>> the meeting will come to order. welcome to the october 19th, 2020, meeting of the rules committee. i'm supervisor hillary ronen, chair of the committee. with me is the vice-chair catherine stefani and gordon mar. our clerk today is victor young and i would like to thank sfgov-tv for staffing this meeting. mr. clerk, do you have any announcements? >> clerk: to protect the board members and the city employees and the public, the board of supervisors legislative chamber and committee room are closed. however, the members will participate in the meeting remotely. the committee members will attend through video conference and participate in the meeting to the same extent as if they were physically present. public comment will be available on each item on the agenda.

both channel 26 and sfgov-tv.org are streaming the numbers across the screen. and public comment is an opportunity to speak via phone by calling 1-(415)-655-0001. and, again, that's 1-(415)-655-0001. and the meeting i.d. is 1469652968. again, that is 1469652968. -- excuse me -- 1469652968. and then press pound and pound again. and when connecting you will hear the meeting discussion but you'll be muted and in listening mode only. when your item of interest comes up, dial star, 3, to be added to the speaker line. the best practices is to call from a quiet location, speak clearly and slowly, and turn down your television or radio.

alternatively you may submit public comment to myself, the rules committee clerk at cicgor.young@sfgov.org. if you submit by email it's forwarded to the supervisors that is included as part of the file. that completes my comments. >> president hillis: thank you, read item number one. >> clerk: a hearing to consider appointing one member term, ending 2020, to the revenue bond oversight committee. we have one seat, one applicant. >> chair ronen: thank you so much. is mr. crunen here? good morning. >> thank you, supervisor ronen. >> chair ronen: thank you so much and thank you for your service thus far, and just to plain to the public that mr. cronen has moved out of san francisco, which we're very sad about. hopefully you're happy about it but we're sad about it.

but has been willing to stay on the commission for a temporary period while another applicant can be considered. so really appreciate that. and i wanted to know if you wanted to share anything about your experience on the commission, your work, anything that you'd like to share? >> sounds great. no, i don't have too much to add. i think that folks on the committee are doing good work and i think that probably the motion they have moved on during the time on the committee is routine and an outside auditor to review the bonds that have been issued over the past couple years and making sure they are issued in accordance with the law and that spending is being done in accordance with the law. i think that because i'm now kind of seeing the end of my time on the committee, that i do think that it would be good for the board to think about is -- if this is the most critical thing that we have done over the

last several years is to retain an outside auditor to perform this review. does it make sense to sort of encapsulate that into the processes of the city auditor and encapsulate that into the law that these external audits just need to occur regularly as opposed to having the revenue bond oversight committee to come up with this process ad hoc and making sure that it keeps going. i'm wondering if this was a standardized process that occurs every year, every couple years, something like that, if it might end up being more efficient over time than the committee trying to go glue that process, given, you know, that the committee is made up of folks that have full-time day jobs. you know, there's limited staff availability to the committee. so maybe just standardize that external audit process as opposed to having it to be something that the committee itself needs to organize every few years. >> chair ronen: that makes a lot of sense. thank you for that.

maybe you can help to make that happen in the short time that you have left. that would be wonderful. let us finish w know if you cann any way. and i wanted to make sure that our colleagues didn't have any questions or comments? nope. then if you have no more remarks we can open this up for public comment. >> clerk: yes, the members of the public who want to provide public comment on this item should call 1-(415)-655-0001. and the meeting i.d. is 1469652968. and then press pound and pound again. if you haven't already done so, press star, 3, to line up to speak. the system prompt will indicate that you have raised your hand. wait until the system indicates that you have been unmuted and you can begin your comments. do we have any members of the public to speak at this time? >> madam chair, there are no callers in the queue. >> chair ronen: thank you. then public comment is closed. and i would like to make a motion to forward the appointment of mr. cronen with

residency waiver to the full board with recommendation as a committee report. can we have a roll call vote on that motion. >> clerk: yes, and this is for seat two. >> chair ronen: yes, for seat two. >> clerk: yes on that motion [roll call] the motion passes to recommend this out as a committee report. >> chair ronen: thank you. again, mr. cronen, both for your service thus far and for willing to serve this role in the interim, i really appreciate you. thank you. >> thank you, have a great day. >> chair ronen: you too. mr. clerk, can you please read item 2. >> clerk: yes, item number 2 is a motion approving/rejecting the mayoral nomination for the appointment of rachael tanner to the planning commission for a term ending june 30, 2022.

>> chair ronen: thank you. and miss tanner, good morning, how are you? >> good morning, how are you doing? >> chair ronen: thank you, good, welcome. it was great meeting with you last week and getting a chance to talk and i would love to hear from you. i just wanted to make sure that neither of my colleagues had opening remarks. none. then, please, begin. thank you. >> thank you very much, chair ronen, and good morning, supervisors. it's good to be with you this morning and thank you so much for considering me and for speaking with me in the past week and i just really enjoyed our conversation. i wanted to share with you all and for the members of the public who are watching a little bit about my background and my path to and continuing public service. i was born and raised in michigan, in a working-class family. my dad was one of the first african american public safety officers in our small city's police force in the 1980s and had a big role in helping to integrate the police force here.

and my mom worked as a lab tech in a local hospital throughout her career. from a very young age i have really believed in and seen the power of people working together to solve the issues that face our communities, whether it was organizing my elementary school to recycle all of those plastic grocery bags or a little earth club, i really thought that if we get together and we work hard, we have an idea, we can change the world around us. that belief has continued to fuel me in my work, in my career. in undergrad i started political science and really focused a lot of my energy in the field working with community development corporations in detroit, working to understand how they could develop strategies to redevelop the neighborhoods which at that time were much different than they are in this current -- well, the most recent economic boom time. and that really solidified for me that working at the local level, and working with people, is where i find the most rewards from my work and the most passion. i then went to -- on to do

community organizing in my hometown with faith-based organizations. so working with congregations to think not just how do we help the people in our communities who need it, but how do we change the structure of our governments and our laws to prevent more and mere people from needing the help in first place. so we helped to pass some of the housing first legislation in our town, and more programs for youth and a host of other issues that really met the needs of real people who know what they need and know how to figure out the solutions to the problems that we have. and from there i went on to study city planning. i have a love of cities, all things cities, from infrastructure and understanding transportation and sewer systems, to building the people who make our cities really what they are. and, again, that belief that if we work together we can shape and re-shape our cities to be places of equality, places of equity, and places that are fun. and exciting to live. so after that i moved to

california. i spent a little bit of time with the city of long beach working with the city manager there. had just a tremendous experience before coming here to the city and county of san francisco. i spent a few years working for the planning department, working particularly with the excellsior neighborhoods and thinking about the neighborhoods connected to each other through that main street. and thinking about what is the vision for that neighborhood and what is it that the residents from the different walks of life want to see and how could the supervisor and the planning department and really a host of other city departments work together to bring that vision to reality. currently, my work has taken me to paolo alto, and and i have t of technical understanding but what is my greatest asset as a member of the local government is my ability to listen, to bring people together, and to try to understand all sides of the issues and to work together to figure out what is -- not the only way, but perhaps the best

way that we can deal with the reassurance that we have to move forward. i have also been very fortunate to serve the city on the board of appeals. i was appointed by then the president of the board -- or nominated by the president of the board cohen and affirmed by the board of supervisors and have been serving in that capacity since november 2018, so coming up just on two years that. time has just shown me how valuable it is to have board members who are thoughtful, who are inquisitive, who really do their homework and who want to understand what is happening and how we can best be of service to the city and county of san francisco through that body. it would be my pleasure to -- and an honor to work and to serve on the planning commission where i would really hope to focus on three things. the first is thinking about how is our department making good on its resolution to center racial and social equity. that is a lot to live up to. it's very exciting though, and i feel that we have so much momentum and so much energy that's really positive that

we're building on something. and so i'm just really excited to work with the staff and to work with the community organizations to make good on that promise. i am also thinking a lot about our small businesses and our neighborhood commercial districts, what will be their future. and especially coming out of this covid-19 pandemic and the recession that's coming -- or i guess that we're in -- you know, what does that look like? what kind of services will people be need something how can we help the entrepreneurs either to reestablish their businesses or hang on? and what does that look like from a planning department perspective in regards to code or other things that we can do to help? and, lastly, thinking about our housing crisis. it's being reshaped right now dramatically and we have a lot to learn about how the contours of our city's housing crisis will look during and after the pandemic. so we're paying close attention to that. but i still believe that it relies on the core values of, you know, protecting our tenants first and foremost as well as our homeowners, preserving as

much affordable housing as we can and making sure that we don't lapse in that. and figuring out how to produce the housing in the places that we want to see it produced in san francisco and for the groups that we hope that housing will serve. so i thank you for your time this morning and i'm happy to answer any questions that the committee would have. >> chair ronen: thank you so much. what a great presentation. do any of my colleagues have any questions or comments? >> chair ronen, i have a couple comments but i'll wait until after public comment, but i have no questions at this time. >> chair ronen: okay, supervisor mar? >> supervisor mar: i think that i'd like to wait until after public comment. >> chair ronen: okay. i just had a couple of questions, which we had talked about during our meeting, but i just think that it's great for the public to hear your

responses. and you spoke about this in your opening statement, about the planning commission's strongly worded resolution, to the harm to the communities of color with present-day planning and zoning policies and committing to a bold and forward-thinking strategy to advance racial and social equity in san francisco. and can you explain to us a little bit more in detail how you might apply this commitment to change the real-life impacts on communities -- communities of color and low-income residents and low-wage workers and small businesses, and what tools that you see that are available to the planning commission to do this? and last, but not least, what challenges might exist to apply those tools? i would just love to hear a little bit. i know that it's one of your top priorities, which is exciting, but i'd love to hear more details because it's one of the

most important things that we need to do. thank you. >> absolutely, i'm happy to talk about that. i'm so passionate and i will try to keep my answers brief so please cut me off if i go on too long. you know, i am so proud of our planning commission for making that statement and i think that there's a couple things that i really see as tools that we have. the one is the allocation of resources, which in a lot of times that relates to staff time. and what are the projects that the planning commission allocates resources to. we have the wonderful example, i think the mission action plan 2020, which is birthed out of community response and, you know, the city saying, okay, we will work with the communities to develop this really robust planning process and i think that as important as the plan itself -- i mean, the plan is only as good as the people behind it are the relationships forged and the understanding that was built, and the

commitment to saying, okay, we can't just keep doing what we've been doing. and i know that was hard fought, but i think that it was really meaningful because it wasn't just lip service. it was real people, you know, working with each other. i would like to see if that model can be applied to both different communities geographically or thinking about the black community of san francisco, is it philmore and bayview or a broader city-wide strategy? and, agai again, having that understanding and seeing if we can slow, if not reverse, the exodus of our black community from san francisco. i think that we can do it. i think that we've seen in the latest update on mission action plan 2020, some of the plateauing perhaps of some of the out-migration of latin x families from the mission. i don't want to say that we've solved it, but i think we saw some good signs. so, okay, let's build on that, let's figure that out. we have also seen, you know, efforts such as the mission bay

to look back and to say, okay, we have this area plan, how did things turn out. let's take an audit of what are the racial and social impacts of the plans that we have done, especially as we're planning for our housing element. again, we don't want to repeat the mistakes of the past, but we can also learn what did work and what didn't work. as far as the challenges -- so those are just a few things, you know, how we apply our resources and how we learn from our successes as well as the challenges that we may have had. and the challenges are, of course, myriad. i think that perhaps the one that takes a little bit of the wind out of the sails a little bit can be the downturn of the economy and how will we start new projects and new outreach. but this is the time to do planning. this is the time to think about what our success will look like after this. this is the time to think about what kind of city do we want and to plan for success. this recession will end. we will have, you know, a chance

to build and we can do so in a way that is more equitable. if we don't plan now though we'll have the market continue to do what it does, which is to have us take us on another wild swing and likely have more of the same negative impacts that we've had when the market is just unchecked and kind of running wild in san francisco. so those are some of the items. and the last thing is to continue to raise the conversation in the planning commission meetings. when it's in the packet, the house staff are reviewing policies and actually asking the questions which i have seen and really appreciate. and then let's discuss it, let's talk about it. if it's not discussed and it's not made a priority for staff because the commissioners aren't discussing it, then it becomes a box to check versus the meaningful dialogue that impacts how we understand policies and projects and the decisions that we ultimately make. >> chair ronen: i appreciate that answer very much. and just one question related to

that answer, because, of course, this is the most important thing to me as a supervisor. part of the success of the mission action plan 2020 wasn't so much the strategies that were developed in that plan, which you kind of noted -- the relationship -- i completely agree with you that -- that the trust and the relationships that were built were probably the most powerful thing about it. but what i think that has been -- being the supervisor of mission and watching for the last 10 years because i was part of being a supervisor, what has the displacement of latino families in the mission -- and maybe gotten us to a point now where the thousand plus units are about to come online, can we possibly reverse the loss of 10,000 latino individuals and families from the mission and

the gentrification of the neighborhood. i think that, you know, -- not what i think -- what i know was the reason that we're about to lease up or, you know, over a thousand units of below market rate affordable housing in the district was the combination of activism that got several mayors to dedicate persons of housing bonds and revenues to purchasing properties in the mission, a concentration of the neighborhood, and the ability of activism to shape market-rate projects and how much affordable housing was included in those projects. or other community benefits that came out of those market-rate projects. and very sadly in my opinion, laws like fb-35 and 330 from the state level are sort of offering

a one-size-fits-all approach that would have taken away the power and the ability of communities to shape those projects. so that the very successes that we have seen in the mission that i think that should be studied and replicated all over the country in gentrifying communities are not going to be replicable to other communities if those one-size-fits-all streamlining state laws pass. so how do you see this phenomenon playing out and sort of what are your opinions about those laws and how we can -- you know, to replicate these successful strategie strategiese have seen in the mission in the face of those laws? >> well, that's a fantastic question. and, certainly, the landscape of state laws continues to change, you know, every session and we're constantly working to integrate or adapt or, you know, to make sure that we understand what is the new implications are. and i'm really proud that we

have such a stellar team of planners who work very quickly to understand what does this mean for our city and how do we make sure that we're staying on right side of the law, of course. i think that one of the things that the state laws make more important than ever is our long-range planning work. because we have to be anymore ne enough to understand what the needs of a community are and to create objective standards so that we can be sure that we can have -- it's almost like integrating the activism at the front end. you know, what are the community benefits that we need the projects to deliver and have a really clear plan of how we outline them, how we are tying them to projects and development standards so that as projects do perhaps avail themselves of fb-35 or some of the other housing accountability requirements, that we have baked it in to those strategies. and it's a little bit different of a tactic than we've used so

successfully in san francisco, but i know that we can work together to figure out, okay, if this is the new terrain, how do we be nimble and have those supports? which, again, is why i think that it's so important to plan right now in this downturn because we know that, yes, people go, i'm not going to build this and that -- we don't know when that will end and we want to know what the benefits that we want from projects are once those applications do begin coming forward again. >> chair ronen: okay, thank you. i appreciate that answer. it looks like we should -- supervisor mar did you want to chime in now? >> supervisor mar: i did have a few follow-up questions on your questions and particularly your question around, you know, the -- the planning commission resolution on racial and social equity and how we can really make that real as soon as

possible. and, miss tanner, i really appreciate you making this as a priority and looking at stepping into the planning commission and yourfuyour thoughtful responses. and the business as usual to this point, you know, has not furthered that goal and has, you know, -- and exacerbated inequities, particularly for communities of color in our city when it comes to housing and land use. and one -- one important aspect of that is that the imbalance in the housing production that we have seen in recent years where we have been overreducing market-rate luxury housing, particularly, you know, luxury condos, and, you know, where i'm sure that you're aware that we're currently at over 140% of our market rate housing

projection goal in the current cycle with two years to go, but we've been underproducing and having supportable to moderate and low-income households. it's great, as chair ronen just touched on the work that's been happening in the mission district to try to advance more talent, and development in the mission that really meets the needs of the community. so i just wanted to hear your thoughts about, yeah, how we might be able to really put that balance in our city where we're building the housing that is really meeting the needs, you know, of our working families and the communities of color. and, yeah -- >> um-hmm, so a great question. i think that it's a challenge, certainly, and one that we have all been i think -- many of us have been trying to figure out how do we get more housing out of the private market and under the control of -- whether it's

the city or whether it be non-profit organizations, but organizations that are not driven by the profit motive in terms of the provision of housing. and so continuing to do that and to pursue that as effectively as we can, we're very fortunate in this city that we do have a number of resources, especially now with the friends -- there's a lawsuit being resolved. so we have funds for housing and for building it. so, you know, there's no one solution, as i'm sure that you know. and it's all of the above. from a structural standpoint in regards to this, and i would say that the city would be engaged in discussing and trying to advocate for the best allocation for the city that is in line with the goal that we have, which certainly could potentially maybe be accomplished with the income shift applied to the methodology where it does shift the allocation more towards low and very low-income housing as a

priorities within a city's allocations. i know that then affects other city's allocations and it's not like a see-saw, you do one thing one place and you have to balance it elsewhere. so that is one kind of option there. but, again, the allocation just allocates and it doesn't build the housing, right? and it doesn't result in the units coming online. so how do we plan with agencies a strategy for where we can build more affordable housing and how we can be nimble during this downturn to build as much as we can of affordable housing. and perhaps to have some greater scale. maybe our dollars could go a little further at this time period, which would be really be excellent. and then continue to press the envelope on how can we get more and more inclusionary housing into or out of any market-rate development. i think that we just have got to keep finding ways to sharpen that pencil and make sure that if there are market-rate units

going and we've got to get the benefits for our communities, which are those affordable housing units out of those projects. so, again, it's not an easy balance to flip, but i am hopeful that we can do that. and i also have been speaking with some folks about ideas to try to look at could we work to get more moderate income housing, like where folks aren't eligible for affordable housing units but, certainly, have a very hard time making it in the private market. and are there some developers that we could work with for whom that could be a sweet spot and we could figure out how to do something so it is income restricted and, again, to be the pioneers that we have been in affordable housing to find ways to meet the needs of our community. so i think that is what san francisco is known for and i would hope that we can continue that innovation. >> thank you. >> chair ronen: great. then we will now open this item up for public comment.

>> clerk: yes. yes, members of the public who wish to provide public comment on this item should call 1-(415)-655-0001. the meeting i.d. is 1469652968. then press pound, and pound again. if you haven't done so, dial star, 3, to line up to speak. a system prompt will indicate that you have raised your hand. please wait until the system indicates that you have been unmuted and you may begin your comment. do we have any public commenters on the line? >> yes, i currently have 10 callers in the queue. i will queue the first caller. >> caller: hi, i am renee curran and i have been a tenant rights advocate for the last 11 years. i have some concern about mayor breed's lack of or failure to

appoint people with a proven record in looking out for the needs of tenants. and i don't know a lot about rachael tanner and i'd like to know what her record was on the board of appeals when tenants were opposing, for instance, a.d.u.s that were taking away long-term rights that they had as far as parking and laundry sources and storage spaces, it's always been part of their tenancy. and i also do have some concern about the vagueness in the answers that i'm hearing today. but i guess, yeah, that's it, next caller. bye. >> clerk: thank you. can we have the next caller, please. >> caller: good morning, supervisors. my name is al (indiscernible)

and i'm an advocacy director for the electrical industry, and i'm calling in to have support for miss tanner's nomination. and the aspect (indiscernible) and a number of the issues that were discussed earlier and i think that it's -- it's really important in this session to have a planner with an expertise to help to drive policy. her background and experience i think is the right fit for what san francisco needs right now. i think that as the -- if you try to implement the special equity resolution, as we try to find ways of really focusing affordable housing, really moving forward as -- as we try

to really to contend with this (indiscernible) is an understatement what we are going to be facing. it's important to have someone with the sort of background being able to help with policy. you know, the last thing they want to leave you with is that i noticed that supervisor (indiscernible) i do want to note that of the fb-35 projects so far submitted and approved in san francisco, i think that virtually all have been by the folks at (indiscernible) and affordable housing developers (indiscernible). again, those are 100% affordable and i think that the one market rate one, it is (indiscernible). so, you know, these policies

(indiscernible) and i think we can really make smart use of them and i appreciate. >> clerk: thank you, your speaker time has passed. can we have the next caller, please. >> caller: hello, good afternoon, supervisors. i'm the executive director of refugee coalition. i'm calling in on behalf of the black and black wall street. we support rachael tanner for the planning commission. we are a network of community servants and cultural influencers committee committed to supporting the brake-led organizations in san francisco. we understand the importance of having a seat at the table and our community needs need representation on the commission, and without representation the planning department's commitment to black lives and racial equity ring hello. we need leaders in san francisco who are connected to and

understand the challenge that we have in black san franciscans in historically black neighborhoods. and the planning department have been agents of destruction but the city is turning to a new way of approaching planning and development to build on our cultural history, instead of tearing it down. the city can join with us with building black spaces and wealth through homeownership and supporting redevelopment, and understanding the needs of our community and has committed to this for the city. i urge you to strongly support rachael's nomination. thank you. >> clerk: thank you, next caller, please. >> caller: good morning. my name is jerry grantler with the san francisco land-use coalition. san francisco has housing units and the planning commission

diamond appointed by mayor breed have consistently approved projects that are inconsistent with objective three of the city's general plan. objective three calls for the protection of affordable housing, especially rental units which supervisor diamond has approved projects where tenants of affordable units have been displaced to make room for luxury condos, by remodeling or expanding the existing buildings. i suggest that your committee ask miss tanner about her commitment to maintaining affordable housing in san francisco, and whether she would approve similar expansion projects that reduce the numbers of affordable rental units. also i believe that miss tanner is an airbnb host. is miss tanner compliant with all of san francisco's airbnb host requirements? it would be inappropriate for a

planning commissioner to be non-compliant and be ruling on the compliance of fellow san francisco residents. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. can we have the next caller, please. >> caller: hi, good morning, supervisors. my name is randy shortenge, with urban air academy. and based in bayview at this point. and (indiscernible) and supporting these (indiscernible) and the equity-centered approach to making sure? the city is accessible for the most important people that we have running our city. i have heard on the call that --

i support the candidacy of miss tanner and i hope and urge you all to support it as well. with san francisco being a unique city, and with all of the history discussed by some of the other callers, i figured that we would talk about racial and social equity and representation has to be a part of every piece of that process and it starts with the people on that commission. miss tanner is very qualified, and not only with the technical expertise but to help to drive what the city needs for a long-term vision for what is going to be -- we don't know what the future is going to hold but we know that as far as putting the principles in place and policies in place that keep accessibility for all and to have that unique focus, and we

ask that the community that we need someone like miss tanner. we have an opportunity to do that and you would do well to give her your support. >> clerk: thank you. next caller, please. >> hi, this is jennifer fever. i'm a tenant advocate. i filed many discussionary reviews in front of this commission on behalf of the tenants, trying to help the tenants that are feeling stuck. so a couple weeks ago we had a d.r. hearing where tenants had been drafted out of their rent-controlled homes by a law firm to make way for a luxury expansion. one of the tenants actually died in the process of fighting this. so for 90 minutes, they heard moving calls from tenants and

neighborhoods that we had organized in opposition to the project. when the calls were done it was like it never even happened for many of the commissioners. they seemed more interested in talking about where the garbage cans would go then where the tenants want. the current commissioners appointed by the mayor have bias to landlords and developers in their comments but i glaze over when the public calls in. and this is a city of 64% renters, but we have a group of mostly homeowners calling the shots there. commissioners and staff insist that all tenant problems can be solved at the rent board so they don't have to consider tenants, but that's just not true. that's not how it works. in fact, the general plan which they're supposed to uphold has a lot of emphasis about preserving the existing rental stock and protecting the tenant tenants fm evictions, but it often seems that the department has flowery language and no real plan to follow those objectives. so i just, you know, it seems

like our housing policy treats the humans that actually live in it as an afterthought, so i just ask that you ask some really, you know, some questions about the existing tenants that are in these buildings and really drill in on that before supporting this. thanks. >> clerk: thank you. can we have the next caller, please. >> caller: good morning, the land-use coalition. today you will be deciding whether or not to approve another mayor's nominee to the planning commission. this is particularly important at a time when the planning commission is stacked with male appointees that are increasingly out of touch with the issues that every san franciscan grapples with. we are woefully ignorant of the general planned policies, our rent ordinance, and the discretion in nature.

and san francisco is a city of renters and that's why the preservation of the rental units is plainly stated as one of the objectives of our general plan. and the city with 64% of the population is a tenant, and not one mayor appointee is a renter. she self-identified -- (indiscernible) and she came from a board of appeals, a body that hardly ever votes for the appellants. this is the second time that mayor breed has moved a member to the planning commission. why the musical chairs? supervisors, there are important questions to be asked such as does miss tanner know that the planning commission is a discretionary body, and it should be upholding our general plan, preserve the affordability and protect our rent-controlled units? what does she think of cases where the tenants oppose the

a.d.u. conversions of their garages and storage spaces that are specifically listed in their leases? how familiar is she with the rental ordinance and the conversion laws? has she ever displaced a tenant? chair ronen, there are 29 duplexes and triplexes currently up for sale in the mission, the district that you represent. in all likelihood, these properties are tenant occupied and they are in the rent eviction upon the close of the escrow. what does miss tanner think -- >> the speaker's time has elapsed. thank you. >> clerk: can we have the next caller, please. >> caller: good morning. supervisors, my name is (indiscernible), i'm a housing advocate in district 5, located in district 5, the city-wide orient. i appreciate miss tanner saying

that among her priorities are racial and social equity and housing. that's a good start there. but so far on the housing front i heard one good idea about seeing if any builders would build moderate income restricted housing. that would be great if she would be able to locate sources of financing since the international capital does not want to build that. so what she has said about housing though so far is pretty much like -- well, we could build more inclusionary housing it's great, but we know that inclusionary housing is just increasing the problem from studies. and also the plethora of legislation from

(indiscernible) that these are unfunded mandates. and i would like to see somebody who would be more aggressive about fighting these unfunded mandates as well as thinking and working on things like the san francisco public bank that could provide funding. finally, i would like to say that a large number, as perhaps as 50% of seniors, do not have the income to qualify for affordable housing with rent starting at $2,000 a month. so when those folks lose their current housing or maybe already rent burdened, they have to lose their community and their resources and move out of town, if not just die, which we've had those cases too. so, again, we need a commissioner who will do the work, who will not sit there and not say a word -- >> thank you, speaker time has elapsed. >> caller: thank you. >> clerk: yes, can we have the

next caller, please. >> caller: um yes, i am angela mayhan. before i start, do i get two or three minutes? >> clerk: you receive two minutes. >> caller: fine. great. good morning, my name is angela mayhan and a resident of the excelsior district and i'm a member of the outer mission merchants' association and a resident for 40 years. a community advocate and one of the few people that have come out in our district and have actually done work to have our neighborhood actually try to function the way that it should have functioned with rachael tanner. i support her wholeheartedly for a number of reasons. first, she's smart and she has a confidence approach and she's dialed into many issues. and when the community comes to her she listens to what they have to say. so a lot of people who have

voiced concerns about what they think that she is going to do or that because she's a mayoral appointee, maybe the answer to your question should be to call her and ask her, because she will give you an important answer. i'm an african american woman and as an african american woman i love the idea that she will center african american issues, but more importantly, i don't want you to appoint her because she is an african american woman, i want you to appoint her because she's technically sound. she's smart, she has the chops to actually do the job, just not from an african american approach, which is what i appreciate, but from a san francisco approach, it would be an approach that will make the city and the planning department better. actually better. and i can't express enough the importance of she doesn't speak at us, she speaks to us as a community and then formulates conclusions to best help the community. so instead of having somebody who is going to be a show either for one advocacy group or

another, you're going to have someone who is going to look at things and make things better for the city. so i think that you do yourself and you do the city of san francisco a great service by appointing rachael tanner to the commission. i yield the rest of my time. have a good morning, supervisors. >> clerk: thank you. i want to make a quick statement, if you have not already done so, press star, 3, to be added to the queue. for those on hold, continue to wait until the system indicates that you have been unmuted. can we have the next caller, please. >> caller: good morning, supervisors. my name is gwendlyn brown. we support rachael tanner for the planning commission. (indiscernible) and it was response to the impact of

covid-19 and anti-black racism on black business and cultural space and we are a network of community servants and professionals and cultural forces who are committed to black sovereignty. black wall street understands the importance of having a seat at the table and we need representation on the planning department. and we want a commitment to black lives and centering racial equity. rachael is a professional, and i met her when she came to the o.m.i. and she worked for the planning department. she can committed to reaching out to do o.m.i., regardless of my cynicism. she is tasked with bringing us together, which is a very diverse group of stakeholders in the excelsior and the o.m.i. and then working together to find common ground. she has listening skills and the ability to connect with people from all walks of life and a

genuine detdcasion to the community -- dedication to the community. this is what we need at the planning commission and we at black wall street urge you to support rachael's nomination for the planning commission. thank you, and i yield my time. >> clerk: thank you. can we have the next caller, please. >> caller: hi, my name is erica swag and i'm from district 4. i know that this is a mayoral appointment and it will be a mayoral appointment. my biggest fear is that the appointment will be like the other appointments of mayor breed's, where they rubberstamp what proposed and don't dig deep, don't question, don't send

the planners back to to meet where it's needed. [no audio] rubber stamping without really questioning or pushing the planners to go in a direction other than grow, grow, grow. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. can we have the next caller, please. >> caller: hello, i'm kathy multe-meyer, and a resident since 1999. i am the chair of the excelsior action group and i have the very great privilege of working with rachael tanner for two years on an excelsior planning commission

as i was serving for district 11 of the office of supervisor safai. throughout this process, it involved over 32 community stakeholders and involved about eight or nine large meetings where we went directly to the public and they were also invited to participate. and the direction of that was led by communities. the project overview was as our neighborhood changes we support sustaining and enhance what makes our neighborhood special. our families, elders, and ethnic and diversity and small businesses and local gems. through rachael's leadership we were able to come up with a strategy that really did center on community and specifically on housing development. as we know, the -- oftentimes district 11 is described as the

last working-class neighborhood in san francisco. and our strategies regarding land use and housing were to maintain and to build housing stock that serves current residents and welcome people and a range of incomes and immigrants. to not have displacement of homeowners and businesses. so where low and moderate income residents can survive and thrive. and to promote relationships building an intercultural exchange among the many different neighborhood stakeholders, and develop and maintain the infrastructure -- >> clerk: thank you. speaker time has elapsed. can we have the next caller, please. >> madam chair, that completes the queue. >> chair ronen: thank you. i want to -- i appreciate all the callers.

supervisor stefani, do you have any comments or questions? >> supervisor stefani: no questions, thank you, chair ronen. i want to say that i met with miss tanner last week and i know her briefly from when she worked for supervisor safai. but i was so impressed, and i went through all of these questions and this is not rubber stamping -- i care deeply about who is on the planning commission, having appeared before the planning commission for years and years and years and all of my work in the city, this is so important. this is a very important position. i think that miss tanner is so qualified, not only in experience and in education, but in her attitude and her outlook about everyone working together. and listening to all sides. and i truly take her at her word and i have seen her do that and i know that she'll be able to do that. so creating a false narrative that she's this way or that way i don't think that serves or helps anybody. so i also was so impressed in

the conversations that we had about the dire need for affordable and middle-income housing in san francisco and how the recession will make that a little bit more difficult, also with regards to our merchant corridors and the small businesses and how the recession is going to also make that difficult. and how we, you know, have a lot of thoughtful solutions to really work through on all of those issues. you know, and the racial and the social equity in housing i think that, of course, she spoke to that well in our meeting. and, you know, the woman who appointed her to that also cares deeply about that as people should know. also her work on the board of appeals -- excellent work. i know that the people on the board of appeals are sad to see you go. and i just know that you are going to be fair, consistent and forward thinking.

you are more than qualified, actually, and i'm so impressed with mayor breed's appointment. and i just look forward to your service. hopefully i do support your nomination and thanks again for your presentation and thank you to the callers who called to weigh in. >> chair ronen: supervisors, you have any comments? >> chair ronen, thanks and i'm having problems with my video so for some reason it's not working but i'm glad that you can hear me. so i also did want to thank miss tanner for the opportunity to meet with her last week and we had a really good conversation. i was very impressed with not just your qualifications to serve on the planning commission but your thoughtfulness on all of the very complicated, complex and challenging issues facing our city and regarding having a lanland use -- but i did have aw

questions actually from the speaker from public comment around tenant protections and preserving affordable housing. and just -- and, miss tanner, in your capacity as a member of the board of appeals have you ever voted for a tenant to oppose the a.d.u. conversion of garages and storage spaces that are included in their leases? >> thank you, supervisor mar. i would need to go back and to check my records to make sure that i have -- what my record has been on voting. we always -- though i always have, you know, worked to ensure that no tenants' rights are being severed and also to encourage any tenant who is dealing with that to ensure that they are having the resources of the board as well. so i don't want to misspeak on my record on that vote but i can go back and check those cases

and get back to you. >> supervisor mar: thank you. and a follow-up question more broadly, what are your thoughts on the term rent evictions, and that are they, in effect,, vikdzs? >> nothing makes my blood boil more than when at the board of appeals we have seen that very same thing. we have seen landlords try to claim oh, it's just a renovation, but as we look at the plans we find that -- wait, how is the person going to live in that unit supposedly while that type of work is going on. it's incompatible for that unit to be habitable while that scope of work is going on and what is happening. so we are very -- i have been -- and i have been joined in that support by the fellow board of appeals members, very -- a lot of scrutiny applies to any of those cases, the conditions

being applied. we had a case where we imposed hours in terms of construction, we put quite a number of restrictions on how any renovation could take place because it was as you said an effort to try to make it very uncomfortable for that tenant to reside there in an effort to just get them to leave. and i have no tolerance for that type of behavior. >> supervisor mar: thank you again for your thoughtful responses today. >> thank you. >> chair ronen: thank you. i want to appreciate all of the callers, we have a huge pool out there who is very excited about this appointment. and to those who expressed reservations, i would just encourage you to make yourself available to those folks to discuss some of the concerns and the issues. i have to say in my discussions

with you that i found you to be extremely knowledgeable and committed to equity and i see that in you and i have appreciated your responses very much. and i'm really looking forward to working with you hopefully if you're approved going forward on the planning commission and holding that relationship. also i want to just thank you for taking this on. the planning commission is one of the most laborious jobs that i can think of. and anyone willing to do that amount of volunteer work for the city is clearly invested in not only the profession and the role of planning in making the city amazing, or our city amazing, but just in public service in general.

so i just want to express my gratitude for you being willing to take this on. it's not an easy role and it's a lot of volunteer time and opening yourself up to a lot of criticism. so i appreciate that very, very, very much. >> thank you. >> chair ronen: and with that i would be happy -- i'm going to try to make this motion correctly to our clerk of the board. i would like to make a motion to strike the word "rejecting" from the motion and then further to approve the amended motion to approve the mayoral nomination for the appointment of rachael tanner to the planning comeation and to forward to the full board with positive recommendation. did i do it, victor, correctly, the first time? >> clerk: that is correct. >> chair ronen: thank you. can we have a roll call vote. >> clerk: on that motion [roll call]

the motion passes without objection. >> chair ronen: thank you so much and thank you again, miss tanner. >> thank you, okay, bye-bye, thank you. >> chair ronen: mr. clerk, read item number 3. yoirk item 3, an ordinance amending the administrative code to require the department of public health to provide administrative staff to support the behavioral health commission, to expand the membership criteria to conform to state law, and to reset at commission member terms as of january 1, 2021, to be staggered so that no more than one-third of the members' terms expire at one time. >> chair ronen: is anyone seeing that audience view? is that a new zoom? very bizarre. it's freaking me out a bit. let's go with it. it's a new feature of zoom or something. anyway, supervisor stefani did

you want to open up this item? >> supervisor stefani: i have to agree with that too, it gives an illusion that we are sitting closer than six feet. [feedback on audio] >> we're trying to fix that right now, sorry about that. >> supervisor stefani: thank you, supervisor ronen and supervisor mar for hearing this today. i want to offer a brief history of the behavioral health commission and its structure. the state of california passed the act in 1957 which make counties responsible for providing the behavioral health treatment through community-based health programs. as part of that law each county was required to create a local advisory board, what we now call the behavioral health commission. the rules and responsibilities of that body were reformed by the state in the bronson 1992 which put even more

responsibility on the county and imposed specific requirements on the membership of the local advisory board to increase the number of direct consumers and their family members. so the responsibilities of this behavioral health commission includes reviewing and evaluating the community's public mental health needs and the service facilities and the special problems in any facility within the county, including but not limited to schools, emergency departments and psychiatric facilities. reviewing and making recommendations regarding any county agreements that are funded through grants from the mental health services act for assistance into transition from homelessness grant programs and the community mental health services block grant program. and advising the board of supervisors and the department of public health on any aspect of a local mental health program. reviewing and making recommendations regarding applicants for the appointment of a local director of mental health services, submits an annual report to the board of

supervisors on the needs and the performance of the county's mental health system. and reviewing and commenting on the county's performance outcome data and the communicated findings to the california behavioral health planning council. so the reason that i mention all of these responsibilities is because this body is really charged with a gargantuan task when you think about all of that. i know that, supervisor ronen, when you're hearing all of that you're probably thinking, wow, that is something that would have been great to have somebody really be able to focus on. so in the face of our current behavioral health crisis, the b.h.c. must ensure that our programs are safe, adequate and meet the needs of our fellow san franciscans. i want to specifically to call out the body, it is uniquely empowered to conduct site visits at any facilities, respond to complaints and interview the real people who rely on these programs. it's a incredible responsibility and everybody who volunteers for a seat on this board deserves

our sincerest appreciation and they do very good work and hard work. i am bringing this legislation forward to ensure that this vital commission has the adequate staffing so that it deserves so the members can continue to serve the public to the best of their abilities. when i sat on this body i became aware that it was structured in a very unusual way. currently, the department of public health awards the contract to an outside organization that serves as the fiscal agent for the behavioral health commission. in that capacity it provides staff supports. so the staff that support the b.h.c. are actually employees of this friends of organization, not employees of the city and county of san francisco. so that organization called the san francisco mental health education fund has a separate board that oversees the administration and the finances of that organization. many, but not all of the members

of the d.h.c. are also on the board of this outside organization. so in april of this year i became aware that the fiscal agent hadn't been submitting timely invoices for reimbursement to d.p.h. and as a result the staff hadn't been paid for several months. i immediately notified the director of public health of the issue in a letter dated april 21, 2020. a few weeks later i became aware that the fiscal agent applied and -- applied for and accepted a paycheck protection program from the federal small business administration. and as we all know the p.p.p. program was specifically designed to enable businesses to keep employees on a payroll after this economic catastrophe, instead of laying them off. the decision to get a p.p.p. loan is problematic because the fifiscal agent was funded throuh the p.p.h. and so the two employees' jobs are not actually

in jeopardy. the department of health is auditing the contract and a federal investigation into the status of the p.p.p. loan is underway. so while i was troubled by the decision to pursue a p.p.p.p. loan i was equally concerned by the fact that there were two separate boards. one that is public and one that isn't. due to these concerns, i resigned my seat on the behavioral health commission. so none of this information is meant to malign anyone who has ever served on this body. in my opinion they and the residents of san francisco have been poorly served by a structure that undermines their efforts. this legislation will provide the d.h.c. with the support they deserves. the individuals should not be burdened with the responsibility of also managing the finances or the administration of a separate organization. and it simply is not fair. and it isn't an obligation that we put on any other commission. similarly, every other county in

the state staffs their behavioral health commission through their department of public health. these commissioners are volunteers and their time is limited. i know that every member has spent an inordinate amount of time trying to address the issues that i mentioned earlier, and every minute they have to spend going through the financial statements for an organization is time away from the important responsibilities that the behavioral health commission is tasked with and required to do. the legislation before you will ensure that the behavioral health commission is independent, transparent, and truly public by requiring the department of public health to provide continuous staffing support. additionally, this legislation will stagger the terms of the commission seats so they will not all expire at the same time. nearly every seat on this has expired and needs to be filled or reappointed. i understand that the circumstances made it difficult for the body to operate with a

quorum and my goal is to prevent this from recurring in the future. finally, i have a technical amendment to introduce here today and your office should have received, so that the current members will not have their terms unfairly shortened when we stagger the seats. you will find that amendment on page 4, lines 13 and 14. i have been assured by our city attorney that is it is non-substantive. the director of ambulatory care and the director of behavioral health services are here to present on how the department will operationalize this legislation. and i would really like to thank them both for their help and their dedication during this drafting process. i want to thank you virginia and the city attorney's office who is just amazing and the members of the behavioral health commission who serve this city to address the most important challenge that we face. and finally i want to thank my incredible legislative aide who is vital to making sure that we get this legislation done, and

with that i would like to turn it over to the department of public health. >> chair ronen: dr. hammer, are you going to present? >> yes, i am. i am going to present and i am just letting you know that marlo simmons, our acting director of behavioral health services was planning to present too. she's been the lead on working with the san francisco mental health education fund, and working with supervisor stefani's office and the city attorney office to figure out this rule change which we fully

support. and i just want to appreciate supervisor stefani. your presentation of the issues is accurate, really we very much support this change and the really i think structural challenges presented to the -- presented by how this was initially set up. so as supervisor stefani said, all california counties are required to have a behavioral health board or commission and our san francisco behavioral health commission was managed under the fiscal intermediary, the health education fund, and funded through behavioral health services contract. the contract is funded -- the operations of the commission as

well as the two staff who supported the commission's work. and this ordinance directs the department of public health to take over providing the administrative staff for the commission with d.p.h. employees. it's in line with how other committees and commissions are aligned with the department that they're mandated to -- to advise throughout the city. and so we support this change. we also just really want to reiterate that it's incredibly important for community members, consumers and family members to give input to behavioral health programs for clinical services. this only strengthens our

services. with so much going on in behavioral health in san francisco, with the mental health s.f. legislation and our very encouraging progress towards implementing the mental health s.f. vision, we think that it's even more important for the behavioral health commission to be a strong entity and working with the department of public health. and we think that this alignment will give the commission the greatest possible imppac impacte transformational work that we're embarking on. so that's just my brief comments on the legislative change brought forward by supervisor stefani and i'm happy to answer any questions -- sorry for the delay. i was just making sure that marlo simmons, our acting

director was indeed no longer available. >> chair ronen: thank you. thank you so much, dr. hemmer. always great to hear from you. if there's no more comments, are you ready to open this up for public comment, supervisor stefani? is that okay? >> supervisor stefani: yes, chair ronen, yes. >> chair ronen: great. please open this up for public comment. >> clerk: yes, the members of the public who wish to provide public comment on this item should call 1-(415)-655-0001. the meeting i.d. is 1469652968. then press pound and pound again. if you haven't already done so, dial star 3 to line up to speak and the system prompt will indicate that you have raised your hand and please wait until the system indicates that you have been unmuted and you may begin your comment. do we have any speakers at this time? >> yes, i currently have nine

callers in the queue. i will queue the first caller. >> caller: hello? >> clerk: hi, we can hear you. please proceed. >> caller: my name is marilyn tesconi, the chair of the behavioral health commission. i have seen no value in the current relationship between the non-profit san francisco mental health education fund and the behaviorial health commission. during that time the effectiveness and credibility has declined but it's not too late to rectify that. separating the behavioral health commission from the non-profit will help to put us back on the right track. the review of the local health facilities will resume. and the behavioral health care appointments will ensure that

this will not happen again. assigning a d.p.h. support staff to the commission will return us to a consistent accountable structure that has been lacking over the last three years. it will strengthen our resources and goals. i see no compelling reason for the non-profit and the commission to remain connected or to share staff. overall the best hope of restoring relevancy and credibility to the commission is to start fresh with new supports, a full membership, and a tangible actionable plans for success. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. the next caller, please. >> caller: hi, this is judy drummond. i am -- excuse me -- the secretary of the behavioral health commission. can you hear me? >> clerk: yes, we can hear you.

>> caller: thank you very much. i'm the secretary of the behavioral health commission and i'm also the secretary of the smirf board. i joined the behavioral health commission four years ago because i wanted to be involved. i'm very deeply passionate about the mental health care in this city. there are so many things wrong with it. and i have spent my life working with children and parents and the community trying to get better services. i thought that i could help. it did not happen. we have been -- the first board did nothing, and it never did what it was supposed to do. we asked and got no answers. the behavioral health commission itself has been with a lack of leadership. we need someone -- clearly we need someone to help us to set up site visits, to help -- help with the board meetings, to help

us to recruit new members. we seriously need new members on the commission at all levels. and the site visits are the most important things that we do. we have been able to close some places that were not (indiscernible) their clients horribly. and they were doing a wonderful job, and an example is the transgender program on valencia street. so there's so much that you can do. i totally support your bill because i want to thank you, supervisor stefani, thank you very much and your aide, andy, for helping us to get this going. and thank you very much. >> clerk: thank you. can we have the next caller, please. >> caller: good morning, the board of supervisors. my name is teresa boura.

and i served on the mental health board for almost five years. first as an appointment of supervisor david chiu and then supervisor aaron peskin. i considered these appointments to be a great honor. unfortunately, though as i look back, i do not have very much to be proud of. sure, i wrote resolutions and reports and i participated in meetings and did site visits. but none of what i did changed the behavioral health system. a system that as you all know that is in need of great change. this much-needed legislation will give the behavioral health commission a needed fresh start. the appointment of new commissioners will hopefully result in members who recognize this is a working commission requiring a commitment of at least eight hours a month.

supervisors need to assure that the potential appointees recognize this as a big commitment. it's more than just a two-hour meeting a month. our commission should not have to concentrate on mismanagement of funds, sloppy bookkeeping, out-of-date documents, the by-laws and manuals that are 20 to 30 years old. this commission has great potential to advise the board of supervisors and the mayor and make a difference in the lives of people with behavioral health needs. i want to thank supervisor stefani, her staff, for taking this on. we really need to do this and we need to do this now. thank you very much. >> clerk: thank you. can we have the next caller,

please. >> caller: yes, this is david elliott lewis. i have served for two terms on this commission when it was called the mental health board appointed by at that time the district 5 supervisor. the last supervisor to appoint me was london breed. i currently continue to serve on the smirf board, that's the san francisco mental health education funds which we have abbreviated smerf c. the whole process has underserved the commission. we're not getting our money's worth and we're -- and we're not really helping the city. i strongly -- i want to thank supervisor stefani for introducing this legislation. it's greatly needed. and it will help to address -- it will help to address a number of problems. one of the most significant is

the failure to really have program reviews. we're supposed to do contracts with the city, five per year in 2019. and they did only two program reviews. these program reviews are where the commissioners go out and they evaluate a city-funded program to see if it's performing to contract, if it's meeting its obligations. and it has found in the past when it did work a number of ineffective city-funded programs. this really helps the public good. when you don't do program reviews, the system of accountabilities and these checks and balances is undermined. and the way that smerf works has failed the ability to do programming reviews. that's just one of the many failures. the whole accounting system is broken down. and there's a lot of questionable issues in the accounting system. i have not found fraud myself but i don't have access to the books.

i hope that this legislation will be approved as submitted to help to address all of the problems that have already been mentioned. thank you. this is david elliott lewis. >> clerk: thank you, can we have the next caller, please. >> caller: good morning. my name is rochelle soda. i was reappointed by supervisor fewer for a second term on the behavioral health commission. i strongly support the legislation introduced by supervisor stefani suffering the behavioral health commission and non-profit san francisco mental health education fund. i hope that you will support it. the current structure shields the directive and the executive director from oversight, wastes taxpayer money and cripples the commission. it has been a painful mentally

exhausting and disheartening experience trying to be an effective commissioner. on a commission that is neutered by mismanagement and corruption. this is a harrowing time for all san franciscans. we are all trying to salvage our mental health, not just the stigmatized. this crisis needs the commission's focus, and monitoring and oversight. they need to be up and running and carrying out our mandated functions. please pass this legislation. thank you very much. this is rochelle laslova. >> clerk: thank you can, we have the next caller, please. >> caller: hello, my name is commissioner dawson cooper and my pronouns are they, them and theirs and i'm the newest member of the behavioral health commission and i am here because

i want to do work on this commission for the most vulnerable in our community. as highlighted by the previous comments made. this legislation gives clear instruction on what to do and to provide those critical supports from the department of public health, like many other major counties in our state. additionally, it provides a clear timeline of appointments to the commission which has restricted the functionality over the summer months. there are two critical edits that i feel compelled to acknowledge that should be made in this legislation before approval. they're on page 3, line 4, and page 4, line 9. where it mentions his or her spouse. and he or she. as a non-binary trans person as recognized by the state of california and the commissioner on this board, using binary language like his or her or he or she deludes the idea that i and other gender diversity folks like me are not welcome in this process. while i'm sure this is not your

intent on this legislation, intent does not always equal impact. therefore, it is critical that every piece of legislation is reviewed to ensure language that is inclusive and affirmative of the participation of gender diversities of san franciscans in the political process. please make these edits and approve this important legislation. thank you. i yield my time. >> clerk: thank you. can we have the next caller, please. >> caller: can you hear me now? >> clerk: we can hear you. please proceed. >> caller: great. good morning, david filpel. when i served on the sunshine task force a number of years ago i had occasion to attend various meetings at the time of the mental health board. there were some questions that came up about their compliance with the brown act and the sunshine ordinance and i attempted to help to clarify

those. so i had occasion to observe how the board at the time was acting. i believe that helena brook was the staff person at the time and bob sabai was the director of mental health services for the city. it was an interesting experience and i'm sure that others can comment on how effective it was at the time. and i have heard comments today on how effective it is today. in any event, i support the proposed ordinance. i think that this is a useful and a necessary change. and i really want to thank supervisor stefani for her considerable and dogged work on this. this obviously took a lot of time to sort out and to work with the city attorney and others, including the department of public health to figure out how to fix. and i'm sure that she and her staff and others have spent,

again, considerable time sorting this out and proposing the good and a workable solution here. so thank you and i encourage you to report this ordinance out with recommendation. thanks. >> clerk: thank you. can we have the next caller, please? >> caller: can you hear me? >> clerk: we can hear you. please proceed. >> caller: hi. okay. my name is greta jackson-lane, the vice-chair of the behavioral health commission and i was recently reappointed by supervisor matt haney and i am in district 6. i would like to speak in personal response to the legislation. what i would like to point out

is that the core responsibility of the behavioral health commission is to empower the voice of the mental health and the behavioral health consumers and the family members and the residents of the city and county of san francisco. i would like to point out that if the behavioral health commission staff in particular, the director, becomes an employee of the behavioral health services, the department is far less likely to understand and accept that the behal behavl health department's role is to oversee the department. many other boards and commissions in california have complained that their health departments will not allow them to pursue some avenues of advocacy or to respond to the commission's request for resolutions to the problems and uncovered by the commissioner's suggestions for change. the previous commissioners have

stressed the fact that our commission in particular has the opportunity to do site visits and especially to speak to clients and how they feel that the services are being actually, you know, if they're being provided or not. and so i would like to stress that we need to make sure that this behavioral health commission has the independence and the transparency to the residents in the city and county of san francisco. i applaud the concerns that supervisor safai has in the urgent needs for us as -- >> your time has elapsed. thank you. >> clerk: can we have the next caller, please. >> caller: hello? >> clerk: yes, we can hear you. please proceed. >> caller: okay.

how you doing? this is jeffrey greer. i'm calling because i am very familiar with the mental health board and the treatment on-demand, and recently became involved in behavioral health commission and became involved in that whole brouhaha. we are in such a critical crisis for the underserved community of san francisco, that we don't have time for this bureaucratic quagmire that we find ourselves caught in. now whether or not supervisor stefani wants to restructure smerf and b.h.c. or we need to find another person -- i don't understand, it doesn't matter. but it needs to be done with great repeditivity. to wait for the bureaucratic field to turn is a disservice to the community and the public of

san francisco. you've got 20 years of history, apparently the behavioral health commission to work sufficiently and probably should have had oversight. and at this point to technically throw the baby out with the bath water, claiming that you'll start all over, knowing how quickly the city services -- the city administration works, it probably won't even get up and running until some time next year -- the middle of next year. i feel that this needs to be handled immediately, with great repiddity and it's very, very serious and you need to get another executive director for the health commission and get smerf on board with what they're doing and take care of this business with great speed. thank you very much, i yield my time. >> clerk: thank you, can we have the next caller, please. >> caller: thank you, mr. clerk.

i oppose this legislation. the behavioral health commission would be harmed by this legislation. the recent executive director of b.h.c. for 21 years recently told me in an email and i quote, over the years i have talked with a number of commission chairs who have had a lot of problems working with the county department of health, end quote. paradoxically, removing it from staffing d.h.c. could hinder the b.h.c. and its investigation of allegations of massive violations of patients' rights by behavioral health services. san francisco is the worst out of 58 counties, by and large by 50% in terms of how many patients are put into long term involuntary mental health treatment in san francisco. san francisco adjudicates 2,500 of these cases per year.

that is unbelievably high. and it has contributed to b.h.c.'s patient load currently at about 30,000 patients. 30,000 patients is more than 3% of the population of this city. that's too many people by far to have under involuntary long-term mental health treatment. this has to be investigated. it can only have happened through the violation of patient rights and only happened through the proceedings and totally sealed cases. these patients are not even able to challenge their treatment. and we have to investigate b.h.c. how are we going to do that when b.h.c. is providing staff for us? it's going to hinder us. back to you, mr. clerk. >> clerk: thank you. can we have the next caller, please. >> madam chair, that completes the queue.

>> chair ronen: thank you to all of the callers. i just want to thank supervisor stefani for taking this on and for d.p.h. for working to make this happen. i agree that this is a positive step forward for our tons of work and attention that the entire city is putting into our behavioral health system right now and i think that this -- all of this collective work is going to make a major difference and to help serve and to make life better for all of san franciscans. so i really appreciate it. and i wanted to see if supervisor stefani wanted to do the honors of making the motion. >> supervisor stefani: yes, chair ronen. but before i do i want to thank everyone who called in and especially to call out the suggestion to make sure that the

correct pronouns are used. and also an apology to that individual for there oversight because never would i wish for anybody to feel left out. and so i have texted with the city attorney's office and i understand that we can do that to include they, them or theirs. and we can do that in a way that is non-substantive and perhaps we should confer with the city attorney. >> deputy city attorney ann pearson. yes, you can make those changes. i believe they are on page 4, on line 12 we would replace the words "he or she" with the words "the member" and similarly on line 20 of page 4, we replace "he or she" with "the member." >> supervisor stefani: and i'm seeing on page 3, line 4 it says "his or her spouse." >> okay, it could say "the

member's spouse." thank you for catching that my office tries very hard when amending to code to capture the correct gender language and i am sorry that escaped us. >> supervisor stefani: so i move that amendment. >> chair ronen: victor? >> clerk: yes, my apologies. i was just typing it. you would like to make those amendments in addition to the ones proposed at the beginning of the meeting? >> supervisor stefani: yes, thank you, victor, for calling attention to that. i also had that technical amendment they mentioned. so if we could include that as well. that's on page 4, line 13 and 14. >> clerk: yes. on -- >> supervisor stefani: i move -- >> clerk: on the notion adopt the amendment. [roll call]

the motion passes. an additional motion to recommend as amended? >> supervisor stefani: yes. i would like to move this legislation forward as amended to the full board with positive recommendation. >> clerk: yes. on that motion [roll call] the motion passes without objection. >> supervisor stefani: thank you, colleagues. >> chair ronen: thank you very much, mr. clerk, any other items? >> clerk: that completes the agenda for today. >> chair ronen: then the meeting is adjourned. thanks, everyone. >> thank you. >> bye. >> bye.

>> 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 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 yea 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 grat 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, ca car.

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 whatr 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

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 whic 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.

>> all right, welcome, everyone. [applause] today is the day, dr. colfax. today is the day. it's the day that our kids get back to the serious business of play, and so i'm thrilled to be here with our mayor, supervisor safai and our director of public health, and many community leaders and wonderful people to celebrate the re-opening of playgrounds all across the city starting right now. we are here at mersed heights, so we're not just opening up the gates to playgrounds but we're also cutting ribbons on five amazing playgrounds that have

just been waiting for children that have been renovated through the let's play s.f. initiative, which is is an incredible partnership between the recreation and the park department and the parks alliance, san francisco voters who support park bonds, and through let's play s.f. we're actually transforming 13 playgrounds that have been loved to death across our city and to creative places that spark imagination, connection, and healthy bodies and minds. so without further adieu it is my great pleasure to introduce our parks champion-in-chief who has been a great nudge to make this happen. thank you, mayor. >> thank you. and thank you, phil, and thank you to all of the families in san francisco for your understanding and your patience as we deal with a very, very challenging time, one that none

of us could have ever predicted. and i'm so excited to be here at mersed heights because i know how hard this community worked to get this park to be a priority. for so many years -- i see mary harris over there shaking her head hard. for so many years, and a lot of the people in this community, they have been fighting to make sure that this part of town receives the support and the attention that it deserves. there are families here and there are generations of kids growing up in this neighborhood and in this community. and they deserved the opportunity to make sure that we rebuild the library, which your supervisor is pushing for. that we rebuild the parks and all of the other amenities that make life so great in san francisco. and here we are, because i'll tell you, supervisor, not too long ago i know that we came

here, and we cut the ribbon -- or we broke the ground -- and this happened really fast. this is pretty amazing. and, you know, to make a park like this to happen, and it is absolutely beautiful! it is so amazing. and i am so happy that today finally kids will be able to play in playgrounds all over san francisco. this is amazing. and i'll tell you that the reason why i'm so happy, because it is hard for children right now. you know, our private schools have opened and our public schools haven't. kids are not in school and they're in front of a screen on a regular basis. and that is not good for them. we know that it's not good for them. it's why i have been putting, of course, as much pressure as i can on the public to do our part to wear our masks and to wash our hands and to socially

distance ourselves, and as much as we want to be around each other we have to make sacrifices for our children. so that they can go back to school, so they can play in playgrounds, so they can have a well-rounded life, because just imagine -- this is hard on us as adults. just imagine how much harder it is on kids. how tough it is, and how we are seeing even now -- even though we're providing devices and internet and other resources to kids, the achievement gap is still growing wide. so we have a lot of work to do. and that's why today is so amazing. and it's so exciting. because it's not just that we're opening up all of these playgrounds, we have renovated a number of playgrounds in san francisco, and so kids are going to have an opportunity to just enjoy something new and exciting in the city.

i am excited and i'm grateful to you, phil, and i'm grateful to the parks alliance and the let's play initiative and all of the friends of mersed heights, you will hear from some community members here today, because this work happened because of this community. this work happened because you had an incredible leader in supervisor safai. so with strong leadership, with strong community support, with collaboration and with years -- wait -- decades of advocacy, you have made something incredible happen for the kids of this community, for the kids who are part of this learning hub, who are hoping that this press conference is over as quick as possible so they can come and play in this playground. in fact, it won't bother me if they play on the playground during this conference, just let them have a good time. because that's where we are now. and what this also does is that

it gives us hope. it gives us hope that the time that we've spent in isolation, the time that we have spent, you know, doing what we needed to do during this pandemic, we know that there's a light at the end of the tunnel. we know that good things can happen if we all do our part. and so i really, really, really want to thank all of you so much for being here, so much for continuing to support our parks and the bonds that the voters have always voted to support because that's how this happens. and it is amazing, and it's a beautiful day, and, supervisor, you should be so proud of what you have been able to accomplish for this community, unlike never before, and we are so grateful for your strong advocacy and leadership. and, ladies and gentlemen, i want to introduce the district 11 supervisor, supervisor safai. [applause] >> thank you, madam mayor.

this day is super special. i'll just say that. when i first started working in this community, the mantra was, why are we always treated like the forgotten part of san francisco? why are we not getting our fair share? why are the working people -- why are the hard-working people that get up and make this city run every day treated like this? and if you saw this playground, if you saw this fence, right, phil, it looked like a prison yard fence. it looked like something that you would never want to bring your family to. the same at mersed -- excuse me, allis-chalmers that is open today. and they used to ride by that to say look at how awful this park is, will you please give us money, because down the street was daily city and it was shining. but i can say with full confidence that this community

fought hard, this community advocated and never gave up. i want to give a special shoutout to renard menro, working here tirelessly on a little island by himself, using every little resource he has, going into his own pockets often, to make sure that this community had something. i want to thank miss wilma gardner, she couldn't join us today and she lives right across the street there and said i want to see this park rebuilt before i die. that's what she told me when i met her years ago. and i'm sorry that she couldn't be here today. there's a lot of people that couldn't actually physically be here, but all of their blood, sweat and tears went into this. i want to thank phil ginsburg and his staff. they have made a commitment to ensuring that the neighborhoods that have the most children, like ours, under the age of 18 get their fair share. and all of their hard-working staff. and i want to especially thank

miss mayor, madam, london breed, because every single thing -- now don't get jealous of the supervisors -- every single thing that i have brought to her to talk about this community she has said, yes. when we asked her for a new library, she said, yes. when we asked her for a new job center, she funded that and we opened that up a year ago to this day. when we said three years ago -- not recently -- but three years ago when we said that the african american community is hurting she said, asha, you don't need to tell me, i know. and i said we're investing in this, and she said, yes. so this is one big step forward and i want to thank all of the people that have been involved in this, and all of the people that have dedicated themselves to this, and to all of the children and families that will enjoy this for many, many years to come. this is a new day in district 11, thank you very much. [applause]

>> thank you, supervisor safai. the mayor and the supervisor, you know, eloquently articulated the importance of this moment. playgrounds are happy, they're joyous, but for children and their development and their social and emotional development and their ability to problem solve and the ability to take risks and the ability to share and to collaborate, this is really serious stuff to get kids back on our playgrounds again. i think that the mayor said it, that kids have taken it on the chin a little bit during this pandemic, let's be honest. and i'm grateful to the mayor and to supervisor safai and the community for screaming out on behalf of our children. we have to now do the right thing. playgrounds are open. we need to keep our kids safe and our families safe. so, please -- yes, there are rules and there are capacity limits. there are -- we are supposed to continue to social distance and continue to wear a mask, right?

do not eat and drink in these spaces. let's all do the right things so that our children and san francisco families can be healthy. so the last point they want to make before bringing up our next speaker -- yes, thank you, mayor. okay, do not -- if you are a parent, when you bring your kid to a playground, do not do this -- pay attention. no cellphone. pay attention to where your kids are and how they're engaging on these spaces. again, the goal here is only to allow our kids to have the freedom to play and to do it in a healthy way. one last point which is that this should be a reminder as both the mayor and supervisor safai mentioned about the importance of investing in our parks. san francisco has the best park system in the united states of america. it is 150 years old. but we have to continue to invest in it, continue to nurture in it so we no longer have fences that look like jails

and playgrounds that aren't deserving of the children who use them. so i want to thank all san francisco voters for supporting the 2012 clean and safe neighborhoods park fund, without which we would not be here today. our most important partner in all of this are our friends at the department of public health who have as a tough a job as anybody right now in trying to figure out how to allow us to safely resume some sense of normalcy. and i am incredibly grateful to dr. colfax and dr. aragon and their team for working with us and truly understanding the importance and the urgency of opening up playgrounds. so dr. colfax, the mic is yours. >> well, thank you, director ginsburg, and really to acknowledge our gratitude to mayor breed, supervisors safai, director su, and mr. robert

ellis for their leadership in this work. you know that there's been so many challenging days during this pandemic. and so many sad days. and this is such a day of gratitude and beauty. look out it here, and look at the kids playing. this is a pivotal moment as we work together to slow the spread of covid and realize that our children must go back to doing the things that we know that are important for their health and their family's health and the communities' health. the reopening of the playgrounds is an opportunity to get our kids back something that we haven't done since march, march. incredible. we at the health department are so happy to be here as we have worked to get san francisco to this place. to back to where kids can get in an environment where they can thrive, starting with school programs, community hubs, and elementary schools,

step-by-step, and now playgrounds. we have made tremendous progress as a city. and we know that the sacrifice and the dedications of our families and our communities have made the contributions that have succeeded in slowing the spread of covid-19 virus. and i thank you. we thank you. and we want all of our children -- all of our children -- to continue to enjoy the reopening of activities. and so parents, we need your help in ensuring that we open playgrounds as safely as possible. when visiting playgrounds, please be sure that your family follows the health and safety rules for playground visitors. prepare your family for less children and for socially distanced fun. and i wouldn't be doing my job, you know what comes next, if i wouldn't remind people to,

please, wear a face covering. they are required for all playground visitors, aged 2 and over. please limit your stay to 30 minutes when other households are present, so that other people can also enjoy the playground. and, please, practice that good hygiene. and although playgrounds are outdoors, we still want to be cautious. we need everyone's help in sustaining our gain and the progress that we have made. so let's have fun today. let's take advantage of these beautiful seasonal days that we have in san francisco, and, again, thank you mayor breed, supervisor safai and director ginsburg for your partnership and work. and everyone, let's continue to play it safe. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, dr. colfax. so we're now going to hear from two important community members that have fought for children and for families in this neighborhood. our first speaker, renard

monroe, the executive director of youth first. you've been amazing. thank you for your partnership in our community hub program. i want to acknowledge executive director, dr. mariea su, my partner in crime and all things kids and families. but, ménard, you are running a model program and you're doing it for kids who really need the support. and we're so grateful to you for your help in keeping these spaces safe and clean. please come up and say a few words. [applause] >> good afternoon. this is a bittersweet moment for us as a community, because there are some people before ménard who really put in some hard work to make sure that we have this space for the children and our community. and i need to acknowledge a few people who didn't make it to see this day.

our neighbor, she lived right there, her name was karen mccoy. [applause] she fought and she fought and she had phil's number on speed dial trying to get this place renovated. she didn't make it to see it, she passed away and i'm thankful for her and her daughter, they both passed away. they fought for this park and i'm appreciative of that. and delores, who is also a resident fought for this park. and mary harris and al harris, okay, a lot of people put in -- wilma gardner, a lot of people have been fighting to make sure that this community gets what it needs. i'm just happy to be part of the process and i'm thankful for today and i'm thankful for our mayor to allocate the funds and phil ginsburg, he's been awesome. it's been awesome. and i appreciate you. he comes out the first day they

put this together and went down the slide with the kids and impressed the kids. it's just one of those things where san francisco is supposed to be about community. and these type of events are so important, especially in a times that we're living in and the covid-19. i definitely want to thank our supervisor safai. [applause] for all of his hard work and pushing for our district to make sure that we can have spaces like this. also i want to thank our community as a whole, first and foremost. our residents right here, up and down the street. using this park every day, and we're so happy to have it back open, to have our kids back playing safely and in an environment, and something to be proud of. i'm proud of our district. i'm proud of where we're going. okay, we have organizations and c.b.o.s who are really making a push for this district to get the resources allocated here. and all of the things that we

are doing just to make sure that the community gets what it needs and to make sure that children have a future. so, thank you. [applause] >> thank you, renard. so another community leader that had my phone number on speed dial, my phone number, my email and my twitter and my telegraph handle was edna james. and edna couldn't be here today, but she has asked one of her closest community partners to come up and to say a few words. robert ellis. robert is the vice president of the o.m.i. community action organization and a member of the friends of mersed heights playground, and to say a few words about the power of community when it comes to getting things done. robert, the microphone is yours. >> hi, i wish i had been first. all of these accolades have been

handed out and it's well deserved. and i want to thank our mayor breed for all of her dedication, all of her dedication to the city. and not only she is smart, but she's pretty. so that's a good thing. like i say, i want to thank phil definitely -- if you stand here and you look around you can see the transformation of this park and the future is still bright. i have been on di dixie street r the last 50 years and i have seen the park deteriorate and now it's like a phoenix rising from the sun. so you see that it's bringing a whole new atmosphere to the community. not only for the children, but also for the adults and for everybody in the community and the city.

and i'm certainly glad to be a part of it and i want to apologize -- not apologize, but i want to give my regrets to miss james, the well documented partner was unable to be here today. so i want to thank everyone that invited me and phil and just say, phil, you're doing a wonderful job. keep up the good work. and god bless you. thank you. >> just a few quick acknowledgements and then we're going to wrap up and if there are any questions you have a few people here who might be able to answer them. just a couple of questions. but i i want to recognize through the san francisco park alliance that without the san francisco park alliance, make no mistake that we would not be renovating or ribbon cutting five new playgrounds. their partnership is invaluable and they lead with their heart and they care about the parks.

thank you, san francisco park alliance. [applause] and then last to my own team, lisa brampton, lisa, thank you for all that you have done to bring private resources to help to supplement what the voters have done to allow us to renovate these playgrounds. to our park supervisor, brandon young bright and early here, mayor, making sure that this place looked super clean. so, thank you, brandon, for being here. and to dan mauer, our project manager for this particular project, and to all of the rec and park staff who really had to hustle to make sure that you can see these markings on the ground and you can see all of the signs in the last 36 hours we have put out maybe 750 signs and have marked playgrounds and, yeah, my staff always rises to the occasion. so a big shout out to the rec and park staff. let's let them play. thanks, everyone.

>> hi, i'm chris mattis and you're watching coping with covid-19. today i'm going to the dentist. [♪] when you confirm your appointment with your dentist, ask about the safety protocols they put in place to make sure you are comfortable visiting. my dentist has been very proactive letting patients know

exactly what to expect when they arrive, explaining their safety procedures and setting up a detail e-mailed reminder shortly before appointments. before i left i put on a mask and took the smallest number of items i would need including my insurance card. generally i try to book medical appointments earlier in the day. it seemed like i have less weight time and i'm in and out of the office faster. one of the protocols my dentist has implemented is for patients to call the office from their car to let them know they have arrived. they argue -- they are in their waiting room right now. if they are not ready, they will call you back to let you know when you can enter the practice. as i walked into the office, the receptionist asked me to use a hand sanitizer. i was taken back into the room where i would receive my treatment. everyone in the office was using p.p.e. gowns, masks, gloves, and face shields. after entered the treatment room , i gargled with sanitizing

mouth -- mouthwash and we reviewed my chart and x-rays. then we would talk about what steps i would make in my visit. we started my treatment. the procedure was fast and painless. after everything was complete, i was able to make a follow-up appointment without having to interact with reception. i replaced my mask, was taken back through the office where i used more hand sanitizer before going back to my car as i drove home, i was careful not to touch my face. as soon as i got through the front door, i washed my hands for over 20 seconds. here's a quick recap. [♪] i have seen anecdotal reports that suggest some people are forgoing important medical or dental care because they're worried about catching the virus even during normal times,

offices are extremely hygienic and sanitary and during the pandemic, they are taking extra precautions to make sure everyone is safe. go ahead and make that appointment and visit your dentist and get the care you need to. thanks forororororororororororor