>> good afternoon. this meeting will come to order. welcome to the mar22, 2021 meeting of the land use committee of the san francisco board of supervisors. i am joined by dean preston and aaron peskin. i am myrna melgar. do you have any announcements? >> yes, due to the covid-19 health emergency and to protect board members city employees, the committee room are closed. members will participate remotely. this is taken pursuant to

statewide stay-at-home order and all local state and local directives. committee members will attend through video and participate as if they are physically present. public comment will be available on each item on the agenda. channel 26, 78 or 99. we are streaming the number on the screen. each speaker is allowed two minutes to speak. opportunities to speak are via by calling 415-655-0001. the meeting id is (187)859-1223. then pound and pound again. when kecked you will hear the

discussions -- when connected you will hear the discussion but in listening mode only. dial star 3 to be added to the speaker line. call from a quite el location, speak slowly and turndown your television or radio. alternatively you may submit public comment by e-mailing the land use and transportation clerk. if you submit public comment via e-mail it will be forwarded to the haves and made part of the file. comments may be sent to city hall. finally, items acted upon today are expected to appear on the board of supervisors agenda of

april 6 medicals otherwise stated. madam chair. >> thank you very much. will you please call items one and two together. >> yes, item 1. resolution extending zoning controls for six months and findings for proposed change from residential care facility and affirming appropriate findings. 2. hearing to receive six month report on interim zoning controls for removal of residential care facilities. call 415-655-0001. if id (187)859-1223. press pound pound. if you have not done so already.

dial star 3 to line up to speak for these items. the system prompt will indicate you have raised your hand. madam chair. >> supervisor mandelman: we are joined by jacob to share remarks. welcome. >> thank you, their melgar. good afternoon supervisors. supervisor mandelman was not able to join you today. the items before you today are resolution to extend existing zoning rolls that require a conditional use for proposed change of use away from residential care facility to other use and required hearing on the planning department report for those controls. with respect to the controls supervisor mandelman original originallyproposed these in reso

the long-term care crisis in the report from the city long-term care coordinating council assisting living working group. that report documented the alarming rate at which we are losing these facilities. as of 2018, san francisco had 43 fewer than in 2012 t.242 critically living builds were lost in those six years. the trend has continued since then with an additional loss of 11 facilities including 226 beds in the two years since that report was issued. the intent of these controls is to discourage the further closure and conversion of facilities and slow loss and and dress the challenge. when the supervisor put forward the 18 month controls we did not

participate the covid pandemic to divert attention and resources from efforts including this one. today's resolution would extend by additional six months to the 24 month period for an entire rim control as we consider making the conditional use permanent and also look at responses that may go beyond land use controls. operating subsidies or identifying ways to match existing operators with interested buyer that may revisit the city policies on looking for acquisition as well. these conversations are underway and we look forward to discussing those solutions that may be available to us with you all in the coming months. on the controls themselves i want to note that it is important to know we are only just beginning to see the first projects come through to the

planning commission that triggered the conditional use requirement. first one was heard this month. another one in april. we feel like it is useful to keep the controls in place to look at how the projects turn-out as we consider permanent planning code requirements. we understand there are other projects in the pipeline or out there being considered for conversion. those are all the more reason to keep the additional scrutiny that comes with these controls. as you will recall i was here last week. that was to request a continuance on this item. the reason was we needed time to prepare amendments necessary to properly reference modifications to these controls that had been made in december 2019. they were omitted in the extension resolution before you today. i have circulated the amendments

to you all and to your staff. let me just briefly summarize for your consideration. first, there is amendment to the long title of the resolution as well as to the finding on page 2 line 24-inch concluding reference to resolution 539-19 which was that resolution that modified the original controls in december 2019. second set of amendments is non substantive changes to rear to another refer to zoning districts called out in the monitoring report and incorporated in the findings page 3, lines 22-25. the amendments to clarify the resolution today is extending and modifying the original controls. the extension retaining language of the original resolution from october 2019 rather than the language that had been added subsequently in resolution

53919. this is achieved with proposed amendment to the resolved clause which would read resolved that this interim controls imposed by resolution 430-19 and modified by 539-19 are here by extended and modified to revert to the controls by resolution 430-19 and shall remain in effect until october 11, 2021. supervisors for the record the operative control extended by this resolution is the language you find in the following resolve clause on page 5 line 21-23. that language reads as drafted. further resolved any proposed change of use from residential care facility as defined in 102 and 890.50e of the planning code shall require conditional use authorization while the controls

are in effect. that remains the language for clarity. supervisors while these will have the effect of continuing the controls they do not carry the language from the modifying resolution. we are no longer requesting this as committee report but do appreciate your consideration and ask that you consider moving these amends forward so the resolution can be considered for recommendation at the april 5th meeting after recess and so that the controls can be extended prior to their current expiration date april 11 of this year. chair, melgar, we have susie smith of the deputy director of policy and planning at hsa available to provide background on the loss of facilities and answer any questions. aaron starr of the planning department is here for item 2, required report on the controls.

with that thank you so much. i am available for any questions. thank you. >> thank you so much. we do have susie smith here from the human services agency who i believe is prepared to make a brief presentation. ms. smith, welcome. >> good afternoon, supervisors. thank you for having me today. jacob asked me to provide context to the 2019 report and update the data to share with you. are you going to share the pdf? thank you so much. i am deputy director for policy and planning at the human services agency. we developed a report in 2019 that provided context. in the next slide is the name of

the report supporting affordable assisted living in san francisco. next slide we talk about the background for the initiation of this report which was the long-term care coordinating council which many of you know is advisory to the mayor on planning and delivery to look at the integrated and acceptable long-term care delivery. this particular study was sponsors by those needing assisted living were not able to access it. it has an impact on low income residents. the next slide we just share is the findings between what is known and the documents and data. we see a steady decline in assisted living across the residential care facilities for

the elderly as well as the adult residential facilities and the impact is particularly with smaller boarding care homes and those adult residents. >> are we missing ms. smith? >> for example -- >> susie, maybe if you turnoff your camera. you are cutting in and out. >> i am sorry. can you hear me? >> yes, we can. >> i must we having internet issues. decline in both residential care facilities for elderly as well as adult residential facilities.

since 2012 the city has seen 9% decline in assisted living beds. we have seen 5% decline in rcfds, 22% decline in the adult residential facilities. this is being driven primarily by small facilities which have been more affordable for low income residents and community members. since 2012 we have seen a staggering 40% decrease in number of beds available in small board and care homes. then on the next slide shows the information about the residential care facilities for the elderly. looking across the facilities and beds. here we see between 2012 and

2018, san francisco lost 21rcfes which represents 26% decline in number of facilities. most of this was in the smaller homes. the bed capacity has decline add much as 5%. impact is disproportional. on the next slide we look at adult residential facilities which have been more pronounced trend. we had 22 fewer arps since 2018 than we did in 2012. most of these are small facilities. out of the 42 licensed arp, 27 were actually board and care homes with six or fewer residents. we are talking about very small facilities more home like and more appropriate for certain members of our community. for this hearing, supervisor mandelman's office asked to

update trends since 2019 study. we provide that data on the next slide. we have about 2300 beds in the residential care facilities for the elderly. we have about 440 beds for adults under 60. we see the change since the last report. we have seen some losses pan some gains. facilities lost driven by board and care home closures. we had five of these smaller facilities compared to 2018 report. most closures predate this zoning policy. closures occurred prior to october 2019, four. two closures on the mission and

two in sunset and one in inc. el side. there is expansion of larger facilities over 100 beds. this is mainly due to opening of the new frank resident memory care at sf campus for jewish living and launch of the gardens at the home. switching to the arp. we have seen a net loss of four arp and 40arp beds since 2018. this is driven by the closure of four boarding care homes operated by one company. the closure of aurora residential care homes which is a series of four universities in the excelsior area.

the losses were offset by one board and care opening. then we saw the closure of a larger 24 bed facility in the mission which closed in august 2008. the larger policy issues with the ability to actually financially make these facilities viability is getting increasingly difficult as property values increased and costs to run the facilities increased. we can't spread the staffing costs out accordingly. i am happy to talk about the solutions beyond zoning if that is of interest and answer questions for the committee. thank you for the opportunity to share the updated data. >> thank you, susie.

if there are no questions for ms. smith or my colleagues. supervisor preston, go ahead. >> sorry i was muted. i want to ask ms. smith on the demand and the need side. what the trends on? we see the concerning picture with so many beds and facilities lost. i don't be know if we have data on the need. is the need flat, rising or changing in any way we are tracking? >> yeah, we are seeing the demand has not flattened. it is increasing as the population continues to age. on the prior report we haven't updated numbers on demand. we see in terms of mental health

behavioral health beds and it is helpful for homelessness. we are trying to get support as well as older adult population aging. we haven't seen a decline in the demand. i can provide updated data if interested on that side as well. >> thank you. i don't think from my perspective it is necessary with this zoning. moving forward to look at the bigger policy issues, it would be great to have that as part of the presentation so we know what we are doing with terms of up met demand. i appreciate supervisor mandelman's office work on this crucial issue when the time is right after public comment i would be happy to move the amendments which supervisor mandelman has offered and appreciate your time in walking

our office through the fairly technical and complicated interaction between the original resolution and the changes and now getting this right to paysicly back to the extension of what was the original purposes of this ordinance. this resolution is essential and just appreciate all of the work on it. thank you. >> thank you, supervisor preston. thank you, susie. for last presenter we have mr. aaron starr of the planning department to discuss the interim controls. >> good afternoon, supervisors. aaron starrs, legislative affairs. they were adopted october 1, 2019. they were in effect for 18 months which expires april 11th.

it requires conditional use authorizes from residential care to any other use. in addition to standard c.u. findings they outlined four other findings that we must consider in reviewing this application. those are outline understand the report. when the packet was published there were none. this facility was a residential care facility in what was previously single family home that accommodated about 12 patients. opened in 20,000 and closed april 2019. it was sold to the current owner in -- sorry 2020. the new owners seeked to change from residential care to single family home.

staff recommendation to approve conversion. condition on selling two units instead of one since the property is zoned rh-2. during the hearing the financial feasibility was called into question by commissioners. planning commission voted to approve conversion with only requiring one unit which is what the applicant had wanted. vote was 3-4. this is a split vote not over the conversion over whether or not to require two units per staff recommendation or just one. in addition to this application there is another one pending before the commission. that is located 628 shot well street. this is similar to 801 in that it would convert closed have been care facility to two. it is calendared in planning but continued. there are two other applications to create new residential care

facility also. 1535 van dyke and 5500 mission street. they are to increase capacity of existing residential care facilities. those were at 1301 bacon and 658 shot well. department is aware of three sites to delicense out of residential care and operate as group housing facility. 141ly land, 128 highland street and 220 delores street. they are through the housing and community development and h.i.v. age related care facilities. because of advancements they month longer need medical care required in the early days of the epidemic. that concludes my report. i am available for questions should you have them. thank you. >> colleagues, any questions for mr. star?

i have a question. that is about the staff recommendation for the conversion that you just talked about. i know that this issue of losing beds and facilities is something that we have put in the medical services master plan. we all worry about it. you know we have created this interim control process of coming before the planning commission. it puzzles me as to why the staff recommended this. could you talk about that decision how we weigh the policy of needing to preserve facilities against other uses and things we need like housing. >> yes, it is a difficult one. in this case staff was looking at the fact that the facility had already closed and the believe had already been sold.

the interim controls didn't have an impact on the sale or closing of the facility. i think they were just saying balancing the need for housing and wanted to turn into a housing unit and the fact the residential care facility was long gone at this point. it wasn't coming back. >> i don't mean to give you a hard time. i don't think you were the staff who recommended it. that is exactly what the interim controls were for to give any buyers pause that they have to go through this process if they intend to do something besides the facility. >> yes. i think that when this happens they probably weren't aware of that at the time. one problem is that a lot of people aren't aware the interim controls are there and not part of it and it should be identified by the seller.

i am not sure if there is a solution to that. it is also difficult for us if we tint let the conversion go and there was no buyer for it, it would be sitting empty. it is a difficult decision for the planning department. >> thank you. supervisor peskin. >> madam chair, if i may venture to speculate. i suspect that if you were on the planning commission you would have voted in the disisn't. we just had a case at 424 francisco street, very old. the board voted unanimously granted it wasn't about residential care but it was about a history. the idea that the successor interest is lost of all sins --

washed of all sins of the previous owner does not meet the policy goals supervisor mandelman and we are trying to advance. no disrespect to staff or the planning department in this recommendation or the 4-3 vote by the commission, but ultimately this is a policy of the lawmakers and c.u.s are appealable to this board of supervisors. sorry for speculating, madam chair, as to how you might have voted. >> thank you, supervisor. okay. if there are no other questions or comments. madam clerk. let's take public comment on this item. >> we are checking for callers. if you have not done so, press star 3 to be added to the queue to speak for items 1 and 2. if you are on hold continue to wait until the system indicates

you are unmuted. it looking like we have one person in queue. unmute the first caller, please. >> hi. thanks everybody. i amnate. with national union of healthcare workers. i am calling to support this item about conditional use for residential care facilities. we represent mental health clinics for the eph contractor and operate an adult residential care facility. 33 bed facility on broderick street. we were recently involved in some negotiations involving their lease, which was renewed recently. i just wanted to add that it is

our experience that this policy has created additional protections that helped safeguard these beds. i think that it will continue to do so. in our experience it totally changes the balance of power with the private property owner here. changes their economic incentives. they cannot quickly flip it. we think, you know, when you look at the data of how this policy is working, it is not just the conditional use permits you guys have already looked at but you should think about deterrent effect that it has with the care facilities that are currently out there. especially in this category which are public contracts but private landowners, property owners. what we think is playing a

protective role in this case, and we hope the city will eventually be able to buy the property which i think they are trying to do. thank you for your time everybody. >> do we have any other callers? >> there are no more callers in the queue. >> thank you. seeing no other callers, public comment is closed. colleagues, do we have a motion to adopt the amendment as proposed by the staff? >> so moved. preston. >> madam clerk, please call the roll for item 1. supervisor preston. >> aye. >> supervisor peskin. >> aye. >> supervisor melgar. >> aye. >> you have three ayes. >> thank you. the motion passes.

as we originally noticed this item as possible committee report but because the amendments are considered substantive by the city tore, the amended legislation will need to be heard at the committee again at our next regularly scheduled meeting monday april 5th, 2021. madam clerk, please call the roll for item number two. >> remaining balance on item one it is continued? >> i am sorry. yes. >> on that motion, supervisor sr peskin. >> aye. >> preston. >> aye. >> melgar. >> aye. >> you have three ayes. >> thank you so much. will you please call roll for

item 2. >> the motion to continue it or file? >> i am sorry. i think this is to hear it on april 5th. or did we just do that? >> for item 1 it was amended and tipped to the fifth. >> i would make a motion to file item 2 if that is acceptable to the chair of the committee. >> yes, thank you. >> on the motion to file. supervisor peskin. >> aye. >> supervisor preston. >> aye. >> supervisor melgar. >> aye. >> you have three ayes.

>> thank you so much. the motion passes. please call item 3. ordinance amending the planning code to prohibit retail workspace in chinatown mixed-use districts, affirming appropriate findings. members of the public should call the number on the screen. 415-655-0001 id1878551223. pound pound. if you have not done so, dial star 3 to line up to speak. >> thank you very much. today we have laurel from the mayor's office of economic and worke forcer development and andvery on neca flores to preset to this item.

>> i would like to fix my name as cosponsor to this measure promised to chinatown when what became proposition 80 the ballot. i would like to be a could sponsor. >> thank you, supervisor. >> thank you, chair melgar. i am laurel. i am the director of business development for the office of economic and worke forcer development. thank you, supervisor peskin for cosponsor add. this was developed in partnership with the chinatown community after concerning from community members retail workspaces could impact the long standing efforts for a delineation between their district and maintain their role as attraction.

it would prohibit retail workspaces in line with the request we heard from the community. we request your support today. the planning commission is here to speak on it as well. >> welcome, ms. flores. >> thank you, chair melgar. good afternoon, veronica flores, planning commission staff. this was before the planning commission on february 18th. they unanimously recommended approval of said ordinance. this concludes the commission report. i am available for any questions. >> thank you very much. i appreciate that. supervisor peskin, did you have any further comments about in. >> i do not. i think everything that needs to be said has been said. >> thank you. with that, public comment on this item, please. >> we are checking for caller in

the queue. press star 3 to be added to the queue. on hold please continue to hold until the system indicates you are unmuted. >> there are no callers in queue. >> okay. seeing no other callers. public comment is closed. do we have a motion to pass this out of committee with a positive recommendation? >> so moved. >> okay. madam clerk, please call the roll. >> the motion as stated by supervisor peskin. peskin. >> aye. >> preston. >> aye. >> melgar. >> aye. >> you have three ayes. >> thank you, the motion passes. are there any other items for us today? >> that completes the business for today.

>> thank you. we will be on spring recess next week and we will return to the regularly scheduled meetings april 5, 2021. we are adjourned. thank you. >> the hon. london breed: well, first of all, thank you so much

for being here. i'm san francisco mayor london breed, and i just want to start this press conference by really acknowledging what happened in atlanta, georgia. many of you heard about the asian american women who were killed, unfortunately, and targeted in atlanta, and i've reached out to mayor lance bottoms to express our condolences. as many of you know here in san francisco, we've seen a rise in hate crimes against our elderly asian community, and i want to make it clear that we won't tolerate it. san francisco will continue to support and uplift our asian community. at the beginning of this pandemic, the xenophobia and

racism against our asian community has been really horrible, and we are all struggling here. our city has been impacted tremendously. now is not the time to continue to accept hate against a particular community. now is the time to uplift and to support and to embrace. we are almost in a good place one year later after the city had to make one of the hardest decisions it ever had to made to shutdown, to shutdown to save lives, when we didn't understand exactly when this virus meant and how it could impact us. but you, you trusted the

leadership of the city. you trusted the department of public health. he trusted the science. and you didn't completely understand. i know i didn't, either, but i was grateful. i was grateful for the city of san francisco because our quick action is being praised throughout the city for saving thousands of lives. but there was sacrifice. there was sacrifice because so many people did lose their lives. there were people who did not make it through this pandemic. there were businesses that had been around since before i was born that did not make it through this pandemic. there were people who struggled because of the decision we had to make. we recognize our children have suffered, our seniors in isolation have suffered. our mental health has suffered,

but san francisco, we've been in this place before. we've struggled before. there was a pandemic in this city 100 years ago. there was an earthquake in 1906, there was an earthquake in 1989. there were things that we have experienced before, and we came back. when you think about it, we came back because we didn't drown in our despair. we took the tragedy, we took those experiences, and we used those experiences, tragedy, to make san francisco a better city. when you think about it, the embarcadero -- some of us

remember that freeway that was down there. remember the freeway on thompson in the fillmore-western addition-hayes. those neighborhoods used to be dark because of the shadows of the freeway and the noise and the pollution. we took a tragedy in the 89 earthquake and created an opportunity, an opportunity to make embarcadero and the city's waterfront one of the best anywhere, and we will do the same with covid-19. we will take what we have experienced this past year and use it as an opportunity to address issues around inequity that have only been lifted higher as a result of this pandemic. but let me tell you another

thing. we should be proud of what we've been able to do. when this city shutdown a year ago, there were still people that had to go to work. there were people at san francisco general who had to sacrifice their lives. when you look at the data in the city and county of san francisco of the workforce and who contracted the virus at some of the highest rates, it was people who work for the department of public health. they put their lives on the line in order to take care of those who were sick. it was our muni drivers, our grocery store clerks, our police officers, our firefighters. our essential workforce in this city had no choice but to show up because we were counting on them. today, as we think about that

year and all the work that we've had to put in in order to get to this place where we are today, i'm grateful. i'm grateful to the workforce here in san francisco, and i'm grateful to the nurses and the doctors and the clinicians and the janitors and the h.r. representatives and all the people who still showed up. i'm grateful to the people in the nonprofit and still provided rental assistance and made sure those who were suffering from covid and could not collect unemployment, that they had the resources that they need. when you think about all that we've done in this city, we built a testing operation from scratch, mary ellen, leader of the emergency response in this city.

we built testing capacities from scratch. we had to pull together resources and p.p.e. we remember those times when folks were just doing everything they could to get by and in need of n95 masks and other things in order to serve the people at san francisco general. look at where we are now. 33% of san franciscans over the age of 16 have been vaccinated. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: 71% of those over the age of 65, our most vulnerable population, vaccinated. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: yes, we're still in this pandemic. i see dr. colfax shaking right now, like make sure you remind

them we're in the midst of a pandemic, but we've conducted over 1.6 million tests since the beginning of this. almost 10,000 people were served through our hotel programs. 10.5 million meals and 2 million bags of groceries. the work continued. we came together. we supported people in san francisco. i remember early on, when i received a note from my neighbor that said if you need someone to go grocery shopping, you need someone to pick up medication, you need someone to do anything, or just need somebody to talk to, here's my e-mail and my phone number. that's san francisco right there. that's what we do. even despite the challenges that we face, we rose to the occasion, and we took care of one another. we all did our part, and it was hard. we didn't get to see our loved

ones. we had to separate our kids, still struggling to get back into school. we sacrificed, and we made it through. we need a little bit more, just a little bit more. as we look back on this past year, what i'm going to take from this is what an amazing future we have and how san francisco is going to continue to be more aggressive than it has ever been to address then equities in our city around health care, around housing, around unemployment. how san francisco is going to do everything we can to pour resources in our small businesses and keep our shared spaces program, our parklets, where our businesses and

restaurants can continue to get back so they can eventually get back on their feet. what i'm looking forward to is that san francisco -- as much as my family drives me crazy, i miss them, and i'll probably spend a little bit more time with them as a result of this, and i think you feel the same about your family and friends: a newfound appreciation for one another for what we've all been through together. so i know it's been hard, but there is hope. there is hope for a better future because out of those ashes, we will emerge stronger. we will emerge better as a city because we are still here, and we stand in solidarity with one another, getting through this crisis. so thank you to all of you who

have sacrificed so much. the health care workers who couldn't go home and had to stay in hotel rooms away from their families and even their kids. the police officers, the firefighters, and as i said, the people who still showed up at those grocery stores and dealt with us complaining with something being a different price on the shelf versus when they rang it up at the counter. the businesses that dealt with the resources. the folks that work at these hotels, the people that work at these shelters. so much work, so much sacrifice, and i feel good. i feel good not just because i was vaccinated yesterday -- [applause] >> the hon. london breed: i feel good because i see the city coming alive again. so as we begin to reopen one

year later, let's just remember, remember all we sacrificed, and let's also appreciate all that life, all that life will bring us in the future as we come out of this pandemic because it was worth it. it was worth it. 448 people tragically lost their lives in san francisco, but you also have to understand san francisco is one of the densest cities in the country, and we had one of the lowest death rates of any major city in the country. we were a model for this, and it has everything to do with

you. people were wandering, well, how did you shutdown in san francisco? it wasn't because we did it early, it's because we have some of the best health care professionals in san francisco. if you get sick or something happens to you, this is where you want to be, is san francisco general. the likelihood that your life will be saved is better than anywhere else in the world, and i want you to know that. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: so today, we celebrate, we remember, we get excited about the future, and we show one another support, because we're all in this together. we remember that all of us are sacrificing, all of us are dealing with something, and as we began to reopen our city, dr. colfax, hopefully sooner,

rather than later -- dr. colfax doesn't want us to have any fun. he's like, well, i know the state said we can do this, but unfortunately, i'm going to hold off. but i did also say to you, dr. colfax, that i heard dr. fauci said, let's not move too fast, and this has been one of the most conservative department of public health departments anywhere, so we do appreciate that because it has made a difference. so thank you to our essential workers, thank you to the san franciscans that sacrificed. thank you to everyone who will continue to do their part, and there will be a time where we will be able to come together again and actually talk without wearing a mask, and i am looking forward to the day when that happens. thank you all so much for being

here, and with that, i want to introduce dr. grant colfax. [applause] >> well, good morning, everybody, and thank you, madam mayor, for your brave and bold leadership throughout this pandemic. the decisions you've made have saved countless lives. your support for the public health department -- [indiscernible]. >> -- and the decisions you were forced to make -- [indiscernible]. >> okay. i'll loosen up. your support deep into the nights of the discussions we had, the decisions you made have indeed saved countless lives and helped the city

weather the very worst of the pandemic. and i have to say, mayor, when this is over, i'm looking forward to a big part, and dancing with you, and shouting with joy, and raising our hands and celebrating that we made it through this. and also, i want to take a moment to acknowledge the year of pain and suffering for so many, including the nearly 450 san franciscans who have lost their lives to covid-19 this year. my condolences to their families and their loved ones. in standing here today with you, mayor, and my fellow department heads, it's a profound and emotional moment for me. as some of you know, i came to

san francisco in the early 90s as a resident here at this very hospital to fight hiv/aids, which as we also know, has unfortunately claimed thousands of lives in san francisco. and as we have seen with covid-19, exploit the social, cultural, and economic fault lines of our society and brings more harm to people of color. if you had told me then, on ward 5-a, the old hiv ward, that we were pioneering the play book to fight covid-19 and to slow a pandemic 30 years later, i may not have believed you, but here we are. and while this has been an incredibly challenging year, it has also been filled with

moments of hope, and even optimism. for me, the moments that will always stick with me are when, after the decision to shelter in place, those few weeks when we actually saw the curve flatten -- and i remember people telling me, it's happening, and it took me some time, and finally, i was able to say to the mayor with confidence, we have flattened the curve. that's when we knew that interventions like social distancing, limiting gatherings, and masking, could slow the spread. we didn't know that at the time, and we showed that san francisco could do this together. and then, there was the morning that i read about the results of the first vaccine trials, and when the mayor asked me early on when we'd have a vaccine for this, i told her it would be a long time, and i was

wrong, and i am so glad that i was wrong on this. as someone who started working at d.p.h. for vaccine trials for hiv/aids, something we still don't have an effective vaccine, it was so satisfying that within a year, perhaps the fastest timeline in history, we would be able to protect people from this disease. in walking in here today, you see the lines of people getting their vaccine. and now, we have not just one, but three vaccines that are highly effective in preventing deaths and hospitalizations from covid-19. and i'll never forget the day, december 16, that we administered the first vaccines here in san francisco. the milestones i've described have been hard won and are owed to the people of this magnificent city. just like in the early days of hiv/aids, it's san francisco's

spirit of innovation, it's compassion, and its refusal not to stand idle when the federal government failed in its leadership to make so much of a difference. as the mayor said, our covid death rate is among the lowest in the nation. i could not be prouder of what we accomplished together. another part is the public health clinic and our partnerships across the city. our close collaboration from the outset enabled us to scale up programs and services quicker as we wrapped our arms around the city. and we have seen this virus take hold in communities where people have to leave their homes for work, increasing their exposure to covid-19 and who often live in larger households making it difficult to isolate from the pandemic.

the d.p.h. and covid command, in partnership with our community partners, prioritized vulnerable populations in our emergency actions and response. we have come so far, but we still have farther to go, and we can go together. to my colleagues at public health and covid command, this year was so difficult for you where you found yourself in learning curves where the stakes were so high. your compassion and diligent work for communities have raised the bar for supporting these communities in overcoming barriers to better health and economic outcomes. and, you know, the other day, i saw a patient in clinic at our positive health program, the building adjacent.

she was 65 and an immigrant and living with hiv. today, her hiv is well controlled with meds. she contracted covid and recovered. in fact, the day i saw her, she had recently received her second dose of the vaccine. her story is striking to me because she embodies san francisco's own story of surviving two pandemics. like so many of our residents, she is a testament to our resilience and the compassionate care that people can get in this hospital and this city. there are so many people to thank, including my colleagues on the frontline. i want to thank the deputy director of d.p.h., who is

continuing to hold so much during this pandemic. [applause] >> to dr. aragon, who's gone onto the state, to be the health director. and for dr. susan phillips, who has stepped up in the role of acting health officer, and dr. susan ehrlich, chief medical officer of this hospital. i want to think of us about the things that have come out of this pandemic. maybe it's the safe streets or walking down our neighborhood corridors. maybe it's having a new pet join your family, or maybe it's

getting to go out with others. for me, it's dancing, and i look forward to going out and doing that. whatever it is, as the light at the end of the tunnel shines brighter, let us carry on the positive transformation of this past year that makes this city a wonderful place. remember, mask on, stay strong, and get the vaccine when you're eligible. thank you. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: thank you, dr. colfax. i'll believe it when i see it. he's the one i have to talk to every day, and he's always, like, well, we have to do this mayor, and i'm, like, why? i don't want to do that. and speaking of hobbies, i was -- before this pandemic, i had zero lives, anything in my place, and now, i have 31

plants. i don't know if any of you have any hobbies, but plants are my babies. that's my story, and i'm sticking to it. i just want to take this opportunity to thank the director of emergency management for the city. when you talk about our response to covid and how challenging it's been, it's not only been here at san francisco general, but moscone center has really been ground zero in some ways for the emergency response. so many of our city employees who work in various departments, they've showed up as disaster service workers from the library, from d.p.h. and other places, and we embedded a whole covid team in this emergency response. so when we talk about getting groceries and services and everything we did in this city, everything we had to do came out of this whole operation

managed by this incredible woman, our director of emergency management, mary ellen carroll. [applause] >> good morning. thank you, mayor. it has been a mayor that has moved by so quickly and yet felt like an eternity. through it all, we were led by so many shining points of light. one of the brightest ones you just heard from, our mayor. our mayor, london breed. mayor, i want to thank you -- where are you? -- for your steadfast leadership and support, your vision, your resolve, and your compassion. [applause] >> it is what we all needed during this enduring crisis.

[applause] >> and dr. colfax, thank you for your courage, your integrity, and your wisdom. i do not think of a -- could not think of a better partner to have during a pandemic. even when covid fatigue settled in, and it has settled in, san franciscans continued to do the right thing for each other. i also want to recognize that this year would have looked a whole lot different if it weren't for the thousands of health care workers, many of you represented here. our emergency services personnel and our essential workers continue to come to work and risk exposure to help our beloved city. on march 17, a year ago, 2020, i was standing inside moscone center, overlooking third and howard streets, the day before the shelter in place order had been announced, and we moved

from our very tightly packed, not very safe emergency operations center on turk street to moscone center. outside, the streets were empty, and it was, like, every person, bicycle, scooter, and car, had just disappeared. inside, however, it was a completely different story. it was a hive buzzing with activity. we had veteran responders who had been working nonstop over the previous two months, and we also had hundreds of new, fresh faces. these were planners, election staffers, librarians, analysts, accountants, you name it, from other city departments, who were activated by disaster service workers. we had work to do. since that day, over 11,000 san

francisco public servants have banded together to develop and implement one of the most expansive local emergency response shelters in the country. together -- and you've heard some of these numbers already -- the covid command centers have tested 1.6 million tests, and we are at the top of the country for testing. millions -- [applause] >> millions of bags of groceries and meals for food insecure san franciscans, and we continue to do that. thousands of housing rooms for people who needed a place to safely house or quarantine or people who needed a safe place to shelter in place. we developed 3,000 multilingual

posters, flyers, and health fact sheets that you will see all over this city. we engaged and developed health partnerships with our cities, and they have worked disproportionately -- with those populations disproportionately affected by this pandemic. i have the number, 236,000 vaccines, but i'm sure it is more than that at this time. as we look back on all that we have accomplished, we need to remember why this matters so much. one of my co-workers shared this story with me. an older couple was sitting in the post vaccine observation area, holding hands, and they were both crying, with tears streaming down their faces. a staff person went over to ask to see if everything was okay.

they smiled through their tears and said their grandchildren were born during this past year during the pandemic, and after an eternity of zoom calls and socially distanced visits, they were finally going to be able to hold those grandchildren close. so to all the essential workers that have struggled and sacrificed, your work means something to this couple and to the nearly 1 million people we share this city with. so as we continue to vaccinate, set up to reopen and get on the road to recovery, there's still a lot of work to do, but in this year, we've grown smarter and definitely closer. and like the phoenix, that is the symbol of the city, as the mayor said, we will rise from the ashes again. thank you. [applause]

>> thank you, mary ellen. i'm a doctor here at zuckerberg staff and trauma center, and i'm here to share a few words from the prospect of our essential workers. firstly, just want to thank everyone who spoke up here today. i think that this is an incredible milestone, and so this is quite a huge honor to be able to share a few reflections. i think my message in just thinking about a one-year milestone of this pandemic is some of the things that mayor london breed already touched upon: remembrance, in terms of everything that we've gone through, the resilience that it took to get to where we are today, deep gratitude, which i think really resonated with me

as our mayor spoke, and hope in terms of where we are right now. from the early days of not knowing what we were up against to the amazing professionalism and team work, to the sadness of seeing our latinx communities disproportionately impacted by this pandemic, to the stress in terms of addressing second and third surges of cases here at zuckerberg san francisco general, this year has been a bill challenge for our klein -- big challenge for our clinical teams and our community. and i remember the tears. i remember tears shed due to facing so many unknowns related to this new virus. i remember the tears shed after a long day of work, when staff were coming and asking

questions about how we were planning to ration our supplies. i remember the fears of not knowing how bad each surge was going to be, and wondering if we would see the coming flood seen in other parts of our country and the world, and of course, i remember the tears of joy, pure joy, in sending our patients home to be reunited with loved ones, sometimes after many months of battling through illness here at our hospital. very proud to say we've cared for over 1500 patients during this pandemic, and this is a tribute and compliment to all of our tears, and serves as a source of pride to all of us here at zsfg.

i'm deeply grateful for our hospital leadership, and i'm deeply grateful to mayor london breed and her team for the proactive steps taken throughout the pandemic, especially those taken one year ago, at the outset. because of all of her swift action, we have grandmothers and grandfathers, we have mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, friends and loved ones who are here with us today. to our staff here at zsfg, i'm grateful for all of your hard work in addressing the needs of the community, and it's really taken all of our team members. i want to give a shoutout to our greeter and screening staff

at all of our campus entry teams, to our facilities and management staff, to our pharmacists, our food and nutrition services, to nutrition management, to our respiratory therapists and our rehab staff, our social workers, our eligibility workers, our clinical lab workers, who have done all of our testing, to our care coordinators, our bed control operators, our technology and information analysts who keep our electronic systems runs, our chaplains, our nurse practitioners and nursing teams, to infection control and infectious diseases, our staff and nursing assistants, and our

physician and nursing staff who spent countless hours and hours in rooms when we didn't know much about this virus, caring to make sure that folks could recover. really, you are all some of the best clinical staff on the planet, and the survival rate -- i'm very evidence based. the survival rate of our covid-19 patients is just one shining example of the incredible work that you have performed. thanks to you, over 94% of patients who came through these very hospital doors, we were successfully able to discharge back to the community to be home with their loved ones. so to close out, really, i just wanted to share a message to all of those that we serve in the community. we are hopeful, extremely hopeful, but the work is not done yet.

we are here to serve each and every one of you, irrespective of race, creed, sexual orientation or gender identity, legal status or economic status. keep masking, keep washing your hands, keep using commonsense around gatherings, and maybe most importantly, vaccinate, which is, like, our real way out of this pandemic. i'm going to say a few words in spanish for our latino community. [speaking spanish language]

[end of translation]. >> your clinical health care providers here at zsfg know the toll that has taken on all of us, psychologically, mentally, economically. we know the road has just begun, but we see the light at the end of the tunnel. we are here, and we are ready to support you. [speaking spanish language] [end of translation]. >> as we work toward closing this chapter in our lives, really, let's continue to work together and support each other so we can get to that light at the end of the tunnel as soon as we can, so thank you very much. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: thank you so much, dr. ortiz, for

that message, and thank you so much for acknowledging how many people in how many departments have had to step up and serve at this hospital in particular to address this challenge, and thank you for the lives that you've saved. i also want to acknowledge that our police chief, bill scott, is joining us, as well. thank you, chief scott, for all that you do and that the san francisco police department does to keep our city safe. it really does take a village, and this is the village that held themselves together to take care of the people of san francisco. you should all be so proud of what you've been able to accomplish. it has made a difference, it has saved lives, and we're going to look back on this moment, and people are going to say where were you during the 1920 global pandemic -- what

year? i told you i was up since 6:00 in the morning. where were you during the 2020 global pandemic? and so many of you are going to have a story to tell, and how incredible this city was and how we stood together. thank you for standing strong, thank you all so much for your steadfast leadership and advocacy and work in keeping our city together. i'm so honored to represent you as the mayor of what i think is the most incredible city anywhere in the world. so as we reopen, let's get back to work. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: but we will celebrate soon. thank you all so much. take care. [applause]

>> i try to start every day not looking at my phone by doing something that is grounding. that is usually meditation. i have a gym set up in my garage, and that is usually breathing and movement and putting my mind towards something else. surfing is my absolute favorite thing to do. it is the most cleansing thing that i'm able to do. i live near the beach, so whenever i can get out, i do. unfortunately, surfing isn't a daily practice for me, but i've

been able to get out weekly, and it's something that i've been incredibly grateful for. [♪♪♪] >> i started working for the city in 2005. at the time, my kids were pretty young but i think had started school. i was offered a temporarily position as an analyst to work on some of the programs that were funded through homeland security. i ultimately spent almost five years at the health department coordinating emergency programs. it was something that i really enjoyed and turned out i was pretty good at. thinking about glass ceiling, some of that is really related to being a mother and self-supposed in some ways that i did not feel that i could

allow myself to pursue responsibility; that i accepted treading water in my career when my kids were young. and as they got older, i felt more comfortable, i suppose, moving forward. in my career, i have been asked to step forward. i wish that i had earlier stepped forward myself, and i feel really strongly, like i am 100% the right person for this job. i cannot imagine a harder time to be in this role. i'm humbled and privileged but also very confident. so here at moscone center, this is the covid command center, or the c.c.c. here is what we calledun -- call unified command. this is where we have physically been since march, and then, in july, we developed this unified structure.

so it's the department of emergency management, the department of public health, and our human services hughesing partners, so primarily the department of homelessness and supportive housing and human services agency. so it's sort of a three-headed command in which we are coordinating and operating everything related to covid response. and now, of course, in this final phase, it's mass vaccination. the first year was before the pandemic was extremely busy. the fires, obviously, that both we were able to provide mutual support but also the impact of air quality. we had, in 2018, the worst air quality ten or 11 days here in the city. i'm sure you all remember it, and then, finally, the day the

sun didn't come out in san francisco, which was in october. the orange skies, it felt apocalyptic, super scary for people. you know, all of those things, people depend on government to say what's happening. are we safe? what do i do? and that's a lot of what department of emergency management's role is. public service is truly that. it is such an incredible and effective way that we can make change for the most vulnerable. i spend a lot of my day in problem solving mode, so there's a lot of conversations with people making connections, identifying gaps in resources or whatever it might be, and trying to adjust that. the pace of the pandemic has been nonstop for 11 months. it is unrelenting, long days,

more than what we're used to, most of us. honestly, i'm not sure how we're getting through it. this is beyond what any of us ever expected to experience in our lifetime. what we discover is how strong we are, and really, the depth of our resilience, and i say that for every single city employee that has been working around the clock for the last 11 months, and i also speak about myself. every day, i have to sort of have that moment of, like, okay, i'm really tired, i'm weary, but we've got to keep going. it is, i would say, the biggest challenge that i have had personally and professionally to be the best mom that i can be but also the best public certify chant in whatever role i'm in. i just wish that i, as my

younger self, could have had someone tell me you can give it and to give a little more nudge. so indirectly, people have helped me because they have seen something in me that i did not see in myself. there's clear data that women have lost their jobs and their income because they had to take care of their safety nets. all of those things that we depend on, schools and daycare and sharing, you know, being together with other kids isn't available. i've often thought oh, if my kids were younger, i couldn't do this job, but that's unacceptable. a person that's younger than me that has three children, we want them in leadership positions, so it shouldn't be limiting. women need to assume that they're more capable than they think they are. men will go for a job whether

they're qualified or not. we tend to want to be 110% qualified before we tend to step forward. i think we need to be a little more brave, a little more exploratory in stepping up for positions. the other thing is, when given an opportunity, really think twice before you put in front of you the reasons why you should not take that leadership position. we all need to step up so that we can show the person behind us that it's doable and so that we have the power to make the changes for other women that is going to make the possibility for their paths easier than ours. other women see me in it, and i hope that they see me, and they understand, like, if i can do it, they can do it because the higher you get, the more

leadership you have, and power. the more power and leadership we have that we can put out

. >> this is the march 19th 2021 special meeting for the san francisco local agency formation commission. i'm cynthia pollock, i'm joined by connie chan, gordon mar and shanti singh. i'd like to thank sfgov tv. madam clerk, do you have any announcements? >> clerk: i do. due to the covid health emergency and protect commissioners, city employees and the public, city hall is closed but members will be participating remotely. commissioners will