>> welcome to the february #, 2021 meeting of the land use and transportation committee of the san francisco board of supervisors. i'm supervisor myrna melgar, joined by vice chair preston and supervisor peskin. the clerk is erica major. and i would like to acknowledge sfgov-tv, thank you for staffing this meeting. madam clerk, do you have any announcements? >> clerk: yes, due to the covid-19 health emergency, and to protect the board members and the employees and the public, the board of supervisors legislative chamber and committee room are closed. however, members will participate remotely. this precaution is taken to the stay-at-home order and declarations and directives. the committee members will attend through video conference and participate in the meeting to the same extent as if physically present. public comment will -- [broken

audio] and sfgov-tv.org are streaming the number across the screen. each speaker is allowed two minutes to speak. comments are opportunities to speak during the public comment period and are available view phone by calling the number 1-(415)-655-0001. again, that number is 1-(415)-655-0001 and the meeting i.d. is 146 646 6079 again, 146 646 6079. and then press pound and pound again. when connecting you will hear the meeting discussion but you will be in mute and listening mode only. when your interest item comes up press star, 3, to be add to the speaker line. speak clearly and slowly and turn down your radio or tv. and you can submit by emailing

myself eicca.org... and if you submit public comment via email it's forwarded to the supervisors and made part of the official file. written comments may be submitted via u.s. postal service to city hall 1 doctor carl goodlet place, san francisco, california, 94102. and finally, items acted upon today are expected to appear on the board of supervisor's agenda of february 9th, unless otherwise stated. madam chair. >> chair melgar: thank you so much. please call the first item. >> clerk: yes. item 1 is an emergency ordinance to restrict landlords from evicting tenants for non-payment of rent due to the covid-19 pandemic. to provide comment call the number on the screen,

1-(415)-655-0001. and the meeting i.d. is 146 646 6079. and then press pound and pound again. if you have not done so already, dial star, and then three to line up to speak. the system prompt will indicate that you have raised your hand. madam chair? >> supervisor moliga: , supervisor preston will you provide your remarks? >> supervisor preston: thank you for getting this on the calendar and this was an emergency ordinance and very time sensitive when introduced. i would like to do -- to address it and i will be making a motion after remarks to continue the item to the call of the chair. before today, madam chair, and the emergency ordinance to extend the eviction protections for non-payment of rent due to

covid-related financial hardships. we introduced this item on january 19th, i was at the request of the tenant advocate community, who are expressing that the renters that were impacted and the folks they were counselling, were understandably terrified that the existing protections that were laid out under the state bill a.b.-38 were to expire on january 31st. yesterday, and although there were ongoing discussions of extending the state-wide protections there was a palpable fear that that would not materialize before the february rent and months of back rent became due. and so in response we have introduced this emergency ordinance which sought to extend by 60 days the local eviction protections that we currently have in place in san francisco to cover rent starting february 1st. then on monday last week, we learned about the new proposal

sb-11, the state level, that would extend the state-wide eviction law through june of this year. as well as create a program for rent relief. this bill was unveiled really at the last minute, negotiated primarily between the governor and leadership of the senate and the assembly without tenant advocates participating to a large extent, as far as i know, without a lot of input even from our s.f. san francisco legislators and delegation in the capitol. this was a leadership deal, left no time for amendments, no real opportunity for public input. no hearing such as this for the public to call in and to be heard. it was passed on thursday last week and then signed into law by the governor on friday. this news i greet with mixed feelings. in an immediate sense, the state

bill provides some peace of mind for impacted tenants that are worried about what would happen today on february 1st, when so many folks had their rent come due. so there's a five-month window before evictions are allowed to move forward and that is certainly very important and good news, particularly in parts of the state that don't have a city council or a board of supervisors that has been passing protections against evictions where these state protections are the only protections that exist at all. so given the proposed 60-day effective period of the emergency legislation that's here before us in committee, and given the length and the timing of the state-wide extension provided by sb-91, and given the state preemption -- and i will address this a bit more in a

minute -- but the state preemption of any further covid non-payment protections locally, i don't believe that our legislation needs to move forward today and as such as i have mentioned we'll make a motion to continue it to the call of the chair. before i do make that motion, i just wanted to share some additional thoughts on these developments and, obviously, things have been moving quickly with good news and bad news across the board here. but, you know, i think that broadly speaking, it is a positive step for the state to step in with a proposal to have protections and rent relief in california. but i see three real problems here. one is the limited nature of what was passed. and the second was how it was done. and the third is the actions by the state in tying the hands of local government. so from the first point, what

was done here is just not enough and it does not meet the needs of the moment. the state has the power to issue a complete and comprehensive eviction moratorium. the governor's press releases since early in the pandemic continue to inaccurately to portray his actions as if there is a broad eviction moratorium in place in california. and the problem is that the reality hasn't really matched up with those public statements. the governor has not and apparently will not issue a true eviction moratorium, nor has the legislature in california stepped up to pass that kind of true protection for folks who are struggling during this pandemic. as for the rent relief part of the program, that program is voluntary. it will do some good in some cases but for most vulnerable tenants, the bill will leave them on the hook for 75% of

their rent. better than being on the hook for 100% of their rent. but it's not relief and the state needs to step up in a more robust and bold way. second from my discussions with state-wide advowicates and i alluded to this earlier, the -- the tenant advocates were completely shut out of this process, despite months of dedicated organizing. and to wait to the last minute and then fast track such important policy decisions, to do that without the folks who represent those most vulnerable and have expertise on evictions, who for months have been demanding to be heard in this process, i think that it's a textbook way to make poor public policy. and i think it shows in the resulting policy, which will leave most tenants vulnerable and in growing and massive debt. and, third, and perhaps worst of

all, the initial reading of sb-91 indicates that efforts to provide stronger local protections will be preempted by the new bill. so even if after recognizing these potential shortcomings in the state law, san francisco wanted to pursue additional stronger local anti-displacement measures to protect tenants who are unable to pay rent because of covid, it appears that our hands have to some extent been tied by state. and i just want to say because we become a little numb to what some of these words mean and we hear them all the time -- preset. ion and state versus local -- you know, it's really outrageous i think that the state government would be acting to stop localities like san francisco from going beyond what they're providing in state law when it comes to protecting our own residents. it is one thing for the state to

set the floor of minimum protection. and we could criticize whether they went far enough. but they set a floor. and to allow cities to add to that locally, that's what the states should have done. it's quite another for the state to create some protections, but then wrap up in those protections bans on local legislative bodies taking additional steps to protect their residents. and i strongly object to that. and really i would say to the governor and to the leadership in sacramento, shame on you for including any preemption provisions in a bill of this kind as we're all working -- i would hope all working -- to try to prevent displacement and alleviate rent debt that tenants are struggling under. the final thing, my office has also introduced legislation similar to what's on our agenda

today that's not an emergency ordinance. it's a permanent amendment to the administrative code, a regular ordinance. and that will come before this committee in the future and i do intend to -- to use that as a vehicle really to explore every opportunity to protect our most vulnerable tenants, including protections that extend out beyond the state preemption, which runs through june. so with that and just relative to the items before us today we would like to make a motion to continue the item to the call of the chair, thank you, chair melgar. >> chair melgar: thank you for your astute analysis and comments as always. supervisor peskin, did you have some comments of your own? >> supervisor peskin: thank you, madam chair. i wholeheartedly associate myself with the comments that

you just made. i am highly reluctant to score any recall of any kind, but i do believe that this governor is completely out of touch. i am quite despondent that there was no communication with the cities like san francisco, and other similarly situated cities. this notion of preemption that i think that you did a remarkably good job of explaining, you said it just right. it should set minimum standards. this city, along with many others that has been fighting for repeal of the ellis act, which the real estate industry got their way with in sacramento, mostly folks like us get elected to local government to make the best and right

decisions for our local population which in the case of san francisco even during covid remains a two-thirds renters' town. and the fact that the state of california is using their powers to preempt the city and county of san francisco and other similarly situated governments is as you have said truly outrageous. having said that, i will support just as a function of what has happened relative to sb-91, the continuance of this matter but i stand with you. >> chair melgar: thank you, supervisor peskin. madam clerk, do we have any public comment? >> clerk: thank you, madam chair. we have two listeners and one in queue. and we have mr. koe assisting us today with the callers. so if you could please unmute the first caller.

>> caller: hello committee, i wanted to thank you for letting me speak and thank you madam chairperson. i'm justin goodman, an associate attorney with zachman and patterson and i'm here representing the san francisco apartment association and the small property owners of san francisco. what i wanted to share with the committee which, obviously, the committee is well aware, is california sb-91 was signed into law last friday and has immediate effect and we agree with the statements of supervisor preston that it supersede the local authority in this area. while you're speaking on this, we had particular concerns with -- i know this is an emergency ordinance, but like the rent increase moratorium it obviously could be extended and this was written in an open-ended language to allow further continuances, particularly with san

francisco's smaller property owners. we thought that it was overbroad in including section 37.9, sub-b of the administrative code that is an exemption on the provisions for owners who rent bedrooms out of their own apartments and we thought that impaired our small property owners' right of privacy. but in general this is something that needs state-wide attention and unfortunately has gotten it and we appreciate that sb-91 has sought relief for landlords which is something that is absent from our local regulations in this area. and, again, particularly with the small property owners, many would have had difficulty meeting their own costs, including mortgages with lenders now suggesting they need to pay or they'll be in default and lose not only their rent units but also their homes when they have not received rent for a year. so we appreciate that california has enacted what we perceive as a more balanced solution to this problem. and, certainly, there should be and can be more voices at the table in future legislation, but in the meantime we believe that

this occupies the field and preserves section 11.7905 of the code of civil procedure that has the supremacy of state law in this area and we urge the board, obviously, to understand what supervisor preston has pointed out in that for the time being that there's no local authority to act in this area. thank you very much for your time. >> and, madam chair -- >> chair melgar: thank you, mr. goodman. yes, supervisor preston. >> supervisor preston: i'm not going to engage in a back and forth dialogue with the last speaker, but i will note for the record that in the early months of the pandemic, the san francisco apartment association repeatedly reported -- what is my personal experience as a small landlord in san francisco, that the vast majority of their tenants were paying 100 cents on the dollar. so we've seen less of those reports from the apartment

association, but i believe that the comments of the last speaker are not actually supported by that. >> chair melgar: thank you, supervisor peskin. do we have any other public comments, madam clerk. >> clerk: thank you, madam chair. can you confirm that there aren't any other callers? again, if you would like to be in the queue you would press star, 3, and you would see your number on our side and we can admit you. >> madam chair, we have no callers in the queue. >> chair melgar: great. so with that, public comment is now closed. and there is a motion on the floor. madam clerk, do you -- i'm sorry -- yes, vice chair -- >> sorry. i did want to comment briefly before we vote and just in light of the comment. you know, i just want to -- to make it clear that when -- when

there is a reference by one of the leading eviction law firms in the city to go about the more balanced approach taken in sacramento, what that means, i just want to be very clear and make sure that the public understands that i as someone who has spent quite a bit of time working in our state capitol on tenant rights issues, there is a dynamic in our state capital where our state legislature and our governor refuse to act on landlord/tenant matters to protect tenants unless they get consent of the landlords they are regulating. that is the dynamic in our state capital. where our san francisco board of supervisors is willing to adopt policies that protect tenants, even when at times those

policies are opposed by landlords that we feel that it is our duty to do that and to prevent displacement and that occurs locally. and that occurs in other city councils and board of supervisors in cities around the state. it rarely occurs in sacramento where the landlord industry is given a virtual veto power over tenant protection. so when we have a behind closed door deal and then we characterize that as if there were a balanced approach taken in sacramento, what is really meant is that what was adopted is fine with the landlords who approved it and who were at the table when tenant advocates were not. it's no way to make policy, we need bold leadership right now to address the issues that i know that you, chair melgar, and you supervisor peskin, have led on for years and years in san

francisco. and it is a sad day when we see this kind of weak policymaking at the state level. and as i said though, the problem is not that sacramento has not solved all of the problems with this bill. i don't think that any of us expected that. but for them to then tie our hands is inexcusable. we will find every way that we can to get around that, to pass the protections locally that we need to, and, frankly, to work with our state legislators and we have been in touch with assembly member chu who is continuing to work on his bill, which is not the bill here that passed, right. and he is continuing to work on his bill with tenant advocates to take effect when these current preemptive measures expire in june. so this is not the beginning of this conversation, not the end of this conversation. probably the middle of this conversation. but it's a very disappointing

time for the state to come together to pass some protections, but then to use that as an opportunity to actually stop cities and counties from protecting their residents. thank you. >> chair melgar: thank you, supervisor preston. madam clerk, supervisor preston made a motion to continue this to the call of the chair. would you please call roll. >> clerk: yes, on the motion as stated by supervisor preston [roll call vote] you have three ayes. >> chair melgar: thank you. are there anymore items on our agenda? >> clerk: that completes the business for today. >> chair melgar: thank you so much, so we are adjourned. thank you.

>> mayor breed: good morning, everyone. thank you all so much for joining us here today! i can't tell you how excited i am to open this vaccination site right here musconi center. let me take us back a little

bit. when this pandemic hit our city, our country about a year ago. in san francisco, we had to get ready. as much as dr. colfax and i fought over what was going on and whether or not we needed to close down the city because we understood the significant impacts on people's lives by making these hard decisions, we knew it was the right thing to do. we knew it was the right thing to do because it was about saving lives. when you look at where san francisco is in terms of our death rate, even though every life lost is tragic, we are the second densest city in the country with the lowest death rate of any major city in the country. we've saves thousands of lives

here in the city. it started here at moscone center. i want to thank the director of the department of emergency management mary allen carol for her hard work. [applause] >> mayor breed: and the people who came here to work not only the folks who work within her department but so many city employees, who signed up as disaster service workers, who answered the call, and who have been showing up to deal with challenges around this pandemic. whether it's homelessness and encampments, testing and getting testing sites set up in the city, whether it's information because people were confused about what was going on, the people in moscone center showing up every day for the past year, the sheriff deputies, the fire and police department, the librarians, the department of

public works, people from all over the city, they are the ones leading and managing this effort. we're grateful for their work. i know that no one is more excited than they are that we are finally at this place to deliver this vaccine at the same place we've been managing this crisis in san francisco. what i'm so appreciative about is this consortium. led by kaiser permanente to open the vaccination site, where we will have the capacity to deliver 7,000 to 10,000 doses per day. san francisco has a goal to deliver at least minimum 10,000 a day. this one site on its own can basically do that. but we're not stopping there. we're opening a site in bayview.

he have opened a site at ucsf. we have a small bayview site open now. we opened a pop-up now in the mission, one of the most impacted communities as it relates to this virus. you know how we're doing it? we're working together. the department of public health led by dr. colfax, the healthcare providers that are a part of this consortium, we have all come together, because we know how important this is to reopening our city. we've saved lives, yes. but we know there are still challenges, not just our economy but around mental health. our children are not back in school. people are not back at work. folks have lost their job. we know how critical the rollout of this program is. and the reason why it's going to

be a success, is because of each and every one of you. so i'm grateful that all of you are joining us here today. and i want to take an opportunity to recognize a few members of the consortium. because sites like this don't just open because we say we want them to open. they open because of people who helped to put together refrigeration system, transport system, doctors, nurses, the clinicians, the people who are going to check folks in. there's so much that goes into setting up even a small site. and we have to make sure the logistics are just right, so that we do not waste one vaccine and so that we get these vaccines into the arms of the people who need it the most as quickly as possible. first of all, thank you to dr. colfax and the department of

public health. in partnership with kaiser permanente, we are so grateful to kaiser and what they're going to be doing at this site. i want to reiterate, this site is not only for kaiser patients. they will be helping with people 65 and older at this site. and they'll talk more about how you sign up, because we wanted to make sure that we had an accessible site that was this large city-wide to make it easy for people to get vaccinated. adventist health, thank you so much. thank you to dignity health. thank you to futureal health. the california medical oh and -- association and primary care association. all of these providers came together to make this available. it officially opened friday at 8:00 a.m. the normal hours will

be 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. daily. as long as we have the vaccines, we will have the places in which to distribute them quickly as possible. again, i want to thank all of you for joining us here today. we are looking forward to what the future holds in san francisco. we are getting the vaccine out as quickly as we possibly can. nothing is more important. and this major site will play a significant role in getting our city to a better place. i don't know about you, but i'm ready to celebrate. not today. i'm ready to celebrate in a few months when we're able to say that the city is open. that the city is open for business. that we can do things in and outdoors. that we can finally eventually one day, dr. colfax, take our

masks off and wave them in the air like we just don't care. [laughter] >> mayor breed: i don't know about you, but i'm looking forward to that day, and that day is coming. but let me also just say, i appreciate the people of the city so much, because you follow the health directives in most cases. you wore your mask. you kept your distance from people. you didn't get a chance to visit your family and your friends the way we're used to doing. we sacrificed so much. and we're going to need to sacrifice just a little bit more. because we are almost there. i can feel it. today, the sun is shining. and i can feel the energy and the excitement about the future of the city. i can feel the energy of the conventions that will be returning to moscone center.

the people who will be going to restaurants both in and outdoors. the folks who will be taking their children to school. the people who will show up to work and be able to congregate with one another in the lunchroom. some of the basic things that we miss so much, i feel it. it's going to happen. but we're going to need to sacrifice a little bit more. and in addition to sacrificing, we will do everything we can to roll out these vaccination sites, advocate aggressively to get more vaccines quickly. get them to the people of san francisco. and open our city back up to celebrate again. thank you all so much for being here. and at this time, i want to turn it over to dr. colfax of the department of public health. [applause] >> good morning, everybody.

this is an exciting day. a very exciting day. a good day. i have to say when i woke up early this morning, my husband said to me, you seem so happy today! what is going on? i said, this is a day that will make a difference in san francisco. this is a day of partnership, of collaboration, of pride what we can do together when we come together as a community, as a community of people of clinicians. of people who work hard on the operations and logistics to get this done! i was here monday. i started seeing this going up! the progress has been amazing. look at this place. we're going to do 7,500 people of vaccines a day. i want to thank kaiser so much for your partnership. this conversation started awhile ago. thank you for your collaboration and partnership at the hospital council to make this happen. and of course, thank you, mayor, for your leadership during this

incredibly challenging year. your courage, your fortitude, your leadership in helping us slow the virus. our partnerships with healthcare providers are critical meeting our goal of vaccinating everyone who lives or works in san francisco in order to bring an end to this pandemic as quickly as possible. these high-volume sites will help us serve people that -- and would not be possible without these key partnerships. and as you know, although vaccines remain in limited supply, we are building the partnerships and the infrastructure so that when vaccine is readily available, we are ready to go. 10,000 vaccines a day in san francisco. we can do that now. we can do more than now soon. we are building a comprehensive

vaccination network with a variety of options for all those who live and work in san francisco. and this system is focused on equity. equity, speed, and access. the department of public health, its community partners, also will continue to vaccinate people through community clinics in western additions, china down, bayview, outer sunset, where we know the virus continues to spread. we're working to expand our neighborhood access sites to the bayview, excelsior and visitation valley with the highest numbers of covid-19. we're working with our pharmacy partners to bring vaccinations throughout the city. it's all of the above approach to focus on the speed, the

access, and most importantly as we've seen during this covid pandemic, equity. our work with community and healthcare providers have been an integral part of our covid-19 response. today's announcement highlights that part. i'm glad i can be with you today and recognize that work. with that, i'd like to hand this off to the kaiser permanente. secondly, as a kaiser patient myself, thank you. >> thank you. thank you mayor breed and dr. colfax. i was thinking this morning about how february 2020, a year ago, kaiser permanente was

preparing for greeting the very first covid-19 patient into california that were coming from the princess cruise ship. and it has been quite a year for all of us. and throughout this year, we have constantly asked ourselves how can we do more. and this site, this hub, is an example of coming together, doing more together to create something that would not have been possible without all of us working together. this is the largest vaccination, mass vaccination site in the state of california with the 10,000 a day capacity. only limited by vaccine supply. and i want to thank so many people here who helped. and of course, the city. and the city leadership for offering moscone city, which is

the perfect location and type of venue for this mass vaccination. i'd like to thank the state leadership, governor's office and department of public health for believing in the vision of the consortium to provide the vaccines so we could help vaccinate the general public. and i'd like to of course -- you're going to hear later today the consortium partners, adventist health, dignity heath and our planning partners, who are here today, california medical association, primary care association and the red cross. the red cross lent their experience to us in terms of mass vaccination planning. it's really together that we are so pleased to bring the hubs to the public. these hubs answer the public's call for immediate and

meaningful vaccination. the hubs represent the consortium's values. the mission to vaccinate the most diverse and broadly-reached populations. it was important to us that in our planning, that no one is left behind. the surrounding areas of the moscone center, we've reached out to community health clinics, such as the mission neighborhood center and health 360. we've reached out to senior centers. and we've reached out to homeless service providers, such as the provider resource center to ensure again that no one gets left behind. now, moscone center is the first hub. but i'm excited to say that tomorrow, our second hub opens serving with the same mission. and serving the same need to

vaccinate efficiently and equitably across our different markets. and these hubs use the state's my turn scheduling and appointment system. so i want to thank the state for quickly putting that together in order to make it possible for the general public to get vaccinated. and we -- and all the sites are -- eligibility defaults to county eligibility requirements. i want to say our hope, our aspirations, is that we can get to as many 75 year-old and up individuals as possible. 75 year-old up just represents a subpopulation of the 65 and older at most risk for impact -- long-term impacts from covid. again, these hubs are the largest in california. and we plan to be ready for when

vaccine is available. you know, some day soon, there will be much more vaccine. and it's really important that the state of california is ready with efficient ways to vaccinate the public. so we are actively working beyond these two sites to explore additional locations throughout the state of california. and we're doing our part to do more on behalf of saving lives of the people of california. thank you very much for being here today. [applause] >> and i think -- i don't recall -- oh, keisha from dignity health, please come up. thank you. >> thank you, janet. on behalf of dignity, it's an honor to be able to be part of this incredibly important initiative to be able to improve the health of our community. we're very grateful.

it is a wonderful day. and we are so proud to be representing the consortium of healthcare organizations. coming together for a common cause. and that is to make our communities more healthy and get them on the other side of this pandemic. what an absolute honor to be a part of this. the goals for this unique partnership, among the consortium of state-wide health organizations is eventually stand up a network of hubs across the state, which will serve as a model for similar efforts in other states as well. i'm just excited personally to be part of this in helping to make history. locations will be chosen to maximize access. especially for communities where populations who are historically have experienced challenges with respect to health and healthcare access. dignity health, we always talking about reaching the disenfranchised and the poor. this is directly in line with the mission of our organization. the moscone location is part of

a network of high value vaccination sites organized by the city and county of san francisco and healthcare providers. this consortium will enable partnering healthcare organizations such as ours, dignity, to leverage resources and staff, align operations for efficient and safe vaccine delivery and offer convenient parking for patients, if needed. as part of this collaboration, we will remain committed to getting the covid-19 vaccine to the community in accordance with state guidelines equitably and as vaccine guidelines allow. at this time, i'd like to hand it off to andrew, president of care delivery at adventist health. [applause] >> thank you, keisha, thank you, janet. and thank you, mayor london breed. what an inspiration and privilege to be part of this.

i'm andrew john, president of care delivery at adventist health. on behalf of adventist health and the 80 different communities that we serve, thank you to healthcare workers across this state for your continued heroic response to care for californians in this unprecedented pandemic. thank you, mayor london breed, and our consortium partners, for the heavy lifting, the coordination, and the investment that has made today's model possible. and i want to say a special thanks to my colleagues at kaiser permanente, for taking an early and leading role in organizing this consortium. somebody needed to step up. kaiser was there, and i'm proud to be a part of that, as well as adventist health is proud to be a part of that. thank you for bringing us together, because it's together that we're going to beat this pandemic. today's mass vaccination hub serves as a road map and as a model for how we're going to

eradicate covid-19 from the face of this earth. it's a model for restoring health. a model for restoring wholeness, and a model for hope. i'm going to turn it over to my friend and colleague -- my new friend and colleague, who is the c.e.o. of ventura health. thank you so much. [applause] >> thank you so much. ventura health is delighted to be standing with this consortium and mayor breed for the important work. we see the vaccination as an essential step in the recovery of the nation and the state. in addition, we see this as an opportunity for students, who are in allied health and nursing programs across the state to gain patient care experience, so important for them to getting

their licensure. in this state alone, california needs an estimated 500,000 new allied health workers to be on the frontline of caring for the growing and graying of california. so this is such an important experience for them. and we invite you to help us get the word out to colleges that they can participate in in this opportunity. thank you. and now, i'd like to introduce the physical and chief of kaiser permanente of san francisco. [applause] >> thank you. i am privileged to serve as the physician and chief of kaiser permanente of san francisco. on behalf of our physicians, nurses and healthcare team, i'd like to welcome you to this mass vaccination hub. we've seen firsthand and up

close the impact of covid-19 and the toll it's taken on our community, particularly affecting and disproportionately affecting our communities of color. i want to take a moment and sincerely thank mayor breed and dr. colfax on their work. their actions saved lives. their actions preserved i.c.u. capacity. their decisions made it so we never run out of ventilators in our i.c.u. i'm so lucky. and our colleagues across this city feel indebted to you. you have made a difference here. finally, through the miracle of science, we have some hope. the advent of a safe and effective vaccine to end this pandemic. and it's just a delight to be able to talk about building immunity in this great city. so let this vaccine hub be a hub and beacon of light and hope for the future. today, is a day to celebrate.

kaiser permanente has a long history in prevention and in vaccine delivery. and together, with this consortium, we're going to build on that expertise with this partnership and really expand, broaden our delivery of vaccines across this great city. we will -- and we are committed to an equitable distribution of vaccines to our community. we will be focusing on the highest risk for complications from covid-19, specifically in our elderly and in our communities of color. let's not forget, though, that until we build full immunity, we'll continue to wear masks, keep our distance and wash our hands until we've eradicated this disease. that's why it's important we do this efficiently and broadly starting with our most vulnerable populations at risk. since we started vaccinating a few weeks ago at our medical center, i've had the pleasure of seeing my colleagues in

healthcare and our elderly get vaccinated. when i ask our doctors and nurses if they've had any side effects from the vaccine, what they usually tell me is nothing but pure joy and overwhelming relief. that gives them strength to carry on during this continued ravaging disease, and fight this final surge, hopefully. i'm also meeting with seniors in our community who are coming out of their homes for the first time in nine or 10 months. they tell me about their hope to see their families again and to hold grandchildren, some of them for the first time. today, marks the end of the beginning -- sorry. today, marks the end of social isolation. it's the beginning of the end. it's the end of a raging pandemic, and the beginning of restoring health and healing to this great city. thank you for this opportunity to deliver an injection of hope

into our community.

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. [♪♪♪] >> i really believe that art should be available to people for free, and it should be part of our world, you shouldn't just be something in museums, and i love that the people can just go there and it is there for everyone. [♪♪♪] >> i would say i am a multidimensional artist. i came out of painting, but have also really enjoyed tactile

properties of artwork and tile work. i always have an interest in public art. i really believe that art should be available to people for free, and it should be part of our world. you shouldn't just be something in museums. i love that people can just go there, and it is there for everyone. public art is art with a job to do. it is a place where the architecture meets the public. where the artist takes the meaning of the site, and gives a voice to its. we commission culture, murals, mosaics, black pieces, cut to mental, different types of material. it is not just downtown, or the big sculptures you see, we are in the neighborhood. those are some of the most beloved kinds of projects that really give our libraries and recreation centers a sense of

uniqueness, and being specific to that neighborhood. colette test on a number of those projects for its. one of my favorites is the oceanview library, as well as several parks, and the steps. >> mosaics are created with tile that is either broken or cut in some way, and rearranged to make a pattern. you need to use a tool, nippers, as they are called, to actually shape the tiles of it so you can get them to fit incorrectly. i glued them to mash, and then they are taken, now usually installed by someone who is not

to me, and they put cement on the wall, and they pick up the mash with the tiles attached to it, and they stick it to the wall, and then they groped it afterwards. [♪♪♪] >> we had never really seen artwork done on a stairway of the kinds that we were thinking of because our idea was very just barely pictorial, and to have a picture broken up like that, we were not sure if it would visually work. so we just took paper that size and drew what our idea was, and cut it into strips, and took it down there and taped it to the steps, and stepped back and looked around, and walked up and down and figured out how it would really work visually. [♪♪♪] >> my theme was chinese heights because i find them very beautiful.

and also because mosaic is such a heavy, dens, static medium, and i always like to try and incorporate movement into its, and i work with the theme of water a lot, with wind, with clouds, just because i like movements and lightness, so i liked the contrast of making kites out of very heavy, hard material. so one side is a dragon kite, and then there are several different kites in the sky with the clouds, and a little girl below flying it. [♪♪♪] >> there are pieces that are particularly meaningful to me. during the time that we were working on it, my son was a

disaffected, unhappy high school student. there was a day where i was on the way to take them to school, and he was looking glum, as usual, and so halfway to school, i turned around and said, how about if i tell the school you are sick and you come make tiles with us, so there is a tile that he made to. it is a little bird. the relationship with a work of art is something that develops over time, and if you have memories connected with a place from when you are a child, and you come back and you see it again with the eyes of an adult, it is a different thing, and is just part of what makes the city an exciting place. [♪♪♪]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

say and i don't think they will prevent your pens from being stolen, but they will raise the value of their resale on ebay. i'm going to share with you just very briefly what dr. jose said to me a couple of days after i was named the seventh poet laureate. he said that everything you have done up until this point got you here and none of that will matter. what matters now is what comes next. have a great time and you do know where my kitchen table is when you want to hide. take care. >> thank you so much kim for that amazing poem. thank you for representing san francisco so well over the past few years. we look forward to seeing what comes next for you. now, it is my great honor to announce our eighth poet laureat. i had the privilege of knowing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[laughter] >> so we're going to take it to another level. that's your slogan, meet me at the library. hitting all the libraries all over san francisco. >> that's right. >> just inviting the people in and really bringing it back to some of the basics. you know, with the way technology is nowadays, sometimes we get away from just picking up a book or picking out a book or looking through an index card. i guess we don't look through index cards to find books anymore. sitting there and having discussions, i'm looking forward to what you're going to bring and really excited about that. i really want to thank the people that nominated you. you know, there was a really compelling, you know, letter of support that you know, went into all the details about your work. you have a lot of fans out there. i want to thank the selection committee, the people who served and had to go through all of those applications because i got to tell you, it was a hard

decision and i was so excited that so many people in san francisco, you know, really embraced and support poets in such an incredible way. there are so many wonderful nominees. i'm looking forward to you connecting with all of them as well and really the outgoing poet laureate kim shuck, thank you for that poem and your commitment to san francisco and the role you have played over the years. thank you to san francisco public library and the commissioners who are joining us here today and our librarian, michael lambert. so many amazing people and i think that based on your comments today, meet me at the library, that's going to be a new part of the campaign to really bring people together, to inspire and to really you know, set things off on a whole other level. thank you tongo for your work and commitment. we're so honored that you will

be san francisco's eighth poet laureate and if there is anything left to say, you're welcome to have the floor. if not, we can turn it back over to michael lambert. >> i just want to say much love and appreciation. >> great. >> thank you so much madam mayor. my heart is full, #meetmeatthelibrary. congratulations tongoo. i want to thank all of you for joining us this morning. our public affairs office is happy to help facilitate any interviews with our new poet lawyer -- laureate, thank you all and have a great day.

[♪♪♪] [♪♪♪]

i want to thank you for joining us for this very important conversation about covid-19 vaccine. i'm joined by san francisco's health officer and the deputy

director of health to discuss in more detail san francisco's plan to distribute vaccines as quickly as possible. the doctors are medical experts helping to lead the city's response to covid. we're lucky to have them here to help answer the questions that many san franciscans are asking. i know this is a topic on everybody's mind. we've never done anything like this before in this country, in this state or city. vaccinating this many people in the midst of a pandemic. it's a process with many moving pieces. while many things are out of our control, we're in good shape in san francisco with a plan in place to get people vaccinated quickly once we have the supply we need. to start off the conversation, i'll give a brief overview of the current situation in san francisco and then we can get right into the conversation. san francisco is moving full

speed ahead on covid-19 vaccinations. we're creating a network of vaccination locations across the city. high-volume sites, partnerships with pharmacies, uzbekistaning -- using existing community sites. to do all this, we're coordinating with the health care providers who are receiving a majority of the vaccine doses from the state, such as kaiser permanente and ucsf health. creating targeted efforts to make sure communities that have been hit the hardest by covid, have access to the vaccine. won friday, we opened the first of three high-volume vaccination sites in san francisco at city college on ocean avenue. they started with 500 doses per day, but will have the capacity

to administer at least 3,000 doses per day once we have the supply and are fully ramped up. in addition to the sites opening at the muscone center and the san francisco market and the bayview, we're also working to bring vaccines to people in the communities most impacted by covid through community clinics and mobile vaccination teams. this has been a collaborative effort and we're so thankful for our partners, the health care providers and the community organizations work with us. we have a plan and we're ready to distribute 10,000 doses at least bare minimum per day once we have enough supply of the vac. so far, the amount of vaccine we're receiving from the state and federal government is inconsistent and unpredictable. we need more vaccines and we'll continue to do everything we can to be ready when our supply of

vaccine doses increase. but for now, vaccine supply remains our biggest constraint. so this is such a big piece of the puzzle. why don't we get started in the conversation? and let's ask the two incredible doctors that are joining us today, who are really leading this effort, thank you for joining us and either one of you can answer this question. what is the current situation with vaccine supply in san francisco? and why are vaccine supplies so limited? >> thank you, mayor. and maybe i will start and then the doctor can fill in if there are pieces i missed. as you said mayor, the main thing, nationwide vaccine production is limited right now and that's the underlying issue. vaccine getting to us in san francisco and getting in the arms of people in san francisco is also very, very complex. so the federal government

directly allocates a small portion of the doses that it has and then the rest of it gets divided up and allocated by the federal government to the 50 states. once our california share has arrived, then it gets allocated not just to our 58 counties, but also large health care organizations. in fact, in san francisco, two-thirds of the vaccine that is coming into the county is going straight to our health care partners. that's important to realize. as you mentioned, not only are we not receiving all of the allocation, but just a minority, but it's very erratic and unpredictable because of the supply issues. that means we can't know from week to week how many spots we'll have available for people to get vaccinated. the state also determines what the priorities are for vaccination. again, as you said, very important to know. and right now, the priority groups are health care workers and they are people that are 65 and older. these are the people who are

most likely to get covid-19 and the people who are most likely to die if they do become infected in the case of older adults. so as an example of that, in san francisco, people aged 65 and older make up 15% of the people who get covid-19 in our county, but they make up 85% of the people who die. so that's why they're prioritized first, but it is that scarcity of vaccine right now that causes the biggest problems. then are logistical problems with the vaccines and being able to get them to people. >> mayor breed: so can you tell us a little more about how this works? how many doses have arrived in san francisco? and how many have been administered? and can you also explain, i think there is confusion around the second dose because there is, you know, a question about the timing of when the second

dose should be administered and whether or not we can just administer all the first doses and hope we'll get enough second doses to administer those. can you explain the numbers and specifically explain the second dose so we can have a clear understanding of that? >> yes, thank you. so as of today, san francisco has received 144,000 doses, but just to put that in perspective, if we talk again about the people who are currently eligible in san francisco, including health care workers and people 65 and over, that group in and of itself is 210,000. so if you think about two doses being required for these vaccines as you said, that requires 420,000 doses. so we don't have nearly that amount. each of these vaccines requires a two-dose course. they have to be repeated at either three or four weeks. the difficulty is you can't mix

and match the doses. we have to make sure it's the same dose. of the 144,000 vaccines, we have administered 80,000 of them, 58 percent. and of the remaining doses, they're almost all allocated to ensure that the people who received their first dose are able to get full protection from the vaccine by getting the second dose. when you account for that as well, there is 98% of the doses that have come to san francisco are going to the people of san francisco who need them. >> mayor breed: can you help understand -- i think some of the questions, too, that people have is, what happens if you don't get it within the third or fourth week? you don't get the second dose at that time, what happens? is it just not effective any longer? >> i can maybe take this one. so this has been study across the nation and right now, at the national level, they're saying

that you could get the second dose up to six weeks later. the state is looking at this recommendation and they're finalizing how they want to approach it. so we're waiting for that. right now, we're trying to hit the marks of three to four weeks after, but if we get recommendations to adjust, we'll do so so we can get vaccine out in the most efficient manner possible. >> mayor breed: that's a real interesting point that dr. phillip made earlier today, just that folks are not completely -- they don't completely understand why we are basically pretty much out of doses. and i think it's important -- and it's complicated, but it's important to talk specifically about the path. we're not just holding onto vaccines. we're getting them out the door as soon as we have them and we don't have control over all the ones that come to san francisco, but maybe you can talk about the path that a vaccine follows from when it is assigned to san

francisco to when it is administered. and i know that you can probably only mostly speak to what happens with the department of public health, because we only have control over the vaccines that we receive. >> should i start? or would you? >> maybe i'll start with the logistical part and then you can talk about the clinical implications. because these vaccines were processed in a very quick manner, they require a little bit more logistical effort than normal vaccines. so the pfizer vaccine needs ultra-cold freezing which is -60° and that's not normally how we distribute vaccines. so that temperature control is extremely important for the vaccines to remain effective. at every stage from when they are produced at the manufacturing and as well as transport across the country

into the county, that temperature control has to be maintained. once it's in the county and it's put into a health care system or the department of public health, we have to ensure that that temperature control conditions until it's ready for use. -- continues until it's ready for use. it's required for the health care systems to have ultra-cold freezer storage to do the pfizer vaccine and get it out. moderna is a little bit better in the fact that it requires freezers. and we can use our own freezers to do that. and the health care system has freezers. but i want to emphasize, the vaccines are fragile. you have to be not only temperature-controlled for storage, but as soon as they're ready for use, there is a lot of requirements around how that use happens. i'll turn it over to dr. phillips to talk about that. >> yes, these vaccines, these are not the type that you and i are used to in our homes.

these are specialized equipment in medical centers. and what we know is that once we start the process of thawing the vaccine, that is another process, then it also has a limited life within the refrigerator of several weeks. and once we take the vials, they actually contain multiple doses of vaccine, so you can get either up to six or 10 doses for individual people from each vial, but once you open the vial, you have six hours to use it for you have to discard the rest of the vial. the last thing anyone wants to happen is wasted vaccine. so the logistics, the planning and equipment for doing this is not parallel. so the idea that, you know, for flu vaccine we're all used to going into the local pharmacy or doctor office and getting it

easily. that is a very different scenario than we have right now with covid vaccine. both because of the requirement of the specific vaccine and the scarcity of the vaccine. we're hoping in the future we get to a point that will be -- that it will be like the flu vaccine, but we're not there yet. this is the limitations we're working with in the city to make sure people are vaccinated. >> mayor breed: the city has made a decision to set up massive sites that require their own logistics. we have city college which we opened with ucsf, the muscone center and the san francisco produce market in the bayview. those are the other two sites that will open. these sites are going to play a huge role in efficiently providing the vaccine to people who live and work in san francisco, but it's a huge logistical undertaking to establish and operate a site like this. tell me about how these sites

will work. >> i can talk about that. you know, this site and this planning has been going on for months now. i really have to say that it's been a huge collaboration between city partners, between our health care system and between our community partners to really think about and plan and operate these sites. and part of the planning is that we need to ensure these sites are high-volume sites. they're able to get to, as you were saying, mayor, up to that 10,000-marker across the city. we need the space requirements we need the infrastructure to store the vaccine. we need the proper electricity. and additionally, people after they get the vaccine, they have to wait 15 minutes after to make sure they don't have a reaction. you have to have the appropriate places for people to be monitored. so based on that, with all of our, you know, all of this collaboration, there have been three sites looked at and deemed

really as the right places to get this up and running. and part of how this came to be is that we know the sector of the city has been most hardest hit by covid and covid cases. so really looking at that area to ensure that we have vaccine available for those populations, so city college as you mentioned, the bayview, were some of the first sites. and then additionally, the muscone site. once they were identified, we worked to determine how is this going to work? as dr. phillips statemented, we're only getting a third of the vaccine coming into the county, so we need our partners to be part of the collaborative to administer the vaccine. for city college, they have 18 lanes available and it can do thousands of doses a day potentially in the future. it launched with ucsf last friday with 500 doses because

that's the amount we have now, but as vaccine flows in at a more robust rate, we'll be able to increase the number of people that get vaccinated there. all these sites, we're looking at drive-thru as well as walk-in so people can get to the sites. >> mayor breed: i'm understanding that the city college site basically, based on the number of doses that they have left, so that the appointments are through tomorrow, is that correct? >> that is correct. they are through tomorrow. and that's, again, based on the vaccine allocation. we will hopefully get more news about allocation in the next 24-48 hours and we can start planning ahead. >> mayor breed: so tell us about who can get vaccinated at these high-volume distribution sites? i think -- are they open to anyone regardless of who their insurer is? >> so, mayor, again, the

limiting factor as you've both said, it is limited to health care workers and people that are 65 years of age and older. but as you pointed out, we really want to do all the complicated work on the back end and build these systems so it is simple for the people who live and work in san francisco to know where they can go to get a vaccine. so, yes, the goal is, and the plan is, as vaccine supply increases, that anyone will be able to access vaccine at these sites, no matter who is operating the site, whether it's ucsf or kaiser permanente. i don't have to be a kaiser permanente member to go to that site. that is the goal. we're going to be shared resources, sharing accessibility across the city for the benefit of all of the residents and people that work in san francisco. >> just for clarity, we know in

san francisco we're still in tier 1a and that includes people over the age of 65 and health care workers, in-home support service workers, emts and we anticipate that network is about 210,000 people. so we've heard a lot of folks who have been a little, you know, bothered by the fact that san francisco has not gotten to teachers, bus drivers, police officers, and, in fact, ma written has gotten to other counties. can you explain that and why it's a lot different here in san francisco than it is in other counties? >> one important reason is that we have such a robust health care system. we have so many health care workers that are here in san francisco serving our residents

every day. that is a strength. that is part of the reason why we have one of the lowest death rates of any major city. and that means that it's going to take us longer to vaccinate all those people that have been serving us throughout this entire year of the pandemic. so that is part of the reason why we have not yet been able to move past the health care workers into -- into the other tier. that is actually a strength that we have this large health care workforce here. and so we acknowledge that and we also know that with the limited vaccine supply we're getting, we're moving through the group as best we can. with all of my health officer colleagues across the region, all of our goals in every county is to get every resident, every worker vaccinated as quickly as possible. it's a shared goal. some of us, like san francisco, have a larger share of the health care workforce than other counties do. >> mayor breed: i want to express my appreciation for the work you all did early on to get

vaccinations to people who are in assisted-living facilities, both laguna honda and other places where some of the highest-risk patients have been. it was a huge undertaking and it was done very well. and although we've had our challenges when you think about a place like laguna honda, with over 700 patients and all of those employees, the work that was done there with your partners, in this case, walgreen's, it was significant to be able to accomplish that. let's talk about eligibility for this vaccine. how does one go about getting one? >> so i can talk about that. operational side. there is a couple of different ways. if you're a health care worker, generally we recommend you start with your employer because a lot of them have been able to get vaccine through themselves or the big health care systems. if you are an independent person

that is not associated and has not been able to through your employer get a vaccine, is it talk to the health care system. as dr. phillips remarked and stated earlier, the health care systems are now vaccinating all health care workers. and have made this available to people outside of their network. so that is one way to access vaccine. the other way is, you know, we are working on trying to get networks up and running. not only through the health care system, but also through other partnerships like our pharmacy partnerships. and our community health care clinics. again, hopefully as the vaccine becomes more accessible to san francisco, some of these other partnerships can start to vaccinate our health care workers. for the over 65 population, again, this is a large population. we're, you know, saying that those that are in the higher age

ranges should be the priority because they're at higher risk of death. so a lot of the health care systems are starting with 75 and over which is appropriate. but the goal is to get to as much as of this population as quickly as possible. it is dependent on the vaccine allocated. we will get to you. i know there is frustration and anxiety around this, but we're getting it out as fast as we can. we hear your concerns. given the limited supply, we're having to prioritize. that does not mean if you're in the priority groups you will not get the vaccine. they will get this phase done hopefully in the next 2-3 weeks, but that depends on the allocation we receive. >> mayor breed: dr. bobba, i know some have questions about the safety of the vaccine. can you tell us about the safety record on both types of the vaccine and why they should take the vaccine when the opportunity presents itself? >> yeah.

both of these vaccines have gone through extensive trials in terms of safety records. now they have been studied across a major part of the population. actually, recently, there was literature released by the cdc showing of the more than four million doses given, there were only 10 anaphylaxis episodes across the entire country. so very minor amount. and all of those were reversed immediately. that's been in the media, that anaphylaxis the concern, but it's a very rare concern and that is why we monitor for 15 minutes afterwards. in terms of other side effects, the main side effect is probably after your second dose, you can get muscle aches, feel fatigued. you might get an injection site redness or soreness. all of that generally, you know, resolves within 24-48 hours. so the ability to have a 95%

effective vaccine to covid for outweighs the concerns around the vaccine. especially in our communities that are really being devastated by the disease, where we're seeing hospitalizations and death, the benefits outweigh the risk. >> mayor breed: so basically you are strongly recommending the two doses. can you tell us why -- and then tell us who is going to be keeping track of the first and second dose and how that works to ensure that the second doses are available for the person that receives the first dose? >> absolutely. so, yes, two doses are recommended and depending on the type of vaccine that you start with. remember, they're nearly identical in terms of high efficacy, 95% for both of them. whatever one you get that is available, that is the one you should take. doses are in short supply. but you need the same kind fort

follow-up dose. that is going to be three weeks if you get pfizer and four weeks if you get moderna. we are keeping and we're tracking and there is very detailed documentation that is required, another one of the logistical challenges that has to go to the state. we know who has gotten the vaccine and when they're due for the follow-up. that is part of the system that is being built across the city. health systems have ways of doing it and we're doing that in covid command as well, to know when to call people back and schedule them for the follow-up shot. the efficacy, that very high 95% protection, is really only shown when people get the two doses three or four weeks apart, depending on the vaccine. so after people get the first dose, they shouldn't feel i've gotten the vaccine and i'm in the clear. they really need to have the second dose. so as we were talking about, this is part of the thinking, when we get our allocations, we want to make sure we can for now

schedule people at the 3-4 week interval, so we're planning accordingly. we want to be able to give people the second dose. that is part of the logistics and the thinking through how to do this well for the people who need the vaccination. >> mayor breed: one of the things that i wanted to just kind of touch upon, because you know, i think there are concerns that the city should be completely responsible for this, right? like that we should take on the responsibility even though it's not necessarily within our control. we remember the beginning of this pandemic. we had to set up these testing sites from scratch. we didn't have enough needles. we didn't have enough p.p.e. there were challenges with setting up the sites and a lot of the testing fell on the hands of the city and county of san francisco. and there were challenges with the private health care providers who were also

receiving test kits, but we were then, as a city, held responsible for administering all the testing and in many cases there are still people who are using the city system to test, even though they have private health care insurance. it's been one of the most challenging things that we've had to face. and part of, you know, of course, my push as mayor to the state and the feds is to provide more supply to our public health care system so we're administering more faster, because of our lack of control over the private health care providers. luckily, at least, the private health care providers are working with us, even though we don't have the data completely. how is this system that we have set up now? how is this plan we have set up now to administer the vaccine, how is this going to be better than what we had to deal with with testing especially with our private health care providers?

>> yeah, i think i can start and then dr. phillip can weigh in. one of the big things, a lot of the lessons we learned with testing, we're using them to plan for vaccine. what do these sites have to look like? how do we get a large number of people through them? how do we meet the demand? one of the major differences here, is that testing potentially had an open market that you could go purchase test kits. that's not the same with vaccine, right? this is a very limited supply. it is being tightly controlled at the federal and state level. there are specific allocations coming in. we have to work in partnership because if we don't collaboratively work with our health care system, it will be decentralized and not well-run process. and so this is actually, you know, i will say, it's making -- we have to ensure that there is collaboration. in some ways, it's forcing

collaboration because this cannot be successful if the health care system does it on their own and the city does it on their own, we have to come together to serve the residents of san francisco based on the allocations we're getting. so far, that collaboration is abundantly clear, the health care system is really being in partnership with us at these mass vac sites. the mass vac sites are looking at one way to distribute the vaccine, but there needs to be a community focus here with community sites and community hubs that can give the vaccine with a much more personal level, with community providers that know the community, have trust with their residents. so we're looking at multiple ways to get the vaccine out. again, the health care system, whether they're large or smaller doctor offices, it will be part of this and working collaboratively. >> mayor breed: the last question i want to ask, because i think one of the biggest concerns i have is a lot of the

misinformation and the criticism about san francisco and our rollout for the vaccine. the impression we just started planning for this yesterday. the impression that we're not prepared, that we're not getting the vaccines out fast enough. there is a lot of information and, sadly, it's causing a lot of confusion out there. and it's really causing a lot of frustration amongst many san franciscans. and i just want, you know, either one of you or both of you to talk about the fact that we have prepared for this early on. we're getting the vaccines out as quickly as we can. and how well we're doing in san francisco, especially compared to other places, even though it might seem confusing, especially because of the second dose. tell us your perspective as the two leaders of this effort, you know, how you believe san francisco is doing?

and how we can anticipate that we will do even better, especially once we get the supply? >> yeah, i'll start and dr. phillip, you can finish. so in terms of our planning, our planning started as soon as we heard that the vaccine trials were occurring and they were promising results. over the summer, we started planning over this and we dusted off the previous summer with h1n1. when we came to fall, the flu vaccine clinics as a model, even though the flu vaccine, the requirements around storage is different, we have to think about what is the impact of covid on administering the flu vaccine? what is the spacing requirement? the protective gear? so that happened all through the fall into the winter to get the

flu vaccine out. we built on that to think about, we know the understanding around flu vaccines. we know past experience of mass vaccination clinics. as we understood how allocations were going to happen, we worked closely with the health care system to develop these different strategies in addressing the needs of the community in terms of getting vaccine. so the mass vaccination sites, the community sites, our pharmacy partnerships are really the pillars of how we're going to get vaccine out. all of this is going to be ongoing improvement. as things start to rollout, as things change, we're going to be adept and nimble to change with them. but at this point, the city has a robust plan to get the vaccine out as quickly as possible as long as we get more supply. >> thank you. dr. phillip, you want to add anything? >> i agree 100% with dr. bobba. i think the only other piece i want to emphasize, this planning has been going on for months and

it's why we're poised to be in such a good position when the vaccine is available. looking around, i think the approach you alluded to, having any door be the right door for a person in san francisco to get the vaccine is unique. it is community-centered, individual-centered. it really makes the system work the people instead of the other way around. and i think this is the right way to get vaccine out to people quickly. so now we just need the vaccine. i also want to say that this is a good problem to have. there was no guarantee that we would have highly effective vaccine at all just a year after this brand new coronavirus was identified. so, we are up to this challenge in san francisco. we have built an amazing infrastructure. we have great people as a city with the health care partners in the community working on this, as we heard this afternoon. and we're looking forward to getting more vaccine and really

rolling up peoples' sleeves and getting vaccine in there. >> mayor breed: let me thank you both for the work since the beginning of the pandemic. thank you, dr. phillip and dr. bobba. you've been incredible leaders in the effort. we appreciate all the work done by the people who are part of the department of public health. i know that everyone is ready to be done with covid. i'm so ready to be done with covid myself. and just know that we are doing everything we can and i have confidence and faith in the work of the department of public health here in san francisco because they're the reason why you see san francisco, one of the second densest cities in the country, have one of the lowest death rates in the country. it's because of their work. it's because we acted fast. we have been a leader. so now is not the time to fall apart. more than ever, we're going to have to be patient. we know that the vaccines are here. we know that with a new

president who is prioritizing covid vaccine production, that we anticipate that more will be to come. and so it just means that we have to just be patient. we have to wait our turn. and we will get there. we got great news yesterday we'll be reopening san francisco with outdoor dining and a number of other salons and places of business that could not open in the past. that's good news. we're headed there. so now is not the time for us to, i think, question the decisions of the department of public health or lose faith. we're going to get through this. the light is finally there. we know there is clearly a lot to discuss on the vaccine. we can't get to it all today, but we'll continue to provide regular updates to the public about the vaccine in san francisco. and we're regularly updating information, which is available online at sf.gov/covidvaccine.

we know we're at the mercy of the state for supply. as soon as we have supply and information, we'll get the vaccines out the door. as a reminder, anyone who lives or works in san francisco, can sign up for a notification when they're eligible to get a vaccine. we really appreciate the time you took to listen to dr. phillip and dr. bobba on what we're doing here in san francisco to address the questions and the challenges around the vaccine. it's clearly complicated, but we'll still get there. i have faith and confidence in what i think is one of the most incredible department of public health anywhere in the country. our numbers speak to that. we will get through this and we appreciate everything that you all have done to follow our health care orders. looking forward to seeing you all in person fairly soon.

thank you for joining us. [ ♪♪♪ ] >> i'm san francisco mayor london breed. i'm so excite the to be here today to swear in the next assessor-recorder for the city and county of san francisco. joaquin torres. i want to say a few things about joaquin. i known him for so many years. we started off many years ago in city government in the mayor's office in neighborhood services, doing work to help support communities. he has really an incredible personality. he always focused on getting the job done for people who need it the most. it is not a surprise in he's been able to work his way up into numerous positions that has

helped steer the city in the right direction. let me just give you an example. when the san francisco housing authority was in trouble, we were having numerous challenges. the federal government threatened to intervene. joaquin torres was appointmented to serve on the commission. at that time, he became the president of the commission and he helped move us in a direction that has allowed for us to get investments to rehab 3400 units to get us off the red with the federal government and to get us back on track to support the families of the san francisco housing authority. it was very personal for me as someone who lived over 20 years of my life in public housing that we did something that didn't display the resident and that recognized that they needed to make sure that the. conditions of public housing

didn't continue down the wrong path. we appreciate his work. which was a volunteer job. not to mention his day job, when i became mayor, i appointed joaquin to be the director of the office of economic workforce development. i did it because my experience as a district supervisor and someone who worked in the community, he would always about the community. he could have sent staff members and his staff members were present and available. he was always on the ground facilitating conversation and making connections between what the community needed and what city hall needed to do to support them. his leadership style is really what helped to not only look at

some of the disparities and issues around equity that we were dealing in covid, he worked tirelessly to make sure that grant moneys were going to small businesses. he helped create the african-american resolving loan fund. he helped address lot of the disparities with the latino community when we saw surges of cases in that community and a need to provide financial support to a number of agencies including those small businesses. his understanding of finance, his understanding of how economic development works, his work with small businesses, big businesses and all things san

francisco, makes him just really the perfect candidate to be the next assessor-recorder for the city and county of san francisco. with that, i like to bring joaquin torres forward so i can swear him in and make it official. are you ready? >> okay. >> i, joaquin torres, do swear that i will support and defend the constitution of the united states and the constitution of the state of california against all enemies foreign and domestic that i bear true faith and

allegiance to the same. that i take this obligation freely. without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion and that i will well and faithfully discharge the duties which i'm about to enter and during such time, as i serve as the assessor-recorder for it city and county of san francisco. congratulations. [applause] >> congratulations.

ladies and gentlemen, your assessor-recorder, joaquin torres, [applause]

>> thank you mayor breed. thank you very much. thank you to my family who was here with me today. to my mom, who's listening in from downtown south, to my two dads who i marry in this building to my sister, to my wife. to my aunt and uncle up north, to my friends aall of you who joining us online. the collection of billions of dollars, property tax dollars is essential to constantly and solvency of this city of san francisco. i'm honored, mayor breed, for the confidence you placed in me as i assume these responsibilities as the assessor-recorder for the city and county of san francisco.

all of these depend on the financial foundation built through the hard work of this office and that is a responsibility i take very seriously. in the western edition. you treated me with grace, with the respect and with bearing that told me you better do right.

from my grandfather, who has a butcher rose before work before dawn each day so he can buy a home for his family and help his three children become an artist, bilingual teacher and education leader and an amazing public servant. to my nana, who taught me the love of caring, that came in a file wrapped package that she packed for my flights back and forth between separated parents. to my grandmother, who has a

seamstress steadily towards the purchase of a beautiful home. to my father, who broke barriers for latino politicians at a time when being a mexican-american was a significant hurdle for leadership. to my mom, who after career writer and journalist taught me true courage meaning and strength. i'm very proud of my family my mexican-american family. a family of teachers, artist, writers, journalist, butchers, caretakers, cooks, seamstresses and soon to be lawyers for what they strive so achieve and what they continue to give back to family and to society.

i'm grateful for them raising me defined by resiliency and public service. i'm a very proud husband to an extraordinary artist. my wife, rebo who guide me through stresses of public service who shown what it means to be loved, to love to be wrong, to be compassionate and vulnerable. thank you for seeing me. thank you for seeing supporting my love for this work. i'm so fortunate to have these people in my life. who shaped my approach to public service, not all of us can be so lucky. not all of us can rest at night knowing that the love and care we hope for is part of successful life will be for us when we need it most. it's that awareness and those

values principles and ethics that my family has instilled in me, carried with me the toughest times through the hardest of life challenges. when i called out for help, not knowing if it existed for me, it was my family that heard my call. it's that care and our ethics that i work to infuse in my 11 years of public service to the city. they've given me the confidence and strength to know that every shred of my being that my community need to be listened to and heard. it's those values i will bring to this new role as assessor-recorder. these are the values we need always. but especially today, when people are hurting so badly, so deeply when they need to know there's a government caring for them with caring and doors open and not shut, a government that's accessible and be

accountable to you the people that we are proud to serve. i want to thank city administrator chu for her commitment to the professionals at the assessor-recorder's awesome. thank you for haig this -- makingthis transition a succl one. i joined a team of hard working and professionals that made carmen's vision for fair and efficient government, not only a reality but an envy of offices up and down the state. that's a legacy i'll strive to continue and excited to learn and work with all of you at the office to continue down that path. one of excellence, one of continuous improvement for the betterment of san francisco. to the team i part with today, the office of economic and workforce development, you have prepared me for this moment.

it's been long hard year for so many businesses and workers throughout this pandemic for the barbers, gyms, bars, the fears, the actors, the concessionaries, the tattoo artist and restaurants, hotel workers, janitors and office workers. nonprofits rising up and you all every single one of you rising up to meet these moments. to meet so many entrepreneurs determined to make it through this. for their workers, for themselves and for it city that they love. what you shown me, what all of you have taught me, those were the moral authority, those with the formal authority. the mayors, the assembly members, senators and controllers and supervisors, which you taught me once again is that there's always hope on the horizon. every storm eventually breaks for the clear sky above.

to the diverse communities that i serve with respect to gratitude during these 11 years of service, for the neighborhood leaders, coalitions of parity and equity for the public housing, merchant leaders, thank you for the confidence you placed in me. to serve you for many years more. to find new paths to build a better and more prosperous san francisco for all of us. i thank you mayor breed. all of you for your leadership and your trust. now i'm ready to go to work. thank you. [applause]

>> thank you all so much for joining us today. this concludes our program. stay safe and healthy. let's get our city open. [applause]