the city. we're adding a net number of trees within the property site. i wanted to add that to the discussion points. that's it. i thank you very much for your consideration. >> okay. thank you for your comments. is there any additional public comment for this item. please raise your hand. okay. i'm not seeing any further public comept. comment. we will move onto rebuttal. mr. cliff you have three minutes.

>> apparently someone wants to provide public comment. we missed that person. go ahead. you have three minutes. >> i'm very familiar with the area. i'm working with the adjoining federal property across the street. i know the neighborhood and city needs this beautiful housing project. adding trees inside of the courtyard is not the same thing as street trees. i'd also like to caution against approving tree removal simply pause a project may be

beneficial for a specific vulnerable population. we often find different marginalized communities are pitted against one another and the tree canopy is the loser. replacements of trees that must be removed should be at the higher ratio than before just because of the vulnerability of the neighborhood. we need to raise the ratio. also if trees can't be preplaced on site, i'd like to suggest that we add the concept of an onset grove or additional stand

nearby as close as possible to the trees being removed to maintain that ratio. that's mainly the jist of it. we should take advantage of the fact that it's helping the people in that area. every time we touch a part of the public realm. we need to add more green. we need to be aggressive and affirmative about it. thank you. >> thank you. is there anymore public comment. okay. i do not see any further public comment. we will again move onto reputtal. mr. cliff, you have three minutes.

>> okay. the presentation did a good job of how badly trees are treated in this part of town. what i haven't heard addressed here is the tree wasn't unfortunately removed, it was intentionally removed. the contractor couldn't afford to follow the law so they weren't going to. we accept the developer's word for a proposition of what can or cannot be done. i would like to ask whether anyone knows if this project was reviewed to see see if it's been

conflicting infrastructure or just the proposed infrastructure was accepted. to determine what the accessibility constraints or according to code. i've seen projects come through beyond what is for the build building cold. my concern was never the worthiness of the project. it's concerning that there's some implication that if the project is worthy we're not asking the difficult questions. i would like to close with things that could be done.

this is for the unhoused citizens of san francisco. i would like to talk about why we're not doing some of these proposals for development projects around the city. i would like to ask to do more than simply do more than pay a fine. as you know there's available paces and according to our urban forest plan this neighborhood has the smallest percentage of canopy than any other portion of the city.

>> thank you. thank you for those comments. i'll do my best to respond. a certified access specialist. in the public realm on the street, department reviews and i believe they are certified access specialists. i would imagine that they are. they are who roa view disability access along san francisco public streets. in term of planting more trees throughout the neighborhood. we can certainly review that. that was included in your appeals. we've been very involved in the thefive hundred block with the neighbors and can look at those

tree wells to see if we can replant trees on there. we need to seek approval. it's unusual that we don't typically use city funds for improvements out of the property line. it's required by the affordable house community. street trees in the buildings courtyard don't really completely replace street trees.

it's access along mission street and a community open space. the community will be welcomed in to that open space. there are trees and bushes along that area. we did try to explain in our brief that this was a very lopping planning process to determine how to access the site and place the factory built housing units on the site. we learned late in the process that the process we were dwoingg to use was not going to be approved. there are many departments

involved. involved. >> that is time. thank you. >> thank you. we have a question from vice president honda. >> we had a builder that had a tree that was supposed to be there. because they were not able to access the site, that tree disappeared. you said you would look into planting some basins. i would like something more. what are you willing to do as far as filling in basin.

one that comes to mind is recently around, i believe, hospital where we had them plant fifty trees and had them monitor for fifty years. >> thank you. we will work with the mayor's office and department of housing development to work with along steven son street to see where we can plant additional trees. >> that's not what i'm asking. i'm asking what type of commitment you can make. >> we can make every effort.

there are many many city codes, disability access. >> we understand because we hear this every week. >> if it's a matter of just replacing trees, i would imagine that we could speak approval from housing and community development. i cannot commit mercy housing on this call to replace those trees. i would have to seek approval for that. >> whose call was it to remove the trees illegally. >> we learned late in the process that we were not going to be able to access the site in

any other way than along the path where that tree was. >> so you didn't care about have having a permit . >> we understood it was going to be many months before a permit was going to be considered. >> i understand. i know -- >> we literally would have had to suspend construction and wait for that permit.

>> this is when developers dpet ers getahead of themselves. we have to come down hard on them. >> we included in our original presentation to the department of public works, this site was accept by the city from the department of helming and sevend services that it be completed within three years. the mayor's office of housing and urban development agreed and selected us on that base piss basis andrequired us to use fact

housing. we've been working very diligently with many city departments in order to comeetly completely assess how to bring these very long loads. exploring all these different ways to bring these loads into san francisco. there were so many logistics to get this project complete. we realized very late that there was no other way to get the cranes in along this path. i agree this was a failure in planning. we were told that during construction that was never going to be possible.

>> i think i'd actually like to ask mrs. carson to speak because my understanding is there's not much we can do without consent of the city. i would like to ask her to spon respond to what's being proposed. if that's what mrs. carson wanted to address, i'd like her to do so, please. >> i can't commit the mayor's office of housing funds . they are limited to housing use on this parcel. it's a conversation that we want to have an have that conversation with us staff. i wanted to speak to the issue of this being a capricious

decision. our -- they've been hemming in traffic control. this is not a failure on the part of the developer. they planned ahead very well. once they got through many many iterations of bringing trucks in. they were not able to go anywhere else. it wasn't a matter of anyone else thinking this wasn't important. when this true was an issue, there were many meetings to avoid what ended up happening.

we took it very seriously. it is something that i would have to talk our deputy direct directorabout. >> is it a question that could be addressed reasonable soon. >> yes. >> if there's any thought about putting that requirement in, i wouldn't want to do it until we were assured that it was feasible. >> we cannot mandate that they plant twenty five trees. it has to be in compliance with the code.

>> we can't grant the appeal. >> true. >> i just wanted to recognize for a moment that -- first, thank you so much to the appellant for a passionate appeal and statement early on. thank you to everybody who is clearly working so hard. the issue is truly sim toll symc of how working in the city truly is. i recognize wearing my summer planning hat, how working on

trees and replacing them. any project that needs to go through the city really needs to run through the entire gamut of figuring out accessibility issues. they pushed back the envelope to ensure that tree can be planted and have public accessibility. it's worth acknowledging that, of course there was a comment earlier none about pitting vulnerable populations against vulnerable populations. it's worth acknowledging how challenging it is to provide affordable housing in the city. it's an incredibly dense portion of the city. i think that we should not

ignore that fact. i think it's incredibly unfortunate that we have lost a beautiful large tree but i think it has to be in context with so many competing priorities we have in the city. i'm not saying housing over trees. there are larger context yule cl issues that we have to weigh things against. i just wanted to make that statement. >> thank you. we're still on rebuttal. we have not heard from the bureau of urban forestry. >> just a couple of points of confirmation. in terms of reviewing what's possible for the public right of

way, just to confirm what the a applicant stated. we have reviewed this with our office of accessibility. trz something called a street advisory team that is hosted by the planning department. whenever there's a large project, they bring in the applicant before they do a submittal. they collectively provide feedback. that process is occurring generally with this project in particular and also heavily reviewed including all other deps . the proposed replacements have been vetted and confirmed.

i spent quite a bit of time to what the applicant commits to is achieve . i just want to reiterate that. beyond that i'm hear for questions. it's tricky, we had a recent case over at the hospital where some additional trees were committed to . it's something that we can look at planting if funned for that, we can look at available planting sites in the immediate area. it's something that we're open to if funned. public works can plant an water and establish trees. >> thank you. we have a question from vice president honda. >> i'm not trying to be the bad guy here. it's very nice what they are doing and very difficult. it's the same process that

anybody applying for a permit in san has to go through the same gauntlet. had this been a for profit market rate housing, would you be saying something different. >> one of the things we do as civil servant dollars is be consistent. especially when it's something that's beyond our code even. my hopes to use property access to the side of the property to do a lot of this work . the door was shut on that. mta, they thought they could

take a lane. it just wouldn't work. my frustration with all of this of course, i feel like i need to set out at public comment, you really think you can build that, we feel irrelevant at times. in terms of, i would certainly say, i'm human and feel partial to the fact that this isn't a private development. >> this is what mr. cliff has just dpon through. that's exactly what he said in the previous case that he had in regards to rules don't apply when the city is involved. they get to break the rules when normal people double clicker

people are involved.it's very cd here. and yet builders are able to do this and follow the law. when builders don't follow the law, we come at them hard. in this particular case when the city is involved, the rules don't apply equally across the board. >> i can assure you it has been

applied equally. to me the value of eighty three hundred dollars is clearly noltt enough. that's an international standard based on the species. it's very science driven. our property values are so through the roof that eighty three hundred dollars may be not -- we've applied the code equally. >> what we constantly see on this board is to ask for permission or beg for

forgiveness. we have people that skirt the law and beg for forgiveness. >> true. i do like where dialogue is going in terms of potential additional replacement trees funded through a state agency . that's something we'll be open to and take part in that conversation if that's the direction the commission goes. >> i apologize in advance to president because i'm not going to ask a question, i'm going to make a statement. there's no way we're going to stop this project.

there's unhoused people in this city. it's incredibly important. we had another project and you all heard me get very passionate about that because it was affordable housing. aaron knows because we have a past together. the city -- commissioner hon awe is correct. the city has to act and tow the line in the same way whether it's a not for profit developer or for profit developer . the same line hads to be toed. the rules are the rules with

regard to trees. trees have to be number one along with everything else along with these developments. we lost way too many trees because the project went ahead. it was planned, blah blah blah. we lost some nice big beautiful trees instead of requiring the architect to build around them. what we get frustrated about here is the double standard that seems to be apply when a not for profit or city agency comes up. mr. buck i believe and if carla is still in the group, we have

to hold every developer regardless of if they are not for profit or for profit, housing for people without homes or wealthy people. trees and canopy have to be made a pry or. i think that's the point that everybody is trying to make here.

>> commissioners this matter is submitted . >> remind us what is in front of us. >> i would say what was presented by mr. buck, if that's what we should do. that's why i asked can we deny the appeal and approve the permit with the conditions. i don't know which way to go. that's where it's going to end up any way. >> they said that they would - the mayor's office of housing

would discuss if they would voluntarily because we can't mandate it replace x amount of trees and maintain them. >> i think we should put them forth as a recommendation. we can't mandate that. >> is there a motion? >> either of those two motions that i just made is appropriate. >> i think you want to uphold the order as it stand oarming otherwiseyou would be denying t. >> with the recommendation that the mayor's office of housing adding further trees in the neighborhood.

>> okay. with the further recommends that the mayor's office engage in discussions to add trees to the canopy in the immediate neighborhood. >> the mayor's office endpaij in discussions with mercy housing. on that motion -- (roll call) that motion carries five to zero and the appeal is denied.

we are now moving onto item number seven. if you could show the power point i just wanted to bring to your attention that in july 2019 ordinance was passed that created the office of racial equity whose purpose is to advance racial equity in the city and repair harm done for racial disparities in the city. they are mandated to work with the departments on drafting a racial equity action plan.

that is what is before you tonight. each department will be creating a racial equity action plan. there are two phases. we're in phase one right now. the plan's, we are a very small department. we have five full time positions. i would like to emphasize that the plans should match the scope and scale of the department. we're doing our best. we're clearly not the sfpd. racial equity and inclusion is very important to the department.

we're required to present an action plan. you are not required to adopt it. >> i guess i would just say commend you for the effort you put into this. i know the burden falls entirely on you. i know it's a small department, i know it's work that you take seriously. we'll do whatever we can to

support you in these various pieces. >> okay. thank you. is this any public comment on this item? if so please raise your hand. i do not see any public comment. >> any other thoughts or comments on this. >> i want to reiterate what president says. i appreciate that our tiny department and great executive director has embraced this item and we will do our best to implement it accordingly as any of the larger departments would

do. >> okay. thank you. if there's nothing further. i've already asked for public comment. i think we can conclude the hearing. >> very good. we are adjourned. we'll see you next week. >> good night. >> let's hope we wake up to better news tomorrow.

>> good morning, welcome. i'm michael lambert, your city librarian. on behalf of the library commission, we're so delighted that you could join us today for this important announcement. i would like to acknowledge our library commissioners that are present, teresa, tanya, pete, john, and dr. lopez. thank you all for being here. madam mayor, welcome. we are so honored that you could participate in this event. we appreciate your leadership of our city and we are super excited about your announcement today. with that, i will invite you to get us started.

maybe i was premature on that. oh, there she is. [laughter] >> did we start already? [laughter] >> i was just welcoming you and thanking you for honoring us with your presence and your leadership. we're super excited about your announcement today. with that, i invite you to get us started. >> all right thank you michael. i appreciate that. good morning everyone. i'm really excited to share some incredible news. as you may know, before i was mayor and even before i was on the board of supervisors, i served as the executive director in the western edition. i saw how deeply important arts are and in creating a vibrant and diverse community. believe it or not, i used to sing in a choir, dance, and perform, but i was not the best at it. however, the arts connects us to

one another. it bridges the gap in our culture by helping us understand each other. they are how we express ourselves during our brightest and happiest moments, and sometimes some of our darkest ones. for people of all ages, arts and culture can help us navigate a world that can be confusing and strange. they can also provide opportunity not only for jobs and income, but for people who are in under served communities to find their voices and to make sure they are heard. that includes the role of our city's poet laureate. since lauren was made our first poet laureate in 1998, this prestigious honor has showcased san francisco's finest poets from many diverse backgrounds. their work has reminded us how it means to be a san franciscan,

it reminus -- reminds us of our diversity and calls attention to our most pressing issues and inspires us to create a more equitable and just society. it inspires young people to search for their voice in a way that may not have -- that they may not have thought was possible before. it opens doors of opportunities for them to pursue their dreams. that is why i'm so excited today to announce our eighth poet laureate. before we get to the big announcement, i would like to thank and recognize our outgoing poet laureate kim shuck for her imcredible service for our city. she represented our city beautifully through her work and has given her time over the past few years to serve our community. whether teaching at the local colleges, universiies and

public schools or helping the library launch their first ever american indian initiative, kim on behalf of the city and county of san francisco, thank you for your service and we would be honored if you close out your tenure with one last reading as poet laureate. >> thank you mayor breed. there we are. i do have a poem. it's called san francisco has a new poet laureate. pick any bench, stoop, any fourth star in this city or over it. sit quietly, you'll hear the water of time. keys rattling, heart and innovation, war and colonization that only grows on the south side of that mountain right there. you'll hear the poetry of place,

popsicle sticks scratching on the curb, jump rope songs, chess moves and love curses. every night in some back room, the future and past in autopsied words, gorilla words shouted at unsuspecting somewhere in north beach. the skyline mutters poems that have been and poems to come. if you stand at the cafe's door too long, you will hear what they choose to call in this moment a poem. old wives tales along valencia, you can hear the purring of fog as they pass through, the paintings comment quietly on every new show and if your hearing is very good, ambrose's dictionary runs on a certain bar on a certain bar stool and the faint laughter from one of sam's jokes will still grind breath.

victims in more languages that you can see, and the unbound seat 3. there are songs of varying and unbaring to found all over the richmond, every bench, every head stone under the sand. paula talks stories at state, at tables and cafes that turned to bars. john's words rattled justice and the voices of those taken in captain jack's war has made them into their own songs too. there is an eighth poet laureat of san francisco and with the title comes more wealth and words than all the great libraries that have ever been. i would like to add that you will hear a lot about honor and responsibility. there are a couple of tricky things. one of them is that people will steal your pens. i had some pens printed up. i'm not going to say what they say and i don't think they will

prevent your pens from being stolen, but they will raise the value of their resale on ebay. i'm going to share with you just very briefly what dr. jose said to me a couple of days after i was named the seventh poet laureate. he said that everything you have done up until this point got you here and none of that will matter. what matters now is what comes next. have a great time and you do know where my kitchen table is when you want to hide. take care. >> thank you so much kim for that amazing poem. thank you for representing san francisco so well over the past few years. we look forward to seeing what comes next for you. now, it is my great honor to announce our eighth poet laureat. i had the privilege of knowing this individual for many years

as he worked and volunteered at the african american art and culture complex. he has mentored men young men and women that came through our doors and taught them how to find their own vote and make themselves heard. his poems are just one of the many ways he fights for racial justice, equity, and human rights. he has shown our community what it means to be a successful poet, as a black man from san francisco. we are incredibly proud of the work he has done so far, especially his commitment to inspiring black men and boys and providing support for young people in our community. he will continue the work that our ancestors did as they fought for their own voices to be heard. i am beyond excited to see what he accomplishes as the san francisco's eighth poet laureate. i am happy to present tongo

martin, the eighth poet laureate. >> thank you madam mayor for this incredible, incredible honor. i prepared some words that i hope i make it through. i'm already filled with tears. >> i'm going to let you have the floor, it's so great to have you. thank you for all the magic you created over the years. as i said earlier, when we work together at the complex, there were a lot of challenges, especially with our boys and we had unfortunately a lot of violence in the community and just seeing you as this literary figure and inspiring these young people to look at other ways

besides, you know, being out in the streets and doing stuff that was happening then, focusing on how poetry, how music is poetry, and how they can really shift their voices to tell their own stories. you brought that to their lives and i know they continue to carry it with them today. so, you have been an inspiration for so many years, directed at so many generations of people. i'm so grateful that you accepted this honor so now i want to turn the floor over to you so that people can know who you are. if they don't know, now they know. we're looking forward to the work that we know you're going to do to make san francisco proud. so the floor is yours tongo. >> thank you. thank you very much. incredibly humbled and honored. also, deep appreciation to the

selection committee. i want to send love to my mother and brother as i am only an extension of their love, imagination, and revolutionary commitment, love to my two powerful sisters and the whirlwind that has nothing on us, love to my family above mud and lava, love to my father and the rest of the village that is not here in the physical form. i would also like to thank kim shuck for being a leader of poets and beautiful force of the people. a poet of any station is secondary to the people. a poet of any use, that belongs

to the energy and consciousness of the people, one of arts most important incarnation is that expression of mass resistance but really what art teaches us with its dominantable energy, the indominantable energy of an idea is evident that it is oppressors themselves who are in the position of resistance. it's bigger than any imperialistic, cognitively reflected in any generation. the power is ours and it is oppressors who are resisting us, resisting humanity, resisting us pretty well. it's resisting our right to determine our reality, resisting a coming epoch of liberation.

mass participation in art is what is always created in san francisco, futurism. san francisco has legend too fearless for me to count myself as one of them. i am from this legendary collection of thousands and thousands of participants, revolutionary history and culture. i'm proud to be one of the anonymous thousands in san francisco who have road these buses all night, who has been raised in marcus's bookstore, who wants justice for mario woods and alex, who wants freedom. what the people taught me is that unity is the only thing and taught me that individualism, as

it is practiced and codified, romanticized in this society is not really about your adventure through life but at its core, unfortunately, individualism is about practicing the selective humanization. other people are only human beings when it suits individual interest. civilism of sorts, that is deeply connected to slavery, both from what the society evolved from and process that addicts you to and power struggle that alienates ourselves, and at no point do we find the dehumanization of other people, the deanimation of people acceptable, are let alone necessary for an individual journey. so as much as i would love to assign the rest of my days to an individual invention, that time is over.

history is heightening, showing us more and more everyday that we're part of people, a people beyond systemic description, and we need the entire pallet of protecting human rights and nurture human curiosity. the madness we see today shouldn't be surprising. these apartheid nativity scenes come home to roast and a capitalism in crisis, what is mixed in with the parole papers and the environmental racism and program deliverables and passivism. we're in a time of epochal shift where this is opening its arms if we don't open the historical process more critically.

where do we go from here? what is our revolutionary practice or more conveniently, it begins with cultural work. it transforms the way that we relate to each other, transforms the way we relate to the earth, to a way that is conducive to liberation. a poet belongs to the energy and consciousness of the people, respecting their spirit. my only aim as poet laureate is to join with that energy, join with that consciousness in order to create vehicles of unity. events, workshops, readings, publications, these are all just vehicles of unity. i will never tire in building as

many as the city can handle. so, meet me at the library. [laughter] >> if you can't make it, i will for sure meet you wherever you are. let me now say rest in power to cure junior and diane, and i will conclude with this poem titled faithless. a tour guide, through the robbery, he also is. cigarette stand, look at what i did. ransom water and box spring gold, this decade is only for accent grooming, i guess. ransom water and box spring gold to corner store, war gangs, all these rummage junk. you know, the start of mass

destruction begins and ends in restaurant bathrooms as some people use and other people clean. are you telling me there is a rag in the sky waiting for you? yes. we should have fit in. warehouse jobs are for communists and now the whistling is less playful and if it is not a city, it is a prison. it has a prison. it's a prison, not a city. when a courtyard talks on behalf of the military issue, all walk takes place outside the body. a medieval painting to your right, none of this makes an impression. you have five minutes to learn. when a man goes sideways barb wire becomes the roof. did you know they killed the world for the sake of giving everyone the same back story? watching indiana, fight yourself

into the sky, oh penny for when. it goes up and over your headache, marking all aspirations, the first newspaper i ever read and the storefront, they left us down where the holy spirit favors the bathroom. for those in the situation offer 100 ways to remain a loser. watching those clock, what are we talking about again? the narrater at the graveyard, 10 minute flat. the funeral only took 10 minutes. you're going to pin the 90s on me, all 30 years of them? why should i know the difference between sleeping and the pyramid of corner stores on our head. we die right away. that building wants to jump off other buildings, those are down tone decisions. what evaporated on earth that we can be sent back down? thank you all again, much love. i want to give the whole roll

call right now but that's too many. much love to all my family and thank you again madam mayor. thank you. san francisco for better for worse, which you are raised, you know? >> thank you so much tongo. just so you know, the chat is blowing up. there is so much love and excitement for what you will bring to san francisco and i just want to thank you so much. thank you for the incredible poem and your inspiration and just everything that you continue to do. i look forward to what you will accomplish as our city's poet laureate. i can't wait. it's going to be exciting, especially when we open up. when you talk about meet me at the library, it's like that's your slogan now.