>> the bicycle coalition was giving away 33 bicycles so i applied. i was happy to receive one of them.

>> the community bike build program is the san francisco coalition's way of spreading the joy of biking and freedom of biking to residents who may not have access to affordable transportation. the city has an ordinance that we worked with them on back in 2014 that requires city agency goes to give organizations like the san francisco bicycle organization a chance to take bicycles abandoned and put them to good use or find new homes for them. the partnerships with organizations generally with organizations that are working with low income individuals or families or people who are transportation dependent. we ask them to identify individuals who would greatly benefit from a bicycle. we make a list of people and

their heights to match them to a bicycle that would suit their lifestyle and age and height. >> bicycle i received has impacted my life so greatly. it is not only a form of recreation. it is also a means of getting connected with the community through bike rides and it is also just a feeling of freedom. i really appreciate it. i am very thankful. >> we teach a class. they have to attend a one hour class. things like how to change lanes, how to make a left turn, right turn, how to ride around cars. after that class, then we would give everyone a test chance -- chance to test ride.

>> we are giving them as a way to get around the city. >> just the joy of like seeing people test drive the bicycles in the small area, there is no real word. i guess enjoyable is a word i could use. that doesn't describe the kind of warm feelings you feel in your heart giving someone that sense of freedom and maybe they haven't ridden a bike in years. these folks are older than the normal crowd of people we give bicycles away to. take my picture on my bike. that was a great experience. there were smiles all around. the recipients, myself, supervisor, everyone was happy to be a part of this joyous occasion. at the end we normally do a group ride to see people ride off with these huge smiles on

their faces is a great experience. >> if someone is interested in volunteering, we have a special section on the website sf bike.org/volunteer you can sign up for both events. we have given away 855 bicycles, 376 last year. we are growing each and every year. i hope to top that 376 this year. we frequently do events in bayview. the spaces are for people to come and work on their own bikes or learn skills and give them access to something that they may not have had access to. >> for me this is a fun way to get outside and be active. most of the time the kids will be in the house. this is a fun way to do something.

>> you get fresh air and you don't just stay in the house all day. iit is a good way to exercise. >> the bicycle coalition has a bicycle program for every community in san francisco. it is connecting the young, older community. it is a wonderful outlet for the community to come together to have some good clean fun. it has opened to many doors to the young people that will usually might not have a bicycle. i have seen them and they are thankful and i am thankful for this program.

>> hell oh everyone. thank you so much for joining us

today. well, covid has changed our lives. the fact it is has changed how we go to work, how we go to restaurants, how we interact with each other but this year will change how we vote. we want to make sure here in san francisco, we make it as simple as possible. i'm excited to be here to announce that although we can't do what we've done in the past, and provide early voting in city hall, we are going to be doing early voting right outside on grove street in what looks like a beautiful party at the present time. i want to thank the department of elections, and he will talk about more about exactly the steps that his team has taken to ensure that we not only make voting accessible, we make it

safe. we want to make sure that people feel comfortable if they need to vote early. they can come to this voting center and it will be opening on monday. if they want to vote on election day or drop off their ballots on election day, we'll have 588 locations all over the city. and, what is -- don't be alarmed if you don't receive your ballot you won't be able to vote. this department of elections has received everything. if you didn't receive it in the mail can you provide replacement ballots. if you are going out of town and you need a ballot mailed to a different location, there's a system in place to do just that. for whatever reason, you are not

certain or uncomfortable accessing a paper ballot, there's just a lot of options. they've been sending things in the mail, sending things online to say our goal is to make this as easy as possible. in the last presidential election, sa san franciscans tud out in record number. it was a '80 turnout. in 2008, it was 81%. this is a city that prides ourselves on making sure our voices are heard. we're not going to covid stop us from making sure that you have access to vote in san francisco at your convenience. i'm excited and i know that there's a lot of confusion out there but this department of election has done everything it can to make sure that it's easy

to call the department of elections, call 311, go online if you need information for where to pick up a ballot or a replacement ballot. we thought of everything. so, there's no excuse for anyone in this city who is a registered voter not to vote. and in addition to that, if you are not registered to vote, and you would like to register to vote, you have until october 19th. so, make sure that you take the opportunity to go online and this center is open and you can come here and register to vote and you can vote on the same day. in addition to the dress up locations on election day, and this voting center right across

the street from city hall, we will have a number of of drop off ballot locations the weekend before election day. linda brooks burton library and the branch library. because again, we're trying to make it easy as possible and it's ballots in-person or on election day. if you need more information, please visit the department of elections website at spelections.org. call 311 or call (415)554-4375. so with that, i just want to again thank everyone for their cooperation, the work they do. i really want to express a special thank you so john arts

and the department of elections staff because they have been working very hard to make sure that no question is unanswered. anything or any scenario that could occur, they wanted to make sure they were prepared to support and address the public. and they work with the number great community organizations and to get out the vote and some of those organizations are with us today, including george chance from the chinese newcomer service center, jackie flynn, the ex you director of and these are organizations who make sure that communities all over san francisco have accessed to vote. and we appreciate the work that they've done for many, many years. i also want to thank martha cohen, the director of special events, for taking such time and care with creating a warm and

inviting space. thank you, martha for your work. and with that, i want to turn it over to our special guest, joining us here today, you probably recognize him because the tallest person here. our state senator, scott wiener. >> thank you, madam mayor. and i also want to thank martha and also our department of elections and john arts for once again really stepping up to make sure that san franciscans can vote and vote easily. that's one of our core values in san francisco that we want people to vote and we want to make it easier for people to vote so i have complete confidence in our department of elections that we will run a beautiful election here and that we will -- it will just be a really strong showing and a really difficult period of time. this is a partnership between

the state and our counties including san francisco we took action at the state level to people being able to vote during a pandemic and we authorized global vote by mail o so everyone gets a ballot even if you are not signed up as a permanent absentee and not put barriers in order to get an absentee ballot and normally, it has to be post marked byelection day and i do want to ask people please, try not to rely on post marking on election day and sometimes you can mail it after whatever the pick up is at that particular box and there are unfortunately thousands of ballots each time where people just mail it too late in the day. it doesn't get post marked. make sure you are going to mail it, please, troy t try to mail

tractor-trailer dait theday bef. even if there's a problem with the post office, which i don't think there will be. you have plenty of time if you mail it right up to election day. it has 17 days to a arrive instead of three and that is a huge change in stay law that we've made to just make sure that every ballot can be counted. what this is really about is auctions. we want people to make choices that work for them and people can drop it off in different

locations and of course, we have absolutely amazing voting facility here which will respond to our health needs in terms of allowing people to show up and vote safely. and to be able to do it efficiently. the capacity here, as you can see, is huge. it's going to start on monday and also be opening two weekends before the election. we're making it so easy for people to vote in a way that works for them and their family and their own health situation. i have a digital town hall last week with our secretary of state, alex padilla and with con on cause and a representative of the american postal workers union and she was very, very clear that she has confidence that the mail is going to work well for this election. despite some of the turbulence we were saying, they've been able to move through that and she assured us our postal

workers, who are some of our front line essential workers, who are putting themselves out there during this pandemic so we can do what we need to do as eye society they're going to work incredibly hard and they will deliver the mail and people can have confidence in the mail. so, again, thank you, madam mayor, thank you to our department of elections and let's just run a great election as always. thank you. and now, i want to invite up our director of elections, john arts. >> thank you, senator weren't. thank you mayor breed and also for organizing this event. this is a great timing for an event like this, just before early voting begins. early voting will begin october 5th here at the voting center located outside bill graham auditorium. this is an example of the mayor and the senator wiener have indicated and the department and city have take ep steps to make sure that voting is safe and healthy experience for all voters in san francisco.

the ballots we mailed actually tomorrow and voters will start receiving ballots on saturday and then they'll most will receive ballots on monday going through the election week. we have a full compliment of polling polic police station ple want to drop off or they don't want to mail their ballot back, just before elections day, is they are outside the voting area so voters don't have to go mud the voting area. they decrease the amount of traffic that voters would experience at election day. and everything that we've done since really the end of the march election going through the cycle for november, has been to plan in relation to conduct an election, while trying to respond to a pandemic. so everything that is happening here at bill graham auditorium, is organized so that people can

maintain social distancing and there's ppes that our personnel are wearing and useing and the public has provided ppe and hand sanitizers and sanitizing wipes, face shields and things like that and the same for the polling places. the voters and co-workers can maintain social distancing as they go through the election process on election day. we've had p.p.e.s available for the voters and the poll workers on election day. and the in-person voting here at the bill graham auditorium and the polling places there's a cleansing of the areas and materials and the commonly used items throughout the day so voters will go into a clean voting environment when they go to cast their ballot on election day. also, i want to echo the comments about the post office. we've had conversations and meetings with the post office before this election and to make sure there was no issues and

with the processing and to support the conduct of this election for november. the post office of senator wiener noted, has put tremendous men does attention and focus on their abilities and their requirements to give ballots up to vote and he is get ballots to voters to elections here in san francisco. i want to share the city and the departments of elections has put much time and thought into this and so they're safe and secure and everyone has a good experience on election date i'll turn it over to george chan. >> and even we call chinese and we're helping everyone. so this year we're happy to be

receiving support from the city to continue the registered people. so, this year, we see the ballot we mailed to you and we help people register. we follow that many times they don't know if you change your address, make sure you update it, ok. so also, if you do know your status, we can help you to check it as well. thank you. >> good afternoon, everyone. my name is jaclyn flynn. i'm the executive director of the a phyllis randolf of san francisco and we're working with the department of the elections in the city to really get out of vote this year. so i ask you, how important is your vote? 2020 is a challenging year as a nation. we have lost over 200,000 american lives from covid-19 and

these fires, as you can see, continue to raise and scorch our state and homes and businesses and and the california economy and our air quality and and they leap gap in time with racial tension zoos tie that they spilled into our streets. so i asked again. how important is your vote? this year and you can help redefine our jail system you can help reform our law enforcement system. you can help fund our parks, you can vote for housing and healthcare and your vote is a vote for change. i ask you, what can you do to

effect change and if you can, do it early. send it in my mail. drop it directly into a ballot box and thank you to the city for creating an accessible space for folks to do that safely. and if you must safely head to your poll, please wear your mask and vote. i encourage awful us to ask our families, our friends, our work colleagues, our neighbors to do something important, vote. this year has been hard on all of us. and as i think about why it's so important, i think about my own kids. and i realize that i have the power to set a clear example that i'm not satisfied where we're at in this nation today and i'm not going to sit back. i will be an element of change. the a phyllis randolf institute will be on the frontlines reaching out to our seniors and over 5,000 units of low income

family housing across is this city. we'll be facing this year of covid, hitting the streets to ensure education and access to voting. you can help us in that fight. i'm inspired by san francisco. a city that votes for change. i'm inspired by inspired by a t looks like me. when i vote i celebrate my skin, my lips and my determination to be represented by someone that understanding my perspective. to all my asian brothers and sisters and to all my latino brothers and sisters, we need you. we need bilingual folks and to my caucasian allies, we are all in this together. i challenge everyone to get education and make a plan and vote. thank