time. is one of our two neighborhood theatres that we have here. i moved here when i was 1959 when i was two years old. we would always go here. i love these neighborhood theatres. it is one of the places that has not only a landmark in the richmond district, but also in san francisco. small theatres showing one or two films.

a unique -- they are unique also to the neighborhood and san francisco. >> where we are today is the heart of the richmond district. with what is unique is that it is also small businesses. there is a different retail here it is mom and pop opening up businesses. and providing for the neighborhood. this is what we love about the streets. the cora door starts on clement street and goes all the way down to the end of clement where you will see small businesses even towards 32nd. at the core of it is right here between here and 20 -- tenth avenue. when we see this variety of stores offered here, it is very unique then of the -- any other part of san francisco. there is traditional irish music which you don't get hardly anywhere in san francisco. some places have this long

legacy of serving ice cream and being a hangout for families to have a sunday afternoon ice cream. and then also, we see grocery stores. and also these restaurants that are just new here, but also thriving. [♪] >> we are seeing restaurants being switched over by hand, new owners but what we are seeing is a vibrancy of clement street still being recaptured within new businesses that are coming in. that is a really great thing to see. i don't know when i started to shop here, but it was probably a very, very long time ago. i like to cook a lot but i like to cook chinese food. the market is the place i like to come to once a year. once i like about the market as it is very affordable. it has fresh produce and fresh meat. also seafood. but they also offer a large selection of condiments and

sauces and noodles. a variety of rice that they have is tremendous. i don't thank you can find a variety like that anywhere else. >> hi. i am kevin wong. i am the manager. in 1989 we move from chinatown to richmond district. we have opened for a bit over 29 years. we carry products from thailand, japan, indonesia, vietnam, singapore and india. we try to keep everything fresh daily. so a customer can get the best out a bit. >> normally during crab season in november, this is the first place i hit. because they have really just really fresh crab. this is something my family really likes for me to make. also from my traditional chinese food, i love to make a kale soup.

they cut it to the size they really want. i am probably here once a week. i'm very familiar with the aisles and they know everyone who is a cashier -- cashier here i know when people come into a market such as this, it looks like an asian supermarkets, which it is and sometimes it can be intimidating. we don't speak the language and many of the labels are in chinese, you may not know what to buy or if it is the proper ingredients for the recipe are trying to make. i do see a lot of people here with a recipe card or sometimes with a magazine and they are looking for specific items. the staff here is very helpful. i speak very little chinese here myself. thinks that i'm not sure about i asked the clerk his and i say is this what i need? is this what i should be making? and they actually really helped me. they will bring me to the aisle and say this is battery. they are very knowledgeable. very friendly. i think they are here to serve not only the asian community but to serve all communities in the

richmond district and in san francisco. [♪] >> what is wonderful about living here is that even though our july is a very foggy and overcast best neighborhood the sleepy part outside on the west side is so rich with history but also with all the amenities that are offered. [♪]

so you can't save money? it's easy as pie! brown bag your lunch instead of going out. six dollars saved timed 5 days a week times ten years is 21,000 bucks! that's a lotta lettuce. small changes today... big bucks tomorrow. feed the pig.org. >> in. the august 21st, 2020 requested budget and appropriation's committee meeting. i'm sandra lee fewer chair of the committee.

i wouldi would like to thank sf tv for broadcasting this meeting. mr. clerk, any announcements h. >> due to the covid-19 health