legitimize small businesses is a wonderful thing. >> well, good morning, everybody, and welcome to union square. hello, san francisco. it's a beautiful sunny day here, and the fog has lifted, perhaps like the collective proverbial covid fog that we've all been stuck in the last year. my name is karen flood, and i'm the executive director of the union square business district, and we're so pleased to see you today, and so many visitors. we have missed you all. we have missed the visitors and the workers in union square who come here to dine in our fine

restaurants and stay in our beautiful hotels and dine in our shops. but we know they will be back, and we know that mayor breed has been focused in this last year on keeping us safe and healthy, and we appreciate that. she's been laser focused on making sure that everybody is healthy and distancing and we are getting vaccinated, so excellent job, mayor breed. [applause] >> but now it is time to turn to recovery and renewal. we know here in san francisco, we are resilient and strong. we have survived fires and earthquakes, and we have survived this, and we will come

back. workers have also worked alongside the retired sfpd ambassadors, which has become an incredible plan and was the idea of mayor london breed to add an additional layer of safety in union square. we know there are additional resources on the way, which we will talk about in a moment. we convened an economic task force for union square. let's liven up these spaces, starting with union square. people come here to protest, hopefully peacefully. people come to people watch in our cafes, which are open, so hopefully they will do that again. and now if we could just get our beloved cable car and back and running before september. how about june, when the tourists are here? that would really be a signal

that san francisco is back open and ready for business. but without further adieu, i would like to introduce someone that needs no further introduction, mayor london breed. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: thank you, karen. i'm not only excited to be in union square, but i'm excited to be anywhere in san francisco as we start the process to reopen and imagine what the city can be as we come out of this pandemic. it's been a tough year. it's been a tough, tough year because our focus has been on public health and saving lives. it's been a tough year for business, it's been a tough year for tourism, it's been a tough year for employees in san francisco. we keep talking about this light at the end of the tunnel. well, today, it's bright in union square, and i'm excited

about the future of union square and our city. i just wanted to take the opportunity to name a few people that are here today, a few of which you will hear from. the new director of the arts commission in san francisco, ralph remington, and ralph, you're going to have to take your mask off in the street so we recognize you. she's the new director for the grants for the arts, but she's been advocating for so many arts businesses in san francisco. we have vallie brown, the director of grants for the arts, and our new director of the office of economic and workforce development. you'll hear from the other two speakers that are joining us, and i'll introduce them, and i want to recognize deputy chief of the san francisco police department.

thank you, chief lozar. i want to say captain, but you went from a captain, and you've moved on up in the ranks, and we appreciate you and the san francisco police department and everything you do to keep our citizens safe. we also have -- thank you, karen, and the union street bid for your work because i know that your work and your advocacy is why we're here today. it is a great day in san francisco, and when you think about where we are now and how far we've come, just sit in that moment. the giants are first place in the league. they're not first place anymore? okay. all right. well, we hope that the giants will become first place in the league. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: but they're playing, and you can go to a game. unfortunately, the warriors didn't make it through, but

that's okay. at least we got a few games in before they were x'ed out of the playoffs. and what's also happening is the san francisco symphony is open. you can watch a performance there. stern grove is coming back, and it's going to be amazing. the hilton hotel just announced that it's going to be open. john's grill, i know john, jr. is here. thank you for joining us here. performances on sundays, and so many activities, so many great events. the city is coming alive again, and as we begin to recover and think about what happens in union square, downtown is about where 40% of the jobs that exist in san francisco, they're here in the downtown area. when we think about the economy and coming back, the retail and the business and the activities, this is the bread and butter of san francisco. this is why we are able to pay for programs and resources and all the things that help out so

many of our vulnerable communities. the tourists, the 20 million tourists who visit san francisco every year that pay the hotel tax, that shop at macy's and a number of our businesses. it's important that as we reopen, we reimagine what downtown can be. we have to make it a safe place for people who live and work here. now i'm a regular visitor to the downtown area, and i do hear from so many of the people who work here, many in particular women who work in retail, who catch the 31 balboa and the 5 fulton from the western addition, people who i grew up with who have expressed to me about their concerns for their safety and they've never felt that way in san francisco before.

what that means is we have to do more. we have to do more to keep people safe. we have to make sure that we do more to make sure that people have a rewarding experience because when people visit san francisco and they come here, we want them to want to come back. now it's been about, i think, two years, when i announced the ambassador program. karen, you remember when i had that event, and i said we're going to bring retired police officers out of retirement and have an ambassador program solely focused on this particular area in union square. after a few years of bureaucracy, it finally happened, so right now, that ambassador program is really an important part of our recovery. the goal is to have the eyes and the ears on the streets. the goal is to make sure that when people are in crisis, we're able to address those challenges, and a perfect example is one time, when i was

down here near crate and barrel, a man didn't have shoes on, needed some support, and some ambassadors tried to help him, but what's next? what's next? how do we get him off the streets so he can get the support he needs, and part of our recent announcements have been the street crisis response teams, our street wellness teams to check on people to deal with folks in crisis. i get so many calls from so many people in this community concerned about not just their business and how this is impacting the quality of life in this community but how are we going to do more to help these people off the streets? and so a combination of my investments in this upcoming budget have everything to do with trying to reimagine,

beautify, provide the level necessary to bring this area back stronger than ever, to make it a vibrant, a more welcoming place and make sure that people have great experiences. so what do some of those investments look like? well, some of you remember i used to be the executive director of the african american art and culture complex, and the thing i loved about that space is artists make communities come alive. people would paint on the walls. i'm not advising that to happen here in downtown. people would dance in the parking lot and in the streets. i'm not suggesting that we do that and stop traffic, but we are going to bring our artists to this area. we are going to start to activate the community with local artists, providing resources to pay them because i believe in paying artists and they deserve to be paid their worth, but to really bring them to this area and to create an environment at holiday plaza that will really activate the

area. so we're going to be making some improvements and some investments, and yes, i'd like the cable cars to come back sooner rather than later, but i can't make that promise today, karen. but the fact is we're going to activate holiday plaza, we're going to bring in some new businesses, so when you're getting off b.a.r.t. and coming to san francisco, the first thing you can do is grab a coffee or a san francisco coffee mug and have this great holiday plaza experience. it will be activated, our ambassadors will be in the location, it will be safe, and our goal is to have great and rewarding experiences. so part of the goals will be not just to increase the experiences with the retired police officers but the ambassadors and the people that walk around this community and try to provide eyes and ears on the streets to address many of those challenges. so our ambassadors in the red

coats are joining us here today, so thank you for your success and your continued support in this community. they may not recognize me in disguise, but i've seen them out on the streets, offering people bottled water. we'll be concentrating our street crisis response teams in this area so when we see anyone in crisis, we can focus on this area so all of you can focus on your businesses. that is our goal. the other thing that we are doing as we head down this road to recovery is we're really trying to focus on how do we make it easier to do business in san francisco. i'm not even going to name the stores that i love that closed because i'm heartbroken that they're no longer in san francisco. i've reached out to a number of them, and they said they may

come back, but they told me, look, doing business in san francisco is hard. i put out a business recovery plan that's supposed to be working its way through the board of supervisors. i put out a plan to make our shared spaces program permanent that's supposed to be making its way through the board of supervisors. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: but the board has messed with the wrong mayor. when they tried to butcher my legislation and water it down and make it even more difficult and complicated so businesses continued to struggle and had difficulty doing business in san francisco, that's when i take a different sort of action. so if they want to continue down that path, my plan is to bring it to the voters, to put it on the ballot, and to make sure you all have a real voice and that the voters support these efforts. overwhelmingly, the people of this city, people who grow up and want to start their own

small business, they shouldn't need $250,000 to give to the water department or some angel investor just because they want to sell their clothing or their masks or their artwork. it should not be so difficult. and as i said time and time again, my focus is to cut the bureaucratic red tape that makes it impossible for people to do business in san francisco. because it's not just about creating an economic opportunity for the people starting these businesses, it's about creating jobs, it's about creating an increased tax base to support all these services that we all want to support communities in san francisco. it goes hand in hand, so i am making that clear today that if the board continues down this path, my plan is to bring it to the voters, and i know that you all will be with me when i do it at that time. [applause]

>> the hon. london breed: so here's a couple of official announcements that i think i might have forgotten about. that's why i had to write them down. community ambassadors in union square in downtown. s.f. wednesdays, a local artist will be performing in july from 12:00 to 6:00. a series of performing -- performances at the former temporary transbay terminal, so activating that area downtown, and we're going to start ramping up in july throughout the summer months because we know that we need to change this area, we need to make sure it comes alive, and i am so excited to the activation and the people eating at the various restaurants, shopping at the various stores, or just sitting right here in union

square and people watching just because we miss seeing faces. eventually, these masks, they're going to hopefully go away, but in the meantime, continue to shine, san francisco. we are open for business. thank you all so much for being here today, and i want to introduce peter from sam's grill. [applause] >> thank you. as you know -- well, first of all, i want to thank the mayor and her team because it's a well thought out plan. i mean, it's necessary. we need to revitalize downtown san francisco, and as a small business owner, we spend a great deal of time here. we're here morning, noon, and night. sam's grill has been a part of this community since 1867. we've seen it all. if our walls could talk, which is a whole different story, so

we'll leave that for another time, but we've seen it all, and we've recovered from it and look forward to the future. after clocking in for 150 years, i feel as if downtown san francisco is still a bit of a secret, and we're primed and ready for it to be rediscovered. i'm very pleased that small business is a component of this plan. downtown, as the mayor said, is the economic engine of the city, and at this time, any support we have is greatly appreciated. we have the infrastructure in place. we have beautiful architecture, we have transportation hubs, we have parking, we have gathering spots, and now, we're starting to improve, and we have a vibrant history, and let's keep that all alive and well. i'm excited about the effort to regain our commitment to helping people revisit downtown with new eyes, and there's no better way to do this than to be kind and inclusive.

we really want to create an environment where people feel vibrant, where people feel comfortable, and they want to return to. at the end of the day, we're all human beings, and that's the bottom line, so the next time i see you, i hope it's in a booth at sam's or in the dining room or in sam's tavern. i invite you all to revisit san francisco, to revisit downtown, to enjoy it because we're made for this. thank you. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: thank you, peter, and i want to recognize laurie thomas from the golden gate restaurant association. thank you so much for being here, and i also want to say thank you to the downtown fisherman's wharf, yerba buena, and east court benefit district, the san francisco chamber of commerce, kevin carroll's joining us, s.f.

travel, the bar owners association. i think that's you behind that mask. thank you, ben. the directors of all the city departments i mentioned before. also, separately from the city departments i mentioned before, i want to mention the city administrator carmen chiu and the department of public works. i've been wearing a lot of masks during this pandemic. i would say the majority of masks that i wear look like they are very artistic and beautiful, and they usually match my outfits. not as nice as nancy pelosi and the matching of her outfits, but pretty darn close, and the person that makes these masks is an incredible local artist who's really been a fierce advocate for a lot of the programs and the investments that we're making. as a result of her advocacy, what we're doing in her budget

is backfilling some of the grants for the artists in the grants for the arts program, and we'll continue to provide first-ever guaranteed income for artists here in san francisco, a program that was recently launched. so many great things for artists, because let's face it, artists really make magic happen. they make things come alive through performance and the visual arts, and it's time to talk about the arts related components for our downtown is deborah walker. [applause] >> good morning. i want to, first off, thank our mayor for the work she's done to have our city recover as it has for all of us, but especially for our arts community very early on in the process of dealing with the issue of covid here in the city, the mayor stepped up and

protected the funding for our arts organizations and our artists citywide so that after school programs and education pods and the creative corps which actually brought artists in to deliver food, vaccines, testing, all of the things associated with recovery, and the mayor actually stepped forward and made that happen. the arts contribute over $1.7 million a year into our economy every year. san francisco is an arts city. it's also important to know that for every dollar invested in the arts with grant programs, etc., you get a 17-fold return, so it's smart, efficient, and it also, as the mayor pointed out, it's where the spirit of our city comes from. every community of our

community -- you see the paint the void has managed the mural projects on all of the shuttered -- the businesses that put wood on the front of their businesses. we brought artists to paint murals all across town. when allowed, we brought in small performance and art into the shared spaces program, which now is going to be made permanent. this is also important because this is really sort of where these ideas come from. when the mayor put together her economic task force to make recommendations on how to help sectors recover, she appointed over a dozen arts professionals not just to talk about the arts but to engage in with all of the different sectors to imagine how arts can be used as the catalyst it is. it's the magic the mayor talked about. we've all experienced it, and certainly, we've all felt the absence of it until we started doing all these programs, so

the mayor deserves a whole lot of credit for all of these ideas. this is part of what we talked about in the task force is activating around the city's open spaces where it makes sense and as appropriate and as allowed by the regulations to actually create, bring artists that are local together. i'm sure we'll also have some big name san francisco artists that are a part of this process. downtown is devastated, and the last group to open are the offices and the restaurants, the inside bars, night time entertainment. the artists community has been devastated. one of the sectors with the highest unemployment rate, so this is the opportunity to really open up our city again. my hope is that this infrastructure that creates these performance opportunities can then be spread out into all of our neighborhoods where we

have these shared spaces. the hope is that we have these events downtown and folks from the sunset and richmond and marina will come down and remember what it's like to be here. so the arts -- the arts are a catalyst, you know? it is the magic that we need. there's a reason why the w.p.a. included so many murals that we see today. this is history. you know, going through what we went through is history. i'm excited about our new leadership. directors remington and brown and our new director of economic activity in the city, kate sophis. all of these folks know our city, know our arts, and are going to be doing more of these different type of projects, so

i'm just grateful, mayor, and thank you so much, and thank you all. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: when i was in high school in san francisco at galileo high school, nothing made me more excited than out of nowhere, when we were out in the courtyard, the music would blast in the p.a., and then, there was this whole pep rally for home coming. those kinds of things would happen all the time, and part of what gets a community alive and rooting for san francisco has to do with things all of a sudden out of nowhere wherein a plaza like this, you see artists dancing and performing. everyone stops in their tracks to look, and it puts a smile on people's faces. holiday plaza, out of nowhere, people were dancing and performing as people were waiting in line to get their coffee. just imagine if people are

expanding and providing entertainment in a way that really puts a smile on people's face as they are waiting for the cable car. activation has everything to do with making people feel good and feel alive and feel happy about their experience in san francisco. so i'm taking my high school experience, my experience as a former arts director and trying to make sure that everyone has a very similar experience all over san francisco. yes, i love the symphony. i used to play french horn. i was okay. that was in junior high, but you shouldn't have to only be able to go to the symphony to have that experience. just imagine the symphony playing here outdoors, where everyone gets that experience. that's what opera in the park is all about, that's what these great activities are about, and that's how we're going to get life back. making the right investments,

keeping people safe, cleaning up our city, and umm canning together just -- and coming together just like we did to fight this pandemic. we're coming together from a very challenging time, and we're going to do so with a smile on our face. thank you all so much for joining us here today. [applause] >> restaurants will be open for take out only, but nonessential stores, like bars and gyms, will close effective midnight tonight. [♪♪♪]

>> my name is sharky laguana. i am a small business owner. i own a company called vandigo van rentals. it rents vans to the music industry. i am also a member of the small business commission as appointed by mayor breed in 2019. i am a musician and have worked as a professional musician and recording artist in the 90s. [♪♪♪] >> we came up in san francisco, so i've played at most of the live venues as a performer, and, of course, i've seen hundreds of shows over the years, and i care very, very deeply about live entertainment. in fact, when i joined the commission, i said that i was going to make a particular effort to pay attention to the

arts and entertainment and make sure that those small businesses receive the level of attention that i think they deserve. >> this is a constantly and rapidly changing situation, and we are working hard to be aggressive to flatten the curve to disrupt the spread of covid-19. >> when the pandemic hit, it was crystal clear to me that this was devastating to the music industry because live venues had to completely shutdown. there was no way for them to open for even a single day or in limited capacity. that hit me emotionally as an artist and hit me professionally, as well as a small business that caters to artists, so i was very deeply concerned about what the city could do to help the entertainment committee. we knew we needed somebody to introduce some kind of legislation to get the ball

rolling, and so we just started texting supervisor haney, just harassing him, saying we need to do something, we need to do something. he said i know we need to do something, but what do we do? we eventually settled on this idea that there would be an independent venue recovery fund. >> clerk: there are 11 ayes. >> president walton: thank you. without objection, this resolution is passed unanimously. >> and we were concerned for these small mom-and-pop businesses that contribute so much to our arts community. >> we are an extremely small venue that has the capacity to do extremely small shows. most of our staff has been working for us for over ten

years. there's very little turnover in the staff, so it felt like family. sharky with the small business commission was crucial in pestering supervisor haney and others to really keep our industry top of mind. we closed down on march 13 of 2020 when we heard that there was an order to do so by the mayor, and we had to call that show in the middle of the night. they were in the middle of their sound check, and i had to call the venue and say, we need to cancel the show tonight. >> the fund is for our live music and entertainment venues, and in its first round, it will offer grants of at least

$10,000 to qualifying venues. these are venues that offer a signature amount of live entertainment programming before the pandemic and are committed to reopening and offering live entertainment spaces after the pandemic. >> it's going to, you know, just stave off the bleeding for a moment. it's the city contributing to helping make sure these venues are around, to continue to be part of the economic recovery for our city. >> when you think about the venues for events in the city, we're talking about all of them. some have been able to come back adaptively over the last year and have been able to be shape shifters in this pandemic, and that's exciting to see, but i'm really looking forward to the day when events and venues can reopen and help drive the recovery here in san francisco. >> they have done a study that

says for every dollar of ticket sales done in this city, $12 goes to neighboring businesses. from all of our vendors to the restaurants that are next to our ven sues and just so many other things that you can think of, all of which have been so negatively affected by covid. for this industry to fail is unthinkable on so many levels. it's unheard of, like, san francisco without its music scene would be a terribly dismal place. >> i don't know that this needs to be arrest -- that there needs to be art welfare for artists. we just need to live and pay for our food, and things will take care of themselves. i think that that's not the given situation. what san francisco could do

that they don't seem to do very much is really do something to support these clubs and venues that have all of these different artists performing in them. actually, i think precovid, it was, you know, don't have a warehouse party and don't do a gig. don't go outside, and don't do this. there was a lot of don't, don't, don't, and after the pandemic, they realized we're a big industry, and we bring a lot of money into this city, so they need to encourage and hope these venues. and then, you know, as far as people like me, it would be nice if you didn't only get encouraged for only singing opera or playing violin. [♪♪♪] >> entertainment is a huge part of what is going to make this city bounce back, and we're going to need to have live music coming back, and comedy, and drag shows and everything

under the sun that is fun and creative in order to get smiles back on our faces and in order to get the city moving again. [♪♪♪] >> venues serve a really vital function in society. there aren't many places where people from any walk of life, race, religion, sexuality can come together in the same room and experience joy, right? experience love, experience anything that what makes us human, community, our connective tissues between different souls. if we were to lose this, lose this situation, you're going to lose this very vital piece of society, and just coming out of the pandemic, you know, it's going to help us recover

socially? well, yeah, because we need to be in the same room with a bunch of people, and then help people across the country recover financially. >> san francisco art recovery fund, amazing. it opened yesterday on april 21. applications are open through may 5. we're encouraging everyone in the coalition to apply. there's very clear information on what's eligible, but that's basically been what our coalition has been advocating for from the beginning. you know, everyone's been supportive, and they've all been hugely integral to this program getting off the ground. you know, we found our champion with supervisor matt haney from district six who introduced this legislation and pushed this into law. mayor breed dedicated $1.5 million this fund, and then supervisor haney matched that, so there's $3 million in this fund.

this is a huge moment for our coalition. it's what we've been fighting for all along. >> one of the challenges of our business is staying on top of all the opportunities as they come back. at the office of oewd, office of economic and workforce development, if you need to speak to somebody, you can find people who can help you navigate any of the available programs and resources. >> a lot of blind optimism has kept us afloat, you know, and there's been a lot of reason for despair, but this is what keeps me in the business, and this is what keeps me fighting, you know, and continuing to advocate, is that we need this and this is part of our life's blood as much as oxygen and food is. don't lose heart. look at there for all the various grants that are available to you.

some of them might be very slow to unrao, and it might seem like too -- unroll, and it might seem like it's too late, but people are going to fight to keep their beloved venues open, and as a band, you're going to be okay. [♪♪♪]

man, this is a dream come true. housing for homeless veterans

and very low income families of san francisco. this is beautiful. ed lee's birthday's tomorrow and he's smiling from heaven. am i right? anita, am i right? okay. this is too much joy. i promise not to preach too long because we've got the madam speaker here and the mayor and you want to hear them more than me. was i always like to start with some blessing. those of you who know me, i try to do the peoples' blessings. so you have to say the four words. matt, real loud. you're in the front row. we wish the spirit of these four words to bless this bruteful mayor edwin m. lee apartments. so we're going to do together. repeat after me.

peace. joy. hope. and love. may those four super ingredients of the spirit bless everyone who comes in and out of this place. in chinese, we call it [ speaking foreign language ]. whoever comes in and leaves out with peace. i'm surprising myself. here we go. we have one of the best mayors of this country and -- okay. she can brag for herself. let's welcome the mayor. come on. mayor london breed. >> reverend fong, we thought you were retired. let me tell you, revrend fong and ccv, madam pelosi who's

fighting the good fight every day. we are so very fortunate to have so many amazing champions and i want to thank you all for being here today. this place has manifest itself as a vision. a vision that our former mayor ed lee had to answer the call, the call that was put out to end veteran homelessness in san francisco and in our country. and he stepped up to that call. i remember when i first became mayor going to the auburn hotel and how it really did bring tears to my eyes because of the stories that i heard from so many of the formerly homeless veterans who now had a safe, affordable place to call home. tomorrow is ed lee's birthday and today we honor him and this place is a testament to his legacy and we want to thank his

wife, anita lee for being here today to celebrate. anita's sacrificed so much because her husband was mayor taking care of so many of us. i miss those days of us working together and now it's so important that we continue to move forward with goals that he set to make sure that we build affordable housing in this city, that we build housing and we don't let bureaucracy get in the way. the people that moved here in january 2020, they are counting on us to make good decisions and to move forward and not let it get in the way of something so spectacular. this place is magical. this courtyard. the formerly homeless veterans who are moving in here, the low income families who now have a

place to raise their children, the teen rooms and the centers and the places that they will have to gather and be a community right in the heart of mission bay, this is absolutely extraordinary and there were so many people that made it possible. it basically took a village. it took a village of a lot of money, not just the mayor's office of housing and workforce development. it also took state and federal resources and i want to really first of all thank the state of california veteran affairs. i want to thank the office of community investment here in san francisco. i want to thank the mayor's office of housing and community investment for the plow share ccdc. and i want to especially thank our speaker nancy pelosi. her advocacy, her work, her tireless effort to support and

uplift veterans through the resources for the federal government, it would not have been possible had it not been for her involvement in this project. it would not have gotten done. and then we had just a bit of a shortfall and then the private sector stepped in. juan conway, alex turk, sf cities. they helped to raise $4.5 million to make sure we got this project over the threshold. so many people. it really did take a village. this village has been incredible in pursuing opportunities to build more housing and so we are truly grateful that we have over 100 families and veterans who were already living here will continue to thrive right here and hopefully who knows maybe attend a warrior game or two.

and, with that, i want to thank everyone for joining us here today, have a wonderful day. >> so, mayor and madam speaker, i know you gave me a video message last year when i retired, but i'm back here because i just can't stay away from all that's going on. i'm so honored that you are here and weren't you here when we did the first project with the crowd share. you're always here. she's always making time for us. so everyone put your hands together and shout out loud! yay, madam speaker! >> peace, joy, hope, love,

norman. he's still here, but we're also joined by malcolm as well. malcolm young. thank you to chinatown community development center. the mayor talked about this taking a village and i want to follow up on her very apt theme. and this village is led by mayor london breed. she has been on this housing subject for her whole official life and probably before that on a volunteer basis so many of the things that came to fruition here had their roots in her work as supervisor and, of course, now as mayor. let's talk about that village, that village that is san francisco. it's a place that has beautiful diversity and that's why this collaboration between our

veterans and ccdc is so appropriate. the diversity of san francisco, our strength. i always say our diversity is our strength, our unity is our power. the unity between ccdc and veterans is what has made this a magical, wonderful occasion. in addition to that, the collaboration as the mayor discussed, federal, state, local, private sector, ron conway, john kegger, i see others who have played a role. and, for years, many of us have been involved in low income housing tax credit which has been a root to so much. but it has to be combined with other things to make this all happen. i also want to just talk for a moment about our veterans. not a moment, but a moment in connection to what's happening in d.c. right now. right now, the secretary of

veterans affairs, dennis mcdonald. dennis used to be the president of obama's chief of staff. and as chief of staff, one of his priorities was about homeless veterans. he came out here to make sure that project homeless connect was working for our veterans. he came out here personally only for that purpose and he has been following this issue. so the fact that he is now the secretary of veterans affairs in the biden administration, resurrecting what happened between h.u.d. and veterans affairs administration then under obama and now resurrected in the biden administration under dennis mcdonald's leadership and marsha the

secretary of h.u.d. who has just recently worked with our mayor. so this, again, is all coming together in deep seeded values in our city, our patriotism, our diversity, our respect for other opinions and collaboration, our respect for the public private, nonprofit sectors coming together and recognizing that it doesn't work without all of that. our v.i.p. today will be margie televera and we'll be anxious to hear from her. but i just want to acknowledge all who are finding housing here the mayor said to raise their families, to reach their own fulfillment, to have their own comfort, that's what this is really about. it's about the public policy to meet the needs of the people and to do so in a way that is, again, collaborative.

i know that supervisor matt haney. the masks are throwing me off a little bit. thank you, matt. for your involvement. jason elliott, former chief of staff. so beautiful. again, when we talk about all the things in san francisco, it's about family and here we are to pay tribute to mayor lee. anita is here. anita, thank you for sharing ed lee with us so completely and thank you for honoring us with your presence today. anita and, again, when mayor lee came into office. he was ready. the jobs he had in the city equipped him to do the job. when mayor london breed came from the board. she came from the board of

supervisors, she was ready. she was ready to bring all our communities together. and when we take some pride, it is only possible because we have initiatives of national significance that spring from our community. so, again, an occasion like this, someone will say it's my pleasure to be here today, to pay tribute to every aspect of our great city as we meet the needs of the people. and some other good news is that in our rescue package, there's $17 billion more for veterans. it wasn't there before. the homeless aspects have not been i talked about

collaboration, i talked about community. san francisco which is a great community has the word community in it. i have this pin. it's a flag that has on it one country, one vision. that's what we can say about our city of san francisco. we have a vision of meeting the needs of the people in a way that's respectful of their aspirations as well as our capabilities and we want them to have the biggest aspirations and the best capabilities to meet their needs. so congratulations to anyone who had anything to do with veterans. i can't wait to hear from our special guest, representative margie of the people who live here. they are truly our v.i.p.s, our very important people. so, yes, it is my pleasure to

be here to congratulate everyone but especially to pay respects to anita and our dearly beloved mayor lee. did you say that, norman? did you say something like that. i'm also imitating norman, what can you do. he has so much to say. anyway. thank you for the opportunity to share some thoughts with you congratulations on everything that's happening here and thank you mayor breed for making this possible. san francisco strong. thank you. >> i don't think i will say i love you, speaker pelosi. all right. next, we have malcolm young, the current director of

chinatown d.c., but before he comes up, let me tell you these are tough times and a lot of young folks are saying it's terrible. and even worse, there's a lot more hate going around. so what's the cure? i'm using their language a little bit. the cure is herd immunity and whenever city collaborators come together, we become the neutralizing agents of love to counter that hate. one of the best things on earth was getting to know michael fletcher. everyone pays but to actually do something, look, 62 years for formerly homeless vets. and, housing for very low

income families. let me tell you, herd immunity in action. but a long timer is malcolm young who is now my boss. i was his boss for how many years? okay. but now you're the boss. make us proud. come on up. >> so mayor breed in the back there asked me on the side, are you sure you're the director of this organization. my response to her was not on most days. you know, it's really an honor and distinct pleasure to be here opening the ed lee apartments in addition to tomorrow being mayor ed lee's birthday. may also marks the month of api

heritage month and it also marks affordable housing month. i want to call out the affordable housing month in particular. right here we have a through line of champions from the local to the state to the federal and they've been champions for the entirety of their career. that starts with mayor lee. many people look at mayor lee, but to me one of his most important legacies was how he brought affordable housing into the main stream of san francisco and made it critical for the city to do and he reintroduced that concept to us and this mayor mayor breed has passed it and now she's incorporating affordable housing into the capital plan make interesting part of the infrastructure which brings us to our next and most amazing

champion speaker nancy pelosi also shepherding the infrastructure act in congress that will also incorporate affordable housing into the infrastructure of the nation. i wanted to say it started here in san francisco, mayor breed, your work is resinating throughout the country and speaker pelosi is going to bring us home along with president biden. so thank you for that. all right. now my written remarks. this is where it gets boring. so, first of all, i just want to say thank you to anita for coming up here and being with us. it means more than we can express to you. you know, i just want to say this building is a testament to mayor lee's legacy. i've always thought as i mentioned before, one of the most critical things mayor lee did was champion affordable

housing and i hope you're proud of us and i hope he's proud of us and i want to just thank everybody for that. i want to call out why this building is a particularly good example of that aspect. like ed, this building aspires to bring together diverse populations to bring together a single community. keyly watt told me last night and i want to quote her, veterans and families guarded alongside one another in our community garden. they water plants, they share vegetables. one family has twice donated greens to veterans. the residents have come to look out for each other and sometimes they do it in ways you wouldn't expect. veteran recently spoke on behalf of an asian family here worrying that the family's garden may have been a target of hate crime and we know that's been an issue this past year. it turned out it was a hate

crime. the asian family said it if felt good to have that sense of community where neighbors watch out for each other and that's what we're trying to build here and that's what the residents are moving towards. so thank you keely. she's in the back somewhere because bringing together veterans and families is not the first thing you'd think of whenever you create a community, but san francisco has a track record of bringing together unconventional communities and families pairs with an organization of chinatown to an organization that serves veterans. who would of ever thought that. but in all seriousness, i want to thank sorts of cloud share. this is the second building that we're working on with them. we're working on the third

building on treasure island, but really the thing that i want to say is thank you to the residents here for showing us that this door of these unconventional pairing is worth keeping open for the community that they build. thank you so everyone who supported this project and effort and thank you so much to our leaders for making sure the dream of affordable housing and affordability is going to continue well into the future of this community. thank you. >> earlier michael bleker from source house said "it's like we're married." i just wanted to say that. but madam speaker wants to introduce you. it's better than me. i always tell tomb jokes. this is unplanned. >> thank you, norman. this is very unplanned and

unprecedented that norman would give up the microphone ahead of time. right. here we go. but i really want to say to you what i say to my colleagues in washington, d.c.. this is a model for our nation. i've had to meet the needs of our wets in a way that is personal as well as pragmatic to get the job done. i've appointed michael to the department of veterans affairs commission on care where he brought his deep knowledge of what was needed to take care of our veterans. his courageous disagreement when necessary to that he was enormous value added. i wanted to see him in action. i started with sorts of cloud share. so i've seen him work with at

least four mayors and of course, now with mayor breed. he understands that it all starts with meeting the personal needs of our vets. to recognize the challenges that they have and that when we talk about homeless vets, it's a challenge to our conscience in a very particular way and so when we want to meet their housing needs, we want to deal with it with a particularum of care. and nobody does it better in the country and i meet regularly with the veteran service organization. michael from time to time has been able to join us and every time he does, it gives me the opportunity to take pride in what he does, take pride in how our city has recognized the

value in what he is doing so i appreciate norman giving me the opportunity to say a few words and welcome to the podium, a real american hero source to crowd shares. >> thank you so much. i just want to say this is sort of like a miracle to create this housing and former mayor ed lee said i want to have this. it's just like an asphalt parking lot and now it's beautiful. the courtyard and everything. this is going to be home for this r them and should they pass away or leave.

so the housing stays for veterans and that's part of the magic of this collaboration, the fact that you bring federal subsidies into the city. you bring all these incredible sources, but for investors it's backed up by the public sector so it's a tremendous. but, of course, all the work that goes in and we look forward to future projects all the community networks. it's all part of the deal. we're all working together on this to make it work. we're kind of that little engine that could.

i think we fought the good fight. and part of that's been a big partner with the veteran's administration making sure we protect the veteran's administration as a solid top notch health system that needs to be protected and, if it doesn't, it will be skirted away to private health insurance and we have to stop that and the va's playing a major role. but it all comes down to how do you care for them. we know the veterans from my generation are sicker and pourer and in worst shape and they need that kind of care. whether it's dropping care. where their needs are. housing.

residential treatment beds. we do that. it's crucial outreach that we do. it's ensuring that the emergency hotels that we're active with that and making sure the people that leave the hotels have a place to stay. we like everyone here, we roll our sleeves up and we do the work because that's what we have to do. that's why we have the honor. i appreciate everyone being here and you're all part of this big support. so thanks again. thank you. >> okay. change of schedule. since we've got the big shot secretary of california department of veteran affairs here, we would like to have vito embossini.

you're coming on board right now. hang in there, margie. >> thank you. >> good morning. thank you reverend fong for the introduction. madam speaker, madam mayor and all the guests and community leaders responsible for this project. i'm the secretary of the california department of veterans affairs and i'm here today, may the 4th, there are too many startrek fans. the force is with us. the forces of partnership. the forces of civic governmental leadership. the forces of community, charity, the forces of philanthropy all here today in this very spot on may the 4th. this is always going to be a great day when we can dedicate new housing for veterans and their families.

as we look at this beautiful new facility, the edwin m. lee apartments, i'm looking at much more than a successful completion of a routine construction project. this property is so much more than just architectural drawings and building materials. the windows of these buildings are windows of opportunity for veterans looking to make their path forward more secure. in these ed lee apartments, the walls to them are like burls that will provide sanctuary for veterans who gave so much in their service to the nation. i see roof tops and all of this is based on firm foundations upon which veterans will not build their future, but flourish in it. these buildings are in essence reflective of the love and respect we share for those who

defended our constitution and our freedoms. securing housing for veterans is one of cal vet's core missions which is why i'm so very honored to be here today in addition to advocating for california's 1.6 million veterans, our agency helped to fund this project through our veterans housing and homeless prevention program known as vhhp, a program that we administer in close collaboration with the california department of housing and community development. vhhp helps to fund the development or rehabilitation of affordable multiple family housing for veterans and their families. and whether it is permanent, supportive, or transitional housing, it comes, all of it, with an emphasis on veterans who are experiencing homelessness or who have extremely low incomes. at a rate of about once a year for five years now, vhhp has

awarded more than $357 million to 72 projects all over the state of which this is one contributing to the production of more than 4,700 housing units throughout california, over 2,500 of which are specifically reserved for veterans but still, our work is by no means done. and we still have a long way to go. over 1,000 veterans experience homelessness on any given day. even though our veterans here only account for 4% of our state population. and what's more distressing, california alone has a quarter of the nation's homeless veterans and over one half of the nation's total unsheltered veterans. so clearly providing a roof and four walls is a great start,

but it doesn't completely resolve the issue of homelessness in the long term. we now know what's required to give veterans housing stability, a sense of community, a sense of compassion and the necessary services delivered in a culturally competent matter to support veterans as they address the issues that contributed to their homelessness and that's why we're so proud and delighted to support crowd shares. their work in providing services and housing to veterans over the last 40 years is a testament and commitment to the dedication to their entire staff. furthermore, the support of their development partners in this project, chinatown community development center and the city of san francisco and several other cities over

the years have benefited countless lives and i believe mayor lee would be very proud on how this undertaking turned out. so i leave you with this. this dedication ceremony could only happen because so many of you dedicated your time, your efforts, and your hearts to make these walls of sanctuary, these windows of opportunity, these roof tops of protection, the foundation of so many solid and promising futures. thank you. >> okay. wow. get ready for the video. we are honored to have margie televera to come up and share her story living here. she's a vet and she lives here. she's going to share her story,

but there's going to be a video first. i always wanted to say this. one, two, three, hit it. >> when i was able to move here, i thought i won the lotto. it's brand new. i was like i'm the first person in that. that's a big deal for me. once i was living in my car and often living on couches. that is difficult when you're independent female. you're saying thank you because you're not in the street, but it breaks your heart. >> i spent eight years homeless, i guess. in and out of homeless. my mother says i wasn't homeless, i just wouldn't be still, but i was homeless because i was in shelters. i was tired. physically, mentally,

emotionally, spiritually tired. and this place is beautiful. i couldn't believe it for awhile. >> you can't underestimate the value of safe housing for people. i think you've seen that on both sides of the chinatown community. what we've given people here and what they've given us is a sense of belonging. we're starting to see friendships, people starting to get to know each other. >> when the children come in the courtyard when they're laughing, it just makes you feel good. so i always work out and i see them playing. >> we were tasked with building community when we first opened here. one day a week. one of the veterans volunteered. so if you cook a meal, you're starting to take a leadership role however small in the community. the chinatown community development center offered grants for artists. so the very first person whose

piece isn't finished is randal larson. he did a piece that involved the community. one that started is a leather worker. all of these things have a huge impact. the environment being a catalyst for them to start thinking about change that they perhaps didn't think was possible for them. >> when i lived in the shelters, i didn't feel safe, you know, sleeping. but then to come back home, that's beautiful and it's peaceful. i have a peaceful mind. >> i just look around and say "i'm okay." that's a great feeling. i wake up, i'm okay because i know when i go to bed i'm okay and when i wake up it's like i told you. it's this great feeling. everyone should have that. >> to find that you can be stable and actually mattering to the world, it's happening because you're living in this

place. we're starting to see how communities built. veterans are reaching out to each other and when ed m. lee apartments is a place of hope and peace and you can't underestimate any one of those factors in the success of this place in just one year. [applause] >> okay. margie. give it up for margie. i forgot your dog's name? is it bear? >> "little bear." >> hi everybody. little bear. yes. i heard 17 billion and i went, "oh, wow." yes. let me say first, this is

beauty. this is what i see every day from that window and it makes me feel good. i live in an apartment that's brand new. i'm safe and i'm happy. i represent the veterans here and i live with families as well. this is our hamlet and management here looks out for us and encourages us to communicate with each other and become part of society again. coming from the streets into a new apartment can take awhile to get used to. but to know that now i can make my own breakfast. i can get up when i want. i can sleep when i want. and i feel safe. that's huge. do you know what it's like when someone rings your doorbell

now? i'm sure you all know and you go, "hey, come on in." a lot of people take that for granted. now, for us, man, my sister, "come on in." i couldn't do that before. so san francisco, edwin lee, just the name of this place should indicate to you how great this is. i remember him. he would smile all the time and if you saw him on the street, he would go like this all the time. and i remember he used to always talk about building the city up and he would tell us that and he was always smiling. well, look, look at this. if you want to know who san francisco is, what san francisco is, this is san

francisco. diversity, family, looking out for each other. it is about working together. it is a struggle, but this is a picture of beauty. this is peace. this is ours and this is yours. welcome to our home. don't be a stranger. >> you almost made me cry. bye, little bear. all right. wow. i love it. passion. hope. joy when we need it most. we have anita, mrs. lee, ed's partner in life, and just to let you know, she's going to just say a few words, more if you want. but she drove all the way up -- okay. andrew drove six hours, you

went fast, to be here with us. let's welcome her with a big hand. mrs. anita lee. this is for you. i just got it. >> okay. thank you all for being here today. i have to look. okay. we are all honored that this project has beared some memory of ed. affordable housing was his passion and i know this would have meant so much to him. thank you so much. >> now you got the flowers. we're supposed to sing happy

birthday. we need all your help. camera people too. we'll sing happy birthday to mayor lee, okay ed lee. ♪ happy birthday to you happy birthday to you happy birthday dear ed lee happy birthday to you ♪♪ >> thank you. i think this is a time for question and answers. i'm not going to answer them. who's coming up to answer them? change of schedule. i'm flexible. >> madam speaker wants to cut the ribbon. >> okay. all right. >> are we ready? margie, you ready?

let's do this. five, four, three, two, one! yes! >> i try to start every day not looking at my phone by doing something that is grounding. that is usually meditation. i have a gym set up in my

garage, and that is usually breathing and movement and putting my mind towards something else. surfing is my absolute favorite thing to do. it is the most cleansing thing that i'm able to do. i live near the beach, so whenever i can get out, i do. unfortunately, surfing isn't a daily practice for me, but i've been able to get out weekly, and it's something that i've been incredibly grateful for. [♪♪♪] >> i started working for the city in 2005. at the time, my kids were pretty young but i think had started school. i was offered a temporarily position as an analyst to work on some of the programs that

were funded through homeland security. i ultimately spent almost five years at the health department coordinating emergency programs. it was something that i really enjoyed and turned out i was pretty good at. thinking about glass ceiling, some of that is really related to being a mother and self-supposed in some ways that i did not feel that i could allow myself to pursue responsibility; that i accepted treading water in my career when my kids were young. and as they got older, i felt more comfortable, i suppose, moving forward. in my career, i have been asked to step forward. i wish that i had earlier stepped forward myself, and i feel really strongly, like i am 100% the right person for this job. i cannot imagine a harder time

to be in this role. i'm humbled and privileged but also very confident. so here at moscone center, this is the covid command center, or the c.c.c. here is what we calledun -- call unified command. this is where we have physically been since march, and then, in july, we developed this unified structure. so it's the department of emergency management, the department of public health, and our human services hughesing partners, so primarily the department of homelessness and supportive housing and human services agency. so it's sort of a three-headed command in which we are coordinating and operating everything related to covid response. and now, of course, in this final phase, it's mass vaccination. the first year was before the

pandemic was extremely busy. the fires, obviously, that both we were able to provide mutual support but also the impact of air quality. we had, in 2018, the worst air quality ten or 11 days here in the city. i'm sure you all remember it, and then, finally, the day the sun didn't come out in san francisco, which was in october. the orange skies, it felt apocalyptic, super scary for people. you know, all of those things, people depend on government to say what's happening. are we safe? what do i do? and that's a lot of what department of emergency management's role is. public service is truly that. it is such an incredible and effective way that we can make change for the most vulnerable. i spend a lot of my day in

problem solving mode, so there's a lot of conversations with people making connections, identifying gaps in resources or whatever it might be, and trying to adjust that. the pace of the pandemic has been nonstop for 11 months. it is unrelenting, long days, more than what we're used to, most of us. honestly, i'm not sure how we're getting through it. this is beyond what any of us ever expected to experience in our lifetime. what we discover is how strong we are, and really, the depth of our resilience, and i say that for every single city employee that has been working around the clock for the last 11 months, and i also speak about myself. every day, i have to sort of have that moment of, like, okay, i'm really tired, i'm

weary, but we've got to keep going. it is, i would say, the biggest challenge that i have had personally and professionally to be the best mom that i can be but also the best public certify chant in whatever role i'm in. i just wish that i, as my younger self, could have had someone tell me you can give it and to give a little more nudge. so indirectly, people have helped me because they have seen something in me that i did not see in myself. there's clear data that women have lost their jobs and their income because they had to take care of their safety nets. all of those things that we depend on, schools and daycare and sharing, you know, being together with other kids isn't

available. i've often thought oh, if my kids were younger, i couldn't do this job, but that's unacceptable. a person that's younger than me that has three children, we want them in leadership positions, so it shouldn't be limiting. women need to assume that they're more capable than they think they are. men will go for a job whether they're qualified or not. we tend to want to be 110% qualified before we tend to step forward. i think we need to be a little more brave, a little more exploratory in stepping up for positions. the other thing is, when given an opportunity, really think twice before you put in front of you the reasons why you should not take that leadership position. we all need to step up so that we can show the person behind us that it's doable and so that

we have the power to make the changes for other women that is going to make the possibility for their paths easier than ours. other women see me in it, and i hope that they see me, and they understand, like, if i can do it, they can do it because the higher you get, the more leadership you have, and power. the more power and leadership we have that we can put out >> in august 2019 construction began on the new facility at 1995 evans avenue in bayview. it will house motorcycle police and department of forensic services division.

both sfpd groups are in two buildings that need to be vacated. they will join the new $183 million facility in late 2021. >> elements of the cfi and the traffic company are housed at the hall of justice, which has been determined to be seismically unfit. it is slated for demolition. in addition to that the forensic services crime lab is also slated for demolition. it was time and made sense to put these elements currently spread in different parts of the city together into a new facility. >> the project is located in the bayview area, in the area near estes creek. when san francisco was first formed and the streetcars were built back it was part of the bay. we had to move the building as close to the edge as possible on

bedrock and solid elements piles down to make sure it was secure. >> it will be approximately 100,000 square feet, that includes 8,000 square feet for traffic company parking garage. >> the reason we needed too new building, this is inadequate for the current staffing needs and also our motor department. the officers need more room, secured parking. so the csi unit location is at the hall of justice, and the crime laboratory is located at building 60 sixty old hunters point shipyard. >> not co-located doesn't allow for easy exchange of information to occur. >> traffic division was started in 1909. they were motor officers. they used sidecars. officers who road by themselves

without the sidecar were called solo. that is a common term for the motorcycle officers. we have 45 officers assigned to the motorcycles. all parking at the new facility will be in one location. the current locker room with shared with other officers. it is not assigned to just traffic companies. there are two showers downstairs and up. both are gym and shop weres are old. it needs constant maintenance. >> forensic services provides five major types of testing. we develop fingerprints on substances and comparisons. there are firearms identification to deal with projectiles, bullets or cartridge casings from shootings. dna is looking at a whole an

rare of evidence from -- array of evidence from dna to sexual assault to homicide. we are also in the business of doing breath allyzer analysis for dui cases. we are resurrecting the gunshot residue testing to look for the presence of gunshot residue. lifespan is 50 years. >> it has been raised up high enough that if the bay starts to rise that building will operate. the facility is versus sustainable. if the lead gold highest. the lighting is led. gives them good lights and reduces energy use way down. water throughout the project we have low water use facilities.

gardens outside, same thing, low water use for that. other things we have are green roofs on the project. we have studies to make sure we have maximum daylight to bring it into the building. >> the new facility will not be open to the public. there will be a lobby. there will be a deconstruction motorcycle and have parts around. >> the dna labs will have a vestibule before you go to the space you are making sure the air is clean, people are coming in and you are not contaminating anything in the labs. >> test firing in the building you are generating lead and chemicals. we want to quickly remove that from the individuals who are working in that environment and ensure what we put in the air is not toxic. there are scrubbers in the air to ensure any air coming out is

also at the cleanest standards. >> you will see that kind of at the site. it has three buildings on the site. one is for the motorcycle parking, main building and back behind is a smaller building for evidence vehicles. there is a crime, crime scene. they are put into the secure facility that locks the cars down while they are examined. >> they could be vehicles involved in the shooting. there might be projectiles lodged in the vehicle, cartridge casings inside the vehicle, it could be a vehicle where a aggravated sexual occurred and there might be biological evidence, fingerprints, recovered merchandise from a potential robbery or other things. >> the greatest challenge on the project is meeting the scope requirements of the project given the superheated construction market we have been

facing. i am proud to say we are delivering a project where we are on budget. >> the front plaza on the corner will be inviting to the public. something that gives back to the public. the building sits off the edge. it helps it be protected. >> what we are looking for is an updated building, with facilities to meet our unit's needs. >> working with the san francisco police department is an honor and privilege. i am looking forward to seeing their faces as the police officers move to the new facility. >> it is a welcome change, a new surrounding that is free from all of the challenges that we face with being remote, and then the ability to offer new expanded services to the city and police department investigations unit. i can't wait until fall of 2021

when the building is finally ready to go and be occupied and the people can get into the facility to serve them and serve the community. . >> clerk: fire commission meeting may 26, 2021, and the time is 5:03. this meeting is being held via teleconferencing. this meeting is being held via webex. during the coronavirus