some families have lost their job, some families don't have access to this food, and we're just really glad to be welcome to the rules committee of the san francisco board of supervisors for today monday april 5th, 2021. i am the chair aaron peskin joining by rafael mandleman.

mr. young, do you have any announcements? >> clerk: yes. members will be participating in the meeting remotely. and participate in the meeting to the same extent as if they were physically present. public comment will be available on each item on the agenda. both channel 26 and sfgovtv.org. comments to speak are available by calling (415) 655-0001. the meeting i.d. is 1875747855 then press pound and pound again. when connected, you will hear the meeting discussion but you will be in listening mode only. when your item of interesting comes up, press star 3 to be added to the speaker line.

speak clearly and slowly and turn down your television or radio. alternatively, you may submit public comment by e-mail to myself at clerk@victoryoung@sfgov.org. that completes my initial comments. >> will you please call the first item. >> clerk: yes. item number one. >> supervisor peskin: thank you, mr. young. this body ceases to exist. if my recklation serves, it was created quite some time ago,

about 16, 17 years ago during my first term on the board. and before us is an ordinance from the mayor that would reconstitute, reinitiate the monitoring committee and restate the date to 2022 and this would provide time to rebuild and potentially restructure and reassess of the shelter monitoring committee and their oversight to navigation centers and other shelter facilities. with that, we have dillen schneider from h.s.h. and derek poppo from d.p.h. to present and answer any questions we may have. the current constitution or reconstitution would consist of 13 members by the local homeless coordinating board and

three by the mayor. and with that, ms. schneider, is there anything you'd like to add or subtract? did i summarize it? if ms. schneider is not here, is canadaa poppo here? >> yes. i am here. >> supervisor peskin: part of the reason that the shelter monocommittee we want to cultivate a qualified new group of applicants. so with that, ms. poppo. >> i'm the director of whole person integrative care.

in the program. and we are here [inaudible] to reconstitute it and extend it through july 2022. you were correct that the committee was established in 2004 by the board of supervisors to provide government agencies in the public, comprehensive information about city funded shelters in the city centers. compliance with thirty two standards of care. they're announced in unannounced and investigations of shelter guest complaints. the committee recommends training, health, and safety protocols which guarantee treats clients with dignity and respect. we have some examples of the standards of care. that the facility must be cleaned and maintained -- >> clerk: my apologies for interrupting. we are seeing a black void on your screen. there we go. >> so sorry.

-- that clients have sheets, blankets, and pillows that communication occurs and comply with the american business bill and act. looks like i will -- we can go to the next slide. we also have information just as we talk about the number of vacancies. right now, there are about six positions that are not filled on the committee and the positions that were filled that ended in december will need to be reappointed. and we are excited about the opportunity to bring the group back together and identify certain things like the scope

like we mentioned navigation centers and ambiguous whether or not some of the standards of care would need [inaudible] methods would be brought back to the board of supervisors before july 2022. please let me know if there are any followup questions. >> chairman: any questions from committee members? seeing none. are there any members of the public who would like to testify on this item? >> clerk: yes. excuse me. members of the public who wish to provide public comment on this item should call (415) 655-0001. the meeting i.d. is 1875747855 then press pound and pound

again. if you haven't already done so, please press star and then pound to speak. please wait until the system has unmuted and you may begin your public meant. mr. smith, do we have any members of the public at this time? it appears we do not have any members of the public to comment at this time. >> chairman: thank you. mr. young on that motion, a roll call please. >> clerk: yes. a motion to recommend [roll call] the motion passes without objection. >> chairman: next item, please. >> clerk: yes. next on the agenda is item number two ordinance of

employers to waive requirements to report 2020 amending the police code to waive the requirement for employers to report compliance with the fair chance ordinance for 2020 and codify the previous waiver of such requirement for 2019. >> chairman: thank you, mr. young. and this item comes to us from our colleague supervisor stefani on her behalf i see mr. mull began. >> good morning supervisors. thank you for this opportunity to present to you all today. i will be exception alley brief. before you today is an ordinance that waives the annual reporting requirements for the health care security ordinance and the fair chance ordinance.

last year, at about this time, the mayor waived these requirements for the 2019 year through a mayoral proclamation. the city attorney advised that we shouldn't do a second time through mayoral and suggested we do it through an ordinance. this ordinance just for clarity sake also goes back and codifies the fact that we waived last years's as well. director mulligan is on the line as well if you have any questions about why completing these requirements would be so challenging and burdensome right as we re-open all of these businesses and i'm also happy to explain further if you all would like anymore information. >> chairman: it is all -- it looks at least to the supervisors self-explanatory and i think you just reiterated

that. are there any questions for mr. mullen or mr. mulligan? seeing none. is there any public comment on item number two? >> clerk: yes. members of the public who wish to provide public comment on this item should call (415) 655-0001. the meeting i.d. is 1875747855 and press pound and pound again. if you haven't done so, please press 3 and star to speak. please wait until the system indicates you have been unmuted and you may begin your public comment. at this time, we do not have any public callers on the line to speak. >> chairman: okay. public comment is cloeszed. i'd like to send this to the full board with positive recommendation and move to do so on that motion. mr. clerk, a roll call please.

>> clerk: yes. on the motion [roll call] >> chairman: next item. next on the agenda is item number three. hearing to consider appointing two members terms ending may 1st, two thousand twenty-two and two members to rterms ending may 1, 2023 to the office of early care and education citizens' advisory committee. >> chairman: thank you, mr. clerk. we heard most of the complints last week with the exception of seat 7 we did not hear last week and we continued most of the balance of the items to this hearing to see whether we could work with ms. castleman

and the mayor's office and i receiving good news this morning that the mayor is actually able to make our jobs a little bit easier by appointing to some of her seats, some of the individuals or at least one of the individuals that is before us and that would be ms. frommer who we heard from last week who's eminently qualified and an applicant for seat number 8. the balance of the seats, there's one applicant for seat six, ms. sullivan. one applicant for seat 7, ms. walters where a waiver is required. seat 9 sarah kilday. and we did receive a notice from heather morado for seat 8,

she has withdrawn. so, with that, are there any applicants who have not previously testified who would like to testify this morning? >> yes. >> chairman: i think that's ms. walters. is that ms. walters? >> yes, it is. >> chairman: go ahead >> thank you very much. i'm actually an applicant for seat 7. >> chairman: yes. please. i think you're the only one we did not hear from >> thank you. there was a little bit of confusion because there were multiple applicants. i'm very happy to be able to present tow my request for consideration for this seat. i have as you may know been the c.e.o. of children's services in san francisco for the last

eight and a half years. it's the largest head start provider in the city. we have twelve childhood development centers throughout in many districts including yours, supervisor peskin, where our headquarters are right on broadway street. >> chairman: where norman yeeused to work >> that's right. i'm so delighted to offer my services for this opportunity because i feel so strongly that my experience in san francisco with multiple communities and neighborhoods serving our lowest income children and their families has really prepared me to be a strong voice and advocate on their behalf. and to be able to speak to i think the wonderful job that early care and education has

done thus far as well as diversified in leading the way. but there's still a lot of work to be done. and i want to make sure that i can help stewart the additional funds and also through the federal relief that's also coming which is very exciting. so want to be an advocate and also a colleague on this committee. i want to make sure that, you know, i listen well and work towards consensus, but, at the same time, really lead with the nod to transparency because i think the voters and the citizens and all of those who receive these wonderful services should know, you know, that their best interests are being considered as we work towards a more inclusive access for all children. as you might know for our black and brown and english language learners and we want to really close those gaps and make sure

that all kids in san francisco are prepared for kindergarten and ready to really thrive as they grow older and enter the k-12 system. so that's my goal. that's what i always work towards is inclusiveness and excellence and making sure the kids get the quality early learning that they need. >> chairman: thank you, ms. walters. are there any other folks who are applicants who we have not heard from and i said last week but it was actually the week before last. seeing none. are there any members of the public who would like to testify on this item number 3? >> clerk: yes. members of the public who wish to provide public comment on this item should call (415) 655-0001. the meeting i.d. is 1875747855 then press pound and pound again. if you haven't already done so,

dial star 3 to speak. the system will prompt and indicate that you have raised your hand. you may begin your comment. we currently have seven listeners and three callers in line to speak. >> chairman: first speaker, please. >> hi. good morning. thank you. my name is beverlily maluchin. i am represented children's school and also c-pack as a chair currently. i am calling to support the candidates put forth jointly by the cpack policy and legislative committee and the san francisco e.v.c. advocacy collision as follows. seat 6, pat sullivan. seat 7 monica walters who we just heard as the executive

director of children services. we were also supporting gina frommer. i understand that has now been taken care of by the mayor's appointment and seat 9, sara hicks-kilday and the director of the e.v.c. san francisco. and we know that all of these candidates are deeply involved in the daily workings of the e.c.e. community and we believe they will be able to carry out and do the work that is required at this time. thank you for your time this morning. >> chairman: thank you. next speaker, please. >> good morning board of supervisors.

my name is naima charles. i'm calling as well as beth to speak in support of this cpack supported and sfece pat sullivan and sara hicks-kilday. i really want to uplift monica and gina very being the two c.e.o.s of the r&r s in the city. i feel with all four of these representatives were really going to have engagement that we have been honestly speaking for years and making sure that prop c funds are spent with the intent of the community and it's going to best serve our families.

we know that here that we're not merely meeting the needs of families in san francisco unfortunately for child care. i'm looking forward to this representation to work on that. so thank you so much board supervisors for considering these four candidates. >> chairman: thank you. next speaker, please. >> hi, good morning. my name is faddia lustoria i'm the organizer of parent voices for the last 25 years and i believe we need highly qualified people. i strongly support the appointment of gina frommer, and very thankful for the march for making that appointment and also to support pat sullivan, monica walters and sara hicks-kilday. going back to gina, i know she

has experience being a recipient of subsidized care and she would strongly represent the parent voice in this and she also knows the community having worked in the san francisco community for the last 40 years. and, as i said last time, we're expecting a large infusion of funds from prop c and hopefully the court will approve it and we need this for people to give a lot of energy and strong community voice to oe.c.e. >> chairman: thank you. are there any other speakers for public comment on this item? >> clerk: i believe we have one more. >> chairman: next speaker, please >> hello, my name is molina alonso. i represent parent voices here

in san francisco and i strongly support and thank the mayor that gina fromer's appointment to oece. and i just want to share that this morning and thank you. >> chairman: thank you. any final speakers on this item? >> clerk: i believe that was our last caller. >> chairman: and, as i said at our last meeting a couple of weeks ago, we have an embarrassment of riches and, as i said, at the beginning of this i want to thank the mayor for making our job a little bit

easier and i feel free to jump in, ms. sullivan for seat 6. ms. walters with a residency waiver for seat 6. a residency waiver is not required for seat 7. ms. hicks-kilday for seat 9. colleagues, what are your thoughts? and if there are no thoughts, i will make a motion supervisor chan is on the queue.

>> chairman: just so you know, my meeting chat button is not working. i have to come in and see john c. and fix it. >> supervisor chan: got it. my apologies for my early tardyness. thank you chair peskin. my apologies. i agree with the motion and, again, i really appreciate your work along with the mayor's office with the mayor last week. it is so great to see all the candidates really passionate about this issue. i want to strongly encourage those that didn't get a chance to be appointing and move forward with this appointment process to still continue your work and participate in some of these conversations. it's critical to know how do we

spend these public dollars investing in our early child education. so i agree with today's decision, but that should not prevent any of those applicants that were interested in this issue to continue to work on this is really, i just want to make sure that the applicants know that and will continue to advocate for this important issue and continue to be involved with this advisory committee even in a participant capacity is really what i wanted to encourage them to do. thank you. >> chairman: thank you, supervisor chan, and i wholeheartedly agree with everything you just said and we want everyone to stay involved whether you're a full member of the committee or not. with that, mr. young, could you please call the roll on the motion as stated as a committee report. >> clerk: chair peskin, could

you confirm who the recommendation for seat 8 was. >> chairman: yes. the recommendation for seat 8 was jennifer curran with the residency waiver required. >> clerk: yes. on the motion to appoint patricia sullivan to seat 6, monica walters to seat 7 with residency waiver, and -- >> chairman: i'm sorry. i just made a terrible mistake. i'm sorry. i just -- i'm -- excuse me. let me repeat my initial motion. i'm sorry. victor, you got me off guard there. it's june lin-arlow for seat 8. no residency waiver required. >> clerk: okay. >> chairman: that's what happens when you have a long list of applicants. >> clerk: just to restate patricia sullivan to seat 6. june lin-arlow to seat 8.

monica walters to seat 7 with residency waiver and sara hicks-kilday with seat 9 with residency waiver. on that motion [roll call] the motion passes and it will be recommended as a committee report to tomorrow's board of supervisors meeting. >> chairman: thank you, mr. young. could you please read the next item. >> clerk: thank you. item number four motion approving, rejecting the mayor's nomination for appointment of christina dikas to historic preservation commission, term ending december 31, 2024.

>> chairman: any opening comments by committee members? seeing none. ms. dikas, the floor is yours >> great. can you see me? >> yes, we can. >> good morning. my name is christina dikas. i'm a fourth generation bay areaen. i have a deep interest in recognizing and preserving the multitude of stories that are represented in our built environments and that contribute to the unique sense of place that san francisco possesses. i earned a masters of architectural history at the university of virginia in 2007. i've been working as an architectural historian here for 14 years. my first project was mission and soma. since then, i've offered and reviewed countless historic resource evaluations and the

full effect of the california perez indication act. i've cricketed to ground breaking projects, initiated partnership between the san francisco planning department and sf heritage to document the importance in tangible. i've also managed an oral history project partnering with the u.c. berkley history center which catered to the transgender community during the 19 sefts. in addition to my experience as an architectural historian on art projects within san francisco, i've worked on projects throughout california. historic preservation ordinances and city landmark programs. i've interfaced with many historical research boards and commissions including providing training to the historical and

architectural review to the city of san francisco. i'm a member of the california preservation foundation which provides me with the most pressing topics affecting the field of historic preservation. the effects of climate change, recognition of previously underrepresented communities and voices and the need for broad early education that can lead to more diversity among practicioners in the field. i will bring this to the architectural seat. i'm excited about the opportunity to contribute to my city's legacy and the capacity of commissioner. thank you. >> chairman: thank you, ms. dikas. seeing no questions. i can't look at the chat. there we go. vice chair mandelman. >> supervisor mandelman: yeah.

if supervisor chan has a question or comment. i will go ahead. so, you know i prefaced this by saying that i am supervisor from district 8. 40 years later representing the neighborhoods that harvey melk represented. it was district 5, not district 8. and harvey believed strong and frequently that it was important to not just to have allies in positions in power and authority as it is important to have queer people as it is to have all minority its represented on various commissions and elected bodies making decisions of important impact. so back on march 1st, this committee heard and considered three appointees to the historic press observation commission and recommended forwarding -- and forwarded all

of the mayor's recommendations. in seat 1, what had been aaron highland's seat. in seat 5, we forwarded the preservation professional in the nomination of chris foaly and seat 7, we forwarded the mayor's nomination of diane masuda. at that meeting, i expressed my concern that with the loss of commissioner highland and the nonreappointment of mr. perlman in seat 3, the commission was going from having two lgbtq community representatives to potentially having none depending on what happened with seat three. and in mr. highland's case in particular, he's not someone who happens to be gay, he's also someone who has done

extensive work on lgbtq preservation efforts as part of the broader equity efforts around preservation. he'd done it before he was on the commission. he'd been involved in the design team in developing the falon building. part of the friends of the 1800 community group. he worked with supervisor dufty on design studies for the consideration of the valley and mayor for the lgbtq center. but, more recently and more relatively, he had been on the commission, the champion, the leading champion for the lgbtq plus citywide conference. he funded that out of his own pocket. he met with my office about the efforts to begin fundraisering for preservation of lgbtq -- notification of lgbtq plus landmarks and you all have been

very supportive of our efforts to landmark the lion martin house, but, of course, that's just one of what are likely to be a number i hope of lgbtq plus sites that may be landmarks going forward. and he has participated in broader equity efforts around the bay view opera house, around the african american context statement. around the angel island. he was a member of the plannings department. and had been a champion not just of the capture lgbtq cultural district but i believe of the african american cultural district and the transcultural district. so he is not just someone who's queer, but someone who is doing queer and equity work on the commission. and i noted at the time, seat three was one. the mayor had not filled it yet and potentially mr. highland could stay on the commission in

that seat and continue to do that work. if he were not going to stay on the commission and continue to work, it was encumbent on the mayor's office to find another candidate to step into commissioner highland's shoes and do the work he had been doing. i was disappointed and saddened without saying anything negative about ms. dikas who i believe would be a fine commissioner and is accomplished, i do not believe that her history of alliship suggests that she's going to be able to step in and do the work that commissioner highland was doing. so regretfully and, you know, certainly again no bad feelings about ms. dikas i don't think this was the right appointment and i'm not supporting it.

that is my statement, folks. >> chairman: thank you, vice chair mandelman. i associate myself with your words and said as much to ms. dikas when we had a chance to visit a couple few weeks ago and with that, supervisor chan, and then we'll open it up to public comment. >> supervisor chan: thank you, chair peskin. and i concur with what vice chair mandelman is discussing and really referencing right now about representation in leadership role in our city government. i for one have always talked about that for women, women of color, chinese americans, and asian americans. in this moment, i think for me being a good ally means supporting the decision and making sure that that representation is across the board that including lgbtq representation on the historic preservation commission.

again, thank you, ms. dikas for coming before us today, for spending the time. this is not in any way to diminish your accomplishments in the work that you have done, but much more really about what this rules committee is looking for when we are considering, you know, taking a step back, considering the big picture of the representation across the board in our city government. and, in this case, really about the hisstor preservation commission. i have the privilege by chance for another item being present of that very specific item that vice chair mandelman was talking about that very first

couple and the conversation was remarkable. in helping why it's important on that [inaudible] thank you. and, i will be regretfully not supporting ms. dikas appointment today and really look forward to having an appointment moving forward that truly represents the lgbtqq community on the historic preservation commission. >> chairman: thank you, supervisor chan. with that. why don't we open this up to public comment. >> clerk: yes. call (415) 655-0001. the meeting i.d. is 1875747855. then press pound and pound again. if you haven't already done so, please dial star 3 on the line to speak. please wait until the system indicates you have been unmuted

and begin your comment. i believe we have seven listeners and four members of the public in line to speak. >> chairman: all right. first speaker please. >> good morning. my name is jerry dratler and i'm against appointing christina dikas to the commission. the controller's second public integrity review report makes it clear a pay to play culture exists in our city and i'm against city commissioners who work for city vendors. ms. dikas has been employed for 14 years. the city paid paige and turnbel

160,$161 so far this year and should not be a city commission member over the last few years, issued reporti and not supportive of historic preservation. they includes the jones coffee company building that was not a historic resource. the building was constructed in 1907 and operated as a coffee roster from 1967 to 1966 andeer wrote the paige and turnbolt decision designed by master

architect e. e. young. mr. young designed other important san francisco buildings including the russian embassy and the san francisco club. >> clerk: speaker your time is up. thank you. can we hear from the next caller, please. >> chairman: thank you, mr. dratler. we got the gist of your comments. next speaker please. >> chair peskin and members of the rules committee. this is kathleen courtney and i'm also calling in to request respectfully that you reject the mayor's nominee not withstanding her credentials, but in the 14 years that she has been out of school, she has

worked for page and turn build. they're very proud about the fact that in the last 40 years, they're sensitive to clients in the building. that may influence permit approvals and creative in making adjustments for historic properties the community association was so and a lack of leadership that they took so not withstanding candidates credentials, i representfully request that you object or nomination. thank you very much. >> chairman: thank you. next speaker, please.

next speaker? >> yeah. sorry. i was on mute. good morning supervisors. i want to thank you for your position that you have expressed today. i agree with you. i certainly want to thank ms. dikas for all her work in preservation. and the point of question though is as an h.b.c. commissioner and being a member of the page and turnboll firm i would likely think you would need to recuse yourself in a high percentage of cases because of the dominant role they play in many reviews. you know, and i appreciate your work for the company and the reports that you have

referenced. but i think it's an indication of the continued of corporatization and the reports that are coming out are not by individuals, they're just corporate statements now and many i've seen, i haven't seen, you know, you referenced being the editor and as far as i can see on many reports, that's not there. and on so many times, it seems that history, the scales have been tipped a bit away from history and this seat 3 is so important. it's the real heart of the historic preservation and it's kind of the history part of it, the architectural history is down to 1 seat. and there's been dripped with the h.b.c. and it's been taking on many other things and that's why the lgbtq community issues

are so important. you know, i am concerned that there be an independent historian, someone from academia or someone that doesn't have. >> clerk: speaker. the time is up. >> chairman: thank you, speaker. your time is up. but we understand the gist of your comments. are there any other members of the public who would like to testify on this item? mr. young? >> clerk: i believe there is. we're waiting for them to be unmuted at this time. >> chairman: got it.

>> hi supervisors and chair peskin. this is sharon calling from the san francisco's women's committee. i'm the copresident and we wholeheartedly support dikas nomination. only 17% of registered architects being women. despite the statistics, christina has built up an impressive résumé. so we support the nomination. finding the most qualified candidate is a challenge. christina was recommended by her colleagues. jason wright who was a gay man officially approached after realizing not needing the initial qualifications, he recommended christina. and support women in leadership. thank you. >> chairman: thank you. next speaker, please.

>> hello. yes, can you hear me? >> chairman: yes. we can >> thank you. this is peter warfield. head of library user's association. we can be reached at libraryusers2004.com. thank you to the three supervisors for taking a position against the nomination. we agree with that wholeheartedly for a variety of reasons. there are a whole bunch of reasons why in our work with, for example, the branch library improvement program. we found that nine years into it, we were the first ones that had raised the issue of one of the renovations and that was the first time that any of the renovations apparently had come before the starred preservation

commission. so simply what goes before the commission is an issue and also when. we also learned at that time that there were library buildings that had basically lost their historic preservation value because of renovations that had happen and the library's practice of making the renovations first and then going before the commission. the other thing among the first three speakers is a question of conflict of interest and somebody working for not only a city vendor but an agency that is essentially working for clients with money for development and an interest in development and therefore may be interested in not having historic preservation happen on particular projects. that is a serious issue and as aone of the previous speakers said it was very important and useful to have an independent

historian or someone who is truly independent and not connected with economy forces related to this issue. i appreciate your not approving the nomination. thank you very much. >> chairman: thank you, sir. next speaker, please. >> hi. we are a statewide nonprofit working with all segments of the california population. and i'm here to strongly support christina dikas' nomination to the commission. she has worked with us for seven plus years at least. i've known her for seven years. she's worked on multiple committees. she's only demonstrated herself to reach across the line and

advocate for the protection of resources for all segments of the population. she has worked side by side with members of the lgbtq community and she is a hard worker. she has tried very hard to make sure that historic resources are protected and always on a volunteer basis with us. so i just wanted to put my word in to say that i hope you would consider supporting christina dikas' nomination. thank you. >> chairman: thank you. next speaker. >> good morning supervisors. ozzi room. i'm also calling to object to the nomination of ms. dikas to the historic preservation commission. she's been a long term employee of page and turnboll, a company

that has had a hand in overturning the historic resource status and declaring some of our high profile resources and nonworthy of this title. ms. dikas has been with this company for 14 years and i think that really matters. there has been a lot of high profile cases that this company has handled and ms. dikas having been there for 14 years i am sure has had involvement with these cases and that is exactly what concerns us. to name a few at mr. drapler read, i refer to 47 battery. i would like to urge to you ask ms. dikas what she thinks of some of the projects that were air marked for demolition in

the past few years by our planning department. one examine is 357 san jose avenue where typea historic resource was declared even though it was declared by h.r. agents to be a historic resource, with its interior in tact and worthy. this building was allowed to be demolished. >> chairman: thank you, speaker. are there any other members of the public for this item? >> clerk: i believe we have

one mr. speaker. >> chairman: next speaker please >> hi. can you hear me? >> yes. >> yes. my name is andrew i'm a member of the historic preservation committee serving as the last year of the commission. she has extremely strong skills in her career and experience with real projects in san francisco and that real experience is very important. it's important to understand that every building that's old is not only historic, but she's dealt with the real projects in san francisco and those are the kinds of project that is come before the h.b.c.. i have to say i find there's a little bit of irony with this

concern now about this representation on h.b.c. over 40% of the commission it was a great thing but there's very little concern about representation of women and people of color. i think it's great we have women of color coming forward. that's an important position and very supportive appointment. thank you. >> chairman: thank you. are there any other members of the public for public comment on this item? >> clerk: we have one more. >> hi, i'm a public school parent calling in opposition to this appointment. i as supervisor chan said, representation matters. i'd like to see a queer, black,

or chinese commissioner. and also a person who understands the psyche of children. and sfusd school names. there doesn't seem to be a recognition that the mural has native americans the district has covered it and then uncovered it or why it's not appropriate that a public school that has a lot of children with learning disabilities. there also seems to be on the commission a lack of understanding about the lack of empathy in needing to rename this school and why certain schools names need to be changed and not understanding the needs of the black and brown community. thank you for taking my

comments into consideration. >> chairman: are there any other speakers, mr. young? >> clerk: that completes the speaker list. >> chairman: okay. public comment is closed and before us and thank you, ms. dikas, for your appearance this morning. before us is a motion. i believe that motion needs to as a matter of what was stated by all three members of this body need to be amended at line three and at line fourteen to remove the word "approving in line 3" and "approves" in line 14. on that motion, mr. clerk, a roll call please. >> clerk: yes. on the motion to amend [roll call] peskin aye. the motion passes without

objection. >> chairman: and then we will send the item as amended with recommendation to the full board. on that motion a roll call please. >> clerk: yes. on that motion [roll call] the motion passes without objection. >> chairman: next item, please. >> clerk: next on the agenda is item number five hearing to consider appointing eight members, terms ending april 8, 2022, to the student and families working group. >> chairman: thank you, mr. clerk. the board finally passed this creation of this body that was brought to us by supervisor ronen and is supervisor ronen or her staff available to present some brief introductory

comments >> i'm here. >> chairman: sorry. john c. has to fix my computer. >> supervisor ronen: no worries. is it okay if i make a few comments? >> chairman: yes. >> supervisor ronen: thank you so much. colleagues, i cannot be more excited to be here today that we have identified a group of candidates that are willing to serve on the students and families rise work group. an official body that i established with commissioner boggess. and that will create a city wide plan to expand enrichment and academic success services for students and families in sfusd. the pandemic has caused many students to fall behind in

their academic achievement and forced families to leave all together for private institutions. we cannot let either situation go unaddressed. the students and families rise work group will address issues by focusing on three concrete goals. which will get students to grade level proficiency. and three, create and expand full scale enrichment in our schools including arts, music, sports, and libraries. over the coming months, this work group will be developing a vision and a plan based on best practices locally and around the country. and bring strong enrichment programs to every school site within the district.

the work group will submit its final plans to the board of supervisors, the mayor, by august 2021 so we can begin to implement those strategies. this work group will be made up of eleven voting members representing a diverse cross section of san francisco public education landscape including representatives from the board of san francisco education. youth service provider of public health special specializing in pediatric health and development. a youth representative among others. today, the rules committee will be hearing from applicants to eight seat that is are appointing by the board of supervisors. adequate funding for the first time, i am confident that we can create the best public school system in the country that leaves no student behind.

this is an ambitious effort, but one we must achieve. children, educators and families especially during the crisis we're in the midst of right now. with that, i'm so looking forward to hearing from some of the applicants today. so i turn this back over to you chair peskin to hear the applicants? >> chairman: sure. and before we do that. i've looked at everybody's applications as i'm sure my colleagues have ten applicants for eight seats. eat one, there's only one applicant staying with seat two. same with five, six, seven, and eight. we have two applicants for seats three and four. have you had a chance to look at those applicants and do you have any recommendations? albeit we will hear from them independentive and the committee will come to a

conclusion. >> supervisor ronen: i do. i would love to hear from them first if that is okay. i can say, you know, before hearing from the commissioners that in checking in with both commissioner -- i'm sorry. i did not check in with commissioner boggess, but i did check in with supervisor melgar this morning. and i also had a chance to check in with maria sue, the director of department of children, family, and youth in considering both experience and proper diversity of the group for seat 3, the group is leaning towards rand carol

hill. but i would love to hear from the applicants before offering you my suggestions. >> chairman: perfect. if you're sticking around, we'll stick with you. and, with that, why don't we do the applicants in order that they appear on the agenda. i believe that we received an e-mail from leslie hu and i believe marcus wong is in school right now. but i think everything else is here. if ms. hu is not here, why don't we go to rafael picazo for seat 2. >> good morning, supervisor peskin. my name is rafael picazo. i'm the current applicant for

district 2. born and raised in san francisco. i live in alameda now because of gentrification. but everything i do, i do for san francisco. i've worked here for 38 years in the school district. i'm an advocate for the people of the mission district on fair housing and low income housing. i proudly stand behind the student and the children of the san francisco school district and would like to see them catch up on all the lost education that they've, you know, received during the pandemic. i'm motivated 100% to be part of this group and to help out in making decisions and to bringing education equity back to the district and making sure everybody is fair and transparent as far as education is concerned. i would like to be part of the system and helping where help

is needed. i'm here for the city of san francisco like i ed earlier. i love this city. this is my city and i want to do the best things i can to help the people of this city. thank you. >> chairman: thank you, mr. picazo. next up is alida fisher. >> good morning commissioners. my name is alida fisher. i'm the proud parent of four san francisco unified school district students. i'm a former foster parent now an adoptive parent. my kids have attended seven sfusd schools. i've been a parent at each one. identifying their disabilities and learning differences. my current three sfusd students all have i'm the past chair of

the advisory committee for special education and now the advocacy chair. the families for children with disabilities. i sit on sfusd's l-cap task force all about budget oversite. i've been a proud member since it was formed and also i'm a member of the equity studies task force. our charter school oversight committee. c-space and now a member of the re-opening task force. i'm a collaborative partner who works to improve outcomes when i can and also hold the district accountable when need be. i'm a special education advocate and day after day, meeting after meeting, i see how our district leaves our students behind and i really, really believe that our budget

should be a value statement. we need to spend more time focusing on funding the programs that will bring equity to our district, not just talking about them. and in my work as a special education advocate, this is a lot of the work that i do. we're working on the disproportionality. which is a particular classroom for students, a special day class and my work in the district has been predominantly around providing better reading interventions to off students. particularly tier three structured learning programs for students with dislexia. i recognize i'm a white woman and every day i'm learning about my white privilege. i'm honored here to be offering

with efrain barrera and so if the committee believes that's what's needed for this bay, i would be happy to support efrain in foving forward towards the full board. i have to have the honor of working with this committee because i do believe that my particular expertise particularly when it comes to reading intervention and other forms of interventions for students because what works for students with disabilities actually works for all students. that's universal design for learning. if i'm not a member and the team is leaning towards efrain, i support all of his work, but i hope to be able to have some voice or some role in this committee and special education advocate. so thank you. >> chairman: thank you for your comments and your generous

comments about the other complint for seat 3 which will take us to that individual mr. barrera. >> thank you. can you hear me? >> chairman: yes, we can. >> thank you. good morning rules committee, chairperson super peskin. supervisor mandelman, supervisor ronen. i'm here for seat 3. i'm a proud father of two students. i wholeheartedly believe in the mission set forth by the rise legislation. as a father of two students with learning differences -- i'm very grateful for the accommodations that my children have received from their site. however, i'm very well aware of the learning laws and the emotional impacts they have experienced during the pandemic. i have partnered with school

and agencies to bring the coordination. during the last three years, i worked for the commission of economic development agency for the promise neighborhood. and, through the pandemic, i have worked with a collective district staff, the latino task force -- >> chairman: you're frozen. mr. barrera? mr. clerk? help us. he's back. you're back. you're moving >> [ laughter ] sorry about that. so i feel that i'm qualified for to be part of this team. thank you ms. fisher for the very positive thoughts.

i feel that this is an opportunity for our community, you know, to come together and i really respect a lot of the experts that are applying for the different seats. i have so much excitement and hope for this working group. i feel that our community needs this. i feel like we owe it to our community, the impacts of the pandemic have been, you know, horrific. and so i feel that being that schools are critical house and they play a critical place for the recovery efforts post pandemic, i feel that it would definitely require a coordinator approach to get this right. you know, we cannot afford making any mistakes and so i do. i elevate and i welcome the leadership of supervisor ronen, supervisor melgar for putting this forward and i look forward to the opportunity to join

forces with the other team members so thank you very much. >> chairman: thank you. and that will take us to dr. carol hill. dr. hill. >> okay. can you hear me. i'm so sorry. i feel like i'm also having internet issues right now. >> who's not? >> good morning supervisors. i am dr. carol hill and among other things, i'm a proud black lesbian mother of a 9-year-old. and a fiance of a principal in sfusd. i've been working in education for over 30 years and i started off in higher ed administration and i even did a small stint as a parent in sfusd while i was working on my masters. my expertise in education, commitment, and calling have been in using community schools thought and practice to

increase opportunities for success particularly for black students and families. this is the san francisco beacon initiative. i support beacons and 13 cb.o. agency partners working diligently to implement community schools work. beacon specifically requires youth and empowerment and i'm honored to represent organizations that are grounded in that commitment as well. i'm excited to apply for seat 4 to help through recovery and beyond for students and families for sfusd. i know we can do something absolutely amazing in terms of excellence and equity. i bring several years of black partnership with the district and the city and c.b.o. partners which was even more important with the district as i collaborate to plan, organize, envision, and facilitate work with the c.b.o.

forums, the community hub initiatives and the peace cap which i'm a cochair of. all of my expertise can be used to uplift the voices of the organizations such as those in the service provider working groups so that we are able to truly transform san francisco public education especially black and immigrant students who have been disproportionately impacted by covid and distanced learning. thank you. >> chairman: thank you. thank you, dr. hill. that will take us to lai wa wu.

>> clerk: i don't see a log on. >> chairman: we may have received an e-mail. i got so many e-mails this morning that she might not be attending. i can search for that e-mail. while i'm doing so. why don't we go on to joyce dorado for seat 5. >> good morning supervisors. thank you so much for having me. can you hear me? i just want to make sure? great. i'm an applicant for seat 5 of this work group. i'm a licensed clinical psychologist who's worked with children youth and families for 30 years. i'm also a clinical professor in the department of psychiatry at ucsf. and i'm also the cofounder and

director of ucsf hearts. we've had a deep and sustained partnership with sfusd since 2008. an anti-racist healing center at the core of our work. we've partnered with schools to create more trauma and form learning and teaching environments that can foster resilience, wellness and justice for everyone in the school community. i'm also an appointed member of the california state supreme court justice steering committee for keeping students out of court initiative and i'm also the lead developer for the curriculum that has trained thousands of sfd.p.h. employees also youth serving institutions and organizations across the bay area around applying a

trauma informed healing lens making organizations that heal instead of inadvertently harm. i'm really interested in providing this lens to the considerable professional analytic experience of those who will be serving on this committee. i'll be helping to apply the science if i'm chosen on how trauma and stress can affect any of us children and adults alike. how it can affect our health, our behavior, our relationships, our work, and ultimately our organizations as a whole and then applying the science around healing and overcoming trauma and stress to what any of us can do regardless of what our role is in the school or our community to mitigate these adverse effects. i really truly believe we have so many learnings from going through this pandemic and from the racial justice up risings that we can apply to how we return to in-person school

stronger, wiser, and more compassionate than we were before and i really look forward to be able to serve in this capacity. thanks. >> chairman: thank you. and i've been informed that lai wa wu has withdrawn and is supporting dr. carol hill. so thank you for making our work easier. and, with that, we'll go to jacob leos-urbel >> hi. i'm applying for seat number 6 for the education researcher. i'm excited by the prior speakers. i am an education researcher. i'm a san francisco resident. i'm a father of two young daughters one of whom is in the other room doing 1st grade virtually at sfusd elementary school. i also have a preschooler.

i have over 20 years of experience in education and research. focused on improving opportunities and outcomes for children, youth, and families. i primarily brought the research and evaluation skills and lens to that and a lot of my work is focused on programs and policies outside of the classroom that are important for childrens education and social emotional development. in terms of my relevant experience, i've been a public policy professor at claremont graduate university in southern california. summer youth employment programs. i also was an associate director for the john gardener program at stanford and in that role, worked collaboratively with a lot of local school districts including sfusd to do research that was relevant and important and focused on getting better and the most [inaudible] in unified school district for

four years doing research about the full service community initiative which is an equity driven strategy to make sure children have the support and need they deserve to thrive academically. this includes mental and physical health services. after school and summer programming and really deep involvement of communities and parents and really leveraging the researches of the community and the community based organizations to provide a much more robust set of services for students. currently, the learning and evaluation director tipping point community and i want to be on the rise working group. i would be honored to be on the rise working group. i really believe this is what we need and we've needed this for a long time to have more resources for schools and the ability to serve more children. and we need it now more than ever as we recover from the covid pandemic.

and i think it's really an opportunity for the whole community to come together. so i would be grateful to be on the committee. thank you. >> chairman: thank you. that takes us to emily garvie for seat number 7. >> hi, my name is emily garvie. can everyone hear me? okay. great. good morning to the supervisors and everyone else attending. i'm really honored to be here speaking for my candidacy in seat 7 which is the foundation philanthropy seat on the rise working group. i concur with what everyone has said in this is just such an exciting board and body. at a really critical may i have a moment. i am the program officer at the charitable foundation that makes grants and education

among other program areas and i'm responsible for the grant making in education. prior to my work at the foundation. i was the executive director at the performing arts workshop that provides services in sfusd schools and after school programs as well as other settings. and, i am also the parent of a sfusd student in elementary school and soon to be two students and rising kindergartener next year. as the foundation philanthropy representative, my goal would be to provide a connection between sfrise and donors to the well being of youth and families. in a philanthropic with the hope of engaging investment in the solutions put forward by rise. this has been almost exclusively my focus for the

past year. as mr. barrera said so well, we could not afford to make any mistakes last june and we could not waste any of the dollars we had in the system and all the dollars needed to be put best to the families most in need. i worked with colleagues to convene a group of foundations, nonprofits, city agencies and nonprofit service providers to expand and enhance the impact of the community hubs through arts education programs. this initiative sparked another web by the walter lease toss fund to create change benefitting black and baby youth and part of this group, i worked with board of education leaders, district leaders, nonprofits and youth leaders, as well as city agency and staff and other private funders to try to move forward lessons

and funding towards solutions which was a very gratifying thing to be apart of and i would be very excited to get to work with this incredible group of folks who are candidates for the sfrise working group to take this moment and make the most of it to both address the harm that has been experienced by youth and families over the past year and also to put change into action that has been muted and an opportunity for a long time particularly working off of the community school model to expand for the betterment of sfyouth and families. >> chairman: thank you, mr. garvie. before we deliberate. i wanted to turn it back over to supervisor ronen. >> supervisor ronen: thank you so much. and gosh, i was excited before hearing from all of you and now i'm like i have to control myself to keep myself in the

chair instead of jumping around in my living room screaming for joy. this is so exciting and having your involvement and your input will make this successful. it's who's going to be at the table and creating the plan that we can then put into action and really offer, you know, take this bad situation and turn it around and offer something better than we've ever offered before and we're doing that work already in san francisco just on a very small scale and so if we can take the best of what we're already doing and expand it, that alone will be amazing, but i'm also just really excited to see what other new interventions and programs that you come up with that are particularly important for this time and this unique experience that we're in.

i want to thank alida fisher for her typically gracious comments and respect and support for efrain barrera. alida, i used to be the chair of the rules committee. so i'm used to this experience of having to unbelievable over the top excellent candidates and having to choose between them and it's a miserable experience and that's why i'm excited i'm no longer on the rules committee, but you're a perfect example of one of these situations and, yes, we want you to participate, yes, we want you and your especially incredible expertise around special education and the needs of students with special needs on this work group. and every single meeting will be public, in fact, i'm

intending -- i'm planning to attend many of those meetings as a member of the public. so i'll be there sitting right next to you hopefully and really, if you are brought forward by the committee today, i'm really looking forward to your involvement and to sitting next to you and being with you participating. i also really want to thank lai wa wu from the chinese association for graciously stepping aside. dr. carol hill, you need no accolades because you speak for yourself and your contribution to sf rise is essential and it's going to be extremely helpful. i will say that marcus wong who wasn't able to be here with us

today because he's in school is a member of the cpa youth mojo program and so we're hoping that lai wa wu would help support marcus wong's participation in the work group. alida and i hope we're going to be sitting there and supporting this group and participating from sort of the sidelines but definitely contributing as part of this process. so, with that, colleagues, i would ask you to support efrain barrera and dr. carol hill who is now the sole applicant for her seat and the rest of this incredible panel. we need you now more than we've ever needed you before. the work that you're going to do is going to create a plan going forward on how we're going to come out of this

pandemic and address the very real harm that students have faced during this year, but then also on issues that we've been facing at sfusd for decades. the opportunities gap is not new. it's deepened and highlighted because of this crisis, but it is not new and so we have seen the community model works and especially for the students that have been falling behind for decades and it's not because of anything innate in their learning. it's because they are existing in a structure where systemic racism is alive and strong where we need to wrap around the entire family so that students can have all the admission that they need to

succeed in school and that's what it's all about. that's what we're excited about expanding here in san francisco and who knows what else you're going to come up with there are models all over the country and all over the world. we want to take the best and looking forward to supporting your initiative from day one. >> chairman: thank you supervisor ronen. and i understand ms. fisher made some comments and may want to make some additional comments. ms. fisher, you are welcome to speak again if you so desire. >> thank you. yes. i'm in the process of sending an e-mail. i will withdrawal my application and fully support efrain as a member of the

committee. thank you for your kind words, supervisor ronen. and hopefully when we get back and person sitting shoulder to shoulder, but until then, virtually shoulder to shoulder. >> chairman: thank you. you have made our job incredibly easy. i realize now what former chair ronin stuck with me which is pain every single money as i have to pick between remarkable colleagues with my colleagues. with that, in this particular instance, all is well that ends well and i would like to move leslie hu for seat 1. rafael picazo for seat 2. efrain barrera for seat 3. carol hill for seat 4. joyce dorado for seat 5.

jacob leos-urbel seat 6. emily garvie seat 7. and marcus wong seat 8. >> supervisor chan: chair peskin, i would like to make a comment. >> chairman: go ahead. >> supervisor chan: i want to thank ms. alida fisher and really leading by example and carving out the space and lifting up other voices and making sure there's representation at the table. with that same spirit, i do want to as we're moved forward with this motion and this working group, i wanted to be able to take this piece and because i am disappointed in seeing lai wa wu stepping down but also proud to see marcus wong is stepping up in this

group and will be having a seat at the table and really thanking, i wanted to thank dr. carol hill. and, with that, i do want to remind this group how our public school students have really been suffering in this pandemic and that with all the issues that both our district and education have been experiencing and to recognize that the 40% of students population is asian american and we as a community are not monolithic and that we have diverse needs even if we're asian americans and su, we all can see in the last 10 months or really a year now and how

asian american families really expanded public education system differently. and social economic status really in language and cultural competency. all those really expose the great demands and needs that asian american families have in our public school system. and so i just want to as we move forward with this group that i really hope and urge you to hold these asian american families in your thoughts as you move this forward and help us to make sure that their voices are at the table and being in your consideration as we move forward with community school and really to ensure that this let's not allow what the traditional education to

pit students of color against each other because i think that's the dynamic we're seeing in the last year of the pandemic. so that's all and -- but this is a really great group and i thank supervisor ronen for having this group and attracting all these brilliant candidates to show your commitment helping our families thrive and hopefully beyond the pandemic. thank you. >> chairman: thank you, supervisor chan. seeing no further comments. mr. young. could you please call the role on the motion that was made. >> clerk: i believe we need to take public comment.

supervisor mandelman's on the list. >> chairman: my apologies. i felt like we did take public comment, but those were the applicants. my chat button is broken. so there you go. >> supervisor mandelman: i just want to thank all the applicants for their work and engagement for their willingness to serve and to supervisor ronen for doing and her office for doing our work for us and making this much less painless today. so thanks everyone. >> chairman: thank you. all right. why don't we open this up to public comment. thank you for reminding me. >> clerk: yes. at this time. there are no members of the public to speak. i will read the phone number just in case. call (415) 655-0001. the meeting i.d. is 1875747855. then press pound and pound again. if you haven't already done so, please press star 3 to line up to speak.

the system will promptly indicate you have raised your hand. you may begin your comments. as i stated, as of announcing public comment, we had nobody in line for public comment. >> chairman: okay. public comment is closed and on the motion made, a role call please. >> clerk: yes. on the motion [roll call] the motion passes without objection. >> chairman: and that takes us to the end of our agenda and we are adjourned.

>> hello everyone. i'm san francisco mayor london breed and i'm really happy to join you all today. can we believe that it's been over a year now since we've been living in the new world of the covid-19 pandemic. and i know that i'm smiling right now and it has everything to do with the fact that all of what we've done and everything that we've talked about in the past in terms of where we need

to get to, we're finally getting there. and so today, as a result of the work from our governor and the state, today is the first official day for those who are over the age of 50 can actually get the vaccine. we've announced before, people over the age of 65, emergency workers, restaurant workers, public safety personnel, essential workers, grocery store clerks, muni drivers and others are still eligible. but we are now adding an additional group to the eligibility pool. here in san francisco, our efforts have been really incredible and dr. colfax will talk a little bit more about that. but at least 45% of san franciscans have received their first dose. and over 62% of those over the age of 65 have received their

second dose as well, they're fully vaccinated. this is higher than the national and state average. san francisco is doing an incredible job with vaccinating people and some of you probably have seen some of the reports that suggest san franciscans in general are those who most likely want the vaccine. that's why our efforts have been so successful. and, yes, we know it's been challenging with certain communities and we knew that if we didn't embed equity in our outreach efforts to address this pandemic from day one with testing and resources, but also with the vaccine, then we wouldn't be where we are today. this is why in neighborhoods like the bayviewpoint and other places where we are seeing high

rates of infection. this is why we have set up pop-up and mobile sites and locations in those neighborhoods and have made it easy for people to access vaccines without an appointment because we knew that was going to be critical to getting those who are a little hesitant about getting the vaccine. it would prevent them from doing it. we knew that especially many of our seniors didn't have access to the internet and may not understand how to use a computer and it was important to make it easy for them to access the vaccine. and our partnership with people like annie chung who you will hear from in a moment with the seniors, the large senior population we have in chinatown and the work she's done and the outreach she has made to reach

those seniors. meeting people where they are and putting equity at the forefront of everything we do is why san francisco has been a leader, not just in the number of case rates and the number of deaths in our very dense city, but a leader on rolling out the vaccine and getting people back to the lives that we know and love. but we're still not there. we expect by this weekend we'll be at 50% of san franciscans vaccinated. and, by mid may, we expect to be at 80%. so we're moving right along, but we also have to remind ourselves that this is not over. we are still in a pandemic. we still need to be cautious around others, wearing our mask, socially distanced and

following the health guidelines in a way that's going to keep us safe and keep our numbers down. we have about twenty people in the hospital right now. one of the lowest numbers we've experienced since this pandemic. we should be proud of what we've been able to accomplish in this city and i can't wait until we're at that point where we are able to socialize without masks. where we are able to go back to events. and that time is coming sooner rather than later. next friday is opening day. the san francisco giants opening day. and although they are limited in the number of people that they will be able to allow in the ball park, they work with our department of public health to come up with a plan to keep people who are in the ball park safe as they buy concessions and go to the restrooms and interact with one another. they're limiting the number of people who can come to the ball

park. you have to have proof of a vaccination or proof that you've been tested within a certain time period, but you know what, that's better than not having opening day allow fans at all. so there will be fans, there will be games. we will see this city start to come alive again one day at a time on this beautiful sunny day where the temperature is expected to be over 82 degrees. let's not get too comfortable because i know most of us are going to want to go hang out in our parks and enjoy the outdoors on this beautiful day in san francisco, but we still need to be mindful. we're still in the pandemic, and if we want more days like this, if we want more opportunities to open more things in our city, it still requires each and every one of us to do our part. now this sunday is easter sunday. and, i don't know about you,

but easter is one of my favorite holidays because what it means is that spring is here. and, when i was growing up, we got to wear our hats and new dresses and that's when we got our new outfits. it was always easter sunday. i look forward to coming together with my family and my community. and this year is going to be a little bit different. so i want to ask you all to be very careful. i know that a lot of you may want to have events and gatherings and so one of the things that dr. colfax will talk about or the guidelines in what we suggest you to do in order to safely gather with friends and family because we don't want you to do what you might of typically done. we want you to do what's safe to do so that we can continue to get out of this pandemic. with that, i want to introduce dr. grant colfax. >> thank you.

hi everybody. and thank you, mayor breed for your ongoing leadership in this unprecedented time. i'm delighted today that we're able to make vaccines available for all san franciscans ages 50 and over. with this expansion and eligibility, thousands of san franciscans will be able to get protection from covid, begin to safely interact with vaccinated loved ones, contribute to our collective effort to vaccinate the entire city, to achieve herd immunity, and allow us to more safely open our economy. this expansion and eligibility comes as we are very close to reaching the milestone of 50%

of our adult population having received at least one dose of the vaccine. and, for our residents 65 and over who we know are most at risk for complications, hospitalizations and dying from covid-19, an impressive 82% have received at least one dose and 62% are now fully vaccinated. as a city overall, we are doing much better at slowing the spread of this virus. at the peak of our surge, earlier this year, we were averaging 370 new cases a day. as of last week, that number was down to 33. so i am optimistic for our future, but we also still need to be realistic about where things stand today. by no means are we out of the woods yet and cases in san

francisco have slowly started to climb again. now we're still at a low rate, but just in the last week, we've seen an increase of 20% in our case rate. this is not unexpected. we know as cities re-open including in san francisco, cases gradually go up. the virus is again spreading, so we must be vigilant in wearing masks, social distancing, and following the precautions that we know slows the spread. after all, together we have beaten back three surges. and i know we do not want to see a significant fourth surge here. we are seeing alarming conditions in other parts of the country. as you know, the cdc director and other health care experts are worried. that is why it's so important for us to fully immunize our city. until we reach that

all-important herd immunity, the virus will always have the possibility of surging again. and, of course, variants remain a concern. they are here in the bay area and we must remain vigilant. and though the state's expanded eligibility comes as welcome news and i'm grateful for this, we still don't have enough vaccine supply. our ability to serve all those who are eligible depends on that supply and we don't have enough supply yet. so we are ready to go when those vaccines come. we have the infrastructure in place to vaccinate at least 20,000 san franciscans a day. we are ready to get those vaccine into arms, we just don't have the vaccine. and, if we have sufficient supply to achieve our capacity, we could have over 80% of adults vaccinated with first doses by mid may. now, although the state does

now currently allow for fully vaccinated individuals to interact indoors with fully vaccinated people from other households without masks, the san francisco health department agrees with the cdc around small private indoor social gatherings. once the state allows us, and we're hopeful the state will follow the cdc guidelines very soon because they are based in science and evidence and give people fully vaccinated a chance to engage with others in a way we haven't been able to do so for over a year, we will loosen restrictions so that vaccinated individuals can safely interact indoors and small gatherings unmasked with other household members that are also fully vaccinate or otherwise low risk single households. this is yet another reason to get vaccinated. i have to also include a

reminder in this, that even if you get vaccinated and are fully vaccinated, if you get symptoms or are exposed to somebody with covid-19, please get tested. testing remains a key cornerstone to our ability to slow the spread of the virus. these vaccines are excellent and safe, but they aren't perfect. as we expand eligibility to more san franciscans, our admission is to bring vaccines to those communities most impacted by covid-19. and, therefore, we will continue to prioritize equitable distribution throughout the city. one great example of how we can do this is through our mobile vaccination teams and tomorrow alone, we will be conducting vaccinations at the white house for the blind and at ping u.n. housing site in chinatown. still using our shelter-in-place in town.

today i was at next door shelter where i have a clinic and it was amazing to be able to take patients i was see right over to the mobile vaccine team getting vaccine to arms in realtime. as we gradually move forward in the opening of our city, we will do so carefully. we will make sure that as we loosen restrictions to support businesses, bring back jobs, and restore the vibrancy of the city. we are on the right path, we are making great progress. thank you. keep the mask on. stay strong. get vaccinated when you're eligible and it's your turn and let's hope that vaccine supply to improve. thank you. >> thank you, dr. colfax. and now i want to introduce annie chung with self-help for the elderly.

thank you so much for being here today. >> good morning everyone. thank you, mayor breed. and dr. grant colfax. may i thank you really the department of public health and all your teams that are working on the covid response. we feel really proud to be a community partner because every time when our community is facing challenges whether it's with testing or with the vaccines rolled out, we always feel there's someone at d.p.h. that we can go to and express our concerns and very quickly, i think mayor breed and her team have responded, you know, to our community needs. for example, back in january and february when we found that vaccines are beginning to be available, none of our seniors and none of the community who

don't speak english well could navigate those sign-up sites. when we expressed the need for bilingual materials, your team came up with the flyers. yet the sites were still in english. so they couldn't get the vaccines. so i think as we work closely with the response. and we feel that -- it's really important that we bring the vaccines to the community versus waiting, you know, for those diverse community who don't have the internet nor the language capacity to sign up for a vaccine appointment. so really, thank you, on behalf of all of our seniors for listening and responding to our needs. we work closely with the all-american medical group, the

chinese hospital, the chinese health coalition, the ymca chinatown coalition, and also cdc. so as a group, we can go around and do outreach and also education work on how important it is for our community to be vaccinated. when d.p.h. expanded the qualification considering s.r.o. residents to qualify as congregate housing, we were very happy. so as of tomorrow, you will start to see all the residents in public housing as well as s.r.o. residents in chinatown. we'll get them vaccinated very soon. we work closely with aamg doctors who are all bi-lingual. where the seniors are picking

up their daily meals and right there, the community doctors also give the injections and the vaccinations to our seniors. you can see the big smiles on our seniors' faces despite they were worried they would have some side effect, but because they have their own doctors during the i inoculation and they are excited they are really familiar and comfortable, so that lowered the sense of discomfort and fear. so i think that's a good model, director colfax to bring the vaccines to really where the patients and the clients are and then they get a sense that, you know, the whole city and the whole community is taken care of, their needs. we are thankful for the departments and mayor breed particularly for your team. thank you, really so much. we appreciate the efforts that you're opening up the vaccine to people from 50 years and

older, but we're still concerned that there's 10% to 20% of seniors that are still not vaccinated. so we'll work closely with your staff to bring the vaccines to the homebound seniors as our next project. it's a labor of love, but from our experience in doing the covid response work, we're not short of volunteers. i think there are many volunteers who are willing to be drivers, volunteer doctors and helpers to bring the vaccines to the thousands of homebound seniors and persons with disabilities. so we'll work closely with you on that project. so thank you very much, mayor and dr. colfax. we need our community to be vaccinate. thank you. >> thank you, again, annie, for being here with us today and

also the work that you do to take care of so many seniors and i cannot wait until we're open again so i can go visit them and enjoy the entertainment and food and festivities. i know it's especially hard for some of our seniors living in isolation. so having self-help for the elderly and keep that connection with them is so critical in getting people vaccinated is so important because i know more than anything, they want to come together again. so, with that, thank you all for joining us. and, at this time, we'll take a few questions. >> the reality of people [inaudible] employment right away, what do you think of people who might get frustrated trying to navigate the system? are you concerned for the people who are eligible before this group

[inaudible] now that more people are trying to sign on? >> i'm not concerned because of the efforts that we talked about as far as equity because we have mobile sites. we have people who are going to certain neighborhoods where we see high infection rates who are providing the vaccine to people and so we're taking our lead from community based organizations, but we did this from the very beginning. that's why over 62% of people over the age of 65 in san francisco are vaccinated and over 80% of them have already received their first dose. that's unheard of on a national level. i'm not concerned about reaching those communities. and, keep in mind i don't think we'll ever get to 100% because there are some people who are hesitant and that's why i got the vaccine. i wanted people in the western edition where we had a lot of folks who were saying i'm not going to get the vaccine.

i wanted them to see that i got it and that it's safe and that they should get it too and i know there were a few people including one of my friend's mom and she said i'm only here because you're here, mayor, and i'll go ahead and get it. that's really where we are and what we're going to do. i'm not concerned because of the city's efforts and our work and the prioritizization for certain zip codes and the places where people can drop in and get the vaccine, but, you know, we're going to have more supply on top of that. so it's going to be a lot easier and it just requires people to be a little patient and we're going to get there. >> more than two weeks fully vaccinated. are you feeling any differently? >> i am smiling more, i think. i think, for me, i'm still wearing my mask and doing my part and keeping my distance. and i still -- i think it's now

out of habit, but i'm looking forward to maybe before i probably would have never gone to the giants opening day, but now i'll probably stop by and check it out a little bit. so i'm a little bit more comfortable, i think, going out in public. for the most part, i'm hoping we get more san franciscans vaccinated. >> [inaudible] >> yeah. i just think that it's unfortunate and it's another distraction from getting our kids back in school. i think, you know, when the grown-ups all of a sudden become the story and become the distraction and this case and many other things that have sadly happened at the school board, then it takes away from what's most important and no one person should be more important than protecting and

supporting our kids and getting them back in school. >> [inaudible] >> i'm not prepared to provide any updates as to where we are. i mean, this is a pending lawsuit, so we want to make sure what's appropriate to say and what isn't appropriate to say before we start talking specifically about things that we plan to do. i do know this is one of the reasons, you know, not necessarily a lawsuit, but the lack of movement by the school district is one of the reasons why we're developing this program "summer together" because we can't just wait for them to sit around and get their stuff together. we have kids struggling now. and if you think about it the achievement gap was problematic and it's gotten worse. and you think about what's going to happen to these kids if they don't get the kind of

education they deserve to get within the next couple of years, then we're going to have a problems. i'm focusing on what they're going to do. the kids will have the ability to participate in a program that will help with the learning loss that they i'm sure experienced over the course of this past year during the pandemic >> [inaudible] >> as i said, i am not prepared to talk about that at this time. i want to make sure that i understand the legalities. it just happened yesterday. so before i make any public statements or comments, i want to make sure i understand fully what this could mean and what the city can do to participate or be involved in this in any kind of way. it is a lawsuit that's geared towards specific members and the school district and we know that the school district is its own entity.

we also know that the city stands ready and willing to help to support our kids in any way we possibly can. and, as i said, this is another, you know, unfortunate failure of, you know, a particular individual in this case as it relates to our children. if you really care about kids, then there are things you just will do or will not do to impact their lives and i think it's unfortunate we're at this state of affairs. >> [inaudible] >> well, the appetite, you mean of the people once folks are in a better place of being

vaccinated? well, i know that most people are going to want to come together with people that they may have not been able to come together with before especially those who have elderly parents. i'm hearing a lot about people who had babies and they wanted the babies to meet their grandparents. and so i'm seeing a lot more of that where people are feeling a lot more comfortable and less afraid of possibly having an impact on someone who is more vulnerable. i think that people are going to want to get together more. i want to go see a play or a concert or -- i'll take anything at this point, but i'm going to be more interested in doing things that we haven't been able to do as a result of this pandemic. i'm looking forward to seeing people singing. like, right now, there's a prohibition right now on those who can go out and entertainment, there's some limitations here because we are still in this, but we have to proceed with caution because

the last thing i want to do is come to the people of san francisco and say, yes, we're at 80%, first vaccinations of all san franciscans, but, guess what, we're seeing a surge and i have to shut the city down again. like that's the last thing i want us to do. so i think we're still going to need to proceed with caution. we're going to have to ride this wave and continue to do our very best. >> [inaudible] >> i can't hear you at all. i'm sorry. >> [inaudible] >> the advice to find an appointment for the seniors? we're going to be doing a lot of outreach not just with self-help for the elderly, but we have aging and adult services. a lot of our programs to be able to identify seniors in those hardest hit communities

through outreach and the various programs we fund and offering, you know, rides to seniors and letting them know about the specific locations and being able to walk with the seniors and i'll give you an example. so maxine hall where i got my vaccine in the wherein district location. you don't need maxine hall. so folks that are part of an organization of seniors like people at the senior service center there are people there who offered to walk them or use the vans to drive them around the corner if they want to get their vaccine are canning them every single day and there's just another of organic outreach everett that's happening with a number of agencies that serve senior communities throughout san francisco. >> i was going to ask more about the following [inaudible] >> okay.

anything else? >> [inaudible] >> i can commit to san francisco's what? >> you can commit [inaudible] >> no. i can't commit that. all right. thank you. >> shop and dine in the 49 promotes local businesses, and challenges residents to do their shopping within the 49 square miles of san francisco. by supporting local services in our neighborhood, we help san francisco remain unique, successful, and vibrant. so where will you shop and dine in the 49?

>> i am the owner of this restaurant. we have been here in north beach over 100 years. [speaking foreign language] [♪♪♪] [speaking foreign language] [♪♪♪] [speaking foreign language]

[speaking foreign language] [♪♪♪] [♪♪♪] women's network for a

sustainable future . >> san francisco streets and puffs make up 25 percent of cities e city's land area more than all the parks combined they're far two wide and have large flight area the pavement to parks is to test the variants by ininexpensive changing did new open spaces the city made up of streets in you think about the potential of having this space for a purpose it is demands for the best for bikes and families to gather. >> through a collaborative effort with the department we the public works and the municipal transportation agency pavement to parks is bringing initiative ideas to our streets. >> so the face of the street is

the core of our program we have in the public right-of-way meaning streets that can have areas perpetrated for something else. >> i'm here with john francis pavement to parks manager and this parklet on van ness street first of all, what is a parklet and part of pavement to parks program basically an expense of the walk in a public realm for people to hang anti nor a urban acceptable space for people to use. >> parklets sponsors have to apply to be considered for the program but they come to us you know saying we want to do this and create a new space on our street it is a community driven program. >> the program goes beyond just parklets vacant lots and other spaces are converted we're here

at playland on 43 this is place is cool with loots things to do and plenty of space to play so we came up with that idea to revitalizations this underutilized yard by going to the community and what they said want to see here we saw that everybody wants to see everything to we want this to be a space for everyone. >> yeah. >> we partnered with the pavement to parks program and so we had the contract for building 236 blot community garden it start with a lot of jacuzzi hammers and bulldozer and now the point we're planting trees and flowers we have basketball

courts there is so much to do here. >> there's a very full program that they simply joy that and meet the community and friends and about be about the lighter side of city people are more engaged not just the customers. >> with the help of community pavement to parks is reimagining the potential of our student streets if you want more information visit them as the pavement to parks or contact pavement to parks at sfgovtv.org >> she has been an incredible leader and tackling tough issues head-on. we have important information about affordable housing and

combatting addiction crisis. in 2018 after being elected the first woman to serve as mayor of new orleans. we all worked together in u.s. climate managing. just two weeks ago, i was on the other side of this table as the mayor of boston. i certainly understand what federal support means and i know what lack of federal support means. i saw the difference in several years across the administration. over the last year with covid, the stakes were raised even higher. they were life and death and still continue to be life and death and that's why i was and am grateful for president biden and vice president harris for their leadership. the american rescue plan is a game changer. it creates money and programs for vaccinations. cash relief and unemployment benefits. child care tax credits and child care funding. housing relief, small business support and so much more

including state and local funding. you are leaders in the thick of this fight and we want to know what this plan means to your cities and i'm going to ask mayor breed, if you wouldn't mind, for the audience give a little introduction to who you are and we'll go from there. >> thank you secretary walsh for hosting this event today and congratulations on your new role. i first want to say what a relief it is to have a federal administration in the white house that actually wants to work with cities like san francisco instead of spending time and energy to target us. at the beginning of this pandemic in 2020, we were truly on our own. our city department had been monitoring this situation in china from when the news first started to come out about what was happening and we had taken early steps to prepare. and, when the first case began arriving in the bay area, our public health officials were warning us we didn't have time to wait to avoid the scene we

had been seeing in china and italy. so on march 16th, we took action and became the first region in the country to issue a stay-at-home order. throughout the year, whether it was setting up testing and contract tracing or finding ppe and ventilators, we were often on our own. and the cities and states across the country saw huge hits to their economy and their budget, so did we. from february to september just last year, over 100,000 san franciscans lost their jobs. with that economic hit, we took a huge hit to our revenue too. last year we closed a $1.5 billion budget deficit and we managed to do so without laying off any city employee. but this year, we are facing another deficit. over $650 million. and this time around, we weren't going to be able to delay the hard decisions. we were facing the reality that we were going to have to cut jobs and likely a lot of them. that would have meant fewer

police officers, fewer 911 dispatchers, fewer homeless outreach workers. this would of had a major impact on our city right when we were starting to look towards our recovery. the american rescue plan has changed all of that. so instead of a $650 million deficit, we now have a $23 million deficit. we're not going to need to lay off any employees. instead, we're able to make investments in our recovery, the most important of which are investments in our public health response to end this pandemic. the funding in the american rescue plan for ongoing covid-19 response measures is critical. it means that the programs we've put in place that have helped us lead the nation in our response from on-demand testing to economic support for people who test positive and need to stay at home so our small business support can continue. it means funding for our vaccine operations and distribution which we know is the key to ending this

pandemic. we're regularly administering over 10,000 jobs per day which was our original goal, but now with the faster pace of vaccine delivery, we're able to increase that goal to 20,000 shots per day. that's because of the leadership in the white house. and the leadership from our own speaker nancy pelosi. this one bill has undoubtedly changed the future of our city for the better. we can't fully recover until this pandemic is behind us, but we also know we need to make the investments now that will help drive the recovery. it's key to begin able to operate our businesses successfully, bring back the sectors of our economy that we rely on like tourism and hospitality and get our residents back to work. and i'm so grateful to the leadership of president biden, vice president harris, and speaker pelosi. and i'm so looking forward to making this promise a reality.

thank you for inviting me to participate in this discussion today. >> thank you, mayor. the first question i was going to ask you is how this plan is helping your workers and working families and you answered it. i just want to move a little bit to the next kind of area. direct cash relief, expanding unemployment insurance, child care funding, small business supports. i know that our cities all across america are struggling in these different areas, but what impacts do you think these measures will have on working families in your community of san francisco? >> well, as i talked about a little bit earlier, we were somewhat left on our own and, in fact, we had to scramble to put together resources to provide support to residents here in san francisco. and, the fact is, cuts were inevitable. we were providing support for our workers especially those who unfortunate as a result of

this pandemic who contracted the virus had to take off and were not always able to collect payments from their employers, we were paying those resources. and, now, part of this program is going to help us with federal tax credits to reimburse us for some of those expenses. not one city employee in san francisco has been laid off but we know all over the country that has been problematic for others. and so at the end of the day i'm grateful and excited about what this is going to do for us now because it also gives us a bit of a cushion so that as we begin to recover, as businesses begin to re-open, they're able to get their footing and, also, it provides just an opportunity for us to ensure that, for example, people -- addiction protection. providing resources to pay rent. for people who weren't able to generate income and they're not going to be able to afford that

back rent. i can't even begin to tell you just how amazing this is going to be for san francisco even though our recovery is going to be long, this has definitely set us on the right path. and so the deficit that we thought we were going to have to close which would have resulted in layoffs, which would have resulted in a lack of support for small businesses, night life, venues, and restaurants and everything our city is responsible for, those things are not going to be as problematic. so i'm excited and looking forward to what this will mean for our city at least over the next two years. >> thank you, mayor. and we're also joined now by one of my favorite mayors in america. mayor cantrell from new orleans. before i met the mayor it was new orleans, and now it's new orleans. our first woman to serve as mayor of new orleans. we worked very closely together

on the u.s. climate mayors as cities step up to lead that work. two weeks ago i was the mayor of boston and mayors have a very close relationship. we work together on a whole bunch of different things. and mayor cantrell, i'd like to have you introduce yourself a little bit and maybe talk a little bit about the american rescue plan and what it means to new orleans. it means a lot to every city in america, but as a front row seat as a mayor, how do you feel it's helped your city? >> thank you to my brother mayor and of course my sister mayor. it's always good to see you, london, and we've been communicating quite often as we move through this pandemic. and, you know, we've been going back and forth our cities as it relates to getting our people vaccinated. and so every day, we're like neck and neck. so i just appreciate the work and that of the conference.

so, oh, man, this package is vitally important to the city of new orleans and the city, you know, we were disproportionately impacted by this virus as you heard from london as well. we lost over 172000 residents. and coming and dealing with the state of louisiana, the city of new orleans had over $200 million in expenses incurred fighting back this pandemic. with all of that being approved by the state of louisiana only for the city to get $50 million. so fighting for direct allocation was something that was so important for this city so that we can really not only deal with the deficits that have incurred, but also keep

our people employed. we are a destination city just like you heard from san francisco. the culture fairs in this city are not only the backbone of the city but the state of louisiana. so when you think about those unemployed, we were leading the state in that. but this allocation, the a.r.p. will allow us to again infuse these dollars with our small businesses that need these resources. venues even that have been shuttered and closed but again being able to get our musicians back. it will help our people as it relates to, of course, from the housing perspective, you know, the eviction moratorium, we're excited about that staying put, but still the need for our people to -- because the bills don't go away and so this will allow them again to be able to pay their bills, pull themselves out of debt and be

on a path to a real recovery around here. let me tell you what i'm up against still with the plan coming to us. now i have state legislators when they see the front lines, the city of new orleans potentially getting $375 million directly, they are trying to reverse state allocations of capital outlay that would fix our utility in a way that we need to drain water to keep our city dry during a flooding event or just a regular rainstorm. so we're not out of the woods yet as it relates to these dollars, but what i do know is that with the partnership that we have at the federal level with the leadership that's there, they are doing what it takes. they're looking at cities and listening to us and that's why we have this direct allocation. so i am just looking forward to the rules being pull ma gated.

it's being comprised from folks all over the city we have a unified command in terms of how these dollars will be spent. but this is an opportunity for us to do some transformational things in this city that have needed to be done for a long time. that our people in hospitality that have just proven to be so effective in this pandemic. because now, you know, our folks who were in hospitality where there were trying to push that dessert or push the special, they're pushing towards technology and making 75,$000 a year. so that workforce component is going to be huge and i'm trying hard to keep the guardrails on and keep the wolves and the bears out of our pockets that

the federal government has filled for us. i look forward to working with it my brother and sister mayors across the country as we have gathered in part to meet the reality. it just wouldn't be possible. >> thank you, mayor. you know, the american rescue plan provided $350 million to city and state governments. so it went to both and i know you've talked -- both of you've briefly touched upon it. what do these funds mean to your ability to keep your residents paid. >> what does it mean -- and we will finally be able to leverage these workforce dollars to train our people up and also for them to pivot in both sectors here in our city. they've been focused on

hospitality, but at the same time being able to work with our cultural bears who are the backbone of this city. and even when you mention dollars going to also the state, when i think about that, i think about education and early childhood education and being able to put those dollars where we know they're needed in our community. because again we have to help our families raise their children, educate their children so that they can reach their fullest potential and be trained not just on a path towards hospitality but one as it relates to bio innovation and, of course, stem and advanced manufacturing and technology. this is our time. transportation options just go on and on. >> and, first of all, welcome, mayor contrell. i know we communicate regularly via text and i just want to also add that what i also

appreciated during this crisis is having a relationship with mayors all over the country. it's really what has been able to help me get through this because we exchange ideas. we collaborate. we push for changes of policies and so that's really why it's also incredible and wonderful to have a mayor serve and in this capacity as secretary of labor as well and you realize that based on how it is and how we have to manage our budgets and how people expect these services to continue. as was mentioned, we are closing a huge budget deficit, but also we're getting dollars for transportation as we begin to face layoffs and there are additional measures we have to put in place to make sure people were getting not only to work, but kids are able to get to school safely. using public transportation and so the public transportation

dollars, the dollars for rental assistance to make sure we don't have more people living on the streets. the dollars for our educational institutions because the expenses don't stop. the need to pay staff, to continue services, to do distanced learning and all of that stuff continues and sadly, the generation of the revenue that wants. both of our city enjoys it in terms of the hospitality industry, the hotel tax revenue and the other sales tax and other things that typically come to our city, it was put to a stop when it comes to covid. and the people who needed resources continued and so this has been absolutely incredible. it doesn't even take into account not only the money we're getting from the city, but the money that's coming to the state, the direct allocations that are going to individuals, the $1,400 checks that people making under 75,$000 are receiving. so all of that totalled i think

is so critical to getting us down a road of recovery. because when you think about it the federal government expects especially a state like california to pay so much money in taxes and if we're going to be able to do that, we've got to get people back working again and we've got to get them back spending again and we've got to get folks back traveling again. so this is a big deal and it shows the difference between what we had to deal with at the beginning of this pandemic last year and where we are now. we've got mayors smiling for a change when that was not happening before. so it's pretty awesome. >> thank you, mayor breed. and, i'm on that text chain with you guys and i hope you keep me on it. i want to try to bring it a little more personal now. mayor breed, you've been quoted as saying public health comes first, but we know many people have flexibility to stay at home to keep paying their rent or do they get sick.

in fact, one of the first steps you took in march 2020, was the workers and families first program. which provided emergency sick leave for private sector workers with. the question is what the impact did paid sick leave have in keeping workers is, customers, and businesses healthy during this time? >> one of the things that was so important when this crisis hit the bay area, i thought it was important to take immediate action to not only protect the health of the residents of our city, but also i was very concerned about the health of our workers. people who would not maybe get tested or would not take off work if there was some concern and we needed to do something to make it easier for people to feel comfortable again and tested and take off work. just imagine if your employer didn't provide any time for you to take off from work and you tested positive for covid, you probably would not say anything and show up to work and that

creates a whole other situation in the spread. and so we created the workers and families first program which provided paid sick leave to private sector workers who had been impacted by the pandemic. this program reduced economic impact on workers and businesses while encouraging employees to stay home when they were sick or caring for a family member so that we could stop the spread. and the program supported over 5,000 additional weeks of paid family sick leave and it provided coverage for about 3,300 san francisco employees. it was meant to communicate the importance of taking care of yourself and your health and not putting other people at risk. so we did that early on. in addition, we did a program called "right to recover" where san francisco provided direct funding to support covid-19 positive san franciscans who needed financial assistance when they isolated. not only did we provide rooms

for them to isolate if they lived in households where there were no ways they could isolate. the program, it offered a safety net for those people that faced the risk of financial hardship because they tested positive. and the goal was to ensure that there is backing so that people are not deterred from getting tested. it was clear that our most vulnerable covid-19 folks were those that were not able to work from home and couldn't afford to miss a paycheck. so forcing people to choose between putting food on the table and protecting public health shouldn't be a choice. and the right to recover offered them the resources to keep themselves and the community healthy and i was really grateful for the success of this program which we continue to use today. >> great work. mayor cantrell, i want to ask

you a question. we know that covid has certainly hit the black communities and communities of color the hardest. and due to the long standing inequities in our community, to cut child poverty across the board. but researchers also found the planning code reduced overrule poverty in the black community by 30%. and the asian community by 22%. what does that mean to a city like new orleans and how do you see the american rescue plan advancing racial equity? >> well, what it means to a city like new orleans which is predominantly african american in terms of the disparity gap, health disparity gap, wealth gap, it is critically important to the lives of those who are and who have been the most vulnerable in our city and actually again in the state of

louisiana. so what it will mean is that we will be able to finally really meet people where they are with these resources in terms of workforce development, but even with education. we cannot overlook the power not only of education but early childhood education so that our children truly do have the opportunities that they need to be successful in life. it also helps our small business community. you know, we did a disparity study several years ago and what was revealed was that 52% of the businesses in the city are african american, they're minority owned. but they make up only 2% of the receipt. and so that speaks again to that wealth gap, that we have to be more intentional. and so with the american rescue plan and with the dollars that are coming to help small bidses and have them -- have true

access to capital, it will speak volumes because we, our city has restructured pro curement practices we have made sure that minority firms are fine. we've debundled this large contract so they can again be the prime and not the sub. so all of these things are woven and they're so tied together that also speak to the racial inequity needs within this community that is just again rooted in the most vulnerable people in this city who have been that way for generations. the transformation that is coming to this city and to her people in ways that we really haven't seen before, but with a foundation having been laid so that we can really do the work. so the workforce training component is huge.

we just broke ground today on a new nursing school that is being built here in the city of new orleans, but when you look at equity, i would see those graduates not being a lot of african americans there. but with the dollars coming in, we can be intentional to ensure these young people have the opportunity and the higher ed community is working with them through that lens of equity that we've never seen before. and there are no excuses now. there's just no excuses and we have the leadership at the federal level and with you, mr. secretary, being where you are to be transformational and it's my job and mine as a mayor to produce, get the results that you're looking for on the ground that you charged us with, but you've also trusted, you've entrusted us with the resources and we're going to demonstrate that we're going to turn things around for our people for the long haul.

it's not just about these people but the years to come. >> okay. mayor. a couple pieces you touched upon was the paid leave in the american rescue plan and the child tax credits, those can help families, they're going to help communities. they're going to allow opportunities for people that have small children to access those schools, to get into nursing, to change their life, to change the future of their family. so i want to thank you. i want to thank both of you today for joining us today. it's great to see you. love you both. you know, i'm going to miss you at the conference of mayors, but i'm certainly going to love working with you in the role i'm in now. i want to thank all the public employees who've been on the frontlines of this pandemic doing amazing work. we are also excited about the infrastructure plan the president's announcing this afternoon. it's another piece of federal partnership that cities have been waiting for for a long time. we've been talking about the u.s. conference of mayors for

the last five years. it will be another historic move forward with our cities and our nation. and to mayor breed of san francisco, thank you for being with us. mayor cantrell from new orleans, thank you for being with us. we're going to be on another call tomorrow, but it's awesome to have you both on this call and it's great to see mayors smiling once again in north america. >> yeah. >> thank you, mr. secretary. so proud of you and congratulations. >> thank you. >> we're going to do great work together. >> thank you. >> 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 >> still a lot of people wonder since the trees have a lot of issues, why did we plant them in the first place? >> trees are widely planted in san francisco. with good reason. they are workhorses when it

comes to urban forestry. we have begun to see our ficustrees are too big and dangerous in san francisco. we have a lot of tree failures with this species in particular. this is a perfect example of the challenges with the structure of the ficustrees. you can see four very large stems that are all coming from the same main truck. you can see the two branches attached to one another at a really sharp angle. in between you can't it is a lot of strong wood. they are attached so sharply together. this is a much weaker union of a branch than if you had a wide angel. this is what it looks like after the fi c.u. resolution s limb l.

>> we see decline. you can see the patches where there aren't any leaves at all. that is a sign the tree is in decline. the other big challenge is the root system of the tree are aggressive and can impact nearby utilities, and we can fix the sidewalk around the tree in many cases. we don't want to cuts the roots too severely because we can destabilize the tree. >> in a city like san francisco our walks are not that wide. we have had to clear the branches away from the properties. most of the canopy is on the street side and that is heavyweight on those branches out over the street. that can be a factor in tree limb failures. a lot of people wonder since these trees have a lot of

issues. why did we plant them in the first place? they provided the city with benefits for decades. they are big and provide storage for carbon which is important to fight climate change and they provide shade and really i think many people think they are a beautiful asset. >> when we identify trees like this for removal and people protest our decision, we really understand where they are coming from. i got into this job because i love trees. it just breaks my heart to cut down trees, particularly if they are healthy and the issue is a structural flaw. i have also seen first hand what happens when we have failures. we have had a couple of injuries due to tree failures. that is something we can't live with either. it is a challenging situation.

we hate to lose mature trees, but public safety has to always . public safety has to always >> my name is dave, and i play defense. >> my name is mustafa, and i am a midfielder, but right now, i am trying to play as a goalkeeper, because they need a goalkeeper. >> soccer u.s.a. is a nonprofessional organization. we use sports, soccer in particular to engage communities that can benefit from quality programs in order to lift people up, helping to regain a sense of control in one's life. >> the san francisco recreation and park department and street

soccer u.s.a. have been partners now for nearly a decade. street soccer shares our mission in using sport as a vehicle for youth development and for reaching people of all ages. rec and park has a team. >> i'm been playing soccer all my life. soccer is my life. >> i played in the streets when i was a kid. and i loved soccer back home. i joined street soccer here. it was the best club to join. it helps me out. >> the tenderloin soccer club started in the summer of 2016. we put one of our mini soccer pitches in one of our facilities there. the kids who kpriez the club team came out to utilize that space, and it was beautiful because they used it as an opportunity to express themselves in a place where they were free to do so, and it

was a safe space, in a neighborhood that really isn't the most hospitalable to youth -- hospitable to youth playing in the streets. >> one day, i saw the coach and my friends because they went there to join the team before me. so i went up to the coach and asked, and they said oh, i've got a soccer team, and i joined, and they said yeah, it was he for everybody, and i joined, and it was the best experience ever. >> a lot of our programs, the kids are in the process of achieving citizenship. it's a pretty lengthy process. >> here, i am the only one with my dad. we were in the housing program, and we are trying to find housing. my sister, she's in my country,

so i realize that i have a lot of opportunities here for getting good education to help her, you know? yeah. that's the -- one of the most important things that challenge me. >> my dad was over here, making some money because there was not a lot of jobs back home. i came here, finish elementary in san francisco. after that, i used to go back to my country, go to yemen, my country, and then back here. last time i went back was a couple years ago. >> i came here six months, i know nobody. now i have the team has a family, the coaches. amazing. >> i'm hoping for lifelong friendships, and i'm super inspired by what they've been able to achieve and want to continue to grow alongside them. >> i love my family, i love my

team. they're just like a family. it's really nice. >> street soccer just received a five year grant from the department of children, youth and family, and this is an important inreflection point for street soccer u.s.a. because their work in our most important communities is now known beyond just san francisco recreation and park department, and together, we're going to continue to work with our city's most vulnerable kids and teach them to love the beautiful game. >> i want to tell everybody back home, i hope you all make it over here and join teams like this like street soccer u.s.a., and live your life. get a better life. >> right away, just be patient, and then, everything will be

okay.

. >> chairman: good afternoon. this meeting will come to order. welcome to the april 5th, 2021, regular meeting of the land use and transportation meeting of the board of supervisors. i'm supervisor dean preston and connie chan who will be substituting for mayor melgar