have been spending time with people over ten minutes and less than 6 feet apart. by keeping track of people you may have been in contact with, it'll be much easier to work with the health department and reach out to those individuals to make sure that they know that they were exposed to somebody with covid-19 and they can get the appropriate testing and quarantine so we can ongoingly reduce the risk of transmission to others. >> that's really fantastic information, doctor. i really appreciate the time you've given us today. i know you're really busy. >> yeah, i appreciate the conversation. >> thanks again. that's it for this episode of coping with covid-19. for sfgtv, i'm chris manners. thanks for watching.

>> good morning. the meeting will come to order. welcome to the thursday, april 8th meeting of the public safety & neighborhood services. i'm supervisor gordon mar, and i joined by stefani and matt haney. [inaudible] >> thank you to clerk john carroll. mr. clerk, do you have any announcements? >> clerk: yes, thank you, mr. chair. in order to protect the public, board members and city employees during the covid-19 health emergency,

the board of supervisors chamber and committee room are closed. this is taken to all various local, state, and federal orders. members will attend the meeting through video conference. public comment will be available for each item on this agenda, sfgovtv.org, and we're screening a call-in number across the screen at this time. your opportunity to speak will be available to you via phone. you will dial 415-655-0001, and once you're connected and prompted, entering the meeting i.d. 1878615621and then press ##. when you're connected, your line will be muted and in listening mode only.

when your item of interest comes up, dial star followed by three to be added to the speaker line. the system prompt will indicate that you have raised your hand. best practices are to call from a quiet location, speak clearly and slowly, and turn down your television, radio, or streaming advice. everyone must account for time lapses in today's meeting. alternatively, you can e-mail me, john carroll, and my e-mail address is john.carroll@sfgov.org. alternatively, you can send your written comments to our office and city hall.

room 244, city hall, 1 carlton goodlet place, san francisco, california, 94102. and, additionally, mr. chair, we have coordinated interpretation services to be provided by a gentleman named david chu. i would ask if he could provide a brief introduction of himself in chinese. >> hello, everyone, good morning. i'm david chu. i am an interpreter who can speak both cantonese. cant and(indiscernable). i will be able to assist anybody who needs interpretation support. i will be there. >> clerk: mr. chu, can you provide those comments in chinese for any chinese

people we have on the line or who are watching the show? >> okay. [speaking chinese] >> clerk: thank you. >> and finally, mr. chair, any items acted upon today would appear on the board meeting of april 20th unless otherwise stated. >> chairman: thank you, mr. clerk. and thank you, mr. chu, for providing interpretation and ensuring language access for this meeting. please call item 1. >> clerk: agenda 1 is an ordinance suspending (indiscernable) regarding issuance of certain violations and -- excuse me -- waiving

certain unpaid assessment fees and fines due to covid-19 emergency. members of the public who wish to provide public comment should call the public comment number, 415-655-0001. enter the meeting i.d. 1878615621, and then press ## and *3 to enter the queue to speak. mr. chair? >> chairman: thank you. graffiti, like so many issues, have become more challenging during covid. thank you so much, supervisor ronen, for bringing this item forward. the floor is yours. >> thank you so much, chair mar. i appreciate you for having us. the ordinance before you today will temporarily suspend the (indiscernable) for graffiti. i want to thank supervisor

chan for your sponsorship. it makes it unlawful both for a person to damage or deface property with graffiti, as well as for an owner to allow graffiti to remain on private property. it allows public works to issue a notice of violation to a business or property owner ordering removal of graffiti, with fines and possibilities if the own fails to comply with a short timeline. at this time, when small businesses are struggling to stay afloat during shutdowns, to adjust to quickly shifting guidelines and practices and to creatively promote new ways of doing business in outdoor spaces, in demoralizing for the city to force merchants to clean up after vandals or to face fees or penalties. my staff and i hear from small businesses all of the time, as i'm sure you all do as well. they are struggling to hold on, they are tired and they are stressed. and just when we should be offering help, giving them

hope, they're handed a notice or a ticket. first their shops are vandalized, and then the city comes along and cites them. i want to share a couple of examples with you, although i know you all know these stories very, very well. elizabeth vasqué, who owns a mexican grill, her outdoor parklet has been tagged many times, and she has repeatedly painted over the graffiti. nevertheless, the city inspector showed up for, and i, quote, "consultation visit." elizabeth wants to continue painting over the tags, so why is there a worry she will be cited. [inaudible] >> he called the city to ask why he had been charged an inspection fee before the deadline for

abatement, but couldn't get a clear answer on what was expected of him. additionally, it took him weeks to get info on how to apply for a hardship waiver. i think we can assume that every small business on our corridor is facing hardship. why make them go through a prolonged process to prove it? there is a request to waive fees, but that puts the onus on the merchants to take that step. specifically this legislation will suspend the portion of the graffiti ordinance that allows citations to be issued to private owners for the duration of the emergency order and waives any pending fees or fines back to january 1, 2021. the city will continue to be responsible for removing graffiti on public property and will also be allowed to respond quickly to paint over offensive hate speech graffiti. i know that every one of you has been very clear that saving small businesses is a top

priority. most san franciscans agree and are stepping up to shop local and help keep local businesses alive. now is the time to walk that talk and make it easier for them to keep going. that is the message they should be hearing from us, that we have their backs. let's think creatively how we're spending city resources. i'm ready to work with public works, the graffiti board, and the office of small business to find constructive ways to deal with graffiti, rather than expecting our small businesses, the victims in this case, to shoulder the burden. how can we invest and incentivize our murals? can we expand (indiscernable) and creative core programs to paint empty storefronts.

thank you to supervisor haney and stefani. it is hitting across our very different districts. i i appreciate the small business commission for flagging this, and i want to thank small commissioner dajana. i want to thank amy biner, my chief-of-staff, who did the heavy lifting on this legislation and works every single day for small businesses in our city, especially in our district, to help them. amy, you are just amazing. and i'm so grateful for all of your work on this. and we don't have any formal presentation, but my co-sponsors, who are here, they want to say a few works, and public works is here and available to answer any questions, if there are

any. i hope we will send this item forward to the full board with recommendation. thanks so much. >> chairman: thank you, supervisor ronen, again for this. yeah, this is a very important measure, a step that we should take as a city, to support our neighborhood businesses impacted by graffiti and provide some relief. i would love to be added as a co-sponsor as well. supervisor stefani? >> yeah, thank you chair mar and to supervisor ronen, thank you so much for this legislation. when you mentioned it in roll call that day, i know i texted you and said, i want to read that legislation and co-sponsored it as soon as i read it. i think it is vital, and i can't thank you enough. after the horrible year we had in 2020, and our small businesses are suffering so badly, we need to do everything we can to help them.

i think we can address graffiti and vandalism without victimizing the small businesses. so thank you so much. i'm so proud to be able to co-sponsor this legislation, and do everything we can to make sure our small businesses survive through this incredibly difficult time we have all had. thank you, supervisor ronen. >> chairman: supervisor haney? >> thank you chair mar and supervisor ronen and staff. this is a really common-sense thing, especially during the pandemic. a lot of our small businesses are not open. they're not open in regular hours. there has been an increase in property crime and our small businesses have been victimized. and i have heard from many of them about how demoralizing it is when they're the victims, to then turn around and be fined by their own city. so this is really the least that we can do. we can solve this problem. we can address this

problem. we can take responsibility for this problem as a city without penalizing people who have been the victims themselves. we also, you know, in district 6, have a lot of opportunities to destroys graffiti with the support of c.d.c.s and other community partners. and i think we should be supporting and geraldo investing in that even more. and we can address it in an active way, and the city taking responsibility, not expecting small businesses, who are already struggling, to take this on themselves or be fined themselves as a result of being the victims of a crime. so thank you again to supervisor ronen. i'm proud to be a co-sponsor, and also supervisor stefani and the other folks who have worked on this. thank you. >> chairman: supervisor chan? >> thank you, chair mar. i want to thank supervisor

ronen for your leadership on this legislation. when i have discussed this with some of our small businesses, they saw that this is just wonderful news. so i just want to thank you. and i wanted to agree with supervisor haney's suggestion, and that we actually could go the other direction in supporting our small businesses by investing in them. and instead of punishing them for graffiti, that we, as a city, we should provide them the resources and support them. just seeing how great, in terms of the murals in supervisor ronen's district going on, i think in the richmond, in district 1, we would love to see the investments from the city bringing artists together, bringing our communities and community organizations together to support our small businesses to create more murals that is really unique to our neighborhood

in that direction, in that investment. and i think this is a great first step to support our small businesses towards making our neighborhoods more vibrant, and it's what we need to recover from our economy. so thank you. >> chairman: great. thanks, colleagues, for all of your remarks. white don't we go to public comment. mr. clerk, are there any callers on the line. >> clerk: thank you, mr. chair. we're working today with james smith from the department of technology to coordinate our public comment speaker line. i want to mention is brief bit of housekeeping, which is today's meeting was noticed as a potential special quorum of the full board of -- with supervisors ronen, chan, and milgar on the line. today's meeting will be conducted as a regular committee meeting. moving on to public comment, mr. smith is

informing me we have roughly six listeners and one in the queue. those connected via none, please press star, followed by three. if you wish to be added to speak to this item, which is item 1. for those on hold in the queue, please wait until you're prompted to begin. for those who are watching our meeting on cable 26 or through sfgovtv.org, if you wish to speak on this ordinance, call the following number: 415-655-0001. enter the meeting i.d. 1878615621, and then press ## and *3. mr. smith, could you please bring us our public commenters. >> good morning, supervisors. my name is morris garcia. i'm calling to provide a

comment on behalf of (indiscernable) who unfortunately had a medical issue come up last night. but feels very strongly in this ordinance and asked me to rely a statement on her behalf. i'm the district 9 resident visual artist. i want to commend the board for the actions you have taken to support the community (indiscernable) to creative canvasses for artists, and also to point out they have also been targets of graffiti. i'm calling to support the ordinance to suspend and waive the fees for small businesses. we must ensure we're supporting locally-owned businesses that have been and continue to be financially and emotionally impacted by the pandemic. by suspending and waiving the fees, we are helping to make sure that the

businesses are not hampered and further strained by the fines. i fully support the proposal for suspending and waiving fees. >> chairman: thank you for sharing those comments. mr. smith, could you please bring us the next caller. >> hi. good morning. my name is elizabeth vasquez. i also support you guys waiving the fees for the graffiti for the small businesses. my business is on 24th street, between brian and florida. and it had been graffitied about five to six times, and i kept getting complaints from the city. i guess my neighbors would call 3-1-1 and then they came and gave me a courtesy visit from, i believe it was the department of public works, and they called it

a compensation visit. and they gave me only a few days to fix the graffiti and make all of the fixtures that they wanted done. so, yes, i agree that everything -- the fees being given to the small businesses in regards to the small businesses should be waived, because we're just trying to survive as it is. i've been graffitied five or six times, and i was fined the next day. that's my point of view. i think everything should be waived. thank you. >> chairman: thank you for your comments. mr. smith, could you bring us the next caller, please. >> hello, everybody. my name is naz quare, and i'm a resident of this district and a business

owner directly on mission street. i just wanted to thank everybody who took the time to think about this small business community and the fact that we're getting hit really hard. hard by graffiti and tags. and we 100% support this ordinance. the only concern that i wanted to raise is the fact that similar to when we took the responsibility away from property owners about tree maintenance and gave it to g.c.w., which is removal of trees, and the failure to plant a tree that is cared for enough to get (indiscernable). it wasn't for the work of friends of art, there wouldn't be any. i just want to make sure that by taking the

responsibility away from business owners and giving it to (indiscernable) we're not creating more issues in the future. i honestly do not want them to touch my building because i want to take a generic white paint and painting over a green building or a black building -- do they actually care what the building looks like and what is the color of the build? another board member at m.m.a. had a great solution where we help out the city pick up the bill from the hardware store in the city, that maybe they can offer a kit, like a one-time discount on maintenance cost and color -- >> chairman: the speaker's time is concluded. thank you for sharing your

comments. mr. smith, could you bring us the next caller, please? >> hello. my name is (indiscernable). [audio is unclear] >> i am here to support the legislation. first i want to commend supervisor ronen for her help and for creating this action, and also this entire body for trying to push this forward. i want to thank elizabeth vasquez for her request. >> chairman: caller, are you still there? it seems we have lost that

caller. oh, she's back. >> i'm sorry, i had muted her.3 >> chairman: she still has a minute left on her clock. can we bring her back in? >> sorry about that, speaker. i unmuted you. they dropped up. there are no more -- >> chairman: there are no more callers? >> there are no further callers. >> chairman: public comment is now closed. thank you so much to all of the community members that spoke during public comment, especially the mission district merchants. supervisor ronen, do you have anything more? >> thank you, chair mar. i also wanted to thank all of the missions district merchants clearly for this legislation, but because of the amazing support of all of the colleagues, including supervisor melgar, who would like to be added as a co-sponsor as well.

this is not just a problem in the mission. it is a problem all over the city. so thanks so much. and i look forward to this passing as soon as possible. >> chairman: great. thank you, supervisor ronen. i would like to move that we send this item to the full board with a positive recommendation. >> clerk: on the motion offered by chair mar, that this be offered to the april 20th meeting. [roll call] >> clerk: mr. chair, there are three ayes. >> chairman: great. this will be recommended to the full board. mr. clerk, please call item 2. >> clerk: item 2 is a hearing to address concerns on crime and violence targeting asian-american seniors and other vulnerable groups, and the rise of anti-asian racism, including status of investigations, victims' services

programs, and other public safety resources and strategies that the departments are employing to reduce crime, and to promote cross-racial solidarity. members of the public who wish to provide public comment should call 415-655-0001. enter the meeting i.d. 1878615621. press ## to connect to the meeting, and press *3 to enter the queue to speak. please wait until the system indicates you have been unmuted and you may begin your comments. mr. chair, before we begin, if we could bring mr. chu back into the meeting for a moment so he can interpret the instructions. >> yes. thank you.

[speaking chinese] number numbers>> chairman: grea.

thank you, mr. chair. colleagues, thank you for the opportunity to hold this very important hearing today, which comes at an historic moment of reckoning on racism and violence against asian-americans and pacific islanders around the country. our communities remain traumatized and fearful following the hate and discrimination against us, fueled by president trump's racist rhetoric. like all people of color, our communities have struggled against racism throughout our history in this country, over 150 years, but the recent violence and racism directed at asian-americans has been shocking. and the escalation of violent assaults have made the especially difficult circumstances of covid-19, including mass unemployment, safety risks, even more painful. so much violence has

happened since we first called this hearing. the eight people killed in the atlanta massacre targeting asian-american women, more seniors attacked, too many more afraid to leave their homes, suffering quietly in isolation. from a single word to a homicide, anti-asian racism manifests in insidious way or overt ways. in criminal or non-criminal ways, intentionally or unintentionally, but nonetheless harmful ways. this period has been very difficult for me personally, as someone who started my community organizing in chinatown many years ago. as a supervisor today, representing a district that is majority asian-americans, and as a father and husband, i'm concerned about the safety of my loved ones. i share the pain, the rage, and the demands by aapi communities for meaningful, long-term communities to stop hate and violence against asian-americans and all

people of color, immigrants, women, and our elders. in the face of such tragedy and fear, it has been inspiring to see asian communities come together to take action in unprecedented in impactful ways, nationally and locally. i thank all of the community leaders, activists, and groups who have been organizing rallies, marches, safety patrols, senior escorts, documenting incidents and more. and i thank all of the allies for your support as well. in february, dozens of asian organizations across the bay area joined forces to demand action against violence, recognizing that violence affects all of us. their demands include ensuring victims of all backgrounds and languages to receive full supportive services so they can recover and heal. expanding intervention and intervention-based programs for an fracture

that we know will end the cycle of violence and keep all of us safer. we have resources and cross-community education and healing in asian-american and black communities that humanizes all of us. and they called out survivors of interpersonal violence have historically have not received enough language accessible support. i sponsored this hearing in a response to a cule to action. call to action. we want to support asian-american victims, and how agencies are working with the community. we will grapple with the magnitude of the consequences when we fall short. today we ask departments for a commitment to work closer together and to work closer with community organizations to coordinate a comprehensive

citywide plan to prevent crime and violence and to support victims in harmed communities with culturally competent services. colleagues, we have many presentations today, beginning with and centers on the asian-american community and statements from those most impacted by violence, represented by the coalition for community safety and justice and stop aapi hate. then we will hear from non-law enforcement agencies, the human rights commission, and the office of the civic engagement in immigrant affairs, followed by the street violence intervention program. and then we'll hear from law enforcement agencies, s.f.p.d., and the district attorney's office, and staff from the adult probation and juvenile probation will also be available to answer questions. keeping our community safe is about taking collective responsibility. we as a public body have a mandate to protect people,

and when there is harm, a mandate to restore. as a city, we need to hold each other accountable and invest in strategies that work, strategies that unify. we know the long-term solution to violence is to empower communities with resources, support, and education. i'm looking forward to learning more today from our dedicated city staff identifying how we can work towards an affective, coordinated citywide plan to prevent violence and crime and support victims in harmed communities with culturally competent services. so, thanks again, colleagues, for this opportunity for this hearing and for your participation. supervisor melgar? >> thank you, chair mar. i just wanted to say thank you so much for calling this hearing. our districts are next to each other, and we share a couple of commercial districts that have seen a rise in violence. we, a few weeks ago, had a

violent incident involving an older asian veteran that got in the news. but what didn't get in the news was the lack of support there was for him from veteran services, from just folks who should have been there in terms of community support. so i want to thank you you most of all for your leadership and your approach to uplift community voices,and to leverage the strength that we have in terms of culture and language and community support to tackle this issue, and to build out an infrastructure to support victims. and also to proactively support people's safety based on community. thank you so much. [audio breaking up] making sure we can support and help fund the efforts of community to do all of the things that you

listed. so thank you very much for your leadership. >> chairman: thank you. supervisor chan? >> chair mar, thank you. and i, do, want to thank you for your leadership for calling for his hearing. i'm really proud to be a co-sponsor of this hearing today. you and i share that chinese-american, asian-american, for me, first generation immigrant growing up in san francisco's chinatown, we know that hate against asian-american and communities of color has always existed in the united states. and -- but at this moment, i am so glad to see that communities of color are gathering and standing together against hate. but we also know that for the last however long, we also have suffered as a community because of

minority myths, that we deem to be mold minorities, and we're doing well and we do not need advocacy or support from our city government, but we know that we do. today i also many very grateful for being in the position as an elected position, to be able to co-sponsor this hearing, to carve out a space, a forum, for our community to be able to have this safe space to talk about their fears, their anxiety, their concerns, and how we can actually hear directly from our community the needs that they have. and for our city departments also to be present with us in this forum, to hear from our communities, and i really also thank you to our interpreter, mr. chu, today joining us to make sure there is language

access and cultural competency during this during when we are having this public dialogue. thank you, and i really look forward to not just hearing from our city departments, but really from our community to hear what their concerns are, and i'm eager to hear their voices. so thank you. >> chairman: thank you, supervisor chan. supervisor haney? >> thank you, chair mar. and i want to thank you for your leadership in bringing forward this hearing. and for all of the co-sponsors of the hearing, supervisors chan and melgar for your comments as well. this is a moment of reckoning and a time of reckoning for a problem that has been with us and deep in our country and in our city for a very long time. anti-asian racism, hate, violence against asian people in our city and

beyond has been a part of san francisco for a long time. and it has gotten worse because of what has taken place at the national level. but it is something that has been with us for a long time. and asian leaders, organizations, residents have come forward and said, we need more support. we need more resources. we need you to work with us and listen to us. and there has been some things that have happened that are positive on that. i know last year supervisor mar and supervisor peskin and former mer supervisor fewer were involved in this to bring forward resources to focus on public safety as it related to the asian community, and we can build off of that. but this isn't only about the discrimination and the racism that exists out there in our city and in our country. it is also this systemic racism and failures within

our systems to respond in a culturally appropriate way, to respond to victims who are asian, in some cases for whom there may be language barriers or cultural barriers. and our systems also have to change. so as much as we are going to talk about some of the things that folks are facing outside of our systems, we also know that our systems must be trans transformed to be more adaptive to protect our citizens and their public safety. some of the attacks were in my district, and i want to send my deepest sadness and solidarity with those who have been the victims of assaults and their families, and we have to take action to protect them, and we have to listen to leaders who know how best to do that and transform our systems to make sure we protect the

most basic, fundamental right, which is to exist safely without fear, without discrimination, to be able to walk down their own streets safely. and so i'm looking forward to learning about what we can do. and i want to say as chair of the budget committee, we will take what we hear today also and move forward to make sure we are fully supporting the organizations that are doing this work and meeting the needs of protecting the public safety of our residents. thank you, chair mar. >> chairman: thank you for those comments, supervisor haney. supervisor stefani? >> yes. thank you, chair mar, for holding this incredibly important hearing. we know that violence against the asian community has reached every corner of the prime minister stephen harper the city.i think this is somethg we're absolutely all committed to doing. the videos we've seen, not

only just in san francisco, have been absolutely horrific, and across this country, and they've been shocking. in district 2, we saw -- a man was murdered while he was out for a morning walk. and jeffrey, in pacific heights, delivering food, when he kids were kidnapped, and we were all on pins and needles for hours waiting to see what would happen there. and thank goodness that resulted in them being okay in the end. and then simon lowell witnessed a brutal assault on asian women. those are just a few of the examples in my district. we need to do everything we can to address crime and violence whenever it occurs. and right now the asian community is rightly terrified, and their city needs to protect them from harm. and we need to do

everything that we can. i was watching this morning on television, president biden talk about what he was going to do about the plague of gun violence, and very emotional in terms of someone finally stepping up and saying what they're going to do to address this. and what he said, too, it is his job as the president to protect people in this country. and as, you know, i knew we would be entering into this hearing today, i thought as legislators, the 11 of us on the board of supervisors, it is our job to protect everybody in the city. and it is our job to confront what is happening to the asian-american community. i know we all stand together to deliver on that promise and to provide peace of mind and safety, and to do everything that we can. so thank you, chair mar, again, for holding this incredibly important hearing. we have an obligation to service and responsiveness whenever a vulnerable community is targeted or at risk, and i stand committed to work with all

of you to make sure that we do just that. so thank you. >> chairman: thank you so much, supervisor stefani. supervisor ronen? >> yes. thank you so much, chair mar, for bringing this hearing today. clearly it is so important and providing all of us the opportunity to come together and deeply analyze this issue. and, most importantly, what the city is doing in order to address the violence against the asian community that as supervisor haney and so many of you said is not new but has a new level of attention around it because of the escalation, the terrifying and outrageous escalation in violence that has happened recently. i wanted to just briefly highlight, because i've very proud of this work that we've done in the porla neighborhood, which is a majority chinese

neighborhood in san francisco. over the years we've worked very closely with community organizations in the neighborhood to demand and fight for and finally get chinese and cantonese-speaking officers that walk san bruno every single day. and they are amazing. and the community knows them and loves them and feels comfortable because of that personal touch and that personal relationship that has formed over years now, to come forward and talk about how to keep each other safe, keep themselves safe, and report crimes when they do happen. in addition to the cantonese-speaking beat cops that we finally got after years of fighting for it, we also have a substation, a police substation on san bruno

avenue that is open a couple days a week, that is usually staffed by the beat officers, that have deep relationships in the parla community. it has provided a space for people to come in their own neighborhood to report crimes in person, over the phone, with a translator, and it often doesn't feel comfortable or do the trick or provide the type of in-person attention that is often needed in these very sensitive and very painful moments of reporting and talking about crimes towards people. and, finally, i just want to, as a supervisor, as a boss, really commend jennifer lee from my office who is my not only aide, but has become a leader in speaking up and

in acting against violence in the asian community. she would be with us right now, but she is in the portala doing a safety walk, where members of the community come together and show in a very visible way their unity and work that they're doing to protect one another. jennifer has been doing these watches not only here in san francisco, but she lives in oakland and does them on a regular basis in oakland. and it is that type of visible community action, that organizing that direct action, that public show of strength and solidarity that is really sending a message that this is a top priority for leaders and the community all over the country, but definitely here in the bay area, and definitely here in san francisco. i just am so proud and so in awe of the leadership

and the activism that jennifer lee is doing in the community for her community. it is something i admire and support 100%. thank you for your leadership and for stepping up and being such bright lights in your community of leaders that are leading the way together with community members to protect one another. i appreciate you and i'm standing here in solidarity with you, and i excited about the increased attention we have towards this issue today. thank you. >> chairman: thank you so much for those comments, supervisor ronen. i want to tell all of you -- why don't we move into the hearing right now. so we are to have six presentations. so it is going to be a

long hearing but very important information presented and discussion that we're going to be able to have with our departments and with the city on these really urgent issues. so the first presentation is really from the community. and we're going to have sing che, and also representing the coalition for community safety and justice and stop aapi hate. it has been an incredibly powerful and important leader on these issues. and we're very fortunate to have her here. >> thank you so much, chair mar, and to all of the board of supervisors for your show of

solidarity and support during a very difficult and devastating time for our communities. i am the co-executive director of chinese for affirmative action, and also one of the founding partners of stop a.p.i. hate, which is tracking hate across the country. but i'm really here today as a representative of coalition for community safety and justice, whose members comprise of the community youth center, chinese progressive association, and the new breath foundation. and so i would love to present to you our community-based response to violence. so as it has been shared before, this is not something new to our community. and many of the

organizations here as part of the coalition have been working together over the decades. we have been the... [audio breaking up] and racial disparities. i think it is very important to provide some broader context. as i mentioned, as part of stop a.p.i. hate, nationwide we have tracked from march of last year through february close to 3800 incidents. and in the bay area, roughly around, you know, over 900, and in the city of san francisco, about 359. that's about 39% of the bay area incidents. so this is a major problem

across the country. and also, you know, in our own backyard. it's important to note that a majority of the incidents that we're seeing on our site reporting center are not hate crimes per se, but they need equal attention because of the fact that without interventions, without efforts to address this issue holistically, we know that matters can escalate. and, of course, the atlanta area mass murder and shooting is a reminder that this is a real urgent issue and something that requires all of our attention. we also know that women in particular are vulnerable. close to 70% of our respondents are women, and young women and elderly women in particular are

being targeted, and for different reasons: sexual harassment, racist slurs, and also because of the fact that elderly in general -- women in general -- are more vulnerable to these types of incidents. it is really important for us to note, too, that the coalition, although all of us have been working together, again, for decades, we officially formed in 2019 in response to a long-standing incidence of violence and crime and racial tensions. and, of course, the surge in covid-19-related anti-racism and xenophobia has created a greater sense of urgency. our coalition has played an important role in understanding the problem. and we put forth recommendations that really are looking at both

how we can address immediate harm, but recognizing that the impacts of violence need to be looked at within the context of violence and how it affects other communities as well. we have a three-pronged approach. and this approach really is informed by many years of trying to meet the immediate needs of victims and survivors of violence and crime. and many years of trying to understand what is the responsibility of the city? what are the baseline expectations that we can have in terms of language and culture competence? and the recognition that we need to do this across communities to promote racial solidarity and healing. if we are going to affectively address this

in the long run. so this is our frame for how we believe that we're going to be able to address this, including the underlying causes of violence and crime and racial bias. the first component that is critical is a citywide rapid response network. it is vitally important that in the aftermath of violence or harm, that we support the victims' families and survivors, the wrap-around and holistic services, and it is extensive to management. it is a range of financial assistance, mental health support, and at times it means helping them enroll in benefits that they're entitled to. and, of course, helping them to understand the legal system, which can be

very daunting, even for english speakers. and we believe that it will be really important to have a dedicated victims' assistance fund because what is available now is oftentimes inadequate. we also believe that an important component of a rapid response network are immediate safety initiatives that can be done and employed, such as street outreach, so that community members, business owners also know about the programs and services that are available to them. programs like the community escort and other kinds of education and violence prevention programs will be essential to also invest in. we believe that there needs to be a more robust

citywide public safety infrastructure. that really, again, addresses the immediate harm, but also is working in parallel with the types of interventions and preventions that are necessary. we are currently trying to work with the s.f.p.d. with regard to referrals, as well as s.f. general, that also provides referrals when they come into contact with victims who are wanting and needing assistance, as well as with the d.a.'s office in terms of accessing victims' services, and the department of public health and the resources that are available there for victims. these are yet to be formalized. we're in the process of trying to establish those direct lines of communication and

coordination. and, obviously, it will be vital for us to work together. and then our interest, of course, is to really partner with existing intervention and prevention-based programs, to ensure there is language and culture competence, and that coordination is there. and, finally, it is very important for us as a coalition to advance cross-racial healing and solidarity. so often our communities are being pitted against each other. and we know that there is disproportionate levels of crime and violence in low-income, working-class neighborhoods. and this is why we want to equal invest in the abilities of our communities to be able to

understand why the drivers -- oe divisions amongst community members, particularly around the chinese and black communities. and obviously this work will require us to work within and across communities. it is really about addressing harm, immediate harm, but also to prevent future harm. it is really important to acknowledge the racial tensions that exist, and really be able to hold our communities, during this time, but also be able to have honest, authentic conversations about that in order to address our collective safety. this work is necessary in order to find opportunities for our communities to work together. so before i end the formal

presentation, i wanted to read a statement from the southeast asian development center, from their conversations with their clients and staff members. so what i'd like to read is that they have shared that 95% of those who earn $30,000 a year, whose youth high school graduation rate is 70% compared to the national rate of 87%. they are located in the tenderloin, where 30% are asian and a majority being southeast asian. clients and staff walking through our center and through the tenderloin have experienced verbal and sexual harassment, cat calling, groping, and hate insults. and i'm about to use profanity, so just in case

there are any family members listening. insults like go back to china, you (bleep). go back to where you came from. i'm going to (bleeping) beat you up. stupid asians, stupid bitch, go back to your country. residents experience violence on the street, such as being hit, shoved to the ground, or robbed by random people which cause injuries. the latest incidence was of an elderly vietnamese woman brutally beaten and attacked in late september 2020n february of 2021. in the summer of 2020, an elderly vietnamese man was shoved on hyde street in front of sing-sing coffee shop. he ed