Skip to main content

tv   Mayors Press Availability  SFGTV  September 17, 2021 5:00pm-6:01pm PDT

5:00 pm
>> thank you. thank you, brothers and sisters of the san francisco building construction trades council for leading the celebration by providing these incredible instructions, demonstrations with our citybuild students cycle 35, so thank you, trade students, for being here. [applause] >> again, we recognized earlier this morning, the unions that were here, right, because without them, citybuild would not be here. thank you, and we have district council 16, laborers local 261, plasterers, local 266. masons in the front, local 300. engineers local 3.
5:01 pm
local engineers 377, and we have our sheet metal, local 104, danny. thank you all for being here and welcome to our 15-year celebration of citybuild academy. it's truly an honor for me to be your emcee today. it's truly great to be here today after the last year with all the zoom meetings. for me, it's really been an honor to standup here, right, with my mentors, all the past citybuild directors that are here, we have chris rodriguez, chris iglesias, pat mulligan, joshua arce, and of course myself. without them mentoring me these last 15 years, i would not be
5:02 pm
here, but of course, thank you, mayor breed. [applause] >> thank you for leading our city during these tough times. you saved lives, and you're leading the way for economic recovery, and we're going to be building stronger together, and a special personal thanks to you for appointing me to this position. thank you, mayor breed. [applause] >> and we have our president of the board, shamann walton. [applause] >> now i have a story to share with you all. him and i used to run up and down these hills, knocking on doors, inviting people to citybuild. supervisor haney, thank you for being here. [applause] >> all right? and with deep, deep gratitude, please join me in welcoming the honorable mayor london breed. >> the hon. london breed: thank you, everyone, and i can't tell
5:03 pm
you how much today fills me with so much pride. this program, in celebrating 15 years, has an extraordinary history, and in fact, we're joined today by former supervisor sophie maxwell, who in 2006, with gavin newsom, started citybuild because as a former electrician, now semi retired, i guess, sophie maxwell, as supervisor, saw the need for the people of the bayview-hunters point and people in various communities to have an opportunity to be a part of building this city. and a.b.u. -- yes, because if we don't work -- [inaudible] . >> the hon. london breed: a.b.u. and other community organizations saw that they were being left out of what was happening in san francisco. and to make that connection, to make sure that people from these communities knew that it was possible for them to be a
5:04 pm
part of the trades, a part of building our city, citybuild was founded. and so i want to thank many of our folks here. we've already mentioned a number of folks that were instrumental, but really, i've got to give it up to gavin newsom and to sophie maxwell and to the building and construction trades and to a.b.u. for everything you did as partners to address this need. and you see this partnership blossoming. we went from 300 participants a year to increasing that, to now, with this new space, 600, doubling the number of citybuild participants that will come out of this program because we need you, we need you. the president and the vice president and congress just
5:05 pm
passed a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill. $1.2 trillion, building roads and bridges and airports and other infrastructure. we need to make sure that people who want to be a part of these trades have an opportunity and are ready, are ready for these projects, are ready to make that money, are ready to do the jobs that he -- that we need them to do, are ready to build our roads and our bridges in our country. we know how critical having a job is, what it means for people's lives and livelihood. union jobs are so valuable. they are the reason why my aunt and uncle was able to help me get through college. they're the reason why people are, of course, able to pay their mortgage and take care of their kids and take care of their families.
5:06 pm
that's all of any of us want, a decent living wage to be able to take care of our families and our lives, and in the process not to leave anyone behind who wants this extraordinary opportunity. so that's what citybuild is about. and as we celebrate these 15 years, everyone who has played a valuable role in helping to make this program a success, and to then take it to the next level, all the construction companies, all the folks who are donating and participating and actively engaged in the building and instruction trades that are really opening up the apprenticeship opportunities to make sure that folks are learning and able to go out there and build those high-rises in san francisco, build these roads in san francisco, and do what is best for our city, and everyone plays a role in that. and i want to just also say
5:07 pm
thank you so much to city college for partnering with us on this project, to swimmerton, and there's a couple of other companies here -- i think clark construction and others -- that have been helpful in participating and donating materials and supplies. all the building and construction trades, the carpenters, the electricians, the -- i just learned to cut glass over here with the folks over here, the plasterers. there's so much that goes into building, and everyone can play a role. and there are more women in this program now, which i think is great. women not only leading project managers, like my friend, lori, here, who are actually running these projects and putting that finesse on fine of these
5:08 pm
projects. so thank you all so much. a day is an extraordinary day, a day to be proud of, mazzola, jr., but we need to make sure that we are including citybuild in the fabric of what we need to do to move our city forward. and finally, i've got to say, i usually don't make commitments on the spot, but one of the things that's important to me, when we're asking people to participate in these programs, where do we think they're going to get money from? there's a small, very modest stipend, but they're here from -- someone told me 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., but they're learning and working. one of the things that we're learning that is so valuable is
5:09 pm
money is not a barrier to their success. that they don't drop out this program because they have to take another job that conflicts with the time for them to participate. and in having conversations with joshua arce, and in having a conversation with sheryl davis today, we are going to increase the stipend, to increase the stipend. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: because it is so important that money is not a barrier to success. i want everyone that finishes this program to complete it and to get employed. we started off with about 82% of those who completed citybuild who actually ended up in apprenticeship programs and employed. we're at 95%. now it's time to get to 100.
5:10 pm
we've got work to do. we're going to get it down, and so we're really going to see this program go to the next level so we are celebrating success with our graduates and those who are doing more to help uplift the next generation for people who will take over for you, many of you who retire in the building and construction trades. you're not going to be here forever because i know if you're like me, my knees are getting bad, so it's time to prepare the next generation for these extraordinary opportunities, so thank you all so much for being here to celebrate citybuild. [applause] >> mayor, thank you for those inspiring remarks and providing the support for our citybuild academy students. now, the next thing that i'm going to bring up is almost a
5:11 pm
story, and that story is based on the four pillars, the foundation of what makes citybuild a success, and this is partnership. so the first pillar is our community, right? the history of citybuild is rooted in the community. before citybuild was even created, a lot of the city organizations were running apprenticeship programs with the help of the building and trades council. i want to give them recognition. we have a. philip randolph institute, young community developers, charity social services, anders and anders, our bright line defense, a.b.u., and expanded partnership with j.b.r., and 5gs has been helping us this year to build units for survivors of domestic violence.
5:12 pm
graduates of the past class helped us come and rebuild that. so from this community, right, and of course, our commitment from commissioner maxwell and former supervisor maxwell, citybuild was created, right? so now, with leaders like don marcos -- where is he? don, right? 50 years at mission [inaudible] hall, and who's going to be coming after me from the roots of great community is one of your leaders that fights every single day, fight for equity, not just bayview residents but all san francisco residents. president of the board of supervisors shamann walton. [applause] >> president walton: happy birthday, citybuild. the mayor and director nim
5:13 pm
really said a whole bunch of points that i was going to make, but one of the points that is important to remember is all the things that make citybuild possible. if it wasn't for the c.b.o.s fighting in the community, if it wasn't for members of our neighborhood that fought consistently to make sure that folks who were isolated, disenfranchised, had an opportunity to be trained to gain resources that would enable them to take care of a family, we would not have this program called citybuild. so i want to thank all of those partners. ken nim named most of them. i want to thank all of our partners who have been on the frontlines for a bunch of years. whether we talk about ramon hernandez from local 261, whether we talk about a lot of
5:14 pm
the folks that i see in this audience that are doing this work, this is why we're able to celebrate 15 years of partnership. but i want everybody to know and understand that citybuild is a citywide program, and we love and are excited with that. citybuild has its rooted here in district 10. i want to thank former supervisor maxwell who's now the president of the san francisco public utilities commission for her work and her vision in making this happen. 15 years of not just giving people a fish, but teaching them how to fish so they will not able to have a career, be able to have a long lasting opportunity to raise families in this beautiful city is important. it's a legacy that continues, so i just want to thank everyone that supported this work for a long time. the people in the community who have been trained, who have these jobs, who now come up to
5:15 pm
us on the daily and say thank you for the partnerships and collaboration, who are now training folks and teaching folks on how to become a member of the trades and participating in community activism, this is what this is about, and this is what citybuild was built for. i want to thank director arce who played a pivotal role even prior to coming over to the director of the office of workforce development. i want to say that this is a day that we can all celebrate for mr. james richards. i want to thank him for all of his work for making sure that young people are connected to opportunities in our community. so for the next 15-plus years, we need to make sure we continue growing this program, make sure that everyone has an opportunity to get connected to these amazing union jobs because we have so much work in this community, and the people
5:16 pm
born and bred in this community need to be able to take advantage of these projects. thank you for being here, and thank you, citybuild, for 15 years. [applause] >> thank you, president walton. also rooted in that community our director of human services, sheryl davis. [applause] >> also, without the support from our construction business community, they would not be getting the jobs, so i want to give out a special thanks to both plant navy brothers, cayhill, we have silverado. ecobay. we have patrick ryan right there. hilti tools, who donated a lot
5:17 pm
of the tools that you see in the back, and a special thanks to panko for providing breakfast, and webcor that's going to be providing lunch at the end. so without their support, our students wouldn't be getting the job, so thank you. in these challenging times, we need someone who understands the business community and match it with the needs of our residents to build back stronger. our office of economic and workforce development director, kate sullivan. >> good morning, and thank you. the sun does shine in d-10. thank you to all the previous folks who built this before me. i'm hardly four months into
5:18 pm
this job, so i can't take credit, but what i can tell you is this program will also continue to be this shining beacon that it has become here in our city. when i think about economic recovery, which is part of my charter in this role that i'm in, i think a lot now about how we build back not just better, not just stronger, but more diverse, more interesting, more equitable on every level, and this program has become a model in a city and frankly for cities across the country for how to do it differently, how to create a partnership that is city government, that is our community, that is our unions, and to create an ecosystem that provides a platform for everybody to get on the economic recovery bus. whether you are a kid growing up in the fillmore, whether you
5:19 pm
are prison involved and looking for your next chance to build your life back, whether you are a woman, a rosy the riveter who wants to weld -- and i know plenty of them -- and anyone who wants the right and dignity to support their families with their head and their hands and their hearts, this is for them. before i came to this job that i so love, and thank you to my mayor for the privilege of doing this, i came out of manufacturing. i came out of s.f. made and started my career 20 years ago in electronics manufacturing. i know how to world, and i always thought that making and building are kindred spirits, and when we built the first city's advanced manufacturing training program, s.f. trade,
5:20 pm
we modelled that after citybuild. it's here, your little sister, and hopefully, 15 years from now, that program will be able to standup here and show you all the people that we've put in manufacturing. so at the end of the day, it really is all about partnership. i want to thank all the people that came here to make this happen. i especially want to thank all of you who have been working out in the field during this pandemic, building our houses, repairing our bridges, working with our major institutions to build schools and create the community that we all have the privilege to live and work in. thank you for being essential workers. thank you for making sure we didn't ever fall behind on our housing production, and i look forward to being here for the next 15 years. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, director.
5:21 pm
so we listed two pillars, right? we have community, we have the business, and the next we're going to be talking about is our labor foundation. giving a special recognition to bowman, scott, for donating the concrete. 15 years, it's rooted in that tradition of labor, hands on, really getting the people the skills that they need prepare them, right? as was the carpenters that help started the first academy, right? bringing in the instructors. we have bo, we have sergio that are standing in the back somewhere, right? they provide the curriculum to really get us started, right? we also have the laborers, the laborers training center, as you saw, providing the safety, making sure the people on the construction job site that are actually getting the work done, that they have percentage
5:22 pm
safety. now with us today is our president of the san francisco building and trade council and the secretary business manager for local 38 plumbers, larry mazzola, jr. [applause] >> thank you, ken. the tough part being going toward the end of the agenda is that everybody takes what you were going to say and uses it. so i might repeat some things, but i think some of the things that i'm going to repeat are worth repeating. so good morning. i'm honored to be here on behalf of the san francisco building and trades construction council in our beautiful city. while i typically thank our esteemed leaders and guests, i want to thank the students, alumni, and staff of citybuild.
5:23 pm
let's please give them a hand. [applause] >> you're going to hear from ray guzman of local 104, and he is a living testament to the success of the partnership between the academy and the union apprenticeships. it's no surprise to us that he is so successful. it is by design, and with every job that he is dispatched to, opportunity is available to the next generation. in fact, for every three journey men working, one apprentice will see work. we bring in many citybuild grads to have as many opportunities as possible, one of the best being stacey provist. we appreciate mayor breed's and president walton's support for the president biden and vice
5:24 pm
president harris' infrastructure funding because it will get us more work and bring more members to our unions. we appreciate the contractors that make project labor agreements work for our communities. the trades stand for quality craftsmanship and pride, and we pride ourselves delivering the very best workforce to our industry. that allows us to demand the very best wages, retirement, and health care security to our members. we are stewards and guardians of our city's working class. as such, we know that putting skilled workers on projects that build our city means we can keep the pipeline of good jobs flowing. that pipeline starts with partnerships like citybuild. the commitment and adherence to the multicore curriculum is key to the success and partnerships
5:25 pm
we celebrate today. this training academy prepares you for a lifelong journey of honing and demonstrating the finest work in your trait under some of the most challenging and often dangerous conditions. the path you embark on with your citybuild cohort is one filled with promise and opportunity. apply yourself, and you will learn from the very best in the field. be they an electrician, a welder, or a plumber, they will teach you all they have so that you can pass it on one day to the next generation. i want to thank everyone here today, and i also want to recognize the president of the san francisco labor council who's here today, mike casey. mike? [applause] >> lastly, i sit on the p.u.c. joint administrative committee,
5:26 pm
and we are proud that ben poole is here, and we are proud to report that under the project labor agreement, we have the highest number of local residents on city project. so i want to congratulate the p.u.c., and i want to congratulate citybuild, and i look forward to another 15 years of success. thank you all. [applause] >> thank you, everyone. we have our last speaker, a student graduate from cycle one, but before i call him out, we want to have a quick shoutout to citybuild president, and a couple of our funders. i saw bob liddy come in. there you are, bob. with us today, our first graduate from cycle one, reynado guzman. [applause] >> i'm not very good at this,
5:27 pm
so i wrote something, too. [applause] >> okay. good morning. my name is ronaldo guzman, and i'm a graduate of the very first citybuild academy class. i am a journeyman sheet metal worker and proud member of the sheet workers union local 104. [applause] i am a native san franciscan, and i graduated high school in 2002. i'm currently working for control air north at the ucsfrab project at san francisco general hospital. thank you, bull construction. ken, raise your hand, for bringing me here today to celebrate this milestone. while it's been 15 years, an incredible journey, when i
5:28 pm
started at the county way back. when mayor newsom welcomed us to our first-class 20 years ago, i could not imagine what the sheet metal class could provide for me and my family. i'm talking about sheet metal, heating, air conditioning, and ventilating industry. i earn good middle class wages, along with insurance and pension so i can retire someday. it's because of citybuild that gave me the opportunity to start my career as a sheet metal apprentice and work my way up. i have pride knowing i helped build some of the biggest construction projects in the last 15 years, such as the
5:29 pm
golden state warriors chase arena, 181 fremont street, and san francisco general hospital. so to all of my citybuild classmates, you will be rewarded, and whichever construction trade you choose will be the most gratifying work you will do. thank you guys. [applause] >> all right. thank you, rey. one last shoutout to the san francisco giants. thank you for being here and hosting, and we're about to wrap up. >> hey, wait up, ken. something came in this morning, ken. >> this just came in from the governor, the founder of citybuild, our mayor at the time who created citybuild.
5:30 pm
in 2006, when i joined together with supervisor sophie maxwell to form this program, it was with the vision that a community labor partnership to refer and train san francisco residents for public and private construction projects would be a boon for economic development. good paying jobs and social yo economic mobility. 15 years later, that initial vision has far exceeded our expectations. thank you, governor. [applause] >> so we're about to wrap up and lunch is about to be ready. just want to give a special thanks to our citybuild staff, chris, bettina, richard, anita, and the person that made this all happen, our citybuild academy manager, chase torres. and our citybuild instructors: bo, sergio, guillermo, and faculty members stephanie and
5:31 pm
kristin. thank you all for being here. lunch is provided in the back. thank you all. enjoy.
5:32 pm
>> this is a huge catalyst for change. >> it will be over 530,000 gross square feet plus two levels of basement. >> now the departments are across so many locations it is hard for them to work together and collaborate and hard for the customers to figure out the different locations and hours of operation. >> one of the main drivers is a one stopper mitt center for -- permit center. >> special events. we are a one stop shop for those three things. >> this has many different uses throughout if years. >> in 1940s it was coca-cola and the flagship as part of the
5:33 pm
construction project we are retaining the clock tower. the permit center is little working closely with the digital services team on how can we modernize and move away from the paper we use right now to move to a more digital world. >> the digital services team was created in 2017. it is 2.5 years. our job is to make it possible to get things done with the city online. >> one of the reasons permitting is so difficult in this city and county is really about the scale. we have 58 different department in the city and 18 of them involve permitting. >> we are expecting the residents to understand how the departments are structured to navigate through the permitting processes. it is difficult and we have heard that from many people we interviewed. our goal is you don't have to know the department. you are dealing with the city.
5:34 pm
>> now if you are trying to get construction or special events permit you might go to 13 locations to get the permit. here we are taking 13 locations into one floor of one location which is a huge improvement for the customer and staff trying to work together to make it easy to comply with the rules. >> there are more than 300 permitting processes in the city. there is a huge to do list that we are possessing digital. the first project is allowing people to apply online for the a.d.u. it is an accessory dwelling unit, away for people to add extra living space to their home, to convert a garage or add something to the back of the house. it is a very complicated permit. you have to speak to different departments to get it approved. we are trying to consolidate to one easy to due process.
5:35 pm
some of the next ones are windows and roofing. those are high volume permits. they are simple to issue. another one is restaurant permitting. while the overall volume is lower it is long and complicated business process. people struggle to open restaurants because the permitting process is hard to navigate. >> the city is going to roll out a digital curing system one that is being tested. >> when people arrive they canshay what they are here to. it helps them workout which cue they neat to be in. if they rant to run anker rapid she can do that. we say you are next in line make sure you are back ready for your appointment. >> we want it all-in-one location across the many departments involved. it is clear where customers go to play. >> on june 5, 2019 the ceremony
5:36 pm
was held to celebrate the placement of the last beam on top of the structures. six months later construction is complete. >> we will be moving next summer. >> the flu building -- the new building will be building. it was designed with light in mind. employees will appreciate these amenities. >> solar panels on the roof, electric vehicle chargers in the basement levels, benefiting from gray watery use and secured bicycle parking for 300 bicycles. when you are on the higher floors of the building you might catch the tip of the golden gate bridge on a clear day and good view of soma. >> it is so exciting for the team. it is a fiscal manifestation what we are trying to do. it is allowing the different
5:37 pm
departments to come together to issue permits to the residents. we hope people can digitally come to one website for permits. we are trying to make it digital so when they come into the center they have a high-quality interaction with experts to guide then rather than filling in forms. they will have good conversations with our staff. >> shop and dine in the 49ff. promotes local businesses, and challenges residents to do their
5:38 pm
shopping within the 49 square miles of san francisco. by supporting local services in our neighborhood, we help san francisco remain unique, successful, and vibrant. so where will you shop and dine in the 49? >> i am the owner of this restaurant. we have been here in north beach over 100 years. [speaking foreign language] [♪♪♪] [speaking foreign language]
5:39 pm
[♪♪♪] [speaking foreign language] [speaking foreign language] [♪♪♪]
5:40 pm
[♪♪♪]
5:41 pm
[♪♪♪]
5:42 pm
>> 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.
5:43 pm
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.
5:44 pm
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.
5:45 pm
[♪♪♪] [♪♪♪] >> so i grew up in cambridge, massachusetts and i was very fortunate to meet my future wife, now my wife while we were both attending graduate school at m.i.t., studying urban planning. so this is her hometown. so, we fell in love and moved to her city. [♪♪♪] [♪♪♪] >> i was introduced to this part of town while working on a campaign for gavin, who is running for mayor. i was one of the organizers out here and i met the people and i fell in love with them in the neighborhood. so it also was a place in the city that at the time that i could afford to buy a home and i wanted to own my own home. this is where we laid down our
5:46 pm
roots like many people in this neighborhood and we started our family and this is where we are going to be. i mean we are the part of san francisco. it's the two neighborhoods with the most children under the age of 18. everybody likes to talk about how san francisco is not family-friendly, there are not a lot of children and families. we have predominately single family homes. as i said, people move here to buy their first home, maybe with multiple family members or multiple families in the same home and they laid down their roots. [♪♪♪] >> it's different because again, we have little small storefronts. we don't have light industrial space or space where you can build high-rises or large office
5:47 pm
buildings. so the tech boom will never hit our neighborhood in that way when it comes to jobs. >> turkey, cheddar, avocado, lettuce and mayo, and little bit of mustard. that's my usual. >> mike is the owner, born and bred in the neighborhood. he worked in the drugstore forever. he saved his money and opened up his own spot. we're always going to support home grown businesses and he spent generations living in this part of town, focusing on the family, and the vibe is great and people feel at home. it's like a little community gathering spot. >> this is the part of the city with a small town feel.
5:48 pm
a lot of mom and pop businesses, a lot of family run businesses. there is a conversation on whether starbucks would come in. i think there are some people that would embrace that. i think there are others that would prefer that not to be. i think we moved beyond that conversation. i think where we are now, we really want to enhance and embrace and encourage the businesses and small businesses that we have here. in fact, it's more of a mom and pop style business. i think at the end of the day, what we're really trying to do is encourage and embrace the diversity and enhance that diversity of businesses we already have. we're the only supervisor in the city that has a permanent district office. a lot of folks use cafes or use offices or different places, but i want out and was able to raise
5:49 pm
money and open up a spot that we could pay for. i'm very fortunate to have that. >> hi, good to see you. just wanted to say hi, hi to the owner, see how he's doing. everything okay? >> yeah. >> good. >> we spend the entire day in the district so we can talk to constituents and talk to small businesses. we put money in the budget so you guys could be out here. this is like a commercial corridor, so they focus on cleaning the streets and it made a significant impact as you can see. what an improvement it has made to have you guys out here. >> for sure. >> we have a significantly diverse neighborhood and population. so i think that's the richness
5:50 pm
of the mission and it always has been. it's what made me fall in love with this neighborhood and why i love it so much. >> how i really started my advocacy was through my own personal experiences with discrimination as a trans person. and when i came out as trans, you know, i experienced discrimination in the workplace. they refused to let me use the women's bathroom and fired me. there were so many barriers that other trans folks had in the workplace. and so when i finished college, i moved out to san francisco in the hopes of finding a safer
5:51 pm
community. >> and also, i want to recognize our amazing trans advisory committee who advises our office as well as the mayor, so our transadvisory community members, if they could raise their hands and you could give a little love to them. [applause] >> thank you so much for your help. my leadership here at the office is engaging the mayor and leadership with our lgbt community. we also get to support, like, local policy and make sure that that is implemented, from all-gender bathrooms to making sure that there's lgbt data
5:52 pm
collection across the city. get to do a lot of great events in trans awareness month. >> transgender people really need representation in politics of all kinds, and i'm so grateful for clair farley because she represents us so intelligently. >> i would like to take a moment of silence to honor all those folks that nicky mentioned that we've lost this year. >> i came out when i was 18 as trans and grew up as gay in missoula, montana. so as you can imagine, it wasn't the safest environment for lgbt folks. i had a pretty supportive family. i have an identical twin, and so we really were able to support each other.
5:53 pm
once i moved away from home and started college, i was really able to recognize my own value and what i had to offer, and i think that for me was one of the biggest challenges is kind of facing so many barriers, even with all the privilege and access that i had. it was how can i make sure that i transform those challenges into really helping other people. we're celebrating transgender awareness month, and within that, we recognize transgender day of remembrance, which is a memorial of those that we have lost due to transgender violence, which within the last year, 2019, we've lost 22 transgender folks. think all but one are transgender women of color who have been murdered across the country. i think it's important because we get to lift up their stories, and bring attention to
5:54 pm
the attacks and violence that are still taking place. we push back against washington. that kind of impact is starting to impact trans black folks, so it's important for our office to advocate and recognize, and come together and really remember our strength and resilience. as the only acting director of a city department in the country, i feel like there's a lot of pressure, but working through my own challenges and barriers and even my own self-doubt, i think i've been try to remember that the action is about helping our community, whether that's making sure the community is housed, making sure they have access to health
5:55 pm
care, and using kind of my access and privilege to make change. >> i would like to say something about clair farley. she has really inspired me. i was a nurse and became disabled. before i transitioned and after i transitioned, i didn't know what i wanted to do. i'm back at college, and clair farley has really impressed on me to have a voice and to have agency, you have to have an education. >> mayor breed has led this effort. she made a $2.3 million investment into trans homes, and she spear headed this effort in partnership with my office and tony, and we're so proud to have a mayor who continues to commit and really make sure that everyone in this city can thrive. >> our community has the most resources, and i'm very happy to be here and to have a place finally to call home.
5:56 pm
thank you. [applause] >> one, two, three. [applause] >> even in those moments when i do feel kind of alone or unseen or doubt myself, i take a look at the community and the power of the supportive allies that are at the table that really help me to push past that. being yourself, it's the word of wisdom i would give anyone. surely be patient with yourself and your dream. knowing that love, you may not always feel that from your family around you, but you can
5:57 pm
5:58 pm
5:59 pm
6:00 pm
>> board members are -- [inaudible] to make public comments. the phone number is 415-655-0001. the access code is 24