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tv   Police Commission  SFGTV  October 7, 2020 9:30pm-12:01am PDT

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>> he is a real leader that listens and knows how to bring people together. brought this department together like never before. i am so excited to be swearing in the next chief of the san francisco fire department, ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome, jeanine nicholson. (applause). >> i grew up total tomboy, athlete. i loved a good crisis, a good challenge. i grew up across the street from the fire station. my dad used to take me there to
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vote. i never saw any female firefighters because there weren't any in the 1970s. i didn't know i could be a fire fighter. when i moved to san francisco in 1990, some things opened up. i saw women doing things they hadn't been doing when i was growing up. one thing was firefighting. a woman recruited me at the gay-pride parade in 1991. it was a perfect fit. i liked using my brain, body, working as a team, figuring things out, troubleshooting and coming up with different ways to solve a problem. in terms of coming in after another female chief, i don't think anybody says that about men. you are coming in after another man, chief, what is that like. i understand why it is asked. it is unusual to have a woman in
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this position. i think san francisco is a trailblazer in that way in terms of showing the world what can happen and what other people who may not look like what you think the fire chief should look like how they can be successful. be asked me about being the first lbgq i have an understands because there are little queer kids that see me. i worked my way up. i came in january of 1994. i built relationships over the years, and i spent 24 years in the field, as we call it. working out of firehouses. the fire department is a family. we live together, eat together, sleep in the same dorm together, go to crazy calls together, dangerous calls and we have to look out for one another.
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when i was burned in a fire years ago and i felt responsible, i felt awful. i didn't want to talk to any of my civilian friends. they couldn't understand what i was going through. the firefighters knew, they understood. they had been there. it is a different relationship. we have to rely on one another. in terms of me being the chief of the department, i am really trying to maintain an open relationship with all of our members in the field so myself and my deputy chiefs, one of the priorities i had was for each of us to go around to different fire stations to make sure we hit all within the first three or four months to start a conversation. that hasn't been there for a while. part of the reason that i am getting along well with the field now is because i was there. i worked there. people know me and because i
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know what we need. i know what they need to be successful. >> i have known jeanine nicholson since we worked together at station 15. i have always held her in the highest regard. since she is the chief she has infused the department with optimism. she is easy to approach and is concerned with the firefighters and paramedics. i appreciate that she is concerned with the issues relevant to the fire department today. >> there is a retired captain who started the cancer prevention foundation 10 years ago because he had cancer and he noticed fellow firefighters were getting cancer. he started looking into it. in 2012 i was diagnosed with breast canner, and some of my
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fellow firefighters noticed there are a lot of women in the san francisco fire department, premenopausal in their 40s getting breast cancer. it was a higher rate than the general population. we were working with workers comp to make it flow more easily for our members so they didn't have to worry about the paper work when they go through chemo. the turnout gear was covered with suit. it was a badge to have that all over your coat and face and helmet. the dirtier you were the harder you worked. that is a cancer causeser. it -- casser. it is not -- cancer causer. there islassic everywhere. we had to reduce our exposure.
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we washed our gear more often, we didn't take gear where we were eating or sleeping. we started decontaminating ourselves at the fire scene after the fire was out. going back to the fire station and then taking a shower. i have taught, worked on the decontamination policy to be sure that gets through. it is not if or when. it is who is the next person. it is like a cancer sniper out there. who is going to get it next. one of the things i love about the fire department. it is always a team effort. you are my family. i love the city and department and i love being of service. i vow to work hard -- to work
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hard to carry out the vision of the san francisco fire department and to move us forward in a positive way. if i were to give a little advice to women and queer kids, find people to support you. keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep trying. you never know what door is going to open next. you really don't. [cheers and >> san francisco parks, golden gate park transforms into one of the greatest music festivals of all time, let's journey,
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inside, outside land. ♪ >> to this, our 6th year doing the outside lands and our relationship with san francisco, rec and park. and we work very closely with them in the planning and working very closely with the neighborhood organizations and with the city supervisors and with the city organizations and with the local police department, and i think that the outside lands is one of the unique festivals in the world and we have san francisco and we have golden gate park and we have the greatest oasis, in the world. and it has the people hiking up hills and down hills and a lot of people between stages. >> i love that it is all outside, the fresh air is great. >> they have the providers out here that are 72 local restaurants out here.
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>> celebrating, and that is really hot. >> 36 local winerries in northern california and 16 brewers out here. >> and you have seen a lot of people out here having a good time and we have no idea, how much work and planning has gone into this to make it the most sustainable festival in the united states. >> and literally, in the force, and yeah, unlike any other concept. and come and follow, and the field make-up the blueprint of the outside land here in golden gate park and in the future events and please visit sffresh parks.org.
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>> announcer: you're watching coping with covid-19. >> hi. i'm chris manus and you're watching "coping with covid-19." today my guest is anastasia klaste and we're going talk about how the pandemic has affected our school community. welcome to the show. >> hi! thank you. >> i understand that our students and teachers have adopted video conference as distance learning tools to be able to continue studying remotely and this is clearly new for everyone. do you have some suggestions to students and perhaps their parents that could help them manage this new approach? >> i think the best advice i can give students and parents is to really be gentle on yourselves during this time. the thing we don't really want
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to do is increase stress and anxiety amongst our students because they know it is a scary, uncertain time aside from the work. so, we are engaging in distance learning and providing work for students to engage in. the mental health of students and their well-being and safety is really at the forefront of our minds and so we're asking parents to keep an eye on their kids and also asking kids to speak up and let us know if they're having trouble f they need to talk to someone, if they need to take a break or they need more time to do work. because that is really what's most important for us. >> right. and what would you say to teachers having a hard time adjusting as well? >> i think our faculty is really lucky in that we were already utilizing google classroom in all of our classes. so the switch from in-person to online is not as extreme as it may have been to some other faculties in other schools. that said, most of us had never
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engaged in video conferencing or done any sort of daily online lesson planning. so, i think the same thing i say to parents and students i say to teachers is to just be gentle and give yourself space and know it's ok to make mistakes and it's ok if you're not perfect and we're all sort of learning and doing at the same time. so, that can also be anxiety provoking and that can be hard for taoefers that are used to being really good at what they do and knowing what exactly to say and how to do it every day are grappling with new technology and they're finding that students [inaudible] what they do in person. >> are there concerns about college admissions for high school seniors and juniors? >> i think at first there was a lot of sort of confusion and anxiety for juniors and seniors about colleges.
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and now that the system has come out with some guidance and we understand that, you know, the s.a.t. and a.c.t. tests won't be required for the next year, we know that universities have only agreed to accept credit or no credit or pass-no pass grades and looking at students across the country knowing that we're in unprecedented situation now that we've got guidance of clarity around that. students are feeling a lot more comfort. -- comfortable. for our current seniors, most of them got their college acceptances in february and march so those things shouldn't be changing that much. for juniors, you know, now that they know that they have to step it up for the next year because the grades that they're getting this semester may not be letter grades, it might be a pass-no pass, credit-no credit. but it seems from everything that i read or hear, they're
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working really closely with school districts to make sure that no student is, you know, adversely affected by the pandemic because of this sort of universal experience for all students. >> indeed. i heard that some kids are worried that they may have to make up the work or retake the whole year? how likely are those scenarios and how will grades be assigned for this semester? >> well, san francisco unified has made a decision through the board of ed that there will be a signing. credit-no credit for 6 through 12th graders and that means that basically they will either full credit for the glass or won't receive credit for class, based on the work that they do and that goes into a gaap of neutral so it shouldn't raise or lower any specific student's g.p.a., but just give them credit toward graduation. from what i can tell, california has been pretty clear that no student will have to retake this year.
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as educators, we do acknowledge that thereby a little bit of catchup happening in the fall. >> right. have your students had a variety of different experiences during this pandemic? >> yes. i would say definitely. our school serves a big at-risk group of kids. we have students from every zip code and city, basically. and students from all sorts of backgrounds and socioeconomic statuses so on one hand they have their high speed wi-fi and it's no problem for them to hop on a zoom call or get their google docs turned in and then we have a lot of situations where they may not have wi-fi so they're delivering hotspots or they have a device but it is shared among several siblings or the parents are using it during the day and the kids have only a certain amount of
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time that they can engage. so, you know, something that the teachers have talked about being mindful of and i'm definitely being mindful, as a principal, is that our students are in various situations and we can't assume anything about their access in their ability to [inaudible] right now. for some of them, they're caring for siblings or grandma, living at home. many of them have family members affected by covid and so they're in a space where they're really just trying to take care of those around them. and academics are sort of on the backburner and for right now that's ok. you know, we sort of support them in whatever way they need. >> i understand. have you been able to provide any technical assistance to your students or faculty? >> yes. the school district had hotspots so i personally
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delivered about 50 chrome books to students and now we're getting hotspots, which are wi-fi devices that utilize cell phone coverage in an area so homes that don't have wi-fi or homes that have spotty wi-fi can use these hotspots and the kids are saying that they work really well and now the district just got a bunch of them so we're able to list them. so any family that needs them right now, which is really great. now all of our faculties have access to high speed wi-fi and technology at home. we are providing them with the technology that they need to be engaged in this. >> i see. and finally s there any news about summer school? >> there is. sort of. it's happening. in some way, shape or form. but we don't really know how or where. i'm assuming it will be online
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and, as usual, seniors or kids about to graduate will be prioritized so there'll definitely be some summer school, i'm just not sure where or what at this point. but they're going to share information about that pretty soon. unfortunately all the fun summer programs and jobs, the arts programs and language programs, the acceleration programs are probably not happening. but there will be some sort of credit recovery option for kids who need it. >> right. well, thank you for coming ton show. i really appreciate the time you've given us today. >> yeah. great talking with you. thank you so much for having me. >> that is it for this episode. we'll be back with more covid-19 related information shortly. you've been watching "coping with covid-19." i'm chris manus.
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san francisco is surrounded on three sides by water, the fire boat station is intergal to maritime rescue and preparedness, not only for san francisco, but for all of the bay area. [sirens] >> fire station 35 was built in 1915. so it is over 100 years old. and helped it, we're going to build fire boat station 35. >> so the finished capital planning committee, i think about three years ago, issued a guidance that all city facilities must exist on sea level rise. >> the station 35,
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construction cost is approximately $30 million. and the schedule was complicated because of what you call a float. it is being fabricated in china, and will be brought to treasure island, where the building site efficient will be constructed on top of it, and then brought to pier 22 and a half for installation. >> we're looking at late 2020 for final completion of the fire boat float. the historic firehouse will remain on the embarcadero, and we will still respond out of the historic firehouse with our fire engine, and respond to medical calls and other incidences in the district. >> this totally has to incorporate between three to six feet of sea level rise over the next 100 years. that's what the city's guidance is requiring.
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it is built on the float, that can move up and down as the water level rises, and sits on four fixed guide piles. so if the seas go up, it can move up and down with that. >> it does have a full range of travel, from low tide to high tide of about 16 feet. so that allows for current tidal movements and sea lisle rises in the coming decades. >> the fire boat station float will also incorporate a ramp for ambulance deployment and access. >> the access ramp is rigidly connected to the land side, with more of a pivot or hinge connection, and then it is sliding over the top of the float. in that way the ramp can flex up and down like a hinge, and also allow for a slight few inches of lateral motion of the float. both the access ramps,
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which there is two, and the utility's only flexible connection connecting from the float to the back of the building. so electrical power, water, sewage, it all has flexible connection to the boat. >> high boat station number 35 will provide mooring for three fire boats and one rescue boat. >> currently we're staffed with seven members per day, but the fire department would like to establish a new dedicated marine unit that would be able to respond to multiple incidences. looking into the future, we have not only at&t park, where we have a lot of kayakers, but we have a lot of developments in the southeast side, including the stadium, and we want to have the ability to respond to any marine or maritime incident along these new developments. >> there are very few
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designs for people sleeping on the water. we're looking at cruiseships, which are larger structures, several times the size of harbor station 35, but they're the only good reference point. we look to the cruiseship industry who has kind of an index for how much acceleration they were accommodate. >> it is very unique. i don't know that any other fire station built on the water is in the united states. >> the fire boat is a regionalesset tharegional assete used for water rescue, but we also do environmental cleanup. we have special rigging that we carry that will contain oil spills until an environmental unit can come out. this is a job for us, but it is also a way of life and a lifestyle. we're proud to serve our community. and we're willing to help people in any way we can.
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welcome, city attorney herrera. >> good morning. thank you to mayor breed, chief scott, supervisors peskin and haney for joining me this morning to highlight our collective commitment to combating an all too familiar problem. open air drug dealing in the
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tenderloin. we're all created to solutions to make sure we combat this epidemic that is taking control of the tenderloin neighborhood. this morning, my office sued 28 known drug dealers, file. they do not live in the tenderloin, but sell deadly drugs there. the drugs that are fueling the drug crisis in our streets. this is to stop the brazen drug-dealing that has plagued this neighborhood. last year alone 441 people died from drug overdoses in the city and the tenderloin had the highest overdose mortality rate of any neighborhood in the city. enough is enough. these injunctions are carefully crafted to simultaneously safeguard a defendant's due
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process while targeting with precision, the problem of drug dealers coming from outside the area to prey on tenderloin residents, housed and unhoused. this prevents the 28 named defendants from entering the tenderloin and part of the adjacent south of market neighborhood. roughly from van ness to ellis and geary to mission. the tenderloin would become a protected zone and these defendants, none of whom live in the tenderloin, would be allowed to go there unless they had a lawful legitimate reason to be there. we're focused on the predatory repeat dealers selling the most dangerous drugs, including those leading to the most deaths. we have rigorous criteria. he or she was arrested at least twice for drug sales or possession of drugs for the purpose of sales in the tenderloin in the past year and a half.
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one of those arrests must have been in the last nine months. both of the arrests must have led to either criminal charges by the district attorney or a motion to revoke probation. the drugs involved were fentanyl, heroin, cocaine or methamphetamine. and the defendant is not a tenderloin resident. has been given the opportunity to present their defense in court at a hearing and the court finds there is sufficient evidence to warrant the injunction. in other words, an injunction is issued if the need for it is proven in a court of law. demographics or group affiliations were not considered when putting together these lawsuits. violations of the injunctions will have civil and criminal consequences. violations carry civil penalties of up to $6,000 per violation. perhaps just as important,
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violations can also be pursued as misdemeanor crimes and subject to the defendant's immediate arrest. an arrest leads to the search and confiscation of drugs or contraband a person has in his or her possession. these actions are aimed slowly at criminals coming to prey on the people of the tenderloin. we know who the predators are and we will not allow them to victimize tenderloin residents. our message to these dealers is simple. if you come to the tenderloin, you'll be arrested and your drugs will be confiscated. this is not a silver bullet. more needs to be done, including drug treatment options, expanded mental health and a focus on major narcotics suppliers, but this gives one more tool to the law enforcement to help keep the tenderloin residents safe. we need to stop this
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neighborhood from being used as the open air drug market. our goal is to keep the dealers out of the tenderloin. the kids, the parents, the seniors, the workers, the business owners of this neighborhood have suffered enough and deserve nothing less. the tenderloin has the highest concentration of children in the city. it also has the highest number of overdose deaths and that is not acceptable. once the pandemic improves, the kids of the pandemic deserve to be able to go to the school, playground, go see a friend without being caught in the middle of a drug deal or a person overdosing on the sidewalk. this won't solve the problem, but it's a step work taking. i hadn't to thank the hard-working men and women in the san francisco police department. their diligence laid the ground
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work to put together this creative approach to public safety. i want to thank the team in my office that worked hard to come up with a way that will deal with a longstanding problem. i also want to thank our mayor for her tremendous support and leadership during this incredibly challenging time for our city, as well as supervisors peskin and haney, for their commitment to combating this problem. with that, i would like to introduce our mayor, london breed. >> mayor breed: good morning, everyone. thank you, all, so much for being here today. i want to begin by thanking dennis has rare kerrera and the attorney office to deal with one of the biggest challenges in the tenderloin community.
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not so long ago we set down a path to address what we saw as a significant increase in homelessness and tent encampments in the t.l. and we made a lot of progress. over 400 tents removed with over 600 people. we're now down to less than 30 tents. and we drive around the tenderloin, we walk around the tenderloin, and you would think that nothing has ever happened there. that no progress has been made. you see hundreds of people on blocks throughout the t.l. who are dealing drugs openly, in broad daylight. you see people pushing strollers, mothers, who have to go out on the streets to go around the drug dealing and the drug using and the challenges that exist there. i grew up in this city. i grew up not too far from the tenderloin in the western
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edition. and the tenderloin has always had its challenges, but it has never been worse. it has never been worse. and we can't do this work alone. we need to make sure that, yes, we address the challenges that exist with people who struggle with addiction. this is why i'm fighting so hard to get safe injection sites open. why i'm fighting to get expanded mental health support, because those of you who have family members who suffer with addicti addiction, you know how challenging it is to get them on the right path. we have to do more as a city to provide alternatives. and then we know the challenges that exist. the people who are being trafficked to sell drugs on our streets from other countries. the folks who are coming from other bay area cities because they know san francisco is a
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place where they can make a lot of money. san francisco has become the place to go to sell drugs. it is known widely. and that has got to stop, because there has to be consequences. look, i understand there might be financial challenges, but the fact is, we can't tolerate what we see happening in the tenderloin or any other neighborhood in our city. people have got to be held accountable for the destruction they are causing to these communities. and when we talk about destruction, we're talking about the people who are dying in record numbers from drug overdoses right in the tenderloin. this is a commonsense solution to a very, very complex problem. and i really want to, again, express my appreciation to our
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city attorney, dennis herrera, for not only putting together a unique plan, but for caring about this issue in the first place. and i want to thank him for working with the san francisco police department to actually use data to inform this decision. we know that there is a lot of work to do. and we can't continue to let the tenderloin be the breeding ground for all that is problematic and challenging in our city. it's going to take helping with homelessness. it's going to take drug treatment. it's going to take supporting low-income families and people who live in that community. and, yes, it's going to take holding the people who are holding this community hostage with the rampant drug-dealing that is completely devastated this neighborhood. we have to do better and we will do better. this is a step in the right
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direction. and i'm looking forward to seeing the results of this work. and i want to thank all those who have been involved and supportive of this issue. and we have got to get the job done and that's what this is about. with that, i want to introduce the police chief of san francisco, chief scott. >> good morning. thank you, mayor breed. first, i want to start off by thanking our mayor london breed for her relentless leadership when it comes to this issue. as the mayor stated, this problem is pervasive and i also want to thank our city attorney dennis herrera for an innovative strategy that really gives us a much better opportunity to turn the corner on the drug dealing
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in the tenderloin. i would like to thank supervisors peskin and haney for their support and leadership on this issue. you'll hear from them as well in a second. the men and women of the san francisco police department and those say sign -- assigned to the tenderloin, have been working very, very hard to address the rampant drug-dealing in the tenderloin. during a recent three-month operation to focus on narcotics dealers, the tenderloin officers and the narcotics detail officers arrested over 267 individuals for drug sales. 267. and although that number may sound high, it's just a drop in the bucket. our officers seized over $144,000 in u.s. currency and a combination of over 7,000 grams of cocaine, methamphetamine,
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heroin, fentanyl and other drugs. 210 of those arrests had prior arrests in san francisco and 55 of the 267 arrests were in violation of court-issued stay away orders where they were prohibited from the area where they were selling drugs. 58 of those arrested live outside of the city of san francisco. now our efforts to combine or combat narc sales in the tenderloin are ongoing as of today. and today's announcement of injunctions filed by our city attorney will help us address the concerns and complaints of tenderloin residents and merchants. and those complaints come pouring in daily. these dealers prey on a vulnerable population and contribute to the drug
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degradation of the quality of life who work and live in the tenderloin. these injunctions give law enforcement officers another tool in our tool kit. violators face up to a $6,000 fine, misdemeanor arrest and officers can potentially seize money and drugs along with other contraband. with the combined efforts in the drug treatment and other public health strategies, we hope to have a positive effect on the quality of life in the tenderloin area. as was stated by the mayor -- i can't emphasize this enough -- we have to do more, we have do better and we will do better. we cannot and will not further tolerate drug dealers coming into the tenderloin from wherever they're coming from throughout the bay area to ruin our community.
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the injunctions will make coming back to the tenderloin have more serious consequences. and, drug dealers, if you're out there watching this news conference, know that your actions will not and cannot be tolerated any longer in the city and county of san francisco. with that, i'd like to turn the mic over to supervisor aaron peskin. thank you. >> supervisor peskin: chief, thank you, city attorney herrera, mayor breed, for what is truly a creative solution. this is not a silver bullet. it must be coupled with mental health services, with drug treatment, with the addition of sorely needed affordable housing in and around the tenderloin. a year ago supervisor haney and i went to a meeting together just up the street in the tenderloin wherein we witnessed
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an individual who was literally dying of a fentanyl overdose. we were able to locate some narcan and that individual is alive today, but that should not be happening on our streets. this is not only a creative solution, but it is one where city attorney herrera has crafted it very carefully in conjunction with my office. has done so in a way that honors the civil rights of individuals in our community. it is structured fairly and will be supported by the board of supervisors. i want to thank the city attorney. we're going to make a difference in the tenderloin. and if this works, this is a model that be exported to other parts of san francisco because when you look at those 441 deaths, it is true a disproportionate number of them are in the tenderloin, but those individuals who are preying on weak individuals in our community are not just operating
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in the tenderloin. and if this is a success, i look forward to working with the city attorney office, the chief of police and mayor to export this model to the rest of the city and county of san francisco. we are available for questions and comments. thank you, supervisor peskin. we'll begin with the q&a portion with city attorney herrera. the first set of questions are from kate wolf. the aclu and other community groups have said injunctions like gang injunctions used in the past don't address root problems and violate people's civil liberties.
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can you address how these injunctions will be different from those? >> one thing you heard uniformly, both from the mayor, from supervisor peskin and from the chief of police, this is part of a -- has to be part of a comprehensive approach that focuses on drug rehab, mental health and the like. so there is no doubt that we need to also get the root causes which are contributing to our problem. however, this is different from gang injunctions. this is not based on affiliation or status, it is based on going after individuals who have been known to engage in criminal conduct that has been charged by the district attorney and arrests by the police department for known activity that has occurred in the tenderloin. the fact of the matter is, we carefully crafted this to make sure it was based on conduct, not on status or affiliation. and there is also the
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opportunity for if people have a legitimate reason to be in the 50-square block area, the protected zone, courts, city hall, have all been exempted from the limitation of movement. so this is very different from gang injunctions. i think it is something people need to be aware of. this is based on conduct, not status. and demonstrable conduct from individuals who don't even live in the tenderloin and 27 of the 28 don't even live in the city and county of san francisco. >> thank you, city attorney. the next question is from joe with bay city news. why would civil injunctions be used instead of criminal actions if the city knows who the dealers are? >> it's another tool in the tool kit. certainly, there are criminal penalties that can accrue, but the fact of the matter is, if someone is going to suffer a
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financial penalty of a significant dollar amount, that is something that dissuades individuals from engaging. with respect to these injunctions, you have two tools, a criminal sanction as well as a civil sanction which did not occur previously. this encompasses the whole tenderloin, where something that the chief referred to earlier, the stay-away orders in other criminal cases were designed to be with respect to one particular corner or block. it was not nearly as comprehensive as what we're seeking here today. >> thank you, city attorney. that concludes today's press conference. thank you, everyone, for joining us.
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>> the hon. london breed: i know all of you are happy to be here in person for a change. so thanks for coming out here to mlvs, which is basically the city hall for the latino community. here, the latino task force as well as a number of neighborhood organizations have come here to not only handout food, but they have been our resource to connect with testing, with p.p.e., and with so many other resources to the latino community. and the reason why it's so important that we have
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community involvement is because we have seen disproportionately that over 50% of the cases in san francisco are folks of latino descent, and we know that's a real problem. so disproportionately this community is affected, and we have to do better as a city on testing, on resources, on things that will help change that outcome. so today, we are here to just talk about a big announcement of p.p.e. that we have received, but also just to appreciate the latino task force and the work that they've done on a regular basis to pass out food to the community. they've been a great partner with us, and they've helped to secure and coordinate the testing, in addition helping to educate the community on the
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resources that are available because we know that, unfortunately, we have a large immigrant population that is unable to qualify for unemployment, and so we have resources so that people can feel comfortable with testing in knowing that the city, through our program, will help pay their wages so they're j out of their income. and in fact, we've been able to help people with rent subsidies, to give to sf fund so that we're able to cover rent subsidies. about 70% of the people that we've helped to cover rent have been from the latino community. we know that it's been a wholehearted approach. i'd like to talk a little bit about why today is so important. as it relates to life, we're living with it. we're living with covid. we need to get adjusts with our face masks, with our hand
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washing, with our sanitizing, with our distancing. i know we've been, like, we will to be around each other. we want to be at our businesses, and we our businesses to thrive. a lot of businesses are not open yet, and when they're open, they're not doing the level of business that they're used to, and sometimes they can't afford the additional support to be able to provide proper supplies for their customers. as a result of fund prosecuting the state -- and i want to thank governor newsom for keeping -- fund from the state -- and i want to thank governor newsom for keeping san francisco at the forefront in
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the decision making process. this is just one of the many things we have to continue to do to help small businesses, to specifically help the latino community to make sure that we change the disparities that exist in order to adapt to what our new normal is, at least until there's a vaccine. so i want to thank all of you for coming here today, and we have john from the latino community task force. the this team, they are on the frontlines every day, making sure the latino community is taken care of. i want to give john an opportunity to introduce himself and talk a little bit about how the latino task force has played a role in helping to address what we know is a challenging time for people in the latino community and the
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mission. [applause] >> good afternoon. i'd like to thank mayor breed and her administration for coming out here today. i think as she mentioned, this covid crisis, it's hitting the latino community particularly hard. we know that, the latino task force, in partnership with ucsf, 94% of the people that tested positive in april were from the latino community. we know that 88% of them made under $55,000 a year, and they cannot work from home. they have to actually go to work. so the step that we see today in this p.p.e., this distribution and partnership, is allowing us to provide services to all of san francisco to keep the city running. it's a good step, and it's a big step, but i do want to
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highlight the work of the latino task force in partnership with the city, in not only providing p.p.e. but testing to the community that needs it most. we're distributing 7,000 boxes of food to families each week, families that are struggling to survive and trying to make it. we're providing testing to families every week. if they want to get testing, we're providing that to them. and all of these things are done by a volunteer army of people who love this city and love the community. so i really want to thank the city and the mayor for providing this partnership to a community that needs it most, so thank you all very much. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: thank you, john. and we want to thank the community because as you can see, all of these folks here, they are dedicated to this work, and we are so grateful for their service to make sure
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that everyone has an opportunity to receive support and p.p.e. and testing and so on and so forth. and now, at this time, i want to ask dr. grant colfax if he's going to make some remarks today? so yes, dr. grant colfax, the director of the department of public health is here. he's going to talk about some of the challenges. i know that people are anxious to get back to opening up some more businesses, and we will get there. we have a big announcement tomorrow, but in the meantime, dr. colfax, you want to provide an update? >> thank you, mayor breed. i'm dr. grant colfax, director of public health for the city and county of san francisco. i want to thank everyone who's been working here on the frontline. we've known that since the beginning of the epidemic, and mayor breed has been saying since the beginning of the epidemic, the numbers existing
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in the latino community. as a health department and as a city, we are addressing this issue. we need to do more, and we are doing better. we've made improvements, particularly around our testing investments. with mayor breed's leadership, we are increasing our testing in our neighborhoods with a high preview dense of covid-19. we now have a capacity to do pop-up tests for 500 new tests a day. each day, and that's occurring here on thursdays and will be occurring more regularly in this neighborhood going forward. our investments in the health department for this new budget year invests over $217 million in our covid-19 response, and it's my job to make sure our resources are distributed more equitably in the latino hispanic community. we're expanding our contact tracing and case investigation, but we also know we need to
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improve our wraparound services for people. it's about the food security, it's about the financial needs, it's about the housing needs, for people to be able to have isolation and quarantine. it's not just about that individual. it's about the family, and it's about the community. so as we go forward into this stage, as the mayor was saying, covid-19 will be here for sometime. we need to be sure we're taking a holistic integrated collaborative approach, and my commitment to the community here is the health department will be on the frontlines to make sure that we will succeed in this unprecedented time. thank you. >> the hon. london breed: all right. we'll take some questions. yes. >> reporter: one two-part question from a reporter who's back in the office. some of the six counties have barber shops and salons open again. when do you think that might
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happen for san francisco? >> the hon. london breed: so we're going to have an announcement tomorrow as to when that might happen, but effective tomorrow, we allow outdoor hair salons and barber shops. as someone who goes to a hair salon, i know you can't do an outdoor wash and blow dry -- like, it's not possible, right? so as soon as we have the information tomorrow, we'll have better guidance as to when -- the specifics of when that will happen so we can give people more assurance. but i want to be clear that we are still living in covid. so you remember, about a month ago, i made an announcement that we were going to open, and then, the next day, i had to pull back. it was one of the worst days of my life to go out and tell businesses one thing and then do something because i know financially what that means to our livlihood. we'll make an announcement to
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that tomorrow, even though outdoor hair and nail stuff can happen, and we'll have a better clarity as to the future and when we'll be able to use indoor -- we'll have some more information tomorrow. >> reporter: and for those folks who do not have anywhere outside to conduct business, what do you tell them? >> the hon. london breed: well, right now, unfortunately, there's nothing we can do. we have to focus on really reducing the spread, and that's why when we talk about being in this together, we really are. what i am -- you're doing impacts me, and what i'm doing impacts you. it makes it impossible for these businesses who have been struggling who have been closed for six months, it will be impossible for them to open.
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so i gueet it, and i know it's probably not what they want to hear, but have i to deal with the reality of the situation, and this is where we are at this time. >> reporter: all right. thank you. >> the hon. london breed: all right. we good? thank you. >> reporter: thank you so much, mayor. >> the office of controllers whistle blower program is how city employees and recipient sound the alarm an fraud address wait in city government charitable complaints results in investigation that improves the efficiency of city government that. >> you can below the what if anything, by assess though the club program website arrest call
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4147 or 311 and stating you wishing to file and complaint point controller's office the charitable program also accepts complaints by e-mail or 0 folk you can file a complaint or provide contact information seen by whistle blower investigates some examples of issues to be recorded to the whistle blower program face of misuse of city government money equipment supplies or materials exposure activities by city clez deficiencies the quality and delivery of city government services waste and inefficient government practices when you submit a complaint to the charitable online complaint form you'll receive a unique
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tracking number that inturgz to detector or determine in investigators need additional information by law the city employee that provide information to the whistle blower program are protected and an employer may not retaliate against an employee that is a whistle blower any employee that retaliates against another that employee is subjected up to including submittal employees that retaliate will personal be liable please visit the sf ethics.org and information on reporting retaliation that when fraud is loudly to continue it jeopardizes the level of service that city government can provide in you hear or see any dishelicopter behavior boy an employee please report it to say whistle blower program more information and the whistle
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blower protections please seek www. >> as a friendyou can submit u questions by chat only. please submit your questions as clearly as possible and include your name and outlet. we will do our best to receive questions up until the q&a begins. remaining questions can be sent to des@sfgov.org. and here is the mayor, london breed. >> >> the hon. london breed: good afternoon, everyone. today, i'm joined by community
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organizations that have always been amazing partners with the city and have really stepped up during covid-19 for our community. i was out with the latino task force earlier this week to distribute p.p.e. for all businesses, and they are doing amazing work organizing and fighting for resources for the community. the sisters for perpetual indulgence are always at the forefront for keeping the sister of lgbtq healthy, always while having a little -- okay, a lot of fun. and the african american arts and cultural district has been working hard to make sure the community members know where they can go for support, from sharing information about
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testing, business grants and loans, and working to empower youth in the bayview, and opportunities for all has helped distribute books, activity kits, and technology that students need to be successful this school year, and their terms and fellows have repaired with community engagement and outreach throughout the city. so since the start of this global pandemic, we have always heard and received advice about how we can protect ourselves and others and slow the spread of the virus. overtime, as our understanding of the virus has evolved, some of that guidance has changed, like face coverings, while other guidance shall stayed consistent, like frequent hand washing. you can't walk down the street, go to the grocery store, listen to music our browse social media without someone telling
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you to stay 6 feet apart, wear your mask, and wash your hands. since january, our city has launched multilingual campaigns on t.v., radio, social media, newspapers, bus shelters, and bill boards. a team of disaster service workers han been on the streets daily, blanketing our city with posters, multilingual posters and flyers. since january, this team has distributed more than 3 million flyers. posters, and fact sheets across the city. you can't turn anywhere in the city of without seeing our blue and yellow signs. this provides good information, and many people are listening. however, as we've stretched into our seventh month of this
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pandemix, we are looking for new ways to capture people's attention to sustain the good work of our residents and communities. we want to be bold and strategic how we reach out to people who aren't wearing masks. we wanted to find out why people might not be wearing face coverings and see if we can change their behavior because we're all safer when we cover our faces when we go out, and regularly wearing face coverings will help us keep san francisco on a path of reopening that we so desperately need. i asked our team, our city team to start working with people and organizations in our neighborhood to did he vel community led education campaigns and outreach efforts specifically around mask wearing, and many answered the call. our nonprofits arts and faith organizations are on the
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frontlines impacting communities. because of their relationships, they are often the most trusts and the most influential than the government. i'm proud to say, today, we are launching our first series of community-led campaigns ahead of labor day weekend, and you are going to hear from some of our partners shortly. but first, i want to address why we are launching this ahead of this current weekend. historically, labor day is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of american workers. because of the pandemic, this labor day has a special significance. it is a chance to honor the special workers in our community. we know this virus has disproportionately impacted our frontline workforce, many of
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them who have to reuse their medical equipment every sipping wisipping -- single day. labor day marks the end of summer, and most years, we have barbecues and cookouts with our families, and i personally wish i could attend one of those gatherings. as we set at the beginning of the pandemic, the safest thing is to do is for people to stay home, but let's be real. people miss each other, and they're going to decide to get together. so if you do, we ask if you're going to be other with others, keep it outside, make sure everyone is wearing a face covering, and avoid sharing
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food and drink. we know that oftentimes, when people come together, especially when they start drinking throughout the day, behavior changes. in addition to keeping our friends and our family safe, wearing a mask is one of the most effective things we can do to keep reopening san francisco. let's be mindful what we are doing and how we are impacting the spread of this share. let's share the love, not the virus. and at this time, i'd like each of our community partners to talk about their campaign and why it's important to protect our communities this labor day weekend and beyond. first, we have dr. scott sampson from the california academy of sciences, which lent their creative and innovative design experts to help our city. >> thank you very much, mayor
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breed, and thank you for your strong leadership during this challenging time, including in relation to this coronavirus. and warm thanks to all of our partners. i'm scott sanchez, director of the california academy of sciences. the academy has been part of san francisco since 1853, just three years after california became a state. we care deeply about our city, and we are here to putting all of our cutting edge science to keep our community safe. when we heard that san francisco is so close to hitting an important mask wearing milestone, our organization jumped at the chance to help get the word out. the science is crystal clear, wearing a mask makes a big difference, and we need everyone, especially young people, to mask up. we know beyond a shadow of a
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doubt that wearing a mask, watching your distance, and washing your hands will help crush the covid-19 curve. this campaign, available in four different languages all over san francisco, is asking young people to take one small step that can make a giant difference helping to keep our entire community safe. whether you're missing outside lands or dinner at your favorite restaurant, a giants game or inspirational evening of night life at the academy, we are all in this together. we are excited to keep the city's reopening on track so that we can all return to enjoying the many amazing benefits san francisco has to offer. i wear a mask so that we ask safely open the academy and
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welcome you back for more awe and wonder in golden gate park. thank you, and stay safe. >> the hon. london breed: thank you, dr. sampson. now next, we have up annie chung from self-help for the elderly who will talk about efforts to conduct outreach and education with our asian and pacific islander community. annie? >> thank you so much, mayor breed, and good afternoon, everyone. i'm annie chung with self-help for the elderly, and as mayor said, we've been on the frontline, providing essential meals and other elder care services to all of our seniors in san francisco. and we're honored today, mayor, to partner with you and to support you in your relentless fight against the covid-19 pandemic, and to educate the chinese speaking seniors and
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families how to protect themselves once they step outside their homes. mayor breed, i think the seniors are doing their part to abide by the health order. i urge all the seniors and families to remember what dr. sampson just said and practice the three w's: one, wear masks, two, wash your hands, and three, watch your social distancing. i know the labor day weekend is coming up, and we may be tempted to invite friends and family over for barbecues and gatherings. only invite people that are in your immediate household, and if possible, try to meet outdoors, which will be much safer for you and your family. remember, prevent everyone from sharing drinks or using the
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same utensils or chop sticks with each other. be aware at all times. protect yourselves and others, and think positive. [speaking cantonese language] >> thank you, everyone, and thank you, mayor. >> the hon. london breed: thank you so much, annie, for all the work that you continue to do. next, we have director glen from the african american arts and cultural district. i understand the district worked with local rappers to produce a music video that we'll see at the end of this press conference. evan? >> thank you, mayor breed. we really appreciate the continued support that the city of san francisco has shown the
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african american community. it's been a lot of unprecedented work over the last several years, and we deeply appreciate that. my name is evan glen. i am the executive director for the african american arts and cultural district located in the bayview and third street corridor. so it was a process working with fran says zamora, the -- frances zamora, the department of emergency management, making sure the message put forth in our campaign was representative of the people in our community: our culture, the way we look, and it just resonated with our spirits and our soul, and so that's what you're going to see in bill boards across the city. we also thought it would be a
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good idea to put a rap together to resonate with the young people. after talking with my codirector, erica scott, she says hey, you know, my daughter's going to parties, and the young people need a message, as well. so we got together with a rap group out of the fillmore, 16-year-old girls called the poppin' twins, and they wrote the rap that we're going to share for everybody today. with that being said, i just want to send a message out to the community to remain safe because statistically, the bayview has been hit the hardest with covid-19 out of any other area in san francisco. we need to be aware of that. we need to wear masks, stay 6 feet apart from each other, and remain safe. and think about your
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grandparents. think about the elderly in your neighborhood because their immune system obviously isn't as strong, and so we have to start thinking about each other. but again, i just want to thank the city of san francisco for the work that they've been doing to support the african american community. >> the hon. london breed: thank you, evan, for your remarks and for joining us here today, and we're looking forward to seeing that video. now we also know that the latino community has really been the hardest hit in our city. in fact, over 50% of the cases that have been diagnosed were people of latino descent, and we have not been able to do -- we would not have been able to do the incredible work that we are doing to support this community and to address this disparity if it weren't for the latino task force. they've been an amazing
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resource in not only mask wearing but keeping people safe. they're here to discuss the latino awareness campaign in san francisco. so thank you, susanna. >> thank you, mayor breed. my name is susanna rojas, and i am the director of the latino task force. thank you so much for allowing me to speak and to collaborate dpsh-for allowing the latino task force to collaborate with the city so that our city can feel empowered to take action. the virus is just one more challenge to conquer, to stop the spread of covid-19 and to protect our latino families
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ahead of labor day weekend and beyond, i'm here to showcase the latino community. [speaking spanish language] [end of translation]. >> our actions speak leader than words. we can show love by masking up. we can stay 6 feet apart, and most importantly, by not sharing food and drink. now we in the latino community know that food is central to our interaction. it is the backbone to our community, and gathering with large families is how we show our love. love during the coronavirus looks like wearing our masks, washing our hands, staying 6 feet apart, and protecting our seniors and our young
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people. hugging in our families and physical contact is something we do on a daily basis, but right now, we have to demonstrate our love by hugging virtually by wearing a mask. and last but not least, we have sacrificed -- [speaking spanish language] >> thank you. >> the hon. london breed: thank you again, susanna, for joining us and for all the work that you do. i'm so excited for our next speakers. sister, you are one of my
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favorite speakers, and i am so glad to have you here with us today. the sisters of perpetual indulgence along with supervisor mandelman launched an outreach campaign, focusing on the lgbtq community. the poster that you created was just amazing. thank you, and join me, everyone, in welcoming sister roma. >> hello, mayor breed. i can't wait to see that video, and of course i'm hungry for some great latin food. i want to thank you for unprecedented leadership during these very hard times. your team is amazing. since the beginning of the pandemic, it's been hard for
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people in my community to not compare it to hiv/aids, which we all know ravaged the lgbtq community very badly in the early 80s. and the sisters stepped up at that time and were actually leading the fight against hiv/aids with providing information and education. so when this got here, we thought oh, this sounds familiar. when tom temprano approached me, i went back to my sisters, and we were all on board, and we went back to our methods of harm reduction and reminded our community that it's best to stay safe and stay away from each other. this weekend, people are just itching to get out and dance and see each other. it's difficult, and it'll be trying, and i want people to
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know that there'll be a time that we can get together with each other and hug and hold each other, like we used to. but the sisters want to let you know that wearing masks can be fabulous. look for us in dolores park on friday, where we're going to be handing out 1500 masks, and then we're going to be heading to the castro for our first friday event, which will be at 5:00 p.m. in the castro. so thank you for including me, and it's been my honor and privilege. >> the hon. london breed: thank you, sister roma. i almost didn't recognize you without your makeup on. maybe i'll join you on friday. that would be amazing. >> oh, thank you so much. >> the hon. london breed: okay. finally, i want to introduce a leader who has a bright future
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ahead of her. athena matthews. >> it is so important to demonstrate proper covid-19 behavior, and masks are just one tool to prevent the spread of covid. bypassi -- covid by catching droplets when you sneeze or cough, protecting those around you. indifferent while understandable is not sustainable. it is imperative that this generation feel empowered to take care of ourselves and take care of each other because we need to be more active and take on an active role in fixing our
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nation's challenges, even beyond covid-19, so to my fellow general fellow gen-z'ers, let this be a warning not to just be aware of covid-19, but be aware of those around you. tag us on social media at #60s. >> the hon. london breed: thank you. at this time, i wanted to play the video that evan mentioned, so let's get to it.
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[♪]
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>> the hon. london breed: very nice. thank you so much. that concludes our press conference. i guess now we'll be opening it up to a few questions. i want to take a moment to thank everyone for joining us and really express my appreciation to all the organizations for the work that you are doing to make sure that we are staying healthy, and we are staying safe. i love the amazing posters, the graphics, the videos, and all the cool things that we are using to really get people actively engaged in this need to finding creative solutions to get folk to see comply with the mask -- folks to comply with the mask wearing compliance. i think about when i was a kid, and talking about wearing your seat belt and the work that had to go into getting folks to
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wear your seat belt, and today, it's just natural to get in your seat belt when you get in a car. and i remember when i was little, people used to smoke in buildings and on planes, and now, it's completely different. even wearing a condom and the push for safe sex, the conversation about mask wearing, we have to get creative in what we say in the culture and the fabric of this country. the work that you do in getting the community to trust you to know that twhat they do is important and it saves lives. so we're thankful for your work, and at this time, we're happy to open it up for questions. >> thank you, mayor, and thank you to all everyone who joined us here today.
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we'll jump right into the same questions. mayor breed, we received multiple questions on this, and this is one question that'll cover it. what do you think about speaker pelosi's decision to get a blowout in san francisco on monday? does she owe the service industry an apology? is ignorance of the health orders an excuse? >> the hon. london breed: well, let me start by saying that it's really unfortunate that with everything happening in this country, with the fact that we basically have a dictator in charge of running this country, and we have our speaker, nancy pelosi, working day and night to try and fight, again, the challenges we have with the white house. she has spent her entire career
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working for this city and working for this country. it's unfortunate this conversation has blown up the way that it has and distracted us from the real issue. the fact is we don't have good, solid federal leadership that is helping to facilitate this covid-19, and over 180,000 americans have died as a result of this virus. and had we had what we needed from day one from this federal administration, then we would probably not be in as bad of a situation as we are. our focus should be on making sure that we as a city are providing also good information. i know that there's been a lot of confusion with our small businesses and operations and whether or not they can operate indoors or outdoors, and so we as a city, and the confusion between the local information and the state information, we have to do a better responsibility of doing a better job around communication. so we can either focus and
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blaming and saying who should do what, but we have bigger issues as it relates to this country, and i have a tremendous amount of respect and appreciation for the hard work that nanny pelosi does every single day to take care of this city and this country. and that's what we should be focused on because we are dealing with very challenging times, and leadership does matter. i do understand that the industry is suffering, not only the hair industry, but the masseuses and the salons. i understand the frustration, and some businesses may not ever open again. i understand this is hard for everyone. the decisions that we're making around public health have everything to do with keeping people safe, and unfortunately, the economy and people's li
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livelihoods have suffered. so i understand that, but i think it's important to get back to the main part of wearing masks, and staying apart, and staying heath healthy, and the city will do a better job of communicating with our small businesses in san francisco as we begin or reopening efforts. >> thank you, madam mayor. the next question comes from cristian captain with ktvu. with the weekend almost here and warm weather for the forecast, what city parks and impeaches are open -- beaches are open, and what distancing steps are you asking for people to observe? >> look, we know that parks and beaches are open, and it's important for people to
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socialize and pick up a date or two, but what we also need you to do is comply. there are more parks that are dolores park or chrissy fields. there's other places you can enjoy, as well. so what we're asking people to do is to just make sure that you're using good judgment. if you go to dolores park, and you see that it's crowded and there's no place for you to go with your people and maintain your distance with your mask and so forth, why even step foot in that park? we will be out doing enforcement more so than we have in the past, but we want people to use common sense because we tend to see spikes in our numbers as a result of the holidays, and labor day, i'm sure, is not going to be any different. i've had people reach out to be to invite me to barbecues, people who want today do a
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jumpy with the kids, and i'm saying, why are you calling me? i'm going to say no way. it's not that i'm not only going to go, it's just that these are places where the virus could transmit. i'm just asking people to remember, be a part of the solution, and we will do our very best to be out there, to do enforcement. we don't want to have to do enforcement. we don't want people out there, creating more attention than already exists because of people not being good citizens by wearing masks. we just want people to do their part. we're going to do our part. we hope we don't have to shutdown parks and parking lots and make it difficult for people to get out and enjoy things. we have so many parks where
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there's no reason why people have to crowd in one or two or three park in san francisco. the beaches have been a lot more manageable because we've opened up more space there. again, just use common sense not only to protect you but the people around you. >> thank you so much, madam mayor, and everyone else for your time. there are no further questions at this time, and this concludes today's press conference. thank you, and stay safe. >> the hon. london breed: thank you. >> shop and dine in the 49 promotes local businesses and challenges residents to do their business in the 49 square files of san francisco. we help san francisco remain unique, successful and right vi.
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so where will you shop and dine in the 49? >> i'm one of three owners here in san francisco and we provide mostly live music entertainment and we have food, the type of food that we have a mexican food and it's not a big menu, but we did it with love. like ribeye tacos and quesadillas and fries. for latinos, it brings families together and if we can bring that family to your business, you're gold. tonight we have russelling for e community. >> we have a ten-person limb elimination match. we have a full-size ring with barside food and drink. we ended up getting wrestling
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here with puoillo del mar. we're hope og get families to join us. we've done a drag queen bingo and we're trying to be a diverse kind of club, trying different things. this is a great part of town and there's a bunch of shops, a variety of stores and ethnic restaurants. there's a popular little shop that all of the kids like to hanhang out at. we have a great breakfast spot call brick fast at tiffanies. some of the older businesses are refurbished and newer businesses are coming in and it's exciting. >> we even have our own brewery for fdr, ferment, drink repeat. it's in the san francisco garden district and four beautiful muellermixer ura alsomurals.
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>> it's important to shop local because it's kind of like a circle of life, if you will. we hire local people. local people spend their money at our businesses and those local mean that wor people willr money as well. i hope people shop locally. [ ♪ ]
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>> hi, we're live. >> chair sesay: good morning. i call the board of directors special meeting of september 10, 2020 to order. i am the board chair. the board meeting is being conducted pursuant to provisions of the brown act and recent executive orders by the governor to facilitate teleconferencing to reduce the risk of covid-19 transmission. ordinarily, the brown act sets strict rules for teleconferencing. the executive order has suspended those rules. as noted on the agenda, members of the public may observe this meeting by sfgovtv and they may offer public comment by calling the published public comment phone number. i'd like to welcome members of the public and staff who are watching us