should be returned. and, i'm fine with the three of four you were suggesting. i do think david corpman does -- i think brings this sort of medical perspective and given that so many of the veterans issues that are most pressing have to do with health care and then with sort of the connection between health care and homelessness that he was talking about. i do think he's a very strong candidate and if we don't put him on now, i think we should try to put him on soon. as we have more appointments. >> chairman: yeah. and the great thing about this commission is that all the terms are staggered.

so if you actually look at our cheat sheet, you can see who's expiring in 2022 and who's expiring in 2023. and who's expiring in 2024. so it really is rolling expiration. so i hear you loud and clear, mr. vice-chairman. supervisor chan, i'm sorry my chat box is broken. but the floor is yours. >> supervisor chan: thank you, chair peskin. i concur with vice chair mandelman. i do want to say i was most definitely just really impressed by both dr. corpman and his really his qualifications, but i am definitely very moved by the commitment, but mr. chittavong, just, you know, how he has done

all these services leading up to this and really being committed to the work and that's really what i look to when and attending all the commission meetings and that's, you know, speaks volumes to the qualifications as well. i do see that, you know, during throughout the public comment, i think that's part of why we have public comment is that we learn about what is, you know, from the perspective of the community things that we haven't learned about and not be able to learn just from peoples' résumés and their own testimony about why they're interested in the position and, with that, is the reason why i will be supporting that decision today reappointing, you know, mr. ishikata because

mr. ishikata has thoroughly talked about the challenges that face the commission and i think it's critical for someone that can continue to work on that. i do support mr. nick rusanoff because of the public comment and support that flooded in and for mr. chittavong because of the commitment he has already made and i really look forward to seeing dr. corpman for his role in the commission and bringing his expertise to the table. and i look forward to seeing him appointed to the commission. thank you. >> chairman: is that a motion, supervisor chan?

someone yes, indeed. >> chairman: okay. so that would be for seat two, george ishikata succeeding himself for seat 4. jason chittavong and seat 12 nicholas rusanoff. motion made by supervisor chan. on that motion, mr. clerk, a roll call to send this to the full board with recommendation, roll call please. >> clerk: yes. on that motion. [roll call] the motion passes without objection. >> chairman: thank you, colleagues. thank you to all of the applicants and members of the public and this committee is adjourned.

>> van ness avenue runs from market street to bay street in san francisco. south vanness runs from south of market to cesar chavez street. originally residential after the 1906 earthquake it was used as a fire break.

many car dealerships and businesses exist on vanness today with expansion of bus lanes. originally marlet street was named after james vanness, seventh mayor of san francisco from 1855 to 1856. vanness heavy are streets in santa cruz, los angeles and fresno in his honor. in 1915 streetcars started the opening of the expo. in 1950s it was removed and replaced by a tree-lined median. it was part of the central freeway from bayshore to hayes valley. it is part of uses 101. it was damaged during the 1989 earthquake. in 1992 the elevator part of the roadway was removed. it was developed into a surface boulevard. today the vanness bus rapid

transit project is to have designated bus lanes service from mission. it will display the history of the city. van ness avenue.

>> the city of san jose and i'm honored to be joined by friends

and colleagues as part of the california big city mayor's coalition united for a common and urgent cause that is well after this pandemic has passed and an even pandemic will persist and that is homelessness. our city mayors no far too well that affects 161,000 of our fellow californians we have convened today. this year's budget presents california with a once in a generation opportunity to dramatically reduce homelessness. if we can muster the collective courage and will to stand up for our most vulnerable neighbors. today, we stand together to issue a clearing call for historic investment against

california's shameful scourge against homelessness. we sent a letter to our governor and legislative leadership encouraging that they commit a substantial share of this year's more than $40 billion budgetary surplus toward a multi-year funding strategy towards this crisis. a commitment of $4 billion per year. we call for flexibility of dollars to prevent homelessness to triple down on successful initiative such as governor newsol's project home to get more of our neighbors off the streets. sustained successful models of emergency transitional permanent housing, tiny homes and many other initiatives that have emerged in our city. $4 billion per year over the next half decade. this commitment would be bold, part of this pandemic, the state of california had never

spent more than a billion dollars to address homelessness, but we stand together to say we need to treat homelessness like the crisis that it is. we have met with the governor and legislative leadership to discuss our options and opportunities, we've pressed our case and they have responded. in mid april, our senate leader rose and the california senate issued its budget plan called "build it back boldly." they called for precisely $4 billion in investment and homelessness solutions in each of the next five years for a total of $20 billion and just yesterday, the assembly released its budget and their colleagues similarly called for a $20 billion investment spread over the next half decade. we express our immense

gratitude to our leadership and staff for recognizing this unique moment and for their continued partnership in this fight. and fortunately, we have a governor who gets it and who has already made historic commitments towards housing solutions and many others have forged a set of initiatives. project "room key" serving more than 35,000 homeless residents. and certainly this is greater progress than we've ever seen, but we have much more work to do. i want to thank the amazing leaders who are about to speak after me and who i'm honored to call my colleagues and friends and enable timely flexible dollars they use to address the

unique needs of their cities and to do so quickly. we'll be displaying this in the backgrounds behind us. behind me, next to this freeway, that is the 101, the emergency housing community we built here and just opened in recent weeks. although, building apartments in the bay area typically cost about $700,000 per apartment building, we've shown how we can utilize and neglect publicland and innovative like this one in less than six months. we've built three of these already in the last year and a fourth one will be under way shortly. it's my great honor to introduce my friend and colleague he's just announced

an epic commitment to address homelessness. welcome eric garcetti. >> thank you so much. and to this incredible group of brother and sister mayors across the state. to come across partisan, bipartisan gentlemen graphy and it was in 2017, maybe 2016 when i was chairing this group and we were the big 11 before we became the big 13 and so glad to have both stockton and riverside as part of this organization now where we were with the last governor saying this homelessness thing is pretty big, we'd love to see the state get involved and we all love jerry brown. but we wouldn't quit. and we convinced him grudgingly because he only spent money grudgingly, but happily in the end knowing cities can turn around solutions to

homelessness immediately. we had a governor who had as a mayor tackled homelessness, governor newsome saw that and tackled it and then doing cutting edge work which is now making a national splash with programs like "operation home key" and los angeles resulted with the state buying 15 buildings and on our own another five that inspired us to get the twenty buildings we purchased in just three months. this is the biggest crisis in california. we see them under our bridges and, unfortunately, it's not just there anymore in the shadows. it's in front of businesses and homes. it is everywhere. it's the first thing people talk about and the second thing they talk about. and long after this pandemic is done, the pandemic of homelessness let's be clear what the consequences are and the worst cases, people die from homelessness. it's time for california at a

moment of a historic surplus to speak to our values and to step up and i know we have the dream team with this governor and two legislative leaders and their fellow colleagues. this is why we were overjoyed to see both president and the speaker put together the support of $4 billion a year to have a 5-year commitment, $20 billion to go straight into california's communities and in those concentrated areas of california's biggest cities to make sure we continue that momentum. behind each one of us, you see how we spend it. it's for shelter, permanent housing, it's for everything we need to address the complexity of homelessness. and, typically, those who are listening from the media are used to folks from cities or folks from an issue area coming to sacramento and saying "solve this problem for us.

here's our empty hat and hand." we're not coming with empty hats in hand. and pockets full of investments. in los angeles, what that meant and when i became manager of the state, we're not lucky like london to have a county and city together was just $10 million. in the budget i released last week, it's $955 million. part of that is state money. part of that is local measure that we passed and part of that is every extra ounce that we can find in this budget because this is our top priority. add that up between 13 cities. we are putting billions of dollars of money on the line and saying match us. meet this. get it right. it's not an either or. it is housing. it is shelter. yes, it is services. it is also trusting that cutting through red tape works when you empower local communities to make the decisions and spend quickly the money and we have a record and

the data to show of the dollars effectively quickly, and happily being spent in our communities. i want to hand it over to my brother mayor in san diego who is one of our newest mayors, but also one of our boldest leaders. you know him from his state legislative work. by ty gloria, the floor is yours. let's get this done. >> thank you, mayor garcetti. thank you my fellow mayor who is are here today. to help this issue in housing and homelessness. you were saying a moment ago, it resinated for me. we were leading during the pandemic and economic slowdown. it is striking to me the thing i'm asked about the most is what are you doing about homelessness. a moment where their health and health of their loved ones. fearful about their finances and the finances of loved ones

that this is the issue they talked the most about and that's precisely why this group of leaders in cities across the state. bipartisan leaders say we need to continue state assistance in order to be able to respond to that about what we're doing about homelessness. i want to acknowledge the leadership of our governor and my former colleagues and my former speaker or the current speaker, my former legislative leader anthony rendon and $20 billion over multiple years understanding that we can't solve this problem in one fiscal year. it then takes the repeated commitment of state, federal, and local leadership to get the job done. now, eric was talking about bringing some hard hats to the table, i'm bringing some [inaudible] to the table. my former colleagues in the legislature. we really want to see how we're

bringing these dollars to work. to make sure that the dollars that californians entrust their state government with that those dollars are actually getting the job done. and, i'll tell you down here in san diego, we've been working extremely hard to change the status quo on homelessness. to move away from shiny objects, instead, invest in proven strategies that are housing first spoken, human centered and compassionate in their approach. i want to tell you about a couple key stories. number one, we converted our city convention center into a temporary homeless shelter during the pandemic. collaborations between the city, the county, and nonprofit partners, we were able toll house over 4,000 san diegans. 43 families housed through that process. it really shows what happens when we choose to make this a

priority and tapped with the urgency that californians are asking. through that process, we were able to vaccinate many of our homeless in our san diego community making sure our worst fears of outbreak and our population did not come. more importantly for our friends, we used a significant amount of home key dollars to purchase two extended stay hotels and convert them into new, permanent supportive homes for four hundred high need clients. you can see one of those hotels behind me. the 332 homes we were able to build of acquired $2.3 million of annual funds to keep people housed. the housing unit is helpful, but as my fellow mayors know, it's the services that keep people housed for the long term. the city of san diego is prepared, ready, anxious to be able to acquire more of these hotels to convert them to supportive housing to get people off the streets for

good. we need flexible funding as well to provide those services to say with a straight face to our residents and to our bosses that we will keep people housed and keep them off the street permanently. i will just tell you when we follow the housing first strategies, when we invest in more housing, permanent housing, we know that we can get people off the streets and we can use innovative concepts that are seen behind so many of my colleagues here to see even more. emergency beds, safe parking program. dollars entrusted to us by the state that are getting results. and so it's my colleagues in sacramento who are diffeying up the budget as we speak and doing the difficult things like siting those housing projects, by executing the contracts to

get the housing done. in my proposed budget, we are making an unprecedented commitment to this particular problem. we can do even more. so we are calling upon our state leaders for their continued partnership to take advantage of this once in a generation opportunity to fund the housing and the services that we know work for people experiencing homelessness and to make a lasting impact on this crisis that i believe all of us were elected to solve. so, with those comments, it gives me great pleasure to turn the mic over to my friend up in san francisco. some people that's the second largest city in the state. i'll remind them it is san diego. my friend, mayor london breed. >> thank you, mayor gloria. and, thank you so much everyone for joining us here today and for coming together on these very important issues that impact our cities. here in san francisco, we've been working really hard to build housing, more shelters,

and to connect people with the services they need. we've developed over 9,000 permanent housing placements and we created thousands more, but in our last point in time count, we still have over 5,000 people who are facing unsheltered homelessness. the reality is not one city can do this alone. not one city can fully address this problem because it's clearly a statewide crisis. we all need more resources to truly face this challenge of the scale that's needed to make a real difference. and, we need to acknowledge that this problem won't be fixed overnight. it will require a sustained commitment over multiple years. this is a challenge that's developed over decades and our response will take multiple years to really solve what is truly an embedded problem. we need to build more housing, of course, provide rental assistance for people in need and create connections to

employment, education, health care and behavioral resources. there's no one solution to homelessness. it requires a number of different approaches and many of them take time. that's why we're all here today. we're calling for a commitment from the state to provide the resources we need to make a difference over multiple years. there's so much to do. we have to reactivate our shelter systems after covid. to house people from shelter-in-place hotels and continue to move people off the streets. some of us have been able to purchase hotels and make them permanent housing options for formally homeless people. that has been incredible. has a lot to do with project room key. in our reaction with this pandemic if we were provided the resources, it can be done. i look forward to making sure we have partners and resources

and support in the state. and, with that, i'd like to introduce mayor jerry drier from fresno. thank you. >> thank you, mayor breed. i appreciate it. again, jerry dyer mayor of the city of fresno. i can't say enough about the unprecedented partnership that exists between california's largest cities, governor newsome and our state legislaturers and it is a crisis. this partnership is allowing us to rescue our most vulnerable population providing them with a safe environment to live. much needed services and ultimately hope for a future, a better future. and, in fresno, we've used "project home key" dollars to

purchase and operate five motels to house and provide services to our homeless population here. these motels have allowed us to initiate what we refer to as "project offramp" in our city. it is an offramp from our freeways and life of homelessness and an onramp to services. our freeways which quite frankly once reasonable urban campgrounds are very close to becoming homeless-free in fresno thanks to "project home key" and our state legislative leaders and governor newsome. however, this success story is only the beginning. it is our plan to take project offramp and replicate it city wide and neighborhood by neighborhood. in order to do so, we need long-term flexible funding and

to provide services and alternative housing models for our homeless population. absent that, we ultimately displacing homelessness from one neighborhood to the next neighborhood without real solutions. with the state's budget surplus and one time federal stimulus dollars, i believe we have a unique opportunity to make transformative investments putting an end to homelessness once and for all. i urge our state legislative leaders and governor newsome to continue with what i believe the most meaningful partnership in our state's history and to be able to allocate the $20 billion in order for us to address homelessness over the next five years. and so it's my honor at this time to be able to introduce a long-time state leader, a senator pro temp for seven

years and that is mayor darrell steinberg from the city of sacramento. darrell. >> have to unmute. thank you very much, mayor dyer. i really appreciate that. i am sitting virtually as it is virtual in one of sacramento's sprung shelters. a quality facility where we have the capacity to house up to 100 women suffering from homelessness and as my colleagues have said, it's one of the many strategies that we as big city mayors are employing to combat this seemingly intractable issue of homelessness. it's not intractable. it just requires will and resources. i'm worried about the big city mayors because i want to make

sure those listening understand how impactful this group of mayors has been and continues to be. and mayor garcetti to continue that history it was this organization that for the first time convinced excessive governors and the legislature to direct resources directly to cities to combat homelessness. because we're not health and human services agencies and yet homelessness as is evident is our most significant urban problem. i was thinking about last night and pride and how he talked about seizing the moment and how he talked about a rare opportunity. to make a fundamental change that changes the course of history. to make a change that affects

in a positive way. the lives of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people. an opportunity to prove the impossible is possible. this is the moment in california to take that and make homelessness dramatically different in all of our cities. it need not be hopelessness for we know what works. we are doing it. we are getting thousands of people off the street and now with the additional resources to be able to help those dealing with rent struggles and to be able to prevent evictions and to be able to prevent people from losing their homes. with $20 billion of state resources which is about ten times more than we have ever gotten even with heap and hap

and "project room key" and "home key" what we are demonstrating in realtime works and imagine a californian with these kind of investments, people breathing a sigh of relief because we've done the humane thing. we've done the right thing on behalf of suffering people and our business communities in our neighborhoods. not that we cure it, but that we make it dramatically and visibly better. that's the moon shot we have here in california over these next couple of weeks. i agree with mayor ricardo and the other mayors. so grateful for the legislative leadership for putting forth that $20 billion proposal and we know the governor, whatever the number is is also going to go big as he has in the past. let's get this done and let's

start getting more people indoors. thank you. it's my honor now to turn it over to my friend, our mayor, demonstrating that homelessness knows no partisan boundaries and that's the mayor of bakersfield, karen dough. >> thank you, mayor steinberg. my fellow mayors and i want to take the backgrounds that are behind them right now and have our homeless brothers and sisters have a background in their own home in their own office like the one behind me. combatting homelessness in our state continues to be a paramount issue. requires a broad range of resources for persons who find themselves in the most vulnerable situation of their lives. our california cities are on

the front line of addressing the homeless crisis. we've demonstrated success in adding emergency bed space creating permanent housing solutions and now we must address and sustain the next phase of the challenge including providing housing, supporting services for severely mentally ill and drug addicted persons. we are so grateful for the state's funding that's enabled bakersfield to double our emergency shelter bed space. yet, we find many of our homeless brothers and sisters on the street. we need ongoing resources to change the plight of jonathan, sharika, and karen who i met on the street yesterday and this morning. today, we're calling on state leaders to prioritize the much

needed, ongoing flexible investments that will empower and address the youth challenges before us and sustain our progress. a $20, $20 billion funding investment will change the futures of the many jonathans, the many sharikas and the many karen-anns in our great state. we are our brother's keeper. let us build back boldly to improve the lives of all californians. and now it's my pleasure to introduce anaheim mayor harry sadue from the happiest city in california. mayor sadue. >> thank you, mayor. good morning everyone.

i'm anaheim mayor harry sadu. anaheim has been a leader in addressing homelessness for more than six years. since two thousand seventeen, we have opened four homeless shelters, including two temporary facilities that continue today. these efforts were assisted by homeless emergency aid program funding. working with u.s. district judge david coder, we have cleared inhumane homeless encampments from the parks, and freeway underpasses. by maximizing city, state, and federal resources. but we are far from finished. we are working with the salvation army under long-term facility call center of hope as you see behind me.

it will include shelter beds, supportive housing, health care and drug treatment. this public private partnership will be a game-changer for anaheim and orange county. you can see that these efforts in anaheim have proven to be a stronger turn on investment for california and we have made a great gain. but these are, there are still too many homeless and the need for affordable housing is great. and this crisis is bigger than anaheim. with ongoing flexible support with state partners to meet this challenge and change lives. now, it's my pleasure to introduce riverside mayor patricia lock douzen. >> thank you, mayor sadu. one of the newest mayors in the big city mayor coalition, i

appreciate the power that we have in our collective voice. so i have really appreciated being able to be part of this group and i want to echo the sentiment of my fellow mayors. i know we all want to thank our state legislatures and governors for being proactive. we don't often have to seek them out, they come to us and they listen which i appreciate so much and like mayor gloria said i think it's true with most of us that they've made it clear homelessness is one of the greatest challenges of our time and leaders must rise to this occasion. we must rise to meet this challenge. and, you heard from every mayor here. each city faces its own unique

but as you've also heard much more work remains to be done. we all know uniquely that the crisis of homelessness transcends our individual cities. the funding that we're asking for for the legislature and that they have now budgeted gives us a unified front from the state things that we all need not just the beds, but mental health services. without ongoing funding, our efforts, our momentum will be solved and we won't be able to move forward. now the city of riverside has a

proven track record of using direct funding from the state in an innovative and prudent manner. we are often the ones who roll up our sleeves and get to work because we've not always been included in things. we've worked very hard to spend our money frugally and with great impact. this million dollars proposal will allow riverside to support long-term solutions. such as "project home key" or nontraditional models. this is the first of its kind in southern california and has provided a model that other cities have emulated and it's also where i met powerful paul this past week. he is is a pro boxer who is now getting into permanent supportive housing and he's very grateful for the work we

have done here. so while we remain certain from recovering from this pandemic, we must also be equally certain and optimistic in our ability to meet the crisis of homelessness in our city. and, with this funding, i'm hopeful. we just have a sense of optimism here and we can begin to move the needle and make a change and i'm pleased to be part of this historic day today. with that, i want to turn it over to the mayor of santa ana. >> thank you, mayor. i'm proud to stand with well virtually stand with all the mayors here on this call. so i'm not going to repeat what was said because i think a lot of the theme has already been articulately made. i just want to say that one thing we all can agree on as mayors and staff is that the

buck stops with us and we get those tough questions and demands and we know that here, for us, what we've found most interesting was that when we were talking about different issues like public safety and now public health, homelessness is still holding higher than either of those two critical issues that we deal with, so we know it's on the minds and hearts of many of our fellow residents. and so, for us, i know what we've tried to do is make sure we invest intelligently and we're looking at the background in the front of which is a permanent supportive housing project and we do a lot of service providing there, not only spaces and placements, but also wrap around services and, you know, one of the things i wanted to talk to you about is that santa ana's in orange county where 80% latino. many of our residents live below the poverty line.

this is also an equity issue when we talk about homelessness. we want to deliver those services to unsheltered residents and population. but, at the same time, we want to create a quality of life that's going to be proud for our low income communities of color to be able to thrive in and that's the fairness that they deserve and that's something that we have to deliver and be conscious of. so i know that when we talk about, you know, $20 billion's a big number. we have to have a proportional response to that issue. it's something that we know as mayors, it's not going to be a long-time lump sol approach. it's a multi-year effort that we have to all work together on and i'm proud of all the efforts we're doing collectively, but we all have unique communities and orange county and the minds of others may seem like -- and harry can speak to this, it's depicted as an affluent county.

you see some real despair and that's where we have to use this money intelligently to address those things and so i'm really proud to say and we're blessed to be living in a state that i think there's an understanding and there's humanity that we all want to deliver these services in. but, i think the moment is now and i think that we all have to, you know, ban together and use this opportunity and use it wisely because, look, if it goes away, it can be spent or miss spent other places and i think all of us are saying we can do things intelligently together and cohesively and make the state, again, one of the best places to live in and a place that i've grown up in myself. to the extent i'm completely supportive of what was said out of the effort that's going to be requested, we're grateful to the governor and his staff for being able to work with us. so let me go ahead and just because i know we're short on time. i want to turn it over to my

friend and other newly elected mayor from the great city of stockton, mayor kevin lincoln. kevin, the floor is yours. >> thank you, mayor. and, again, just thank you to my fellow mayors here for your leadership. the image that you see behind me is the image of count center studios here in stockton, california. this location was formerly a hotel that was converted. as a result of "project home key" and units that were provided to our shelter. over 80% of stockton residents view homelessness affecting the quality of life for all stocktonians. and over 50% are experiencing behavioral health challenges in the areas of mental health and substance abuse disorder. the need to expand wrap around services, emergency shelter capacity, transitional and

permanent housing opportunities has never been greater. the fundamental allocate -- the $20 billion funding allocations to our cities would help us take bold actionable steps to mitigate homelessness by addressing the root cause of homelessness in our communities and bring healing to unsheltered residents. it is imperative that our cities have access to increased levels of flexible funding from the state to adequately address the crisis through more positive initiatives like "project home key," community outreach efforts and ultimately homeless prevention. once again, this flexible funding allocation for homelessness would provide us with the opportunity to meet the immediate needs in our city. at this time, i'd like to turn it over to mayor shaft of oakland, california. >> thank you, mayor lincoln.

i believe mayor shaft will be joining us momentarily. we can proceed with questions and perhaps come back if mayor shaft is able to jump on. so we welcome questions from anyone in the media to any of the members. >> mayor shaft is here now. >> great. welcome. >> hi, i apologize. >> from the great city of oakland, i want to welcome my colleague and friend from across the bay mayor libby shaft. >> thank you so much, i know my job is to wrap us up and send us home. the state of california has made an amazing impact in our city in bending the curve to start to address this moral outrage that is homelessness. i'm sure you heard from all my colleagues there is nothing that our residents care more about than this. in oakland, the state's assistance has helped us double our shelter capacity. that means double the number of

people that we have been able to get off of the streets and allow them to sleep with a roof over their heads. it's allowed us to advance innovations in shelters like our cabin communities, our safe rv parks. we also have used the "home key program" to do miracles. i don't think anybody imagines that we could create permanent affordable housing for our homeless so rapidly using existing buildings and not just hotels and motels. in oakland, we converted a former college dormitory into housing and bought single-family homes to advance a very innovative model of shared housing for our formally homeless seniors. it's truly beautiful. we know that this problem -- we know how to fix this problem. each of our jurisdictions have

done detailed analysis, have regional plans in the bay area, all homes just unveiled their regional action plan. and in alameda county, the second largest county in the bay area, we also just released this week a detailed systems analysis that shows exactly how we can end homelessness. we know how to do it, we just need the resources. $20 billion is an appropriate, large investment in california's largest problem. it is something as mayors are

this request. >> thank you, mayor libby shaft. as members of the media can see, we have a great lineup but

it's wonderful having a great clean-up hitter like mayor libby shaft to really drive us home. so the message is very clear. we're happy to take questions from members of the media to any of the big city mayors here today. >> absolutely. thank you, mayor. we're going to start with chris win from abc 7. chris, you should be able to speak now. >> great. thank you so much, rachel. chris win from san francisco. this question is for san jose mayor licardo. this would be a big investment. what do you say to people who are on the fence that it will be money well spent. and, secondly, for mayor breed, some have the notion if you build it they will come. for those who might come here in search of housing and services. first, let's start with mayor

licardo? >> that's, chris. it's no question it's a big investment. when we emerge from this pandemic, this will remain our biggest problem and the evidence is clear that we haven't spent nearly enough addressing this crisis. we believe this budget surplus will be something on the order of $40 billion, perhaps more. obviously, the numbers change as we get closer to the final decision, but spending half of a surplus on the biggest problem we face in california and making that commitment last for a half decade, that's money well spent. mayor breed. i think -- >> mayor breed had to jump off for a scheduling conflict. chris, we'll connect you with her office after this. my apologies. >> great. thank you, chris.

>> next question comes from telemundo sacramento. her question is the money will be used to continue the existing programs or to create a state program that will be implemented in every city and only the cities in this petition will have access to the money or will be distributed to every city. >> i'm sorry, the question was how will the money be distributed? >> correct. >> yeah. again, i welcome any of my colleagues to jump in. we know that the funding formulas from the state have typically allocated dollars to counties and because of the leadership of predecessors like mayor darrell steinberg and eric garcetti we now have direct allocation to the cities. obviously, we'd love to have even larger allocations to the cities. we know this is going to be a partnership. cities and counties working

together because we each have critical roles to play. homelessness is worse and that is in our big cities. mayor steinberg. >> i'll just try just on the question of how the money will be allocated. what we seek is maximum flexibility, to be able to balance both the capital that's necessary to build whatever kind of structures we need to bring people under a roof, but then secondly and mayor shaft is absolutely correct, the five-year piece of this is important. it enables us to use flexible money for operations and to be able to spread that money out over five years. it's a combination of the capital and the operation that creates the magic that allows people to regain their lives off the streets. >> thank you, mayor steinberg. anyone else like to respond?

okay. >> i'd just add that this is -- we're not asking for a new program. we all know what the proven strategies are. our issue is scaling them and so this is not a new state program. it is investing in evidence-based strategies to prevent and end homelessness and the flexibility allows californians to get more bang for their buck. each one of us knows the investments we have made locally and where that added state dollar is going to have the biggest impact. that's what's so important about this request. >> thanks. i have a question from christina kim from ks. how many funds would san diego county expect to get and what programs or projects would you want to prioritize? >> appreciate the question.

like our chair licardo mentioned, last year, home key dollars, we were able to receive over $30 million having housing for over 400 san diegans. that's a budget decision that will be made by others. where i would like to see dollars, i would like to see the number of growing supportive housing units in our city. that's how you solve homelessness. that's what we did with the hotels. we are prepared to acquire hotels. we can also help provide gap funding. things that city council has already authorized. get more deeply affordable units, work with our county. i had a long meeting very early this morning with the county of san diego trying to coordinate our federal relief dollars. that probably looks like more

detox beds, more recoup and care beds. the kind of niche spaces that we're looking with super sick people on the streets. it's the permanent housing that addresses the issues in the long run. some of these intermediate beds in between. everything's on the table and what i would refer to is look at our city's homelessness plan. the full implementation of that plan will require $1.9 billion. you understand very clearly why i'm here today and so strongly in support of this proposal. it will help us get much closer to the interventions in that plan. it will reduce homelessness by half in the next couple of years in san diego. >> thanks. eric, you should be able to speak now. >> hello, my name is eric galicia. i'm the editor of the local college over here. my question is for mayor

lock-dawson. in terms of the spending that riverside implements, how would you go about that when it comes to the fires that we've been seeing in the river bottom and other parts of the city? and, also, you campaigned on tackling homelessness through a regional approach, so if, you know, do you plan to use some of the funds at river side we get to help out our neighboring cities with homelessness? >> well, thanks for the question, eric. i appreciate that. both of those questions are related to each other, but i will tell you fires aren't necessarily a homeless related problem. i mean, some of it can be, but this money, we will use for most likely not just housing,

but services. we're going to bring services to this region. and, also, we're already working with a regional coalition right now and we've made a plan to tackle these kinds of things where we are working with our surrounding cities, we're working with the county. we're working with the state and we have a plan to address not only the fires in the river bottom but also just the folks that are down there and getting them into housing and getting the services that they need. so the money will be used wisely as it has in the past. as you know, we have in riverside here, the office of homeless solutions. on there, you can see our dash board and we've planned to use that money to just build on the programs as mayor shaft said. build on the programs that are successful. we know what works, so we just need to make sure we have the funding to continue that work. >> thank you, mayor. >> thank you. we have megan.

megan, you should be allowed to speak now. please tell us your outlet as well. >> thank you, this is megan with los angeles magazine. my question is for mayor garcetti. this request comes as you know at this time in the federal lawsuit, mayor, you had said after he issued this injunction that you would still hope to sit down and work something out with him. his order on the stay request sunday night opens the door for that. have you or anyone else at city hall talked with the judge this week, and, if so, how did those discussions go? >> i can't speak for everybody, but i was pleased to see him back off of the order and to sit down with us which we've never not wanted to do and engaging and making promises and meeting those promises. i just said stay out of the way of progress. i'm happy. i think the council president

spoke to him briefly and we agreed to sit down on the 27th of may. i know he has a big case he's doing but in the meantime, we're not waiting one minute. but i certainly don't want to see anything of what we're advocating here. we're acting too quickly to be able to stand up. >> so it doesn't sound like there's any discussion then before the stay request. that's still pending and it doesn't sound like there's any kind of settlement or negotiation. >> i would hope so. that's what we were aiming for. we already made one huge settlement jump. as you saw in my budget historic funding to get there we hope the county matches as

well. but, no, we're ready. if we wants to talk to me tomorrow. >> may 27th is a long ways off. >> that's what he asked for. in the meantime we're satisfied with what he's withdrawn. >> okay. i did have another question regarding the pallet shelters that are going up everywhere especially in north hollywood. these same shelters had a pretty bad fire last december and the mayor of redlands is citing that fire as a reason to go with another type of tiny home that he says isn't as flammable. i understand that i think the city bought these pallet shelters before the incident and banning, but i'm just wondering if there's been any review of the shelters? >> yeah. very expensively and folks wanted to build them much more densely, but our fire inspectors insisted on the space between them. because you can have them with

or without those hvac extinguishers so we've done a lot of extensive work to make sure they're going to be safe and spaced out from each other. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you, both. we've got about three more questions here. gina from bay city news. gina, go ahead. >> hi, can you hear me? >> we can. >> great. so i have two questions. the first one is more general, but how exactly will the $20 billion proposal be split among cities? i mean, is it just the major cities here on this call or in this coalition and will it be based off maybe population? how do you anticipate that will be split. ? and the other one is specifically for mayor licardo, what issues would you prioritize in san jose and how much do you anticipate san jose would get if this was passed? >> thank you. the allocation will be

determined by the legislature and the governor, but what we've seen in the past is essentially allocation that goes both to counties and to large cities. counties obviously have smaller cities within them and the allocation will be based on a formula that combines both point in time homeless count and population and so we'd expect those kinds of formulas to continue and we'll be certainly advocating to ensure that the hardest hit cities after all it's large cities that suffered most from homelessness are in fact front and center in focus. in terms of san jose, i think what you've heard from my colleagues is very true in san jose as well. we need many different solutions because homelessness is a complex problem or diversity in which ways come into homelessness. we'll be spending dollars to prevent homelessness. very effective strategies using

relatively small amounts of money that keeps families housed. that's a much more proactive way of addressing this problem. obviously. we'll be building more of these permanent supportive housing in shelters as well. we need all the above strategy because we know we can't wait for one solution while others are still on the street. we're going to need multiple solutions. >> thank you. and just sorry. we know we've heard a lot this is a multi-pronged solution that the mayors already know. i mean, what are the main solutions to, you know end homelessness or at least curb it? >> i'll kick it off and ask my colleagues to jump in.

the one solution is housing. we need to build a lot of housing than in the past and we need to be able to do it quickly and that requires some innovation and what you're seeing throughout these 13 cities are innovative approaches everything from tiny homes to various approaches and density enabling more people to get off the street. we're able to get a lot of red tape out of the way the governor's been forthright. so we need flexibility and the ability to move quickly. i've also learned, preventing people from getting into homelessness is a much more cost effective approach. so we need housing and homelessness preevengs. >> tim, did you want to go ahead. go ahead, mayor shaft.

>> i just wanted to lift up a reasonable action plan. and what it puts forth is really how we can maximize the flow to our system and make the investments that are going to be the fastest and most efficient at bending the curve and that's the 1:2:4 ratio. every interim bed that we have, we need to create two permanent affordable houses for people to live in forever in security and we need to fund four prevention interventions. what we're seeing is we're getting people out of homelessness, but new people are getting homeless at a faster rate. in two years it's prevented

5,000 house holds from falling in to homelessness or rapidly resolving their homelessness and the average cost has been about $4,000 for average housing and allows us to maximize our speed at which we completely end homelessness. 1:2:4. thank you. >> yeah. i wanted to address it from our perspective. the question is often answered, what is the process? and i think it's unique for every city. i can tell you in fresno, what has been working, you need to be able to fund outreach workers. there has to be that repore established and it takes a lot of work, a lot of energy, a lot of effort. the second thing is to be able to take those individuals and place them into transitional housing and that transitional

housing must have security, it needs services for mental health, for alcohol substance abuse, addiction to address the growing population domestic violence. victims and their families out there on our streets. our veterans who are often times abandoned. all of those services need to be provided and not on the short term, long-term and there has to be an exit strategy from that transitional housing and that's permanent supportive housing, rapid rehousing, alternative housing models like tiny homes, accessory dwelling units, as well as apartment complexes. all of those things have to happen. if not, we run into stagnation. and the fact that we ultimately end up with people remaining in transitional housing or emergency shelter for longer periods of time ultimately

transitioning back out onto the streets in continuing with that life and lastly making sure that these folks have skills that will allow them to be gainfully employed. and so we need all of those services over a multiple period of time which is why we're asking for four to five years of funding and sustained funding. so. >> would you like to jump in. >> one of the reasons why people are homeless is for different reasons and there's a different set of solutions for people for example who have become homeless for a short period of time because of an economic circumstance. contrast that with people who are living with severe mental illness or drug addiction we

know what to do. the interventions are different. it's immediate housing to make sure that homelessness doesn't last long. for those who are chronically homeless, we call it a continuum of care. and what this funding would allow us to do would be able to fund the assertive outreach, the case management, the wrap around services, the temporary housing that's needed and then the transition to longer term or permanent housing. it's all about getting to scale on all of the interventions and strategies that we know work because we're doing them, we just can't do it for enough. >> we'll take these two last

questions and then we'll wrap up. >> this is christy growth with kthl. this question is for mayor steinberg and for mayor lincoln. if you guys are able to get this commitment, what programs and specific projects do you guys have ready to go. to hit the ground running and going with that, how do you convent. ( who don't want those shelters and centers and affordable housing near them. >> i'll go ahead and start it off. thank you, christy for that question. when it comes to the matter, you know, it's very important to understand and have community buy-in and work alongside and through our current community based organizations that are currently partnering in the space to help the needs of the

most vulnerable in our community. in order to get public buy-in. we have to make sure we're enhancing the services that are in place to meet the specific needs. what was the other question, i'm sorry. >> what specific projects do you have ready to go if you were to get this allocation of money? >> yeah. so they're currently projects in place right now. one of the things we have to do is we have to expand that emergency so the capacity and enhance our transitional housing, but also work very hard towards that permanent affordable housing, you know, for our unsheltered population like many of our colleagues had said over the past hour that this is very multi-facetted. this is a very complex issue when it comes to homelessness and every community is impacted

differently, but we can't forget the hard work that our community stakeholders are doing right now. and the people in our community that have been, have developed that repore to mayor dyer's point with the community, we have to work with and we have to double down on those resources so that they can be as affected as they possibly can with reaching this most vulnerable population. >> darrell, did you want to respond? >> how will having more state money help solving this

problem? >> i think it's been alluded to in a couple of the other questions and answers. it's not just getting people into beds. we have prevention strategies. >> but also, we need better exit strategies. as mayor steinberg alluded to, we know what our population is. it's not just one monotypical population. we know we have people suffering from mental illness. we know we have people suffering from drug addiction. we know people have physical disabilities. people who are just down on their luck. need a leg up and help. so the money that we will be getting will be going towards each one of those programs.

mostly what i would like to see though is focus on services. we have very -- the strategies that we've put in place now. >> thank you. with that, i think that's a good note on which we should wrap this up. i want to thank all the members of the media for being with us and thank all of my colleagues for their forceful advocacy. we'll continue to push forth in the weeks ahead, we look forward to celebrating by getting more housing built in our communities and helping our homeless neighbors get off the streets. thank you all.

. >> you're watching coping with covid-19 with chris manners. >> hi. i'm chris manners, and you're watching coping with covid-19. today, my guest is phil ginsburg. he's the director of the san francisco rec and parks, and he's a national rec and park ranger. thank you for being here. >> hi, chris. thank you for having me. >> i've heard you have an exciting new exhibit that features social distancing and is outside, so it's safer. can you tell us a little bit about it? >> the golden gate 50 anniversary wasn't the

celebration that we hoped for, but when life deals you lemons, you hope to make lemonade, and we tried to engage people in the park in different ways. behind me is what we did. it's a public exhibit which has transformed peacock meadows into an enchanted forest of other worldly shapes and lights. it's to close out golden gate park's 150 years and to allow people to have outdoors socially distant fun. >> great. and what are the hours, and when can people go see it, and

are there access for wheelchairs and strollers? >> well, it will run until february 27, and the ways are wheelchair accessible. it will close in time to make the city's curfew. we're not supposed to be gathering. we're not supposed to be celebrating out there, unfortunately. it is a beautiful exhibit and is one that can be seen from the sidewalk or you can wander into the meadow, but we ask that people be really mindful of the circumstances in which we find ourselves. the most important thing for us is to be safe and healthy. do not show up with other households. come and see it, get a little

taste of the holidays and leave so other people can enjoy it. if it's too crowded, comeback because it's going to be around for a while. >> how long does it take to walk around the exhibit? >> well, you could be there for five minutes or 15 minutes or longer if it's not crowded. it's about in an acre of meadow, but it's very visible even from a fully accessible sidewalk. you'll get a sense of it. basically, there are sculpted trees, and it's gorgeous. i got an opportunity to visit it over the weekend. the conservatory of flowers is

there, and then, we have our amazing spreckels temple of music which was recently renovated and lit up in lights. >> i have information that it was created by a local artist. what can you tell us about it? >> well, it's a new concept, but the lights were previously installed in a park in toronto and also in las vegas. the installation has been paid for through private donations to the golden gate park's san francisco 150 campaign.

it reflects a culture steeped in science and history and culture. >> i can't wait to visit it. safely, of course. >> wear masks, distance, sanitize, and don't gather. >> well, thank you for coming on the show today, mr. ginsburg. i appreciate the time you've given us today. >> thank you, and thank you for giving so much attention to golden gate park which has been so wonderful for us during covid and deserves a lot of extra love and attention on its 150 anniversary. >> and that's it for this episode. we'll be back with more information shortly. thank you for watching coping

>> it was an outdoor stadium for track and field, motorcycle and auto and rugby and cricket located in golden gate park, home to professional football, lacross and soccer. adjacent to the indoor arena. built in the 1920s. the san francisco park commission accepted a $100,000 gift from the estate to build a memorial in honor of pioneers in the area. the city and county of san francisco contributed an additional $200,000 and the stadium was built in a year. in the 1930s it was home to several colleges such as usf, santa clara and st. mary's for competition and sporting. in 1946 it became home to the

san francisco 49ers where they played nearly 25 years. the stayed de yam sat 60,000 fans. many caught game the rooftops and houses. the niners played the last game against the dallas cowboys january 3, 1971 before moving to candlestick park. the stadium hosted other events before demolition in 1989. it suffered damages from the earthquake. it was reconstructed to seat 10,000 fans with an all weather track, soccer field and scoreboards. it hosts many northern california football championship games. local high schools sacred heart and mission high school used the field for home games. the rivalry football games are sometimes played here. today it is a huge free standing element, similar to the original

featuring tall pink columns at the entrance. the field is surrounded by the track and used by high school and college football and soccer. it is open for public use as well.

w>> 5, 4, 3, 2 , 1. cut. >> we are here to celebrate the opening of this community garden. a place that used to look a lot darker and today is sun is shining and it's beautiful and it's been completely redone and been a gathering place for this community. >> i have been waiting for this garden for 3 decades. that is not a joke. i live in

an apartment building three floors up and i have potted plants and have dreamt the whole time i have lived there to have some ability to build this dirt. >> let me tell you handout you -- how to build a community garden. you start with a really good idea and add community support from echo media and levis and take management and water and sun and this is what we have. this is great. it's about environment and stewardship. it's also for the -- we implemented several practices in our successes of the site.

that is made up of the pockets like wool but they are made of recycled plastic bottles. i don't know how they do it. >> there is acres and acres of parkland throughout golden gate park, but not necessarily through golden community garden. we have it right in

>> as a woman of color who grew up in san francisco i understand how institutions can have an impact on communities of color. i think having my voice was important. that is where my passion lies when the opportunity to lead an office in such a new space came up. i couldn't turn it down. i was with the district attorney's office for a little over nine years, if you include the time as an intern as well as volunteer da, all most 13 years. during the time with the da's office i had an opportunity to serve the community not only as the assistant district attorney but as director of community relations. that afforded the opportunity to

have impact on the community in an immediate way. it is one thing to work to serve the rights of those without rights, victims. it is really rewarding to work to to further the goals of our office and the commitment we have as city employees and advocates for people who don't have a voice. i don't know of anyone surprised to see me in this role. maybe people have an impression what the director of the office of cannabis should be like, what their beliefs should be. i smash all of that. you grew up in the inner city of san francisco. my career path is not traditional. i don't think a person should limit themselves to reach full potential. i say that to young women and girls. that is important. you want to see leadership that looks diverse because your path is not predetermined. i didn't wake up thinking i was

going to be a prosecutor in my life. the city administrator reached out and wanted to have a conversation and gave me interest in the new role. i thought you must not know what i do for a living. it was the opposite. she had foresight in realizing it would be helpful for somebody not only a former prosecutor but interested in shaping criminal justice reform for the city would be the right person for the space. i appreciate the foresight of the mayor to be open how we can be leaders in san francisco. i was able to transition to the policy space. here i was able to work on legislation, community relations, communication and start to shape the ways our office was going to reform the criminal justice system. it is fulfilling for me. i could create programs and see those impact people's lives. i am the change.

it took truants youth to meet with civil rights movement leaders who fought to have access to education. being a young person to understand that helped the young people realize this was an important thing to give up. what we find is that young people who are truanted have a really high homicide rate in our city, which is a sad statistic. we want to change that. >> coming from a community we are black and brown. i don't reach out to other people. i don't think they feel the same way. >> i had the great opportunity to work on prison reform issues and criminal justice reform issues. we created a program at san quentin where we brought district opportunities to lifers and talk about how we are all impacted by the criminal justice

system. we brought over 40 elected das to san quentin for the situation. now we are inviting the police department. our formerly incarcerated group born out of this programming asked for the opportunity to work on a project where we could bring the men in blue on the outside to come speak to the men on blue inside to start the healing dialogue around how the criminal justice system specifically in san francisco impacts the community. i was attracted to the role. there was a component of equity that was part of this process. the equity community here in san francisco is a community that i had already worked with. before i took steps to visit cannabis businesses i thought it was important my team have a chance to go inside and speak to men who had been impacted. that conversation needed to happen so we know how we are making an impact with the work

that we are doing. the da's office as we were leading up to the legalization of marijuana in the state we started having conversations on the policy team what that could look like. the district attorney was really focused on the right side of history for this. we realized it would be quite a heavy lift for individuals who have been negatively impacted by the war on drugs to expunge the record. it was important to figure out the framework to make it seamless and easy. they put their minds to it after some time and many conversations the data analysts and other policy walk throughs on the team came up with the idea to engage the tech community in this process. code for america helped us developed the rhythm to be used for any jurisdiction across the state that was important to

create a solution to be used to assist all jurisdictions dealing with this matter. the office of cannabis is the first office to have a completely digital application process. we worked with the digital team to develop the online application. there are going to be hiccups. we are first to do it. it is one of the most rewarding parts to offer a seamless -- to offer a seamless approach. that is how they can find solutions to solve many of the community challenges. the best way to respond to prop 64 was to retroactively expunge 9,000 cannabis related records for san francisco. it feels like justice full circle for my personal experience. in the past i was furthering the war on drugs just as my directive.

really coming from a place of public safety. that was the mandate and understanding. it is nice to see that pass a society we are able to look at some of our laws and say, you know what? we got it wrong. let's get this right. i had the privilege of being in the existing framework. my predecessor nicole elliott did an incredible job bringing together the individuals super-passionate about cannabis. >> the office was created in july of 2017. i came in early 2018. i have been able to see the office's development over time which is nice. it is exciting to be in the space, stickily in thinking about her leadership. >> looking for the office it is always we might be before my time when i was working for the forboard of supervisors.

i learn new things every day it is challenging and rewarding for me. >> we get the privilege to work in an office that is innovating. we get to spearhead the robust exprogram. >> i am excited she came on board to leverage experience as a prosecutor 10 years as we contemplate enforcements but approaching it without replicating the war on drugs. >> i was hired by cam laharris. i haven't seen a district attorney that looked kind of like me. that could be a path in my life. i might not have considered it. it is important that women and certainly women of color and spaces of leadership really do their part to bring on and mentor as many young people as they can. it is superimportant to take

advantage of as many opportunities as they can when they can intern because the doors are wide open. plans change and that is okay. the way this was shaped because i took a risk to try something new and explore something and show that i was capable. you are capable, right? it was about leaning in and being at the table to say my voice matters. you find your passion, the sky >> when i look at an old neon sign that's working or not working, i feel the family business that was in there. >> since 2009, citywide, sf shines, has supported businesses and sites like the ones that receive new neon

signs. >> you know, sf shines is doing an amazing job to bring back the lighting and the neon glow of san francisco. >> sf shines is such an amazing program, and i can't think of another program in another city that gives matching gunned funds to store owners, mom and pop owners, and if they've got a neon sign, they've really got a great way to advertise their business. >> this is a continuation of the sf shines program. >> focusing other neon signs is relatively new to us. of the seven neon signs, we've invested about $145,000. >> a good quality sign costs more, but it lasts infinitily

longer. as opposed to lasting five years, a good neon sign will last 15 to 20 years. >> in san francisco, the majority of neon signs are for mom-and-pop businesses. in order to be able to restore these signs, i think it gives back to your community. >> part of the project has to do with prioritizing certain signs in the neighborhood based on their aesthetics, based on their current signs, and base on the history. in the time that we've been here, we've seen a number of signs restored just on eddy street. >> there are a number of signs in the tenderloin and many more that are waiting or wanting to be restored. i have worked with randall and al, and we've mapped out every single one of them and rated them as to how much work they would need to get restored.

that information is passed onto sf shines, and they are going to rank it. so if they have x budget for a year, they can say all right, we're going to pick these five, and they're putting together clusters, so they build on top of what's already there. >> a cluster of neon signs is sort of, i guess, like a cluster of grapes. when you see them on a corner or on a block, it lights up the neighborhood and creates an ambient glow. if you havy got two of three of them, you've created an atmosphere that's almost like a movie set. >> some of the hotel, we've already invested in to get those neon signs for people to enjoy at night include the elk hotel, jefferson hotel, the verona, not to mention some we've done in chinatown, as well as the city's portal neighborhood. >> we got the fund to restore

it. it took five months, and the biggest challenge was it was completely infested with pigeons. once we got it clean, it came out beautiful. >> neon signs are often equated with film noir, and the noir genre as seen through the hollywood lens basically depicted despair and concentration. >> you would go downtown and see the most recent humphrey bogart film filled with neon in the background. and you'd see that on market street, and as market street got seedier and seedier and fewer people continued to go down, that was what happened to all the neon strips of light.

>> the film nori might start with the light filled with neon signs, and end with a scene with a single neon sign blinking and missing a few letters. >> one of my favorite scenes, orson welles is chasing rita hayworth with neon signs in the background. >> i think what the office of economic and workforce development is very excited with is that we'll be able to see more neon signs in a concentrated way lit up at night for visitors and most especially residents. the first coin laundry, the elm hotel, the western hotel are

ones that we want to focus on in the year ahead. >> neon signs are so iconic to certain neighborhoods like the hara, like the nightcap. we want to save as many historic and legacy neon signs in san francisco, and so do they. we bring the expertise, and they bring the means to actually get the job done. >> people in tenderloin get really excited as they see the signs relit. as you're driving through the tenderloin or the city, it pretty much tells you something exciting is happening here. >> knee an was created to make the night more friendly and advertise businesses. it's a great way of supporting and helping local businesses. >> there's so many ways to improve public safety. the standard way is having more eyes on the street, but there's other culturally significant ways to do that, and one those ways is lighting up the

streets. but what better way and special way to do that is by having old, historic neon signs lighting up our streets at night and casting away our shadows. >> when i see things coming back to life, it's like remembering how things were. it's remembering the hotel or the market that went to work seven days a week to raise their money or to provide a service, and it just -- it just -- it just >> announcer: you're watching

"coping with covid-19." today's special guest is dr. steven getnick. >> hi, i'm chris man us and you're watching "coping with covid-19." today my guest is the director of the behavior therapy center of san francisco and professor emeritus in counseling psychology at the university of san francisco. doctor, welcome to the show. >> thank you. >> let's talk about managing anxieties during this pandemic. what types of issues are people facing at the moment? >> there are a number of issues and i really want to point out that this is affecting everyone and has come on very quickly. so it is normal. if you are not experiencing some anxiety, something is a touch off because this affects us all. i think some of the main ones are our health and worried about getting the virus and our

developing serious complications. i think for a lot of people who are single, living alone, in isolation, has been very difficult. i think being in close quarters with people who we normally have some space from now are together 24/7. that's produced a lot of stress and anxiety. that loss of connection with others. we already addressed. and having kids home. for a lot of people. >> yes, absolutely. what are the other problems that they might have? >> i think without that dynamic, the good things are not a problem. it is the difficulties we have. and when we're together 24/7, again it's like hooking everything up to an amplifier.

>> so, what kind of problems could be created from working home from home, perhaps for the first time in your career? >> a lot of people are not used to working at home and a working at home just isn't the same. for one thing, there is a lack of social interaction. some people find that that affects them greatly. some people are actually finding they're getting more work done at home without distractions from work. the lack of structure is probably the most common. we see it here with work at the office. people are kind of watching. we know that our schedule is, suddenly you're at home and you are on your own. >> absolutely. if those are some of the issues people are facing, what are some of the techniques people can use to overcome their anxiety? >> caller: i think there are many. one of the first is how managing and keeping track of your thinking, we think and talk to ourselves a lot.

that's normal. we have a dialogue with ourselves often and we need to monitor that a bit. people tend to ruminate versus problem-solve. that is they tend to worry about all the things that might go wrong. and what i suggest is, look, there are things that can go wrong, but ruminating about the worst-case scenario is not going to be very productive. sit down, figure out what the things are that you have to deal with and try to problem-solve. i think any of the self-control techniques for anxiety can be helpful. and there are dozens of them. the common ones are meditation, relaxation techniques, yoga, for example and another is diaphragmattic breathing.

if you google that, you can learn diaphragmattic breathing in about 10 minutes online. it's incredibly simple and it is a really nice way to reduce anxiety in the moment. self-control procedures, exercise. whether if you're fortunate enough to have equipment at home, that's great. if you're not, get outside and go for a walk, keep your safe distance, of course. but you need to be active. that's helpful. >> i think people marry be dealing with information overload at the moment. how do you suggest people manage that? >> i was just going to say that. i think it is really important to kind of limit the information you get. not in terms of accuracy. i think in terms of accuracy, you want to identify a few sites where people are coming with evidence-based information and scientific information so you can form yourself well.

once you've informed yourself, you need to not be watching all day long. i've talked to people who are mesmerized from the tv and a it keeps that anxiety going so you need to limit your viewing for sure. this can be stress for people who have economic concerns and worried about their family and friends and loved ones who are essential workers. what would you suggest they do to help manage anxiety and stress? >> there is a number of things. one of major ones for depression is behavioral activation. simply, it really means that people will tend to not be depressed as a number of reinforcing activities to engage in. whether it is hobbies, you read, you listen to music, you crochet, you -- whatever. these kinds of things are very important so you want to make

sure that you're engaging in activities that literally make you feel better as opposed to sitting around ruminating, worrying about the worst-case scenarios that might happen. >> what about trying to do some self-development? >> yeah. it's a very interesting time. i've talked to a couple of my own clients who are finding, in a very positive way, that this isolation, while at first can generate a lot of anxiety, particularly if you're just not good at living alone. for a number of people, it's giving them a chance to sit back and really think about what is important in their lives, what are the priorities. i think that maybe if there is any silver lining in this epidemic, it's really forcing all of us to kind of rethink what's really important. >> indeed. you know, though, at the same time, there are people who are feeling very lonely at home. how would you encourage them to

overcome that? >> you get online. facetime, skype, zoom, like what we're doing right now. you can stay connected. it's very possible. most connections are important. we are social critters and we need that connection. i think for people who don't have those options, pull up photos, take a look at pictures of family. you need to stay connected. and it's very important. >> and finally, do you have any suggestions that are specifically for families? >> yeah. well, again, i think one of the interesting things that's come about from all of this, is i talked to families on video is they're obviously spending more time together. while it's a bit awkward, particularly for parents who are in the house working a lot. it's a chance to really deepen relationships and spend more good, quality time together.

i think parents really need to step back and kind of plan their day a little bit. not micro manage it, but have some ideas. can the family play games together? a lot of people i talked to, they're even together as a family for the first time. so i think there are a number of things that people can do. i think it is qulaouzful for the families to take five, 10 minutes and say how did the day go? i talked to someone in the phone book before we started who said they noticed what time of day all their anxiety kind of comes together and they start sniping at each other. now they're taking a few minutes at tend of the day to say, ok, how are we doing? >> i think they need modeling good behavior, something you can do within the family, too, to try to -- >> that's right. i think that's relevant.

very relevant to how children are going to do. most of the research from crises, particularly things we can't control showed that children do as well as their parents do. so i think it is important for parents to think about how they're react aing and they stay calm because whatever they do is modeling, coping for their children. so, that can be very useful. it can also be problematic. >> when we talked earlier, you mentioned that acknowledging that your kids are afraid is important. >> yes. i think that ties to your last question. i think modeling -- you know, it's not incompatible with saying, yeah, you know, mom or dad is a little nervous, too. it means a lot of stuff is going on, but we're going to be ok. we're going to stay together. we have our time together.

we're going to be safe. we'll -- fill in the blank. so you can do both. you can re-assure but in a realistic way that once the kids know it's normal to be anxious in these times. >> thank you for coming ton show, doctor. i really appreciate the time you've given us. >> you're welcome. thank you for having me. >> and that is it for this episode. we'll be back with more covid-19 related information shortly. you have been "coping with covid-19." thank you for watching.

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