>> thank you for joining the press conference with mayor london breed. for q & a, state your name, outlet, and questions in the webex chat. now we will go to mayor london breed. >> good morning and thank you all so much for joining us here today. i appreciate the fact that we have our police chief bill scott and our district attorney who are both here today to talk about the challenges around violent crime in our city and how we plan to address it. we know that we seen an uptick in violent crime in san francisco. some really horrible events that have occurred, we seen them on video. we heard about them.

we see people talk about them on next door, on social media, and other outlets. as we speak, there sadly was just a homicide in the bayfield hunters point community. when i think about what's happening in san francisco, the violent crime, domestic violence, the attack on our seniors, the gun violence, it's all too familiar. it reminds me of when i was growing up in public housing in san francisco. yes, i loved my community. there were so many days where i lived in fear because of the violence, because of the gun violence in particular, not knowing if a stray bullet may hit me or people that i love and care about. it was all too common to walk down the street and be on high alert. it was all too common to be in a situation where you hear

gunshots and you start to duck to the ground or the floor or what have you. what we're seeing today is hurtful, it's sad, it's heartbreaking, and i know that we are better than this. we saw a video of an innocent senior being violently assaulted in the middle of the day. i can't even imagine what his family is going through right now. it was heartbreaking. the fact that another human being would do that to an elderly senior in our community is one of the most disgusting things i have ever seen. the level of violence directed at a completely defenseless

84-year-old senior was shocking and intolerable. for jack, a long time san franciscan and storied detective to lose his life right in front of his own home. i want to communicate my deepest sympathies to the families, the friends, and the loved ones of both mr. palidino and mr. -- because we know this is something unexpected, to walk in your neighborhood and feel safe is one of the basic things that we should have in a city like san francisco. i know that they are suffering the horrific pain of losing people they love to defenseless and vicious violence. when i think of the challenges we continue to face as a city, i know that incidents like this make people feel unsafe.

no one should be afraid of taking a walk around the neighborhood or taking photographs or a kid just watching fireworks like jace was last year during the 4th of july in his community with other kids. 6 years old, lost to gun violence. i'm here with our chief of police and our district attorney to let everyone know that violent crimes committed in our city will not be tolerated. public safety is our top priority and we are not pointing the finger. we are here to work collaboratively, to make sure that we keep people safe. we each have a responsibility. if you commit a crime in san francisco and you hurt someone, you will be held accountable to the fullest extend of the law. that's a commitment i have from our police chief and the

district attorney. a tax in crime committed against our most vulnerable, especially our seniors and our children, are unacceptable. i was raised by my grandmother and watching that video, i could not help but imagine if that had happened to my grandmother. if someone had did that to her, had hurt her like that, had killed her like that. i don't have the words. i can't even begin to understand how anyone could think of hurting a defenseless senior and i want to be clear. you will be held accountable by the police, as well as the district attorney. there will be consequences. let's dispel the myth right now that there are no consequences for committing crimes in san francisco, especially, especially as i said against our most vulnerable people.

san francisco police are on heighten alert and will pursue every case vigorously to bring you to justice if you try to rob or attack members of our community in san francisco. i don't care if you are a san francisco resident or a bay area resident. you will be held accountable. you will be brought to justice. the district attorney will hold you accountable and you will feel the full weight of the law, just as his charging announcement he will make will illustrate today. look, i believe in second chances. i believe that people are better than the worse things they have done. when you across that line, when you commit murder, when you take someone's life like that, we as a city and as a society, we have to hold you accountable for your

actions. you have to take responsibility for the pain and the suffering you caused. san francisco is an incredible city. we are seeing sadly an uptick in crime. we know that as a result of this pandemic, people are home. people are frustrated. people are tired. domestic violence is up. suicides are up. mental health challenges continue to persist. this is hard. we also know as leaders of this city, we have a responsibility. as mayor, i take the responsibility to protect and serve the people of san francisco very seriously and as a high honor. we will continue to do everything we can to support this city. i want to thank the san francisco police department for their work in this case. it was a collaborative effort

between a number of units, including parol, investigations, tactical, homicide, station investigation teams, robbery detail and the community liaison unit. i want to give a special thanks to mike redman and sergeant joseph akeem for their outreach and support to the family of mr. radna and mr. paladino. we thank you for the work you are doing to help families get through this horrendous tragedy. the thing is, this is our response after the fact, but we will have to do more as a city to make sure that these crimes

are not committed in the first place. part of it is accountability. the other part, it's making sure that we are doing everything we can to keep our community safe, to make sure our police officers are out there patrolling and walking the streets, our neighborhood watches, and providing opportunities so that people never ever get to a place where they commit the kinds of crime we have seen in recent weeks that happened on our streets. i know that nothing can take away the pain and hurt of what these families are going through, but we are here to offer support and we are here to make changes so that some of the mistakes and the challenges that existed that made it tough to bring people to justice will be repaired and will be addressed. with that, i want to turn it

over to our police chief bill scott to talk about specifically what the department has done and i want to again commend the department for quickly apprehending the suspects in these cases and now chief scott, if you can say a few words about these investigations and thank you so much for being here. >> thank you mayor breed and thank you for your leadership in bringing us together. i want to thank the district attorney and his team who worked tirelessly with us through the weekend to bring these cases to a resolution. i know i speak on behalf of the entire police department when we say how sadden we are about the tragic loss that two families are now suffering. to all the victims of violent crime, you mentioned the 6-year-old that lost his life this past summer. this department is sadden by all of the loss and we are

committed, committed to holding those accountable who hurt the people of our city. the families of the victim, you are in our thoughts and prayers. they were both seniors, although the incidents were separate, each were assault in an unprovoked attack and in broad daylight. this kind of horrific violence has no place in our city. we want everyone to know that your city officials, starting with our mayor and every member of of the san francisco police department, the district attorney and everyone in the criminal justice system, stand united to make sure justice is done in these cases. although we a preheppeded suspects in both of these cases,

i want to remind our media partners and the public that these cases are active and ongoing investigations. they're not over yet. anyone with information or evidence is asked do please contact the san francisco police department and you may remain anonymous. you can call sfpd's 24 hour tip line or text to tip411. again, the text message with sfpd. a little bit about both cases. on thursday, january 28th at 8:28 a.m., he was the victim of an assault. san francisco police officers responded to the assault. officers arrived at the scene

and discovered an 84-year-old male victim on the sidewalk. our officers rendered aid and summoned san francisco fire department medics to the scene who promptly transported him to the hospital for life threatening injuries. their initial investigation, our officers established that a male suspect ran at the victim from across the street, pushed him to the pavement, and then fled with a female associate. based on an initial investigation led by our station investigation team general crimes unit, our officers identified our suspect as 19-year-old antoine watson. we also identified his female associate, 20-year-old malasha.

on january 29, 2021, investigator obtained an arrest warrant for mr. watson for assault with a deadly weapon and elder abuse causing great bodily injury. on january 30, 2021, our investigators were notified that he had succumb to his injuries sadly. at that point, our homicide detail took over the investigation. on saturday, january 30, 2021, at approximately 8:45 p.m., officers from the san francisco police department's tactical unit and the san francisco's homicide detail served a search warrant on the 500 block of daily city. officers located the two suspects who were taken into custody without incidence. now for the case involving jack

paladino. san francisco police officers responded to a reported robbery in our city's asbury neighborhood. arriving on the scene, officers discovered a 76-year-old male lying in the street. the male, our victim, mr. jack paladino was being treated by medic from the san francisco fire department who transported him to the hospital with life threatening injuries. witnesses reported seeing a suspect in a physical struggle over his camera. during the struggle, the vehicle sped away, causing mr. paladino to fall to the ground. investigators developed information that led to the identity of two suspects, lawrence thomas of pittsburgh, colorado and 23-year-old tyjon of san francisco. on friday january 29, 2021, mr. thomas was taken into

custody without incidence in the area of middle point road and hair street in san francisco. the following day on january 30, 2021, he was located on the 2500 block of east second street in reno, nevada. he was taken into custody without incident. yesterday, monday february 1, 2021, sadly mr. paladino succumb to his injuries in the attack. this incident is now investigated by the san francisco homicide detail. in conclusion on behalf of all of us in the san francisco police department, first of all i want to express our condolences to the family, friends, and neighbors of these victims and all victims of homicides and violent crimes in our city. i want to express my appreciation to the san

francisco police department members who worked tirelessly the last several days. mayor breed mentioned these units but i want to reiterate. i feel the operations bureau, investigations borough, tactical unit, homicide detail, community liaison unit, all worked together to bring these cases to a quick conclusion, to hold the individuals responsible accountable. they gather evidence, pursue leads, identify the suspects and then successfully apprehended them without incident. we're also grateful to our partners in the daily police department and the f.b.i. in the safe street task force. our partners in the san francisco fire department also deserve recognition as well. it is our medics that responded immediately and worked heroically to save these victims' lives. lastly, our partners at the

district attorney's office led by our district attorney chesa boudin. thank you for your leadership and your team for their partnership in this case and all cases that we have to work together on to resolve and bring these individuals to account for hurting people in our city. we will continue to do our jobs and i want to reiterate what mayor breed said. for anybody that thinks that san francisco is an easy touch, you need to think twice. for anybody who thinks they can attack elderly individuals in our city, you need to think twice. for anybody who thinks that you can murder a 6-year-old child, enjoying 4th of july with his family, you need to think twice. we will bring every resource there to bring you into account and we won't rest until that's

done. thank you mayor breed for your leadership and thank you district attorney boudin and now i will turn it over to district attorney boudin. >> thank you mayor breed, thank you chief scott for your comments, for your leadership, and for your unwavering commitment to public safety. i also want to give a special thank you to all of our first responders who worked tirelessly to provide support and assistance to people injured in crimes and who have done a phenomenal job investigating these cases and other cases that we partner with the police department to hold people who cause harm in our community accountable. as chief scott said, these cases are still under investigation. there is much more work to be done, but the police have done a phenomenal job in a quick and expedient job in identifying suspects and arresting suspects

and giving us the information we need to hold them accountable. now the three of us, the mayor, the chief of police, and myself stand here, united in our shared goal to keep san francisco safe for all of its residents. i know that the recent tragic and violent events have made many in san francisco, especially our most vulnerable, our elderly feel unsafe. we are here today to inform you that we will hold those who committed these horrific crimes accountable, period. prosecuting violent crimes is and always be my top priority. we are also here to reassure you and to remind you that despite these recent terrible crimes, san francisco is and will continue to be a safe city. we will make sure of that. you have all of our commitments that we will defend the safety of our community, no matter what it takes.

it is especially important that we help elderly san franciscans to be and feel safe. we know the pandemic has hit the elderly particularly hard and we will go through whatever steps it takes to keep our elderly, our young children at 4th of july celebrations and birthday parties, wherever it may be, safe. chief scott mentioned some facts of the case and i want to reiterate. in the killing of the 84-year-old man who was senselessly been violently attack while taking a walk in his own neighborhood, i want to commend the extraordinarily effective and quick police work in this case that arrested two suspects who were not previously known to the police. they did a phenomenal job as chief scott said, the investigation is ongoing.

my victim services team stands ready to support the family. we have already met with the family and our heart goes out to the family for this absolutely heinous and unimaginable devastating loss. i know that many in the community are in pain. many have experienced violence or hate over the last year. many feel secondary trauma from the shocking video of the murder. my entire office condemns violence against anyone, but particularly against the elderly and the vulnerable, members of the aapi community that have been unfairly targeted during this pandemic. now the police have given us enough evidence in this case that we made a decision and we are pleased to announce that decision, we will be filing murder charges against mr. watson. we will be seeking his

detention. i directed my staff to file those charges today and we expect he will be arraigned in open court tomorrow afternoon and we will file a detention motion, pending trial on murder charges. i also want to correct some of the confusion and misinformation that we seen on social media and other places. mr. watson was never arrested and released in san francisco. he has never been released on this case. from the moment the police took mr. watson into custody after this killing, he has been held in custody and my office will continue to seek his detention going forward. in fact, mr. watson has no prior convictions or criminal charges in san francisco ever. at times of tremendous loss and high emotions like this one, it's common for misinformation to spread. it's essential that we focus on facts and verifying data so we

can hold mr. watson, the man we believe is responsible for this death accountable. also i wanted to mention the other tragic murder that occurred in san francisco against an elder vulnerable victim last week. last thursday, two men tried to rob jack, a beloved, well-known, heroic investigator outside his home. yesterday he passed away. he was a san francisco legend, someone who dedicated his career to pursuing justice and truth. it is fitting that his own camera helped capture evidence that we expect will help us prove this case to a jury. we know that this tragedy, like the other one last week, affected the entire san francisco community and our hearts go out to mr. paladino's

family for their loss. it's unacceptable, intolerable, and there will be consequences for the people responsible. my office filed numerous felonies again the two men that we believe committed this crime. again, i want to commend the police department for extraordinary quick work in identifying the suspects and bringing them both into custody without incident. because we initiated the paperwork while he was still alive and on life support, we charged the case with attempted murder and variety of other charges and have filed detention motions to keep both men in custody from as soon as we receive an official opinion from the medical examiner, determining the cause of death, we plan to remove the attempted and charge both men with murder. we will continue to seek their detention in this case and we will continue to work together with all of our public safety

partners, especially the police department and the mayor's office to promote public safety, to promote accountability and to make absolutely crystal clear to anyone who has a doubt or second thought that san francisco will not tolerate violence, will not tolerate preying on elderly or vulnerable members of our community. if you come here or choose to commit violent crimes, you will be held accountable. these murders are still at early stages. we will be prosecuting both of the murtd murders. i made that decision personally and i made the decision to seek detention in both cases. we stand here together with a very simple message. we are here to promote public safety. we are here to hold people accountable who commit violent crimes in our communities. we will stand by our aapi community, the elderly, the young, and anyone who is vulnerable to violent crimes and we condemn violence and hate in

all its forms. chief scott, the mayor, and i are all committed to working together tirelessly to do whatever it takes to promote public safety in san francisco and to ensure that san francisco is not only a safe city, but that it is a city in which everyone feels safe. for the families of jace young, for every single family, for every single member of our community, we are here for you and we have your backs and we will keep you safe. thank you mayor breed and chief scott, for your collaboration and your leadership. >> thank you to our district attorney, our police chief and before we open it up to questions, i just want to really put this into perspective. because as i said earlier in my remarks, i grew up in a community where sadly as much as i love my community, i lived in

fear. one of the things that we have to do, and i take full responsibility to do, is to make sure that people in this city are not living in fear. so those of you who inflict that fear with your actions by attacking the residents of this city, whether it be assault with your physical hands or with a gun or a weapon in any case, we will be aggressive in our pursuit and aggressive in our prosecution. do not come to san francisco thinking you are going to victimize another person here. whether you're trying to come here to rob somebody, assault

somebody, or what have you, everything is on the table for us to pursue when you cross that line. we will be watching. we will be vigilant. we will hold the people in these cases accountable because we are not going to live in fear. we are going to change that in san francisco. thank you both for joining us and now we will open it up to questions from the press. >> thank you mayor breed, thank you chief scott and district attorney boudin for your remarks. we're going to allow our reporters to submit any questions they the first question is for district attorney boudin from

the s.f. business times. many small business owners do not feel safe because they have been hit increasingly by break in burglaries and vandalisms because of the pandemic. there is perception that your office is not pursuing prosecution of these cases. what are you doing to assure the victims that there are consequences for property crimes in san francisco? >> thank you so much for the questions and thank you to our business community for helping to create jobs and for weathering an unprecedented year of challenges. no one more than small businesses, because of the constant challenges around health restrictions and around decline in tourism, we know that it's been a year in which many

businesses have closed for good. we are doing everything we can. i want to commend the mayor for her leadership in helping to support small businesses and i want to assure you that we prosecute the mass majority of the cases you referenced that the police bring us to prosecute. we know these are often difficult cases to solve and prosecute, but we do file charges in the majority and we hold people accountable. we do more than that. we also have a pilot program in district five to help small businesses that have been harmed by vandalism or broken windows during the pandemic, get reimbursements for their expenses. we hope we can bring that pilot program citywide so we can do more to help every single small business that has suffered from vandalism or graffiti or broken windows in the last year, regardless of wlosht -- whether or not we're able to prosecute the case. the majority of the cases the police bring us, we're able to

prosecute. that's something we're committed to continuing to do. we have a wide variety of tools we used to hold people accountable. we look at every single case the police bring us and we take them seriously. we will continue to do that. >> thank you district attorney boudin. the next question come from gregory from the san francisco community news. is there no bail set for jack palladino's murder? >> we asked the court to impose a detention order, meaning no bail. i don't believe the court has yet ruled on that request. the individuals are currently in custody, both on the initial case we filed while mr. palladino was still alive, as well as on another hold that we worked with the police

department to put in place to ensure that they would not be able to get out of custody, pending an opinion from the medical examiner. the short answer is there is no way they will be released and we will be asking the court to make a formal ruling as soon as we're able, holding both men in custody without bail. we know that these cases are of tremendous concern to all of us. that's why we're here today and i want to reiterate what the mayor said, what the chief of police said, these cases are our priority and we will do everything in our power to hold these men accountable and keep the community safe from them while the case is pending. >> thank you, your next question comes from stella chan of cnn. can you elaborate on how palladino helped crack his own case? >> mr. palladino was a renown

and famous private investigator. many described him as having a six sense when something was off or wrong in his neighborhood or anywhere he worked. on the day of his death and on the day of the attack that caused his death, he left the house with his high end investigative camera to take photos. as chief scott said, the investigation is still ongoing. we know that mr. palladino took photos right before his injury causing death of the car that the assailantings -- assailants were in. that video will be used in court to hold the men accountable. it's an unusual event for the person that was killed to play a

part in the investigation of his case. to the very last act of his life, he took photos that helped confirm police work, identifying the two assailants in this case. as i said, we expect we will be able to use the photo he took, his last photo as evidence in this case when it goes to trial. >> thank you district attorney boudin. at this time, we will continue with mayor breed for questions. mayor breed, this question comes from dan simon of cnn. there is a real perception that quality of life has gone way down. people are fleeing the city. what can you do to help restore confidence that san francisco is not going down the drain? >> let me start by asking is there any other major city in this country that doesn't deal with similar challenges like we do in san francisco? there may not be a more beautiful city than san francisco, but the fact is that

we are a major city and we have challenges like any other major city. we know that this pandemic has caused a lot of people to realize that they may not, since they're working from home, they may not necessarily need to be in the city, especially because most people choose to live in a city like san francisco because of the restaurants and the night life and the entertainment and the things to do and those things don't exist right now because of the pandemic. i have faith. i have confidence that despite the challenges that exists in our city and other major cities in the country, that when we begin to reopen, that more people will return to san francisco. it's not a matter of if, but when. the fact is, when you look at what happened in this pandemic, san francisco, the second most dense city in the country with the lowest death rate of any

major city in the country, how we handled this virus has been a national model for the rest of the country to follow and how we will continue to address the challenges that persist in our city. it's something that we will work on. we will build more housing. we will keep our residents safe. we will put forth innovative plans and projects to address homelessness and the challenges we face together. i'm confident that people will begin to not only return to san francisco to visit as tourists for conventions and other things, which they sew -- so frequently do because they feel safe to be here in light of what happened with covid, that they will return their businesses and other things that have existed before. people will want to go back to cities and san francisco will be at the top of the list. >> thank you mayor. at this point, we will continue

with questions with chief scott. chief scott, your first question come from the s.f. chronicles. is there any indication that suggestions that the death of vicha ratanapakdee was a hate crime? >> not at this point, but the investigation is still ongoing. there is nothing at this point to indicate that it was a hate crime. we have still some investigative steps to take. we're not ruling out anything, but at this point, no. >> thank you. the next question comes from sing tow daily. after a series of violent crimes targeting the aapi elderlies in the last year, what plans does our city have to protect the elderly and prevent similar

incidents from happening again and again? what will the city to make sure that our elderlies do not live in fear? >> well, first and foremost, we have to hold people accountable. there have been a number of crimes against elderly members of the aapi community. a large of -- amount of those cases, people have been held accountable for the harm they caused. that is the first thing. even before that, we will do everything in our power to try to prevent these crimes from happening in the i.r.s. if -- first place. we spent a lot of time analyzing crimes, analyzing trends, deploying our officers, our specialized units where we think we can make the biggest difference in preventing these crimes. our high traffic corridors, chinatown or north beach, where you have a lot of tourist

activity. we see a lot of those opportunistic crimes. we have to deploy and the public has to see us out there. people feel safer in general when they see police out and visible. it's sometimes challenging. we also have to respond to our radio calls and our calls for service, but we have to do that. i know our mayor has been extremely supportive on that. we continue to get that support and we have to put our officers where they have the best bang for their buck. the third thing, working with the community members that are impacted by these types of crimes. you know, we invested a lot of time and effort in that as well. trust is a big deal. people have to feel they can trust their police department. that's why we are so, so intent on making sure that people understand that it's not about your immigration status from it's not about where you come from. if you have a problem or if you

want to work with us, work with us. we're here for you. that community outreach is really, really important to building community trust and i think we've done that. we will continue to do more of that. the mayor mentioned our community liaison unit that with her leadership, we were able to stand up in october. you know, part of this process, particularly after people had been victimized is we felt that we can provide better service to families. the district attorney mentioned, you know, they have their victims services unit but in between the time the case gets prosecuted and we're investigating, we felt we can do more on our end. that's what the community liaison unit is all about. it's about reaching out to families and the communities most impacted and working with those communities in a very direct and consistent way. we hope one of the byproducts, a positive byproduct of that is better trust, people reporting

crime when it happens because if we don't know about it, it's hard to do anything about it and also the more effective community partnership that builds resiliency in our city. you know, a lot of what we try to tell people when we're talking to them is don't make yourself an easy target. you know, don't do things, don't exhibit patterns like going to the bank, withdrawing large sums of money and things like that. people watch for these things and they take advantage of it. there are predators out there. we will do those types of things. there is no easier magic answer but be assured that the things i just mentioned are happening, will happen, even in a greater degree as we move forward and we're going to do everything we can to prevent people from being victimized, not only the aapi community but all communities. you know, we have issues all over our city. there is not a community or

demographic that is not impacted by this issue. we serve all. >> thank you chief. the next question comes from chris from cbs news. what steps are being taken to stop the drug traffic in the tenderloin? >> there are -- well first of all it's enforcement. there is quite a bit of enforcement. on a variety of levels, you know, we work with our local partners, our district attorney's office. we have our narcotics unit that works with our district station in the tenderloin, the captain and his team. we have done some specific and focused efforts with the tenderloin team. we also work with our u.s. attorneys on some of the cases that meet federal thresholds and those cases have resulted in over 150 arrests.

you know, that has to be consistently done. it has to be consistently applied. that's not going to be the answer to this issue. that has to happen, but it's not going to be the issue to this issue. the other side of that equation is how do we address the drug sales in the first place and that's the demand for drugs. we have a lot of people in need. there are a lot of hurting people that need services. it doesn't mean they're criminals, but they're addicted. we're working with our community health partners, our non-profits to help better address those issues. we all have to work together though. we can't do this work in silos. i mean there is a lot of work being done and there is the will in the city to impact this problem but we have to work together. that's one thing we're working to get better at. it's a complicated issue. there is no simple answer to

this. just be assured that the arrests are happening, the enforcement is happening, the community partnership is happening, and we just have to stay at it. >> thank you chief scott. our final question is for district attorney boudin. district attorney, the question comes from tom jensen of nbc bay area. why was the man not held accountable when a murder occurred last year? >> thank you for the question. so you're aware, there was a murder that occurred in the tenderloin area in december of 2019. that occurred before i took office. the police were investigating the case for a number of months. they did ultimately arrest four men who were believed to have been in the car that the shooter was in at the time of the murder. we filed murder charges against

two men in that case and they both remain in custody pending those murder charges today. those two men were the men we believe we can prove are the shooter and the driver. the other two men were arrested really because they were in the same time, in the same location at the same time. there was not nearly enough evidence for us to be able to file charges. we are continuing to work with the police in investigation and in prosecuting the murder charges that we have filed. it's not uncommon for arrests to occur as part of the investigative process and those areas cannot always result in criminal charges being filed. i want to commend the san francisco police department for their work in that case. as i said, the murder itself took place before i was even in office. the police department continues to investigate the case for months and ultimately we were able to file criminal charges against the two people we can prove are responsible for the

murder and we will continue to prosecute that case. i understand those are requests as well for me to answer this question in spanish. let me do that as well for the spanish language outlets here. [speaking spanish].

>> thank you district attorney boudin. there are no additional questions. this concludes today's press conference. thank you to mayor breed, chief scott, and district attorney boudin for your time. for future questions, please e-mail dempress@sfgov.org. thank you and have a nice day.

thank you. this morning, our office filed a lawsuit with the superior court against the san francisco board of education and the san francisco unified school district for its failure to formulate a plan designed to get the 54,000 students in the san francisco unified school district back to in-class learning as quickly as possible.

more specifically, the california education code requires school districts across the state to adopt a learning continuity and attendance plan, lcap, describing the actions school districts will offer to take classroom-based instructions whenever possible. particularly for pupils who experienced significant learning loss due to school closures in the 2019-2020 school year. or are at greater risk of experiencing learning loss due to future school closures. the requirements under state law are detailed and specific. unfortunately, the plan prepared by the san francisco unified school district and adopted by the board of education is ambiguous empty rhetoric. it's a plan to make a plan. it's legally insufficient. the city is suing for a single

cause of action at this point, violation of duty, when government officials fail to perform their official duties. the city is seeking a court among that among other things, requires san francisco school district to fulfill under state law to "prepare to offer in-person instruction" now that it's possible to do so safely. we're asking the court to order the school board and school district to put in place a plan -- a viable plan to reopen safely. if that plan is followed, schools will reopen. san francisco schools have generally been allowed to reopen since september 2020. the san francisco department of public health, the california department of public health and u.s. center for disease and prevention all say schools can reopen safely. in san francisco, the overwhelming majority of private

and parochial schools have done so. over the past several months, 113 private and parochial schools in san francisco have reopened and remain open. almost 16,000 students have returned to in-person schools. and less than five cases of in-class transmission have been reported. in [indiscernible] county 90% of schools resumed in-person instruction, including public schools which began opening classrooms last fall. there have been only nine cases of suspected in-class transmission there. various public schools opened in san mateo, santa clara and napa counties and the results were similar. undisputed scientific consensus is schools can reopen safely for teachers, staff and students with proper precaution. and that in-person instruction is not causing spikes in covid infections.

but as of the date of this complaint, not a single san francisco public school student has set foot in their classroom in 327 days. disturbingly, the school district and the board of education seem to have no plan for how or when in-person instruction will begin for any of its students. other than falsely proclaiming schools cannot be reopened safely and telling families that it is unlikely we'll be able to offer most middle and high school students the opportunity for in-person learning this school year, the district and the board have provided virtually no current information to the city or to the public. the leadership for both the school district and the educators union can't seem to get their act together. the board of education and the school district have had more than 10 months to roll out a concrete plan to get kids back in school. unfortunately, so farther's earning an "f". having a plan to make a plan,

doesn't cut it, and is no plan at all. the district's own data show the achievement gap is widening under san francisco school district's distant learning approach. black, latino and other students of color in san francisco, as well as those from low-income families, have lost significant academic ground compared with wealthier and white students during the pandemic. while research is increasingly showing that the mental and emotional health of many students is at greater risk during the pandemic as they struggle with distance learning, san francisco officials, children, and families do not know what steps have been taken, what remains to be done, or how they can help. this is not just shameful; it's also unlawful. it's regrettable we've had to take this decision that we filed today. suing the school district is not something we ever wanted to do. but something needs to change.

the status quo is failing our children. and we hope that this will move the district to do the right thing. i know that there are countless teachers doing heroic work to educate their students in these unprecedented times. ; to them, we say thank you. day after day, they're fighting the impossible battle against the tide of isolation and distance learning. we couldn't be more grate he have for their service and sacrifices they've made to educate our kids during this very difficult time. we want them to be able to return safely to the classroom. it is up to the district, the board of education, and their leadership to agree on a plan to do so. more than 54,000 san francisco school chirp are suffering. they are being turned into zombies by online schooling. enough is enough. getting kids back in school needs to be the only priority of

school district leadership. and with that, i'd like to introduce marilyn -- mayor breed who is supportive of the lawsuit. >> thank you to our city attorney herrera working with us to find a solution we know is not easy. i know, but i appreciate you are really stepping up to help meet what we know is an incredible, incredibly challenging time facing our city. nothing matters more than getting our kids back in school. as a city, we don't have control over this decision, which is really frustrating. but we've offered support and help for months. we've helped inspect schools and classrooms to get them ready. we work with the district to set up the testing necessary to monitor the virus when our educators he and students

return. we've given $15 million to support our schools. above what we already do through our normal budget process. and look, i know some of our educators have concerns. i understand those concerns. and i believe we should listen to them and work to address them. and i do support our teachers. in fact, i led a ballot measure last fall to support pay increases for teachers with the -- which the voters of this city supported overwhelmingly. the legitimate concern of our teachers cannot stand in the way of getting kids back in the classroom. when i was in the community the other day, i had a teacher approach me who said i want to go back into the classroom. what are we going to do? i believe we can do this safely. as we've seen in private schools and community hubs that we've been -- they've been open for months. as we've seen in other districts across the bay area and the

state, that our city attorney just talked about, our kids are suffering. the inequalities that existed before the pandemic have become more clear. the data is clear. students have lost ground in academic achievement. and that is a problem. health experts say that issues relating to mental health such as depression and eating disorders are on the rise. almost 1,000 of the school district's 53,000 students have missed over 60% of their classes. 70% of those students are from low-income families. and 3/4 of them are from black and latino families. the school district is failing to meet this most basic responsibility. and for all of the talk i hear from the board of education about equity, the data speaks

for itself. i'm hearing every day from parents, who are concerned that their kids are falling behind. mostly single parents. i'm hearing from parents who have had to leave their jobs to stay home and facilitate distance learning. and we know when this happens, it's almost always women, who bear the brunt of this responsibility. families right now aren't able to plan for their future. they can't decide whether to accept a job offer, because they don't know when they're going to be able to once again have their kids return to the classroom. i know that this is a drastic step. but i feel we're out of options at this point. the department of public health. the leading force around this pandemic, the department of public health that has been the most conservative putting out

health orders, they issued guidance to this school district will safety precautions needed to open schools last september. it's been five months since then. and there's not even an agreement or a plan in place to start reopening. in fact, there were a number of agreements put into place, and then, they changed. during that time, the school board has alienated parents and made national news for renaming 44 of our schools, all while there wasn't a plan to reopen those very same schools? all while even the children who are a part of these schools have not necessarily been able to participate in the discussion, which could be an incredible learning opportunity. look, i'm committed to working with the school district and the school board. we've been providing support for months. we've been prioritizing the schools and rolling up our sleeves in the city and doing everything we can. we're still here, ready to help.

and while i don't control the schools, i am the elected leader of this city, and i'm not going to stand by while our students and families continue to suffer with no end in sight. it's not acceptable to tell parents, who are already under unbelievable stress, and are seeing with their own eyes how their children are falling behind. that distance learn something not good enough. this is offensive. and completely unacceptable. this is san francisco. we have been a national leader in our response to covid. let's be a national leader in getting our kids back to school. i'm a proud graduate of san francisco's public schools. the only reason why i was able to grow up in public housing in a very challenging environment, in poverty, in this city, and go onto become mayor, was because of our public schools.

but if i were in school today, i would likely have been one of those very same students who today are falling behind because of distance learning. in fact, my niece and nephew are two of those san francisco students. so yes, i'm here as a mayor, but i'm also here as an aunt who is concerned about her family. every day we wait is another day we let our students fall behind. this is not the route i would have chosen five months ago. i'm not sure that -- this is not the route i would have chosen five months ago, but i don't see any other option. we're ready to help. but the school district needs a plan to reopen, and they need it now. our students and our families deserve nothing less. so once again, i want to thank our city attorney herrera and his team at the city attorney's office. i know in their hearts, all they want to do is see our schools

reopen. people of san francisco want to see our schools reopen. and i'm hopeful that we are one step closer to getting there today. let's not continue to let our children suffer in this city. thank you. >> thank you mayor breed, and thank you city attorney herrera. we will be taking a select number of comments from reporters. so if you do have any questions, please send them to myself, the host. and we will try and get in as many as we can. for mayor breed, we have a question from jim carlson. can the mayor speak more on the remaining controversy and why this is quote-unquote "the wrong

time"? >> mayor breed: i am sorry. i don't understand the question. >> jim, can you narrow that down a little bit. >> mayor breed: what media outlet? >> sorry. jim, can you cite your media outlet as well, thank you. for city attorney herrera from "the examiner", there are a few questions. i'll start with one. did the city offer to meet before filing suit? and if so, did they refuse so? >> let me put it this way: if the question did i, the city's attorney office, meet with the school district, the answer is no. but in terms of the city itself as an entity, going back for the

entirety of the time the school has been closed, there were numerous conversations between the city as an entity and the school district about how we could be of assistance in terms of giving them the resources they need to ensure that schools could reopen as safely as possible from discussions of testing, money, of other availability of resources. that's something that the city as an entity and my client's departments and the mayor's office has had numerous conversations, continual conversations. members of the board of supervisors with the district over the past several months. with respect with me filing this lawsuit, did i have a meeting and discussion with them? no. quite frankly, i didn't think it was worthwhile considering the lack of progress that has been

made over the last several months, despite all of the continual discussions that were happening with the city and the school district. >> thank you, city attorney herrera. the second part of the question is why isn't testing help offered, considering it's a major barrier, as school officials have said. maybe mayor breed can answer. >> i don't agree with the supposition of the question. i think there have been numerous conversations from the department of public health and other places in the city to say that they would be at assistance and try to be at assistance to try to deal with testing issues. i think that's been something that's been discussed quite often over the course of the last several months. >> mayor breed: in fact, we worked with the school district and had a plan to implement

testing capacity to support the request of the teachers' union, and unfortunately things changed after that. >> thank you, both. this comes from kathie novak. for city attorney herrera, what could happen in practical terms if the court rules the schools should reopen but the teachers refuse to return or strike? >> >> attorney herrera: i'm hopeful with the policy issues you've seen across the state. this is legal, and based on a failure of the school district to do what is required under the law. so we are not seeking a court order requiring schools to reopen exactly. we're asking the court to order the unified school district to

prepare to offer in-person instruction, file the appropriate plan to show they're ready to do so. and that is going to require that -- and hopefully provide a platform for the district and the board and the union to hammer out an agreement to get this done. so schools can reopen as quickly as possible according to the plans that the court will likely require -- the detail and specific plan the court will likely require the school district to file. so i think this is providing a platform and vehicle for everybody to come to the table and hammer out an agreement that will result in kids getting back to school as quickly as possible. >> thank you, can city attorney herrera. we've got another question from ktvu. if the district board and teachers' union comes up with a

plan, would the city drop the lawsuit? >> attorney herrera: i'm not going to speculate on what i would do or not do based on an agreement that hasn't occurred. we're going into court. i'm seeking a preliminary injunction next week. if that forces folks at the district and at the teachers' union to come to some kind of agreement, great. if that's embodied in the documents that we're asking the court to require the district to come up with, fabulous. but i want to see the details, concrete results, and then, i'll make my decision about where this lawsuit goes or doesn't go based on the circumstances at the time. >> thanks very much. we're waiting for just a few more questions to come in. for mayor breed, this comes from

kpix. for the schools closed in march 2020, how many times did you meet with superintendent matthews to discuss reopening and what city officials could do? how many times have you met with uess since schools closed? >> mayor breed: i meet with superintendent matthew quite frequently. we have a regular meeting on a monthly basis. we've had to increase the number of conversations we've had to focus on our reopening efforts. and -- what was the second part of the question? >> sure. the second part of the question is: how many times have you met with uess since schools closed? >> mayor breed: so i've talked individually to members of uesf on numerous occasions. i don't know the exact number of times i've met with either. but they've been over the course of the past year, there have

been a few times. thanks very much. sorry. just to clarify, you know, how many times have you met with superintendent matthews? and have you discussed reopening with him and what city officials could do to help? >> who is that question for? >> for mayor breed from kpix. >> okay. >> mayor breed: look, i can get back to you on the exact number of times. but i have a standing monthly meeting with the superintendent. and there have been increased in the number of meetings that i've had with him around the reopening efforts. so i don't know the specifics of how many times. but we definitely have a open

relationship. we constantly communicate with one another. we're definitely trying to work together. i know he's working very hard to get the elected board of directors for the school district on board with number of plans and initiatives. and this is what we discuss on a regular basis. so the specifics of the number of times, i do not know off the top of my head. >> thank you. and just a follow-up. we're going to take two more questions. this is from ken troth. what else will be done in the next couple of weeks by city officials such as yourself? you mentioned testing and money for schools. can we elaborate on that.

>> that was for mayor breed, correct? >> mayor breed: what else? >> what else could be done in the next couple of weeks by city officials? you mentioned testing, offering money to inspect schools. >> mayor breed: that as far as i'm concerned, we don't know what else we could do. president that's what the problem is. we've tried to meet every request that has been made. and there was actually just to clarify, an agreement for testing. and so we have provided the resources, the systems, the support. and we just need the school board and the superintendent to move in this direction. and so we're here. we're here to work with them. we're here to continue to provide whatever resources that are available to support them. but it doesn't -- we're not sure what else we could do to move this forward.

and i think that's really why we're here today, because now it's time for us to start using whatever tools we have, whether it's a lawsuit or legislation or what have you to address this issue. and sadly, you know, take matters into our own hands. >> thank you, mayor breed. one more. we're just sorting through. we've gotten quite a few. that's all we have time for today. i really appreciate everyone coming. and their interest in this issue. thank you to mayor breed for her time. and thank you of course to the city attorney herrera for speaking today. if you would like more additional information on the lawsuit filed today or anymore of city attorney herrera's comments visit

www.sfcityattorney.org for our full press release.

>> commissioner dejesus: sergean t youngblood please call the roll. [roll call]