thanks to have this opportunity to be a business owner which i never thought would be possible, but it is possible and i would like to shed that light to those who are in the darkness about this opportunity in making sure that no predatory deals are made. >> supervisor peskin: thank you, mr. jones. we will move on to ali jamalian for seats 8 and 9. >> good morning, chair peskin, supervisor chan, supervisor mandelman. good morning all. i'm going to keep my intro short. i'm the owner and founder of sunset connect, an sf brand that pays ohmage to community. i've been supplying

dispensaries in sf for over a decade and i was directly affected by the war on drugs when i was arrested and charged on parol. this almost got me deported. today, i'm a u.s. citizen and proud to say it changed my life significant. from a basement on sunset to now a cutting edge facility which is 100% owned by myself. and city hall created together. i've navigated the building and planning department multiple times and industry as well as -- >> supervisor peskin: ali. >> yes? >> supervisor peskin: sorry we lost you there for a second. >> i've navigated the building and planning department multiple times. therefore, i'm able to bridge the gap between industry practices and policies effectively which has also

earned me an invitation to work on cannabis tax policies. i kindly ask you to reconsider my appointment as our appointment was short. programs that benefit our communities as evidence with my engagement with city college program. we recently initiated with united players. i would like to continue to be part of building an all-inclusive in the streets our city's been setting an example in the whole country and i would be honored to be working hand in hand with policy makers. thank you. >> supervisor peskin: thank you. we will move on to cynthia boedihardjo. i'm sure i messed that up. >> great. can you guys hear me? >> yes. we can. >> wonderful. hi, thank you for this opportunity. i'm cynthia boedihardjo.

we're still in the process of applying for cannabis retail permit in the japantown district of san francisco. this space will have an on site consumption lounge that will include an art gallery. given the stigma of cannabis in the asian community, a large part of our york is provided by whole educational experience of the people and help them experience the support and property as a plant. i work closely with all the organizations in japantown to ensure cannabis consumption meets the community guidelines and keeps the neighborhood safe

and lively. last year, i was given the opportunity to be apart of the ysment momentum accelerator. having collaborated with these companies. sorry -- hello? during the pandemic, we launched a brand and partnered with social equity companies to distribute our products to retailers. throughout the past four years, i've seen the logistical marketing companies in this emerge legal cannabis industry and want to be apart of trying to find ways to be the standard across the globe. i opened a community space in the mission district in where we provided art space for

dealers and sharing with the public. is that my two minutes. >> supervisor peskin: yeah. thank you. go ahead and wrap up. >> thank you. >> supervisor peskin: we'll move on to christopher callaway >> good morning everyone. eye i'm chris callaway. i hold my experiences and words will help many of those in the equity community. i'm honored to have received the city's first equity retail permit over in supervisor mandelman's district where the heart of the cannabis movement began. this movement brought me out to california 20 years ago and i consider working in the cannabis industry to be my life's work. i can emphasize deeply with the

frustrations many applicants have faced as they navigate the program. i have several equity businesses, but i'm not here to use this as a platform to promote my businesses or brands. i truly believe this program can bring life-changing opportunities to individuals and positively impact communities in the city. the previous and returning members, i would like to focus on the preservation of the equity, creating meaningful opportunities, lowering cannabis sales and cultivation tax. and when we're all ready to be coughed on again, consumption lounges. i strongly hope you consider me as a seat for this committee. and thank you for your consideration. >> supervisor peskin: thank you. we will move on to william

dolan. >> all right. good morning, supervisors. my name is william dolan and it's a pleasure to be here today. i applied for seats 8, 12, 13, and 14 on the committee. i wanted to briefly highlight five key reasons as to why i believe i'm an ideal candidate for a seat on this committee. first, i am an equity applicant and 16-year resident of san francisco and i'm intimately familiar with the challenge equity applicants have faced and continue to face as we establish businesses in this highly competitive cannabis industry. i also provide technical assistance to other equity applicants and i'm currently working with andrea baker consulting under a contract of san francisco of cannabis to provide technical assistance and guidance to other. i'm also a cannabis business owner, the equity applicant and project sponsor of a cannabis retail project located at 560

valencia street in the mission district which received unanimous approval from the planning commission to conduct all activities including retail. i'm also a licensed attorney and have deep subject matter on the expertise on the state of california cannabis laws. my professional focus has been cannabis law and regulatory compliance in addition to real estate and land use law, landlord tenant law, employment law, i'm also a licensed real estate broker and have extensive experience working with cannabis clients in san francisco. given that control of real estate is mandatory, it is imperative that a member of the cannabis oversight committee have a deep understanding of our local commercial real estate market and have the

ability to relate to the real estate challenges to cannabis entrepreneurs face when opening a cannabis business in our city. i'm also a medical cannabis patient for over 20 years and cannabis has effectively helped me managed my conditions and disability and i can speak directly to the benefit of this plan and how it has allowed me to live a productive life. i am fully committed to developing a more equitable and just cannabis. i've committed my life and career to this mission and will work hard to encourage others to do the same. as someone who has experienced both

and i've had the privilege of growing my company gold seal from a staff of four to a staff of 17 all operating out of the bayview. i'm proud to say we have a very diverse staff from all walks of life. many of our staff members have been promoted from within. started as trimmers or on the manufacturing line and are now managers and some of them are even stepping in to executive roles. i believe that i bring a wealth of knowledge about how to actually get a business licensed and operate successfully in san francisco on a nonretail side of the

industry and i'm very proud of the work that we were able to do last year in the cannabis oversight committee. i thought we made a great deal of progress and i'm very interested to continue to bring my knowledge and expertise towards that progress. you know, i think one thing that continues to stand out is a report that we receive from the controller's office in regards to how difficult it is and how competitive the landscape is in san francisco and i think it's critical in order to create an equitable environment for every business that we continue this work with a focus on making sure that everybody can participate in this industry. thank you. >> supervisor peskin: thank you, mr. flynn. next up is jessica cry for seat 10. >> hello. i'm jessica cry. i am reapplying for seat number 10. thank you for having me today.

i really enjoyed serving previously and i'm really looking forward to us continuing the work that we've began having to do with the grant recommendations, the plans that we would like to move forward with compassion as well. i have lived in san francisco for over 11 years now living in district 6. i've worked at three different dispensaries since 2012 in san francisco and after working with my -- at a union shop and learning more with my workers what it was to have a union contract and for us to speak up for ourselves and to unite, i later became a special projects union representative. i was basically trying out for my union is to see if working with cannabis workers is a good fit for me. and in the meantime during our last committee meeting, i was

actively organizing city workers and they successfully have union representation for group authentic members. with the oversight committee, i'm looking forward to a future where more workers are getting involved and they're able to uplift their voices and be active in their community because this industry needs them and we also need this industry to do well so we can continue to see this as a career that we don't have to be shy about or hide in the shadows. we can be proud to say we're cannabis workers and i look forward to them participating more in this oversight committee and really helping to uplift those voices as a union worker representation. >> supervisor peskin: thank you, ms. cry. why don't we move on to cindy de la vega for seat 12.

>> is ms. de la vega available, mr. young? >> clerk: i am checking to see if they are logged in. >> supervisor peskin: if not, we can circle. >> clerk: please move on to the next caller. i will double check. >> supervisor peskin: okay. mr. shawn richard. >> how are you guys doing today? can you hear me? >> supervisor peskin: well. how are you? >> i'm applying for seat 12. thank you for having me.

as being the first african american equity administrator ait's an honor to serve on this oversight committee. i have a long standing history in san francisco. born and raised here. fifty-three years. next one actually c.b.b. thank god for that and been doing a lot of work in the community over the last 25 years with my nonprofit organization. and recently last year learned so much in this cannabis industry. it's been amazing. met so many wonderful people. so many great minds and have really sat down and probably, you know, with some of the best thinkers in this industry to put together a plan that they can help all equity and ensure equity opportunity to, you know, advance in this industry. i just see that, you know, in the coming hears that this industry is going to be the leading industry if not now, in

the next year or two to kind of develop people from cultivation, retail, manufacturer, and distribution, and also the bigger picture is branding and one of the things that, you know, i have personal been doing over the last six months having holding workshops and teaching folks not everyone may get a retail, not everyone may get a cultivation or manufacturer or distribution, but start thinking about your own branding and learn how to brand and i've been teaching classes with that. so i'm very happy to be apart of this oversight committee and hopefully i get reappointed to sit on the seat again. and, if not, i'm sure someone will sit in that seat 12. but i just thank you guys for giving me this opportunity and taking this matter of cannabis to the highest level that it can and a big shout of-out to the o.o.c. who's been really

supportive of all equity applicants and melissa and her team have been pushing the line. so, thank you, i'm hoping i get reappointed and i'm sure i will make everybody on this rules committee proud. >> supervisor peskin: thank you, mr. richard. and happy birthday. >> thank you. >> supervisor peskin: next applicant wyatt lin has withdrawn. is ms. dela vega available, mr. young? >> clerk: i have not seen her. >> supervisor peskin: okay. why don't we move on to brendan

hallinan for seats 12, 14, and 16. mr. hallinan. >> sorry about that. >> supervisor peskin: no worries. believe us, we understand. >> okay. good morning, supervisors. thank you for the opportunity to speak. i chose to volunteer as a candidate for this committee because i believe that my extensive real world experiences gained working on the front lines of cannabis legalization as an attorney, advocate and a small business operator here in san francisco for the past 15 years can add a new and helpful perspective to the implementation of the adult use cannabis program. i've spent the last decade building bridges across the city between the cannabis community and different groups including law enforcement the executive and legislative branches of our city government and local regulators and department heads and most importantly our communities. i've worked on cannabis projects in every district in san francisco from visitation

valley to north beach from the financial district to the sunset district from the mission to the marina. i'm very familiar with the challenges and the concerns that arise in these community that is are not familiar with having cannabis businesses in them and i've worked through solutions and seen through trial and error which solutions are effective and which are not. have have an in--depth knowledge of cannabis in san francisco and i can provide that to the various areas in the committee. i want to provide my experience to this committee in service of the city of san francisco to help find solutions to the challenges that lay ahead and to build the best socially responsible and economically just cannabis system in the world here in san francisco. i'm available for any questions and i thank you all for your consideration. >> supervisor peskin: thank you, mr. hallinan. why don't we move on to charles

pappas for seats 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16. >> yes. can you hear me? >> supervisor peskin: yes. we can. >> okay. i apologize for not being there with you. why do i want to join the oversight committee, i think i can improve them immensely. i appreciate the work they've done especially considering the pandemic. the office of cannabis really facilitating the meetings through ray law. in my view, it was a little limited because i don't think they were organized enough, what i would bring to that committee, i worked eight years on the cannabis committee. we accomplished a lot from 2011 to present and, before that, i was a dispensary owner, we were

closed by [inaudible] boo. and we started in 2005 in the tender -- south of mission -- south of market. sorry about that and we did move to the tenderloin right after that and we were very well received there. and i have a report from our landlord and the union and also the mayor's office of disability. i'm very impressed by the members you have, but i hope you will consider me i think we can improve this group and go farther. the most important thing about legalization, no one's getting arrested anymore, but what's bad is the price of cannabis is now dependent on regulation, not on the constant production. i've attended a lot of p.c.c. meetings. i'm have you the bureau is familiar with that.

thank you for your consideration. i appreciate it. >> supervisor peskin: before we go to the next speaker, mr. hallinan, if you can do us the kindness of turning your camera off. next applicant is aisha hampton, residency waiver requirement for seat 13. >> can you hear me? >> supervisor peskin: yes. we can. >> okay. thank you. i would like to thank the board of supervisors and the rules committee just for this opportunity today. i'm aisha hampton. i'm a new equity applicant. i'm a native san franciscan and i'm a woman striving for change in the cannabis community. i'm hoping to, i take this seat as a honor and as well just in representing the equity

community and just hope to inspire change and create laws on the story of justice initiatives and creating policy that further support the cannabis community and as well to see more diversity of race and gender opportunity for those like myself becoming an entrepreneur within the cannabis community, i'm in hopes to open up a microbusiness within the next two years in san francisco and i feel as an equity applicant that i can really speak to the challenges that we're faced with just in finding funding and as well locations within san francisco, the struggle is real and i would just like to further of seeing programs that are available for equity applicants for people in the city.

things are becoming easier accessed for folks. i currently have been taking advantage of a lot of the trainings that are available through the applicants and the success centers, andrea baker's agency making green dough and as well i work as a project manager for the super nova women's workforce development where we're training cannabis operators within the communities with manufacturing skills and as well providing jobs after completion of the program for folks, for operators to be hired by other manufacturing companies. so i just really am honored to apply for this seat. it's hard to be able to say that you could speak for the whole equity industry because everyone's experience is different, but i have an open mind and i think that as well

bringing over 20 years of administrative expertise and reliability and business to the seat that the sky's the limit and i believe we can provide and come up with more policies with respect to all the work that has been done. i think it's a great program in just want to continue that work for those that have gone and are doing the work before us at this time. so i thank you for this opportunity and um, thank you for your consideration. >> supervisor peskin: thank you. next up -- >> clerk: we might have ms. de la vega on the line. >> hi. this is ms. de la vega on the

line. my purpose for applying for seat 12 is because my name is cindy de la vega. i'm sorry. i'm in traffic right now so i'm trying to pay attention but also let you all know. so i applied for that seat because i felt i wanted to be involved in, you know, the things that are going on with all the candidates and so i also felt that i could learn something out of it and just to be apart, you know, as a store front owner what my input can do to help or how we can make things just be better and, you know, more opportunity. i'm looking to like just to positive things. not negative, you know, i want to -- yeah. i'm sorry. i pretty much just want to get

in and make a change and i feel that with this position, it gives us a chance to speak and the woman who spoke before me said we all are different and going to have different things to say and so i applied because i feel like i have a voice and i would like my voice to be heard and how i feel about it and that's my purpose. i'm a san francisco native born and raised. i grew up in the sunnidale housing projects. i'm a united player i have always been and always will be a volunteer of theirs and, again, i just opened my storefront october 9th, 2020, and it's been a learning experience overall a blessing and, you know, again, just seeing everything unfold. >> supervisor peskin: thank you. why don't we move on to

cloudell douglas for seat 13, residency waiver required. go ahead. it looks like you're trying. is that, victor, is that the 588 number? >> clerk: i'm not aware of the call-in number. >> supervisor peskin: okay. >> clerk: i can check on that while we move on. >> supervisor peskin: why don't we move on to joshua aaron weitz. >> hi. can you guys hear me? >> supervisor peskin: yeah. >> all right. first, i would like to thank the board of supervisor rules committee for hearing me today and good morning.

my name is malcolm joshua waitz. i've known since i was young that i wanted to be a cannabis entrepreneur. it's a path that's granted me the skills. -- my personal experience within sf cannabis program and within the criminal justice system for the need for anning teal program to start with. i know what it's like to have multiple charges. sitting in a cell not knowing how many years it will be before you see your family. then i watched my father go through the same struggle. i've experienced what it's like to fight for equity in cannabis. that recognized the damage for the prison pipelines and the fact that local sf cannabis entrepreneurs play a nationwide role in the cannabis business. i know the difficulty equity candidates have looking for

property in sf. i found three viable locations and signed three leases. i've experienced what it's like to negotiate deals and the right decisions are critical utilizing the equity cannabis present as my backbone. i've worked on getting three separate retail applications through planning and once through a conditional use program. i know what it's like to negotiate with a diverse set of local community stakeholders, union, institutional investors and landlords. i know what it's like to dream because i choked on them and i digested those problems and hope i can avoid those others. i will bring that knowledge and experience and passion to the justice reform to the cannabis oversight committee to serve all my fellow applicants in the city of san francisco. thank you for this spunt.

>> supervisor peskin: thank you, sir. let's move on to rubin sorrell. seat 13. mr. young? >> clerk: um, my apologies. i was checking on ms. douglas. i do not have any contact information to check on her. >> supervisor peskin: okay. no problem. do we have rubin sorrell?

okay. how about leah nina parks weitz. >> hello. can you guys hear me? >> supervisor peskin: yes. and we can see you. >> amazing. good morning, supervisors. >> supervisor peskin: kin. >> i was blessed to be able to serve as the chair last year. my background is that i was born and raised here in san francisco and i have been on the front lines since 2015. i operated a 215 delivery service. actually, that belonged to my brother malcolm who you all just heard and i ran it while he was incarcerated in rikers

island. my family really has pushed forward to help advocate the community in oakland. who aisha's now working for. and i helped to create the first equity program in oakland and i helped to organize a bunch of passionate organizers to create the one we have in san francisco. i also helped to cofound an organization called the original equity group which ran a series of educational workshop to help people get to understand how to navigate the new regulations as they were rolling out. and now, i'm partnered in a local equity distribution that has been -- is one equity owned, three equity operators from california, the primary partners on it as well as a small family farmer from nevada

county. we are in a conversation of small business owners and small operators in northern california as well as our small businesses and equity operators here in san francisco. i also am a founding board member for the color coalition so i get the opportunity to work with regulators from all over the united states that are helping to roll out equity programs in our state. really, the term for this seat was supposed to be for two years and we made recommendations and didn't have the pleasure to work with the board of supervisors to see it through. really looking to do one more term just to be able to finish out what we had started and really looking forward to see other people take over in leadership and involve what was already created. so, thank you all for your time and i am open for questions when they are available. >> supervisor peskin: thank you for those comments and your work. why don't we move on to unless a couple of the earlier folks

who didn't testify cloudell douglas or rubin sorrell are available. if they are not with us, let's move on to raina jackson seat 13 residency waiver required. >> good morning. my name is raina jackson. i'm very grateful for this opportunity and i commend the office of cannabis and the board of supervisors for this ground breaking program. i've been in the cannabis industry in the bay area for the past six years and sales, management, distribution, on site marketing and compliance. i'm a san francisco native raised in the hayward ash bury and for me, i really want to hold this seat to be part of the solution, help fill the gap between what is needed to qualify for the program and what is needed to truly succeed in terms of technical

assistance and financial support. i want to definitely commend the successors and [inaudible] for doing an excellent job in terms of filling those gaps. i want to see more accountability with incubators. i have a wonderful incubator who is truly a partner and a coach. in some cases, a lot of people have been kind of left behind and so i just want to see something in terms of match making or something to kind of reduce the number of applicants or just kind of floating out there and also, just in terms of stronger incentive possibly for incubators, things like the free rent for incubates that's not really happy as anticipated and we just have to be happy and creative to change that. and then, also, i'm very

concerned about like in terms of grant funds disbursement, just a more equitable disbursement kind of revisiting some of the eligible categories for reimbursement and advancement things like marketing and kind of allowing for some of the license types that are not, you know, as space intensive. the rules are for skewed in favor of retailers, cultivators and manufacturers, traditional distributors but didn't look at type 13 transport only. people who brand. who have more intangible assets and not so much space intensive. so those are the two areas that i'm most interested in having an impact on. >> supervisor peskin: thank you. >> and i want to thank you for this opportunity. >> supervisor peskin: thank you, ms. jackson. next is izzabella velez also

for seat 13. >> hello, can you hear me? >> supervisor peskin: yes. we can, kinda. >> okay. >> supervisor peskin: you are terribly broken up. it's very hard to hear you. can you try again? >> supervisor peskin: okay. can you hear me now? >> supervisor peskin: yes. perfect. >> i represent not just the a.a.p.i. community but website

and instagram page for seat 13. the public can reach directly out to their representative and voice their needs. equity applicants can leave public reviews on city funded consulting firms on this platform in order to make sure allocated funds for this service are truly pressed. our city's equity operators must be protected from incubators and investors and must be educated on their rights and supporting farmers. i also plan on advocating for

lowering cannabis taxes making it comparable to other industries. it's an honor to run against some of my peers and even my own mentor from sfeg. we are truly the faces of the equity program. my position for this seat is evidence when nonprofits and city funded programs come together we can uplift people who otherwise don't have a chance. i believe these voices need to be heard and everybody has the capability for success given their opportunities. thank you. >> supervisor peskin: thank you. next. we'll move on to john nauer also for seat 13. >> hello. good morning. hello. >> supervisor peskin: good morning. >> good morning supervisors. how are you this morning and thank you for this opportunity. my name is john nauer. i have been a verified

applicant since 2018. i'm also a member of the san francisco equity group who has helped verify over 30 applicants. i want to sit on this seat to make sure that those who have not yet enjoyed this opportunity have an opportunity to enjoy it and also to make sure some of the challenges that i've seen with my own eyes and that i have been part of everything from getting real estate to finding the right partners, there are so many challenges that needs to be addressed. this program and this opportunity is a great one, but they lack resources especially from the city. in order for it to make the opportunity available for all of those that should benefit from this opportunity. i believe that the cannabis equity program can help a lot of those who have been impacted and are still being impacted from the war on drugs and i just want to make sure that those voices that haven't been heard and their needs and

concerns are brought to the table. i'm looking forward to this opportunity if given an opportunity to sit on the oversight committee, but most of all, i just want to make sure that the spirit of the article 16 is being met because when this opportunity came out, a lot of folks like myself who not only were apart of the war on drugs saw that this was our "dot com" or this was our tech break through but i see now this program is into its fifth or sixth year. so i just want to make sure that sitting on that seat those voices heard and also those people are given that opportunity like everyone else. as you see right now as a verified applicant, it's basically set up for failure for those who are trying to get in that don't have the support

and don't have the means of getting in to the industry, so i just want to bring that to the platt tomorrow. thank you for this opportunity. >> supervisor peskin: thank you, mr. nauer, good to see you. next up is jesse stout. >> good morning supervisors. my name is jesse stout. i currently serve the cannabis oversight committee in seat 14 and demonstrated expertise in california cannabis laws and organizations. i've been in the medical cannabis movement since 2002. i was the cofounder and executive director in the nonprofit meeting and organizing for patients. in 2012, i graduated from u.c. hastings and became a criminal defense attorney for medical cannabis patients and, since 2013, i've been a corporate lawyer in the cannabis industry. so i've helped clients track state law and i also help

represent equity applicants including permitting, licensing, and zoning. from 2016 to 2018 i served on the state legalization taskforce to the cannabis committee. i helped draft reports and presented to the board of supervisors including advocating for the equity program, its benefits and it is criteria to include people criminalized as well as their families for the zoning rules including setbacks from uses and for events permitting to merely mirror state law and in 2019 that body appointed me to the cannabis oversight committee. and the board of supervisors including to advocate for more equity permits to be issued faster to make medical marijuana identification card to be free and to have more money in the office of cannabis

reinvestment fund and i'm happy to stick around and answer any questions. >> supervisor peskin: next up is joshua adam ridless for also seat 14. mr. ridless. >> good morning. i'm trying to turn my camera on. there we go. thank you, chair peskin, and supervisors chan and mandelman and the o.o.c. my name is joshua ridless and i'm applying for seat 14. i've been a resident of san francisco since 1990 and served as a small business attorney. for the past 20 years, i've had the privilege of being an active leader in the san francisco bar association and expanding access to justice.

i've served on this board of directors. and currently serve as the chair of the lawyer referral and information services. the o.r.a.f. is a regulated consumer protection services which provides legal service to the community including probono services. i have contributed to the shaping and execution of its mission of diversity, equity and inclusion. as the chair of the sf bar association's information service and in cooperation with the office of cannabis, our committee created a pro bona legal services panel to assist them with complex business and legal issues. i also serve on this panel and regularly provide pro bono services to equity. from a small business attorney

perspective. i believe this background as well as the experience i bring in representing equity candidates would be an important voice on the cannabis oversight committee and a shared voice and an important partner of the city and county and i'm happy to take any questions. thank you. >> supervisor peskin: thank you, sir. now why don't we move on to yet another seat 14 applicant. juell marie stewart. >> hi, good morning everyone. thank you chair peskin and supervisors mandelman and chan for your consideration. my name is juell marie stewart. i've been a proud resident of districteight for the past five years and though i'm not a san francisco native, the city has truly become my home. my cannabis subject matter expertise is rooted in my background in urban and economic development through a racial justice lens.

i have a masters and i'm currently a manager at policy race forward racial equity organization and i'm proud to say this will be into the city of san francisco where i'll be the program manager in the house and human rights commission. i participated in the i fallal co-hoard of the hood incubators business accelerator program. i was part of the h.r.c.'s cannabis taskforce and i spoke in front of state legalization taskforce to illustrate the importance of spatial and racial equity considerations in crafting the office of cannabis's equity program. the committee seat i'm applying for requires expertise in the

state's cannabis laws and regulation. although i'm not an attorney, my approach to public policy is informed by my background in urban policy as well as my past experience across several states and local jurisdictions as a business consultant. i also contribute a unique racial equity lens as i'm well versed in the structural barriers presenting equitable participation in the community. in addition to the persistent disparities in enforcement. i believe i can support the office of cannabis's goals with engaging in applicants and i also plan to bring a perspective that incorporates our city's unique built-in environment challenges such as retail evacueys, land and zoning. i look forward to serving the great city of san francisco. thank you. >> supervisor peskin: thank you. next for the same seat is lara decaro.

>> hi. thank you. chair peskin, supervisor chan, and supervisor mandelman. it's good to see everybody here. i was born in the bay area. spent most of my childhood growing up in the city and i have been living back in d3 since the year 2000. my children attend sfusd schools and we're very proud residents of the city. i am applying for seat 14 because i feel like i do have the requisite advocacy and legal knowledge to really bring something new to this oversight committee. we have a rare opportunity to bring significant change and progress coming out of this pandemic and i just want to help move that forward. i'm a cofounder of several

successful cannabis programs. i was the cofounder of the cannabis international bar association. cannabis law section and also the san francisco pro bono legal services project. that came out of the conversation that i had with the office of cannabis several years ago: i have a deep knowledge of cannabis laws in san francisco. my primary focus has always been on ethics in relation to the laws surrounding cannabis in california and social equity. i've been part of a multi-state effort to analyze social equity programs with multi-state level regulators. i'm also closer to home. i've been council for the state

flower, several verified equity applicants and others in the bay area community for approximately 15 years. on that note. i won't take any more of your time. i'm thankful for your consideration. >> supervisor peskin: thank you. and now we'll move on to sara payan for seats 14, 15, or 16 residency waiver required encumbent on the committee. go ahead. sara? if not, we can circle back. >> oh, no. i'm here. sorry. can you see me on video? >> supervisor peskin: no. but we can hear you. >> okay. let me see here.

>>. >> supervisor peskin: there we can see you and hear you. >> perfect. good morning, supervisors. my name is sara payan. i've lived in san francisco for 24 years and i'll be reapplying for a seat on the cannabis oversight committee. prior to my work in cannabis, i worked in the nonprofit civil rights sector. i'm the public education officer for san francisco and the vice chair of the san francisco bay area mayor and this past year, i was past seat sixteen for the oversight committee for three years of the san francisco cannabis legalization taskforce. i've had the on of speaking and lecture cannabis policy and the importance of compassion programs. with over 16,000 hours of hands-on cannabis parable research, large health care organizations such as kaiser

and s.f.h.. to accredited schools for health care practicioners through my private practice. i created some of the first cannabis market curriculum for city college as san francisco's continuing education program and a lecture series at u.c. berkley hospital of business. my civil rights background fuels my passion and creating compassion programs to provide free cannabis to the critically and chronically ill low income. it's a hardship not only mentally, but also financially. and this is why i created during the medical days of 215 and why i fought so hard to provide my colleagues at the state level to we can reinstate compassion programs in this new era of legalization. we need to insist our community

members so they can have a better quality of life. we have so much more work to do and i'm partnering with other advocates throughout the state to create more compassion programs to serve those in need. i thank you for your consideration. >> supervisor peskin: thank you. and thank you for your service thus far. next up is darius kemp. >> hello. supervisors, can you hear and see me? >> supervisor peskin: yes. we can. >> thank you, supervisor peskin, supervisor chan, and supervisor mandelman. i currently live in district 10. i've been in san francisco for about 11 years now. i'm originally from birmingham, alabama. before i joined, i spent 4 years -- i spent two years as an s.e.i. organizer and two years working with the america project as a regional director

for the south organizing and working with trade unions on worker development into trade unions and building out black and latino supports for trade unionization. also, but since i've joined the cannabis industry in the cannabis space, one of my greatest successes has been working with localities such as los angeles and san diego on exposing and educating local officials on workforce development within the cannabis space. since joining, i started as a community manager and i eventually built up my own position as head of equity and community change. because of the work i've been able to do with creating our first social equity program, the first of its kind to the nation, the first to sell $4.5 million in the social equity cannabis here in the state of california. also, working with our ease momentum program and building wrap around programs and

support for social equity partnerships and building and working with our investment partners to try to help build actual opportunities for social equity partners. and so, basically, you know, i think i have a very specific space in this industry because as a black queer man that's an executive of a cannabis company, never thought i would be here from birmingham, alabama too, but with all of this work i've been here to do i've been able to create actual wealth and business opportunities for social equity partnerships. some of the first and biggest in the nation and many of those partners are actually san francisco based companies such as san francisco roots and kingston memorial and james hemston sf and so i want to thank you for your time and i hope that i can sit on the oversight committee seat because i think i have a lot of

experience that would be super valuable to the committee as a whole. thank you again, my name is darius kemp, i currently live in district 10 here in san francisco. that's the bayview right across the street the from the opera house. so, please, consider me for seat 15. >> supervisor peskin: thank you, mr. kemp. impressive credentials. jennifer salerno also for seat 15. >> clerk: i believe ms. salerno has withdrawn. >> supervisor peskin: okay. that is news. so i will note that. why don't we move ton to michael patrick doherty for the same seat. >> good morning. my name is mike doherty. we offer many to the cannabis industry. i have extensive international

accurate ground both in europe and west africa. in europe, i was the angel boot camp director where we taught high net individuals to do angel investing and build economic development. in west africa, up until covid hit, i was working in ghana helping them find grants to help them build typically agriculture businesses. i'm currently working with bayer pharmaceutical where we align small businesses with partnerships with bayer pharmaceuticals. we help them deal with the massive bureaucracy so they can pursue partnerships with bayer. in the past, i've had the opportunity to work in san francisco and support many initiatives through the

renaissance entrepreneur center. we've worked in the bay years supporting programs like the sunshine facade improvement program and supporting local entrepreneurs. i've had the opportunity to work with the national chain of cannabis with regard to restoring justice, social equity issues, licensing and compliance. i think it's tremendously important that we look at successes in other communities such as older where we can see definite economic development. so i would like to bring that experience to this position and see san francisco benefit from that as well. thank you for this opportunity. >> supervisor peskin: thank you. and, now we go on to robert jones for the same seat. >> let me get the microphone on

here. i'd like to thank the supervisors for the opportunity to share my desire and qualifications to serve my civic duty on seat 15 or 16 of the cannabis oversight committee. you know, workforce and economic development is critical now for the future of reducing unemployment in san francisco especially among the minority communities. as a native of san francisco with a background in finance and self-employed, i've committed over 30 years of volunteering time to helping my community and a reliable voter in san francisco. i will be able to engage and bring leadership teams and labor, businesses, health care, first responders, and education from a vast network and my personal connections to regards to addressing the cannabis industry issues and concerns. i've worked with the employment development leaders in san francisco and the bay area. i also had a chance to work

with a lot of tooth pick team collectives, farmers, manufacturers, adjust to the new cannabis laws and requirements to be transparent on their finances, compliance, and documentation. i worked with consultants, attorneys, investment bankers and investors eager to engage and support the cannabis industry owners. my qualifications will add value to the committee by sharing the feedback from the financial committee cannabis industry owners, and by focusing on common ground in addressing unemployment issues by holding investors and owners accountable for hiring our struggling communities implementing real-life support for child care, transportation, medical clinics, and serving the underrepresented

neighborhoods. i have and i feel my civic duty is to represent the students of san francisco and families living in our beautiful city by protecting the youth from illegal activity and enforcing the laws that target the youth. the revenues collected by the city from the industry should be employed to improve the city's infrastructure, public schools, public safety, roads, and parks and beaches too. also, we must refrain from high taxing of the industry. we need to find better ways to make them successful first by education and mentors on site. reviewing our incoming revenues from the industry and forgiving new companies for taxes for a certain time period similar to the deals we provided to the internet industry. the cannabis industry in san francisco is right for success with tourism, residents, and the history our loving the

plant by local population. we should be the leader in industry in research and development, employment, revenues and new small businesses. san francisco must be a leader in the world in regards to the blueprint of the cannabis industry policies and success for our citizens. thank you very much. i would love your consideration for seats 15 or 16. >> supervisor peskin: thank you, sir. and, next, why don't we move on to theresa foglio-ramirez for seat 15 residency waiver required. >> good morning supervisors. my name is theresa foglio-ramirez. you may recognize me. while i will bring the experience from that role and helping to create and administer three separate public sector apprenticeship programs and the mayor's

pre-apprenticeship program. i am replying for the san francisco. on the california statewide apprenticeship program through the guidance of the governor's office, we created four separate career pathways in the cannabis industry that include cultivation, distribution, pharmacy technician and manufacturing. the san francisco oversight committee will focus on equity, backlog, in permitting and grand processes and distribution. post pandemic, there's a desperate need to focus on workforce development and economic recovery. and workers looking for new career opportunities. municipalities and governmental bodies such as this one share in an obligation to provide two career pathways in new innovative industries. certified apprenticeship

programs have built-in mechanisms for accountability. if granted the honor to serve again on the san francisco oversight committee, my focus will be on creating true career pathways that will provide equity in the workforce through state certified apprenticeship opportunities. thank you for your time. >> supervisor peskin: thank you. next, is kayla bearg. ms. bearg, are you there? mr. young, do we have kayla? >> clerk: i can double check. i will try to give her a call.

>> supervisor peskin: okay. and while we're waiting for kayla, why don't we go on to russel tenofsky and there are a couple of individuals who we called earlier cloudell douglas or rubin sorrell. if any of these few remaining applicants and ms. bearg that will take us to the end of our list. >> ya'll ready. >> supervisor peskin: yes >> hi. good morning. thank you. thank you for taking the time to consider me for a committee member. i am russel tenofsky and i'm a medical marijuana patient and worked in the cannabis industry. i started working in a san francisco dispensary in 2003. i'm also an m.m.i.c. holder. this unique experience has given me both insight as a patient and a provider including an ebb extensive

knowledge in the m.m.i.c. system. working at medicinal marijuana dispensaries and working with our compassion in helping hands program is in particular extensive. i have over eleven years of experience. and all of them have run compassion-based programs. i also have experience working with the lgbtq community, people from every ethnic background assistancing people living with hiv and aids and other chronic illnesses companion and/or service animals. i've been working at mendocino care since 2003. i also had the pleasure of working for market street cooperative which was san francisco's dispensary, a dispensary that helps force the way for the medical community. i've been working at berkely's

patient group to ensure they are a proper patient. i also assist patients in had working through any doctor recommendation in navigating the project itself. b.p.g. caters to medical and recreational users. i truly believe cannabis is medicine and have witnessed its unbelievable effect on chronically ill be patients who have nowhere else to turn. in addition to my long-time professional medical cannabis experience, i also have vast experience on san francisco commissions. i've been a member of san francisco's commission for the past eight years. i've successfully passed seven

resolutions to the commission and many the board of supervisors pass three of those resolutions. my past professional and volunteer experienceco aless into as a committee member. medical based cannabis, education, support in sales. proposition 64 has taken most of the focus away from medical patients and pointed towards sales and my bottom line. people have once again fallen through the cracks. the cannabis industry needs to recognize support and value the medical community as it once did. as a committee member, my compassion and commitment would be to invigorate the community for the most vulnerable and needy members. thank you once again for considering my application. >> supervisor peskin: thank you. are any of the other three individuals who were called earlier available to testify?

>> clerk: chair peskin. i'd like to note that ms. bearg previously informed us by e-mail she was unable to attend. >> supervisor peskin: how many folks are in the queue for public comment? >> clerk: i'm waiting for a quick update. one moment. >> there's 51. >> supervisor peskin: got it. why don't we open this up for public comment. two minutes per speaker. >> clerk: yes. members of the public who wish to provide public comment on this item should call (415) 655-0001. the meeting id is 187 733 9419 then press pound and pound again. if you haven't already done so, please press star 3 to line up to speak. a system prompt will indicate you have raised your hand. please wait until you have been

unmuted and you may begin your comment. we currently have one member in the public queue to speak. >> supervisor peskin: first speaker, please. >> thank you. and thank you for the opportunity to speak. i will keep this short out of respect for everyone's time. my name is john gomez. i am a representative of u.f.c.w. local 5. i just wanted to speak in support of reappointing jessica cry for seat 10 of the cannabis oversight committee. jessica is a, you know, long-term involvement in the cannabis industry. she also is the, you know, represents a lot of the cannabis workers. so, again, i wanted to speak my support and thank you for the opportunity to speak. >> supervisor peskin: thank you, mr. gomez. are there any other members of the public who would like to testify on this item number two? >> clerk: i believe we have one more. >> supervisor peskin: next

speaker, please. go ahead, speaker. >> hello. this is carol con. i'm appearing on behalf of the bar association executive director yolanda jackson and executive that's the bar association of san francisco and we currently administer to the cannabis pro bono equity panel. i'm appearing to support the candidacy of josh ridless for seat 14 of the commission. i've personally have had the privilege to know josh for over 15 years as the oversight committee and since 2019 as its chair. i've also known josh with the lawyer panel as attorney and businesses in law. through my dear friends and clients to rave reviews. josh has also regularly given

back to those who unable to afford representation. when the bar association reached out to the office of cannabis, that effort transferred to the lawyer referral and information service at the direction of executive director in 2019. this was done in order to ensure all lawyers rendering pro bono service met requirements, mal practice insurance, ongoing education requirements in cannabis laws and are in otherwise good standing with the state bar of california. for those on the committee who may not be aware, the lawyer referral service is certified through the state board of california under regulations and rules prom ill gated by the state supreme court. so, josh was at the helm and

helped to shepherd the development of a cannabis qualifications application and he also actively participates as a member attorney of the cannabis pro bono panel. his cannabis practice includes businesses with dispensaries, growing operations as well as companies -- >> supervisor peskin: thank you, carol, for your testimony. are there any other members of the public for this item number two? >> clerk: yes. i believe there's an additional caller. >> supervisor peskin: okay. >> hello. i want to thank you all for this great work that you're doing for the cannabis industry and equity. i am calling in regards to raina jackson for seat 13. some of you might know i'm the chair of the san francisco public utilities commission

c.a.c. i'm not here in that capacity, but in working with raina over this past year, her focus on equity and getting things done is amazing. in addition, she is not only a san francisco native, she also went to stanford and also got her mba at nyu and has been an active member of actually giving great feedback back to the office. so i hope that you can consider her to be part of the commission. i think she'd be a great asset to you all. >> clerk: thank you. i belief we have three additional callers. can we have the next speaker, please. >> hi, my name is jessica mataka and i work with andrea baker consulting. we're contracted with the

office of cannabis to provide technical assistance to verified equity applicants and i'm calling to offer my support for a few candidates started with will dolan he also is one of our technical service providers helping us with providing support to verifying equity applicants as they navigate the permit process. and over the past year working with will it's just become really clear on how much knowledge he has about cannabis industry, about real estate. he's been a vital asset to our team. i've seen him work hand in hand and he's really committed to this work in his part and so i just want to offer my full support to him and i also want to offer my support to cindy de la vega for seat 12 and aiash

hampton and izzalella velez for seat 13. they're also people that care a lot about the cannabis industry and i think can offer meaningful voices and perspective. thank you so much. >> clerk: thank you. can we have the next caller, please. >> good morning, supervisors. it is your old colleague connor johnston. i am a cannabis retailer in san francisco. i haven't been in the industry for a few years now. i recognized a lot of names on the candidate list today. i want to speak specifically about my partner shawn richard who is applying to the reappointed to seat 12.

he was the first social equity splint in san francisco and i think with good reason. the man is an inspiration having served time in jail for a drug offense 25 years ago and losing family members to gun violence, he founded against guns and has been a role model for generations of youth in this city and has taught himself the cannabis industry from the ground up and is now running a multi-million dollars business that allows me to sleep relatively well at night knowing he's literally watching the store. so i really hope shawn can continue to serve. he's done a great job on this community, lastly, i would never give good government advice to chair peskin. but i notice this committee is due to sunset at the end of this year, and i think if extending that, you may also want to make these terms staggered in length because i

think right now the committee's unable to meet because all of the committees so it might be when you do that expansion if the board decides to do so. thank you and it's good to see you guys. >> supervisor peskin: good to see you too, connor and we look forward to having recommendations from the oversight committee itself as to its future. thank you for those suggestions. next speaker, please. >> hello, can you guys hear me? >> supervisor peskin: yes. we can >> okay. hello. my name is david and i'm san francisco born and raised. i've been following closely on everything it's that's been going on and i've been seeing

everything that malcolm josh weitz has been doing for this community. and i'm just excited to see what would happen next. >> supervisor peskin: are there any other speakers? >> my name is desire. hello. my name is desire flynn. as a staff member of gold seal for a little over three years, i've seen firsthand what it takes to build a cultivation, manufacturing, and distribution company from scratch in san francisco. i'm sure i will not be the first to tell you that it is no easy task. i'm speaking in support of aaron today because not only has he navigated the formation and growth of our community through difficult processes

posed by state and city requirements, but he has done so with the focus of creating a small business that provides stable employment with opportunities for upward mobility that will be apart of san francisco landscape and culture for the long term and belief in the fair equality treatment of staff, vendors, customers, and the public is demonstrated by his focus on supporting equity brands, veterans groups and diversity in the workplace. our diverse staff of 17 bay area represents compromise from all walks of life with several employees working with a strong emphasis of promoting from within the company. as the owner and operator of gold seal in san francisco, sf manufacturing, distribution company since 2015, aaron understands the nuances and the challenges standing up and

sustaining a successful business in a very challenging landscape. the expertise that aaron can bring to the committee in regards to the nonretail side of the industry is invaluable and i believe his focus on helping to create a sustainable landscape in which all sf cannabis operators can exist and thrive makes him an ideal candidate for re-election for seat number 9. thank you guys, and i appreciate it. >> supervisor peskin: thank you. are there any other members of the public to comment on this item? >> good afternoon, supervisors. my name is johnny deal plain. i'm an entrepreneur here in this fair city. and i'm calling today to lend my support to my partner shawn

richard for seat 12. along with mr. johnson who you heard earlier, we're partners with shawn at an independent cannabis operator and, you know, we have seen shawn grow so much over the past two years and really attack this thing head-on. the guy has a lifetime commitment to the city of san francisco running his nonprofit brothers against guns and i couldn't be prouder of the partnership we've been able to form. we hit a rough patch through all the civil unrest. shawn was at the store literally to keep our store safe and i'm proud to support him for seat 12. i'd also like to lend my support to aaron flynn with seat 9. i originally joined the cannabis community as a cultivator and aaron and i were

apart of the san francisco cannabis licensing groups, one of the first groups asking for the licensing of nonretail in cannabis and i've just watched aaron lead his company and our entire cannabis community in san francisco through the very rocky and just the regulatory transition. we were building it out of nothing. i think rocky is maybe unfair. it's just that's what it was. we built it out of nothing, the supervisors in the industry. congratulations to all that it's rolling now. i just want to give my support on aaron. thank you very much for your time. >> supervisor peskin: thank you. are there any other members of the public? >> clerk: we have approximately four more -- >> supervisors. in all the deliberations, we have forgotten cherokee k.

so whoever is appointed, you have to substitute the word "compassion" with "empathy" and when you understand what empathy is, you will understand how best you can serve those who need cannabis for the medical needs. what i am monitoring is the violence on our streets. the cannabis is sold freely as opposed to what those who have fences with all sorts of cannabis are selling. so those who are appointed on the oversight committee have to address quality of life issues. in order to do that, they have

to know how to make a needs assessment. this shouldn't be about some people making a lot of money. this should be serving those who most need help. and, as human beings, we need empathy. study the word empathy. thank you very much. >> supervisor peskin: thank you. next speaker, please? >> hello, can you hear me? >> supervisor peskin: yes. >> how are you doing? my name is ruly have youlamazar. i ask that you strongly consider malcolm for seat 13. i've been working with him for a long time. he's been working really hard.

so i just want to make sure he gets a chance to do his thing. thank you. >> supervisor peskin: next speaker. >> thank you, supervisors for this opportunity to address you. i am the principal and founder of green bridge corporate council. we are a cannabis law firm, a business law firm that serves the legal cannabis industry in california throughout california and other jurisdictions as well. i'm speaking in favor of reappointing jesse stout. my colleague jesse stout who works with me at greenbridge over the last eight to nine years have worked closely together to advise cannabis businesses throughout the state on law and regulation. jesse has been a tireless advocate on behalf of entrepreneurs and businesses including folks from minority

communities and has contributed greatly to efforts to advance social equity in the cannabis industry as well both in san francisco, but also nationally. jesse worked very closely with me in putting together the model, social equity municipal ordinance for the minority cannabis business association which was posted to the website after it was published. jesse has shown his commitment time and time again in racial and social justice as well advanced in social equity. so jesse has earned so much expertise and a strong reputation for his expertise with the california laws and regulations and, for that reason, i think he should be reappointed and should continue to leverage that passion and

expertise on behalf of san franciscans. >> supervisor peskin: thank you. next speaker. >> hi. i'm calling in regards to izzabella velez. she's a great candidate for seat 13. she's been working alongside cannabis community support. she's an up and coming candidate, but also has a lot of just to back her up in terms of her power and her [inaudible] towards the cannabis community. and i feel like with her strides that she's been giving, she can definitely go hard. so i definitely recommend izzabell velez for seat 13. thank you guys. >> supervisor peskin: thank you.

next speaker. >> clerk: the person is on the line but is not speaking. >> supervisor peskin: okay. let's go on to anybody else. >> clerk: there's nobody else in the queue. >> supervisor peskin: all right. public comment is closed and i'm anxious to hear from my colleagues on this panel, but i just want to start out by thanking all of the applicants, the existing encumbents, as well as everybody else who applied.

i think we have -- there are various ways we can go. obviously, we do not have a applicant so that seat we will need to continue and consider applicants for that seat in the future and i know that mr. block intends to reapply for that and we will consider that one, the application when we renotice that seat. one of the seats is very easy wherein there is one applicant for one seat with an encumbent of that body and that's jessica cry for seat 10. i think we can go through these things. there may be an easy way to do this which is to given as i said at the beginning the newness of this committee to stick with or largely stick with the encumbents particularly given that the last year has been something of

a hiadus for many workings of government. and the other thing we can do is stew on this for a week and continue this to our meeting of the 26th and send things forward as a committee report on the 27th. so i just wanted to throw that out to colleagues as different ways that we could proceed and depending on what you say, i'm happy to try to dispose of the matter or to continue it a week as my colleagues so desire. so with that, i will turn it over to vice chair mandelman and supervisor chan. >> supervisor mandelman: i don't know that i have clear solutions because we definitely have far too many excellent candidates for these positions. i think it might benefit from a continuance. i think, in general, the notion that these folks have not, you

know, have been serving in a weird time and for not terribly long and insofaras folks serving in these jobs. i have a mild preference for san francisco applicants for residents who require residency waivers. and there are a couple of folks it would be nice to find space for on this committee. i think brendan hallinan has been working here for many years. i think and i think i don't only believe this because she is a constituent of mine but i think juell stewart is an excellent candidate as well. those are some of my preliminary thoughts. >> supervisor peskin: supervisor chan. >> supervisor chan: thank you, chair peskin. i want to talk a little bit about the candidates that i'm

looking for to support and i'm really looking at three queue elements and one i think first and formal, i'm really glad that ms. jessica cry has no other competitor for her seat because i think that she made a really good point today. it's really about in this juncture of cannabis business, i really am looking forward to seeing licensees that really care about the workers in terms of safety, providing a safe, healthy, and fair working environment and i'm also really looking forward to seeing businesses that really focus on good neighbor policy and really have an understanding of what san francisco is about but most importantly how different all neighborhoods are and really take the time to understand our neighborhoods and invest in the neighborhood and invest in our

community. and, third, but not least, i'm also looking for candidates that really actually understand the elements of the ongoing importance of research and education about cannabis that we should not stop where we were a decade ago when we talk about medical cannabis. we should continue to think about its impact on our communities and on users. i look forward to seeing people who will advocate for that. so, with that, i do think that with 31 candidates now, that's what we're down to for the seats, perhaps, give ourselves a one week continuance will definitely help, but i also agree with the fact that having encumbents on a taskforce really helps to build the next steps and the fact that a lot of these encumbents are also

are the people who have been in the cannabis industry for a long time in san francisco will help us with the institutional knowledge to help things move forward in the coming years or so. >> supervisor peskin: thank you, supervisor chan and thank you supervisor mandelman. how about this as an inbetween suggestion. let me just try this on you which is maybe we can get a little bit of this done today and leave the seats seats 12 through 16 where there is extensive competition for a continuance. maybe we can get a little bit out of the way based on what i think we all think are the theory ys of diversity experience. i think it's very easy as we all three agree to move ms. cry for seat number 10. and, in the case of seat eight, we have two applicants and in

the case of seat nine, we have two applicants and i think if we're leaning towards encouple balancy and testimony made on their behalf i would suggest we continue with ali jamalian continuing eat 8. i would like to make a motion to move ali jamalian for seat 8. jessica cry for seat 10 and continue the balance of the items to our next meeting on april the 26th at 10:00 a.m. on that motion, mr. clerk, a roll call, please. >> clerk: yes. on that motion [roll call]

the motion to appoint ali jamalian to seat 8. aaron flynn to seat 9 and jessica cry to seat 10 passes without objection. >> supervisor peskin: and, in that motion was also continuing the balance of the items to our meeting next week and, with that, colleagues, we are adjourned.

>> chair bustos: this is the regular meeting of the commission on community investment and infrastructure for tuesday april 20, 2021. on behalf of the commissioners, welcome members of the public who are streaming or listening to us live as well as the staff and those who are presenting for

today's meeting. following the guidelines set forth by local and state officials, the members of the commission are meeting remotely to ensure the safety of everyone including members of the public. thank you all for joining us. please call the first item. >> clerk: thank you. the first order of business item 1, roll call. [roll call] commissioner brackett is absent. the next order of business is item 2 announcements. item a next regularly scheduled meeting will be held remotely on tuesday may 4, 2021 at 1:00 p.m.

please be advised a member of the public has up to three minutes to make public comments on each agenda item unless the commission adopts a shorter period. you will be instruct to dial 415-655-0001, access code 187 562 2546. press the pound sign twice to enter the call. when the public comment section is open, you'll be asked to press star 3 to submit your request to speak. you will hear the following message. you have raised your hand to ask a question, please wait to speak until the host calls on you. when you hear your line has been unmuted, this is your opportunity to provide your public comment and you will have three minutes. please speak clearly and slowly. you will be placed back on mute once you are done speaking. you can stay on the line and continue to listen to the meeting or choose to hang up.

if you are planning to provide a public comment on any item on today's agenda, it is recommended that you call the public line that i mentioned. it's also listed on the agenda. this will allow you to listen to the meeting rival and prevent you from experiencing a potential delay caused by live streaming. the meeting materials are available on our website at sfocii.org. under commission then the public meetings tab. the next order of business is item 3, report on actions taken in previous closed session meeting. there are no reportable actions. the next order of business is item 4, matters of unfinished business. there are no matters of unfinished business. next order of business is item 5, matters of new business -- there's no consent agenda item.

item 5a conditionally approvalling combined basic concept schematic design. proving a density bonus allowing additional height, maximum dimension and density providing notice this approval is within the skills of hunters shipyard a program e.i.r. hunters point shipyard area resolution number 12-2021. >> it was almost a year ago this month or exactly a year ago in april 2020 when the commission selected development team to begin predevelopment work on

block 56 on hilltop portion of phase one. in that time, they developed a schematic design involving neighbors residents and the hunters point shipyard. today our housing team will lead this presentation and she'll be joined by representatives of the development and design team. take it away. >> thanks, sally. good afternoon commissioners. i'm the senior development specialist with the housing division. as you know, ocii will fund 218 units in the hunters point

shipyard affordable housing site. block 56 was offered for development. the project will be affordable family development. here you can see where the project sits on the hilltop in the shipyard, innes and coleman. we issued request for proposal or r.f.p. in late 2018, mercy housing california along with -- we're selected develop block 56 after that competitive selection process. in 2020, ocii provided a predevelopment loan for the project. the team has been hard at work on the design and financing of the project. we're excited show you the results of the design process to date. you can see the entire development team in addition to

mercy and sfhdc. it includes the property manager and kerman morris as the associate architect and baines nibbi as the contractor. the project is subject to ocii small business enterprise program construction workforce program and prevailing wages policy. the developers continue to work in good faith to achieve the 50% s.b.e. goals for this project. to date the project exceeded 50% s.b.e. participation goal. baines nibbi the general contractor is a joint venture. here's a bit on the community outreach we've done since developer selection. we held two meetings with the hilltop residents to preview the design and seek their input. we presented the design to the

shipyard c.a.c. they recommended that ocii commission approve this schematic design. i will turn the presentation over to talk about the project. i'll be back at the end to review the conditions of approval and density bonus. >> thank you. good afternoon commissioners. i'm a project developer with mercy housing california. thank you so much for the opportunity to be with you this afternoon to seek schematic design approval. i'm pleased to be joined by colleagues working on this project. most of whom with us on the line today. this will have 73 total units

for families ranging in sizes from studio to one five bedroom units. it include community room, program courtyard offices for on site staff team, laundry room, one site manager unit, 46 persons spaces and additional parking for motorcycles. also one-to-one biking ratio.

our design team will walk you through the lay out and talk more about the amenities. here's bit about our unit mix at block 56. ranging from studios to five bedroom units. 35% to 50% to san francisco a.m.i. i will hand it over to our project architect with vanmeter who will walk us through the design. >> good afternoon commissioners. i'm pam goode an associate at vmwp. here we are at hilltop shipyard. hill point park is at the end of i necessary. -- innes.there's a playground ae

street. the site has amazing views of the bay. please start the slide through video of our 3d model. i will give a short introduction and the 3d model will come into view as i'm speaking. we'll be on this slide for a minute. from the beginning of the design process, the design and development team have had these four design goals as the forefront of our conversation. to provide a connection between the neighborhood, the development and the bay beyond. taking advantage of the beautiful site and bring the view of the bay into the building wherever possible. to provide a healthy building that promotes good health for

all its residents. to continue the urban fabric on the hilltop by fitting the building in the surrounding context while creating homes for the residents will be proud to call home. sustainability goals include energy efficiency measures such as light facade colors, sun shades and air ceiling. this all electric building with p.v. panels to offset the common load as possible. these design strategies have created a successful solution that we hope will enhance the life of future residents of 11 innes court and the current residents of the hilltop neighborhood. beginning here at the innes court and coleman, the corner of the building is accentuated with blue bay that move up the building flipping from one side of the window to the other. moving along innes court, you can see the building modulation

that reflects the units inside with smaller blue bays that correspond to the neighbor building at 51 innes. as we turn on to kennedy place, you can see the entry to the garage below the courtyard. the courtyard is divided into two areas. the outer area allows for play and activities outside the community room. under the canopy on the left side. the inner courtyard is contemplated with our family couch surrounded by small trees that allows for more intimate gatherings. these three residents here at the corner of the podium, are taken the view of the bay over the gantry crane behind us. below them are vines on the panels which create an extension

of the hill below concealing the parking. the south facade is articulated with larger gray bays and smaller blue bays. the windows on the south and west fa said are shaded from the sun with aluminum sun shade providing added comfort for the residents and adding energy efficiency of the units. one of the goals of the development is to provide a healthy building and this design is inviting and promote its use. we plan to work with a local hunters point bayview artist who

will draw on the culture and history of the neighborhood with images that will be photographed and print end on glaze panels that will be integrated into the facade. light from inside and outside the building will filter through these images enhancing the interior and exterior experience which will connect with the development of the neighborhood and the neighborhood to the development. as we approach the main entry, you can see there are two ways to access the main gate. either by way of the sloped sidewalk or stair framed by the landscape area. as we turn here, you can see how this -- you will be drawn into the courtyard and the bayview beyond. as we continue down coleman, you can see the mass is broken up with these smaller bays. turning back on to innes court, we will pass by four stoop entries which provides visual

interest and appeal to the pedestrian experience. we can sit on our porch and watch the children play across the street or say hi to our neighbors as they walk their dogs to hill point park. there are canopies that provide cover and create a more pedestrian scale. as we conclude the video, like to point out some of the materials of the building. on the corner, we have the random pattern that provides texture in contrast to the smoother stucco bays. you'll also see there are panels covering the roof that will offset a large percentage of the residential energy load of the building.

this shows some of the materials on the left is the random board, which is a cement board panel will different size battens at different dimensions it between them. they change every floor. there's this really nice texture and shadow created from floor to floor. again, that's in contrast to the smoother stucco bays, the blue is on the bottom. there's the gray and then we have some lighter cream areas at the stairs and some other areas. the middle top image is the board form concrete which wraps the parking garage area.

we have aluminum sun shades at the bottom there that i mentioned on the south and west facades. the upper right image shows the vinyl windows that we'll be using. the bottom right image is the accent focal stair with the art panels outlined. i like to introduce elizabeth kerman morris of kerman morris architect. >> thanks. when you come home with your groceries and you have a parking space, you drive down kennedy place in the parking garage. the two entry bedroom units with stoops hide the parking garage

behind. if you live in one of these units you can enter your apartment from the outside entry stoop on innes court or you can enter from the corridor inside the building. if you're coming from the garage, you can access the corridor directly from the garage. if you coming down from the podium level open space you can come down the elevatortor stairs. in it garage we have 46 parking spaces including van space, car share and ev parking as well as 47 motorcycle spots. there's bicycle storage room with 73 parking spaces and also on this level are the utility spaces, mechanical, electrical, maintenance, storage and trash. on the podium level, which is the second floor, as you approach the nain entrance on coleman street, you see landscape planters and wide

stairs leading up to the entry gate. you have the choice of taking the ramp to the entry gate. the entry is framed by large opening in the bay beyond. there will be a card reader for secure entry. next to the main industry is a feature staircase. if you live on this floor you can enter the corridor right next to entry gate and go in our unit. few of the units have a second entrance right on to the landscape courtyard. there's a child care unit nicely situated at this level facing the open space on two sides where the private patio and direct access to the courtyard and play space for easy pick up and drop off for parents. if you live on want of the upper floors you have a choice how to reach your front door. you can take the main stairs with the art glass wall, access

right inside the entry gate or you can take the elevator at the inside corner of the north wing. there's a second stair that goes up to the fifth floor and down to the ground floor kennedy place. the south wing is the lobby, laundry, resident services and community room which all open on to the courtyard. when you enter through the entry gate, you can come right into the lobby and check your mail or you can speak with the assistant property manager who has an office right off the lobby. the laundry room is in between the lobby and community room and opens up on to the courtyard so you can watch your kids play while you do your laundry or sit on a bench and check e-mail. the courtyard will be used for community events, celebrations and other formal and informal daily gathering. we designed it to be an

extension of people's home. we understand that finding extra space and privacy can be challenging. residents will be encouraged to go outside and enjoy it. wifi will extend into the courtyard so everyone can use the space including teens. the community room connects with the courtyard with double doors and awning to create shaded space to sit and enjoy the view. community room will be used for holidays, special events, parties and other community gatherings. there's a kitchen in the community room and pantry space so food can be storied for it food bank. it's the intent of sfhdc and mercy this community will be used independently throughout the day if planned formal gathering isn't going on. this is a typical floor, floors

3-5. the south wing has two and three bedroom units. there's one five bedroom unit on the fifth floor. the north wing is connected to the south wing by enclosed glass corridor walkway. if you live on one of these upper floors, you have a choice how to go down to the podium level both in space and common room. you can take the elevator or one of two staircases. now i'll hand it back to elizabeth to talk about conditions of approval, density and next steps. >> thanks. i wanted to touch on our conditions of approval. there are variety of conditions of approval which allows staff to confirm consistencies.

these conditions can include further development and refinement of materials, materials and color, trash and recycling, stoops along innes street and final landscaping and screening plan. the team is required to maintain the existing streetscape and the existing number of trees. the team is also required to provide an architectural mock-up for ocii for review and approval. i wanted to touch on the density bonus which is part of the requested approvals today. pursuant to the redevelopment plan and design for development for phase 1 in the shipyard, ocii may approve density bonus for project with lower, moderate income residential units including development controls and density increase up to 25%. due to the relatively small capacity of this block, we knew

it would be difficult to finance, staff anticipated use of the density bonus and ask developers to consider that in their r.f.p. responses. in this case, the developer is requesting density bonus to allow for height increase for two frontages of the building along innes and coleman. this additional height is much less than an additional storage. it's within the existing range of 45 to 55-foot height limit. similar height increases have been approved on other hilltop blocks. maximum plan dimension is intended to ensure that taller buildings do not create bulky conditions. in this case, the diagnosed exceed -- that allows coleman street to provide physical

separation from the adjacent development. that minimizes the impact of the exceedance. density bonus requested is well within 81 dwelling units per acre. staff evaluated all of these specific requests and determine that they can conform to the goals and objectives of the redevelopment plan and they don't negatively impact the neighboring property. staff recommends approval of the

request related to the density bonus. for wrap-up, i want to touch on the schedule. out of caution, ocii is working with the development team to establish a scope of additional oil testing. we're finalizes that scope now and plan to bring it to the hunters point shipyard c.a.c. as informational item in june. we expect to get the testing in june or july and to have the report from the project environmental consultant by september or octobers of this year. we'll report back to the c.a.c. and commission on all of that. finally, we'll return to commission late this year, early next year for financing. which would allow us to start construction in the middle of next year and be complete

approximately two years after that. one more quick thing before we wrap up, i i wanted to thank ocii design team along with jose campos who heads up that team. they did all the heavy lifting on the schematic design review for ocii. that concludes our presentation. we're here to answer any questions. >> chair bustos: thank you. do we have anyone from the public who wish to speak. >> clerk: yes. before i do that, i can like to acknowledge that commissioner brackett did join us. she is on the phone. she is on. for members of the public who wish to provide public comment on this item, should go ahead and dial 415-655-0001, enter access code, 187 562 2546, press

the pound sign twice. if you like to provide a public comment, please press star 3 on your phone now. we have couple of people. here is the first caller. >> caller: good afternoon. my name is tom. i live at 51 innes court. i have two concerns about this building. one is you're increasing the height to get the number of units which is fine with me. what my concern is with the solar panels on the roof, looks like there's going to be about 10 feet over the roof line. that is the major concern. the other concern is the use of

kennedy place to access the parking area. that is a private driveway 51 innes court. if you're in contact with anybody from the h.o.a., i like to know who you're in contact with? at the last board meeting, none of the board members were aware of any communications going on. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. next caller. >> caller: good afternoon. interim executive director and commissioner. i'm dr. veronica honeycutt i'm the chair of the c.a.c. for the shipyard. i had the pleasure of speaking with you about block 52 and 54 recently. thank you for approving these projects. we want you to know that the c.a.c. for the shipyard fully

supports this project, especially the 100% affordability aspect that provides critical housing opportunities for individuals and families. the c.a.c. is in support of the design and aesthetic of this project. we are happy to see the community continue to grow and that inclusivity remains a high priority. we urge you to support this worthy project. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. mr. chair, at this time, there are any other members of the public wishing to comment on this item. >> chair bustos: thank you. hearing no further request to speak. i will close public comment. i will turn to my fellow commissioners. commissioner bycer? >> commissioner bycer: thank you chair bustos.

couple of questions during our meeting two weeks agoing we talked about block 52 and 54, that included one five bedroom or one or two four bedroom units. they were making up for those size units. is that also the reason why we have small number of four and five bedroom units in this project? >> that's right. it's for the same reason we have those units here. thank you. is there any -- are we confident those will be adequated built? is that the highest, best use? i could imagine that dividing in two air three bedroom units can house more people. i'm curious how those being used

and ability to get filled appropriately. >> the unit mix overall, unit two bedroom units tend to have the most demand than three bedroom. because there's so few four and five bedroom units, we don't expect that. we do have other developments. we don't have a problem filling them. >> commissioner bycer: there was one family child care unit in the building. is there anything special about that unit? is that unit like any other? you point to three bedroom on the podium floor of the courtyard level that was family care unit.

is that designated? >> that specific unit is designated. in this case, we allow one unit to meet ideal speculations for a family child care unit. we try to put them adjacent to outdoor space. their living spaces is a little larger. there's a few little things we do for that unit to make it more amendable to be a family child care unit. >> commissioner bycer: thank you. that's all the questions that i have now. >> chair bustos: thank you. commissioner scott? any questions or comments. >> commissioner ransom-scott: hu ge thank you, elizabeth. all of you for this presentation, thank you for really considering so much. the green grass, even if it's just a small partial.

it makes a huge difference with the mental health of our community. people that move in, they need to see it. thank you that you considered the parking. inner city will never have enough. but to have some at all means a lot as miguel has pointed out. we got seniors. we have families. it's a challenge when you don't have a parking place at all for your housing complex. i am grateful for the colorful staircase with the colorful windows. here again with that green grass, the colors and the sun, we know this community is the best when it comes to weather in the whole city. it can get very warm over that

way and to have those colors, the windows and the projection is going to change a lot of attitudes. it's going to help with growth and development as they move forward in school. even the parents. it's going to make a huge difference in this community. i'm pleased to see that. i'm thankful. dr. honeycutt came aboard to let us know about their support and the fact that we are here and able who hear another 100% affordable housing complex. with all this going on in the news we're waiting to hear, this lightens my heart. thank you all for your hard work. >> chair bustos: commissioner

brackett? >> commissioner brackett: good afternoon everyone. i want to thank you guys for this presentation today. the 3d video was very helpful in being able to orient us on some of the amenities you guys discussed today. i'm really happen there's that outdoor space that is kind of going to be an extension of community living space for lot of these residents. lot of times we build affordable housing and there isn't much space for families and so forth to convene. i'm happy with this project. i want to thank you for your presentation today. >> vice chair rosales: thank you. i was not able to see the video, i'm tech challenged environment this minute. descriptions i was able to follow very well. i concur with the comments of my fellow commissioners. i want to recognize very

exemplary work of the team on the contracting and workforce compliance. these are pretty impressive numbers. seem everyone is coming forward with impressive number and participation. this one shows intentional efforts. joint venture, 99% small business partnership, significant number of women owned businesses. i wanted to point that out. i do want to see if there's any comment by staff on the questions that was raised by the first speaker? >> sure. we have been in communications. i'm not sure what information was shared. we sent a letter in early february to the homeowners

association and we -- we've heard back. we haven't finalized our discussions. we don't anticipate any issues based on the issues that were raised when we met with hilltop residents. we don't have issues resolving those. >> vice chair rosales: and the issue about the solar panel and the height? >> yes. the solar panels are about 7 feet up off the roof. which is allowed. it's not counted towards the height. however, it's possible they already lowered a bit during design development. it was part of our review when we did the design review, they were always part of our review of the building and contacted the neighborhood.

>> vice chair rosales: thank you. >> chair bustos: thank you. i share everyone's comments about how wonderful this project is. it's good to see beautiful design coming to the neighborhood like that. with that, madam secretary -- first, may i have a motion for item number 5a? >> i move that we approve the combine basic concept and schematic design of the agency housing partial at 11 innes court block 56 of the hunters point shipyard phase one. >> chair bustos: was that commissioner brackett seconding that? thank you. please take roll. >> clerk: please announce your vote when i call your name for

5a. [roll call vote] the vote is five ayes. >> chair bustos: motion carries. please call the next item. >> clerk: 5b approving budget for the period july 1, 2021 and authorizing the executive director to submit the budget and interim budget to the mayor mayor's office and board of supervisors. discussion action resolution number 13-2021. >> at our last meeting we had a proposed budget. there are no changes since that time. i will continue to meet with the finance team to recap our budget and we will ask for your

approval so we can move on to mayor's office and board of supervisors to culminate and final approval for our fiscal year 2021-2022 budget. >> good afternoon commissioners and chair bustos. i'm here before you for the approval of our budget. there's no changes from the workshop that we had on the 6th. the department of finance approved april 15th without any changes. we are here for the approval of the budget for the period of july 1, 2021 through june 30, 2022 authorizing the executive director to submit the budget to the mayor's office on board of supervisors. interim budget is just a prorated amount based off the

'21-22 budget. with just a reminder where we are in the process, we had the workshop before you on april 6th. action item before you today and pending the approval, we'll mitt to to the mayor's office by may 1st. our 21-22 budget is $565.8 million, the primary sources are prompt tax fund balance and bonds. fund balance reflects funds that we received in prior years. this table at the workshop also. this is just our budget by our

uses. this is category into our direct and indirect problematic expenditures. our primary uses are affordable housing and infrastructure and non-housing. it's primarily to show context to our 21-22 ask by comparing it to our 2021 request by sources. change is due to the increase in the new affordable housing bond that we're issuing and increase in developer payments which will fund our transbay housing project. this table showing that same year over year comparisons. the change is due to an increase in our affordable housing offset by a decrease in our infrastructure reimbursements.

again, our total budge is $565.8 million. in this table we have our affordable housing cost embedded into each project area. you can see that mission bay is the largest. this reflects the project relative to other project areas. just in summary, our budget is $565.8 million. this is an increase of 7.3% from our 2021 budget. this is due to affordable housing loans we'll be issuing. we discussed our operating cost which is $19.1 million or 3.4% of the total budget. staff levels remain unchanged from the 2021 year. the budget includes five new affordable housing loans and issuance of $430.4 million to

affordable housing bonds. ocii also manages seven f.t.e.s which are approved by voters in the districts. this is freight from the -- this is celebrate from the -- separate from the budget. we have our new project manager who will speak about this in more detail at a future commission meeting. this is just the summary of our budget. it shows three outstanding bonds and seven of our current f.t.e.s. the action item before you is to approve budget for the period of

july 1, 2021 through june 30, 2022 and offer executive director to enter a budget to the mayor's office and board of supervisors. pending your approval of the budget today, we will submit this to the mayor's office on may 1st and on to the board on june 1st. with that, i will conclude the presentation. we have our project manager on the line if there are any further questions. thank you. >> chair bustos: thank you. madam secretary, do we have anyone from the public who wishes to speak on this item? >> clerk: members of the public who wish to provide comment, should call 415-655-0001, enter access code, 187 562 2546 followed by the pound sign. press star 3 to be placed in the

queue. for members on the phone with us who like to provide public comment, you can press star 3 on your touch tone phone. we'll allow few moments for the public to call in. it does not look like there's any member of the public wishing to comment. >> chair bustos: i will close public comment. i will ask my fellow commissioners if anyone has any questions or comments? commissioner bycer? >> commissioner bycer: thank you. i have one line of questioning. i'm all about government running efficiently, i think it's great to take pride in ocii fishing operation. i'm curious if you can comment on -- it's a $38 million annual

increase from last year to 7.3% increase. we do not see staffing levels competent from last year. i want to make sure increase in budget that the team -- is that the [indiscernible] >> yes. we are not changing our staffing levels from the prior year. the increase is just due to the affordable housing loans that we're issuing. this is something that -- we have a five-year outlook for our affordable housing. we know what's coming in the pipeline. these are projects that we are -- we have anticipated. we know what our staffing levels

will be. we are conditional what the -- we are comfortable with the work level. we don't have any concerns. >> commissioner bycer: i want to make sure. that's good news. that's all i have. >> chair bustos: thank you. we'll come back to commissioner scott. >> commissioner brackett: i want to say what an outstanding job the ocii team has been doing this past year during a pandemic just to be able to pick up and

continue to do the work and push forward continuing to make sure that these affordable housing projects get put online as quick as possible. i did have some remarks regarding workforce development. i don't think that's appropriate now. that will come up in a future session. i wanted to say thank you guys for your hard work and continue to push forward to make sure these projects are fully staffed by d.b.e.'s l.b.e.s and local hire initiatives. >> commissioner ransom-scott: th ank you. i'm sorry, i had muted myself. i concur with commissioner brackett. i'm so grateful for all this team is doing and the staffing level as well and how you're

managing the needs for we the people. thank you so much. >> vice chair rosales: i agree with all the comments. i have no additional comments. thank you. >> chair bustos: may i have a motion for item number 5b. >> vice chair rosales: i move. >> commissioner ransom-scott: i second that roll. >> clerk: commissioners please announce your vote when i call your name for item 5b. [roll call vote]. the vote is 5 ayes. >> chair bustos: motion carries. thank you. please call the next item.

>> clerk: next order of business is item 6, public comment on non-agenda items. >> chair bustos: do we have any speaker cards for this particular item? >> clerk: at this time, members of the public who wish to provide public comment, please call 415-655-0001. enter access code, 187 562 2546. any members of the public who are on phone with us like to provide public comment urk you can press star 3 on your touch tone phone now. we'll provide a few moments for them to call in.

i do not see any members of the public wishing to comment on this item. >> chair bustos: i will close public comment. please call the next item. >> clerk: next order of business is item 7, report of the chair. >> chair bustos: there's no report today. >> clerk: next or of business is item 8, report of the executive director. madam interim director? >> i have no report today. >> clerk: next order of business is item 9, commissioner's questions and matters. >> chair bustos: commissioners, anybody have any burning questions that you may have? seeing none. please call the next item. >> clerk: next order of business is item 10, closed session. there are no closed session items. the next order of business is

item 11, adjournment. >> chair bustos: we have made wonderful decisions today to help our city, our community as well as our agency do its business. i want to thank you all for your support. may i get a motion to adjourn our meeting today? >> commissioner ransom-scott: i move that the meeting be adjourned. >> commissioner bycer: second. >> chair bustos: we are adjourned this meeting as of 1:55 p.m. thank you everyone.

[♪♪♪] >> i just don't know that you can find a neighborhood in the city where you can hear music stands and take a ride on the low rider down the street. it is an experience that you can't have anywhere else in san francisco. [♪♪♪]

[♪♪♪] >> district nine is a in the southeast portion of the city. we have four neighborhoods that i represent. st. mary's park has a completely unique architecture. very distinct feel, and it is a very close to holly park which is another beautiful park in san francisco. the bernal heights district is unique in that we have the hell which has one of the best views in all of san francisco. there is a swinging hanging from a tree at the top. it is as if you are swinging over the entire city. there are two unique aspects. it is considered the fourth chinatown in san francisco. sixty% of the residents are of chinese ancestry. the second unique, and fun aspect about this area is it is the garden district. there is a lot of urban agriculture and it was where the city grew the majority of the flowers. not only for san francisco but

for the region. and of course, it is the location in mclaren park which is the city's second biggest park after golden gate. many people don't know the neighborhood in the first place if they haven't been there. we call it the best neighborhood nobody has ever heard our. every neighborhood in district nine has a very special aspect. where we are right now is the mission district. the mission district is a very special part of our city. you smell the tacos at the [speaking spanish] and they have the best latin pastries. they have these shortbread cookies with caramel in the middle. and then you walk further down and you have sunrise café. it is a place that you come for the incredible food, but also to learn about what is happening in the neighborhood and how you can help and support your community. >> twenty-fourth street is the birthplace of the movement.

we have over 620 murals. it is the largest outdoor public gallery in the country and possibly the world. >> you can find so much political engagement park next to so much incredible art. it's another reason why we think this is a cultural district that we must preserve. [♪♪♪] >> it was formed in 2014. we had been an organization that had been around for over 20 years. we worked a lot in the neighborhood around life issues. most recently, in 2012, there were issues around gentrification in the neighborhood. so the idea of forming the cultural district was to help preserve the history and the culture that is in this neighborhood for the future of families and generations. >> in the past decade, 8,000 latino residents in the mission district have been displaced from their community. we all know that the rising cost

of living in san francisco has led to many people being displaced. lower and middle income all over the city. because it there is richness in this neighborhood that i also mentioned the fact it is flat and so accessible by trip public transportation, has, has made it very popular. >> it's a struggle for us right now, you know, when you get a lot of development coming to an area, a lot of new people coming to the area with different sets of values and different culture. there is a lot of struggle between the existing community and the newness coming in. there are some things that we do to try to slow it down so it doesn't completely erase the communities. we try to have developments that is more in tune with the community and more equitable development in the area. >> you need to meet with and gain the support and find out the needs of the neighborhoods. the people on the businesses that came before you. you need to dialogue and show

respect. and then figure out how to bring in the new, without displacing the old. [♪♪♪] >> i hope we can reset a lot of the mission that we have lost in the last 20 years. so we will be bringing in a lot of folks into the neighborhoods pick when we do that, there is a demand or, you know, certain types of services that pertain more to the local community and working-class. >> back in the day, we looked at mission street, and now it does not look and feel anything like mission street. this is the last stand of the latino concentrated arts, culture and cuisine and people. we created a cultural district to do our best to conserve that feeling. that is what makes our city so cosmopolitan and diverse and makes us the envy of the world. we have these unique neighborhoods with so much cultural presence and learnings, that we want to preserve.

[♪♪♪] hi everyone. i'm san francisco mayor london breed and it has been a very, very challenging year for all of us in san francisco, but i've got to tell you, we're coming alive again. we're starting to open the city again. i see you urban alkamine. thank you for all the work you do to keep us safe out here. we are here today because we are taking an additional step further to get the city re-opened. i'm joined by a number of our city department heads including our city administrator car men

chiu and our librarian michael lambert. and, let me tell you, michael has not only been running this library, he and so many of our librarians and the people who work for the library here in san francisco, they more than almost any other department have been working as disaster service workers to help address this pandemic. they've been down at covid command at mascone center showing up every day doing whatever it takes. organization. going out to our hotels where we are helping to support our homeless residents. going out to the community hubs to help support our kids. preparing virtual lesson plans and reading time. i did a reading time for kids during this pandemic as well virtually, of course. doing so many incredible things

to help get our city going during a very challenging time. i know many of us, we wish we didn't have to go through this this past year, but what we should look at is the sacrifices we made and where we are now today. san francisco has vaccinated about 60% of the residents here in the city, more than the state and national average. and, over 85% of of those who are over the age of 65 have been vaccinated. we are on the road to recovery. yes, covid is still here whether we want it to be or not. yes, we still have to do our parts and distance and wear a mask and not get too comfortable because the last thing we need is another surge and the need to shut this city down again, but the fact is san franciscans, we are on the road to recovery.

we are on the road to building a stronger san francisco. and, that gives me hope for the future and, today is not just talking about our recovery. it's also looking at re-opening our city. re-opening our libraries. of course, we're going to start with the main library and then we're going to head over to chinatown, mission, and a number of the community libraries and i don't know if you know this, but i grew up in san francisco, and, at that time, there wasn't all this computer internet stuff that we had today. we had to actually go to the library because we would get a look report assignment and the western edition library was my

library of choice. i went to ben franklin middle school. and we had to go through a card catalog to find the book, it was in alphabetical order and that's how we did things. now it's all computerized, it's easy. and, in fact, i still have a library card and now i download my audio books and other things for free. so all those books i forgot to bring back, they just disappear after they expire on my phone. a lot different than it used to be. no excuse for those of us who want to take advantage of reading, of using the computers and other things in the library, we're finally opening and i just, i can't be more grateful to this department and what they have done. all of its employees. all of the people of san francisco, we did this together. we made this happen together.

yes, we have our challenges like any other major city. we still have so much work to do to unaddress the inequities that continue to exist in our society. but we're in a good place right now and we should be proud. we can take a moment. we can take a moment to enjoy this time and to recognize the fact that we are here, that we have an incredible opportunity, and we have a future to look forward to. that's what today is about. it starts with our libraries. the giants and the warriors are now able to play with fans. i saw folks out there soccer leagues, a bunch of kids playing in soccer leagues. i went to the tennis center in golden gate park, packed with people. of course, being responsible, i saw folks walking their dogs and doing all kinds of fun

stuff in our amazing parks system. so we are on the road to recovery and i am looking forward to the day when we can finally throw these masks in the area and wave them like we just don't care because i don't even know what any of you look like anymore. so, with that, thank you so much. today is about opening our libraries as a first step in our road to recovery along with other many of our incredible city assets for the public to enjoy and, with that, to talk more specifically about our library and the work that we're going to be doing to move our city forward is our city librarian michael lambert. >> thank you so much. it feels so good to be here. thank you, madam mayor.

thank you, so much for your leadership for guiding us all through this past year and welcome everyone. today is a special day. i'm so honored to be here with mayor breed and announce the books are back and your san francisco public library is re-opening. as our mayor mentioned, she is a power user of the library's collections and we appreciate all her support for our institution and our library staff. i also want to acknowledge the president of the san francisco public library commission, dr. mary wardell garduzi and library commissioners connie wolf, dr. aronia lopez and commissioner john lee and the executive director marie zapella. thank you all so much for your

advocacy and leadership on behalf of our library system. also here, is carol eisen. i have to say carol has been a tremendous partner this past year working with our staff who have been activated as disaster service workers and more recently helping us to recall staff so we can re-open the library. thank you, carol, for your partnership. it's so excitingtor here at this moment and i am beyond thankful that we're finally able to re-open our libraries for in-person services. it's been a long, hard 13 months, but now we're in a position to safely re-open our libraries for brows and bounce. patrons will be able to experience browsing our stacks again something i know they have dearly missed. we'll also have our public access computers available for printers and high-speed internet access. and, it's really fitting

we'll still be offering spl to go and next week we're going to open the patrero branch and the west portal branch tuesday. we should have all of our branches re-opened by the fall before the start of school. and i really want to thank the community for all your patience and support. you've hung in there and i just really appreciate all your patience as we phase this re-opening and the coming weeks and months ahead. at this time, i'd like to introduce our city administrator carmen chiu. in 2019, city administrator chiu partnered with the

challenge initiative to compile a woman's book list to inspire the next generation of women leaders. we're so fortunate to have her support in getting our libraries re-open. city administrator chiu. >> when i was a little girl, i can remember going to the library. i maxed out every single book i could possibly get with my library card. it was always some kind of a cartoon, garfield or whatever it might have been at the time. and, i have to say how important it was for me to be able to access the library. my parents didn't have a whole lot of money. it wasn't as if we could go to a store and pick out a book or the latest edition we've been hearing about or reading about in school. for me, and many people like me in my community, being able to go to the public library was the one place you got to go where you had the opportunity to get the books you saw in school.

you were able to borrow and bring it home. take to your bed or read it on the couch. it was a place that created opportunities. the opportunity to dream and the opportunity to learn. and i think for so many san franciscans, being able to see the libraries re-open, our public libraries re-open is a blessing. i think san francisco has among the best library system in the entire country and i want to thank michael lambert, our city librarian and all of our commissioners, our friends of the library, our mayor for your support of our library system. today, when we think about this announcement, why i'm so excited, you know, covid-19 has not been kind to people. it's a disease that has required that we went against every single nature of our being staying away from our friends, our families, being disconnected from one another, being isolated and, in particular, for people who are seniors, for our kids. and, so, when we think about

bringing back our libraries, it's more than just being able to access books free and wonderful library services and education, it's about coming back together as a community. and, when i think about how exciting it is that not only the main is opening but that chinatown branch is opening and mission branch is opening, it makes me proud because we're also thinking about the communities that are underserved and not only that, but the community that is live in the most community residential neighborhoods. so i want to thank the library for not only being a place where we can learn but being a safe place for our community to come back together. i want to thank the mayor for all of 0er leadership. i can't imagine a single meeting with the mayor that she hasn't thought about what are we going to do about bringing people back together. what are we going to do about mental health and i want to thank her because she has been constantly pushing not only for us to re-open, but to do it in

a safe way, to remember that at the end of the day, we have to make sure we keep our community safe and to do this together. so i want to thank her for her leadership. and, finally, my last thanks really goes to the workers, the staff of the public library. at its peak, there were 600 san francisco public library workers who were deployed as disaster service workers. the folks helping to pass out food at the pantries. the folks coming to the command center coming to help with all the things we needed. now, we still have 150 who are still deployed. they have been a critical part of our whole response and i just want to thank them for not only the work they continue to do in our emergency response, but for all the work that they are going to be going as we re-open our branches. today is a great day. the sun is shining on us and we are so thrilled. congratulations to the library system. >> thank you. speaking of the san francisco

public library staff, we want to thank shauna sherman for joining us today. she runs the african american center here at the main, but she worked as a contact tracer and we really appreciate people like you and others for the work that you continue to do to uplift the community. and so, i know that and, again, carol, thank you for getting all of the staff back to the library because, let me tell you, i know it was hard work but because many of the library staff felt so dedicated to the work of helping to support the city, yes, they wanted to come back to work, but they also wanted to finish the work they were doing to address this pandemic. so, again, we want to say thank you so much for your hard work and all that you did to help this city throughout this pandemic. and, unlike carmen chiu who probably returned her books to the library when she was a kid,

thank goodness i waived all those fines and fees of the past because i'd be in real trouble right now. forgive me, library. forgive me. [ laughter ] but, with that, thank you all again to the commissioners, the friends of the public library. so many incredible people who care deeply about making sure that people in this city have access to books, that they have access to educational materials to computers and all the things that can help nurture and grow your mind, but also a really good for your soul. so, with that, i want to open it up to questions. do we have any questions? no questions. easy. easy day today. all right. thank you all so much. take care.

. >> the hon. london breed: we came back from that. you all remember how dark is used to be at the embarcadero, and we took what was a tragedy for our city, and we created something amazing and something beautiful, light and hope, as a result of the darkness, and that's the same thing that we're going to do as a result of this pandemic. you know, we are here in this community, opening yet another site because the people of this community, and in particular, the latino community, they have

been the hardest hit by this pandemic not just in san francisco by in the state. so when you look at equity, and you talk about who is most impacted, the latino community, representing over 12% of the population, yet over 40% of those who were diagnosed with covid and over 20% of those who passed away because of covid, these latino task force and a number of organizations in this community, they met with me, and the stories that i heard were very heartbreaking because we as a city thought with some of our programs, our recovery and resources we were providing to workers and rent relief, we thought it was enough. we thought what we were doing was enough, and we were wrong. we were wrong because the

community was on the ground, doing the work, helping and serving people, and they were dealing with serious challenges, and the numbers did not lie. the numbers demonstrated clearly we weren't investing enough. so with the help of our department of public health and h.s.h. and other agencies and the city and supervisor ronen, the supervisor for this district, we came together, and we found the resources to invest an additional $29 million in this community in particular. [cheers and applause] >> the hon. london breed: and this community stepped up and did even more work than they were doing before. the food hub, and i see roberto here, hernandez, thank you so much for your help with the mission food hub. the latino task force with john

and valerie and so many volunteers who were opening up not just testing sites but also these new vaccination sites. this was possible because of this community. this site is possibly because this community came together and made it possible. so when i think about the early dark days of this pandemic, i can't help but be excited about the future of our city because of the people of our city and how we have looked out and up lifted one another during one of the most challenging times. so we are in a good place, and i know i'm here today because we're kicking off another vaccination center. i know we have to meet people where they are and make it easier to get an appointment necessary, because i know my family. they do not make appointments. they say, where are they

supposed to go? no one is going to ask you questions about your immigration status or anything else, and it's easy for you to do it, you're going to do it. and let me tell you, i am so proud of this city. we are still pleading the effort. not only since the beginning of this pandemic have we had some of the lowest rates of any other country, the lowest infection rates and the lowest death rates, even though we are one of the densest cities in the country, we have been able to vaccinate over 60% of san franciscans who are eligible to be vaccinated. almost 60% of those over the age of 65. think about it. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: even with the challenges, and one of

our goals was to do 10,000 vaccinations each day, and we have been meeting and exceeding that even with limited supply. and we are doing that because the latino task force and other organizations have been providing these pop ups to make it easier to get access to this vaccine. the state doesn't even come close to our numbers, and the national average is even lower. san francisco, we have something to be very, very proud of. we have one of the lowest hospital rates that we've had since the beginning of this pandemic, and we are finally seeing lower numbers since last april in the latino community for the first time since this pandemic began. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: but that means we don't let up. we go harder, we go stronger. we keep moving forward because

i want to be able to show up at a press conference and see people without masks eventually. i want to be able to show up to an event and have a good time. i want to hear singing and performances. i want our kids back in school. i want our places of business open and thriving. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: and there is no question that all of you want that, too. so the last thing i want to say is make sure that you have the hard conversations with your family members because it's so important that they get vaccinated. let me tell you, and let me just be honest, for african americans, for my family members, it's been some hard conversations. i ain't going to get that. i don't know what's in that virus, whatever, whatever, and what i say to them is, what i'm most concerned about, because a lot of the conversations are

with a lot of my elderly family members. what i say to them, the chances that you will die if you get the vaccine are slim to none. but if you get covid, the likelihood that you will not be here could seriously be likely because many of my family members have underlying health conditions who are older, and i don't want to lose them. that's why i got the vaccine to show them, that if i can get it, you can get it, too. so let's have those hard conversations with our family members. i'm not a doctor or medical expert, although, as soon as they ask me a question, i'm texting dr. colfax, asking him, my mama said this, my mama said that. but the point is you can talk to them about the vaccine and

convince them about this because what this means is less people dying in our city. that's what this means to me, and that's why we have an obligation to do everything we can to get everyone vaccinated as soon as possible, and we are doing our part to open these local sites to make sure it happens and that it's more efficient than ever. so thank you so much for your work, and thank you all so much for being here today. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: and at this time, i'd like to introduce the supervisor for this district, supervisor hillary ronen. [applause] >> supervisor ronen: oh, thank you so much, madam mayor, for leading us through the hardest year of our lives. thank you. i -- i -- i don't know about you all, but looking at all of your faces, and the weight of what we've been through

together has hit me quite hard. everyone here, from the latino task force, valerie, tracey, john, roberto, so many of you have worked nonstop since day one. i look at mary ellen carroll, the head of our department of emergency management -- can we please give her a hand? this woman, you have to drag her on a one-day vacation, and if we're lucky, she'll go. we have to take her phone away. dr. colfax, you have been a hero in keeping us safe as much as you can from day one. i look at deon jones, and a nurse who helped created response to the first plague that san francisco survived,

the hiv/aids plague and was here from day one to get us through the next plague, and deon, thank you. thank you. the press, you guys have been out here from day one, keeping us informed, putting your lives on the line. i look at all of you, and we all have been doing this from day one, and i have just profound gratitude for getting us to the way we are today, and where we are today is we're on the way to beating this. dr. colfax and madam mayor, thank you. two in the mission, two in the mission. it's because of places like this -- [applause] >> supervisor ronen: -- that we are on the way to beating this disease. i got my second shop at the

capp and 22 location on monday, and this was similar to what the mayor was telling us. i was the only white person there, and i was never so happy to be the only white person anywhere. everyone around me was speaking spanish. they were from the community. in many cases and instances, they were dragged to the site to get vaccine from members of their own community, and i thought to myself, this is the reason that we are leading the nation in terms of numbers and beating this viert, and so so -- virus, and so thank you from the bottom of my heart. my colleague, supervisor matt haney, who has been informing people how to get the vaccine. thank you for your incredible work doing that.

and i just want to say, like the mayor, we are this close to beating it, but it'll only work if we get every single one of us to get this vaccine and do it as soon as we can. thank you. and -- thank you. [applause] >> supervisor ronen: and with that, i want to introduce a hero of mine, the director of the department of public health, dr. grant colfax. [applause] >> well, good morning. is it still morning? good afternoon, whatever. it is a beautiful day. yes, thank you, and thank you for the kind words. it's wonderful and inspiring to be at this site, and i just want to say, first of all, thank you to the latino task force for showing us and others how to lead the way, for

teaching us to do what's right. thank you very much for helping us do this right, for helping us learn how to be humble, respond to community, invest in community, and make the partnership and community leading the way. thank you, mayor breed, for your leadership, and thank you, supervisor ronen, for your leadership. and i'm going to express my gratitude, again, to the latino task force, and your help in having us develop comprehensive, culturally appropriate outreach, testing, contact tracing. what you determined and helped us establish, the low barrier,

the low barrier that every door needs to be the right door. bureaucracy wasn't always the right door at the beginning of this pandemic. i admit that, but we adjusted, and we evolved, and that's why we are here today, having 60% of san franciscans eligible to get the vaccine, with numbers lower than they've ever been. we are doing relatively well there, especially when compared to other vaccines across the city, where latinos represent only 12% of recipients, again, emphasizing the need for these neighborhood access sites low barrier drop-ins. the city's dashboard shows that

for d.p.h. vaccines, the neighborhoods with the largest number of vaccines received are the bayview, the mission, and the excelsior. so on behalf of the whole department, i want to thank you all for your work and the incredible effort of this accessible network that we've developed, this ecosystem. it hasn't been effort. it's taken some work, some zoom calls, zoom calls, but we were there. i want to thank local 261,

supervisor ronen, supervisor haney, our newest assessor, assessor torres. so as you know, vaccine supply remains limited in san francisco, and with the expansion of people being eligible to 16 and above citywide, it will be challenging, but i'm excited to see people walking in here. this is the right way to do this. 12,000 a day going into arms, a capacity of 20,000. we're ready to go here. we just need more, and we need to stay vigilant. these variants continue to remain a concern. we're watching areas of the country like michigan, where case numbers are going up. be socially distant, wear a

mask, and encourage your family to get vaccinated as soon as possible. we will be in this longer, so the sooner we get vaccine into arms, the better we will do and the sooner we can get back to normal, and we can have this press conference with all the masks off. thank you so much. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: thank you, dr. colfax, and i want to introduce valerie coulier. she really is the mother of this community and just has been doing an incredible job in getting all of these great places set up in the community, so come on up, valerie. >> thank you, mayor, so much. i want to thank the red lightning women power group for singing and opening up for the mayor this morning, and also

for sherea for the land acknowledgement. i want to thank our mayor for being with us today. i'm very, very possessive here, territorial, and every single city official. you tell us that you see us and that you see the community's hard work and dedication, and for that, i appreciate your leadership. i don't think it could have happened under any other mayor, mayor london breed. now, i think i'm going to go into an academy award speech, but i want to thank the latino task for being that, a force. all the organizations involved, all the indigenous haves, and all the committees, what you see here is just a glimpse of all the hard work that the health committee puts in.

what you don't see here today is the hard work of 14 other committees, actually 15, if you executive committee, tracey, angela, and gloria. also, absolutely local 21, the laborers union, the latino task force resource hub, on 19 and alabama, was their home, and now, they've moved here, and guess what? we followed them. in the latino culture, we have a saying, mi casa es su casa, my home is your home. this has not been easy. we stepped on each other's toes

a lot in the beginning. today's community vaccine hub, like the one in excelsior, shoutout to excelsior back there in the back, patty. i see you. you can trust us to take care of them with dignity and compassion. thank you to the media for being here. you are not fake, you are real. you do not always get recognized for being here to tell our story, so thank you for being here. in closing, there was olga from another union. we want to make sure that every single union member is vaccinated. just know that i love you and appreciate you, the latino task force loves you and appreciates you. thank you so much. thank you. [applause]

>> the hon. london breed: thank you, valerie, and thank you for recognizing local 87 seiu. olga, thank you for all you do and your members do to take care of this city. all right. that is our press conference. i know that most people who showed up today, when they showed up to get their vaccine, that they might be on camera, so we apologize for getting all in your business because you know how folks are about their medical business. i know how i am about people in my medical business. thank you, everyone, for all you do today. let's continue to take care of one another and let's continue to do what we have to do so we can takeoff our masks and wave them in the air like we just

don't care eventually. >> by the time the last show came, i was like whoa, whoa, whoa. i came in kicking and screaming and left out dancing. [♪♪♪] >> hello, friends. i'm the deputy superintendent of instruction at san francisco unified school district, but you can call me miss vickie. what you see over the next hour has been created and planned by

our san francisco teachers for our students. >> our premise came about for san francisco families that didn't have access to technology, and that's primarily children preschool to second grade. >> when we started doing this distance learning, everything was geared for third grade and up, and we work with the little once, and it's like how were they still processing the information? how were they supposed to keep learning? >> i thought about reaching the student who didn't have internet, who didn't have computers, and i wanted them to be able to see me on the t.v. and at least get some connection with my kids that way. >> thank you, friends. see you next time.

>> hi, friend. >> today's tuesday, april 28, 2020. it's me, teacher sharon, and i'm back again. >> i got an e-mail saying that i had an opportunity to be on a show. i'm, like, what? >> i actually got an e-mail from the early education department, saying they were saying of doing a t.v. show, and i was selected to be one of the people on it, if i was interested. i was scared, nervous. i don't like public speaking and all the above. but it worked out. >> talk into a camera, waiting for a response, pretending that oh, yeah, i hear you, it's so very weird. i'm used to having a classroom with 17 students sitting in

front of me, where they're all moving around and having to have them, like, oh, sit down, oh, can you hear them? let's listen. >> hi guys. >> i kind of have stage flight when i'm on t.v. because i'm normally quiet? >> she's never quiet. >> no, i'm not quiet. >> my sister was, like, i saw you on t.v. my teacher was, i saw you on youtube. it was exciting, how the community started watching. >> it was a lot of fun. it also pushed me outside of my comfort zone, having to make my own visuals and lesson plans so quickly that ended up being a

lot of fun. >> i want to end today with a thank you. thank you for spending time with us. it was a great pleasure, and see you all in the fall. >> i'm so happy to see you today. today is the last day of the school year, yea! >> it really helped me in my teaching. i'm excited to go back teaching my kids, yeah. >> we received a lot of amazing feedback from kiddos, who have seen their own personal teacher on television. >> when we would watch as a family, my younger son, kai, especially during the filipino episodes, like, wow, like, i'm proud to be a filipino. >> being able to connect with someone they know on television has been really, really powerful for them. and as a mom, i can tell you

that's so important. the social confidence development of our early learners. [♪♪♪]mayor l. breed: good morning, everyone.ed: good i'm san francisco mayor london breed. i'm here to welcome home our governor gavin newsom to make a very, very special announcement. i do want to start by just really, really, thanking the u.c.s.f. team, all the runners, all the nurses, all the doctors, all the people who have been on this site since january of this year. vaccinating thousands of san franciscans. i want to also thank our

disaster service workers, people who work for muni, who work for different city agencies, the library. they have moved from their current responsibilities to be here on site to help make sure this is a smooth operation. i don't know if any of you have seen, i guess, what they call the pit down there, but for those of you who may not have had a drivers test in many, many years, you may not want to go down there because it's an obstacle course. in any event, today is a good day. yes it's a typical foggy day in san francisco on the west side but it's still a good day. as of today, over 50% of san franciscans over the age of 16 have been vaccinated. yes! [applause] and also, 85% of those over the age of 65 have been vaccinated

in san francisco. [applause] our hospitalization rates are at 20 people. can you believe where we were over a year ago? and where we are now today? with that many people who are vaccinated. who would have thought we would be at that place today? san francisco is currently in the orange tier, and fingers crossed, governor, we will be in the yellow tier next week. and we will be headed home very soon. but guess what, folks? we are still in the pandemic. and we still need to be careful. as you can see, we are still wearing our masks. even though i don't know what anybody else looks like here. but we are keeping each other safe. and as we come out of this pandemic, we are going to look back on this time and be so excited and proud. for what we accomplished here in san francisco and the state

and the person who has led this effort to keep californians safe. to make sure that the hard decisions were made, when other states have seen their numbers sky rocket and still refuse to make those hard decisions. he has beared the brunt of the challenges of this pandemic. no one had a play book written. no one told us we would be dealing with a global pandemic. but our leader, governor gavin newsom has done an extraordinary job helping to move this state forward, and that's the reason why we are in a very good place. so ladies and gentlemen, governor gavin newsom. [applause] >> thank you, madam mayor, very much for the introduction. and thank you for your leadership, dr. colfax, let me just acknowledge that you have been leading the state in terms

of your vaccine efforts. that 80 plus percent for 65 and other. le 50% of folks getting their first dose is substantially higher pace of administered doses than the rest of the state. i want to compliment you, mayor, on your extraordinary job. compliment the partnerships including the partnership with u.c.s.f., community college site. a site the mayor proudly told me has the capacity to administer over 5,000 shots each and every day. the only constraint is manufactured supply. i want to remind everybody we are designing a system here in the state of california that can provide upwards of 5.8 million vaccines to be administered on a weekly basis. currently, we are receiving about two and a half million. but we have designed a system that includes this site here that allows us to more than

double that capacity. in anticipation with expectation that we will be receiving more vaccines, you have noted that everybody now in the state of california, 50 years and up, is now eligible to receive their vaccine. we began that process, established that threshold on april 1st. we are encouraging folks that have not yet signed up to go to "my turn" the state wide platform to learn about the most approximate site for where you are living to get these doses administered. today in the state of california we are proud to have passed two significant milestones. twenty million administered doses in the state of california. and four million administered doses under the more important equity metric. those two milestones, let's put

it in perspective, are significant. we have administered more doses than all but five nations in the world. the state of california that 20 million mark represents over 7 million more doses than any other state in the country. that 4 million on the equity mark, to me, as i noted is more important and significant. this state set a commitment and goal of providing upwards of 40% of all our first doses and providing them under an equity metric, in order to deliver on the cause of equity. we still have a lot of work to do in that space. we are mindful of that. but that four million mark is as important as the 20 million mark. and today we have formally passed that. so what does that mean? it means a number of things. we are seeing death rates, mortality rates go down.

we are seeing case rates stabilize. we had the lowest case rates in the united states of america. over a 7-day period now we have a 1.6% positivity rate state wide. we report today 1,367 cases. still prevalent. still deadly. still a challenge that we need to tackle. and that's why we are mindful, as the mayor said of the imperative and importance of not letting your guard down. not taking off your masks, maintaining your vigilance and accessing once they come up these vaccines. in anticipation and expectation that we do all the above, i will repeat, continuing to wear face coverings, continuing to

access vaccines and continue to administer vaccines in an equitable framework. if we keep the pace, we are moving now beyond the blueprint. we are announcing today that on june 15th, we will be moving beyond the blueprint and we will be getting rid of the colored tiers. we will be moving passed the dimmer switch. we will be getting rid of the blueprint as you know it today. that's on june 15th, if we continue the good work. we anticipate enough vaccines are coming into the state of california, with two and a half million people just last week receiving the vaccine. we anticipate over 30 million people will have been vaccinated at least one dose by the end of the calendar month. with anticipation of doses coming in from the federal government into this month and into may, we can confidently say by june 15th, we can start

to open up as business as usual. subject to ongoing mask wearing and ongoing vigilance. this is a big day in terms of the pandemic and the journey we have been on, as the mayor noted, over the course of the last year. and this is an important milestone today, that 20 million and 4 million equity mark. this is a compliment to all of you. to the mayor, to all the work that's being done by local health officers all up and down the state of california. at the end of the day the vision is realized at the local level. i want to congratulate and applaud all the community partners, the community organizations, all the work being done in a culturally competent manner in every language across state of california, and delivering on the issue of equity. i want to thank the mayor. i want to thank dr. colfax and also dr. galley who led the

charge. we had a blueprint in this state for 31 weeks now. by the way, 16 counties are moving today into less restrictive tiers in that blueprint which is further progress. but no one has been more enthusiastic than moving beyond the blueprint than dr. galley. but soberly, and thoughtfully. led by data, led by disease prevalence, looking day in and day out of hospitalizations and i.c.u.'s, tracking these mutations. and i will close on that point. we are very mindful of the variants and very mindful of mutations. we have sequenced more than any other state the genomic sequencing is second to none. 851 u.k. variants we have sequenced in the state. 10 south african, 35 brazilian variants. close to 9100 west coast

variants and we are also tracking a number of different variants, new one from india which got a little bit of attention this week. this double mutant, double variant and variants from the east coast, including a new york variant. this is really a race, these vaccines against the variants, against the mutations. that's why again i will end as i began, it's incumbent upon all of us, not to announce mission accomplished or put down our guard but that vigilance that got us where we are today, the lowest case rates, positivity rates that is in america. we are seeing bright light at the end of the tunnel. and june 15th, all things being equal we will continue that good work, we will move beyond that blueprint and opening up the economy, business as usual. with that, i am happy to take any questions. and again, just want to thank

everybody for all their extraordinary work. >> thank you, governor. i'm -- >> i'm sorry, over there. >> dar mazerati, question about the coliseum vaccination site. we heard confidence from the president and senator that site could be extended past next week. do you have details today how that might work, particularly the supply of vaccines. >> both sides will remain operational, oakland, rather the alameda site and l.a. at cal state l.a. both are operational, seamless operation. the only changes we won't get the direct allocations of vaccines from the federal government. that's the direct change otherwise no perceptible change in a meaningful way to the public. the issue is constraint. the issue is supply, manufactured supply. we are working with ut county,

northern county. working with alameda county and contra costa county, forming a regional partnership with fema, cal, and matching the allocation with the state allocation of vaccines. we aren't successful of extending beyond the commitment the federal government made. that commitment was the first commitment in the united states, we are very grateful to president biden and vice president harris to their commitment to the state of california. but they made that commitment. they said when that commitment ended, they held to their word and now we will be taking over at least the vaccine supply component and matching it with the counties'. >> thank you for doing this. this is ben christopher with cal matters. you said june 15th, assuming we meet the conditions we will be back to prepandemic business as

usual. does that mean schools k-12 june 15th will be required to open back up or maintain pre-pandemic posture? >> i want kids back in person, in school safely for in-person instruction. we made this crystal clear since we put out a proposal in december. and on june 15th, we anticipate there will be no barrier to getting all of our kids safely back. not just k-12. community colleges. including institutions of higher learning. so on june 15th, the answer to your question is yes, affirmatively we expect our kids back in person instruction, to the extent that june 15th calendar is consistent with any ongoing in-person operations at least k-14. >> there's an expectation, not requirement? >> there's an expectation. the legislature will have more

to say about the expectation. but no barrier to having our kids back in-person instruction. that's the expectation. you will be hearing more about our efforts to more firmly and foundationally advance that cause. >> great, thank you. >> hi, governor, fiona with the mercury news. the june 15th news, what standards about hospital rates, thresholds to make that decision? and secondly, will local jurisdictions be able to maintain stricter rules? >> look, at the end of the day, we will be very mindful of these variations, variants and mutations. we are mindful of disease spread. we will be mindful of hospitalizations. we will watch all of the above. making sure we are meeting the equity marks we set forth. by the way we went from two million vaccines 23 days ago to four million under the equity mark.

we anticipate conservatively, again, that's just assuming an old pace. let's do the conservative pace. two and a half million doses last week by the end of this calendar month, north of 30 million people will be vaccinated with at least one dose in the state. or at least will have administered 30 plus million doses. i want to remind everybody, that in california currently, there are about 32 million people that are eligible to receive a dose of vaccine. so we are getting to a point where the vaccine administration, that's just in a month. extrapolate ten weeks out. we are looking ten weeks out. that our expectation the vast majority of people who would want, in fact everybody who wants a vaccine will have had the dose, the second dose, will have the opportunity to see at least a few weeks of those vaccines in people's arms. so the stability and the

efficacy of those vaccines will be at peak. we anticipate the case rates will stabilize. and we anticipate we will not see a significant increase dm hospitalized patients that have received the vaccine. and that's a met -- metric to which we are marking consideration, as it relates to our broader surveillance. dr. galley, i want you to come up, you can talk a little bit more. we have not put precise numerics to that because we are working with the counties. but we broadly are monitoring at least those categories and five total categories, as it relates to that question. >> thanks, governor and mayor, thanks for hosting us and dr. colfax, thank you for all your hard work. indeed, we will be looking at hospitalizations in particular. we are enjoying low

hospitalizations across the state. you heard today 20 patients hospitalized in san francisco with covid. that's a tremendous number in the face of what we have been through over the last year. but we are particularly concerned about not just the hospitalization numbers but also who is being hospitalized. are those who received the vaccines being hospitalized? we are looking internationally on the east coast and midwest, we are seeing many of those hospitalized today with covid, those who have not yet received the vaccine. the governor's point this is a race, between vaccines and variants and additional cases is key. we will keep a close eye not just on that hospitalization rate and number, but understanding who is in the hospital, and whether those who are vaccinated are the ones who are hospitalized. if that is the case and we see a number of people hospitalized who have seen the vaccine, that's a different level of concern. we will be talking about that, like the governor said with our

local partners. looking at vaccine supply, we often talk about accessibility, ability to get a vaccine in a timely way. so looking at what's reasonable to get a vaccine, a couple weeks from people's interest, to being able to get that vaccine appointment will be a key marker we will be watching closely. taking feedback from our county partners, our pharmacy partners, federally qualified health centers to make sure all individual who's are eligible will be vaccinated in a timely way. looking at that approximately 8-week period. a couple weeks to get the vaccine, or the appointment. and about six weeks further down the road to see both shots administered. and then a couple weeks to begin to see peak antibody response so people will have that protection and can move around the state and counties

with confidence. >> governor, follow-up on the oakland coliseum site. with the state allocating and matching that allocation with the counties, ultimately what's the number, what are the numbers going to be like in terms of the number of people getting vaccinated at that site under the fema plan and under the plan with the state and the counties. >> we are working through the details. again, it's determination of what those two counties can put up and we will match same down in southern california, they are operating about 6,000 a day. they have a couple mobile sites, adding 6,000-7,500 a day, baseline about 42,000 a week. remember, this is not a zero sum game. there is increasing supply from pharmacies coming from direct allocations from the federal government. wal-mart, costco, among others last week, part of the pharmacy program. we are also increasing the

option of centers. le when these two fema sites came in, we were living in a different world. mass vaccine sites represent those sites, roughly 3% of the state wide distribution and allocation of vaccines. so we are in a different place. those sites are important, they are up, they are operational, they are turn-key. we want to keep them up, we have been crystal clear with the federal government about that. we tried to get extra doses, we are competing with 50 other states. for what it's worth i talked to other governors who are envious, we have two sites. the first state to get two sites. vast majority haven't seen gotten one site. that's what we are up against with the federal government. they fulfilled that commitment and now working with the counties to figure out what their doses on. on the basis of this, the reason we can't answer that

question, the question requires new updated information from the federal government. this morning we received word that we will get about 16.5 million doses of pfizer and moderna nationwide. and then a variable on the j& j, we are translating what that means for california and contra costa and alameda. we will figure out our match. >> can we expect that number to be lower? >> i wouldn't expect anything until be work through those numbers. >> regarding mask mandates about a third of the states across the country have lifted their mask mandates or never had them in place. when do you anticipate the state of california lifting that mandate? >> we aren't anticipating in the short run lifting the mandate. for masks it's the most

important non-pharmacological intervention we could have. i want to remeand people this disease continues to be deadly, not only in this state but across the country. it didn't take easter weekend off, or spring break week off. it's as deadly as its ever been. the only thing we have done, suppress the spread, mitigated that spread because of the number of vaccines administered because the ant -- antibodies that have significant increase across the state and country and because of mask wearing. we are committed to extinguishing this disease. and we don't have any short-term goals as it relates to lifting the mask mandate. >> hi, governor, stephanie zero with abc7. a couple questions. a follow-up to what you eluded to a moment ago. how many vaccine doses do you

anticipate california will receive weekly by early may? secondly, given indoor venues will be able to open assuming criteria is met, what is the state doing on fake vaccination cards? >> two weeks ago we received 2.8 million, last week 2.1 million, this week 2.4 million. i just referenced, had a call, governor's call, weekly call, runs the task force for the biden administration. they set out the federal allocations. we are translating that. we just got that a couple hours ago. once that information is, once we receive that detailed information, then we present that to the counties. we present that publicly to you in real-time. i anticipate those numbers to continue to go up. the one variable remains, j&j, the stabilization on pfizer and

moderna we have more confidence in the short run. j&j we have confidence in the long run and medium run. it begins to give way to more confidence in may that j&j will come in more supply. the issue of supply, we have confidence the numbers will continue to tier up and by may we will be in that frame that president biden made clear a few months back when he said by may, every eligible american that wishes to access and get a vaccine will have the ability to schedule that access. and i believe that to be the case in may as well. >> hi governor, andreas with telemundo. are you worried about cases going up in places like alameda? >> we are always mindful. first thing we do, we wake up,

look at case rates, by region. the bay area saw a modest increase in the last number of days. state wide, decrease. put that in perspective. new york had over 6,700, a state half our size. florida over 4,700, much smaller. california less than 1,400. we were 2,400 a few days ago, it bounces back and forth. positivity rate remained 1.7%. 1.6% today. 1.7, 1.8 the last few days. so yes, day everyday we are cautious and mindful. everyday people get vaccinated and these cards go through a race to these variants and race to keep the rates at a minimum. >> hi there, how can you ensure

people from other states who have lax rules about covid don't come into california and reintroduce covid into our population when we are moving towards herd immunity. and secondly, once june 15th passes, could the tier system come back afterwards if our rates go back up. >> look, one thing we are mindful of is, you don't know what you don't know. with these mutations, with the variants, with the reality they are experiencing in places like italy, germany, france, the challenges, they are seeing around the rest of the world. increased cases in other states, 16 plus states have seen pretty significant increases in the last few weeks. you got to be open to argument and interested in evidence. there's always the prospect. we will always be led by data, led by reality and experience

on the ground. if we aren't vigilant, if we don't spike the ball and announce mission accomplished, and the good work we have done, july 15th we will be beyond that blueprint and back to normalcy. but importance of masking, particularly indoors. as it comes to people coming from out-of-state, we are aligning efforts with the cdc and recommendations. just last week we made an update to our state guidelines as it relates to travel restrictions. we had a 120 mile restriction. we broadened that state wide. we had specific language updated in that guidance we put out last week as it relates to out-of-state travelers and put up guidelines as it relates to travelers, those seeking to join conventions in this state and requirements around vaccinations and testing. the concern is real.

we maintain strict guidelines in that space. and we will continue to monitor based upon what's actually happening. not what we want to happen, but actually what is truly occurring in real-time. >> hi mayor, megan from the chronicle. come april 15th, will the supply be able to meet the demand for vaccines and will people be able to sign up early before april 15th to get the vaccine? the second question is, i know alameda county previously said they aren't able to take over the coliseum by sunday. will the state be leading the effort or? >> fema -- thank you for the question. i really want to clear this once and for all. the site will continue to operate. fema will continue to provide the support. they have been crystal clear about that for some time. there's just been ambiguity. i'm appreciating the nuance. about one thing, that's supply.

direct allocation of supply. we fought hard to get that supply extended. they couldn't do it. with that in mind, we will figure out the supply. but all the money that they supported that operation and backed the operation with, will continue to flow. all the personnel we need will continue to flow and support that operation. we have augmented our efforts beyond just that site and will continue to increase the total number of available opportunities for people to access these life saving vaccines. as it relates to again, the details, as it relates to supply, we will be forthcoming when we have more clarity. hopefully this afternoon, once we are able to assess that three-week window, in terms of the supply coming in to the state. and forgive me, the first part

of your question? >> sure. will residents 16 and older be able to sign up for the vaccine before april 15. >> yeah, you can go to the "my turn" app. the reason, this is a nuance question. the answer is yes with the my turn. other counties may still be working through old systems but the idea is to get everybody scheduled. let's make this crystal clear, by april 15th, if millions of people try to get a vaccine, it will take some time. it will take a number of weeks, it will extend perhaps over a month until we have the available supply. again, we are still constrained by supply. the eligibility will open up so the opportunity to access will be made available to everybody 16 and over. by the way, we hope to drop that eligibility from 16 down to 12 once the f.d.a. approves the eligibility for

12-16-year-olds. so we will try to mark and progress in parallel with the cdc. but again, i caution everybody. on april 15th, we don't anticipate a substantial increase in available supply beyond what we are receiving this week. modest, but not substantial. >> hey governor, jeremy white with politico. i think that will be the expectation, the state of the state speech was focused on recovery. there are a lot of ambitious bills, fracking, child care. is there capacity or appetite to take on some of these issues this year, particularly those that could be economically disruptive or something the legislature and your team need to be focused on economic recovery.

>> economic recovery to me, is significant, not narrow. i get the broader point. we haven't backed off on making transformational change. we're not backing away from our efforts with cal aim. a once in a generation opportunity to completely reimagine our substance abuse, behavioral health. we weren't timid. we were quite bold in january. anticipating a modest surplus that's grown substantially. surplus well in excess of 25 billion today. that doesn't even include the 26 plus billion we will be receiving from the federal government from the stimulus. we want to be as bold as the khal -- challenges are big in this state. we will we are mindful a lot of the surplus, not a lot. vast majority is one time in nature. we will maintain our fiscal stance and prudence. we have the highest reserves in state history. we will be paying down more

money in potential obligations than any other time in our state's history. our bond rating is the highest it's been in over two decades. we will continue to do what we can to set aside dollars for a rainy day. but we are mindful that economic recovery has to be focused on equity. and those disproportionately impacted by this pandemic. we will continue as we have in the last number of months to prioritize and target our relief efforts and recovery efforts in that manner. but no, the answer to your question, jeremy, is we are committed to being bold and transformational. but we are also mindful that we cannot oblige or obligate dollars over the long term that we don't have. and so we will continue to also be pragmatic in that respect. >> thank you, governor. i had a quick follow-up on your

earlier response about the mask mandate which you said you have no intention to get rid of in the short-term, the virus being deadly. if we get to the point hospitalizations are low, might you consider flipping the mask mandate? >> we are open to argument. we are interested in data. the disease will make the determination. it won't be political whim, won't be determined outside on the sunny west side of san francisco in the early part of august. this disease continues to be rampant, continues to be deadly. you are seeing disease spikes and surges in other parts of the country, driven by youthful exuberance, literally and figuratively as well as these variants. all these things are factors including the lived experience around the rest of the world. we are very sober about all this, we don't subscribe to the point of view as some of the other states.

there are few, you know, baseball fans i take a back seat to. i was disappointed to see some of those images, tens of thousands of strangers packed into a stadium without any mask mandate on opening day the other day or yesterday. one of those states. that's not the lead we are going to follow in the state of california. we will follow the lead of dr. galley and colfax and others and continue to be sober and mindful of this disease and this pandemic. >> last question. hi governor, this is -- >> by the way, the mayor is still here. she is always available for any questions. >> forgive me, mayor. >> god bless you. >> hi governor, this is -- just one question. because people who over the age of 16 can be injected since april 15th, can you talk about support we have seen from the

federal government? >> for people over 16. support from the federal government that's come for them? >> can you talk to support we receive from federal government. >> the broader support specific to the vaccines? >> yeah. >> well, i mean, the support we are receiving from the federal government is extraordinary. i just want to note that it's come in many different ways. we are getting direct support for these two mask vaccination sites that will continue in the state of california, both in alameda and l.a. that support will continue in terms of personnel and reimbursements in partnership with fee -- fema and office of emergency services. the counties, l.a., contra costa and alameda county. direct financial support for direct vaccines.

again, i will remind people, you can get a vaccine regardless of your immigration status. your ability to pay. vaccines are free. i want to encourage everybody 50 and over today to get a vaccine. on april 15th, everybody 16 and over will be eligible for a vaccine. we are in a race against these variants and i want to encourage everybody who hasn't availed themselves to do so. the sooner we do that we truly can turn the page, move away from this blueprint by june 15th. continue to do what you have done to get us where we are today. among the lowest positivity rates in the country. i'm mindful always of these mutations. i want to again thank dr. gally and colfax and mayor breed for extraordinary leadership. thank you to the partnerships at u.c.s.f., community college and one of the larger vaccination sites, not only in san francisco but northern california.

we appreciate everybody being out here today. thank you..

>> my name is angela wilson and i'm an owner of the market i worked at a butcher for about 10

years and became a butcher you i was a restaurant cook started in sxos and went to uc; isn't that so and opened a cafe we have produce from small farms without small butcher shops hard for small farms to survive we have a been a butcher shop since 1901 in the heights floor and the case are about from 1955 and it is only been a butcher shot not a lot of businesses if san francisco that have only been one thing. >> i'm all for vegetarians if you eat meat eat meat for quality and if we care of we're in a losing battle we need to support butcher shops eat less

we sell the chickens with the head and feet open somebody has to make money when you pay $25 for a chicken i guarantee if you go to save way half of the chicken goes in the enlarge but we started affordable housing depends on it occurred to us this is a male field people said good job even for a girl the interesting thing it is a women's field in most of world just here in united states it is that pay a man's job i'm an encountered woman and raise a son and teach i am who respect woman i consider all women's who work here to be impoverished and strong in san francisco labor is high our cost of good ideas we

seal the best good ideas the profit margin that low but everything that is a laboring and that's a challenge in the town so many people chasing money and not i can guarantee everybody this is their passion. >> i'm the - i've been cooking mile whole life this is a really, really strong presence of women heading up kitchens in the bay area it is really why i moved out here i think that we are really strong in the destroy and really off the pages kind of thing i feel like women befrp helps us to get back up i'm definitely the only female here i fell in love i love setting up and love knowing were

any food comes from i do the lamb and that's how i got here today something special to have a female here a male dominated field so i think that it is very special to have women and especially like it is going at it you know i'm a tiny girl but makes me feel good for sure. >> the sad thing the building is sold i'm renegotiating my lease the neighborhood wants us to be here with that said, this is a very difficult business it is a constant struggle to maintain freshness and deal with what we have to everyday it is a very high labor of

business but something i'm proud of if you want to get a job at affordable housing done nasal you need a good attitude and the jobs on the bottom you take care of all the produce and the fish and computer ferry terminal and work your way up employing people with a passion for this and empowering them to learn