>> good morning welcome to the rules committee of the san francisco board of supervisors for today, monday july 26, 2021 i'm it chair of the committee aaron peskin joined by vice chair raphael mandelman. our clerk is victor young. do you have any announcements?

>> clerk: i do. for our other guest, if you don't mind, if you're not -- if you can turn off your camera until we call on you to speak, it would be appreciated. due to covid-19 emergency to protect board member, city employees and the public, board of supervisors legislative chamber and committee room are closed. members will be participating in the meeting remotely. committee members who attend the committee through video conference will may participate in the meeting as if they were present. public comment will be available for each item on the agenda. comments are opportunities to speak during public comment period are available by phone by calling 415-655-0001. meeting i.d. is 146 989 7413 and then pound and pound again.

when connected, you will hear the meeting discussion and you will be muted and listen mode only. when your item of interest comes up, please dial star 3 to be added to the speaker line. >> supervisor peskin: thank you victor. please call the first item. >> clerk: are you taking anything out of order today? >> supervisor peskin: i think we can do item one quickly. realized that we have some time constraints for certain individuals on item 2. i think given the nature of item

one, seven seats and seven applicants, we can do it quickly. please read the first item. >> clerk: item one is the hearing appointing several members to the san francisco reinvestment working group. >> supervisor peskin: thank you. colleagues, as i stated, pursuant to the enabling legislation of the board president, supervisor shamann walton nominated these seven individuals for the term of the reinvestment working group all of their bon fides are in the file. colleagues, i would suggest that if anybody has questions as to individual applicants that you ask them now given the nature of this item. i will be inclined to forward all of the president's nominees

to the full board of supervisors as committee report. are there any objections? are there any questions for any of the nominees? ms. pierce, we appointed you to the redistricting task force. i know you're on the p.u.c. you have a real job in realtime in real life. i wanted to ask you the question, i know you've been asked this by supervisor preston's office, do you have the bandwidth and time given your approval as a member of the redistricting task force last week? >> absolutely. i have committed to not sleeping. i do recall you asking this question last week as well. yes, we have reassigned

everything. in the organization, all of my other organizations and civic commitments are aware of my time. in particular, mirroring economics with social justice is my passion. this community bank is a high priority. recognizing that the redistricting task force is actually a high priority to all of us. i'm aware. i'm working on it. we have resigned lots of stuff. thank you for that question. >> supervisor peskin: thank you. you said everything we wanted to hear. thank you for agreeing to serve and not be asleep. [laughter] okay. i want to thank rafael morales,

jennifer finger and fernando marti. is there any public comment on item number one? >> clerk: yes. members of the public wish to provide public comment on it item should call 415-655-0001. meeting i.d. is 146 989 7413. press pound and pound again. please dial star three to line up to speak. please wait until the system indicate you have been unmuted. at this time, we have nobody in line for public comment. >> supervisor peskin: okay. public comment is closed. colleagues, why don't we vote on sending the eight mentioned applicants to the full board with recommendation as a committee report for

consideration for tomorrow july 27th. on that motion, a roll call please. >> clerk: [roll call vote] motion is adopted out objection. the matter will be recommended to the board as a committee report for tomorrow's meeting. >> supervisor peskin: thank you. next item please. >> clerk: next is item 2. hearing to consider appointing four members terms ending april 22, 2022 to our city our home oversight committee. >> supervisor peskin: thank you mr. clerk. colleagues, this body has done really remarkable work in this

year's budget, which we are poise to approve on its second reading tomorrow at the full board of supervisors. i want to thank jennifer friedenbach as well as shanell williams, julie leadbetter and julia d'antonio for their service on the our city our home oversight committee. i want to thank all of them for reapplying as well as randall sloan for his application for seat 6. why don't we briefly hear from the applicants and i will start with ms. friedenbach if she is available. i know she's on a compressed time frame this morning. ms. friedenbach? if you are available?

okay, ms. friedenbach is not available yet. we'll go to shanell williams. the floor is yours. trustee williams, i don't know what the right -- i never figured that out. >> that's fine. good morning chair peskin and supervisors mandelman and khan. chan. i have been so delighted to served as a our chair. we've done some remarkable work to move the needle on homelessness here in san francisco. $800 million is allocated in this budget year. it's a phenomenal investment that we're making this issue, unlike anywhere else in the country. we did this with advisement from 800 stakeholders. our committee broke out the work -- they've been appointed as liaison. it was a herculean effort to bring in the voices of those who

experienced it and look at the landscape that exist in san francisco. i think we've done a phenomenal job providing recommendation here in the city and if someone representing minor children and s.r.o., it's been great to see the investment in pregnant people and families and young children. i hope to have your support for my term on this body. we just began the work. the moneys were not moved how the court until later into our appointment. we would like to have our full term and really happen to continue to servinged as a chair. >> supervisor peskin: thank you for your service and as chair. we'll go to julie leadbetter. >> clerk: i believe we had a call-in. you want to check to see if it was ms. friedenbach? >> supervisor peskin: let's

check on ms. friedenbach. i hear she is available. >> clerk: ms. friedenbach, if you're there, you would need to hit star 6 to unmute your line. >> supervisor peskin: can you unmute her, victor? >> clerk: we are unable to unmute her. >> supervisor peskin: all right, we'll come back. ms. leadbetter?

ms. d'antonio? >> good morning. i'm piggy backing off what shanell said. we would like to finish out our term. we were kind of like rushing through a lot of things due to covid and making a lot minute decisions. i did participate in the design of prop c and setting more things in stone as far as processes and community engagement. that's really one of the roles that we've taken a piece of. just like the opportunity to continue figuring out that piece of really how to engage the community, how to use some of the administrative dollars to get folks paid for their

participation. just continue the work that we've doing. i'm currently vice chair. >> supervisor peskin: thank you ms. leadbetter. sorry, ms. d'antonio. my apologies. i was looking at julia. my bad. i think you're summing up the theme which is that the work that you supposed do got truncated because of the prop c lawsuit and because of covid. point taken. if ms. friedenbach is available, now is her opportunity. if not, if ms. leadbetter is better. if not if mr. sloan available. let's give ms. friedenbach

another second. >> clerk: we do see her trying so speak but her microphone is still muted. she needs to press star 6 to unmute herself. we do not have control over her microphone on her side. >> supervisor peskin: okay. i did speak to her yesterday and she was appropriately so willing to serve another term and did recommend that we stick with the incumbents. i don't want to put words in her mouth. if she is able to speak later after we hear from mr. sloan, why don't we go to randall sloan for seat 6. >> thank you supervisor peskin. i appreciate being here today. supervisor mandelman, supervisor

chan. i believe that fiscal prudence is the progressive value. i believe that unsustainable support the homeless and intervention that may or may not result in the formally homeless thriving in less supportive setting. after suffering two adult psychotic breaks, i have lived experience healing within the san francisco supportive housing nonprofit. my healing journey inspires me to contribute to a sustainable long-term solution to healing the traumatized homeless and care. i'm committed to understanding and applying supportive housing impact data, not short-term mayoral press releases. i look forward to your support.

thank you. >> supervisor peskin: thank you, mr. sloan. are any of the other two applicants available? i see julie leadbetter. go ahead. >> good morning everybody. thank you. i just joined. i want to thank the board for the appointment to the prop c committee. the work that we've done under the leadership of chair williams and vice chair d'antonio has been transformative over the course of a very short period of time under really amazing conditions of the pandemic. this committee took an active role bringing together almost 800 people across the community to really help us determine what is the best way to allocate the

resources. really seek partnership with mocd and the city department. it's been one of the greatest honors to serve on this and see these dollars coming into the community at a time where it really helped support through survival through the pandemic and the future. i look forward to the next period of time as the community turns its attention to working in partnership with the departments -- [lost audio] >> supervisor peskin: we lost you. you muted yourself there, julie. >> can can you hear me now? >> supervisor peskin: yes. >> okay.

we're really excite to turn our attention to with partnering with the departments as well as building up the capacity of leadership of people with lived experience. really fundamentally transformative ways. very excited to work with the board, work with the mayor's office and work with our fellow committee members. i want to thank all the committee members who served. we were very active committee and dedicated a ton of time to this. i think it really paid off. i think it's going to make an impact on our city. thank you very much. >> supervisor peskin: thank you ms. leadbetter for your service and your work on the inaugural effort. with that, going once going twice, ms. friedenbach. wow. right there on time. [laughter] >> yeah, can you guys hear me?

>> supervisor peskin: yes, we can hear you. i want to thank you for proposition c while we have the chance. >> that was the really complicated entry on to this. for some reason, it wasn't letting me unmute myself. my apologies. i've been really humbled and honored to be part of this process from the beginning in terms of prop c. this journey has been a long one. it's been around a lot of years. it has really been about from the very beginning trying to make sure that the most impoverished san franciscan who are disproportionately black and brown have access to housing and have the ability to thrive and we can end this immoral tragedy that folks have been forced experience. it's been a whirlwind on the

oversight committee. i've been very honored to be part of that and to watch the leadership within that body and really embrace this idea being people initiative. we got input from over 800 people, mostly unhoused to help us guide our decision-making. it was fast-moving. i think that everyone rose to the occasion and work hard and diligently and comprehensively as possible to make sure that the investment package was the very best use of money. we have a lot of work ahead of us, making sure that the promise of prop c is realized. that the pressure is kept on to face this. to make sure that families with kids, youth, adults, seniors, and community have that opportunity to thrive in san

francisco. really appreciate to be reappointed. thank you so much supervisors, chan and chair peskin and supervisor mandelman. >> supervisor peskin: thank you ms. friedenbach. all right, why don't we open this up to public comment. are there any members of the public who like to testify on this item number 2? >> clerk: yes, members of public who wish to provide public comment, call 415-655-0001. meeting i.d., 146 989 7413. press pound and pound again. please dial star 3 to line up to speak. we have two people listening and one person in line to speak. >> supervisor peskin: first speaker please.

>> caller: good morning rules committee. my name is jordan davis. i support all the bars and bars. should not to this for me. this is about the homeless and people who will be benefiting from prop c funds. the current committee is a cohesive unit. as someone who served on a committee in the past, i know how it work for those who are low income and marginalized to be ham strung pay to play politics and lack of cohesion. lastly, i want to say, i've been disillusions with the machination of the city hall. i no in terms of appointments,

the competitive appointments, there can be perfect relationship can trump what's good for the city. we need to make sure that we don't mess this up. we reappoint shanell williams, julie leadbetter, julie d'antonio, randall sloan and jennifer friedenbach. these incumbents are good. it's imperative that you reappoint them. thank you, i yield my time. >> supervisor peskin: thank you. are there any other members of the public who like to speak? >> clerk: there are no other speakers. >> supervisor peskin: public comment is closed. let me concur with the one and only speaker, ms. davis.

it is not broke. it doesn't need any fixing. i say that with all due respect to mr. sloan who i know and admire and appreciate and do want to encourage you mr. sloan to actually -- it is come to my attention that there is a vacant mayoral seat for somebody with lived experience. i will endeavor to have my staff reach out to you to make that connection. perhaps, there may be a way for you to serve through mayoral appointment on the our cities, our home oversight committee and colleagues, do you have any questions or comments? if not, maybe we can forward the four incumbent members, ms. williams, ms. leadbetter, ms. d'antonio and ms. friedenbach to the full board for recommendations.

supervisors mandelman and chan. i see two thumbs up on that motion mr. clerk, a roll call please. >> clerk: yes, on that motion. [roll call vote] the motion passes without objection. >> supervisor peskin: next item please. >> clerk: next is item number three, ordinance amending the municipal elections code to require the department of of elections to expand use of vote-by-mail ballots at exclusively municipal elections and encourage further use of vote-by-mail ballots in all elections. >> supervisor safai: good morning supervisor chan, supervisor mandelman. i know we're joined by director john arts from our department o elections. i want to make some opening

comments and then we can go to quick questions. i really appreciate the opportunity to get this on as quickly as possible. for me, the timing of this has a lot to do with america's democracy being challenged on a daily basis. more and more restrictive laws all over the country and the idea of remaining neutral and unbiased in an environment, a democratic environment is so important. but in fact, the laws have had such a chilling effect and will have a chilling effect on voter turnout, especially in communities of color and rural areas and hard to reach places. i had someone that extremely important and influential in some of the aspects of my career that put his life on the line back in the '60s, passed away just yesterday. mr. bob moses.

just reflecting on that over the weekend, going down in rural mississippi and trying to get people to vote. registering people at the courthouse, being bludgeoned in the head and shot at. that is not so far away, even though that was over 60 years ago. that work that he did in the early part of his career. with the student nonviolent coordinating committee. here we are and according to cnn today, 20 states have enacted 25 new laws making it harder for people to vote. i feel like states like california can be a beacon of hope. san francisco can be a beacon of hope to continue to encourage people to participate in the democratic process. during the last 16 months, our state has had to rapidly change and modernize our systems in the

economy during this global pandemic to protect our democracy. with most of the state being shut down in 2020, our local environment, our state legislators had to adapt around the health order. as part of that, for the first time without request, we mailed a ballot to every single registered voter here in san francisco and throughout the state. as a result, i think by less than a tenth point, it was almost the highest voter turnout that the city has seen. definitely the highest voter turnout since the 1930s. we had over 86% of voter turnout. absolutely unbelievable. with nearly 9 out of 10 registered voters casting their ballot. my ordinance today will build on that momentum and success and would expand the vote-by-mail

for exclusively municipal elections. i introduced this to be in line with our values here, our value about access and equity and inclusion of all san franciscans in the democratic process and hopefully to inspire places around the country and around the state to continue that. i know we have a state bill that's trying to move in the exact same direction. >> supervisor peskin: i noticed there was along instead of that state bill passes n will be removed from our election code. >> yes, in 2016 our presidential election we mailed over 300,000 ballots, we got about 200,000 back. in 2020, we have almost 400,000 out of 500,000 back. as i said, extremely wonderful

turnout. this legislation seeks to take advantage of that energy and that practice run. so many now, including myself, i never voted by mail from home. i found that process to be a little bit more educational in the sense that had a little more time to sit, review, go over things. i heard that over and over again. a state bill ab37 as chair peskin said, there's measure at the state level, we believe that will hopefully pass. in fact, may be make this a two-step process. i'm asking for this to be approved today. the message that san francisco firmly believes in democracy and access to increase voter turnout. i'm excited to move this forward

and hopefully this will be a trend locally and at the state level and other parts of the united states. we will continue to fight back against voter suppression. i have director art is here to share some of his thoughts and lessons from past election. if it's okay with you, i will go to mr. art. >> supervisor peskin: go ahead. >> thank you supervisor safai. out of a matter of cost, the cost remain rather consistent on the vote-by-mail assembly side. in 2016, we would have extrapolated -- the cost would have been around $1.2 million. in 2020, the cost was $1.4 million for sending ballots to every voter. through time, the printing of the ballots, assembly of the

ballots and the information and envelopes has been rather consistent. supervisor safai indicated, we had really the biggest election last november in history. we were four 100 percent. we had more cars, we had more polling places. we had the biggest election in history just a few months ago. that was a vote-by-mail election. there's also supported with having polling places. even though we're going increasingly towards vote-by-mail model in san francisco, the base for in-person voting remains in polling places. last novel, we had 588 polling places. which mean every voter had a

polling place within no more than a few blocks from where they reside. that will also be the case with the upcoming september recall election. even though we are providing the service of having the ballots delivered to people residents, we still provide this in-person service within various -- [indiscernible], reachable locations throughout the city. at this point, we'll have each point placed at the ballot drop box location. it's actually the second most commonly used method for returning ballots. people dropping their ballots off at polling places. it still retains that neighborhood feel to voting, which i think is in san francisco, it's still strongly held activity in relation to other communities. we'll have 580 polling places and dropoff locations in

september. we'll have 11 additional ballot dropoff locations starting the weekend before election day. i can take any questions you may have. >> supervisor peskin: are there any questions? >> supervisor safai: i wanted you to emphasize that before i did. that's an important part of the legislation. we had a lot of conversations, -- lot of people take a lot of pride. they look for the additional small amount of income. but it's important to them to wait for them to connect to the democratic process with their neighbors. in in way we want to undermine that or discourage that. the idea, appreciate you emphasizing that director art, the additional dropoff locations in each supervisorial district is important part. thank you mr. chair. >> supervisor peskin: any questions from committee members? any public comment?

sorry, supervisor chan? >> supervisor chan: thank you chair peskin. just a comment. i want to thank supervisor safai for bringing this forward and it's really good to hear from director art to letting us know that it is an extension to access. i think that is critical. vote-by-mail, i do see that as just automatically sent to voters. it's bringing the convenience and encouragement for voters to vote and actively engage. i do actually agree that polling places the day of or even leading to like the weekend before is critical. it's true, someone like me -- i end upholding on to my ballot. because i'm thinking about it. i end up always miss the last day of mailing in and it's

always make me feel better to dropping it off and seeing it in there if i'm not voting in in-person and dropping off my ballot at the polling place. i appreciate that. this is an extension of access and not in a place of. i do have one quick question just from my clarification and education, when is going to be the next municipal only election? >> supervisor safai: the next scheduled election is in 2023. however, we'll have a special local election, this ordinance would apply. depending on the timing. >> supervisor chan: i'm asking in the case that the state legislation does not pass. i hope that it does. it should really by now. for us, if we were to do this and passes, the next one is without special local election,

will be november 2023? >> right. >> supervisor chan: i hope the state legislation does pass and we'll do on full scale for san franciscan. thank you so much. >> supervisor peskin: thank you. are there anybody from the public who like to testify on this item? >> clerk: member of the public who wish to provide public comment should call 415-655-0001. meeting i.d., 146 989 7413. please wait for the system indicate you have been unmuted. at this time we have one person in line to speak. >> caller: supervisors, my name is francisco.

i've known the director of elections from day one. you can attest to that. all this time, san franciscans is done due diligence. let me say one thing. very clearly. politicians in san francisco today are corrupt. we can see it when they choose candidates and participate in the adjudications they make. you can also see it with the recalls. i been here for a long time. 40 years. we have had ballots that we have fought because of corruption within san francisco and our city attorney. while we may think that we can

expand vote-by-mail for exclusively municipal elections, that is just fluff. really? if you want it to work, you have to have people that represent who are morally and ethically sound. we have to have standards. we cannot get -- you have a dark cloud hovering over the san francisco public utilities commission and you supervisors have no transparency. we want good people to represent by voting. can we get a good representation from the politicians? let's -- that's the million dollar question. thank you very much. >> supervisor peskin: are there any other members of the public for this item? >> clerk: there are no more people in the queue for public

comment at this time. >> supervisor peskin: okay. public comment is closed. colleagues, are we all in agreement we should send this to the full board. roll call please. >> clerk: on that motion. [roll call vote]. the motion passes without objection. >> supervisor peskin: thank you. please read the fourth and final item. >> clerk: ordinance amending the administrative code to add clerk of the board of supervisors and the executive director of the human rights commission as permanent members of the committee on information technology. >> supervisor peskin: that's exactly what this legislation that president walton brought to us would do.

the floor is yours. >> president walton: this legislation will expand coit. it's managed by city administer and has five permanent seats. a chair is selected based on the permanent seats to serve for two years. five additional department heads are recommended by the chair and approved for two years. one representing each of the major service areas, public protection, human welfare and neighborhood development, community health, culture and recreation and general administration and finance. three additional members are appointed representing the major service areas of public works,

transportation and commerce. the board of supervisors we currently have one seat on coit specifically for the president or a designee. i want to make sure we add a seat for the clerk of the board. while the president represents the board members, our office is only focused on the policy aspects of coit. the clerk of the board as the department head, our department and her team provides the day-to-day assessment and management of our technology needs as well as technology for members of the public to engage in government affairs. additionally, there's currently no codified committee on equity or overall equity lens within coit. although there's a digital equity strategy through mocd that coit adopts, they do not confer with office of -- this

legislation proposes to add a permanent seat for the director of the human rights commission or their designee in order to meet our technology needs and achieve the equity we seek in the area of technology. these two positions are needed. i like to thank deputy city attorney ann pierson for helping us draft this legislation. and our co-sponsors, supervisor preston, haney, mar, chan, ronen and preston. thank you, mr. chair. >> supervisor peskin: thank you. any comments or questions from committee members? any comments from the clerk? >> good morning, chair peskin. we do appreciate that you are willing to consider this legislation. i believe it would be very

helpful to the department for two separate reasons. the first is often times the office of the clerk of the board is included in legislation whether or not the departments are required to send reports or other items to the board of supervisors through our office. there is a better way to submit that information than often times the departments end up just sending it to the president. we like to be involved in assisting the departments in their submittals to us. also, because our office often times impacted by legislation, we do not have the opportunity to weigh in one way or the other how it would impact the department as a whole. number two, take into consideration the elected members of the board. city wide policy is applicable, there are other considerations that a particular department may not consider as they are

considering policy and for the last before president walton, i did have the wonderful opportunity to represent president yee for two years on the coit. i thought we made a contribution that we would love to continue to provide to the coit. thank you for your consideration and mr. president for moving this legislation. i'm available for any questions. >> supervisor peskin: thank you, madam clerk. supervisor mandelman? >> supervisor mandelman: i like to be added as a co-sponsor. >> supervisor peskin: are there any members of the public who like to testify on this item? >> clerk: members of the public who wish to provide public comment on this item should call 415-655-0001. meeting i.d., 146 989 7413. press pound and pound again

.a system prompt will indicate you raised your hand. i'm waiting for one more update. it's coming momentarily. there are no members of the public in line to speak at this time. >> supervisor peskin: okay. public comment is closed. colleagues on a motion to send this item to the full board with recommendation. a roll call please. >> clerk: on that motion. [roll call vote] the motion passes without objection. >> supervisor peskin: okay, we are adjourned. it's our pleasure president walton and colleagues we are adjourned until september.

>> it was an outdoor stadium for track and field, motorcycle and auto and rugby and cricket located in golden gate park, home to professional football,

lacross and soccer. adjacent to the indoor arena. built in the 1920s. the san francisco park commission accepted a $100,000 gift from the estate to build a memorial in honor of pioneers in the area. the city and county of san francisco contributed an additional $200,000 and the stadium was built in a year. in the 1930s it was home to several colleges such as usf, santa clara and st. mary's for competition and sporting. in 1946 it became home to the san francisco 49ers where they played nearly 25 years. the stayed de yam sat 60,000 fans. many caught game the rooftops and houses. the niners played the last game against the dallas cowboys january 3, 1971 before moving to candlestick park. the stadium hosted other events

before demolition in 1989. it suffered damages from the earthquake. it was reconstructed to seat 10,000 fans with an all weather track, soccer field and scoreboards. it hosts many northern california football championship games. local high schools sacred heart and mission high school used the field for home games. the rivalry football games are sometimes played here. today it is a huge free standing element, similar to the original featuring tall pink columns at the entrance. the field is surrounded by the track and used by high school and college football and soccer. it is open for public use as it is open for public use as

>> we are right now in outer richmond in the last business area of this city. this area of merchants is in the most western part of san francisco, continue blocks down the street they're going to fall into the pacific ocean. two blocks over you're going to have golden gate park. there is japanese, chinese, hamburgers, italian, you don't have to cook. you can just walk up and down the street and you can get your cheese. i love it.

but the a very multicultural place with people from everywhere. it's just a wonderful environment. i love the richmond district. >> and my wife and i own a café we have specialty coffee drinks, your typical lattes and mochas and cappuccinos, and for lunches, sandwiches and soup and salad. made fresh to order. we have something for everybody >> my shop is in a very cool part of the city but that's one of the reasons why we provide such warm and generous treats, both physically and emotionally (♪♪) >> it's an old-fashioned general store. they have coffee. other than that what we sell is fishing equipment. go out and have a good time. >> one of my customers that has

been coming here for years has always said this is my favorite store. when i get married i'm coming in your store. and then he in his wedding outfit and she in a beautiful dress came in here in between getting married at lands end and to the reception, unbelievable. (♪♪) >> the new public health order that we're announcing will require san franciscans to remain at home with exceptions only for essential outings. >> when the pandemic first hit we kind of saw the writing on the walls that potentially the

city is going to shut all businesses down. >> it was scary because it was such an unknown of how things were going to pan out. i honestly thought that this might be the end of our business. we're just a small business and we still need daily customers. >> i think that everybody was on edge. nobody was untouched. it was very silent. >> as a business owner, you know, things don't just stop, right? you've still got your rent, and all of the overhead, it's still there. >> there's this underlying constant sense of dread and anxiety. it doesn't prevent you from going to work and doing your job, it doesn't stop you from doing your normal routine. what it does is just make you feel extra exhausted.

>> so we began to reopen one year later, and we will emerge stronger, we will emerge better as a city, because we are still here and we stand in solidarity with one another. >> this place has definitely been an anchor for us, it's home for us, and, again, we are part of this community and the community is part of us. >> one of the things that we strived for is making everyone in the community feel welcome and we have a sign that says "you're welcome." no matter who you are, no matter what your political views are, you're welcome here. and it's sort of the classic san francisco thing is that you work with folks. >> it is your duty to help everybody in san francisco.

. >> neighborhood in san francisco are also diverse and fascist as the people that inhabitable them we're in north beach about supervisor peskin will give us a tour and introduce is to what think of i i his favorite district 5 e 3 is in the northwest surrounded by the san francisco bay the district is the boosting chinatown oar embarcadero financial district fisherman's wharf exhibit no. north beach telegraph hill and part of union square. >> all of san francisco districts are remarkable i'm honored and delighted to represent really whereas with an

the most intact district got chinatown, north beach fisherman's wharf russian hill and knob hill and the northwest waterfront some of the most wealthier and inning e impoverished people in san francisco obgyn siding it is ethically exists a bunch of tight-knit neighborhoods people know he each other by name a wonderful placed physically and socially to be all of the neighborhoods north beach and chinatown the i try to be out in the community as much as and i think, being a the cafe eating at the neighborhood lunch place people come up and talk to you, you never have time alone but really it is fun hi, i'm one the owners and is ceo of cafe trespassing in north beach many people refer to cafe trees

as a the living room of north beach most of the clients are local and living up the hill come and meet with each other just the way the united states been since 1956 opposed by the grandfather a big people person people had people coming since the day we opened. >> it is of is first place on the west that that exposito 6 years ago but anyone was doing that starbuck's exists and it created a really welcoming pot. it is truly a legacy business but more importantly it really at the take care of their community my father from it was formally italy a fisherman and that town very rich in culture and music was a big part of it guitars and

sank and combart in the evening that tradition they brought this to the cafe so many characters around here everything has incredible stories by famous folks last week the cafe that paul carr tennessee take care from the jefferson starship hung out the cafe are the famous poet lawrence william getty and jack herb man go hung out. >> they work worked at a play with the god fathers and photos he had his typewriter i wish i were here back there it there's a lot of moving parts the meeting spot rich in culture and artists and musicians epic people would talk with you and you'd get

>> the annual celebration of hardly strictly bluegrass is always a hit now completing itself 12 year of music in the incredible golden gate park. >> this is just the best park to come to. it's safe. it's wonderful and such a fun time of the year. there is every kind of music you can imagine and can wander around and go from one stage to another and just have fun. >> 81 bands and six stages and no admission. this is hardly strictly bluegrass. >> i love music and peace. >> i think it represents what is great about the bay area. >> everyone is here for the music and the experience. this is why i live here. >> the culture out here is

amazing. it's san francisco. >> this is a legacy of the old warren hel ment and receive necessary funding for ten years after his death. >> there is a legacy that started and it's cool and he's done something wonderful for the city and we're all grateful. hopefully we will keep this thing going on for years and years to come. >> in 201,755.7 million passengers traveled through san francisco international airport. we have on average 150,000 people traveling through the

airport every day. flying can be stressful so we have introduced therapy dogs to make flying more enjoyable. the wag brigade is a partnership between the airport and the san francisco therapy animal assistant program to bring therapy animals into the airport, into the terminals to make passenger travel more enjoyable. i amgen fer casarian and i work here at san francisco international airport. the idea for therapy dogs got started the day after 9/11. an employee brought his therapy dog to work after 9/11 and he was able to see how his dog was able to relieve passenger's jitter. when we first launched the program back in 2013, our main

goal was to destress our passengers however what we quickly found is that our animals were helping us find a way to connect with our pang. passengers. we find there are a lot of people traveling through the airport who are missing their pets and who are on their road a lot and can't have pets and we have come in contact with a lot of people recently who have lost pet. >> i love the wag brigade. >> one of my favorite parts is walking into the terminals and seeing everybody look up from their device, today everybody is interacting on their cell phone or laptop and we can walk into the terminal with a dog or a pig and people start to interact with each other again and it's on a different level. more of an emotional level.

>> i just got off an 11.5 hour flight and nice to have this distraction in the middle of it. >> we look for wag brigade handlers who are comfortable in stressful situations. >> i like coming to airport it's a lot of fun and the people you talk to are generally people who are missing their dogs. >> they are required to compete a certification process. and they are also required to complete a k9 good citizen test and we look for animals who have experienced working with other organizations such as hospitals and pediatric units and we want to be sure that the animals we are bringing into the airport are good with children and also good with some of our senior

travelers. i think toby really likes meeting kids. that is his favorite thing. he likes to have them pet him and come up to him and he really loves the kids. >> our wag brigade animals can be spotted wearing custom vets and they have custom patches. >> there is never a day that repeats itself and there is never and encounter that repeats itself. we get to do maximum good in a small stretch of time and i have met amazing people who have been thrilled to have the interaction. >> the dogs are here seven days a week, we have 20 dogs and they each come for a two hour shift. >> there is a lot of stress when people have traveling so to from these animals around to ease the

stress and help people relax a little bit. i think it's great. >> one of our dogs has special need and that is tristine. he wears a wheel around. >> he has special shoes and a harness and we get it together in the parking lot and then we get on the air train. he loves it. little kids love him because he is a little lower to the ground so easy to reach and he has this big furry head they get to pet and he loves that. >> he doesn't seem to mind at all. probably one of the happiest dogs in the world. >> many people are nervous when they travel but seeing the dogs is just a wonderful relief. >> what i absolutely love most about it is the look on people's faces, so whenever they are

stressed and flying is stressful these days you get these wonderful smile. >> i am the mom of lilo the pig and she is san francisco's first therapy pig. >> lilo joined the wag brigade as our first pig. >> wag brigade invited us to join the program here and we have done it about a year-and-a-half ago. our visits last 1.5 to 2 hours and it does take a little bit longer to get out of the terminal because we still get a lot of attention and a lot of people that want to interact with lilo. >> i feel honored to be part of

the wag brigade. it's very special to meet so many people and make so many feel happy and people that work here. it's been a great experience for me and a great experience for to toby. >> it's been an extremely successful program, so the next time you are here, stop by and say hi. >> : hello everybody. welcome to union square. well, it's been a long road, hasn't it? it's been a long 15 months. i just want to start -- hi, everybody.

i'm san francisco mayor london breene. i want to start by recognizing the people of san francisco. i know the steps we had to take to address this global pandemic in this city. and the success of the steps that we've had to take had everything to do with all of you listening to our health directives, looking out for one another, supporting and uplifting one another. if you look at what's happened in other parts of the world and what happened in san francisco. this is one of the densest cities in the country, we have one of the lowest death rates in the country. good luck, ma'am. good luck.

thank you. as i said, san francisco fortunately has had one of the lowest death rates in the country. that has everything to do with all the work you have done to keep everyone safe. i want to say thank you to san francisco. thank you for all your hard work because it was a very challenging time and now that light that we keep talking about is finally here. i know you can't please everybody, that's okay. today, why are we here. as someone who grew up in san francisco. you hear me talk a lot about my grandmother. you hear me talk about living in public housing and my own experiences. when i think about some of the things my grandmother did and values she instilled in me,

cleaning up in front of where we live. i would do it kicking and screaming, we would wash the stairs. in my mind, i'm like why are we cleaning up for everybody else. she said this is your community, this is is your home. i don't care what people say about the projects, we're going to take care of our community. it's important that we make sure that we take care of this community so we can make sure that folks who care about it live here. i think about san francisco in the same way. it's not just about what i'm doing. it's not just about what the department of public works is doing. what are we collectively doing? what are we collectively doing to make sure that we take care of our city. a lot of what my grandmother taught me, i didn't understand

the importance of it but it rubbed off on me what i got older. when i was the director of the arts and culture complex, we kept it spotless. what i notice about the kids who go there, when they drop something on the ground by accident, they immediately pick it up. it's the values that were instilled in them. it's what i want to exist across this entire city. it can't just be about one city agency or one non-profit agency taking care of and cleaning up some of the challenges that exist here. it requires all of us to do our part. when we see some trash on the corner, we should call 311

immediately. we should never feel it's okay to dump trash on the corners of the most beautiful city in the country. we should feel bad about throwing trash out side our cars or out on our streetses. we should feel bad about dirtying and messing up this beautiful city. we're a major city, we have challenges like any other major city. we know people struggle. we know we're making investments to address those challenges. that is no excuse for letting our city fall apart. why are we here today? san francisco is shining right now. we're a beckon of hope. when you think about it, we're a beckon of hope. people come here from all over

the world, sometimes seeking refuge or a new opportunity. folks like myself were born and raised here, i want to be a part of the success of this city. when i think about san francisco and shining. i don't care if it's foggy, i love our foggy weather. it's still shining. the hearts and minds and souls of the people of this city are shining. today is about reminding us how much we love this city and have to fight for this city. how we as a collective have to make sure that the work we do today demonstrates that we care about this city enough to ensure that it continue it shine on. so what does that mean? shine on san francisco. what does that mean? it means we are focusing on the

things that aren't necessarily the most popular thing it talk about, like new trash cans that are easier for the public to use. making sure they are strategically placed for people to throw things away. we know it's not exciting to talk about the 311 system so it's easier to use for the public. all of our non-profit agency that's do incredible work providing support for additional power washing sometimes is not really exciting but it is. that work that all of these people behind me, that work that they do to keep san francisco green and clean is so critical to making sure this city

continues to shine. we are here today to announce what i think is an incredible initiative. an initiative that we're hoping will catch on. yes, we have beautiful trees and other things that we're going to plant all over the city but we're announcing a campaign called shine on sf. as you can see from some of the buttons people are wearing is really about reminding us how important san francisco is to us. we have to take responsibility for this city. we have to work harder to keep it it the green an clean and beautiful city we all know an love. we're going to be making some unprecedented investments. trees, garbage cans, making

things easier to get things cleaned up in their communities. we have a lot of work to do in san francisco. this is a critical part of our recovery, our economic recovery. not just people who visit and shop here an visit from all over the world but the people who live here. people who want to walk down the streets and feel they are safe and clean. how do we make san francisco better? we have to work hard for it. we have to fight for t. that's . that's what we're here to do today. fight for the future of san francisco. let me just go over a few of the initiatives. one point eight million dollars to make this shine on sf program permanent. power washing and mobile teams, office of economic and work

force development, that's in addition to the power washing of streets and sidewalks that we already do. activation in our public spaces. randomly some performers and singers are going to start performing. it's going to be really fun. a total of ninety six point two million in the budget for cleaning and beautifying for our communities. ninety six point two million dollars. it's not just the work of the city. i want to take this opportunity to thank some people who decided that they wanted to support this city and came up with a concept of shine on sf. they worked with a number of folks, a number of community stake holders because they

wanted to do something to give back to the city. howard, are you here today. thank you. thank you so much for your vision an work and support in making this a realality. thank you to jennifer kiss for the consultant work you did and the advocacy. because of their vision an leadership, this shine on sf commitment is a reality that i'm committed to supporting in our upcoming budgets and partnering with our private and public sectors to make sure we are consistent in the work that we need to do to take care of our city. i also want to thank so many of our department heads including our assessor recorder, our city administrator, our department of

the environment director, three 11 director, director of department of public works, and director of the office of economic work force development. incredible leaders, it does take a village. they will be working hand in hand collectively and working withing the ambassadors who are always out here taking care of the community and your department of public works team. so many folks in the district and the union square community business district, so many people. it does take a village. when you see these folks working everyday, just say thank you. thank you. because they are out here working hard. they are showing up when others are not. we appreciate them. what we want to happen is when people come to san francisco or

people come from other parts of the sety to union square or any other incredible spaces to enjoy live music or shop at our great department stores or have a live experience at a restaurant, we want it make sure they walk away with a smile on their face. that's what shine on san francisco is all about. reminding us we have to fight like heck to keep it a way to make sure all of us continue to love it and be proud of t. thank it.thank you for being here tod. with that, i want to bring back our partner in this effort. bring up a person who has been traveling all over to get people excited about returning to san francisco. to visit from all over the world to come back to san francisco from a number of the conventions

and all the great things that are happening. the head of the sf travel association for san francisco joe. >> : thank you mayor. thank you for your leadership during the pandemic and our recovery which is essential. thank you for your budget initiatives. it's going to make sure san recovers quickly. we cannot do it alone. it has to be given by all of us. private sectors, associations, individuals. all of us have to be a part of it. why is it so important now? travel is the backbone of san francisco's economy.

$10 billion in that economy. the telling the story of san francisco. travel and tourism is not just about visitors. it's about the people who work in san francisco and the industry to support the city that we love. the employees who count on san francisco to feed their families. those that inspire us to help the the city shine. we want to be part of the solution to make this city shine that we love so much. with all of us coming together with the public and private sector. we are inspiring action and change. we appreciate the investment that the mayor is making. encouraging travel and tourism to come back and get the city back on its feet. encouraging return to conventions. it's all about making people welcome in san francisco. we're committed to make shine on

sf successful in san francisco. come together to care for our city to make san francisco the best and brightest destination for economic recovery. i'm tired of this narrative of people jealous of san francisco who tell terrible stories. it's time for us to take over this narrative and take charge back. look how beautiful and diverse this city is. it's the city we love. shine on san francisco. i'm pleased to be a part of this initiative. now i'd like to invite one of our partners. the executive director of the tender loin community business district to come up and say a few words. >> : thank you. i'm the executive director of

the community district. i'm proud to be a part of shine on sf. we deal with some of the city's toughest issues. we support an incredible neighborhood. immigrants, families, long time san franciscans who found a safe haven from rising housing costs. our cleaning team out there everyday sweeping up the streets. it's a lot of need in the neighborhood. people are struggling on our sidewalks, more so during the pandemic. we see it everyday. we see other neighborhoods getting more attention.

that's why shine on sf matters. it brings people together. my organization with city organizations it brings many of us together from all other the city to work together towards a common goal to make this city, our city the most beautiful city in the world. we know how hard that work is going to be. it takes coalitions. large coalitions working together, that works. people working together towards a common goal, that's what is going to deliver change to the city. a group of us came together with a vision for community safety. we were worried about our neighborhoods and had an idea about how to deliver community safety. we presented that idea to the mayor. i have to say, mayor, thank you. she stepped up and took our request and made it happen.

right now we have more officers walking the beach, more practitioners and more on the way engaging with people to build community safety. we have a presence and commitment from the city to work with us. that's what a coalition can do. in partnership with sf, 15 other community benefits in the city, we'll integrate our operations in 311. it's one of the most exciting things to happen in this district in the last three years. the city administrator to say what will happen if we can integrate all of these teams in addition to public works who are out there everyday cleaning up the sidewalks. we can close that request with a

photograph to go back to the person who submitted the request. it's going to be a revolution. in addition to that 311 integration, that exciting element, we're excited about the trash can receptacle and the vision that the mayor brought to think about a comprehensive system to the trash cans in the tender loin. the funding from those two sources at every intersection. there's a pilot. we think it's important for a major city with a lot of commercial traffic to have a place for people to throw their litter so it doesn't end up on the sidewalk. that's something shine on as brought as well. the coalition an the stake holders working together. we need a boost. it's been a hard year for the city, nation.

it's not always going to be easy. there's going to be hard days. we're san francisco. we care about our city. that's how we do it in the tender loin. that's how it will bring us together in each and every neighborhood in the city. now i'm supposed to introduce vince. a hero who emerged with a new model for thinking about cleaning the city. >> : i'm humbled and honored to be here as part of shine on. i've only recently done what many of these people's life's work has been to take care of this city. i learned how to become an adult here. i met my wife here. i'm raising two girls here in the city who go to sfusd. in pandemic life trying to

figure out thing it do outdoors. let's pick up right in front of our streets. it turned into streets getting cleaner. let's clean up the rest of our block. maybe other people could do the same thing. i started to notice a few things. there were a lot of people already doing this and going out on their own and organizing maybe hood clean ups. a lot of city services and non-profits dedicated to keeping the city clean. it's so easy. how hard is it to pick this up? how much does it cost? i promise at least for myself to keep refusing refuse. it's a small and simple thing we can all do. it doesn't take much. just get up off your couch and come out. it's not that giant sweep that's

going to keep the city clean, the tiny pick everyday. the trash is relentless but we are more relentless. it doesn't matter where you live, everyone deserves a clean street. people are coming out of their houses and we're creating opportunities to join us and making it really easy and fractionless to come out. i think more people are going to feel empowered like i have. that's my hope. i'm really hopeful for this city. i really love it here, of course. i invite you to come clean with me. go to my website. shamelessplug. a lot of people doing a little bit that's going to make a big difference. if you have been here or just moved here, can you do

something. we have these golden tree that's are fantastic, so beautiful. thank you so much for creating them. genius idea. it asks, what makes san francisco shine? for me, we are leaders. we are leaders in environmental justice, stewardship, activism. we're leaders in lgbtq plus rights and we're fighting for that. we're a place where a young girl of color from the projects can can grow up to be our leader. i love mayor breene. i hope everyone comes out because the next question should not be -- there's so many reasons to love san francisco. the next question is how do you love san francisco. what do you do each day to show

and demonstrate that you love san francisco. we can be that light that shows the rest of the world how it's done. we're going to get it done here. i hope to see you out there cleaning the streets with me. >> : hello, everybody. i represent the artists of our city. thank you so much. i work with an organization called san francisco, we're a street team of sellers in the area. we advocate for each other to raise our voices up. we help make the city more fun. we're so excited to be involved in the shine on sf project. we helped to create build intrigue not alone.

we helped to create the art as part of the tree. on behalf of all of the shine on partners, i see them all today. jennifer, and howard and phillip. i want to mention everybody. they are going to start the music here soon. the san francisco parks -- we couldn't do this tree without them. i hope you will join us today and tell us what you think makes san francisco shine. everybody has something that you love about the city. the park alliance they coordinated all the volunteers and the site hosts. they are active activating these trees over the summer. check it out. these trees are creating a conversation in the city. i was out at the skate and place which is one of our site hosts.

it brought me to tears to hear the conversations about all the things people love about san francisco. it made all of the work feel really good. now, i would like to invite the mayor, an members of all the shine on sf leadership committee to gather at the golden tree and we're going to fill out a card. thank you all. >> : thank you all for being here. let's remember to keep san francisco green and clean and also with covid, we weren't able to do our monthly clean ups in neighborhoods. department of public works will be resuming those most likely in august. we invite you to come out and help us clean up the streets. in fact, i'm going to be at the next couple of clean up

initiatives and randomly picking people who show up to clean with me so we can hang out and talk while we clean up and green up. let's show them what we're made of. shine on sf.

[♪♪♪]

>> my family's starts in mexico in a small town. my parents are from a very, very small town. so small, that my dad's brother is married to one of my mom's sisters. it's that small. a lot of folks from that town are here in the city. like most immigrant families, my parents wanted a better life for us. my dad came out here first. i think i was almost two-years-old when he sent for us. my mom and myself came out here. we moved to san francisco early on. in the mission district and moved out to daily city and bounced back to san francisco. we lived across the street from the ups building. for me, when my earliest memories were the big brown

trucks driving up and down the street keeping us awake at night. when i was seven-years-old and i'm in charge of making sure we get on the bus on time to get to school. i have to make sure that we do our homework. it's a lot of responsibility for a kid. the weekends were always for family. we used to get together and whether we used to go watch a movie at the new mission theater and then afterwards going to kentucky fried chicken. that was big for us. we get kentucky fried chicken on sunday. whoa! go crazy! so for me, home is having something where you are all together. whether it's just together for dinner or whether it's together for breakfast or sharing a special moment at the holidays. whether it's thanksgiving or christmas or birthdays. that is home. being so close to berkley and oakland and san francisco,

there's a line. here you don't see a line. even though you see someone that's different from you, they're equal. you've always seen that. a rainbow of colors, a ryan bow of personalities. when you think about it you are supposed to be protecting the kids. they have dreams. they have aspirations. they have goals. and you are take that away from them. right now, the price is a hard fight. they're determined. i mean, these kids, you have to applaud them. their heart is in the right place. there's hope. i mean, out here with the things changing everyday, you just hope the next administration makes a change that makes things right. right now there's a lot of changes on a lot of different levels. the only thing you hope for is for the future of these young kids and young folks that are getting into politics to make the right move and for the folks who can't speak. >> dy mind motion.

>> even though we have a lot of fighters, there's a lot of voice less folks and their voiceless because they're scared..

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

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

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

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

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

affordable housing done nasal you need a good attitude and the jobs on the bottom you take care of all the produce and the fish and computer ferry terminal and work your way up employing people with a passion for this >> shop and dine in the 49 promotes local businesses and challenges residents to do their business in the 49 square files of san francisco. we help san francisco remain unique, successful and right vi. so where will you shop and dine in the 49? >> i'm one of three owners here in san francisco and we provide

mostly live music entertainment and we have food, the type of food that we have a mexican food and it's not a big menu, but we did it with love. like ribeye tacos and quesadillas and fries. for latinos, it brings families together and if we can bring that family to your business, you're gold. tonight we have russelling for e community. >> we have a ten-person limb elimination match. we have a full-size ring with barside food and drink. we ended up getting wrestling here with puoillo del mar.

we're hope og get families to join us. we've done a drag queen bingo and we're trying to be a diverse kind of club, trying different things. this is a great part of town and there's a bunch of shops, a variety of stores and ethnic restaurants. there's a popular little shop that all of the kids like to hang out at. we have a great breakfast spot call brick fast at tiffanies. some of the older businesses are refurbished and newer businesses are coming in and it's exciting. >> we even have our own brewery for fdr, ferment, drink repeat. it's in the san francisco garden district and four beautiful murals. >> it's important to shop local because it's kind of like a circle of life, if you will.

we hire local people. local people spend their money at our businesses and those local people will spend their money as well. i hope people shop locally. [ ♪♪♪ ] >> : i apologize to keep you all waiting. i want to thank for joining us today. the board of supervisors, the department of emergency management director. we're here at one of the first sites that opened, to not only provide testing for the community but also provide

vaccinations. no appointment necessary. we knew that the disparities that existed with this virus were going to impact primarily the african american community but also the latino community. we're seeing those disparities play out in those vaccination process. why are we here today, san francisco is really proud of where we are and what we accomplished. when you think about the fact that we're one of the most dense cities in the country and have had one of the lowest death rates in the country. when we look at vaccination rates 75% of san franciscans are vaccinated and 83 percent have received at least their first dose of the vaccination. we should we should be proud. we're doing an incredible job.

with this new delta variant we're seeing real concern. especially in the african american community and latino american community. we're seeing 60% of the vaccinations. in the latino community, although there are -- it's a larger percentage of the latino community that has been vaccinationed over 70%, they are two point two times more likely to be infected with the new variant. we're seeing the disparities play out in our hospitals. everyone in the hospital at san francisco general right now did not get the vaccine. dis opposed to propotiona disopd

-- we knowwhat happened with te experiments in the country. we know that african americans were used for forty years not given penicillin in '47, it widely known that was a cure for syphilis. the share croppers who were used and suffered and discarded. african communities in my family my grandmother, one generation removed from slavely, concerned about trust in the vaccination process, we know that is real. but this is also real. we're in a different place now.

the same people are experiencing some of the same challenges around concerns with trust, but more importantly what we will see what the data shows is with the delta variant we will see higher people who are not vaccinated and at least 250 more deaths and disproportionately those people will be african americans and latino. i understand people who are hesitant. i got the vaccine. i got the vaccine because not only did i want to protect myself but everybody i came in contact with.

i wanted to protect the elderly people i came in contact with. i wanted to make sure they were going to be okay because they are the ones likely to die because of this. when i say it's a matter of life or death, this is serious. that's why we're here today. that's why we're in the bay view hunter's community. we understand the importance. we're not using rhetoric. we did our research on this. question asked the questions to our public health experts not only here in san francisco but all over the country because we knew people would be concerned. we knew especially african americans would be concerned and there would be issues around trust because of historical factors. what we're here to talk about is not what this means and how it

relates to life and death but the importance of doing the right thing. doing our part whether we're uncomfortable with it or not. protecting our relatives, whether we're uncomfortable with it or not. protecting our community, whether we're uncomfortable with it or not. this is important. i want to thank you all for being here to get the word out. i want to thank my friends who are here that didn't want to get the vaccine. thank you jamal gregory for getting the vaccine. he was like, no, no, no. he got the vaccine. he was like, okay. mayor. that's what this is about, protecting one another. so we can get back to our lives that we know and love. i'm tired of wearing a mask, i'm

tired of shutting down. tired of getting covid. how do we open up this city, we do our part and get the vaccine. without further adieu i want to introduce the supervisor who represents district ten who is here today. >> : first i just want to say good morning and thank you to our mayor. i'm here because i'm scared. i'm squared for the black community. i'm squared for people who are 25 to 40 years old. i'm scared for people who refuse to get the vaccine. we worked hard here in san

francisco, we worked hard to get the vaccine in places and accessible, putting pop up sites in every area in the district. mobile sites that will come to your front door. we have done all of that not because it's something fun and exciting to do because we know it's important to get the vaccine. i have family members and friends who are not getting vaccinated because of the lack of trust with vaccines and history and what it has done with african americans. i have so many arguments at bbq's and family dinner he's. folks are getting information from so many places that are untrue. they are not listening to our

medical professionals and looking at the data. here is the reality. the new delta variant. folks getting sick and ending up in the hospital are folks who are not vaccinated. we have more real life data in front of us that tells us how the vaccine is working in our communities and why it's so important. here is another fact, as we stood here at the beginning of the pandemic, did a press conference and said we knew how much district ten would be effected by the virus right here at this site. mayor talked about the elimination of barriers. the highest number of cases coming up now are 92124 and bay view hunter's point.

there's a reason for that. we are not all doing everything we can to protect each other. for me, this is a cry to my community, a cry to everyone who has not gotten the vaccine to say, we need you to get vaccinated. it is important for to you keep yourself safe, for to you keep your family safe, and for to you keep the people around you safe. this is not information that we are making up. i had a meeting with dr. co lfax the other day. it really scared me. we're starting to see a rise in cases again. you can come here monday through friday, get the vaccine, no appointment necessary. we also have the same thing at the health center. we have a vaccination site at 1800 oak dale. we have consistent pop ups in

community. we're going to continue to do everything we can to get to every nook and krany for people who are not getting vaccinated. incentives. people are giving out groceries, gift cards. we're doing it and providing these incentives to save lives in our community. please do it and take the opportunity to save lives today. remember those folks that do not have the vaccine are getting hospitalize and the ones who are going to die for not taking that precaution. i would rather be caught with than without. please get vaccinated. thank you all for being here and helping us get the word out to our communities that need to

know and get the right information to take the right steps to getting everyone healthy. thank you. >> : thank you for your great remarks. i think if we take a step back for a minute and realize for every person in the hospital right now and every person dying of covid 19. those hospitalizations and deaths are nearly 100% preventible. 100% preventible. there's very little in health where we can make that statement. these vaccines are so incredibly effective. people ask me, how do we avoid covid, what are we going to do?

top ten answer, get vaccinated. until you are fully vaccinated wear that mask indoors to protect others. you've heard from others, i want to go through a few more. in the last 12 day as lone, we have seen a three folds increase in covid 19 cases in san francisco. it's a rapid increase in cases is due to the delta variant. covid on steroids. this virus is far more infect ows. if you didn't get covid before now, it's likely if you're taking risks that you could get

infected. if we look at the case rates of code i had right now in the city, they are two and a half times higher amongst black a afn americans. those hospital haded in san francisco 28 percent are african american. this is not just about older people getting hospitalled now. we're seeing younger people getting hospitalized. the average age of people hospitalized in san francisco is 48. now it's people 35 and under. this is preventible. please get vaccinated. low barrier vaccination sites

are available everywhere. we have done so well. three quarters of people are vaccinated but the delta is here. protect yourself and your family. let's get this done so we can continue to do the things we love and continue to emerge from covid. san francisco is a better place than most places in the country. we still have more to do. support your family, your community. we're here to support you. we'll get this done. thank you. >> : i'm the director of the department of emergency management for san francisco. the san francisco emergency operations center remains activated and committed to making vaccination convenient and available for all san franciscans. we're at the forefront of the

equitable vaccine strategy. we have shifted our strategy to be more neighborhood centric. i want to be 100% clear here, we have many opportunities for folks to get their vaccines and tests throughout the city in their own community. here we're at the south center in the bay view. we are fully staffed. we have some folks that are go to go get their vaccine today. we're so grateful you are here to be an example to your community and family. the delta variant continues to be a very serious threat. as we move forward, i just want to say that to reiterate that the vaccine is safe and in san

francisco it is extremely easy and convenient to get one. we will continue to work together with our partners to make that vaccine and testing available. we've done so well, 75% is great. we really have to focus on our most vulnerable populations and protect each other. thank you very much and if you haven't got a vaccine, please go to sf dot gov, get vaccinated to find all the locations. >> : thank you. i just want to thank a lot of our first responders and the folks who work here. they have been out and about from day one helping to get the community vaccinated. i've been told by so many people who live in this community when they come to this location, they are treated with a smile and so much love and respect.

we truly appreciate you and all you have done and will continue to do to get us to a place where hopefully we'll see a 100% vaccination rate in san francisco. with that, i'll take a few questions and then me and my people are going to go in there and get vaccinated. i'm going to hold their hands and do this. any questions? the question centered around getting this message out in a different way. we started -- we knew sadly in low income communities and

communities of color it has a significant impact. we embedded a equity response. a number of agencies we work with that have direct relationship with folks in this community. they have been the ones to help various campaigns to get people excited about getting a vaccination. unfortunately it has slowed down. we expected it to slow down. when you look at what san francisco is doing and even our communities of color compared to any other major city in this country, there no comparison. we did a really great job. we need to do more because what's important to me is saving lives as it has been since the beginning of this pandemic. we'll continue to push messages and get people engaged. nothing is better than a direct

conversation with someone you know and love. not an argument, a conversation. not necessarily making people feel guilty or bad but helping them understand. it's really about a relationship of trust. a lot of people i contacted and talked to in my family, a lot of times it turned into an argument. the fact is i love them and want to keep them safe. i get someone on the phone and explain that variant thing you talked about. it's doing our part to get our relatives vaccinated and protect our community.

any data about what? >> : the question was about are we seeing any vaccinated people testing positive for covid 19. the bottom line is if you're vaccinated, the vaccines are very powerful in preventing hospitalizations and protecting you from covid. there are going to be what we call break through infections. with all this attention of break through infections, the difference between getting covid if you're fully vaccinated and not could be the difference between sniffles and suffocation. i want to make that very clear. if you do get covid 19 if you're

fully vaccinated. the vast majority will have only mild symptoms. i think it's really important to emphasize the fact that people need to get vaccinated. there will be some people who become infected that are are vaccinated. but my god, such a better outcome if you're vaccinated. the mayor said already at the disuker berg hospital with covid, all of them are unvaccinated. you see the deaths. everybody who died in maryland who had covid were unvaccinated. we should be focusing on access

to vaccines particularly in the african american community right here today. thank you. >> : the question was are we considering reinstituting mask mandates. we're considering basically providing guidance on suggested mask wearing in certain instances. we do ask that people who are not vaccinated when they go indoors wear a mask. for those vaccinated we don't have a mask requirement further than that. we're looking at a change to the policy but not necessarily a mandate. all right. thank you. and now let's go get vaccinated.

>> i love teaching. it is such an exhilarating experience when people began to feel their own creativity. >> this really is a place where all people can come and take a class and fill part of the community. this is very enriching as an artist. a lot of folks take these classes and take their digital imagery and turn it into

negatives. >> there are not many black and white darkrooms available anymore. that is a really big draw. >> this is a signature piece. this is the bill largest darkroom in the u.s.. >> there are a lot of people that want to get into that dark room. >> i think it is the heart of this place. you feel it when you come in. >> the people who just started taking pictures, so this is really an intersection for many generations of photographers and this is a great place to learn because if you need people from different areas and also everyone who works here is working in photography.

>> we get to build the community here. this is different. first of all, this is a great location. it is in a less-populated area. >> of lot of people come here just so that they can participate in this program. it is a great opportunity for people who have a little bit of photographic experience. the people have a lot, they can really come together and share a love and a passion.

>> we offer everything from traditional black and white darkrooms to learning how to process your first roll of film. we offer classes and workshops in digital camera, digital printing. we offer classes basically in the shooting, ton the town at night, treasure island. there is a way for the programs exploring everyone who would like to spend the day on this program. >> hello, my name is jennifer. >> my name is simone. we are going on a field trip to take pictures up the hill. >> c'mon, c'mon, c'mon.

>> actually, i have been here a lot. i have never looked closely enough to see everything. now, i get to take pictures. >> we want to try to get them to be more creative with it. we let them to be free with them but at the same time, we give them a little bit of direction. >> you can focus in here. >> that was cool. >> if you see that? >> behind the city, behind the houses, behind those hills. the see any more hills? >> these kids are wonderful. they get to explore, they get to

see different things. >> we let them explore a little bit. they get their best. if their parents ever ask, we can learn -- they can say that they learned about the depth of field or the rule of thirds or that the shadows can give a good contrast. some of the things they come up with are fantastic. that is what we're trying to encourage. these kids can bring up the creativity and also the love for photography. >> a lot of people come into my classes and they don't feel like they really are creative and through the process of working and showing them and giving them some tips and ideas.

>> this is kind of the best kept secret. you should come on and take a class. we have orientations on most saturdays. this is a really wonderful location and is the real jewel to the community. >> ready to develop your photography skills? the harvey milk photo center focuses on adult classes. and saturday workshops expose youth and adults to photography classes. >> usf donates 100-120 pounds of food a night. for the four semesters we have been running here, usf has donated about 18,000 pounds of

food to the food recovery network. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ >> i'm maggie. >> i'm nick. >> we're coe-chairs of the national led organization. what food recovery does is recover and redistribute food that would go wasted and redistributing to people in the community. >> the moment that i became really engaged in the cause of fighting food waste was when i had just taken the food from the

usf cafeteria and i saw four pans full size full of food perfectly fine to be eaten and made the day before and that would have gone into the trash that night if we didn't recover it the next day. i want to fight food waste because it hurts the economy, it's one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases in the world. if it was a nation, it would be the third largest nation behind china and the united states. america wastes about 40% of the food we create every year, $160 billion worth and that's made up in the higher cost of food for consumers. no matter where you view the line, you should be engaged with the issue of food waste. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪

>> access edible food that we have throughout our lunch program in our center, i go ahead and collect it and i'll cool it down and every night i prep it up and the next day i'll heat it and ready for delivery. it's really natural for me, i love it, i'm passionate about it and it's just been great. i believe it's such a blessing to have the opportunity to actually feed people every day. no food should go wasted. there's someone who wants to eat, we have food, it's definitely hand in hand and it shouldn't be looked at as work or a task, we're feeding people and it really means so much to

me. i come to work and they're like nora do you want this, do you want that? and it's so great and everyone is truly involved. every day, every night after every period of food, breakfast, lunch, dinner, i mean, people just throw it away. they don't even think twice about it and i think as a whole, as a community, as any community, if people just put a little effort, we could really help each other out. that's how it should be. that's what food is about basically. >> an organization that meets is the san francisco knight ministry we work with tuesday and thursday's. ♪♪♪

♪ by the power ♪ ♪ of your name ♪ >> i have faith to move mountains because i believe in jesus. >> i believe it's helpful to offer food to people because as you know, there's so much homelessness in san francisco and california and the united states. i really believe that food is important as well as our faith. >> the san francisco knight ministry has been around for 54 years. the core of the ministry, a group of ordain ministers, we go out in the middle of the night every single night of the year, so for 54 years we have never

missed a night. i know it's difficult to believe maybe in the united states but a lot of our people will say this is the first meal they've had in two days. i really believe it is a time between life or death because i mean, we could be here and have church, but, you know, i don't know how much we could feed or how many we could feed and this way over 100 people get fed every single thursday out here. it's not solely the food, i tell you, believe me. they're extremely grateful. >> it's super awesome how welcoming they are. after one or two times they're like i recognize you. how are you doing, how is school? i have never been in the city, it's overwhelming. you get to know people and

through the music and the food, you get to know people. >> we never know what impact we're going to have on folks. if you just practice love and kindness, it's a labor of love and that's what the food recovery network is and this is a huge -- i believe they salvage our mission. >> to me the most important part is it's about food waste and feeding people. the food recovery network national slogan is finding ways to feed people. it's property to bring the scientific and human element into the situation. [♪♪♪]

>> i just don't know that you can find a neighborhood in the city where you can hear music stands and take a ride on the low rider down the street. it is an experience that you can't have anywhere else in san francisco. [♪♪♪] [♪♪♪] >> district nine is a in the southeast portion of the city. we have four neighborhoods that i represent. st. mary's park has a completely unique architecture. very distinct feel, and it is a very close to holly park which is another beautiful park in san francisco. the bernal heights district is unique in that we have the hell which has one of the best views in all of san francisco.

there is a swinging hanging from a tree at the top. it is as if you are swinging over the entire city. there are two unique aspects. it is considered the fourth chinatown in san francisco. sixty% of the residents are of chinese ancestry. the second unique, and fun aspect about this area is it is the garden district. there is a lot of urban agriculture and it was where the city grew the majority of the flowers. not only for san francisco but for the region. and of course, it is the location in mclaren park which is the city's second biggest park after golden gate. many people don't know the neighborhood in the first place if they haven't been there. we call it the best neighborhood nobody has ever heard our. every neighborhood in district nine has a very special aspect. where we are right now is the mission district. the mission district is a very special part of our city. you smell the tacos at the

[speaking spanish] and they have the best latin pastries. they have these shortbread cookies with caramel in the middle. and then you walk further down and you have sunrise café. it is a place that you come for the incredible food, but also to learn about what is happening in the neighborhood and how you can help and support your community. >> twenty-fourth street is the birthplace of the movement. we have over 620 murals. it is the largest outdoor public gallery in the country and possibly the world. >> you can find so much political engagement park next to so much incredible art. it's another reason why we think this is a cultural district that we must preserve. [♪♪♪] >> it was formed in 2014. we had been an organization that had been around for over 20 years. we worked a lot in the

neighborhood around life issues. most recently, in 2012, there were issues around gentrification in the neighborhood. so the idea of forming the cultural district was to help preserve the history and the culture that is in this neighborhood for the future of families and generations. >> in the past decade, 8,000 latino residents in the mission district have been displaced from their community. we all know that the rising cost of living in san francisco has led to many people being displaced. lower and middle income all over the city. because it there is richness in this neighborhood that i also mentioned the fact it is flat and so accessible by trip public transportation, has, has made it very popular. >> it's a struggle for us right now, you know, when you get a lot of development coming to an area, a lot of new people coming to the area with different sets of values and different culture. there is a lot of struggle

between the existing community and the newness coming in. there are some things that we do to try to slow it down so it doesn't completely erase the communities. we try to have developments that is more in tune with the community and more equitable development in the area. >> you need to meet with and gain the support and find out the needs of the neighborhoods. the people on the businesses that came before you. you need to dialogue and show respect. and then figure out how to bring in the new, without displacing the old. [♪♪♪] >> i hope we can reset a lot of the mission that we have lost in the last 20 years. so we will be bringing in a lot of folks into the neighborhoods pick when we do that, there is a demand or, you know, certain types of services that pertain more to the local community and working-class. >> back in the day, we looked at

mission street, and now it does not look and feel anything like mission street. this is the last stand of the latino concentrated arts, culture and cuisine and people. we created a cultural district to do our best to conserve that feeling. that is what makes our city so cosmopolitan and diverse and makes us the envy of the world. we have these unique neighborhoods with so much cultural presence and learnings, that we want to preserve. [♪♪♪] you. >> what do you think about

working at an airport and i love it is busy all the time. >> we want it to be an those away was this is a venture if i didn't love it i'll be an accountant. >> we want the experience that is a non-airport experience the negative stigma we're trying to erase that. >> everything is in a bad food to excite them about the food and they have time to learn about us. >> people are imitated by traveling and the last thing to do is come to a place fill of chaos. >> telling me how the extent of napa a farms came about. >> it was a vision of the

airport director he had a suspicion of a really cool gourmet speciality market locally friendly products this market local flavors this is the best. >> can we get a little tour. >> absolutely (laughter) ♪♪ ♪♪ >> so first on our tour. >> we have the clock we like to call it. >> this is coordinating it is made in san francisco. >> what about the customer presence. >> we like to get the permanent farther i love the cappuccino and you have to go to multiple places for the cupcakes the cup a cakes from kari's people want to live here they're longing

phone call for one thing in one spot in you know anything about san francisco the cheese the most popular cheesy think a lot of the people from the west coast say so this the real san francisco sour dough and they're curious. >> you find people respond to the idea of organic and absolutely. >> this is autumn. >> thank you, thank you and there's a lot of personal touch. >> i see san francisco. >> it's very hands on. >> what's the most popular items. >> this is quite surprising our fresh jotting this is the chronicle special a bowl of warm oats and coconut that's mites farther. >> and speaking of drinks tell

me again the cocktail scenes is that one, the things your known for . >> the cocktails are fantastic. >> really. >> fresh ingredients we don't have a mixture it to order this is our marcus bloody mayor. >> farmer's market bloody mary the bloody marys in the airport are great shikz it up. and then we're going to garnish it with olives. and some lime and a fresh stalk of selly. right on.

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

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

you want to see leadership that looks diverse because your path is not predetermined. i didn't wake up thinking i was going to be a prosecutor in my life. the city administrator reached out and wanted to have a conversation and gave me interest in the new role. i thought you must not know what i do for a living. it was the opposite. she had foresight in realizing it would be helpful for somebody not only a former prosecutor but interested in shaping criminal justice reform for the city would be the right person for the space. i appreciate the foresight of the mayor to be open how we can be leaders in san francisco. i was able to transition to the policy space. here i was able to work on legislation, community relations, communication and start to shape the ways our office was going to reform the criminal justice system. it is fulfilling for me.

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

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

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

process. code for america helped us developed the rhythm to be used for any jurisdiction across the state that was important to create a solution to be used to assist all jurisdictions dealing with this matter. the office of cannabis is the first office to have a completely digital application process. we worked with the digital team to develop the online application. there are going to be hiccups. we are first to do it. it is one of the most rewarding parts to offer a seamless -- to offer a seamless approach. that is how they can find solutions to solve many of the community challenges. the best way to respond to prop 64 was to retroactively expunge 9,000 cannabis related records for san francisco. it feels like justice full circle for my personal

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

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

their part to bring on and mentor as many young people as they can. it is superimportant to take advantage of as many opportunities as they can when they can intern because the doors are wide open. plans change and that is okay. the way this was shaped because i took a risk to try something new and explore something and show that i was capable. you are capable, right? it was about leaning in and being at the table to say my voice matters. you find your passion, the sky >> i view san francisco almost as a sibling or a parent or

something. i just love the city. i love everything about it. when i'm away from it, i miss it like a person. i grew up in san francisco kind of all over the city. we had pretty much the run of the city 'cause we lived pretty close to polk street, and so we would -- in the summer, we'd all all the way down to aquatic park, and we'd walk down to the library, to the kids' center. in those days, the city was safe and nobody worried about us running around. i went to high school in spring valley. it was over the hill from chinatown. it was kind of fun to experience being in a minority, which most white people don't get to experience that often. everything was just really within walking distance, so it make it really fun. when i was a teenager, we didn't have a lot of money. we could go to sam wong's and

get super -- soup for $1. my parents came here and were drawn to the beatnik culture. they wanted to meet all of the writers who were so famous at the time, but my mother had some serious mental illness issues, and i don't think my father were really aware of that, and those didn't really become evident until i was about five, i guess, and my marriage blew up, and my mother took me all over the world. most of those ad ventures ended up bad because they would end up hospitalized. when i was about six i guess, my mother took me to japan, and that was a very interesting trip where we went over with a boyfriend of hers, and he was working there. i remember the open sewers and gigantic frogs that lived in the sewers and things like that. mostly i remember the smells

very intensely, but i loved japan. it was wonderful. toward the end. my mother had a breakdown, and that was the cycle. we would go somewhere, stay for a certain amount of months, a year, period of time, and she would inevitably have a breakdown. we always came back to san francisco which i guess came me some sense of continuity and that was what kept me sort of stable. my mother hated to fly, so she would always make us take ships places, so on this particular occasion when i was, i think, 12, we were on this ship getting ready to go through the panama canal, and she had a breakdown on the ship. so she was put in the brig, and i was left to wander the ship until we got to fluorfluora few days later, where we had a distant -- florida a few days later, where we had a distant

cousin who came and got us. i think i always knew i was a writer on some level, but i kind of stopped when i became a cop. i used to write short stories, and i thought someday i'm going to write a book about all these ad ventures that my mother took me on. when i became a cop, i found i turned off parts of my brain. i found i had to learn to conform, which was not anything i'd really been taught but felt very safe to me. i think i was drawn to police work because after coming from such chaos, it seemed like a very organized, but stable environment. and even though things happening, it felt like putting order on chaos and that felt very safe to me. my girlfriend and i were sitting in ve 150d uvio's bar, and i looked out the window and i saw a police car, and there was a woman who looked like me

driving the car. for a moment, i thought i was me. and i turned to my friend and i said, i think i'm supposed to do this. i saw myself driving in this car. as a child, we never thought of police work as a possibility for women because there weren't any until the mid70's, so i had only even begun to notice there were women doing this job. when i saw here, it seemed like this is what i was meant to do. one of my bosses as ben johnson's had been a cop, and he -- i said, i have this weird idea that i should do this. he said, i think you'd be good. the department was forced to hire us, and because of all of the posters, and the big recruitment drive, we were under the impression that they were glad to have us, but in reality, most of the men did

not want the women there. so the big challenge was constantly feeling like you had to prove yourself and feeling like if you did not do a good job, you were letting down your entire gender. finally took an inspector's test and passed that and then went down to the hall of justice and worked different investigations for the rest of my career, which was fun. i just felt sort of buried alive in all of these cases, these unsolved mysteries that there were just so many of them, and some of them, i didn't know if we'd ever be able to solve, so my boss was able to get me out of the unit. he transferred me out, and a couple of weeks later, i found out i had breast cancer. my intuition that the job was killing me. i ended up leaving, and by then, i had 28 years or the years in, i think. the writing thing really became intense when i was going through treatment for cancer because i felt like there were so many parts that my kids didn't know. they didn't know my story, they

didn't know why i had a relationship with my mother, why we had no family to speak of. it just poured out of me. i gave it to a friend who is an editor, and she said i think this would be publishable and i think people would be interested in this. i am so lucky to live here. i am so grateful to my parents who decided to move to the city. i am so grateful they did. that it neverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr