>> thank you to i think the members of the board of supervisors joining us today. i see superintendent safai, budget chair matt haney, supervisor mandelman. thank you for joining us as well as our treasurer, our assessor recorder torrez, the district attorney bodine, and i'm not sure. i think agot all the elected officials here. thank you so much.

good afternoon to all the community members, the city staff, elected officials, i can not tell you how happy i am to be here. [applause] not just because we are announcing that we have officially balanced our latest two-year budget -- though that is important. , no, and i'm happy because i am here in chinatown in front of actual people again. and it feels great. this is the first time in so long that i've seen so many familiar faces kinda. i think i recognize you all. over the past few weeks, san francisco has really started to open up. you can see it everywhere. people are going to museums, to baseball games, enjoying the incredible outdoor dining spaces and families and our parks and playgrounds like this one that

we are at today. willy woo woo wang. i had the opportunity to go to the symphony and the performance was incredible. just being at davey symphony hall was magic. it was san francisco coming back to life. people are excited for what's coming. and i'm excited to be here today with all of you. i want to recognize my budget chair or my budget director ashley and her incredible team. thank you for the hours and hours of work you've put into working with labor and community stakeholders and the city departments to get this budget balanced and delivered on time.

over the last year i have seen what we can do. all of us have been tested like never before. our spirit, our resilience, and our compassion for one another have all been tested. the past year has been hard. we've all been tired. we've been worn down. we faced challenges with our mental health. our kids have suffered. our seniors have suffered. our outlook at times was pretty dark, but through it all we held it together and now today gathered together at willy woo woo wang playground, we are in the light. no, covid is not gone. but the number of people in the hospital is lower than it's been

since march of last year. and almost 80% of eligible people have been vaccinated. >> and thanks to the hard work of so many health care providers and city workers and the parks workers and the people of the city, i can finally declare with pride and confidence that we are literally out of the woods. >> but keep your mask on. now, we haven't done this alone. we have had strong support from the state and federal government including governor gavin new some who has led california and delivered for the workers and small businesses and most vulnerable residents through project home key. thanks to the american rescue plan put forward by the president joe biden and vice

president kamala harris and speaker of the house nancy pe low sis, we don't have a crushing budget deficit. thanks to all of those folks. what we do have, however, is an opportunity, an opportunity to take all that we've lived through and all the lessons that we've learned and focus on what really matters. that's what this budget is about. it's about fulfilling the many promises we made. delivering on fundamental change and lifting up our entire city. now we are here in chinatown because we know this neighborhood was hit first and it was hit hard. february is normally an amazing time for this community when the lunar new year celebrations bring visitors from all over the world. but in february of last year, things were really dark. the lunar new year parade was

cancelled. tourists disappeared. small businesses were struggling. and the streets were empty. and in the month since then this neighborhood has been one of the continuing to suffer from the loss of visitors, yes, but also from the disgusting xenophobia and shocking acts of violence. seniors are afraid to run errands. families worried about their safety. what is happening right now, in particular the attacks against our elders is shameful for our city. it is shameful for our country. just last week i was out to lunch at r&g lounge down the street from here with a woman named ms. wong. after my grandmother passed away, ms. wong became my adopted grandmother. she's so warm and kind, but just like my grandmother, you don't want to get on her bad side. and she fills me with such joy

when i see her. she tells me she is proud of me and shows me pictures of her grandchildren. she is truly a beautiful spirit, and she is joining us here today. thank you, ms. wong. that's my baby, y'all. you mess with ms. wrong, you mess with me. when i see these attacks against our asian seniors, i think of my grandmother. i think of ms. wong. i think of how i feel if someone would lay their hands on them. i know so many of us feel that way here today. and it breaks my heart every single time. and an attack against one of us is an attack on all of us, and san franciscans, we will rise to the occasion to protect our seniors by any means necessary. i have been proud to stand with leaders like assembly member david chiu bill king to call for unity against the racist attacks

but to bring forward solutions to support our residents and to send a clear message that the disgusting attacks against our api community must end now and that doesn't just mean having more law enforcement on our streets. it means continuing and expanding programs like our community guardians. these multi-racial street patrol teams are walking the streets and neighborhoods like this one and visitation valley and the inner richmond, the tenderloin, san bruno avenue and other areas. they know the community. they are from these communities and they are bridging cultural divides, building relationships and watches out for the most vulnerable. this is exactly the kind of program my budget will invest in. it means continuing to fund the senior s corp. program which is serving members of this community. we are also launching an ambitious plan to have community

ambassadors up and down mid market corridor and across all of downtown and our waterfront. again, these are ambassadors who are watching our blocks and making calls for services for those who are struggling and given directions to those who are lost. offering a friendly face to those who are in need. but let's be clear. keeping our city safe also does require law enforcement. that means making sure we have officers on our streets walking the beat and responding to crime. right now every year we lose about 80 officers who either retire or leave the force for other reasons. if we don't replace these officers with new recruits, our police force will shrink. we will lose foot beat. we won't be able to quickly respond to 911 calls. we won't be able to make arrests to hold people accountable. that will not make our city safe. so in this budget we are

proposing two police academy classes to keep our ranks stable. the good news is -- the good news is as we add these academy classes, our police forces is also becoming more diverse. since 2009 the proportion of recruits in our classes have increased from the black community by 45%. the latino by 78%. and the asian community by 79%. removing the bias starts right there by making sure the people in uniform reflect and understand the communities they serve. and we know that we can't stop every crime, and sadly, there will be victims in our city. but i want all residents to feel safe when they step forward to

report a crime, especially our seniors, so we are creating a new office of justice innovation that will coordinate the city's response to victims across all communities including with targeted support for the api community. this new team will also continue our ground breaking work to find more effective ways to respond to people when they call for help no matter what neighborhood you live in. our street crisis response team is already taking our most challenging mental health call to the people who end up in bad situations when confronted by law enforcement. we've got four teams already out on the streets with two more coming soon. we are adding a 17th in this budget. why? because the teams are working. i have seen the results myself. a few weeks ago i went out with a street crisis response team.

we arrived on the scene on fisherman's wharf to find a man with no shoes, clearly in need of care talking to himself, walking in and out of traffic, and the kind of lost soul too many of us have seen too often and wondered why is no one doing anything? why? a police officer had arrived on the scene first, but when the street crisis response team showed up, i could see the relief in the officer's eyes. he knew he wasn't the one for this call. he knew there was a better way. i took time, over an hour and multiple conversations, but eventually that gentleman ended up getting care from paramedics and a clinician. it didn't end in violence or everyone just walking away. better solutions deliver better outcomes. that's how we make a difference.

and now in this budget we are expanding our street response teams to include wellness teams, composed of a paramedic and homeless outreach worker that will respond to even more calls, that would better benefit from a nonpolice response. and we're also adding street overdose response teams to help curb the crisis of overdoses in our city. fentanyl is destroying lives not just here in san francisco but across the country. that's why we will continue to pitch for overdose prevention programs with the help of senator scott weaner at the state level. and we will expand street medicine team and treatment program that have been effective in preventing overdoses and helping people get off opioids and meth. as we increase these services, we also need to continue to enforce our laws against drug dealing.

our police officers are on pace to seize more fentanyl this year than ever before. we need every level of our criminal justice system to step in to stop this drug dealing and especially the people in the tenderloin and other neighborhoods in the city. our residents and those who are suffering on the streets, they deserve better. as we change how we respond to people on the streets, we also need places for them to go. we can have all the outreach teems in the world, but if we don't have housing, shelter, and treatment bed, we are going to see those same people right back on the streets again and again and again. but the good news is it's take an lot of work but we have a plan. starting with treatment beds n. this budget we are funding the acquisition and operation of over 340 new treatment beds.

[applause] we have set aside funding to acquire facility for up to 300 more treatment beds so we can keep growing our pipeline. that is a plan for 640 new beds on top of the 2,000 beds we already have. that is real change. that is a long-term difference. and so when we see someone in need or a family member suffering, we can have some place for them to go and get healthy. and and we are taking the same approach with the homeless recovery plan which will create more permanent and supportive housing places to go. the plan which launched last year by july of 2022, including

-- i know, i am excited about it, too. including the largest expansion of permanent supportive housing in 20 years. and this plan is already working. we have fewer people living in tents on our streets than at the height of the pandemic than even before the pandemic. and we are moving people out of shelter in place hotels right now into permanent, supportive housing. each of these stories is a success and a life changed. people like the vulnerable senior who had been homeless in the mission for 45 years. let's call him tyrone, not call tyrone, but call him tyrone. some of you got that. thank you. >> it wasn't until they got him into a hotel and connected to services that he began to relax.

that he had the opportunity to heal. and tyrone moved into permanent supportive housing and 45 years homeless and now housed permanently. that is almost longer than i have been alive. actually, that is longer than i have been alive kinda. so yes, the homeless recovery plan is working and over the next years between local, state, and federal funding, we are putting in over a billion dollars into action in san francisco to address this. this is an historic investment which will allow us to provide up to 4,000 more new placements to get people off the streets including 1,000 new unit of permanent supportive housing in addition to the 1500 units we already have. we will add two new safe parking

sites and create a new 40 and to keep people housed is the easiest way to end homelessness. more housing, more placements, more people living indoors. yes, this is an historic investment for our city but we have to be honest with ourselves. if we're going to see change on our streets, it takes more than money. we also have to have the will to make the change. so to be clear, we will lead with services to get people housing and the help they need for those with complex needs we will do everything we can to assist them and get them on the path of recovery. we know it's not easy, but that's our commitment. and for those exhibiting harmful behavior, whether to themselves or to others and those refusing

assistance, we will use every tool we have into treatment and services to get them indoors. we won't accept people just staying on the streets when we have a place for them to go. if we focus and invest right, we have a real chance to make a fundamental change for those who are living on the streets for our city as a whole. we also know that our recovery isn't just about getting back to where we were. it's about taking on the existing disparities laid bare by this pandemic. we saw the devastating impact on the latino community. those who lived in crowded conditions who didn't have access to health care and didn't have a lot of trust in government. we saw systemic racism that many of us have known all too well for far too long in the african-american community. exposed by covid and the murder of george floyd.

we saw our transgender community suffer from disproportional impact. we saw the young people devastated and women pushed out of the workforce at higher rates than men when our schools shut down. we witnessed all of this and it's clear that we have a duty to commit so to an equitable community and will continue in the african-american community to fund the dream keeper's initiative. we will include $57 million to fund programs and impacted communities to deliver on work force, small business support, economy relief, food security, testing, vaccine, and mental

health support. all the things that got us through this. we will build on the guaranteed income pilot programs to deliver payment to members of the transgender community. we will offer women free child care so they can get back in the work force. we will fund mental health support for our public school students and continue our opportunities for all program which is providing our young people with paid internship and setting them on the path to success. [applause] we are back filling our lost hotel taxes to ensure that the art and artist cans continue to

thrive, deborah walker. and we are setting aside funding to purchase a site for the lgbt cultural museum to have a home to celebrate all those that fought for exneck this city, supervisor mandelman. we are funding affordable housing, improving playgrounds like this one we constant in today. and improving our streets and replacing aging city infrastructure. we are investing in our inspection system, delivering over $90 million to support muni and bike and pedestrian safety projects because if we don't have a fully functional transportation system, people won't be able to get around in this city.

we need testing, outbreak management, shelter in place hotels and to feed and supported those who are in need for months ahead. like i said, we are out of the woods, but one thing we have learned over the last year, we never know what lies ahead. this pandemic did not give us notice and neither will the next earthquake. that's why we have to do the hard work to prepare. remember over the last year during the worst of our budget, we did not have to lay off any city workers because we had a strong reserve to take us through. we were so lucky to receive the tremendous support from the federal government to stabilize us. there are still challenging times ahead. i know responsibility doesn't

grab headlines. but it's what leaders do. we don't raid our reserves unnecessarily so. we protect and we grow them. that's how we will weather any challenge that comes our way because we are a resilient city. the people of the city are strong and resilient. the people of the neighborhood, chinatown, they are strong and resilient. it is in their history, the oldest chinatown in the country. after the 1906 earthquake and fire, almost all of china town like much of san francisco burned to the ground. people from outside this community said let's move china town to the southeast part of the city and to go across the river to oakland. and the people who lived there and their homes and neighborhood

and community. the people who knew proud place and those who came before and welcomed those who stayed after. they fought for their home and they won. and out of the ashes of that great fire they rebuilt this incredible neighborhood. that is the story of china town and the story of san francisco. not even a global pandemic can knock us out. san francisco is coming back. with these investments, we have a path to get us to where we need to be. it is the people of the city who will propel us to the place we know we need to go.

in the challenging times, that is what held us together. san francisco isn't going anywhere except straight ahead into what i see is a bright and hopeful future. i am so excited to work with each and every one of you to make sure that our city continues to shine. we've been through earthquakes. we've been through fires. we've been through challenges. now we can check off the global pandemic box and guess what, san francisco, after we get this budget passed and we move these dollars into action, we are going to see real change and things will look bet arenaed brighter than before the pandemic. you all are important part to thank in these efforts. thank you, all. looking forward to see this budget pass through the board of supervisors. [applause] .

>> neighborhood in san francisco are also diverse and fascist as the people that inhabitable them we're in north beach about supervisor peskin will give us a tour and introduce is to what think of i i his favorite district 5 e 3 is in the northwest surrounded by the san francisco bay the district is the boosting chinatown oar

embarcadero financial district fisherman's wharf exhibit no. north beach telegraph hill and part of union square. >> all of san francisco districts are remarkable i'm honored and delighted to represent really whereas with an the most intact district got chinatown, north beach fisherman's wharf russian hill and knob hill and the northwest waterfront some of the most wealthier and inning e impoverished people in san francisco obgyn siding it is ethically exists a bunch of tight-knit neighborhoods people know he each other by name a wonderful placed physically and socially to be all of the

neighborhoods north beach and chinatown the i try to be out in the community as much as and i think, being a the cafe eating at the neighborhood lunch place people come up and talk to you, you never have time alone but really it is fun hi, i'm one the owners and is ceo of cafe trespassing in north beach many people refer to cafe trees as a the living room of north beach most of the clients are local and living up the hill come and meet with each other just the way the united states been since 1956 opposed by the grandfather a big people person people had people coming since the day we opened. >> it is of is first place on the west that that exposito 6 years ago but anyone was doing

that starbuck's exists and it created a really welcoming pot. it is truly a legacy business but more importantly it really at the take care of their community my father from it was formally italy a fisherman and that town very rich in culture and music was a big part of it guitars and sank and combart in the evening that tradition they brought this to the cafe so many characters around here everything has incredible stories by famous folks last week the cafe that paul carr tennessee take care from the jefferson starship hung out the cafe are the famous poet lawrence william getty and jack herb man go hung out. >> they work worked at a play

with the god fathers and photos he had his typewriter i wish i were here back there it there's a lot of moving parts the meeting spot rich in culture and artists and musicians epic people would talk with you and you'd get >> 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. [♪♪♪]

>> we have private and public gardens throughout the garden tour. all of the gardens are volunteers. the only requirement is you're willing to show your garden for a day. so we have gardens that vary from all stages of development and all gardens, family gardens, private gardens, some of them as small as postage stamps and others pretty expansive. it's a variety -- all of the world is represented in our gardens here in the portola. >> i have been coming to the portola garden tour for the past

seven or eight years ever since i learned about it because it is the most important event of the neighborhood, and the reason it is so important is because it links this neighborhood back to its history. in the early 1800s the portola was farmland. the region's flowers were grown in this neighborhood. if you wanted flowers anywhere future bay area, you would come to this area to get them. in the past decade, the area has tried to reclaim its roots as the garden district. one of the ways it has done that is through the portola garden tour, where neighbors open their gardens open their gardens to people of san francisco so they can share that history. >> when i started meeting with the neighbors and seeing their gardens, i came up with this

idea that it would be a great idea to fundraise. we started doing this as a fund-raiser. since we established it, we awarded 23 scholarships and six work projects for the students. >> the scholarship programs that we have developed in association with the portola is just a win-win-win situation all around. >> the scholarship program is important because it helps people to be able to tin in their situation and afford to take classes. >> i was not sure how i would stay in san francisco. it is so expensive here. i prayed so i would receive enough so i could stay in san francisco and finish my school, which is fantastic, because i don't know where else i would have gone to finish. >> the scholarships make the

difference between students being able to stay here in the city and take classes and having to go somewhere else. [♪♪♪] [♪♪♪] >> you come into someone's home and it's they're private and personal space. it's all about them and really their garden and in the city and urban environment, the garden is the extension of their indoor environment, their outdoor living room. >> why are you here at this garden core? it's amazing and i volunteer here every year. this is fantastic. it's a beautiful day. you walk around and look at gardens. you meet people that love gardens. it's fantastic. >> the portola garden tour is the last saturday in september every year. mark your calendars every year. you can see us on the website

june 1, 2021. community investment and infrastructure. >> this is the regular meeting of the commission on community investment and infrastructure, tuesday, june 1, 2021. welcome to members of the public streams or listening live as well as staff and those presenting today's meeting. following the guidelines set by local and state officials the members of this commission are meeting remotely to ensure safety of everyone including members of the public. thank you for joining us today. >> call the first