>> thank you for your comments. next caller, please. >> my name is eddie. when i've been pulled over by police here is what is running through my mind. why is their hand on their gun, why do we continue to let police terrorize like this. cops don't need guns to kill people. how many people need to lose their lives to consider that it hasn't made us any safer today. we will never be able to fully

support and uplift our communities that uphold racism. >> thank you for your comments. do we have the next caller? >> i just want to congratulate supervisor on your reelection.

all the supervisors that will be returning. our neighbors in district seven. also to say i'm proud of the nomination of supervisor walton. as a black san franciscan, this is a very historic day for us. pride, honor, gratitude are a few things that come to mind. i'm so excited to usher in 2021. this wonderful supervisor and great body. we want to continue to show the world what equity looks like. thank you.

>> thank you for your comments. may we have the next caller. >> good afternoon, everyone. i run the san francisco rebels. i'm so happy. i have tears in my eyes. i'm so happy that the board of supervisors has elected him and trusted him to be the president of the board. he is a fearless leader and cares about the community. he was boots to the ground or whatever people needed. his support continued throughout this whole pandemic. you have brightened a lot of

african american kids day. you continue to inspire them. i appreciate you. good luck. you know i'm here for you. thank you. >> thank you for your comments. next caller, please. >> good afternoon supervisors. this is doug block with team teamsters. i'm very happy and looking forward to working with you all. also want to congratulate

supervisor walton. you are a capable leader. you get stuff done. you have integrity. we need that right now. i want to note that historically across the bay and oak land. another good friend of our union got elected as president of the oakland city council. it just feels right that we have people of color on both sides of the bay in our government. >> thank you for your comment. may we have the next caller, please. >> thank you for allowing me to speak today. i grew up in district seven and

live in medium income affordable housing. i'm a community organizer for justice coalition in district five. i'm an sf public school teacher in bay view in district ten. i'm committed to this entire city and support all its residents. as a teacher in this district i hear firsthand from families about his incredible work. he created legislation that focuses on equity and protecting the most vulnerable in our city. i know he will move us toward a san francisco that we are all proud of. thank you so much. >> thank you for your comments. next caller please.

>> hello, president of the small business commission speaking on my own behalf. wanted to congratulate new members. i wanted to commend the board as a whole for supervisor walton as president. i look forward to working with all a of you over the next challenging years we have ahead as you all have acknowledged. i am here for you personally and privately and in any way i can be of assistance. thank you again for making such an excellent choice as

president. >> we have thirty four listening and 16 left in the queue. next caller. >> i live in district seven. i want to wish all the board of supervisors happy new year. i want to congratulate all returning members and supervisor chan who i've had the pressure of working with. i'm looking forward to working with you. also very proud that the board nominated supervisor walton.

for all your hard work and all constituents of san francisco. >> thank you for your comments. next caller, please. >> my name is sarah. i live in district ten. you made an excellent decision -- i am calling to demand the board defund the police this

year. we're demanding better this year. police don't keep us safe, housing, health care. the people have spoken. we urge you to defund, disarm, and disband the sfpd this year.

even after decades of so called reform, sfpd officers point their guns at people at least four times a day. research proves it does not make students safer. they voted to end their contract with police . >> thank you for your comments. next caller, please . >> good afternoon. i want to congratulate

supervisors for their election. i'm so glad to hear this, i was one of the very few socialists in the city to support him. he delivered a lot. he really stands up for the rest of us. we're going to have a really progressive -- [indiscernible]. we really need to defund the police. we really need to do that. that's what the board should do. we're in a big deficit. the only way to come out is to

cut the cops . really having a lot of courage around things and being the first cosponsor of the rent reductions . i hope that this budget cycle takes money away from cops . i yield my time. bust the police. >> thank you for your comments. may we have the next caller. >> hello. i am -- [indiscernible]. i'm calling you from d7 where i'm a union member at sf state.

i would like to congratulate my amazing reppive on his appointment as president. i would love to echo the previous callers . in your open statements today all touched on how much work you have ahead of you and the deficit you face. it's all there . all the money you need, all problem in san francisco is in the police budget. right there. take it out and redistribute it. the only way forward for public safety is through reparations and investing in the community. public housing, all of it.

looking forward to an explosive 2021. looking for justice coming to life by disbanding sfpd. >> thank you for your comments . may we have the next caller. >> i live and work in district seven. i grew up in san francisco. i'm looking to defund the police. the police have not and never provided the city with real public safety. it's past time to divest from these harmful systems. sfpd has proven again and again that the police cannot be

reformed. they show an extreme form of anti black bias. >> next caller.

>> hi board of supervisors. i'm a district five lifelong resident. i'm a social worker. congratulations. you are all lawmakers in the coolest most progressive cities in america. it's time to live up to that and defund the police. it will show that you can take

action and refund our communities and fire sfpd officers. i think the events of this week have shown that law enforcement does not protect. it upholds white supremacy and capitalism. those are not the vibes we need in san francisco. make it a top priority. refund our communities. >> thank you. may we have the next caller. >> this is president of the deputy sheriff association. i would like to say congratulations to the new board members. this is a very positive moment that supervisor walton was

nominated for the board president. we look forward to working with you. thank you. >> thank you. next caller, please. >> good afternoon everyone. i am a native san franciscan. arangely from d5. i just want to say how proud i am today to see that the first latina board of supervisor member. in light of everything that we've seen in the four hundred plus years of degradation of

indigenous people in this land. i'm thankful for all of the people who are support of black lives in san francisco. i hope they support that black voices have a voice at the state level at well. i'm so happy to see everything going on. we push towards a more equitable san francisco for all. >> may we have the next caller.

>> i'm a resident in district nine. it's imperative that you meet the demands of your constituents and defund the sfpd. police have proven themselves over and over again to be racist mother f*ckers. the police budget is going towards violence and white supremacy. this is your job. make it happen. >> thank you for your comment. may we have the next caller, please. >> i'm calling from the youth commission. i'm a staff member here.

i'm calling to express my excitement to be working with supervisor's chan and meglar. >> next caller. >> hello everyone. i'm a cofounder of sf black street.

we would also like funds and equity to be invested in the black community. thank you to all the supervisors. >> thank you for your comment. next caller, please. >> current staff for fire fighters. i would like to congratulate the

new elected supervisors. i'm here to show my support for supervisor walton. i look forward to working with all of you for a better safer san francisco. >> thank you for joining us today. may we have the next caller. >> i reside in d9. i'm calling to defund the sfpd and sheriff's at every opportunity this year.

they do not provide safety and never have and never will. we need to fund systems of care and services. the problem is that elected officials have failed to dismannedle police violence. they funned it by a seven billion dollar budget. you defund schools and health care more than you defund the

police. we need a budget that puts communities first, not cops. we need cops off our streets. we look forward to working with the new board on making some new progress this time. listen to the communities. >> next caller, please.

>> good afternoon members of the board of supervisors. i am the executive director of young community developers here in strict ten. i'm also a commissioner on the police commission. i wanted to call in today as a rez den. resident to say congratulates and welcome. really to say to everyone on the board of supervisors -- thank you all for your steadfast leadership in electing now board president walton. he is an unwaferring leader in

our community and will continue to do that for this city. we stand on his shoulders and couldn't be more than happy and elated and proud and excited to working with you all. i wanted to say thank you and phenomenal job on this election. >> thank you for your comments. may we have the next caller, please. >> good afternoon. i'm a district ten resident. i'm calling to congratulate my president by getting elected to led the board. defund the police. i know that we've expressed that through many public comments, through public action and

activism. we expressed that at the ballot. we don't want sfpd brute lizzing our community. i'm asking him to live up to the city -- we know what that money goes to. we shouldn't pay the racists to be here.

i hope we all hear it newly. i'm thankful and i hope he can defund the police. >> may we have the next caller. >> i want to congratulate all of the supervisors. super excited about your leadership. i'm going to close out by giving

a huge shout out to supervisor walton. you will represent us here in san francisco and take us to national recognition. equity for all san franciscans. i'm thankful to be in relationship with you. i want to close out by saying that this board of supervisors makes me excited.

as a former public servant in the black community for a number of years, it's been a very long time since i've been able to look across the board of leadership and make it move throughout the state and country. let's get to work. i'm excited. thank you for the time. >> thank you for your comments. >> i'm an epidemiologist here in san francisco. as a representative of many families. i'm calling to defund the

police. the data is clear. police departments across the country do not keep us safe. they disproportionately hurt communities of color. we have the imagination to change things. defund the sfpd and reinvest in things we know work. our budget reflects our values. put together clear and comprehensive recommendations of how to do this. we have every excuse to act right now. the police and law enforcement do not keep us safe. let's be an example of what is

possible for a new way of public safety. >> thank you for your comments. may we have the next caller. >> hello. i work for the san francisco department of public health. i'm calling today as a resident of d10. i was born and raised and my family has been here since the 1940s. i'm honored to support

supervisor walton who stands tall and great in controa verse. continued prayers and blessings to all of our supervisors. >> thank you for your comments. may we have the next caller,

please. >> i am the founder of disparities in the black community. i'm calling to congratulate supervisor walton to be elected as the board of supervisors. i show my support due to the fact of the work that i've seen him accomplish. i'm very proud to have them as the newest president of san francisco board of supervisors. i want to say that we are fighting to have san francisco police department to work and

report -- differently per capita around the use of force and arrest and also around racial profiling of black san franciscans. the board of supervisors letters and response for the support of the board of supervisors. some of you have not responded. for those who have responded wealth and disparities, thank you. for those who don't feel -- if

we write you, it's your obligation to respond. to not respond is to be tolely disrespectful to the black community. >> can we have the next caller, please.

>> i'm a resident of district six. congratulations to all board of supervisors on your elections. i'm calling to say that yes, you have a new term. now would be a great time to yeah, like spread that around. restructure san francisco. get rid of some cops. get rid of the sheriffs. that would be fine. honestly, the point is to make san francisco a more beautiful city. one in which horrible things are less likely to happen. a shining beacon to the future.

we can do that. we can start by making these people leave. .eople leave. >> we have 44 listening and 19 left in the queue. can we have the next caller, mr? >> caller: hello. my name is dale seymour, i'm from the tenderloin, and been in san francisco 35 years. this is a town where a black man can more likely expect to be killed by a white policeman to be elected to the board of supervisors as president. so this is a very proud day for me. i was struggling to figure out my speech, and now i have a hope

to know that supervisor walton, i watched him come up in the ranks. i'm so proud of you today. in a town where we have very few black male leaders we're so very proud of you. i'll speak for a moment on the police department. you know, we've got to stop going to arkansas and oklahoma to the trailer parks for police officers. so that's what we have done. we also have to stop going to the army bases and recruiting police officers. because i'm a vietnam veteran myself and i will tell you that soldiers are taught to kill -- kill only. so why would you recruit a bunch of people that's been trained for years to kill to be on the street with your wife and kids. that is crazy. we need to go to the college campuses to recruit our next line of police officers and get out of the trailer parks. because that's where we are. and if the police department was miss anything officers two days ago i know where they were. so just keep that in mind. god bless everyone,

congratulations, bro. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. may we have the next caller? >> caller: (indiscernible) hi. my name is zury and i live and work here in the public housing and i'm the executive director of care. as a person who ran against mr. walton i'm proud that he is now the president of the board of supervisors. you couldn't have gotten a better person. i am very proud of this young man and i'm proud of all much the board of supervisors and i look at my screen and i see a very diverse group. and so i'm very happy and warm inside. defund the police. i think that you need to change the wording, and people think that you're going to get rid of all of the police. no, that makes no sense. but taking away some of the funds from parts of the police department that are not working,

yes. and restructuring the police department, yes. i am one of the community members that go out and help to retrain on the procedure for the sfpd for several years now, so, yes, there are bad apples in everything. and you have bad politicians and so i'm just saying. so, therefore, you cannot just say that all officers are bad. not all officers are bad. and i am a black woman with a black son, with black nephews and black children. i am saying that we have to look at holding other city departments responsible and hold them accountable because what has happened is that the police have been lumped in to have to solve all of the problems. we need to hold everyone accountable for their different positions. i am very -- and i agree -- we do need to go into our communities to go out and to recruit for our officers.

i have some young men who are african american who want to be police officers and i'm very proud of that. so defund the police? no. not all police are bad. there are several officers that we talk to on a daily basis that are for the community. but it's because of the ones that are doing bad that make everybody else look bad. and, yes, all officers are not white supremacists, although the ones that did storm the capitol, that's where you would lump them. so, thank you. >> clerk: next caller. >> caller: hi. this is bruce co is bruce colvie excelsior and we want a big shoutout for everyone on the board and we've got a strong board this year, in particular ahsha safai, it's a pleasure working on your campaign.

you've got a lot of people who support the work that you do. don't be afraid to shout out to us, please. thank you for representing the whole district. o.m.i. and excelsior, and in many ways we're the gateway to san francisco and thanks for putting us on the map. shout out for the excelsior action group. it's a great group for small businesses and the corridor. anybody interested, we believe in equity and supporting black investment. and check out your excelsior action group. and the next thing, the empowerment network. and the good work around the city, please, board, continue to support the black championship effort. it's wonderful, it's connected to the districts that we're in. thank you, have a good year, and know that everybody in district 11 and in the city is supporting your work. god's speed and good luck. thank you.

>> clerk: thank you for your comments. may we have the next caller, please. >> caller: hello, my name is alyssa and i live and work in district 5 and live in district 6 and i work in district 6. like many other callers i'm calling to demand -- and i heard from ken, what a pleasant reminder that we need to defund s.f. sheriffs. congratulations to all of the supervisors on your elections, preston as well as connie chan and my supervisor myrna melgar. supervisor walton, congratulations on becoming board president. i again want to extend congratulations to my supervisor myrna melgar and her staff who at public safety meetings you invite us to safety meetings. i don't even want to see cuff

there is. and by women inc, the women's shelter that deal with violence without involving police. and defund sfpd now. and part of the work of defunding the police is helping people to understand what comes next. please lay out a plan for shrinking the size of police force this year. we can't wait. city budgets are finite so in our budgets we make choices. we have a $1 billion policing budget. billion, with a b. and for every dollar that we give to policing it's a dollar that we give to harassment and abuse. but it's also a dollar that we take away from teachers, social housing and safe consumption sites and housing people in hotels, and not in housing. and raises for city workers or making sure they don't lose their jobs this year. and violence interruption programs that don't involve police officers. and narrower streets which keep us safe. keeping rents at 30% or below,

shout out to those living in s.r.o.s. and historically when cops brutalize people it's followed by a cycle of justice training, and calls for more money. and every time that this happens, this results in more money, more resources and a policing force that brutalizes us. i try to stop at every police interaction and that pretty much means several times a week. >> clerk: thank you. >> caller: i have also been threatened with citations. >> clerk: we have 40 listening and 16 left in the queue. next caller, please. >> caller: hello. >> clerk: hello, caller, you are on the line. ready to provide public comment? hello, caller?

mr. koe, perhaps i can circle back to this person. >> caller: hello, supervisors, my name is kailee huffman and i'm with the san francisco youth -- (indiscernible) hello? >> clerk: hi. it appears that we may have technical issues. hold on. please proceed. i'll restart your time. >> caller: okay. all right. reboot. this is kaillie hoffman, the director of the san francisco youth commission. you have heard from the staff and i'm here to introduce myself and to congratulate supervisors chan and melgar as well as congratulate the re-elected

supervisors. as always, the san francisco youth commission looks forward to working with all of you and we'll be following up with supervisor chan and supervisor melgar to coordinate meetings with your youth commissioners. and to shout out to supervisor walton. i can tell you right now that these commissioners are going to be incredibly excited to hear about your new position on the board. thank you. i yield my time. >> clerk: thank you, director hoffman. can we have the next caller? >> caller: good afternoon. this is roger marenko, president of local 250a. first and foremost, i want to say congratulations to the newly elected supervisors. we are very happy and proud that we were able to give our endorsement to myrna melgar, connie chan as well, so congratulations. i will definitely be reaching out to you along with supervisor

dean preston in terms of assistance with the transit operators. we already reached out to several other supervisors, ahsha safai, and the president who we also gave an endorsement too. and supervisors, what a great accomplishment. and we'll reach out to you to provide more safe service for the city and county of san francisco and from all of our residents. and from the way that you guys look on screen, it looks like it's a great year for 2021. congratulations. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. may we have the next caller. >> caller: hi, good afternoon, supervisors. i am curtis, calling on behalf of the san francisco coalition. congratulations to the new members, supervisors melgar and supervisor chan. i think that this new season, so

to speak, it feels good to have representation from two women of color. congratulations president walton. i really think that you'll make an excellent board president, not only because you're collaborative, chi believe that is true, you also have to stay true to your principles, which i really respect. i am calling to remind folks that one of the main efforts that supervisor fewer was working on was a public bank. we have seen the economic impact of covid-19 hitting our small businesses and essential workers, our black, latino and other communities of color. and we have seen how unreliable wall street banks are to moving capital for people who need it the most. so this is an issue whose time has come. we need a public bank to start investing at scale for affordable housing and infrastructure and renewable energy and empowering our communities, while moving forward with our city. so i'm excited to work with the new board and supervisor preston and others on this issue. this is, again, like i said, an issue whose time has come. and i guess that the last thing

that i'll say, i like how you do the acknowledgement and when it's the pledge of allegiance, it's a little weird. so maybe that can change in 2021. get rid of the pledge of allegiance. thank you. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. can we have the next caller. >> caller: hi, my name is dante king. and i am actually calling on behalf of myself and i'm also the co-president of the san francisco city and county black employees alliance. and i want to first to acknowledge and to congratulate supervisor -- the new supervisors who have been elected to the board. and also to give a big thank you to supervisor myrna melgar who allocated some time to meet with us a few weeks ago. you are such a brilliant individual and you're going to do some great things that really shine through in our

conversation. i also want to just acknowledge supervisor haney, ronen, fewer, who is no longer here, but she was just phenomenal. and others of you that have exhibited allyship and partnership to address and confront some of the issues that we have seen in the city. i want to counter really quick with one of the callers shared and she talked about not all cops are bad and there's just some bad apples. i think that the institution of policing as we have to understand has been awful and horrendous for black people. it doesn't matter who is behind that badge or who is in that uniform, it's the institution. so the black experience with law enforcement is tainted. we saw very clearly on wednesday that if you have white skin you're protected by law enforcement. and that is how that institution was set up to work. lastly, i just want to acknowledge and also to congratulate shimon, you are

phenomenal. you have done some phenomenal outstanding work for the black community in district 10. but also all over the city. so i appreciate you, i look forward to continuing to work and partner with you and i could not be prouder today of this appointment. you, again, are just a phenomenal being and you -- >> clerk: may we have the next caller. >> caller: good afternoon, supervisors. thank you for the time today. i am john anderson, the general manager of the marriott there in beautiful san francisco. just want to call in to say congratulations to the newly elected members of the board as well as the re-elected members. you know, also thank you for your leadership in 2020. i know that it was a very unusual year. we look forward to your

leadership as we emerge from the pandemic when it's safe to and then return, obviously, you know, to some of the businesses in san francisco. it's been one of the hardest hit industries in our city is the tourism and hospitality. as, you know, my business is in district 3 so i thank supervisor peskin for your ongoing support. and supervisor walton, congratulations, we look forward to your leadership on the board. again, congratulations to you all and look forward to a very prosperous and a recovery-ridden year in 2021. thank you for your time. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. may we have the next caller. >> caller: hello. congratulations to each and every one of the newly elected supervisors and the entire san francisco board of supervisors. my name is cheryl smith and i am the c.e.o. of family support

services and a member of the board of directors at y.c.d. i am calling today to congratulate mr. shimon walton and to encourage each and every one of the supervisors to support his bid for president. thank you all. san francisco has a whole lot to deal with in the coming year. so i truly appreciate you all supporting slimon's leadership. thank you. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. next caller, please. >> caller: hi my name is jenny nate and i live in supervisor 10. and -- district 10. and followed by another officer involved shooting, well, it's not even an officer involved, it's an officer shot someone. the board refused to (indiscernible) a single

officer and we demand better this year. police don't keep us safe, and housing and health care and education, and the economy, all of those things we have left public comment on the contract which y'all didn't do anything about. we have called you for housing and coordinating that. helping to keep people safe during the holidays, just to keep them indoors. and why was that even a topic of discussion. and education and a big picture view, we see the policing in public schools targets black and brown students. and sfsud voted to end their contract with police. please followthrough with that and eliminate the s.r.o.s from this year's budget. let's be clear here that they don't provide any resources. what message do we tell our children when in places where they should be learning and where they should be safe that even they will get policed over there. and health care and sheriffs, their presence in the hospitals,

with a budget of over $20 million, it's unconscionable. people go into hospitals for care, not to be policed. the fascist police state needs to be abolished. defund and defund and disband sfpd. i yield my time. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. mr. koe, can we have the next caller, please? >> caller: hi. my name is may and i'm calling like many other people today to voice concerns about the sfpd and its overzealous policing and the insane budget. i am a born and raised san franciscan. i went to church when i was a kid and i know firsthand the level of need that this city has. i used to run a food pantry, a small one that served over 200 families a month and it was really, really cheap to take care of people in that way. the sfpd budget, if you just go

off that one million dollars a day, that's absurd. it's absurd that we're facing this type of violence and they're militarized and they're resourced to that level. safety is not about policing. safety is about resources and equitable access to those resources. i think that it's a disgrace that this city has the budget that it has. and i would like to specifically say because this call has been so much about shimon walton and i have met him in community events and i like you, supervisor walton, i know that you're listening. your vote on the board of supervisors police contract that just happened in november, i was incredibly disappointed by everyone, except for hillary ronen and dean preston and their votes on the police contract. this city -- we need to take on the policing to address public safety on a systemic structural level and that absolutely has to do with defunding. it absolutely has to do with allocating resources towards public safety and not towards policing institutions.

and i want to a person note, the department of public health here in san francisco was at the attempted coup in washington, d.c., and i would like to see her fired. >> clerk: thank you for your comments can we have the next caller? >> caller: supervisors, my name is francisco decosta, and i represent the first people of san francisco, the ramaytush ohlone. let me remind you, supervisors, as (indiscernible) that y'all are mandated to address quality of life issues. when essential workers ask the

mayor for a raise, should they not give it to them? but should they have her own salary raised and earn $400,000? you have a doctor who went out of her way to do monitoring. you have authorities who (indiscernible) gang up on her. we see what happens. and spending millions of dollars, community benefits have been given to crooks who will be audited by the federal pure bureaucratic investigation. our city administrator is on leave. you supervisors have to have

standards. you cannot have standards unless your heart is in the right place. i will be watching y'all like a hawk. thank you very much. >> clerk: thank you, mr. decosta. may we have the next caller. >> caller: hi, my name is (indiscernible) and i'm with the leadership foundation and a member of san francisco black-led organization coalition. i am just calling to congratulate president of the board of supervisors walton for the election and acknowledging a great decision by the board. before the tragic shooting of george floyd and people speaking on black empowerment, before that became popular, in march 2020, before that supervisor walton was talking about

reparations and extremely difficult topics of real empowerment and putting us in the right direction. so i just want to say i'm just so happy. i know that we're not going to always agree on everything, and that's what it's about -- it's about having the right leader that will put us in the right direction. so thank you very much. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. can we have the next caller? >> caller: good afternoon, my name is emily rogers spar and i'm the executive director of the southeast community center. i want to congratulate all of the board members for your appointment, for your election. but i especially want to congratulate supervisor walton on your appointment as president. this is an exciting and happy occasion for our community.

you have a love for our great city, and district 10. you have always been a champion and committed to advancing opportunities for our community. and unapologetically championing opportunities for black people to do better, be better, and to have their fair share. and we want to implore you to continue to hold those accountable to our community and to our voters and our residents. i'm thanking you at the same time for your support of our southeast community and the (indiscernible) and please help us to keep fighting for education. just so proud of you and so proud of your work. the city is greater today because of your leadership. i look forward to continuing to work with you and to learn from your leadership style and your commitment to our community. thank you so much for your

involvement. congratulations. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. may we have the next caller. currently we have 35 listening and nine left in the queue. next caller. >> caller: hello, i'm from district 6. last year (indiscernible) in san francisco produced about (indiscernible) it's a phenomenal number. that number of dead people would stretch three-quarters of a mile, from city hall all the way to the tenderloin. so i understand people's concerns about overpolicing and systemic racism. and, you know, it's quite a pickle. those things are real.

on the other hand, you know, wehave a city that essentially refuses to police crimes and refuses to have sincere efforts to provide access to addiction treatment for addicts. it is devastating what is happening to the tenderloin. really my comments here is to consider defunding the police, you know, what the consequences of that will be to the opioid epidemic in san francisco. you know, that three-quarters of a mile last year could be stretched out next year. so supervisor haney recently asked me why is it easier to buy fentanyl in san francisco than to access opioid treatments and it's very clear. there's very few disincentives

against drug crime in san francisco. there's very little access to treatments. outpatient opioid treatment is available, but it's not incentivized in san francisco. and so i hope for 2021 is that san francisco will really try to get a handle on the opioid epidemic. it's a war zone. it's shocking. that's all i have. thank you. >> clerk: thanks for your comments. next caller, please. >> caller: good afternoon, supervisors. my name is susan murphy, a resident of d10, and with the southeast community and commission. and a business owner. i wanted to give my congratulations to the supervisors who are re-elected and elected. and i want to extend my congratulations to supervisor walton who i've seen throughout

the years, whose dedication and advocacy and support for the city and county of san francisco, and always looking forward and it's an honor to work with you, the board, and the mayor's office. i yield my time. thank you. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. next caller, please. >> caller: good afternoon, i'm anonymous. first congratulations to supervisors chan and melgar and new president walton. i wanted to thank supervisor ronen for the full slate of appointments to the sunshine ordinance. and transparency is not an often discussed option until a city official gets arrested. sometimes a task force holds all government officials, including your own members, accountable to the public, and even unpaid volunteers to determine what the public may or may not know about

the operations of this government. and they had efforts to hide emails using the f.b.i. as an excuse and in four other cases against the city. unfortunately, instead of improving their compliance, the city's attorney office tried to use the meeting to attack me, and for enforcing the public right of access. dennis herrerra did not succeed. i applaud the few of you questioning the mayor next week about city corruption and it needs to be more of you. finally, i question why the board as an entity has not condemned the attack instigated by the president against the united states congress. you make a lot of resolutions for less important things. maybe you can think about this. thank you very much. >> clerk: thank you inquiry your comments. we have 33 listening and seven left in the queue. mr. koe, can you bring forth the next caller.

>> caller: hello, good afternoon. this is director toronto. on behalf of the alliance, i want to congratulate and welcome the two newly elected supervisors, connie chan and myrna melgar. i hope that you will become as familiar with the taxi issues, even though you don't actually regulate them yourselves, but what happens with the taxis impacts the entire city. i also want to congratulate supervisor walton from district 10. as you know, most of the companies and dispatch services are based in district 10. and also one of our board members lives in district 10. and last, but more important, our clients and passengers, many of them live in district 10 and utilizing the city and the federal-funded programs of the para-transit and the essential trip card. and, last, and last but not

least, a lot of my passengers late at night are african american. and i wouldn't -- i don't know what i'd do without them. so i want to say that shimon walton, it's about time that we finally get an african american man heading the board of supervisors, especially someone as well qualified as you and happy new year, everybody. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. we can have the next caller, please. >> caller: hi, i'm dusty. i live in district 4. like other callers, i'm on the line and i'm calling for the board of supervisors to 100% defund both s.f. police and the sheriff's department at every opportunity that you get this year. because the re-elected supervisors, this is a new year, a year to listen and to take action, rather than ignore the pleas and the protests of the residents of this city. police do not keep us safe.

to all of the supervisors and the callers on the line, if you're not sure what abolition can look like, i say that you go to the website and open up your minds to the idea of a policeless city. a city focused on funding resources to help its residents, rather than a police force. we need solutions, not representation. we need the full abolition of both s.f. police and supervisors department. so here's to another year of taking it to the streets and asking the new board to make a real tangible progress towards defunding. thank you. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. can we have the next caller. >> caller: good afternoon, everyone. i am the executive director of a

coalition for health and wellness in district 10 and district 5. a resident of district 2 and a member of san francisco mega-black s.f. and i'm calling to welcome and congratulate the newly re-elected supervisors. i want to especially, especially, especially, to congratulate the president of the board, supervisor walton. i have worked with supervisor walton on a number of different projects. and i want to really thank him and lift him up and all of the amazing work that he's done since he's become a supervisor. we are proud of you. i am proud of you as a thinker, a leader, a warrior, for all of the people of san francisco. please trust that you can count on me as a citizen and as a community leader to continue to promote racial and health equity and justice for all and support your leadership. so, please, continue to count on the community as you need us. we are here and we support you. thank you. i yield my time. >> clerk: thank you for your

comments. can we have the next caller. >> caller: (indiscernible). >> clerk: mr. koe, can we go to the next caller. hello, caller? >> caller: hello. >> clerk: yes. >> caller: oh, yes. i sat on the executive board of the lgbtq democratic club. i am also a co-founder and the president of the black women caucus s.f. we were chartered several months ago. and i am calling today to congratulate supervisor walton. the newly elected supervisor myrna pell gar as well as

supervisor connie chan. congratulations. and then the supervisors who have been re-elected. my supervisor, dean preston, of district 5. there's several issues that i want to talk about but i'm not going to be lengthy about it today. the one which is of great concern and which has been a recurring theme in this discussion is that of defunding the police. i think that it's integral that we hold the police department accountable. but we need to abolish immunity for police who have committed heinous crimes towards civilians. and also on that i want to say to president walton is the matter of racial equity. as a woman, as an activist, as a mom, a single mom, and as an organizer, racial equity goes to the root of this country's history. and they said that the problem of the 20th century is the

problem of the power line. racial injustice continues to occur in this country and it's pervaded our society. we need to restore racial equity. we'd like to see more accountability when asking for funding, whether it's to (indiscernible) we want to partner as advocates of racial equity. i'm an advocate for black and queer lives and i would like to see us more visible in places of government. lastly, i want to mention -- >> clerk: thank you for your comments. can we have the next caller. >> caller: good afternoon, supervisors, this is gabriel demina of the latin x democratic club and with the community resource center. i want to congratulate our new

supervisors connie chan and myrna melgar. i didn't think that we'd have a better board, and each election you keep proving me wrong. but i want to make a special congratulations to the new president of the board walton. sarah and i had co-chaired prop c, commissions for all, and allowing all inspiring in san francisco to serve on city commissions and have a seat at the table. i have not worked with president walton for all of the many years that he's been serving san francisco in office and in the community, but i have seen his work for years upclose. and i have been inspired. and he continues to inspire, whether it's the sheriff reforms or the care act, president walton, thank you so much. i really appreciate your style. you're not somebody who does things very loudly, you just get them done silently, and thank you for all of your service. >> clerk: well, thank you for your comments.

we have 35 listening and seven left now in the queue. so, mr. koe, can you bring forth the next caller. >> caller: hello, supervisors. i live and work in supervisor ronen's district and i'm calling to demand the board defund sfpd and the s.f. sheriffs. and i want to say that we are in solidarity with the transport workers local 250a. the san francisco municipal transit agency can potentially lay off as many as 1,226 employees, and they face a deficit of $56 million this year and $168 million next year. and mechanics keep us safe and they decrease the number of cars on the road, they get us to our jobbings, our doctors appointments and our schools. so when we talk about public safety we are talking about things like transit operators.

reinstate full muni service. i'm not asking just for, you know, roughly $250 million deficit, and to refund the muni and defund police. that's what it means to prioritize black lives and brown lives and prioritize the lives of san francisco. and a dose of shame to the supervisors trying to have their willie horton moment. willie horton was a person who was released out on a visitation program and murdered someone. in 1988, george bush made it a huge issue and won his campaign and set back racial justice decades. that's what we're fighting now and that's what these supervisors are doing. they're trying to have their willie horton moment. and if i'm hit and killed by a driver on a dangerous overwide street and the driver of had a history of committing property crimes don't make it about the fucking property crimes. this is systemic failure. and hannah wanted to be happy

and if it was her she'd like this person to be happy and have a safe life as well. this is the opportunity for restorative justice. that's what hannah's family wants and that's in the interest of justice. so fuck your willie horton moment, okay and defund police -- >> clerk: thank you. next caller, please. hello? >> caller: hi, everyone. hi, everyone. my name is monique, and i'm a native san franciscan and a resident of d11. i would like to congratulate all of the supervisors and newly elected supervisors, myrna melgar, connie chan, and ahsha safai. and to my supervisor ahsha, i

would like to thank you for your continued support for the early childhood community, specifically family child care. i would like to -- i look forward to our continued work for children and families in san francisco. also to shimon walton, supervisor, thank you for your dedication, fairness and leadership to san franciscans and the black community. today is a proud day for me as i can tell my son that the newly elected president of the board of supervisors is an african american man. congratulations, and thank you. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. next caller. >> caller: hi. my name is tyler and i live in district 6 and i am a member of the democratic socialists of america. i want to echo what everyone else has said. i was really hoping to see a big, big cut in police budget last year and we didn't get it and i hope that we get it this year. but i want to mention that there

were things that we did get like prop i. and there were how many millions spent against it but the people of san francisco said, no, actually, this is a good idea and we should tax the wealthiest people who are making massive profits off the real estate in this city. so i encourage the board to think about similar things going forward the next time that we have an election. i know that sometimes people are hesitant to put large taxes on the ballot or too many taxes on the ballot. but i think that -- i think we can do things like prop i as we have seen, we got that passed, as well as prop k and a lot of others. so looking forward to this year. thank you. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. next caller. >> caller: hi, i'm from district 7 and i have lived in the city my whole life.

i'm calling to defund police but it's also important to talk about what we're doing with those funds that we're not wasting on a military force. we must decriminalize all drugs and put the money that we would spend on locking folks up to treating them. and oppressing those who are critical of the united states government. and we need to house the unhoused and land acknowledgement without land is meaning else. we need to give land back, and they're not recognized from the federal government and so not receiving benefits and supports that are really the only thing that we have even in our long history of atrocities committed against indigenous people. and also investing in local water sources. and to exacerbate the environmental justice we need to be prepared to handle and to support our communities. i really love this city.

it's a wonderful place. and i'm glad that y'all are serving it, but i'm just really afraid of what the future is going to hold for us. and if we're just going to continue to take these incremental steps we aren't going to get to where we need to be, to actually be a city that we can be proud of and really continue to survive. we're not living in a sustainable way. and there's so many things that we need to address. thank you. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. can we have the next caller. >> caller: hi, my name is ovaba, and i was raised in the valley district and currently living and working in district 3. in light of what we're witnessing with our current government, we have the responsibility of asking how we got here and how we -- what we can do to make it right. and like the callers mentioned before, we asked the board to cut police budget last year to

no avail. and we can't discuss how we can reallocate those dollars because it just shows how much we're up against to get the least amount of effort from the board. i ask to defund the police and the s.f. sheriff again, so we can make a difference this year. and just we'll continue to put on that pressure, even after the murder of vargas in october, following another officer involved shooting in november, the board refused to fire even a single sfpd officer. so it just goes to show that there's really -- we need more -- we need to put more pressure on the board to do what's right. that's it. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. can we have the next caller.

>> caller: hello, and congratulations supervisor chan and melgar. and i'm a third generation san franciscan and d10 resident. supervisor walton is an amazing choice for board president and he is even tempered and treats everyone with respect. he balances both the functional relationship with the mayor as well as independence from the mayor. and supervisor walton is suck st and manages his time incredibly well. given the catastrophes recently in washington, d.c., and the behavior of our chief executive over last four years, i think that we need to seriously connect to decency. and racism and misogyny and erratic behavior have no place in our government and we need to make those commitments here at home well. we can rely on supervisor walton to make us proud. i so look forward to president walton, thank you so much and have a good rest of the year.

happy new year's. >> clerk: thank you, happy new year's to you. next caller, please. >> caller: good afternoon, and happy new year. i live in district 6 and congratulations to the new and re-elected supervisors and president walton. i wanted to comment today after reading brief comments today about covid vaccine distribution. she repeatedly passed the buck, doesn't see it as her responsibility or the department of public's responsibility to have widespread covid vaccinations and they don't know the answer to basic questions like how many doses will be received or administered. and this egregious crisis and i'm concerned by this abdication of leadership. this is the most important job that the city faces right now and there's not one person -- not even the mayor or d.p.h. -- who thinks that it's their job or duty to get it done. i would ask the board to take immediate action to determine

the current state of vaccine distribution and make sure that it's a city-wide responsibility that the mayor and d.p.h. are directly responsible for. it's appalling to see the city leaders pass the buck while lives are on the line. i hope that the board can adjust this immediately. thank you. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. before we go to the next caller, we currently have 28 listening and three left in the queue. so if there are no more interested speakers, we will take this to the end. for anyone still listening and would like to speak and have not provided public comment, please remember to press star, 3, in order to line up to speak. you will be -- it will indicate that you have gotten into line and you will wait until -- to hear that you have been unmuted. mr. koe, can we have the next one. >> caller: hi, this is me again. i was about to finish my

statement by saying -- >> clerk: i'm sorry, you have already spoken, ma'am. we only provide two minutes each and it's about equity and making sure that everybody has equal amount of time to provide public comment. but thank you for joining us today. next caller. >> caller: hello, this is rachel tanner, district 6 resident. and a member of the san francisco planning commission. i wanted to just congratulate all of the re-elected and the newly elected supervisors. and shout out to you, great to see you back on the board. and we look forward to working with the board this year and advancing racial equity and racial justice in our city, the planning department and the planning commission have centered racial equity in our planning. we are working really, really hard to shore up and to support the communities of color here in san francisco.

we have our work cutting out for us how to support the small businesses, navigate the recovery from this ongoing pandemic and being accessible and understandable to the public in the work, which is really an exciting challenge to figure out how to plan even during a time of recession here in the city right now. i want to send congratulations to supervisor walton for his nomination for board president. and i hope that is unanimously supported, which it looks like it will be. he'll be an excellent leader and i'm so, so excited to have supervisor walton serving in that position. thank you so much. bye-bye. >> clerk: thank you, rachel, for your comments. next caller. >> caller: hello, hello, my name is john enna and i am from the development center in sunnydale. a lot of the programs that we provide here is for our community members that live right here in district 10.

i'm just calling in to wish -- extend the deepest, greatest polynesian pacific islands thank you and great job, well done, to president of the board now, shimon walton and all of the new supervisors that have been re-elected as well. and i pray that god guides them in all of their decisions and i just can't wait to partner and to help to make san francisco a better city for everyone. so, congratulations. and thank you for the opportunity to share that from the community development center. >> clerk: thank you. thank you for joining us today. may we have the next caller, please. >> caller: hi, my name is lindsay jones and i have the honor of being born and raised in district 10. i'm a small business owner. i currently hold the privilege of being a human rights commissioner. please note that i am speaking on my own behalf.

while i'm an advocate for al ternititives to policing, i won't take the time to talk about that. because i'm completely in awe of our first black man being voted as the president of the board of supervisors. this is such an historic victory in such perilous times. he will represent, supervisor walton will represent hope. we are in desperate need of someone with integrity, honesty and courage. he will be that and so much more. he embodies all of these characteristics. i have been a personal witness of supervisor walton strengthening inclusion and equity for all. he's overall a very fair and just person. i want to be clear, he is for all people -- not just black people. he will represent every san franciscan. he doesn't do business as usual. he's available, he's smart, and not a yes man and he gets the job done as this work takes so much more than words. he's a hero to many and a shining example of what true

reform can be. i wholeheartedly believe in supervisor walton's leadership, and so thankful for him giving us a reason to see a bright light during these dark times over these last few days. i am so excited and i am looking forward to all that is to come. have a happy new year, everyone. >> clerk: happy new year to you. next caller, please. >> caller: hi my name is raymond ross and i am very happy and excited and ecstatic to welcome supervisor shimon walton as your next san francisco president of the board of supervisors. black is the light that powers the world and in san francisco we now will have new and astounding leadership that will provide the hope that all citizens here in san francisco will need in order to move through these tumultuous times

that we're currently sitting in. shimon has the ability, the skill set, the passion, the leadership, the vision, but he has the work ethic and he understands what sacrifice means in order for the greater good to be achieved. he will continue to do that as he has done in his position as an elected official. and we're so proud to see him in this position as a president of the board for san francisco. also i would really like to thank my personal friend, connie chan, i'm so proud of you, who i have worked along side at the d.a.'s office for so many years. congratulations on your appointment. thank you. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. can we have the next caller. >> caller: hello, this is the current chief of staff for district 11 office and i wanted to say congratulations to my

boss, supervisor ahsha safai for his election. he has put the spotlight on an often maligned community and to bring resources and elevate leaders. i'm excited to see what he'll do over the next four years. and also a shout out to myrna melgar, she's been a powerhouse in the city for decades and congratulations for her for being newly elected. and what she'll do not only for the women, but for non-citizens and just for everyone, she's always been fair and inclusive and compassionate and empathetic and smart as hell. so we're starting to see what she does and bring to the city. and finally to our newly elected president walton, i'm just so thrilled for this day. he is not only a black man. it's not just about a black man, it's about this black man who is current and fair, and just and strong. and i know that he's a leader that this city needs in such a time as this to lead us through

a pandemic. these budget shortfalls, recoveries, he's the leader that we need at this time and i'm so excited to call him president and he is going to just be a shining beacon for san francisco during this time. so i want to just say congratulations to president walton, we're excited for all that you'll do for the city. thank you. >> clerk: thank you, monica, for joining us. next caller. >> caller: good afternoon, board members. this is dr. veronica hunnicutt. congratulations and thank you to all of you for your service to the city and county of san francisco. congratulations to our two new supervisors, supervisor melgar and chan. i have worked with supervisor walton for many years.

supervisor safai, you have been an excellent supervisor in district 11. thank you for helping our communities to finally to be recognized and given city support. your leadership has made a difference in our lives. god bless you. supervisor walton, congratulations on this new honor. you are caring and compassionate, brilliant, and a committed man. and our supervisor. congratulations to all of you. god bless you for the hard work that you do. we have much that needs to be done to make san francisco continue to be a shining light. thank you and have a wonderful evening. >> clerk: thank you for your comments, dr. hunnicutt. can we have the next caller, arthur?

>> caller: i'm a long-time resident of district 10 and i wanted to join the callers before me in terms of appreciating and congratulating all of the newly elected and re-elected supervisors. i also wanted to join and add my voice to the congratulations for supervisor walton in your new role as the board chair. i won't be repetitive because so many people, dr. hunnicutt and others have shared my sentiments. but congratulations, we appreciate you. and we look forward to all that you will do in this new role. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. next caller, please. >> caller: good afternoon, i've been a resident of district 10 for many years and i currently work for the bayview hunters point ymca.

i want to say congratulations to all of the supervisors and to especially congratulate the newly elected president of the board, shimon walton, on being the first african american man to be president of this board. i have had the privilege and the pleasure to work with shimon for a number of years as a partner in district 10 and throughout the city, providing opportunities for youth, adults, and families to really be strengthened, to have the access to opportunities that they need so they could thrive. and i am ecstatic to see shimon in this role and he's been committed to many, many years to our community. he's operated with integrity. and he's operated with passion. and most of all he does represent hope for our community. and so we are extremely excited. i am excited and my family is excited and a number of my colleagues, we are excited about this opportunity for president

walton and wanted to say thank you for your service and for your work and we're looking forward to great change happening not only in district 10, but also throughout this city. thank you and happy new year. >> clerk: thank you. happy new year. next caller, please. >> caller: good afternoon, this is anastasia, i'm a member of the san francisco tenants' union and the race and equity all planning coalition. i'm grateful that this board made a wise decision in choosing shimon walton to be president of the board. he's earnest, hard working, and can do the job. thank you very much. and to the returning supervisors who fought their races and won, congratulations. and to the new members, connie chan and myrna melgar, welcome

to you. thank you. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. can we go to the next caller. >> caller: hello? >> clerk: yes, please proceed with your comments.>> callhello >> caller: oh, hi.cler this is cherylk: ydavis fromese human rights commission.eryl i was justd calling in and i wanted to congratulate and to welcome supervisor melgar and supervisor chan. and it's good to see you on the's e screen. good to see the other nd good supervisors as well. and then i was sitting and listening to everyone's comment and i wasc like, well, i do not run int run into supervisor anlton later and be like i didn't call in. cal so, congratulations, supervisor walton. i'm super excited for this. you are literally going down ine the history books this time.lity so thank you for your service.o

thank you for your work. an and as others have said, it is all ailready been said. happene and thisd happened without aht, fight. i'm even more impressed. so, thank you for being who you are and the work that you do, and i look forward to workingd u with all of you, but i am super excited to see supervisor walton of you sit at some point in time behind the clerk of the board there ann where she is now -- i don't kno if you'll still have that red a and blue light system when you get to sit there, butyour congratulations, supervisor. >> clerk: thank you for yourts comments. can we have the next caller. >> caller: hello, my name isabo1 shimone. years and i am calling for the board f of supervisors to 100% defund,

disband, disarm and abolish thee sfpd and the s.f. sheriffs atppt every opportunity that you get this year. t there i'm sure that there are other people who said this before but i wantt to reiterate it again -a the police have not or everidedh provided the city with publicaf. safety. you have systems of punishment t and control which harms ourd co communities and will inn no wayw lead to the changes that ourchas city needs. it's past time to divest from these harmful associations andup build the supportp that our communities need to survive thrive. this is a ew year, 2021. and 2020 was an absolutelyr dumpster fire. and 2020 was a dumpster fire. dm and 2021 will be another21 ll dumpster fire if we don't start meaningfully defunding the pl police and using that billioneyt dollars a year which wasbilliono supposedly defundedl by 2% lasty year, but, you know, that's peanuts. so we need to tsact.ually do be this year and i hope that withwh the two new supervisors on thei board and with a new boardard

president that we can actually get this done this year.fpd ha sfpd has proven again and againe that police cannot be reformedax and external studies show anti-black bias within the sfpdt and no matter how many black lives matter posters they're forced to put -- performs and nor

how many black live matter posters they're forced to put up in their presichts. we demand the full abolition of the sfpd and the s.f. sheriffs and look forward to the new board making progress for the defunding. i'm really, really hopeful that this will happen in 2021, and we will all be here to continue advocating for that and to comment on that and to protest on that. and, lastly, do we have an update on the queue on how many people are in line? >> caller: thank you for your comments. mr. coe? >> madam clerk, that completes the queue. >> clerk: thank you. madam clerk.

>> clerk: okay. seeing no other speakers for public comment, public comment is now closed. thank you to all of the callers who called in today and thank you to deputy samara for your great assistance today. to item 5, the next item on this agenda is the election for board president. without objection and in the interest of time, let's dispense with the reading of the election principles and move directly to the roll call vote. when your name is called, please indicate aye or no on the question. checking the roster. seeing no objection. seeing no objection we'll start in order on the question. and the question is, shall supervisor walton be elected as president of the board of supervisors? [roll call vote]

it's unanimous. the gavel is yours president walton. congratulations. [applause] >> supervisor walton: first of all, i want to say that it's such an honor that you have chosen me to lead this body and to serve the residents of this beautiful city, during which i

hope will be the tailend of the current health emergency and the reestablishment of our great economy here in san francisco. i look forward to serving this body as its president, with compassion and values that we together guard very fiercely. i look forward to working closely with each of you on issues that matter most to your district and to our precious city. and before i go into my complete address, i believe that we have our honorable mayor london breed here who is present. and if she would please provide some brief remarks at this time. mad >> i believe that the mayor is logging in right now.

but congratulations, president walton. >> supervisor walton: thank you so much, miss kittler. and we will take a pause and let's just have a one-minute recess while we give the mayor some time to log on and we'll be back in let's say two minutes. thank >> supervisor walton: thank you so much and we are back and ready to resume our january 8, 2021 board meeting and with us we have the honorable mayor london breed, who is going to say a few words here at this meeting. thank you so much, madam mayor. >> mayor london breed: thank you. i want to welcome the two newest members of the board of supervisors, myrna melgar and tanya chan. i remember what a proud day it was for me when i was first sworn in as a supervisor. and i'm sure that you and your friends and family are feeling the same emotions today. i want to congratulate you both

on your election and welcome you to your new roles. i look forward to working with you to make positive change for your districts and the city of san francisco. i want to congratulate the returning board members on their re-election and the new board president. and the election of awe new board president and the swearing-in of new supervisors are an important part what we do every two years here in san francisco. and we know that this is a special occasion for everyone here. but after what we have saw this week in washington, d.c., we also need to take a moment to recognize how critical days like this are for our government. like everyone here, i was shocked to see our nation's capitol and, more importantly, our democracy assaulted and denigrated by a violent mob, resulting in the death of several people, including one capitol police officer. this was a true low point for our country. a shameful and a sad moment.

it's not what this country stands for, or what we strive to be. and i know that we are better than this. there is an opportunity here for us to recognize our basic democratic institutions. there is always room for disagreement in government but never room for the violence that we saw in washington, d.c. and that's why days like today are so important for us to come together and to begin a new year of working together to support our city. this last year has been incredibly challenging for all of us, for our city and our country. and if anyone thought that 2021 will be easier, i think that the last few days have shown us that it is not likely to be the case. we have a lot of work ahead of us for our city and for our residents. we need to lead an economic

recovery, unlike any that we've seen in a long time. we need to help our small businesses survive and recover, and reinvigorate our merchant corridors. we have to address the behavioral health challenges on our streets. continue to help people out of homelessness and to ensure that people who have been moved to shelter in place hotels are connected with stable housing. we need to continue to reform how our city government works. streamline redundancies in our bureaucracy and increase transparency and to make our government work for our residents. and before we can fully do all of this, we need to get out of this final covid-19 surge and work with our state and regional departments to support the vaccine deployment so it happens quickly and effectively. this is a time for serious work. i understand that we'll have our disagreements.

that is to be expected. but if there's anything -- any time to put aside our differences in the name of accomplishing something greater, this is that time. we can do so much to move our city forward and help the people of san francisco, if we could only put aside our differences and make a commitment to work together. if something is not working, let's fix it. it's not enough to simply declare that something is broken and we're the ones -- because we're the one who have been elected to do something about it. let's stop pointing the finger. the people of san francisco are not interested in that. they're interested in results. that's why we ran for office and why we're all here today. last year, san francisco showed that we can do great things when we put our differences aside. in 2021, let's learn from that and build on the progress

together. we are going to make great things happen for the residents. it takes each and every one of us to do our part to make sure that that happens. thank you for the opportunity, and, again, congratulations, president walton, and i look forward to working with you and the members of the board of supervisors to take care of the people of our great city. >> president walton: thank you so much, mayor breed, and we look forward to working with your office to unify this city and to, of course, to make sure that we have the response and have, of course, to set the example for the rest of the country as we move forward through this pandemic. thank you so much. with that said as i have mentioned earlier, colleagues, and as we continue to let everyone know, it's an extreme pleasure to be able to serve the residents here in san francisco. we have colleagues here that have worked very hard to gain the trust and gain the votes of

people in their various districts. so what we are going to do today, one, i want to say congratulations again to our newly elected supervisors. also congratulations again to my colleagues who have been re-elected. i will introduce newly elected and re-elected board member, one by one, for the opportunity to make brief remarks and family introductions. and we're going to do this in the order of district number. so we're going to start with supervisor connie chan, district 1. >> supervisor chan: thank you so much, president walton, for introducing me to speak. and thank you, colleagues, for allowing me the honor to join you today. this is a great day. and i really look forward to working with all of you, you you know, as today is a day that

helps me to remember in 2006 i was 21 years old and i am 42 now. you know, that was the time when i first stepped into city hall as a legislative aide to the former supervisor sophie maxwell. that is the first time that i stepped into this beautiful building and recognized that i have a job to do. my job then was to serve the people of the city and county of san francisco, but, really, to really assist supervisor sophie maxwell to help the people in district 10. and comes full circle today in 2021. i have the opportunity to serve the people in district 1 and it's an honor to do so and i look forward to doing that. what i look forward to doing, and i will definitely speak more about this next tuesday when we have really our full board

meeting, you know, this is a tough time for san francisco. and we definitely want to recover. and the priority for me in the coming year and the next four years is to help working people to recover in san francisco. working people like my family, an immigrant family, communities of color. and i look forward to working with all of you to make that happen. i do want to say, you know, i do believe that for me first generation immigrant, my mom still lives in the same rent-controlled apartment that i grew up in chinatown. that's where i came from. you can take a girl out of chinatown, but you can't take chinatown out of the girl. and so that is still where my heart is as well. so i look forward to working with supervisor peskin to continue to make sure that, you

know, chinatown remains. it's not just a place for tourists, it's really a place for all chinese-americans in the greater bay area. it's the heart and the soul of who we are. it's our culture anchor. but also i recognize the fact that immigrants and communities of color have been greatly impacted, you know, during this pandemic. you can see that, you know, immigrants who are all really out there -- they are still the essential workers to get the job done, to get us recovered and keep us safe. we are impacted. and we need to make sure that we truly have equitable health access for all of us. and as, you know, a public -- as a mom of a public school student, second grader, i really want him to go back to school, not just for his academic learning but to make sure that

he and his friends who still have the ability to be together and to learn together in a very diverse but at this time mostly a safe learning environment. so, thank you, again. i really appreciate all of you. i did not keep this brief this time around. but i appreciate the opportunity. thank you. >> president walton: thank you so much, supervisor chan, and congratulations again. i will now call on the senior member of this body, supervisor aaron peskin, representing district 3. >> supervisor peskin: thank you, supervisor walton, mr. president. i'm sorry, my thing has failed and i just rebooted it. and i do want to say to my former neighbor, incoming supervisor connie chan whose mother lives down the street from me, welcome to incoming supervisor myrna melgar, who i knew in her days when she was

working at the mayor's office under gavin newsom, and i have known and respected you for a decade and a half and i'm delighted that as of today that we are colleagues. and as i begin my fifth inaugural speech as a member of this body, i will start as i always have by thanking my loving family. i really wish that my father, harvey, who passed away a couple years ago could be here to see me having taken the oath of office one more -- maybe this one last time. my mother, sepa, and my very patient life partner of over three decades, nancy, who are both here with me virtually. i really want to thank the incredible staff that i have retained over the years. i want to say that my reputatio-

i still have the highest staff retention record on this board over the last generation. so in addition to acknowledging my incredible current team and sonny and lee and calvin and sarah, i want to sincerely thank all of you colleagues and mayor breed for your individual endorsements in my most re-election. and i want to particularly thank the voters of the northeast corner of san francisco, district 3, who saw fit to re-elect me for one more tour of duty. of all of the issues that now almost 40 supervisors have said this when norman yee was retiring two or three days ago, 39 supervisors that i have served with. as of a few minutes ago, six

board presidents, five mayors over the last 20 years. today is the exact anniversary of the first day that i was sworn in 20 years ago. thank you again, sean elsman, for reminding me of that this morning. but today -- and i think that supervisor chan just said that, that the issues that we are facing are more particularly and more remarkably profound. and we were all steeped in the 1906 earthquake and fire. i used to go down there at 5:00 in the morning with willie brown, and we became an example of national emergency preparedness. but nobody taught the harsh lessons of the 1918 pandemic,

which we are learning and re-learning right now. so i really want to thank our frontline responders, our doctors, our nurses, ambulance drivers. and we've got a clear mandate to continue to reform health care, which started actually in san francisco. we had quasi public health care in this city -- thank you tom -- before obamacare or the affordable care act was passed in the united states of america that has hung on after four harrowing years. and as they say, i work with a few indian tribes in nevada. we're going through a pretty heck of a rough patch right now, and we're going to have to make some painful decisions,

mr. president, colleagues, madam mayor. it's going to be quite difficult. and whether it's my constituents in chinatown or north beach or our constituents from the sunset or anywhere on this side of the san mateo border, let's be clear -- 2021 may actually get worse before it gets better. but i know that we're going to get through this together. if we continue to take care of each other and heal those many hatchets and to my incoming colleagues, and to the mayor, i pledge to work with all of you to do everything that we can do to assist those folks who are besieged and are beleaguered and are weary and are vulnerable

first. and face with what is a once in a century, 103 years i think, global pandemic and the political and the social upheaval that we have seen from george floyd to what we saw the day before yesterday at our nation's capitol. and what is really our ultimate pan-ultimate challenge which is climate change and the economic recession that we're going to weather. i actually think that we're all going to come together and that we all love this town, and i'm honored to serve one more term on the san francisco board of supervisors. thank you, madam clerk. thank you, colleagues, thank you to the voters of district 3. >> president walton: thank you so much, supervisor peskin. now we'll bring up supervisor from district 5, supervisor dean preston. >> supervisor preston: thank you, president walton, and i

think that i'm going to say that again just because i like the sound of it. thank you, president walton. and congratulations to you on not just -- not just becoming board president, but doing so unanimously. i think that says a lot. i want to thank the residents of district 5 for giving me the opportunity to serve as your supervisor for another four years. and i have to say that to talk openly about fundamental change, to have this platform to work towards replacing capitalism, to be part of a movement and a struggle to serve and to mobilize the working class in our collective effort, to reverse centuries of oppression, inequality, and injustice, is really a privilege. and i feel fortunate to be here. i feel humbled to have been

re-elected. and this time to have the opportunity to have a full four-year term. i want to thank my wife, and my daughters, skye and keira and my father. my brother. my late mother. and my late sister who made me promise before her very premature death that i would run again when the seat became open. and she saw me in my first election, and was determined that if the seat should become open again i should run. so i want to thank my team and as others have said we're only as good as our staff, kyle, jen, avery and preston. a special thank you to the democratic socialists of america, to all of the activists and to the progressive labor

unions and the dozens of organizations and community groups that are really the backbone of our movement here in san francisco and beyond. you are the builders of the better world that is to be. and that we will get to. i also want to thank the city leaders and the district 5 voters who believed and trusted our vision. i wish that we could be together in person, and i recall last year in the special elections that we were able to all gather in chambers. if we were together in person, i would hope to be able to give you some of the energy and inspiration and resolve that you all have given me. as a democratic socialist in this year in government, i have found common cause with my colleagues on this board, and so many people across city government on many issues. but i've also had to learn how

to stand alone at times. and that that's okay. i want to thank the activists and the visionaries who have stood with me, who have held me accountable. thank you for being my moral compass as i serve in office and as i navigate the complexities of serving in the legislative office. and to the billionaires who smeared us, who attacked homeless people, who tried to take away rent relief, and the promise of social housing in the name of their ever growing bank account, i say while your tactics were wrong, you were right to oppose me. because i'm coming after your billions. we will build a more equitable society. we are making history together in the face of threats and opposition of all kinds -- not

just the pandemic, but racism, fascism, corporate dominance, forces of actual evil, masquerading as we see in the capital as patriotism. we're fighting the fight locally and beyond, through real material gains and progressive policies. you can love your city and your country without hate. you can love this land and the people on it without loving the system as it is. and to those in trump's america who call us traitors for our unwavering progressive values and our socialist values, we are proudly disloyal to your corporate and white nationalist agenda. we will not support the ongoing exploitation and abuse of the oppressed, of people of color, of the poor and working class, for profits and life supremacy. as a democratic socialist i stand in firm opposition to the status quo and in support of reordering our society, redistributing the wealth,

privilege and the opportunity that for too long has pooled at the very top. last year locally in this last year, and just to name a few things, i mean, we banned evictions during the pandemic. doubled the transfer tax on high-end real estate sales to help renters to pay back rent and to build social housing. helped immediately ban in san francisco the knee and neck chokehold that killed george floyd and launched the city's first pandemic hotel program. moving district 5 homeless women and children in hotels and joining with our colleagues on this board to pass unanimous legislation to require the city to house homeless people in hotels. we championed in district 5 one of the safe sleeping sites in the city for our homeless neighbors and established slow streets in the district, and renamed a street after earl gauge jr., and championed protections for local small businesses against evictions.

and reversed muni fare hikes and won a fare freeze. and had a aid operation with volunteers helping district 5 seniors and distributing thousands of masks and gloves and hand sanitizers to underserved communities. and stopped the increased health care for city workers and passed a law to have 10,000 units of social housing and won rent protections for midtown park apartments, among many other things. so that's in our one year and i can't wait to see what we can do in a year, especially a year when we don't have an election. this pie in the sky tastes pretty good and we need more of it. so let me just say, colleagues, on so many of these issues that you were right by my side and i was right by your side on your valuable legislative efforts. i am excited that we're only strengthened with the addition of supervisors chan and melgar

to the board as we kick off 2021 and continue our work. and i think that as others have referenced, i mean, this promises to be an extremely difficult year. covid is raging in the community. it poses serious challenges to everything that we hold dear. we have rent debt mounting. evictions are right around the corner. unemployment on the rise and neighborhood business we know from our hearing and talking to folks in our district, these businesses are closing left and right. and our infrastructure investments will be really hobbled by the recession. but amidst that our goal cannot be just to stabilize things. we need to do that, but we also really need to reimagine what rises to replace the failed system that has made us so vulnerable to covid, to hate, to misinformation. together we need to remake this system so that it delivers for the people.

thank you all for giving me this opportunity to serve. >> president walton: thank you so much, supervisor preston. as we said earlier i want to once again congratulate the next supervisor of district 7, supervisor melgar. >> supervisor melgar: thank you so much, president walton. i'm so excited to be a member of this body, representing district 7, the best district in our city. i was coming up the stairs as i have done, i don't know, thousands of times i think over the, you know, the many, many years that i have served at this city and as a commissioner and as a member of the board of supervisors and i worked for the mayor newsom, and this morning coming up the stairs was a special privilege as the first latina elected to this body in

25 years. only the second ever. having been sworn in yesterday by the former treasurer, the supervisor suzanne liad who was the first. and i do feel just a great responsibility and also just so much gratefulness and honor. my family came to san francisco during the 1980s, actually, during the civil war in el salvador. my family of five lived in a small studio apartment off mission street. we had very little food. my dad, who is an engineer with an engineer back in el salvador, worked odd jobs to earn money. and this city was good to us. you know, my sisters and i eventually went on to have successful careers and families of our own. my husband, shawn and i, bought our house in engelside 10 years ago. and our girls have thrived there in district 7.

the best district. they have attended our excellent schools and played in beautiful parks and open spaces. and i ran for supervisor to ensure that those opportunities are there for the next generation. there for my girls and for our kids. our city is in a whole lot of trouble right now, as is our country. folks are sick and dying. san francisco is number one in hospitality industry and it's been decimated along with our small businesses. people are leaving their homes and their livelihoods. this has been a tough, tough year. on top of the crippling pandemic, we have been dealing with a reckoning of our collective legacy of the oppression of black people, the oppression of women. and also, you know, making room for the movements that have resulted, movement for black lives, police reform and the "me too" movement. i believe in the san francisco

spirit. and i believe in our city. and we will rebuild our city and our neighborhoods working together. we can do it deeply rooted in our values, our san francisco values of progress, justice, equality, and economic opportunities for all. i want to thank my husband, shawn -- shawn donahue. and my daughters for their support. and my neighbors, my campaign team, for all of the hard work that they did to get us here. i want to thank jen moe, and jennifer siever, to want to come to do this with me, this little adventure. and thank you to the voters of district 7 for their faith to me. and i will commit to you all and to my colleagues that i will work very hard and i will work collaboratively with you all for a better tomorrow.

thank you for giving me this opportunity and i look forward to our work together. >> president walton: thank you so much, supervisor melgar. and now the re-elected supervisor from district 9, supervisor hillary ronen. >> supervisor ronen: thank you, president walton. i am just very excited. this is a good day. and serving as the district 9 supervisor has been truly the greatest honor of my life. and i am very grateful to my constituents for electing me to serve a second term. i will be working non-stopover the next four years to remediate the unbelievable damage and the difficulty that both the pandemic and four years of the trump presidency and the mcconnell senate have left behind. since we have so much to rebuild, i believe that we should take every single opportunity similar to what supervisor preston said, to

rethink the ways that things were done before the triple nightmare and to create something even better. extreme inequality, white supremacy, and reverence for individualism over collective needs continues to reign supreme in this country. if we want a better and a bright future we need to dismantle and conquer each one of these rigid systemic barriers and that is my goal locally here for the next four years. i want to talk a little bit about the work i want to do, because i'm excited about the ambitious, always ambitious agenda, that i have created together with my amazing team. i'm going to work non-stop to fully implement mental health s.f. so that it becomes the best behavioral health care system in the country, bringing a humane response to help people on our streets with serious mental

illness and addiction. we will set and stick to a goal of zero deaths from overdose. when we finally get kids back in school, we will have a lot of work to do to undo the year or more of educational deficit caused by distance learning. the flight from our public school system. and the ever widening achievement gap. it is time that public school kids get all of the perks and the bells and the whistles and the opportunities that wealthier children receive in the private system. and i am so excited, stay tuned, colleagues, to be working with supervisor melgar and the new board of education commissioner kevin bogus on precisely a solution to these challenges. stay tuned. next week we'll talk more about that. when i ran the first time around i had a goal of creating 5,000 units of affordable housing in the district in a decade. and four years in we have

achieved 1,700 units that are built in the pipeline to be built or purchased off of the private market. and i am hell bent on reaching this 5,000 unit goal in the district. the market disruption caused by the pandemic, paired with prop i in november and the new leadership that we have in washington, i think that it's going to allow the level of land and building acquisition to help us to make a serious dent in our affordable housing crisis. this is how we solve our homeless and workforce crisis in this city. affordable housing and lots of it. we also have to help small businesses now more than ever. several of you have said this. it shouldn't be hard or expensive to launch a new small business in this city and i want to make it free to do so. we can and we should remove any impediments for businesses to reopen after this pandemic. i will make this happen. and then, finally, as many public commenters called in to

talk about today, we are not immune from this systemic racism that permeates the police departments and the criminal justice system everywhere in this country. i will continue to work on measures that fundamentally alter the way that the city polices its residents. to bring transparency to police efforts and to partner with our new police leadership, and to hasten these reforms. we will close down county jail 4 and juvenile hall responsibly. and in a way that makes our communities even safer. colleagues, i want to first off to thank you all so much. both my past and my present colleagues. while i often disagree with many of you, the one thing that all 11 of us always have in common is our love for this city and the love for the people who live and work here and i really appreciate everything that you have done and everything that you doll to constantly strive to make san francisco even better. and i am going to thank my

amazing, incredible, current and former staff, sheila hagan and carolyn, and nate, and natalie g, and you're a chief of staff now, and amy finearts and jennifer lee and santiago, i could not have achieved anything without you all. and i am so excited about our work going forward. i love and respect each and every one of you tremendously. and, of course, i always have to mention my mentor and my hero, david compost. you continue to be my guiding example of what it means to be an effective public official that always leads with integrity. finally, certainly, not least is my family. my extended family, my mom, my dad, my sister and my nephew and my nieces, michael and marita, and my brother-in-law marlin and

my sister-in-law, mora, you hold me up and make me fight hard and take chances. and then, of course, my beloved francisco and i have to mention oreo cookie, our guinea pig, because i will never be talked to again if i don't mention oreo. so to you all, you are everything to me, everything that i do is because i have you to lean on and come home to each night. i love you three to the ends of the universe and back. thank you. >> president walton: thank you so much, supervisor ronen and now the newly re-elected supervisor from district 11, supervisor ahsha safai. >> supervisor safai: thank you, president walton, and thank you, colleagues, it's always a pleasure to go last because i get the opportunity to hear so much of the great things that everyone has to say. and sometimes i feel some of the things they say are things that might have forgotten to mention.

but one of the things that i noticed in listening already, and this is something that i think is important for the public to note, is that so many of us on this board -- all of us -- care deeply about this city. and i think that it's evidenced in the election of supervisor walton today, how that was unanimous. you know, there's always behind the scenes and how the great conversations, but in the end how we came together, and i think that is an important message for the city to hear right off the bat. we're ready to work with the mayor and that's evident right off the bat. and so i think that the city's leadership is coming together. i want to recognize, again, supervisor chan and supervisor melgar, to welcome them, and let them know that when i first got on the board the members that had been here for some time, particularly our mayor, was very welcoming. and ready to help. and so we are here to help you and to do anything that we can

to make your transition easy. but, colleagues, it's with great humility and pride that i speak to my supporters and everyone here today. while this is my second term being sworn in as supervisor of district 11, this moment in san francisco is very different and in the state of california and in the united states than it was from four years ago. as someone that was born out of this country, as someone that is a child of a muslim father from a country that was targeted by president trump, immediately -- there was an immediate amount of anxiety and apprehension of what it would mean. there were only words on the campaign trail, but actions immediately evidenced itself in his racist behavior and his anger. and it only got worse, and our worst nightmares have cull mitt nateed in this -- cull i had cud

nateed in the last week. and now with kamala harris, the tide has turned and i know that speaker pelosi as well at the helm for the next four years there is optimism that we will turn the tide. it couldn't come at a better time with what this city is facing. so i'm optimistic and hopeful about that. when i was first elected i promised to work every day for the working families of district 11 so they no longer would be treated like the forgotten part of san francisco. i know that a lot of people feel like that in certain areas of this city, but it was truly the mantra of our district. i listened closely to the narrative and the constantly fought every single day with my staff, with my supporters and with all of you to ensure that we earned and received our fair share. and that the families and the children of district 11 got what they deserved. i took this messaging to heart and i worked every single day to

make sure that the working families were prioritized, and that district 11 finally had a strong voice in city government. i learned very early in my career -- i grew up down the street from tip o'neill, that all politics is local. and it truly is the case. so when people call and people have concerns, we listen, we respond, we follow up and we deliver. for the past four years we have done amazing things for south central parts of san francisco. and yet we straddle between the western part of the city and the southeast part of san francisco. so maybe that's why we're often overlooked and jumped over. but under my leadership, our district has received over -- well over half a billion dollars in city resources and investment that's currently being used to build the first ever family affordable housing. we have 260 units that just got full funding this past week, two separate projects, and then two

private projects that are under construction as well. over 560 units are in the pipeline and will be done in the next year and a half, two years. and our janitors, our bus drivers and our muni drivers and our grocery store clerks and our labor and civil service workers and our non-profit workers, they have been prioritized and we have prioritized working families as part of this conversation of building affordable housing. when i came into office we were still having that fight and i'm proud to say that four years later it is part of the mantra that working families deserve to be included in what is affordable. we've also been able to put to the front of the line the building of the largest neighborhood library in our city. and that will break ground in the next few years. we also have opened up the very first job center, and thank you supervisor walton for being there that day. and thank you -- excuse me, thank you, mayor breed, for making that happen in your very first year in office, supporting

our desire to have a job center in historically underserved engelside-lakeview, and making sure that the well-being of our constituents were put first. lastly, some of the other things that we did was about greener and safer. supervisor walton -- excuse me, president walton, we planted over 2,000 trees in our district and i'm very proud of that and we repaved roads and we also installed hundreds of speed humps and traffic calming at the request of our neighbors that has reduced the flow and the speed of traffic and made a significant impact with vision zero pedestrian safety. we have accomplished a lot for our district and on the city-wide level things like city-wide labor project agreements and inclusionary housing updates and prioritizing our family child care centers and family child care, passing the affordable housing bond, and one of the things that i'm the proudest of, particularly in this time, is to ensure that our

schools are funded at the right level. and i'm proud to have led along with our teachers' union and the mayor, the passage of prop j, and that is something that will have a significant impact as we head into these times. as i entered next four years of this term in office, i would be remiss not to speak about the impacts and the devastation that covid-19 has had on our community and our businesses and most importantly our children and seniors. my community has been particularly hit hard by covid. i'm very proud of the work that our community leaders have done to open up testing sites, both in lakeview and the excelsior that are free and accessible to all members of the community. and ensuring that our city workforce -- and we have fought very hard and thank, madam mayor, for supports us to make sure that we had the workforce and support that we needed during this time. i want to ensure all san franciscans that i will work

tirelessly to make sure that our health care, like kaiser and others are working in collaboration and coordination to ensure that san francisco is ready when it comes and, it's coming very quickly the time for mass vaccinations and ensuring that we get that done. i will fight for equitable funding and support for san francisco's most vulnerable populations. those that are in extreme poverty, undocumented families, and those that are often left out of the conversation. while covid-19 recovery will be our top priority and as supervisor ronen said, whatever we can do to work collaboratively to prioritize opening up our schools for all children, it's one of my highest priorities and i'm there to help all of you working on this priority. we'll be making sure that some other priorities are also at the top of the list. the police department is actively and aggressively

ensuring that it meets all of the department of justice recommendations. that will be one of my top priorities. i will also work to reenvision food security, stabilizing housing and opportunities for our homeless, and working to ensure that there's the proper oversight for early education and making sure that is delivered in a fair and equitable way as we move into the next phase of delivery. and, finally, ensuring that our board's commitment to racial equity is uplifted and expanded. i'll continue to ensure that our city departments and authorities are working for the people, being fiscally responsive, but also prioritizing those that are the most in need right now during these economic times. while fulfilling their job duties at the highest ethical standards as public servants and ensuring that we reinstate and rebuild the public trust. as i conclude, i'd like to thank all of the volunteers and the supporters of my campaign,

organized labor in particular. i came from the labor movement. and i carry that with me every step of the way. and the lens that i look through is through the lens of labor in terms of ensuring that our policies are fair and equitable for working people. all of the elected officials and the colleagues that supported my re-election, the mayor, thank you for her support as well. and my former and current staff, kathy, and judy lee, and sew sue sandoval, and others, all of you and sam, for your tremendous support. and as many of you have said that we're nowhere near anything without the hard work of our staff. finally, i would like to thank my amazing and devoted wife, avita, my two lovely children, saul and rumy and our cat measha, i'm taking a page out of your book, miss hillary ronen,

that's a good idea. and my entire family for their support. and my mother, marcia, to san francisco as this is her new home and it will be for the rest of her life. so we're so excited to have her here in san francisco. all of that has allowed me to run for office and to serve the people of district 11 in san francisco. there's no other job that i would want at this moment. i'm reminded constantly of the principle that i have every single day as the amazing as this city is and the opportunity to be an elected official. the next four years are going to be economically tough for our city, but we're going to come together to overcome this economic disaster in covid-19. and i'm confident that our recovery will be better. we'll come out as a more vibrant city, centered around san francisco values and residents and small business owners and others. thank you all. and i assure you that the best is yet to come from my office and from our city.

>> president walton: thank you, supervisor safai and, again, congratulations to all of the newly elected and re-elected supervisors. we do now have an opportunity for any other supervisors that may want to say a few words, supervisors from districts 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10. and i will look to see if anybody wants to jump in from the roster. and i don't see anybody jumping in on the roster. so i am now at this point going to just first off start off by saying that i want to first give an honor to god and to just say that i am truly humbled and honored and honored and heartened just to be chosen to serve as your board president. i also want to say thank you to our immediate past board president norman yee for his service and the black women who serve as president of this board of supervisors before me.

including our mayor london breed. early 2020 started with a major pandemic. and then we witnessed so many injustices for black people and people of color. whether it was the killings at the hands of law enforcement, or a divisive leader in the white house trying to racialize covid-19 and blame a specific community. this all led to a movement that set us all to bring everyone together. to understand that the lives of black people and the lives of people of color do matter. through all of those challenges, this board of supervisors has remained focus on addressing the issues and concerns that exist in all of our communities. i also bring the voice of all communities to the table. this board has taken a bold step entrusting me with collectively

carrying out a vision of unity for all of san francisco. and sending a bold message that we can and we will work together. covid-19 has changed all of our lives forever. it has forced us all to see the disparities that our most disenfranchised communities face during this major health crisis and our essential and frontline workers have carried us through this hardest time, by providing food, transportation, medical services, education, and services to meet basic needs. these workers really get the recognition they deserve, but now we all see and appreciate them even more. we are at a pivotal time when a unified voice has never been

more important. peaceful transitions should be the norm and we have seen that that was not the case at the national level, and so we will be an example as a city, and, quite frankly, for the country. and what an honor to serve as the board are president during one of the major moments of crisis during our history. everyday decisions that we make will impact people's lives and that is and it must be all of our priorities. i want to say thank you to the most amazing staff in city hall, my legislative team, natalie g, and tracy brown girardo, and tracy birch, and as well as all of the board of supervisors' legislative aides. without all of your hard work and the amazing talents and abilities, we would not be prepared to serve in this

capacity. and i want to thank my family and my wife and my kids and pie grandchildren who have no clue what is going on right now. but most certainly will one day. having the support of family and friends is very important in this work and i also want to thank this city for entrusting me to serve as a member of this body. and the clerk's office for keeping us focused and succinct as we address the day-to-day business of this city. this board of supervisors will be remembered for years to come on how we come together through this adversity. along with our mayor, we must roll up our sleeves and lead san francisco through a recovery from this pandemic, and to be a model for the nation. how well we all come together and work for the people that we serve will be a testament to the

power of collaboration and focus, and that is what makes us one san francisco. we have work together as a board and as a city as we continue to fight through this pandemic, address the number of folks that are living on our streets and making sure they get the housing and the supports they need. as we deal with the increases in certain crimes and work to keep our communities safe, as we fight for social justice and equity, and fight for environmental justice, as we work to get our children back in the classroom, and as we fight to support our small businesses and businesses that have suffered immensely during this pandemic, and as we work to bring more testing and to get the vaccine out to everyone, and as we work to stay unified.

i look forward to working with mayor breed's office, my colleagues, community, labor, educators, essential and frontline workers. the one thing that i can guarantee to everybody and i have said this before -- is that we will disagree at times. but how we work through this agreement is everything. i am extremely excited about keeping us focused on the issues that will bring us all together for the betterment of this city and our city that we all love. let us get to work. and if i may be obliged, because as i look at the time that we are in, i just have to say this -- to all historically black college and university alumni, and all young people

looking for institutions of higher education, when someone wants to know what a black college degree can get you, you can tell them that it can get you elected to serve as the president of the san francisco board of supervisors. you can tell them that it can get you elected to serve as the united states senator in the state of georgia. you can tell them that it can get you to serve as the vice president of the united states of america. this is relevant because i want all of our young people to know that no matter what that you can achieve and be true to your community and culture at the same time. i'm going to end with this, in the words of the late great ucla basketball coach john wooden. imagine how much work we can get

done together if nobody cares who gets the credit. we love you, san francisco. i'm truly honored and humbled to serve in this role. and we will have a lot of work ahead of us but we're prepared to do it in unity. thank you so much, colleagues, for electing me and voting me to this position. i do not take this lightly as i know what we are faced with every day. and the one thing that i'm going to guarantee you is that we're going to work hard to address the issues and concerns of our constituents. madam clerk, is there any other business today? >> clerk: that concludes our business for today, mr. president. >> president walton: thank you so much, madam clerk. and thank you so much to everyone watching and thank you so much, colleagues. this meeting is adjourned.

>> clerk: president lazarus is joined by vice president honda, commissioner swig, commissioner santacana, commissioner chang and i believe attorney rusty is here. he will provide the board with needed legal advice. i'm julie rosenberg, the board's executive director and joined by representatives from the city departments, scott sanchez with the planning department and joseph duffy may attend. he is acting chief building

inspector with the department of building inspection and chris buck urban forester is present. the board requests that you silence or turnoff all phones not to disturb the proceedings. there are seven minutes to present cases and three minutes for rebuttal. people affiliated with the parties have to have comments in this period. time may be limited to two minutes depending on the number of speakers. our legal clerk will give you a warning 30 seconds before your time is up. four votes are required to grant an appeal or modification. if you have questions about requesting a rehearing, please e-mail board staff.

public access and participation are paramount importance to the board and every effort has been made to replicate the in person hearing process. to enable participation, sfgov tv is accessing and streaming this live. and providing closed captioning for the meeting. to watch the hearing on tv, go to cable channel 78, it will be rebroadcast friday's at 4:00 p.m. on channel 26. there's a link to the agenda on our website. public comment can be provided in two ways. one, you can join the zoom meeting via computer or call in by calling 669-900-6833 and enter the webinar id 882 5016 9922.

sfgov tv is broadcasting the phone number and access codon the tv. to block your phone number, dial star 67 and your phone number. listen for the portion of your item to be called and press star 9 so we know you want to speak. you will be brought into the hearing when it is your turn. our legal clerk will provide you with a verbal warning 30 seconds before your time is up. please note there's a delay between the live proceedings and what is broadcast and live streamed on the tv and internet. it is very important that people reduce or turnoff the volume on their tvs or computers. if any of the participants on zoom need a disability accommodation or technical assistance, you can make a request in the chat function or send an e-mail to the board of appeals. the chat function cannot be used

to provide public comment or opinions. we will swear in or affirm all those who intend to testify. any member of the public may speak without taking an oath. if you intend to testify tonight and wish to have the board give your testimony evidentiary weight, say i do after being sworn in or affirmed. do you swear or affirm the testimony is going to be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? >> i do. >> clerk: if you're a participant and not speaking, please put your speaker on mute. we'll move on to item 1, general public comment, an opportunity for anyone who wants to speak on a matter within the board's jurisdiction that is not on tonight's calendar. is there anyone here for general public comment? if so, please raise your hand. okay. i don't see anybody raising their hand. so we'll move on to item number

2. >> president lazarus: commissioners? >> clerk: moving along, item number 3, commissioners before you for discussion, possible adoption of the january 6th minutes. >> president lazarus: may i have a motion to approve? >> motion to approve. >> clerk: we have a motion to adopt the minutes from january 6th, 2021. is there public comment on the motion? if so please raise your hand. there's no public comment on the motion to adopt. president lazarus? >> clerk: (roll call) that motion carriers 5-0 and the

minutings s are adopted. we're moving on to 4a and 4b, number six and number seven, subject property is 2346 chestnut street. they have asked to be continued. we need a motion and vote to move the items. >> president lazarus: is there a motion? >> should i make a disclosure first? >> clerk: this is for the jurisdiction request. i don't think you need to make a disclosure for this one. we just need a motion to move it to february 10th. >> i'll motion. >> clerk: okay. is there any public comment on vice president honda's motion to adopt the minutes? if so, raise your hand. okay, no public comment. on the motion to continue the items to february 10th. (roll call)

that motion carriers 5-0 and the items are move. we're moving on to item number 5. this is the appeal number 20-064, subject property 172 21st avenue. the proposal is to demolish the existing rear deck and stairs and construct a landing and stairs with proposed footprint that will extend 6 feet 11 inches from the rear building wall. it has to maintain 28 feet, the average death of the wall of the two adjacent buildings. they're located within the yard. the proposed landing and stairs would result in a smaller footprint and located entirely in the rear yard and therefore a

rear yard variance is required. the zoning administrator granted the rear yard variance. this is case number 2018-007914. mr. joel tomei? >> i was on video and then i wasn't. >> clerk: we can take a moment to try to get you on video. >> you put your shield on your camera. so you would have to remove the shield. >> i pulled it up. that's why i was wondering. >> clerk: we can hear you fine. we see your picture now.

>> okay. that's a much better picture than what i look like. okay. my name is joel tomei, i'm the appellant of the appeal of 172 21st avenue. i live diagonal to the rear of the property. i lived at 167 with my wife patricia for 40 years. the american institute of architects and co-captain for the safe neighborhood. in 2007 i noticed the construction of new deck and stair was occurring at the rear yard and i called the san francisco building department inspection to inspect. as it turned out, this was taking place without permit and a variance request was put into place which was granted.

boa allowed the as built of the deck to be legalized but placed the following condition, see exhibit 1, slide 1. the notice of special restrictions nsr be recorded on the land records by the property owner which states that the as built condition may remain as long as the disabled resident, the sister, lives at the property. i've been aware that the ownership of 172 21st avenue appeared to have changed in the past 13 years but wondered by the deck at the rear was not removed based upon the above condition. when the planning department notice of public hearing wednesday june 24th, 2020, for

172 21st avenue was sent to the neighborhood -- please slide number 2, it states that it is to demolish the deck and stairs at the rear of the property, i wondered why it was not being removed based upon the boa of 2007. i tried to understand the basis of the description for the public hearing and noticed the most recent building permit application on may 2018, exhibit 3, please, had in its project description to remove and replace deck at the back of the house, note of enforcement, comply with notice of violation, exhibit 4 please, which states that legalize stair and landing, new door at rear were required second means of egress. at that point i assumed and for

many months after, that everyone was proposing to rebuilt the stair for second means of egress. why wouldn't i think that. that was on the permit. and on the billing permit application, the building is assumed to be three stories, which it is not. it is a two story building. the subsequent conversation i had with the architect of record chris sullivan that the stairs were not being replaced as second of egress but a second stair to access the rear yard. now i felt the stair was being allowed for other reasons, the design became the most important thing because of the possibility it could be considered a precedent for other identical buildings that occur that might want to consider a rear stair in the future for convenience. slide 5 please. i think what is important about this slide is that 172 is the

subject property of course and as you go north up the slide, those are the other properties, you can see they're all the same identical buildings, the same footprints and so if something happens on one, they can check it out and say i want to do the same thing. that's why it is a concern of the capability of the stair in the back since in the beginning it was not a legal stair to begin with. slide 6 please. visually, this is what exists right now. visually intrudes and has been there 13 years. on the back property of the east, it defaces the building elevation and limits the physical and visual access to its rear yard from the lower unit. the lower unit has a door just blocking the whole thing in visual access. this will be the case for

backyards of properties on 20th avenue to the east if this design is repeated for all similar buildings to the north. many of these property owners on 20th avenue, which i'm one of them to the east, signed the petition not supporting the stair at 172 21st avenue. see exhibit 7 and 7a please. on september 20th -- thank you. on september 20th all parties agreed to revise the stair design and place a rear yard stair on landing on the south side of the building bump for sketches dated 9/24/20. you can see on the exhibits. this is a plan view of the proposed new stair as a sketch

generated a few months ago, the basis of the agreement of all parties. next slide please. this is what it would look like from the adjacent east property, you saw the slide. scroll up a little bit this is what is existing right now and the previous image is proposing. sk-4, please. this is what it looks like from the south elevation. that was a preliminary kind of sketch. on january 6th, 2021, all parties agreed to revision three which are minor revisions to the sketches you saw previously which will not be presented by chris sullivan, board of consideration for adoption. >> thank you joel.

i'm chris sullivan. i can turn my video on. i'm the architect of record on the project. and i'm also the sponsor. since those sketches -- >> that's time. thank you. >> clerk: that was the appellant's time and we're moving on. i guess he wanted you to speak during his time. but we're moving on to the determination holder now. so you have seven minutes. >> oh, okay. can i share my screen or is that not allowed? >> clerk: you can. we can stop the time until --

we can go ahead. >> so in working in tandem with joel, we were trying to come up with a stair design that was amendable to all parties involved and give the owner an access to the backyard and mr. tomei is correct in stating that the access to the backyard is not required for any type of fire or access to the backyard other than a convenience. in working with him and the building department, we did a bit of a redesign to the back stair where in you can see here

the existing stair in plan looks like this, shown dotted here in this plan. the proposed stair has a fire wall along the south, so south is pointing up on the page. a fire rated wall along the south property line, the landing is here. then the stair projects into the backyard here. so the stairs come up, they angle to the south, there's a step from landing up to this landing, a new door will allow access into the back porch of the enclosed porch of the house.

in doing that and let me go back up to this drawing, there's an existing set of steps under the stairs which we'll have to remove and replace down to this area here. one of the building department requirements was to open -- keep the area open in the corner here such as there's light and ventilation to this bedroom window. the other thing was because there's a small garden wall existing here now, i pulled the wall, proposed one hour rated wall away from the fence and we have to or i have to determine after this whether the fence can be put back in behind the wall or it can be left off the proximity of the wall and the

fence are very close to one another. so in the elevation, the side south facing elevation, the x shows the extent of the wall, the fire rated wall which is 36 inches above the platform here which is the actual landing finished level and then the steps come down here. and then -- sorry, these are the existing elevations here showing the existing landing and stair from the south elevation and from the east elevation so the proposed drawings show the wall here with the landing and then the steps coming down on the south elevation and then the

east elevation shows the door and the window which we're trying not to cover as much as possible. the fire rated wall is this double line here and then the landing and stairs come down here. after a couple of revisions to the design that mr. tomei and i worked through along with the owner, ralph chapin, this is where we ended up in terms of the design. this was preliminarily reviewed by the building department and that's why i had to add the rated wall and it was also preliminarily reviewed by planning and they wanted to -- they had no preliminary comments, they just wanted to see what would come of the board

of appeal hearing which is what is going on currently. the only other thing that we need to do is make sure that the adjacent property owner to the south is ameanble to this new fire rated wall and the revision to the stair design. and they are this adjacent property here which is 178. and i will give the time back to the executive director. >> clerk: thank you. we will now hear from the planning department. mr. sanchez? >> thank you. so the subject property is within our zoning district and it's the appeal of the variance determination that allowed rear yard variance for the replacement of deck and stairs

in the rear yard, as mentioned by the appellant was heard by the board of appeals some 13 years ago. i would like to note that the proposal reviewed and approved actually hasn't been clearly presented to the board this evening. it does not simply replace the deck and stairs as they exist today. it does -- it essentially removing the deck and having simply stairs at the rear. there's a simple landing and then stairs heading down to the rear yard. it doesn't encroach as far into the rear yard as the current structure does. we did review the revision proposed by the parties and as the board know, we fully support the party's meeting and discussing alternatives and coming up with solutions and in this case, the solution does not

comply with the variance decision letter because it is a different project, the stairs are in a different location and have different impacts than reviewed through the variance hearing process. this is the hearing that the board has the ability tonight to grant the appeal and adopt the revised plans as part of your hearing on this item and discussing this with the administrator, we stand by and support our variance decision on this project. we believe it was properly reviewed and approved. we do think the proposal that was reviewed is the least impactful to all parties given that the plans that were shown tonight add the new fire wall along that south side property line and today no outreach has been done to the adjacent property owner, so while, you know, neighbors have issues with the property owner on 20th

avenue, but the appellant does not make new impacts with the property owner at 178 and 21st. this scope of work does require the notification for the neighborhood that was performed for the current proposal over the summer. if the board were to adopt a revised plan here, we would need to do the neighborhood notice again and that would allow for a review to be filed on the revised project if there were concerns about it. at that point, the variance is going to be locked in. they wouldn't be able to do anything else. unfortunately there's no discussion with the adjacent property owner who will be the most impacted. we wouldn't oppose the revision if the board finds this is

superior alternative to the current proposal and the i don't know if the board has seen the current proposal. i can try to share that. i believe i have it up on the screen there. you should be able to see the current proposal and just showing you the plan and you can see the existing deck and stairs on the lower image and the current proposal is on the upper edge. so you have very simply a landing and stairs winding down and going to the rear elevation and seeing the existing extent of the encroachment, the deck and the stairs. it is much less impactful we believe. there's the issue unfortunately with the impacts on below but it is a balancing of concerns and

if the board feels what is proposed tonight is a better resolution, we would not oppose that, but no outreach has been done by any of the parties who will be impacted by the solution that the parties have found. i'm available for questions. thank you. >> clerk: we have a question from president lazarus and then commissioner swig. >> president lazarus: so mr. sanchez, do you have a recommended course of action in your opinion, would it be better to continue this and do the outreach? and i also -- it doesn't sound like you all necessarily -- i don't know if it's the right term, signed off on this. >> we refer to the board, if they feel it is a better option, we don't oppose that.

we think the current proposal on appeal which we approved is a better alternative but we defer to the board on that. if the board feels the original proposal is better, we can move ahead with that. if that's not what the appellant would prefer i know, but that's what the project is now. you could certainly continue the item and get feedback from the adjacent property owner. i know the discussions, the variance holder has reached out but it might be a trust ownership. i don't think the effort was made until yesterday or today. >> president lazarus: the other question i have, i don't know if it is super relevant. i think it was labelled third story, there was a point made by the appellant, it's really two stories. i don't know if that's of grave concern but what is your

professional take on it. >> in terms of whether -- that's mostly an issue for department of building inspection and determining egress requirements. we defer it to dbi in matters like this that result in building code requirements but i think everyone agrees in this case it's not a required means as the stairs. the stairs as i understand it don't even need to be replaced under the code. that would be another option as well. >> president lazarus: thank you. >> clerk: commissioner swig? >> commissioner swig: i'm along the same lines as president lazarus. you know, it seems that we have two thirds of the equation here. they have come to an agreement but we haven't asked the next door neighbor. so scott, your opinion is you

would rather have the original but you would be okay given that an appellant and project sponsor in quite an unusual move or not a normal move have come together on agreement to do something that would meet a legal standard. is that correct? >> yes. the revision doesn't cause us tremendous concern. i think our main concern is if there's a new fire wall against the adjacent property owner and i think it doesn't completely violate the residential design guidelines to have that fire wall there, but it seems appropriate to have outreach to them. if we're trying to resolve things for the benefit of all the neighbors, it should include all of the neighbors. >> commissioner swig: and it was not presented tonight -- it is

my understanding from viewing a photo that the house next door is dissimilar to the remaining houses that were shown to us earlier in a drawing as the appellant was making the point why he felt the way he did and but it seems the house next door is set back away from the property line significantly whereas the other four or five houses on the block are connected together at the property line. do you deal that would present a legal challenge? >> they're a smaller building on

the lot than the subject property. i think it's worth a bit more analysis, we need to look at the impacts on that adjacent neighbor and see if it is truly or can be reduced. i don't think there's been a lot of analysis or consideration of the adjacent property. but it's not like it's a 20 foot fire wall, it's 14 feet tall and not too much. >> commissioner swig: the bigger issue is if we approved the design that is presented by the

appellant and the project sponsor that we might be back here hearing this all over again because the next door neighbor would file an appeal -- >> yeah. >> commissioner swig: i think we're going the direction that madam president presented. >> thank you. >> clerk: president lazarus. >> president lazarus: sorry mr. sanchez. if we went with the revised proposal would the current variance support that or would we need new findings? >> i think the bulk of the current findings would be transferrable. the scope is effectively the same,ite going to have stairs that are going to provide access to the rear yard. i think it would generally be acceptable and i could work with the executive director if tweaks are needed to the findings. >> president lazarus: thank you. we would need to continue for

that reason alone aside from the neighbor issue. to review the findings. >> clerk: thank you mr. sanchez. we're going to hear from the department of building inspection. inspector duffy? >> i actually was involved in this case, i can't remember, it was one of the cases and we were trying to get it resolved. we got involved and mr. sullivan has been working hard to get it resolved. it's unfortunate that the neighbor needs to get notified on the fire wall but i think it's a good idea. and the fire wall -- it's

definitely everything i have heard is good. i look forward to getting it resolved. there is still the violation with dbi and it would be nice to get things cleaned up and resolved. i'm available for questions. >> clerk: okay. i don't see any questions. thank you. so we'll move on to public comment. is there anyone here to provide public comment? please raise your hand. okay. i do not see public comment. we'll move on to rebuttal. mr. tomei, you have three minutes. >> can you hear me? >> clerk: we can. >> i was wondering if we could have slide 8 please?

thank you. we hope the board of appeals considers adoption of revision 3, which is what chris went through at the end there. and also, any future building permit application remove information that the building application with the same information that the building permit carried in 2007. this wrong information is as follows... that the building is three stories, where in fact it is a two story building. this is a two story building and it was confirmed by the dbi records during the hearing of may 2nd 2007. and also that the wrong information be removed that the building requires second legal means of egress, it does not

require second legal means of egress. it is a two story building. this wrong information is in the present building permit application and notice of violation where it says to legalize stair and landing, new door at rear wall for second means of egress. that concludes my comments for rebuttal. >> clerk: thank you. we have a question from vice president honda. >> vice president honda: mr. tomei, since you have been on the block for 40 years, do you know the property owner that -- the adjacent property owner to the house? >> that's an interesting question. we have probably known them for 40 years, and it was interesting to me during this whole process that i was expecting there would be a review in the neighborhood. i guess i was off mark on that one. but we have known -- our

children went to preschool with them. we haven't been in contact for a number of years but they're a nice family there. >> vice president honda: as you can tell, the board is leaning to continue it so that the sponsor or yourself can do outreach to them so we don't know they feel the notification process has worked for them as well. the only benefit is it's on the north side, it doesn't appear to be blocking additional sunlight and maybe give additional privacy to that landing. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. we will now hear from chris sullivan on behalf of the determination holder. you have three minutes. >> i have nothing more to say other than yes, we do need to go through another neighborhood notification process specifically to notify the

neighbor to the south. and i'm hoping that the board will find favorable the current design such that we can just move forward, get approval hopefully from the neighborhood and put the whole thing to bed. that's all i have to say. thank you. >> clerk: vice president honda has a question. >> vice president honda: same question, sir. have you had outreach with your adjacent neighbor? >> i actually tried to reach out to them last night and this afternoon. the only information that i have on the property is through tax records showing the property is owned in trust. i sent them a set of drawings

that were shown here tonight and i haven't heard anything yet. so it's in process. and i do apologize because we were going through variations of design and there were people i needed to get approval from, i was kind of lagging behind getting to the finish line of the design and then sending it out. >> vice president honda: no apology needed. it is nice when we hear cases where people have worked things out. but since you live next door and it is in a trust, is it tenants in the building now? or vacant? >> i'm not quite sure. when i was doing the previous neighborhood notification process, i actually knocked on the door and nobody was -- nobody answered. i can't answer --

>> vice president honda: thank you. >> clerk: okay, thank you. i'm sorry. mr. sanchez, we'll hear from the planning department. >> i'll be brief and in regards to the concerns about the building permit being updated to be correct and accurate. i know that deputy director duffy has that concern as well, planning department has the concern. we want all the permits before they go out the door to have accurate project descriptions and i think the permit holder is well aware of the concerns raised. and ultimately would be their responsibility to make the corrections on the permit. we can certainly work with them to make that happen. it's a bit of a process to get all the systems the have the same project description but we can work with them to make it

happen. thank you. >> clerk: vice president honda has a question. >> vice president honda: so, first of all say hi to milo, i heard him in the background. the question is, i think you answered, could you clarify, if we adopt the new drawings which seem to be -- the way things seem to be going, and they get clarification or the neighbor gets notification, do they have to go again the 311? >> yes and the notice needs redone. it is prudent to do the work now to get the neighbor on board. once the variance is locked in, it can't be changed. if the neighbor says we really oppose that and want it to be somewhere else, then the permit holder doesn't have a project. they're kind of stuck in an endless cycle of appeals. i don't like the idea of continuances but maybe it is

best to get the neighbor consulted and get feedback and then move forward. and they'll both still need to do the 311 notice again. that's part of the project, the description is changing, that needs to happen under the law. but at least we can have a little bit better idea of what the result is going to be of the notice. >> vice president honda: the only thing we're missing is frank and he was probably around when it came before him the first time. >> very much around. >> clerk: we will hear from inspector duffy, deputy director, excuse me. >> so just the only thing i would add, i should have mentioned, the story is very important as mr. sanchez said, i agree with that. it has been looked at and has a garage and two stories and years ago whenever the garage level of

san francisco homes, so the code has changed so the records are always -- i'm happy if mr. sullivan wants to contact me by e-mail, i'm more than happy to fix that. happy to do that. >> clerk: thank you. president lazarus? >> president lazarus: i have a question. i think for mr. sanchez. the neighborhood notification would be required if we adopt a new plan, right? so that can't -- if we continue this, that's not going to affect the timing of the neighborhood notification. we have to render a decision and assuming we went with the changes, then the neighborhood notification happens. >> right. a notice has been done but if

the board adopts a different plan, then a notice -- a new notice needs to be done. >> president lazarus: so the continuance only allows for the time to meet with the neighbor and potentially to have a quick review of the variance findings and recommend any changes should we adopt a new plan. >> yes, absolutely. >> president lazarus: thank you. >> clerk: commissioners, this matter is submitted. >> vice president honda: if we're leaning towards continuing this, which i think is probably the best idea, how long they need of a continuance to get some kind of approval from the adjacent neighbor. i mean is that what we're leaning to -- scott says we don't want to make a decision

and give the variance and then he has nothing to appeal, right? then the project sponsor is in a bad position. >> president lazarus: that's what i'm thinking. >> vice president honda: can i ask a question to the project sponsor? or their professional, either or. >> go ahead. >> vice president honda: so the board is evidently leaning to continue this so that you have some kind of approval or -- from your adjacent neighbor. how much time do you need from that? >> i would say -- so that's a two part answer. number one, if i just reach out to the neighbor, it would take me a month probably to make sure we made contact. they reviewed the drawings and gave their determination. but getting to scott sanchez's

point, because the stair design has changed, he is saying we probably need to just send it out again for overall neighborhood notification and that process will take -- i don't know four or five months. scott can weigh in on the timing of that. >> that's because the scope of project has changed. >> president lazarus: but you need to understand, that won't happen unless it comes back to us and we approve the change. if we don't, if we uphold the variance as it is currently written, there's no need for notification. the continuance is not aligned with that particular aspect. am i right mr. sanchez? >> yes that's correct. the board process would happen

and then separately and after the 311 notice would happen and i would say 30 day notice. i think we can get one prepared pretty quick and maybe do a reduced notice and only do 15 days because it has been noticed in one form and if we do outreach to the neighbors, i think we can look at flexibility with the notice given it would be a second notice of the project. first, the outreach to the neighbor and the board may have the comfort and knowledge of the response when you take action on this. >> vice president honda: so mr. sullivan, you'll need a month to get notification to your neighbor? >> yes, that does tie in to what scott said in terms of just making sure that all parties have enough time and they give

us some sort of feedback on the revised design. >> vice president honda: that's fine. usually project sponsors want it to be quicker. if you think a month is fine, that works for me as well. thank you sir. >> okay. >> president lazarus: madam executive director, would you please indicate the next meeting closest to a month from now. >> clerk: february 17th. we have five appeals. we could try to squeeze it on them. otherwise march 3rd. >> vice president honda: if we're just adopting from what we -- i think it would be fine if the president allows it.

>> i would recommend march 3rd at the risk of further discussion, presentations and then feedback should be the person next door not like our idea or their idea. >> i'm looking at the items on february 17th and i think there's a possibility that more items may come off of that agenda. at least ones we have worked with. just to provide to the board. >> i just don't want to -- things tend to take longer given the format these days. >> vice president honda: motion to continue this to february 17th so that the project sponsor can do specific outreach to the adjacent

property owner to the south. and require like a letter or something from that neighbor, madam president or just for them to get back and say it's okay? >> president lazarus: i would put the phrase in the variance holder to do the right thing. only tweak i would make if this is necessary is also to allow time for the executive director and mr. sanchez to determine whether if we adopt the new drawings, any new findings or changed findings are required. >> vice president honda: okay. >> clerk: okay. so we have a motion from vice president honda to continue this matter to february 17th so that the determination holder can give notice to the neighbor to the south of the revised design and also to allow time for the executive director and

scott sanchez to modify the findings of the variance as needed, if the plans are adopted. on that motion... >> commissioner santacana: just one question please. where are we on the advice that the description of the property should be -- the focus on the description of the property so it becomes a two story building instead of three story -- >> president lazarus: the permit is not in front of us. i don't know if that's a matter for us to think. >> clerk: it will be continued, we can address details in the decision at the next meeting. on that motion... (roll call)

that motion carriers 5-0 and the matter is continued. thank you. so we are now moving on to item number 6. this is appeal john nulty, appealing the issuance on november 18th, 2020, to remove trees on the following conditions. adoption of uc hastings green community benefits plan to include replacement for the eight street trees removed. per plans and assessments, feasible at the construction site and remaining trees off site. on site and off site planting number will work with each other. b, maintenance of all planted

trees for minimum of 36 months. and new planting to provide appropriate tree protection. plant larger trees feasible for staff recommendations and provide bureau of urban forestry with list of off site planting site. we will hear from the appellant, john nulty first. >> good evening board of appeals, commissioners, staff and the public. we're here tonight to show the street trees -- can i have slide number 1 please?

the trees are all 30 feet high referenced on page 3 and 4 of the uc hastings open space november 5th, 2015. page 2 please. the mature trees could have been moved by the contractor and saved to the construction area of uc hastings campus being demolished. the permit holder does not state in the reports that the six significant trees were failing in health. the uc hastings filed for application of tree removal dated february 21st, 2020, mentioning the six significant trees. the permit holder has not released the information after

multiple requests for information about the six significant trees. page 3 alec please. next, the street trees mentioned in the multiple exhibits on hide and mcalister streets. i have shown the four trees planted in 2015 planted and since the fence was placed to prevent pedestrians, there is no accurate number of the plots or hide street since the barricades went up prior to the dpw hearing. the number of documents don't add up to the arbours report dated 2019 exhibit 48 stated only 11 trees around the site. four months later, stating there are 12 trees dated 2/21/20,

exhibit 43. and lastly, google map may 2020 shows 12 of the trees where they are. so one third of the trees planted along the two streets were gone in four months? i don't think so. conclusion, what happened to the one tree on hyde which was responsible -- who is responsible for the removal before the dpw hearing. next, before the dpw hearing, here november 12th, 2020, section 806, all the trees seven days before the hearing are to be posted on all of the affected trees for the hearing.

only one tree on hyde but not the rest of the trees were posted for the hearing for dpw. (please stand by...)

>> and that is the end of my comment and i'll move on to pictures in 1. showing if they open the door it would hit the tree and in picture number 2, showing the next slide, alex. back one. it shows the demolishing of the trees at the plaza and

everything. this is what it looks like now. it's showing the, you could see the fence around the mcallister and picture 4, please. next one. next slide, please. we've missed that one. this one shows on the side of the trucks, the equipment all over where the trees are so it's not protecting the trees, they're killing the trees. the next slide this shows 101 hyde where it looks like at the end of the year, showing where it's opposing the parklet and

the last slide, seven. this one shows again 101 tide where the mark let is supposed to go and this part of the green benefits, the green community benefits plan. >> i want to give you a reminder about your disclosure. >> i wish to disclose i'm a partner a project that is hired the firm and there are period before this body this evening will have not an effect on my decision. we will now hear from the determination holder at u.c. hastings and their attorney is present, mr. sucker. >> good evening. president lass was and commissioners and congratulations for your appointment and i've heard from

ruben on behalf of permit holder u.c. hastings college of law and hastings a posed the appeal contesting the department of public works or permitting the removal and replacement of eight street fees adjacent to the campus on hyde and mcallister streets and it is issued after a dually noticed hearing and it should be upheld and the determination was based on findings of fact that support the removal and replacement of the h street trees and issue and hastings has been a longstanding neighbourhood partner with the current building in and mitigates the impact of construction related tree removing and to that end, hastings has presented a green community benefits plan and is it as par of its application, they will plant 24 street trees

to be removed and 14 adjacent to the campus and 10 more within the tenderloin neighbourhood. the old hasting building is being demolished to make way for student housing within a efficient, beautiful sidewalk activating residential building and purposely designed to welcome students, visitors and the community. the street tree removal permit was properly granted for three reasons. first, removal is necessary tone sure a safe construction site and throughout construction and and if l and immediately adjacent to the sidewalk. the excavation requires new shoreing and tie backs and the sidewalk itself will be fully

removed and replaced. the contractor has considered possible configurations for the construction site but due to constrained continues and the surrounding urban areas, the project will need a driveway, the parking strip and a sidewalk space along hyde street for coordination of the activities with trucks lining up such concrete delivery for the foundation and basement wall course by removing the trees the project will be able to maintain three lanes of travel on hyde street which is being required by sfmtv and if the trees cannot be removed, the project site logistics plan would cause hyde street down to two lanes which indicated they will not support and even if two lanes were allowed by mta the trees lean into the street and they would be to be trimmed to the curb and more over, it's not feasible to retain the existing trees because due to the construction

needs, significant trimming of the trees roots would need to be done to allow for excavation and shoring. it will compromise the trees structural integrity and shock the trees result north their demise down the road. while not part of the street tree removal permit at issue, we are cents tive to the trees on hastings campus and and on state and property owner and they are within the construction site not just a mace enter and there was not a viable way to maintain the project inform proceed. that concludes my presentation but i along with representatives from hastings, the contractor and arbourists are available for questions. >> good evening, commissioners, i'm the chief operator officer

at u.s. hastings law and i'm going to provide information on our green community benefits plan. one thing i want to mention is the green community benefits plan seeks to mitigate for the trees that are removed but we go beyond that as well as providing important community contributions and so as justin mentioned, we are going to be providing 24 trees to replace the eight jurisdictional trees that were removed and appellant nolte mentioned some confusion about which specific trees those were and what might be removed and part of that may come from the fact what we have proposed is a 3/1 so that for awful those trees removed, we will ensure that we replace three and three times as many and as justin said, currently we're planning for 24 on site and 10 off site but if for whatever reason we

need to have fewer on site because of project impact, et cetera, we will ensure additional off site trees so we had talked about that when meeting with public works and flexibility there but it true commitment for a 3/1 replacement. in addition the plan commits to a three-year timeline for maintenance of the trees as well as replacement of any trees lost and beyond that, we're also providing wellness contributions within the community and including a much needed park let for the community and located in front of the municipal marketplace add golden gate and hyde and seed money for a grown community benefit fund that will provide for local green infrastructure through micro grants and the all of this plan is to go to be done in coordination and collaboration with community groups and transparency throughout and appellant nolte mentioned concerns about some of the details and how these things might be implemented and i do want to share that we have

executed a work plan where we're working through all of those specific logistics and talking about what the specific funding sources are and the funding is and who rolls and responsibilities are assigned to and what the timeline for each of those components, which is the tree replacement, the park let, as well as the green community benefits fund and finally in conclusion, i actually am as the chief operating officer i am the contact person at uc hastings law for questions related to the green community benefits plan or the 198 construction project so in conclusion this plan is set to offset near term impacts but we're intending this to be a long-term community collaboration. thank you. i'm here for questions. >> thank you. ok, if you could stop sharing your screen. i don't see any questions at this point so we will now move onto the bureau of urban

forestry. >> good evening. commissioners, this is chris buck, bureau of urban for esther and i'm going to recap some of the details from the case including a powerpoint so i'm going to share a screen in a moment. and just try to show some of the images and clear up the things that i can. let me find the powerpoint. let's not panic now. slide show from beginning and you should see the lovely corporate powerpoint before you. so, we have a hearing back in november and -- we don't see the powerpoint. >> you don't? ok. let me try that again.

please pause time. here is the power point. >> please go ahead. >> so, we have the removal of eight trees, treat trees and st. one small on the mcallister front age and there are three primary issues i want to help clear up that the appellant brings up, mr. nolte, who has been a great advocate for trees not just in the tenderloin but city wide. so, the trees we see in the plaza in the background, those are the properties of uc hastings and that is not within the jurisdiction of public works so, unfortunately public works does not have jurisdiction over those six olive trees in the plaza and another issue we wanted to also address is

whether things were posted properly. trees that we approved for mobile are posted for 30 days and when they're protested we schedule it for a hearing. at staff level, if we deny a request from an app can't, we don't post those denied trees for 30 days. so that is why there's confusion there. and literally requires a flow chart so we can explain that to the appellant. no street trees in the sidewalk adjacent to the property have been removed without a permit. just to reiterate. those are the three primary concerns that were raced in the briefing so i wanted to try to address it. this is the ginco that remains mcallister and there were two subject trees at the staff level very initially we did approve because we felt they were in poor condition. some of the other trees we felt

like, yes, they're hit by a car here and leaning there and olive trees can be scrappy and at the staff level, we tried to say is arbourists, are the trees healthy and sustainable. six of the eight trees in our staff level decision were denied because we really don't want to have our planners' hat on we want to focus on the trees and the tree conditions and this is been missing since at least mid 2020, i believe this photo is taken in august of 2020 and this is the image of this stump that we're just looking at by this red arrow so it appears to have fallen on its own not through any questionable activity of anyone on site and we also looked for service questions from the public to see 311 call and see if the public will say a

car hit a tree or a tree fell down and we don't have a report of that but again we don't believe there's any reasonably there's nefarious activity occurring and a few additional photos of the subject trees and i understand from the appellant perspective, one of the many things within all the documents we've provided was an easterly year version of the applicants tree protection checklist and the idea of the checklist is to make sure that everyone understands which trees are to be protected in which trees required permit and the applicant submitted a checklist that noted those six trees and the elevated plaza and being significant and so we have since that time obtained a revised checklist for them to reflect that those trees are in fact not significant and and also i did have our urban forestry inspector for the area and take a look at the site today, just to check over all conditions of

the trees and it's a relatively tidy site. of course there's materials and a lot of activity but the vigor of these trees remains fine and there's no major tree protection issues we see here so we drive and go by the site today and just to check in on things and that's why i wanted to show some photos and those are the primary points that i wanted to address and in conclusion, the public works approvals the removal of eight street trees. sets seven olives on hyde and one ginko. they're going to replant 14 street trees in the sidewalks adjacent to the property and any replacement tree at uc hastings directionally adjacent to their property on the sidewalk will be replanted with a 36-inch box size tree and the other addictional 10 trees if they've

discussed in their brief, will be varying sizes because they may chose to plant with the community and if that's true they may plant a 15-gallon size so the public works resulting decision didn't specify a size for those 10 trees to be planted as sidewalk trees in the community and we reviewed the uc hastings plan and we feel like they've done a good job naming all the different community take holders who they're engaging to be part of this green benefits district who would be the direct beneficiaries of a lot of these plantings. so these are the conditions that we have placed on our permit and again the key details are removal of eight street trees with replacement with 14 with an additional 10 trees to be

planted and we didn't specify. it just says 3/1 replacement and that's 10 additional street trees out in the walks of san francisco and uc hastings will plant those and installing very good tree protection and watering those trees to establishment and so at this point, they ask the commissioners to uphold the permit holders permit to approval those trees and we support the permit holders' position in this matter and ask that you uphold the public works order and whether or not we need to specify any conditions beyond what is already here and our resulting decision. but we do say 3/1 and we have a detained plan which we support.

that concludes our presentation and i'm available for any questions. >> thank you. i do not see any questions so we're moving on to public comment. yes, we have a question from commissioner swig. >> i'd like to compliment mr. buck on his presentation. we've sat through any of mr. buck's presentations and not that any of them have been substandard but i think this one is pretty stellar. thank you, chris. >> thank you. >> we're moving on to public comment. i would just like to note for the record that the board office received a voice message today from someone who wanted information about how to call into the hearing tonight. and this person stated she was on a pay phone. the pay phone phone number was from the las vegas area code but there are other people who are

destitute that may be in the same position as her and would be unrepresented at the hearing and she stated she thought it would be discriminatory to be proceed and ask it be postponed but she could not get the phone number to call in. she did not leave a name or a phone number to call her back or any other means to contact her. she further asked the residents have equal representation and said the demolition is going on eight hours a day outside their windows and she's deeply impacted by it. i just wanted to share that public comment. i see another hand raised. we're on public comment, so, simon bertrand, are you here for public comment on this item? >> yes. i am here for public comment,

thank you. i'm the executive director of the tenderloin community benefit district and i'm here to speak about the proposed community benefit plan that u.c. hastings has put together. i think you heard from the department of public works about the way in which u.c. hastings is approaching the replacement trees and thinking about the maintenance required in order to make sure that those 3/1 replacement trees are able to be established in the neighbourhood. we have a tremendous need in the tenderloin for street trees and we have partnered in the past with the department of public works to plant street trees and we're looking forward to partnering with u.c. hastings and public works to ensure we

have additional trees produced by the mitigation of this project and in addition i think that you see hastings has approached the question of how to mitigate the removal of these specific street trees along hyde street with a innovative idea for a grown benefit plan including the construction of a park let at 101 hyde which although right now, it's looking like an abandoned building has seen investments over the month and it will be run by la co seen a which will have a handful of entrepreneurs inside and they focus on women led immigrant businesses that will be inside that municipal marketplace and we are very much looking forward to working to improve and beautify the public spaces of the tenderloin in partnership with u.c. hastings through this

benefit director grown benefit fund and so the community benefit infrastructure is very much in support of the community, the mitigation plan and looking forward to partnering with the city and u.c. hastings to make sure we see real benefits for the community and the tenderloin that come out of the removal of these trees. thank you, very much, commissioners and i am done. >> thank you. we'll hear from curtis bradford. >> hello, thank you commissioners. my name is curtis bradford and i am the co-chair of the tenderloin people's congress which is a resident-led coalition of 15 resident-led organizations in the tenderloin neighborhood. i'm calling in support of the applicant. i am and we are really excited

about the opportunity to see a 3/1 replacement of these trees. we need the extra trees in the tenderloin neighborhood and i'm thrilled u.c. hastings will see that that's done. they're providing the maintenance to make sure the trees are stable and are cared for for the first three years, which i think is a very responsible way to approach it and we're particularly excited about the park let plan for the front of la cocina which is a great community sport that will be opening up and having a green space parklet will be a really, really huge community benefit for that particular part of the neighbourhood and i can't over state how much that residents will appreciate and enjoy it and benefit from that.

this is an opportunity to expand some with a great community partner so i really hope you will support the green community plan. i think it's truly a positive outcome of this project for the tenderloin neighbourhood and the grown community fund to fund additional work down the road in terms of continuing to expand and create healthier spaces in the tenderloin is also another wonderful benefit and i believe them when they say they'll work with us and even the people's congress to identify the sites for the off site trees and it would be the most desirable for the neighbourhood and i know

these and i look forward to working with them and i hope you will continue to support it. thank you t. >> thank you. we will now hear from joshua clip. >> caller: thank you, can you hear me. >> yes, welcome. >> caller: thank you. i apologize in advance, i just got here from another meeting and i have no idea what discussions already been had. the only reason i wanted to pop in and make a public comment was to first of all, the board is familiar with any healthy tree should not be removed so i'll just throw that out there and i want to say that they were as thoughtful putting together these types of forward-looking plans that not only go to replacing trees at this ratio

but also look to creating green spaces sort of writ large and kind of seeing how these are all integrated so i appreciate that and the point i'd like to make is, again, because i wasn't here earlier i don't know if this is already raised but, the city's commitment to supporting this proposal by u.c. hastings, because without this city's hand and glove partnership, with u.c. hastings and this plan, it's not going to happen because we're talking about work along the public right-of-way and so i would again if that commitment is already been made it's great and if it hasn't that's what i'm asking for in this comment. thank you. >> thank you, we'll hear from lance carns. we can't hear you. your volume is muted.

>> caller: can you hear me now. thank you. i read through mr. nolte's brief and it seems that just to begin with, we're all in a great month and it would be nice to have more trees, especially in the tenderloin. i think mr. nolte's arguments are that there's a discrepancy in the number of trees proposed to be removed and the number trees proposed to be replaced, et cetera. he had complaints about damage trees and also some complaints about illegal removals. it seems like those need to be cleared up before we move onto the grand plans for the

tenderloin. the public just all it really knows is what is presented to it and the number of trees proposed and the number of trees that came up with d.p.w. so those are my comments and i think the difficile in the details and we need to sort that out before we go anywhere. thank you. >> is there any other public comment, please raise your hand and we have michael. michaels are you there?

>> welcome, yes, it's a little confusing when someone says that they're put in a park let in front of 101 hyde and then it will be a housing development and the month think the community knows a lot about the various plans that they happen and how they're going to be propose and how they're going to function and there's an issue i understand golden gate is mta is putting in some pedestrian works that will be right at the edge of where the development is happening and in the street and you have developers try to do the construction part so they are the blockage of the lanes and it's a so many moving parts

to this it sounds sim pal and in reality, you know, what happens subpoena it seems to me that the community here is bits and pieces and so far many of the people that are spoken in the public comment are those that they recipient to the did this and there seems to be how do you track this stuff and this is the problem with the community and they only hear the parts they end up hearing and then when they're not informed and i really find this an amazing way -- it comes down to public access and mr. nolte i understand had a problem getting a document from the city and so

you can put together is brief and i think he should be commended for at least trying to make some head way on what is happening here so people can understand and at the same time, there is some glitches and some of the plans and i'm not sure they're going to be ironed out today and it's a done del and i don't appreciate it happened that way but it seems like it is happening here. thank you. >> thank you, is there any further public comment on this item. please, raise your hand. if you called in, express star 9

otherwise raise your hand. i want to make sure i see some people in the attendee queue so there are no other hands raised. so, we're going to move on to rebuttal. mr. nolte, you have three minutes. >> >> u.c. hastings grown plan, some of the resident activists have pressed mr. mixed feelings for their opportunities creating new entities in the (inaudible). what these current non profits organizers failed to contact the existing residents community groups and support them and keep them driving. they would like to see a stronger resident voice and when you look at the plan you see paid advocates spearheading this effort and they -- the agencies

and no residents moved in the plan and the caroline or community our voices and we have california code street and highway code section 22080 and we have california code government code 53067 and california code public resource code 4799.09 and then it would refer to public trades so i question the attorney's advice. i was on the beginning of the cbd and money was set aside for trees and i put this in my brief

but when the new cbd were renewed five years ago that money was taken out because of proposition 8 so i commend we have a proposed plan here and i want the fund to fund also the additional issues that will be happening because you put the plan in place and there's going to be another phase for hastings and there's going to be other developments in the neighbourhoods and i like that money to go into this plan and i the plan has to have more me to it. the plan as written doesn't answer the questions that i raised prior. thank you, very much. >> thank you. we will now hear from uc hastings, mr. zucker, you have three minutes.

>> the street tree removal replacement permit was a employed for by hastings and approved by dpw. as mentioned by dpw, the street trees to be removed were properly noticed and while we acknowledge on hyde some trees were removed since the national application was filed and they were not lost due to the project and as note inside dpw partial denial letter and the hastings has a green community benefits plan to counter the impacts of the projects required tree removals and that plan is very robust and includes communities engagement in collaboration and to that end the green benefits plan implement has work plan that addresses the concerns raised by the a pel pent and who what when and how the green community benefits plan will come into place as mentioned by first effort, grown space in the tenderloin is at a premium and they have worked hard to offset

for the next 50 years that this building is hopefully in place. that concludes my presentation and we're available for any questions. >> thank you. we will now hear from the bureau of urban forestry, mr. buck. >> good evening, chris buck with bureau of urban forestry. i'll be relatively brief. so, just to address some of the comments during public comment and regarding discrepancies, we had a public works hearing and prior to our public works hearing our urban forestry and processing an application will do site visits and door over the details so if any trees were removed without a permit or anier regular tease that's our process for catching that and also any resulting decision would have highlighted any kind of irregular lar tee and it was cropped up in a significant way and i was hoping the details

didn't find any issues so it's confuse what is there are existing empty basins and applicant may apply to remove x amount of trees because they're counting the sites so, you know, we can all look at a lot of these applications and say well why does this one number and why is that off and i've poured over this case the last several days to be ready for any possible qa to z and one through infinity and there's nothing i can find that shouts out any red flags whatsoever and i just want to use some of this time to reemphasize again, i agree with mr. cliff that i really, there are some great details in this planting plan and in terms of the 10 additional trees and there's language in this respond apartment's brief that is exciting. there's just certain buzz words that clearly they're in touch

with people that understand things like environmental justice and social justice and engaging with community groups and so i think the appellant's appeal maybe took a plan and made even better because i think u.c. hastings has come back with a lot more detail in their brief and to really spell out this long-term commitment and i appreciate having the chief financial officer on the call because it helps address issues of funding and accountabilities so i appreciate that as well and with that, i believe that's all i have and i just wanted to add those additional comments. thank you. >> this matter is submitted. >> commissioners. >> vice president honda has his hand up. >> sew does, thank you. >> we can't hear you.

>> unmute yourself. >> >> have president, unmute yourself. >> sorry, just when you come in as not a -- it moves around. first of all, i would like to commend -- commend hastings in the manner of which they've handled this and they've evidently done quite a bit of outreach and their plan looks very, very hearty and so i don't see any reason why. especially the green benefit plan or fund that they put together and this is pretty amazing. it would be nice if developers could follow this procedure of how they made that happen. so, again, i applaud the way they've handled this and if it was my motion, i would denial the appeal that the permit was properly issued. is commissioner swig.

>> i'd like to follow on the words of commissioner honda and i also found the plan to be good and also clearly there's a good working relationship with the bureau of urban forestry and my frustration is always that as we are improving the city we also, there are dead soldiers that always pop up and those dead soldiers seem to be a lot of trees and i think in the plan, although there are some causalities, i think the causalities are well accounted for and a recycle in the way those plans unfolds. i would be supportive of moving this forward and denying the appeal and the permit was properly issued. >> unless there are any other

questions or comments. do we have a motion. >> i will make mine. mr. honda can have it? >> either or. [laughter] >> i'll make that motion. i mean, come on, even joshua cliff gave it a half thumbs up. he will deny the appeal and grant the permit it was properly issued and again, i would like to commend hastings for their good work in the community and going forward. >> thank you. >> we have a motion from vice president honda to deny the appeal up and hold the order on the basis it was properly issued and on that motion, commissioner santacana. >> aye. >> lass russ. that motion carries 5-0and appe. we have no further business. >> the meeting is adjourned. thank you all and see you in two weeks. >> thank you. >> bye. >> have a good night.

>> san francisco mayor london n. breed. for persons who wish to ask questions, include your name, outlet and up to two clearly stated questions in webex chat. and now we welcome mayor london breed. >> thank you so much. and good morning, everyone. i am excited to be here today because we know that most recently we have a vacancy in the city administrator's office, and i am so proud to announce that i am nominating carmen chu

to serve as san francisco's city administrator. many of us know carmen over the years. she has served the city and county of san francisco since 2005. she currently serves as our assessor recorder and in that role she is responsible for managing a team of over 200 people. under her leadership, the aassessor's office has reversed a decades old backlog of assessment cases and generating $3.6 billion in property tax revenue annually to support public services in san francisco. had it not been for carmen's leader snip that role, we would have a budget that was deficient in the amount of $3.6 billion. that gives you an indication of how amazing and how valuable she is to san francisco. such achievements have earned her office the prestigious 2020 good government award, an honor recognizing excellence in public

sector management and stewardship. she currently serves on the san francisco employees retirement system board where she oversees the investments and policies of a $26 billion public pension system in san francisco. assessor chu has really stepped up during covid to lead our economic recovery task force as one of the co-chairs. this was not in her job description, nor was it her responsibility, but when i called carmen to ask for her help because we needed all hand on deck to address the challenges that none of us thought we would be dealing with with covid, she immediately said yes. and with her leadership the task force developed 41 recommendations and policy ideas to make the city's economy stronger, more resilient, and more attainable. prior to the career as assessor, she was an elected representative of the board of

supervisor. when she served as budget chair of the board of supervisors, there was no one who was more fiscally conservative and focused on equity and serving the public's best interest and made sure we understood the value of every single dollar we spent. there was no one more of an advocate in that role than carmen chu when he served as the budget chair of the san francisco board of supervisors. she also served as the deputy director of public policy and finance for gavin newsom when he was mayor. she's been actively engaged in really changing bureaucracy in san francisco on so many levels. and just to go back to some information about the assessor recorder's office which was experiencing a lot of challenges, a lot of uncertainty, a lot of confusion, the work that she did to put everyone for the most part on an electronic system and to

re-organize the files in that system was pretty amazing. now, i know it's very bureaucratic and very technical, but to make san francisco work in a more efficient way that provides information to the public in a way that people can understand so that they can pay their taxes and they can do whatever business they do with the city t work she has done has really been about making sure that the average, everyday citizen in san francisco who is not connected to city hall, who is not involved in city hall in any way, that they have a voice. and they have some level of understanding and access to the resources we provide. she is the only asian american woman elected as assessor in the state of california, and she is the daughter of immigrants. her family worked hard to make sure she had some amazing opportunities to succeed in life, and boy, has she made them proud. the city administrator's office

consist of more than 25 departments and programs that provide a broad range of services to other city departments and the public. and ladies and gentlemen, i am so honored to introduce the next city administrator for the city and county of san francisco, assessor recorder carmen chu. >> good morning, everybody. first off, i just want to say thank you so much, mayor breed, for your confidence in me. i am humbled and i'm honored by your nomination, so thank you so much for this opportunity. >> thank you. >> if confirmed by the board, of course, i look forward to working not only with you but also with the board to make sure that we continue to move san francisco forward. i want to speak a little bit about my parents as i start off with the this. my parents were immigrants. mayor breed spoke about this a

little bit ago, and my parents had a small restaurant and we all grew up, my sisters and i, working in that restaurant. i tell you this and i share this with you because so much of our service and so much of what we do in life is grounded by our life experiences. how we were raised. the people who loved us. those who supported us. those were part of our lives. and what they taught me was the importance of making sure that we provide honest day of hard work, and making sure you do everything you can in every single role that you play is important. but they also taught me the importance of helping those who are in need. mike like my parents, not everybody starts off with resources. not everybody starts off with money, with support, and not everybody starts off with even the ability to communicate or speak english. and i think it's recognizing that so many people start off

from different places that it's a privilege when any of us have the ability to serve in the public capacity. it is this grounding, this belief that government can serve and the belief that government can help to support people, especially in their greatest times of need that gives me the privilege and honor of working as a public servant for the city and county of san francisco. first off, i want to recognize the people of the city administrator's office. your responsibility is a big one. the span of your responsibilities serve as a backbone for all of the city's operations. and i really want to thank you, a heartfelt thank you, especially during this time this, time when we're asking you to not only carry on with that work that you do, but also to do double duty especially as we continue to respond to an active global pandemic. this is something that is not easy. and i know that san francisco is better off for all the work that you are doing not only in your

existing roles but also in the extra work that you are doing to make sure that we respond to with the best way possible to serve is city well. to the people of the assessor's office, and i simply put and i want to tell you that i will miss you. we built a really great team in the assessor's office and we have accomplished so much. and things that seemed insurmountable to do and reversing a decades backlog and exceeding revenue expectations in half a billion during my time. and making sure we are completely overhauling outdated tools and systems that we have in our office. these may sound boring to many people, but honestly, it is this kind of attention and this kind of work that really drives change and excellent public service. i want to thank each and every person in the assessor's office. i enjoy working with you on the

professional growth and challenges that you took on and i hope you will carry on the accomplishments and legacy with you as you go forward. and finally, i want to close by recognizing and thanking the contributions as city administrator naomi kelly. i understand your decision was a difficult one. and thank you for helping meet the needs of the city during the global pandemic when we needed the support to lift up so many things that we have done. the accomplishments are not to be diminished, and icismly want to say thank you. with, that i am available, of course, for any questions. and i am really honored for this responsibility coming forward. >> thank you, assessor chiu and we are honored that you are willing to take on this responsibility. i want to provide member of the public with information about

the city administrator's office. they are responsible for overseeing animal care and control, the office of cannabis, the medical examiner's office, and the real estate division. the technology division. our community challenge grant, our grants for the arts program, the mayor's office on disability, risk management, and all of the things, many of the things that make the city run and often times we may have an interaction with any of the departments and not necessarily fully aware that they are all within the scope of the city administrator's office. it is a major responsibility, one that i know you are up for the task. and i am excited and grateful that you are willing to put your hat in the ring and allow yourself to be nominated for such a position. so thank you so much again, aseser to -- thank you, assessor

chu, and with that we can open it up to any questions. >> thank you, mayor breed. before we start the question and answer portion, we are going to take a moment to allow reporters to submit questions on webex. . >> okay. no questions, leo? >> thank you. okay. when mayor breed, the first question comes to you from joe with kqed. mayor breed k you ask ms. kelly to resign?

if so, or if not, why? >> well, many of you know better than to ask about personnel issues. the fact is we cannot discuss them. so we will not be discussing anything regarding anything that is personnel related. >> thank you, mayor breed. and should she be confirmed, are you tasks carmen chu with any specific tasks to address the allegations of corruption within the city that would be in her purview? what are those tasks? >> so just to be clear, last year when many of these allegations first began to surface, i immediately sent out an executive directive asking our city attorney and our controller's office as well as all city departments to not only investigate many of the allegations but to also look at ways in which to strengthen our policies so that we can make sure that the things that we saw happen or that people were being

accused of are not easy to be able to happen moving forward. so what we did was to make sure that people are on alert when they are making recommendations and changes to the policies for the department. and there is not a doubt in my mind that carmen chu will manage her department and make the appropriate changes necessary to address many of the challenges that we have heard over the past year as it relates to some of the department. >> thank you. and if i could just add to, that i think in any person who is assuming a role whether you are leading an organization as the assessor or city administrator, one of the things all of us will be doing is looking very, very closely to make sure we have the systems in place to ensure that there is transparency and how we're delivering the public service and how it is that we run our organization. these are all things that i am absolutely committed to.

it is a fundamental piece to make sure that we have public trust. >> and there is no public servant more respected, who has more integrity, who just basically is one of the most incredible, admirable persons that we have serving the city and county of san francisco than carmen chu. >> thank you, both. there are no additional questions for mayor breed. the next question is for assessor chu from ktfs. as the first chinese female administrator, what does this mean to you? >> i think this is -- this is always a heavy responsibility. i recall back when i served on the board of supervisors. at that time when i was nominated to the role, i was the only elected, only chinese american supervisor serving in the entire san francisco board of supervisors.

and since that time much has changed in the city, but i think any of us, any of us who fill these roles understand that we play a very important spot in making sure that not only do we lead the way but we also create opportunities and how people see no matter where you come from, no matter where you start from, there is an opportunity for you and a seat in government that no matter whether you had resources coming in or whether you were immigrants, that you have the opportunity to serve. and so i think serving as the first chinese woman as a city administrator, i hope to be able to to put my mark on creating a san francisco government that works well, that earns your trust, that is delivering services that you can be proud of in san francisco. >> okay. one moment.

>> an i thought someone was going to ask me about taxes. >> the only questions about taxes is why is my bill so high? >> indeed. >> and the next question is what's carmen's first responsibility after the nomination? and that comes from sky link. >> i think immediately especially during this time when so much of the city's response to covid is important, it is very important to make sure we continue to deliver on what is necessary and respond not only from a public health perspective, but also to support the city in the economic recovery. first and foremost, that has an impact on the lives of residents and operations. a big focus right away will be starting to take a look t a making sure we continue to support the efforts. that we do that in an excellent way and we also look forward to the future means.

in addition to that, we're going to continue to look for more efficiencies. what's going to happen is we're going to go through a very tough time. i think the city is understanding that not only are we going to be coming to recovery, but that will mean we have fewer resources at exactly the time when san franciscans need us the most. and that will really require that we do more, that we work harder, and that we're creative in terms of how we deliver the best services possible to the city. so in my role we're going to be taking very much a close look at this recovery effort, how we support that recovery for the city as well going forward. >> there are no additional questions. this concludes today's press conference. thank you, mayor breed and aseser to chu for your time. if you have questions, email the mayor's press office at sfgov.org. thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you again. . . .

good morning, everybody. this meeting will come to order welcome to the january 10th, 2021 regular meeting of the land use and transportation committee of the san francisco board of supervisors. i'm joined by vice chair dean preston and supervisor aaron peskin. the committee clerk is erica major and i would also like to acknowledge leo from sfgov tv for staffing this meeting. thank you very much. america, do we have any announcements? >> clerk: yes, madam chair. to protect board members and the city, the legislative chamber and committee room are cs