>> hello, everyone. and welcome to the ribbon cutting ceremony for 490. i'm the deputy executive director for mission housing development corporation and it is my honor to welcome you back isn't that exciting? we are back into our neighborhood. you know, after, what, more than a year of collectively fighting the covid-19 virus. thank you, mayor, london breed. and thank you supervisors and all of the community effort that allowed us to be here today in this outdoor space to be able to celebrate 490. and we would like to remind you though as we are so proud to be hosting you here today, we want to encourage you to kindly wear your masks as you enter the building, and to respect still the social distancing guidelines

that 490 is basically asking from all of us. for our own safety. now it is my great pleasure to welcome today's guest to conduct the ceremony for us, we're very excited that she's here today. and a community-based organization that is going to be headquartered here at 490. and we're very excited about that. [applause] they'll be located at the flex place at the corner of 16th and south van ness very, very shortly. basically what they do -- they provide immigrant families in the bay area with social services and emergency support for most cultural values and serve as a bridge between our community and consulates and the governments. so we are very pleased to have them come today to conduct a blessing to make sure that this building is blessed today.

and i invite lydia to come up to the stage and begin that blessing ceremony. come on over. [applause] >> good morning to everyone. i am going toed in spanish and she'll translate it, okay. [speaking spanish] (speaking foreign language) [speaking spanish] (speaking foreign language)

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[speaking spanish] (speaking foreign language) [speaking spanish] (speaking foreign language)

[speaking spanish] (speaking foreign language) >> thank you very much. thank you. [applause] >> [speaking spanish] i just want to recap because we didn't have someone to translate in english what she just finished saying, but she wants to thank brim housing and mission housing, the mayor, all of the agencies, and anybody that had a contribution to make this building a possibility for the community. she wants to express her gratitude. she also talked a little bit about the journey for many --

you know, from yucatán. i am so sorry. and they came here to look for a better -- and just more positive opportunities. and i get a little choked up because i know what that trajectory looked like as an immigrant person and someone that as myself, i know what that means. and she wanted to remind every member those that we lost during this pandemic. and so, again, she wants to have you all keep the good fight to make sure that we can continue to build affordable housing and she's looking upon all of you guys to be able to do that. mucho gracias. so, let's continue on. and let's talk about what is 490. it's an 80-unit affordable housing building that you're sitting here today that is located in the san francisco mission district. just a couple blocks from here we have the authentic 1950 mission that is another

wonderful partnership with the partnership of bridge housing and ourselves that we were proud to do a groundbreaking very recently. what has that done for me, and for those that may be wondering what that word represents. we decided to name it for various reasons because it actually means to "move upward, forward, and a desire to always advance." and we believe that it embodies the resilient spirit of this neighborhood, a neighborhood that fought and they were very vocal about what they needed. and so here together as a community, as a group, we're celebrating this amazing, amazing celebration for 490. so we continue to [speaking spanish] so we'll continue to move forward, right? right? yes! yes! yes! [applause] mission housing and bridge housing are proudly basically celebrating the -- what we consider to be such a great accomplishment. and so we just want to be sure

that you celebrate along with us because this is actually a little piece of history that we are sharing with you today. we saw about 230 families that moved into their homes here. we actually have several -- several -- several -- looking -- several -- please wave to those residents that moved in here, and i just want to welcome them to their new home. we're so excited. it really makes me get choked up because there's nothing to fight for something, deliver something, and then see the families moving in and this is what we're celebrating today. this is for you. so now it is my great pleasure to welcome someone that is an advocate for affordable housing and i know that she's been very, very vocal about it for many years and she continued to be a partner and a supporter of our organization and everyone here that is sitting here today -- our mayor -- our mayor of san francisco that has been extremely busy for the past year or so, and we're very thankful

for her to have time to join us today. that being said, mayor london breed, would you please come up and share your thoughts. [applause] >> thank you, marcia. i've got to say today is definitely very special because it's been a long time coming, and i think that some of the folks that are joining us here today don't really realize the history and the struggle and the challenges that have existed for so many years, specifically in the mission community. and supervisor ronen can recall at a time when we saw a huge amounts of displacement of the people in this community, she was working as an aide for the supervisor in the office that she now occupies and i remember when i was on the board of supervisors and this community rallied together -- rallied together to ask for more support in san francisco, more support from city hall to build more affordable housing. and at the time i remember thinking to myself, what

difference is it going to make when the people in this community may not even have an opportunity to get access to these units? and so together, myself and members in this community supported my efforts when the federal government, hud, said, no, we could not use neighborhood preference. i flew on the red eye to d.c., they changed their mind because all i did was tell them my story about my experience of growing up in the philmore and what happened there, the redevelopment that came in, tore down a lot of beautiful homes owned by black people, rebuilt a number of affordable housing developments, but made it difficult for the people who lived in this community to have access to those units. i was watching as what was happening in the mission already happened in the philmore western edition community. so it was important that when we started, and we identified the

number of the developments in this community, the community did a whole walk-thru, and i went through that walk-thru and that drive-thru to identify a number of properties and at the time our late mayor ed lee helped to put $50 million in the budget to begin the process of acquiring these sites, and i picked up the mantle and we were able to acquire some additional sites as a result of the work of this community, the advocacy of this community, not only do we have seven sites identified for affordable housing in this community, we also are using neighborhood presence to make sure that people from this neighborhood have right of first refusal to access these units and to live in their community. [applause] that was -- i mean, this is -- i get emotional too, marcia, because i think about what's going to happen differently in this community for the people in this community. and so i was there for the opening of the childcare center,

for the ribbon cutting and the ceremony. i was here when we did the groundbreaking, the amazing groundbreaking here with the space, to cleanse off all of the negative spirits and bring in the positive energy that these families deserve. we were on shopwell when we opened up a new senior developpent in and we have other properties where we're going to be doing a lot of ribbon cuttings in these community. in total almost 800 units and counting. so that is absolutely amazing. [applause] but we know that there's more that needs to be done. this pandemic, although it set us back, we were still able to get this project done. we were still able to continue to build. and that is so critical because families, like the ones that we see here today, they're counting on us. they're counting on us to move as quickly as possible to get this housing built so that they can move in and raise their families in these incredible

communities. i can't help but get excited, especially because i know that this is going to change and save lives. housing has to be the priority. san francisco has not done the best job of moving forward as aggressively as it should in building more housing opportunities. i can't imagine my grandmother who raised me -- i can't imagine what she would have to go through now in san francisco and what would happen and how difficult it would be for her to be able to raise her grandchildren and take care of her developmentally disabled daughter nowadays and the access to affordable housing. it would be almost virtually impossible. what we want to do in this city is to change that to make sure that people have safer, affordable places to call home. and i'm so grateful that we are partnering with mission housing and with bridge housing to create these incredible spaces that are not just about buildings -- they're about people -- and people's lives.

and their ability to live in dignity and take care of their families and live in a place like san francisco. and to be able to come back and tell those stories about their families emigrating to san francisco, or their grandmothers raising them. to be able to tell those stories, because they will have a future in this incredible city. and i'm so grateful that housing here will provide that opportunity. so, thank you, everyone, for being here. thank you for all of the folks that had a role -- the mayor's office of housing and the bank of america and our financers. so it took a village. it really did take a lot of people coming together, but more importantly -- more importantly -- it took this community rallying and demanding what they know that they deserve in order to live in dignity in the community that they call home. so, thank you all, so much for being here today. [applause]

>> thank you, joan, for coming out. >> thank you, all. thank you for making this (indiscernible) i'm so grateful. [applause] >> these are the stories that we are very proud of, that we should all be proud of. thank you, mayor london breed, and thank you so much for acknowledging and for being here and for the work, you know, that everyone was able to do to make this happen. our next speaker is our executive director at extension housing to say a few words. i'm sure many more words but just a few. come on over. >> thank you, everybody. joan got me crying up here. give me a sec. thank you all for coming and i feel that i get to do this now and after 10 years it's kind of hard to believe that we're having a ribbon cutting every few months in the mission.

marcia and myself took over the housing 10 years ago, well, we didn't look like what we look like now. we had a lot of growing to do, and we couldn't have done that growing without the support of our community. without the support of the late mayor lee and then mayor breed herself, and you know, most especially i'd like to thank bridge housing. we forced our way in the door and no one could get rid of us, and bridge housing is the one that opened that door up. so we wouldn't be able to grow the way we are and to provide the things that we provide on a daily basis, not just in these new buildings, but in all of our buildings, if we haven't had the trust and respect of bridge housing. so, thank you very much, for showing up. [applause] >> coming to these ribbon cuttings, as great as they are, it has me thinking about the past and how far we've come and

just how important it is for us to stop right now. we've all just gone through a really hard ordeal and we're still going through it, and it's important to look forward. you know, it's important to come together and to say here we are at this point in time. and i know that these things happened in the past and i know this person said that, and this person -- this company did that -- but here we are as a community together supporting each other. and we're standing on something tangible, on a physical structure that was erected with the blood and sweat and tears -- and i guess a little bit of money from the san francisco government, of course, but without all of that coming together, working together, we wouldn't be here right now. we'd still be talking about how many people are displaced in the city and we would still talked about what if we could have built that. and we're standing on something that we did -- that we accomplished. and i just really want everyone to take a moment and to pat yourself on the back because it wasn't easy. it was exhausting.

it was emotionally trying. but we're here now and we're about to have some empanadas later and have a good old time. so from the bottom of my heart i just want to thank everyone. thank you very much. >> thank you. right back at mission housing. really interesting story about this building and i want to talk about that and talk about relationships and how powerful and important they are to achieving what we're here to celebrate today. back in the day when we were just fighting to stand in justification, you know, people forced out of the mission and we weren't under the cloud of a global pandemic like today. mission housing and bridge housing had partnered a block away from here. and he came to my office and

said we'd like to get back in the game and that was a momentous day. not only did that happen but a few months later, and the mayor's office of housing acquired some land that we're standing on, it was fully entitled for a market rate condominium project. they had drawings that were done, they were ready to break ground. the mayor's office had the vision and the wherewithal at the time to acquire this shovel ready -- remember that term that we used to talk about? and the city took some grief at the time because they paid a lot. in hindsight it looks like a pretty good number, a pretty good deal by today's standards. so i want to thank the mayor's office and the leadership for making that happen. and then sam and i, i think that we decided we should get the band back together after what happened here in 1950, and fast forward, and here we are today. you know, as sam said, a lot of blood and sweat and a lot of hard work and a lot of talented people that, you know, we're not going to be able to thank

everybody today, but i want to thank the relationships that we value most and, really, the mayor's office of housing -- mission housing, as sam said, bridge and mission got together and we might have helped mission on some things, but they certainly helped us to understand what the mission is all about. and thank you for the blessing today. it's a complicated neighborhood, one that has been under a lot of pressure and, you know, if we can come here and to be a part of helping to stem that tide, that's part of our mission. so i thank mission housing for helping to educate us about the mission itself. and we're not done. we're going to be working with mission housing and we're busy trying to finance the infrastructure, but bridge is going to build there and mission is going to build there and we'll have a couple more of these ribbon cuttings. so i look forward to that. and i also need to thank a few of the key actors here, and from

architects, who we're working with in portland and here in the san francisco bay area. and those who built this building, and thank you, bob, and your team. and nibe is building in berkeley, another very complex neighborhood and a complex project. and i want to thank some of the folks at bridge briefly. mitch, who couldn't be here but his namesake here, this caterpillar was named after mitch apparently. so for all of you who know mitch, really helped to get this off the ground and he was helped by anna and sarah and david from our team that worked with sam and michael and marcia and the folks from mission housing. so thank you all for helping to execute that initial vision and for being here today to help to celebrate. congratulations. >> i would like to introduce -- >> i would like to introduce -- god, you're tall -- even with heels. i would like to introduce the next speaker, supervisor hillary

ronen. come right on over. [applause] >> supervisor ronen: thank you, everyone. it feels good, madam mayor, to keep coming to these ribbon cuttings. it's incredible. like sam said, after 10 years of not doing any of this, to be able to celebrate every couple months with, you know, the opening -- the ribbon cutting of a new affordable housing complex. and like our mayor said, this isn't about buildings, it's about people. and talking to the incredible families that are living in this building we've got to remember where those families were coming from. there are so many families in the mission that are living in tiny s.r.o. hotel rooms -- four people, five people, to a room. and if that wasn't -- that's always been unacceptable, but after this year of pandemic when

we weren't allowed to leave those rooms, when kids had to open up their computers and sit on their bunkbeds and be in a tiny space for 24 hours a day, and weren't allowed to hang out in the hallway because they could get sick -- that is cruel it almost feels -- it makes your home feel like a jail. and those are the kind of conditions that families moved from to finally be in a proper home where their kids can run outside and be safe, where they can have their own bedroom and feel like they have that -- that privacy and that space to grow up and be kids. that's what projects like this make happen. and so thanks to the mayor's neighborhood preference -- thank you for that law, that was one of the best and the most important laws that we've ever passed in san francisco. making that happen, going to washington, and -- and not

leaving and not taking no for an answer, it's one of your great legacies, mayor breed, because that is what made it possible for families that live in the s.r.o.s in the mission to move into proper, adequate housing for themselves and their families. and we can't stop -- like you said, we're going to keep on going because while there remains one family improperly housed in an s.r.o., where there remains thousands of people living on streets of san francisco, we can't stop. we've got to keep this going. and thank you, mission housing, for resurrecting your housing development or we wouldn't be here and we wouldn't do all of these ribbon cuttings without you. thank you, marcia, and thank you, sam, and, bridge -- of course, you never stop. so thank you for partnering with our local community-based developers, because we need that local -- that local voice and that local commitment and those folks from the community that are doing this work, like sam,

marcia and oscar and so many members of the mission housing team. thank you so much, this is a great day. congrats. [applause] >> i would like to introduce our next speaker, kevin blackburn, from the federal home loan bank of san francisco. [applause] >> well, again, it's an honor to be here this morning and, sam, with your giant shirt there, and i am the last one to speak and i am feeling like the cleanup like willie mays right now. but i don't know if you have noticed but there's been a common theme that has gone through each speaker today and that is the stories. you know, i have some facts to share with you, but facts tell, but the reality is that stories sell.

and the stories of the people whose lives have been impacted by having access to quality, affordable housing are the things that drive us to keep working hard to provide justice and equity for those who need it most. so i'm privileged that the federal home loan bank of san francisco, this is, like, the best thing that i get to do. i spend a lot of times on planes, well, prior to the pandemic, anyway, a lot of time on planes going back and forth to d.c.. and that is hard work. but this is really where it all makes a difference. so, you know, the facts that i just want to share with you and i want to really congratulate mission housing development corporation and bridge housing for collaborating because to build affordable housing, it is the most difficult type of housing to build, period. and to do it and to see what you'd be able to create here, i think they deserve a big round

of applause, don't you? [applause] of course it doesn't happen in a vacuum. you know, years ago i'd say, well, building affordable housing is like a seven-layer cake because you have so many layers of financing and expertise and, and now with the cost of housing continuing to increase it's probably a 10-layer cake now. but there are three layers of that cake that i just want to talk about and one is the federal home loan of san francisco. we know what is going on in washington, and once upon a time there was an atmosphere where both sides of the aisle worked together for a common good. one of the things they created was the affordable housing program. and so the federal home loan bank of san francisco gives away 10% of its profits annually in the form of grants for affordable housing with. bridge as a partner, that has translated to about $33 million in grants to bridge. and the congressional district,

speaker nancy pelosi, created 5,40 units of affordable housing and that's quality work. but we don't do it alone. we do it with community capital, and the members, the federal home loan bank that provided the grant. and then it takes affordable housing developers to bring it all together. and so for the federal home loan bank of san francisco, we're honored to continue to be the legacy of building affordable housing in san francisco and we want to just acknowledge mayor breed and her vision to -- to be a fighter. you know, it's one thing to get in office and to kind of move things along. it's another thing to drive an agenda that really matters. and there's nothing that matters more than providing quality housing for people. so not only are we working to continue to support affordable housing, but right now with the legislation introduced in washington that would allow the home loan banks to support

infrastructure, and that is important -- it is worth it. i was on the phone at 6:00 this morning back in d.c., because this legislation is really important and we want to be able as the infrastructure bill comes together to be another tool that banks can use to support the infrastructure development, because we need it. and so just keep your ears open we appreciate the support from supervisor ronen and from speaker pelosi as well. so, thank you all for being here today. thank you, mission housing development, and bridge housing and this is a great day. and will we're honored to be able to celebrate it with you. thank you. [applause] >> all right. thank god i'm wearing my heels. i was going to wear my flats but i wore my heels. anyways, before we get moving on to the ribbon cutting ceremony, i just want to acknowledge the

team that actually worked so hard to make sure that we can do this celebration, which is bridge housing team, and also mission housing team. for all of you that worked really hard here -- where is the staff? mission housing and bridge housing, lift your hands up? big and proud. [applause] there's a few here too that are shy to come out, but thank you so much. i hope that you guys enjoy this space. you are standing and sitting here today and it's basically the place where our children are going to be able to play. parents are going to actually be able to go right here and do their laundry and to be able to have their kids run around here so i just wanted to acknowledge this space because i think that it's beautiful. and i'm a parent of three and if my little one his an opportunity to be in this space, i would be proud to have them run around because it's a beautiful, safe space. with that being said, we'll continue on with the ribbon ceremony and we'll ask the speakers to move up here. but before we would like to

remind all of you that we have a reception on the rooftop. if you haven't been to the rooftop yet, we left that for last. and we partnered with a neighbor of ours, a commercial tenant of ours that is providing amazing empanadas to enjoy. so if you want to be at the reception, the elevators to my right, and another right there's going to be staff there directing you to take you to the rooftop. and so you can grab a bite to eat and take it with you. and the other thing that we have are some amazing t-shirts. so for all of you joining us today, pick up your t-shirts. it's very nice -- nice t-shirt that you can take with you. very proud of that t-shirt. besides that i just want to say -- actually ask everyone that is here today -- i want to ask for a commitment. would you -- would each one of you guys commit to be supportive of affordable housing? we have learned about the stories about what this building

represents and all of the work that everyone that is here today, and i just want to make sure that i hear you loud and clear that you are committed and to keep affordable housing efforts moving forward. can i hear that? [applause] okay. so, [speaking spanish] which means we're going to move forward together. thank you so much to all of the speakers. please come up. >> all right, are we ready? okay. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... [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. [♪♪♪]

>> all right, mayor, we've got a program. so be patient with us. all right. it's been a long time coming. hi, everybody, my name is phil ginsburg and i'm the manager of your recreation and park department and it's about time. it's really happening. it's really happening. you look over my right shoulder and you can see all of the work that's already started on our pathway to environmental justice. and -- and joy and community and resiliency. but before we jump into our program, we want to do a couple of things. and the first is that we want to acknowledge that the land that we are currently standing on is the unceded ancestral home of the first nations people. as stewards of parkland, our department recognizes the duty to honor through thoughtful and informed preservation and interpretation of ancestral lands. as uninvited guests let us all

affirm their sovereign rights as first peoples and pay our respects to the ancestors of the people. thank you. [applause] just a few hours ago our recreation and park department, and i see numerous commissioners here, commissioner anderson and probably a few others that i'm not seeing behind the crowds, passed the land acknowledgement and i want to thank greg castro and jonathan cordero who worked with our department in the crafting of this acknowledgement. and i want to -- you should please join me in thanking our amazing entertainers for their performances prior to the program. first the tai chi group, give it up. [applause] the sasamoan community dancers.

lion dance me. [applause] and following the program, there will be a performance by seilin finesse. [applause] we have a lot of partners, and i want to acknowledge -- before i turn it over to our m.c., first of all, mayor breed, thank you, thank you for believing in this project and thank you for pushing for it. and thank you for supporting it the institute, and i'll turn it over to jackie in a few minutes i want to thank our e.d.p. leadership committee, what is an e.d.p. leadership committee? this project is like no other, we're not just renovating a park, we're trying to work hard to understand what the community needs to thrive in this space. so it is yours. and there are several e.d.p. members and i see oscar james and michael wong, and jill fox here. so i want to thank you a few of the e.d.p. members and for all of your effort in guiding us, in

not just how to build this park, but to make sure that it is really for this community. i want to thank the trust for public land, and the san francisco parks alliance, drew becker is here and numerous members of his team. we have several representatives from our city family. i saw ken nimm and i say caller eisen, there may not be a city department that is not working on this in some way, shape or form. and i want to acknowledge our partners across the basin from bill dink, and i see lou vasquez here, lou, thank you for being here. and i want to give a special recognition to a guy standing right in front of me, john, thank you. john fritzker whose philanthropy turned this from a dream and a vision actually into a project. so, thank you, john. let's give him a round of applause. and thank you, moe, and john and moe were recently married just a few days ago and they came back

early from -- moe doesn't really call it a honeymoon, called it a camping trip, but they came back early to be here with us today. so thank you both very, very much. [applause] this project has many, many, many people rooting for it. it's gotten private philanthropy and it's gotten local bond money through the leadership of our mayor and several -- and san francisco voters. and it's also gotten a lot of money from the state of california, senator wiener, and commissioner chu, thank you for your leadership in making it happen. this project has even gotten federal money. we've gotten money from the e.p. e.p.a., and we have gotten -- anywhere that there's money we're trying to raise it for this project and it's actually starting to work out. today's groundbreaking is the culmination of seven years of planning, outreach and fundraising on a project that

will finally address decades of pollution and environmental degradation in a neighborhood that once helped to drive the economy of san francisco during world war ii. after the decline of butcher town, the decommissioned -- the decommissioned shipyards and the forced removal of the chinese shrimping villages, indian basin, was shut down to decay. the work that we're kicking off right now will restore public access to the shoreline, and create a robust wildlife habitat, laying the foundation for a new $140 million park in the heart of the bayview. this clean-up phase of the project is led by the bayview's own rubicon builders whose officers are just down the road on third street. the team highlights a key goal of the india basin project, to serve for equitable and inclusive growth, which includes providing workforce and business

opportunities for all bayview hunters point residents, regardless of income, race or demog raggy. and giving disadvantaged individuals the first opportunity to apply for entry level jobs in san francisco. the program is administered by oewd, and you'll probably hear more about that, but thank you, ken, and thank you oewd, for your incredible partnership. lastly, remember that this project is only made possible as much money from government as we've been able to obtain for this project, it's only made possible through substantial private/public partnerships. some of our partners, like t.p.l. and the parks alliance, have been working on this for years. and others like arpi, arguably even longer and have now stepped into new and indispenseable roles to move this project. i want to thank everyone for their support.

i'll now turn the program over to one of the leaders of this project, jackie flynn. jackie has been working on this thing for i don't know how long and has been a community advocate for even longer. she is my colleague, my partner along with drew and ali and their organizations on this project. and she is making sure that this community is involved in every single aspect of what happens next. thank you, jackie. [applause] >> thank you, phil. and welcome. first of all, i want to say welcome back, san francisco. it's so nice to see everyone and see your faces. and thank you so much, mayor, with your leadership on getting our city back and up and running. my name is jacqueline flynn, and i'm the executive director of the philip randolph institute and i'm your m.c. today, so i wear many hats in this community. and my -- my small organization, apri, i want to thank my team because i could not do this work

without amazing supportive casts. so thank you, my team at arpi. and i have the pleasure of also serving as the equitable development plan manager on this project. and ultimately what that means is that for every step of the way on this project we want to make sure that we're looking through a lens of equity. and thinking about building back within our community, and making sure that we're supportive of the existing community. and, you know, as we continue to invest in this park, i want to make sure that those investments actually make it and impact the families that i work with every day. as we kick off this year's juneteenth, i have been inspired by my ancestors and thank you so much, brother clint, for acknowledging the adversities that folks have gone through to be here and the fights they have won and lost. i'm very proud to stand behind so many folks before me. this park is very near and dear to my heart.

my office is literally a block away. and as you all know as a community leader, i've been here over 20 years. and i used to knock on doors to get folks to vote and i still do it now. but really what i'm interested in is making sure that this next generation is inspired to do the same and to be leaders in their community. you know, i see how much this project can impact this community right behind me. so i also want to acknowledge all of the folks that live on this hill that have been here for generations. and it's so important that this park is being built for our residents. so i'm excited to say that this is just the beginning. and we have a wonderful brief program, so i'd like to introduce our first speaker, mayor london breed. mayor london breed -- [applause] -- is a san francisco native. definitely raised by her grandmother in plaza east in philmore western edition, but, definitely roots here in san francisco. and she was elected as the first african-american woman, and

second woman in san francisco's history to serve as mayor. she's been re-elected to her first full four-year term in november of 2019. i know that we lost a year in this last year, but we are going to keep pushing. mayor breed is a tireless advocate for all san franciscans and helps to lead our city through a very tumultuous time as we helped to rebuild this great city and come out of that terrible pandemic. so without further adieu, welcome, mayor london breed. [applause] >> welcome, mayor. >> hello, everyone. first of all, phil, i don't know why we have to subject these kids to this when there's a park right over there. are you guys going to be able to play in the park? >> no. >> no? what's going on. they're supposed to be having a good time this summer. okay, well -- if any time during

this event you want to take them over to the park, feel free to do so because we want them to have a good time. it's been a long year for our kids in this city. and it's time for them to have fun again. [applause] i'll start by saying yes, i'm from philmore. but i do have roots in the bayview hunter's point community. in fact, my grandmother's father worked at the shipyard. he was in the navy at a time when there was segregation. and he worked with what was considered a colored group of men and i find it quite interesting that in our not so distant past, the level of discrimination that existed in this city, you know, what's interesting is that my grandfather served in the

shipyard in a segregated unit and now today his granddaughter, the first black mayor woman of san francisco, signed an official declaration after the president declared it a national holiday. i declared it a holiday in the city and county of san francisco. [applause] juneteenth is an official holiday for all of our city employees. i'm not saying don't go to work tomorrow. i'm saying for those essential services that we still need to you go to work but you do get a holiday in lieu. you're welcome -- no, not you're welcome, mayor, you're welcome black people. [applause] so let me just start by saying thank you. phil ginsburg, i want to just say to you, because let me tell you when phil came to me with this project, i'm like, phil,

well, what about, you know, some of the other parks in the bayview hunters point? and we talked around our plans of retrofitting a number of parks and what was important to the community. and i thought about it for, like, really long and hard because at the time i was supervisor for district 5 and ma leah cohen was the supervisor here in the bayview hunters point community, and this community pushed hard for a change because of the environmental contamination that took place here, because of what was happening all along this area. and i think about the many people who had asthma in the bayview hunter's point community and cancer and other ailments because of the environmental injustices that have existed in this community. it is so fitting and about time that we clean up india basin. we clean it up. [applause] and just a couple weeks ago i was just at the power plant

where we broke ground on what will be 2,600 units here at a polluting dirty power plant that former supervisor sophie maxwell led the charge on shutting down, and here we are connecting this bayview community, india basin, and the power plant and all of this beauty together in a way like never before. you know, it is amazing also that this community decided what was best for them. and that was really important, making sure that india basin task force of residents, of people who lived here, provided input. and cleaning up a place like this is expensive. and making it beautiful is even more expensive. so i am incredibly thankful to the voters who time and time again passed propositions to allow us to invest in parks? i am grateful to people who just, you know, are amazing san

franciscans like john prixter and his family for committing this money -- as many things that he could have committed, this $25 million to the largest parks contribution in the history of this city. he said that he wanted that to support the bayview hunters point community, so we are so grateful to you, john. [applause] we are grateful to the parks alliance and the land trust and so many organizations for helping to work, to see this project through. it does take a village. it does take $140 million to do exactly what the community wants to see here in india basin. and i also want to take this opportunity to thank governor newsome and thank senator scott wiener and david chu and phil ping for their support on the state level. it was a $25 million commitment, and we still have a few ways to go, but we are committed to cleaning up this area so that

those kids that you saw right here can play freely and safely and not be concerned about their health. that is what is most critical for us is transforming this beautiful waterfront and making it what it -- what this community deserves. and so i'm really excited about this. and i cannot wait until we are able to see it through. it's going to be absolutely beautiful. we've seen the pictures, but it's nothing like seeing it in person, connecting the bayview hunters point all the way around the waterfront of san francisco to the golden gate bridge. now you know what the marina looks like? that's what the bayview hunter's point is about to look like. [applause] with green and structures and all of the amenities that this community so deserves. so, you know, congratulations to this community for your hard work and your effort and sticking to it, and staying together. we know that the challenges that

exist, specifically for the african-american community in this city and this country still persist. but in me you have a leader who is committed to transforming that and i want to make sure that everyone in this city, no matter what your race is, understand that when we see injustices anywhere, it is clearly as dr. king would say a threat to justice everywhere. everywhere it is a threat, and it is up to all of us to take it upon ourselves to push aggressively for change. so thank you in joining me for change in india basin. congratulations to the bayview hunters point community. and let's get this project going. [applause] >> thank you, mayor. before i give it back to jackie yet again, just a couple more thank you and acknowledgement. alex walker, thank you for being here on behalf of assemblyman phil king.

assemblyman king calls almost every year and says what i can do for india basin, and we appreciate it. and david lazar, thank you for being here. i already acknowledged carol eisen and i want to acknowledge the co-chairs of the bayview alliance. and talking about coalition building and trying to pull people together to do good, thank you, sissy and chuck for all of your work and counsel on this project. i know that jamie bruni-myles, the current c.e.o. of the ymca is here. and the ymca will partner with us to teach all kids to swim and to make sure that everybody feels safe around the water in this beautiful park from this neighborhood. and then i also want to acknowledge dr. nina roberts who is here from san francisco state. she's been our academic advisor on our equitable development planning efforts, and thank you for your support. and i turn it back to jackie. >> thanks, phil. and just before i get into our next speaker i want to

acknowledge the leadership committee that has served on behalf of this community, committing their time and their vision to the project and making sure that the community voice is heard. so i see a few of them, jill fox, and oscar james, tanansha ocori, and i see a ton of you guys, and thank you for your time again on the project. so next i'd like to introduce one of our assembly members, a neighbor in our -- in our community -- and someone that -- you know, i have known for the last decade and he's worked extremely hard for the city of san francisco. and i would like to introduce our assembly member of district 17, david chu. [applause] >> thank you, jackie. good afternoon, san francisco. are we ready to play? all right! let me first ask the mayor -- the mayor refer the as herself to the resident of philmore. do we have residents of the hunter's point, bayview here? all right, this is our day. let me first start by thanking

-- it takes a village to do this, and it takes the leadership of a mayor working with amazing departments and an amazing rec and park department and working with the private sector and working with philanthropy and working with civic partners and working at the state level and i want to thank you for that. as the mayor was talking, i thought 13 years ago when i was on the board of supervisors, i had a conversation with then supervisor sophie maxwell and she said, you know, david, the southeast neighborhoods are forgotten. and we don't invest in these neighborhoods. and a couple years later i remember having a conversation with supervisor cohen and she said, you know, david, the city forgets about the southeast neighborhood and doesn't invest in us. well, today the city hasn't forgotten these neighborhoods and the city is investing in india basin.

phil ginsburg invisitted me and then supervisor walton to come to india basin. phil, you will probably remember this and we didn't know what we were coming to see and we got here and he looked at me and said, hey, chu, i need a couple million bucks. so i said, all right. and scott wiener, and phil and i, we got together and one year of the budget we said, okay, phil, we have $4 million for you. and then ginsburg said that we need another $8 million. so i said, okay, all right, you know, money -- we'll get another $8 million. and then he said, we need another $25 million. and then we asked, well, how much does this darned thing cost? and we all know the answer to that. but let me also say a week after that conversation right here, i was sitting in room 200 with mayor breed and she said -- and i think that this is one of those one-two things. she said, david chu, you heard about this project called india baseip?

and i said -- basin. and i said, i have. well, we're making this a priority. and i just have to say, mayor breed, thank you for your leadership. i think that but for you -- and i know that supervisor walton and phil ginsburg and so many folks here, you are the village that is making this happen. so thank you. [applause] let me just end with one thing. so i am a resident. i live about 10 minutes from here and i moved to the southeast neighborhood the day that my son was born five years ago. and i moved -- we moved here in part because i believe that the future of san francisco is reflected in the southeast neighborhoods. if we can lift these neighborhoods up, there is no end to what our city will be about. and so the last thing that i'll just say is that there are a lot of folks who refer to this project as the chrissy field of the southeast. and i'm going to say that by the time that my kid is a teenager, i think that chrissy field is

going to be referred to as the india basin of the north, all right? [applause] and with that, have a wonderful afternoon. and thank you so much for being here. >> thank you so much, assembly member chu. we have a few changes to our program, but it's okay, we always make adjustments and i want to make a couple more acknowledgements before we continue to move forward. we have additional park commissioners here and our president, mark beull, and i would like to acknowledge the president and the commissioners here and also eric mcdonald, i'd like to acknowledge you guys. thank you for all of your work in serving for our parks commission. before we move too much forward, one acknowledgement that we would not be here without the work that supervisor cohen did prior to moving into our state. so i just want to make sure that

everyone acknowledges the work that our previous supervisor malia cohen did. and so let me go ahead and get to our next speakers. please let me introduce drew becker of the san francisco parks alliance and guillermo. and drew is from the san francisco parks alliance and guillermo for the trust for public land. drew has served as the chief executive officer for the san francisco parks alliance since 2017. and in 2018 alone, drew led the organization as it completed 20 plus park projects engaging over 100,000 plus residents in park programming and helped to raise over $20 million for capital projects across the city. also helped to celebrate the 150th year at golden gate park. and then also guillermo was

appointed to our california state director for trust for public land in 2017. he brings over 20 years of successful non-profit private sector and local government experience to the organization. many people don't even know that guillermo mentored me way back in the day. and he's responsible for leading the trust for public land ak sigdz, park development and policy activities throughout the state. really both organizations have immersed in the community and they'll briefly share their role on the renovation project and the other work that they're doing in the community. so come on up, guys. >> i'm here. >> okay. okay. and just after them i will follow up with another speaker, but come on in. >> this is not guillermo, this is alex with the trust for public land so that everyone knows. we're going to tag team here. i'm with the park alliance. so exciting to be here today.

we're all here because we love san francisco and we know that it could be better. we have been doing that for 50 years at the parks alliance and we're honored to be part of this important project. indian basin is part of a larger project called the blue green way. and india basin is the largest public investment as part of that blue green way project. and it is a large step forward on creating a more equitable city. and it is a part of a better, safer, more accessible southeast side. public/private partnerships are vital to the success of public spaces and have been for decades. we are proud to partner with trust for public land and also the rec and park department to raise private funds through philanthropy for this project. we think that is truly important. all public space does better with a mix of funding. it shows commitment by the community and it shows commitment by the leader and it shows commitment from the city and commitment from the state. so we're proud to be part of

that. the community engagement is the heart of what we do, grateful to the bayview hunters point community for their continued involvement and advocacy for this world-class park for which in a few months you're going to see the transformation of a basketball court up in india basin shoreline park that we transformed by artists with murals similar to what happened at hayward playground. i know that the mayor knows that one pretty well. it will be pretty cool when that happens here. i would like to thank the parks alliance team on making this a reality. mya rogers, thank you so much. and phillip wynne and mark hannon and steve frederick, and sonya gonzalez-banks and our board of directors for their commitment to project. i want to also thank the mayor and her leadership and the bayview for steadfast support of the parks alliance and for her vision for san francisco. we are proud to work with you, and i'm really excited to work with your team on making and

reopening san francisco. the investment in san francisco's parks and public spaces have been extraordinary throughout this pandemic. and i think that you saw that in all of the residents saw that. and what you are doing with investing in this park and others and supporting other departments on our public projects and our public spaces is second to none. we support your vision 100% and anything that you need we're behind you. thank you, mayor, so much. and i also would like to thank -- i would also would like to thank president walton and his team in the mission to build a more equitable san francisco. i also want to wish everyone a happy juneteenth. thank you so much. and i'm going to turn it over to ali, my partner in crime on the non-profit sector. >> hello, everyone, as you can see i'm not guillermo, he got stuck in traffic so you have me i'm the bay-area director of the trust of public land. and as jackie, i wear many hats

and i have been deeply involved in this project and working in the neighborhood for years. actually, mya and i worked on another park to see it happen before we started on this project. so i am so honored to be here celebrating this milestone with all of you today. at the trust for public land, we believe that the parks are essential for healthy communities. and parks should not have a nice-to-have amenity for a few, but a must have for all. we see that what is happening here in india basin, we see it as a national model for how we should do parks throughout the nation. this project is not just about building an amazing park, which it will be amazing, but it is much more than that. as you have heard, it is about equity, it is about investing in this community that has been suffering this investment for

decades. and it is about renewal and environmental justice. we're cleaning up, and giving it back to the community so they can have access to this beautiful shoreline. every time that i come here and i look at this view and it takes my breath away. so we need to make the shoreline better so that everyone can enjoy this. this project is about opportunity, it's a -- it's about giving opportunity to local businesses, workforce and youth. it is about celebrating and honoring the bayview hunter's point community and the rich history and the culture. and it's about resilience and hope. this community fought really hard for change. they faced many injustices. and we are here starting to build the park they fought so hard to have. so this wouldn't have happened without all of you, without the

many partners that have been mentioned. i want to acknowledge a few. phil ginsburg and his staff, and the rec park commission, amazing partners throughout this. drew becker, mya rogers with the san francisco parks alliance. also amazing partners. jackie flynn and the apri staff, having worked tirelessly, you know, you have seen them operating the tech hub and really fighting hard for this community. and then the many other groups -- there are too many to mentiog support for this. of course, our elected leaders. without you, mayor breed, supervisor walton, without assembly member chu and phil king and senator wiener we wouldn't be here. as you heard, there's a lot of investment in this project. also our funders -- john fritzer

and his funds for taking the risk and the same with the public funders. you know, they took a risk. they invested. they believed in this community and last, but not least, i want to acknowledge again the bayview hunter's point community for their resilience and advocacy. without you we wouldn't be here thank you very much. [applause] >> thanks, ali. i made a quick mistake in the program, we always have different updates last minute, but i forgot to mention someone that has worked fearlessly in this community, and i don't know how i can miss him because he's probably one of the tallest folks out here. but i would just like to welcome up our state senator scott wiener for a few brief remarks on behalf of the project. thank you so much for bearing with me as i adjust and thank you for --

>> thank you, jackie. they didn't like to bring me up because i mess up the microphone for everyone else. sorry. so i'm just -- i have been a huge fan of this project for a long time. and i remember early in my time on the board of supervisors, some community folks asked me to come down and i came down and they're like, okay, we know that it doesn't look awesome right now and there's a lot of sort of neglected areas, but we have a vision. and i am just so proud of this community for coming together and moving that vision forward. and then also i had an opportunity to have involvement when i represented the park area on the board of supervisors and we wanted to buy what is now the noe valley to turn it into a park. and working with noe valley and rec and park we decided, you know what, we don't want noe valley to just move forward but we want to make this about

various parts of the city and we want bayview to be involved and our southeastern neighborhoods to be involved because this is a part of the city that has been neglected for so damned long and we need to be there for all parts of this city and lift everyone up. so we were able to acquire not just the noe town square but at the same time that parcel right there as well as a parcel delta market. and it's just amazing. and noe valley town square is a much smaller, simpler project, but it is done. and it has added so much to that community, but that pales in comparison to what india basin is going to add to our southeastern neighborhoods and we talk about it being like the marina. let's think about embarcadaro, and taking a neglected part of the city, in piece of a piece of land, and turning it into an inspirational place for people to be, and i know that is what this is going to be. and we have a lot of other work

to do around housing and making sure that we can connect with transportation so that people can get in and out of our southeastern neighborhoods more easily. but, boy, having a world-class waterfront beautiful park is just going to be a game-changer so, congratulations, you will have my -- i know that assembly members chu you will have our support to get this project going. so thank you so much. [applause] >> thank you so much, senator wiener. a few more acknowledgements to my community. my friend, and her organization "from the heart" has been doing a significant amount of work here on the shoreline and connecting families to health resources and housing access. i just wanted to say thank you guys for your commitment on this project. and i've gotten her on our leadership committee as well so that the voice of the community

is truly heard on the project. so i do have one last speaker, did you want to make a few remarks? i will ask her to come up for remarks before i bring up our last speaker. come on. [applause] >> hello, everyone. i'm mieka pinkston, i'm the founder of "from the heart" and it's been a pleasure to work with arpi. i'll tell you that i don't trust many people, so it was -- [applause] it has been beautiful. it has been -- phil, david, everyone has been really, really, really helpful to me and to our community and i truly appreciate it. i know that this is in regards to a park, however, we have so many other things to address here. and i thank everybody -- i thank the mayor, david -- everybody.

we are all going to be a part of this, because it's not just about this park. we can't have a park and people homeless. so, you know, we -- i just want to say that. and i am here to help our community to better ourselves, so to educate our community on living a healthy and natural lifestyle. you know, i come with healing so that we can boing some of that good energy in. and i just try to keep us all on a positive page. if we can stay on a positive note we're going to be all good, y'all, that's all i want to say let's all just stay positive, let's heal together. and let's remember that it's going to take all of us -- no matter what color we are -- no matter what we do with ourselves, it's going to take each and every last individual here in this park and outside of this park to make everything that we want to happen look like the marina. it ain't going to just take a park, okay? so that's what we need to

remember is that it's going to take everything that we have to rebuild hunter's point. i'm born and raised here. so we got this. let's do it. thank you, guys. >> and that's just one of the examples of making sure that we make a commitment to this existing community and involve our residents every step of the way as we go. there's one last speaker that i'd like to invite up and i have known this young man over the last, i want to say six or seven years that we have been doing this work. darryl watkins came up in one of our youth programs, and he continued to come back and serve with our organization, volunteering for events, going door-to-door to pass out fliers for voting. and when the opportunity came around with our resource development firm, c.c.s., they were happy to bring on a fellow and they said they wanted to make sure that we made a commitment to this local community. and i was very proud when darryl

applied and he actually scored one of the highest scores through the application process and at the end of the day, i wanted to make sure that that opportunity went to someone that understood the legacy of what it was to grow up in this neighborhood. the generations that have served many years before we got here, and i really am proud that i think that he is going to be a great model for all of the young people that you guys saw a little earlier, but he will be serving with our resource development team, really helping to figure out how to come up with a strategy to fundraise, not just for the park, but equitable development, really investing back in this community. so without further adieu, i know that his parents are here and his sister is here, really excited. darryl watkins, please come on up. [applause] >> good afternoon, everyone. thank you, thank you. my name is darryl watkins.

sorry. my name is darryl watkins and i'll i'm an incoming junior at the university. i'm excited and honored to accept this position, to be a part of this community and to be a part of this u.c.s. project. i want to first thank the apri for the leadership development to prepare me for this opportunity. next, i want to thank my family for always being here and supporting me. [applause] this park is a symbol of hope. it starts with us. i really want to help this community in different ways and it starts with this park. thank you, thank you. i want to encourage all youth of all ages and all races to help

this community. so together we can change how the bay view looks. it starts with the youth, so when we get older we can be in the same position that everyone else is. but thank you for your time. [applause] >> all right, thank you so much, darryl. and, again, that's just one very small example of making sure that we invite our young people to participate on this project and build equity from within. so we're going to just acknowledge a couple more folks from our mohcd, eric shaw, and thank you so much for coming. from oewd and city build, ken nim, our trades workers over here. and i want to say thank you for jessica fontanelle from our success center. thank you so much. and so we are going to go ahead and do the shovel ceremony.

just remember that like our shovel ceremony, it's really a way to honor, you know, not only the gift, but this is an opportunity for future prosperity and success on this project. so i've got a few folks that are going to be coming up to get a shovel in the ground. >> are we ready? okay, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... [cheers and applause].

>> what we're trying to approach is bringing more diversity to our food. it's not just the old european style food. we are seeing a lot of influences, and all of this is because of our students. all we ask is make it flavorful. [♪♪♪] >> we are the first two-year culinary hospitality school in the united states. the first year was 1936, and it was started by two graduates from cornell. i'm a graduate of this program, and very proud of that. so students can expect to learn

under the three degrees. culinary arts management degree, food service management degree, and hotel management degree. we're not a cooking school. even though we're not teaching you how to cook, we're teaching you how to manage, how to supervise employees, how to manage a hotel, and plus you're getting an associate of science degree. >> my name is vince, and i'm a faculty member of the hospitality arts and culinary school here in san francisco. this is my 11th year. the program is very, very rich in what this industry demands. cooking, health, safety, and sanitation issues are included in it. it's quite a complete program to prepare them for what's happening out in the real

world. >> the first time i heard about this program, i was working in a restaurant, and the sous chef had graduated from this program. he was very young to be a sous chef, and i want to be like him, basically, in the future. this program, it's awesome. >> it's another world when you're here. it's another world. you get to be who you are, a person get to be who they are. you get to explore different things, and then, you get to explore and they encourage you to bring your background to the kitchen, too. >> i've been in the program for about a year. two-year program, and i'm about halfway through. before, i was studying behavioral genetics and dance. i had few injuries, and i couldn't pursue the things that

i needed to to dance, so i pursued my other passion, cooking. when i stopped dance, i was deprived of my creative outlet, and cooking has been that for me, specifically pastry. >> the good thing is we have students everywhere from places like the ritz to -- >> we have kids from every area. >> facebook and google. >> kids from everywhere. >> they are all over the bay area, and they're thriving. >> my name is jeff, and i'm a coowner of nopa restaurant, nopalito restaurant in san francisco. i attended city college of san francisco, the culinary arts program, where it was called hotel and restaurant back then in the early 90's.

nopalito on broderick street, it's based on no specific region in mexico. all our masa is hand made. we cook our own corn in house. everything is pretty much hand made on a daily basis, so day and night, we're making hand made tortillas, carnitas, salsas. a lot of love put into this. [♪♪♪] >> used to be very easy to define casual dining, fine dining, quick service. now, it's shades of gray, and we're trying to define that experience through that spectrum of service. fine dining calls into white table cloths. the cafeteria is large

production kitchen, understanding vast production kitchens, the googles and the facebooks of the world that have those types of kitchens. and the ideas that change every year, again, it's the notion and the venue. >> one of the things i love about vince is one of our outlets is a concept restaurant, and he changes the concept every year to show students how to do a startup restaurant. it's been a pizzeria, a taco bar. it's been a mediterranean bar, it's been a noodle bar. people choose ccsf over other hospitality programs because the industry recognizes that we instill the work ethic. we, again, serve breakfast,

lunch, and dinner. other culinary hospitality programs may open two days a week for breakfast service. we're open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner five days a week. >> the menu's always interesting. they change it every semester, maybe more. there's always a good variety of foods. the preparation is always beautiful. the students are really sincere, and they work so hard here, and they're so proud of their work. >> i've had people coming in to town, and i, like, bring them here for a special treat, so it's more, like, not so much every day, but as often as i can for a special treat. >> when i have my interns in their final semester of the program go out in the industry, 80 to 90% of the students get hired in the industry, well

above the industry average in the culinary program. >> we do have internals continually coming into our restaurants from city college of san francisco, and most of the time that people doing internships with us realize this is what they want to do for a living. we hired many interns into employees from our restaurants. my partner is also a graduate of city college. >> so my goal is actually to travel and try to do some pastry in maybe italy or france, along those lines. i actually have developed a few connections through this program in italy, which i am excited to support. >> i'm thinking about going to go work on a cruise ship for about two, three year so i can save some money and then

hopefully venture out on my own. >> yeah, i want to go back to china. i want to bring something that i learned here, the french cooking, the western system, back to china. >> so we want them to have a full toolkit. we're trying to make them ready for the world out there. >> when i open up the paper every day i'm just amazed at how many different environmental issues keep popping up. when i think about the planet i want to leave for my children and other generation, i think of what contribution i can make on a personal level to the environment. ♪♪♪

clean power sf is san francisco's key way of fighting climate change by renewable energy and offering it to san francisco customers. i'm from the san francisco public utilities commission. the program came about with state wide legislation in 2002 to enable people to take more control over supplies. i first heard of the program when the organization was advocating to launch clean power sf. what i'm most excited about, it's going to bring 100% renewable energy to my home and reinvest into renewable energy infrastructure and jobs. i had gone to a lot of street fairs and heard from the staff at the san francisco public utilities commission to sign up for clean power sf even before

it launched. >> we learned about clean power sf because our sustainability team is always looking for clean operations. linkedin is the largest online network. there are about 530 million members using our site. in this san francisco office there's about 1400 employees working in roughly 400,000 square feet. >> after signing up for the program we heard about the san francisco program and learned they had commercial rates and signed up for that. i'm the co-owner of the new wheel electric bike shop. we opened this store in 2012 and the new wheel sells and services electric bikes. 11 people work here in san francisco and our store is about 2,000 square feet. electric bikes are fantastic for

transportation in the city, they're clean and green and you get places faster than any other form of transportation. it amplifies the power, it doesn't replace it. it makes it easier to get places by bicycle and it's so enjoyable and environmentally friendly way to go and more convenient in san francisco. >> clean power sf requires two products, green, 40% renewable and competitively priced with pg and e. for those who want to fight climate change more, 100% renewable at $0.02 per kilawatt. >> i decided to go with the super greens, after finding it only to cost about $5 more a

month to have super green, that's a no-brainer, i can do that. >> we were pleased that clean power sf offers the super green 100% for commercial entities like ours and residents for the city of san francisco. we were pleased with the package of services for linkedin and now encouraging our employees who have a residence in san francisco to sign on as well. >> clean power sf buys its power from renewable plants that feed the energy directly into the grid. >> there's a commitment to sustainability throughout the entire organization and this clean power opportunity reflects that. >> one of the wind farms we use is the shilo wind farm and that is large enough to be able to provide energy for up to 200,000 homes. >> our mission is

sustainability, even though our bikes are minimal energy use, it still matters where the energy comes from and part of our mission in sustainability is how we run everything -- run our business. having the lights come on with clean energy is very important. >> the sunset reservoir has solar panels that take up about four city blocks covering the reservoir and the solar power generates energy for city resources and clean power sf for residents participating in the program. >> it was easy to sign up for the program, i went online to cleanpowersf.org and i started getting pieces in the mail letting me know i was going to be switched over and it just happened. when i pay my bill, i still go to pg and e and i don't see any difference between now and a year ago.

>> sign up online, just have your account number ready and it takes about two minutes and there's nothing to install. no lines are getting connected to your home. all the power goes through the existed power grid. >> we haven't had any problems with the switch over to clean power. >> it's super easy to sign up. our book keeper signed up online, it took about 15 minutes. nothing changed but now we have cleaner energy. >> we see clean power sf as a key strategy to meet renewable energy goal, we have a goal of 50% renewable energy by 2020. currently we have enrolled about 86,000 customers across the city. about 20% of what we hope to serve in the future and in the next two years we'll offer service to all san francisco electricity customers. >> an easy way to align your environmental responsibilities

and goals around climate change and it's so easy that it's hard to not want to do it and it doesn't really add anything to the bill. >> joining clean power sf is one of the easiest ways to fight climate change, receiving cleaner energy at low and stable rates, you're helping to support a not for profit that helps influence the energy grid and produce more production. >> i would encourage any business to seriously convert to the clean sf service. it's good for environment, business and the community. >> you can sign up online our call and the great thing is, you'll have the peace of mind that you're doing your part in your household to help the environment. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪

>> when i first started painting it was difficult to get my foot in the door and contractors and mostly men would have a bad attitude towards me or not want to answer my questions or not include me and after you prove yourself, which i have done, i don't face that obstacle as much anymore. ♪♪♪ my name is nita riccardi, i'm a painter for the city of san francisco and i have my own business as a painting contractor since 1994 called

winning colors. my mother was kind of resistant. none of my brothers were painter. i went to college to be a chiropractor and i couldn't imagine being in an office all day. i dropped out of college to become a painter. >> we have been friends for about 15-20 years. we both decided that maybe i could work for her and so she hired me as a painter. she was always very kind. i wasn't actually a painter when she hired me and that was pretty cool but gave me an opportunity to learn the trade with her company. i went on to different job opportunities but we stayed friends. the division that i work for with san francisco was looking for a painter and so i suggested to my supervisor maybe we can give nita a shot. >> the painting i do for the city is primarily maintenance painting and i take care of anything from pipes on the roof

to maintaining the walls and beautifying the bathrooms and graffiti removal. the work i do for myself is different because i'm not actually a painter. i'm a painting contractor which is a little different. during the construction boom in the late 80s i started doing new construction and then when i moved to san francisco, i went to san francisco state and became fascinated with the architecture and got my contractor's licence and started painting victorians and kind of gravitated towards them. my first project that i did was a 92 room here in the mission. it was the first sro. i'm proud of that and it was challenging because it was occupied and i got interior and exterior and i thought it would take about six weeks to do it and it took me a whole year. >> nita makes the city more

beautiful and one of the things that makes her such a great contractor, she has a magical touch around looking at a project and bringing it to its fullest fruition. sometimes her ideas to me might seem a little whacky. i might be like that is a little crazy. but if you just let her do her thing, she is going to do something incredible, something amazing and that will have a lot of pop in it. and she's really talented at that. >> ultimately it depends on what the customer wants. sometimes they just want to be understated or blend in and other times they let me decide and then all the doors are open and they want me to create. they hire me to do something beautiful and i do. and that's when work is really fun. i get to be creative and express what i want.

paint a really happy house or something elegant or dignified. >> it's really cool to watch what she does. not only that, coming up as a woman, you know what i mean, and we're going back to the 80s with it. where the world wasn't so liberal. it was tough, especially being lgbtq, right, she had a lot of friction amongst trades and a lot of people weren't nice to her, a lot of people didn't give her her due respect. and one of the things amazing about nita, she would never quit. >> after you prove yourself, which i have done, i don't face that obstacle as much anymore. i'd like to be a mentor to other women also. i have always wanted to do that. they may not want to go to school but there's other options. there's trades. i encourage women to apply for

my company, i'd be willing to train and happy to do that. there's a shortage of other women painters. for any women who want to get into a trade or painting career, just start with an apprenticeship or if you want to do your own business, you have to get involved and find a mentor and surround yourself with other people that are going to encourage you to move forward and inspire you and support you and you can't give up. >> we've had a lot of history, nita and i. we've been friends and we have been enemies and we've had conflicts and we always gravitate towards each other with a sense of loyalty that maybe family would have. we just care about each other. >> many of the street corners in all the districts in san francisco, there will be a painting job i have completed and it will be a beautiful paint job. it will be smooth and gold leaf

and just wow. and you can't put it down. when i first started, it was hard to get employees to listen to me and go along -- but now, i have a lot of respect. >> growing up in san francisco has been way safer than growing up other places we we have that bubble, and it's still that bubble that it's okay to be whatever you want to. you can let your free flag fry -- fly here. as an adult with autism, i'm here to challenge people's idea of what autism is. my journey is not everyone's journey because every autistic child is different, but there's

hope. my background has heavy roots in the bay area. i was born in san diego and adopted out to san francisco when i was about 17 years old. i bounced around a little bit here in high school, but i've always been here in the bay. we are an inclusive preschool, which means that we cater to emp. we don't turn anyone away. we take every child regardless of race, creed, religious or ability. the most common thing i hear in my adult life is oh, you don't seem like you have autism. you seem so normal. yeah. that's 26 years of really, really, really hard work and i think thises that i still do. i was one of the first open adoptions for an lgbt couple. they split up when i was about four. one of them is partnered, and

one of them is not, and then my biological mother, who is also a lesbian. very queer family. growing up in the 90's with a queer family was odd, i had the bubble to protect me, and here, i felt safe. i was bullied relatively infrequently. but i never really felt isolated or alone. i have known for virtually my entire life i was not suspended, but kindly asked to not ever bring it up again in first grade, my desire to have a sex change. the school that i went to really had no idea how to handle one. one of my parents is a little bit gender nonconforming, so they know what it's about, but my parents wanted my life to be safe. when i have all the

neurological issues to manage, that was just one more to add to it. i was a weird kid. i had my core group of, like, very tight, like, three friends. when we look at autism, we characterize it by, like, lack of eye contact, what i do now is when i'm looking away from the camera, it's for my own comfort. faces are confusing. it's a lack of mirror neurons in your brain working properly to allow you to experience empathy, to realize where somebody is coming from, or to realize that body language means that. at its core, autism is a social disorder, it's a neurological disorder that people are born with, and it's a big, big spectrum. it wasn't until i was a teenager that i heard autism in relation to myself, and i rejected it. i was very loud, i took up a lot of space, and it was

because mostly taking up space let everybody else know where i existed in the world. i didn't like to talk to people really, and then, when i did, i overshared. i was very difficult to be around. but the friends that i have are very close. i click with our atypical kiddos than other people do. in experience, i remember when i was five years old and not wanting people to touch me because it hurt. i remember throwing chairs because i could not regulate my own emotions, and it did not mean that i was a bad kid, it meant that i couldn't cope. i grew up in a family of behavioral psychologists, and i got development cal -- developmental psychology from all sides. i recognize that my experience is just a very small picture of that, and not everybody's in a

position to have a family that's as supportive, but there's also a community that's incredible helpful and wonderful and open and there for you in your moments of need. it was like two or three years of conversations before i was like you know what? i'm just going to do this, and i went out and got my prescription for hormones and started transitioning medically, even though i had already been living as a male. i have a two-year-old. the person who i'm now married to is my husband for about two years, and then started gaining weight and wasn't sure, so i went and talked with the doctor at my clinic, and he said well, testosterone is basically birth control, so there's no way you can be pregnant. i found out i was pregnant at 6.5 months. my whole mission is to kind of normalize adults like me. i think i've finally found my

calling in early intervention, which is here, kind of what we do. i think the access to care for parents is intentionally confusing. when i did the prospective search for autism for my own child, it was confusing. we have a place where children can be children, but it's very confusing. i always out myself as an adult with autism. i think it's helpful when you know where can your child go. how i'm choosing to help is to give children that would normally not be allowed to have children in the same respect, kids that have three times as much work to do as their peers or kids who do odd things, like, beach therapy. how do -- speech therapy. how do you explain that to the

rest of their class? i want that to be a normal experience. i was working on a certificate and kind of getting think early childhood credits before i started working here, and we did a section on transgender inclusion, inclusion, which is a big issue here in san francisco because we attract lots of queer families, and the teacher approached me and said i don't really feel comfortable or qualified to talk about this from, like, a cisgendered straight person's perspective, would you mind talking a little bit with your own experience, and i'm like absolutely. so i'm now one of the guest speakers in that particular class at city college. i love growing up here. i love what san francisco represents. the idea of leaving has never occurred to me. but it's a place that i need to fight for to bring it back to what it used to be, to allow all of those little kids that come from really unsafe environments to move somewhere safe.

what i've done with my life is work to make all of those situations better, to bring a little bit of light to all those kind of issues that we're still having, hoping to expand into a little bit more of a resource center, and this resource center would be more those new parents who have gotten that diagnosis, and we want to be this one centralized place that allows parents to breathe for a second. i would love to empower from the bottom up, from the kid level, and from the top down, from the teacher level. so many things that i would love to do that are all about changing people's minds about certain chunts, like the transgender community or the autistic community. i would like my daughter to know there's no wrong way to go through life. everybody experiences pain and grief and sadness, and that all of those things are temporary.

>> chair haney:this meeting exactly to order. this is the june 25th, budget and appropriations committee, i'm matt haney, the chair of the committee and i'm joined by president walton and supervisors ronen and safai and mar and our clerk is mr. brant olivia. and i thank sfgov-tv for broadcasting this meeting. mr. clerk, do you have any announcements? >> clerk: thank you, mr. chair. the minutes will reflect that the committee members participated through video conference to the same extent as physically present. and the access to city services is essential and invite participation in the following ways. public comment will be available on each item on this agenda, either channels 26, 78, or 99, and