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tv   Mayors Press Availability  SFGTV  September 22, 2021 2:00am-2:41am PDT

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>> 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.
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engineers local 3. 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
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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
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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
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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
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president and congress just 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
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their families. 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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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i'm hardly four months into 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
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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,
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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]
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>> thank you, director. 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
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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.
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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
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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
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to the success and partnerships 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,
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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.
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[applause] >> i'm not very good at this, 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
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incredible journey, when i 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
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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.
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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
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faculty members stephanie and kristin. thank you all for being here. lunch is provided in the back. thank you all. enjoy. >> after my fire in my apartment and losing everything, the red cross gave us a list of agencies in the city to reach out to and i signed up for the below-market rate program. i got my certificate and started applying and won the housing lottery. [♪♪♪]
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>> the current lottery program began in 2016. but there have been lot rows that have happened for affordable housing in the city for much longer than that. it was -- there was no standard practice. for non-profit organizations that were providing affordable housing with low in the city, they all did their lotteries on their own. private developers that include in their buildings affordable units, those are the city we've been monitoring for some time since 1992. we did it with something like this. where people were given circus tickets. we game into 291st century in 2016 and started doing electronic lotteries. at the same time, we started electronic applications systems. called dalia. the lottery is completely free.
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you can apply two ways. you can submit a paper application, which you can download from the listing itself. if you apply online, it will take five minutes. you can make it easier creating an account. to get to dalia, you log on to housing.sfgov.org. >> i have lived in san francisco for almost 42 years. i was born here in the hayes valley. >> i applied for the san francisco affordable housing lottery three times. >> since 2016, we've had about 265 electronic lotteries and almost 2,000 people have got their home through the lottery system. if you go into the listing, you can actually just press lottery results and you put in your
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lottery number and it will tell you exactly how you ranked. >> for some people, signing up for it was going to be a challenge. there is a digital divide here and especially when you are trying to help low and very low income people. so we began providing digital assistance for folks to go in and get help. >> along with the income and the residency requirements, we also required someone who is trying to buy the home to be a first time home buyer and there's also an educational component that consists of an orientation that they need to attend, a first-time home buyer workshop and a one-on-one counseling session with the housing councilor. >> sometimes we have to go through 10 applicants before
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they shouldn't be discouraged if they have a low lottery number. they still might get a value for an available, affordable housing unit. >> we have a variety of lottery programs. the four that you will most often see are what we call c.o.p., the certificate of preference program, the dthp which is the displaced penance housing preference program. the neighborhood resident housing program and the live worth preference. >> i moved in my new home february 25th and 2019. the neighborhood preference program really helped me achieve that goal and that dream was with eventually wind up staying in san francisco. >> the next steps, after finding out how well you did in the lottery and especially if you ranked really well you will be contacted by the leasing agent. you have to submit those document and income and asset
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qualify and you have to pass the credit and rental screening and the background and when you qualify for the unit, you can chose the unit and hopefully sign that lease. all city sponsored affordable housing comes through the system and has an electronic lottery. every week there's a listing on dalia. something that people can apply for. >> it's a bit hard to predict how long it will take for someone to be able to move into a unit. let's say the lottery has happened. several factors go into that and mainly how many units are in the project, right. and how well you ranked and what preference bucket you were in. >> this particular building was brand new and really this is the one that i wanted out of everything i applied for. in my mind, i was like how am i going to win this? i did and when you get that
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notice that you won, it's like at first, it's surreal and you don't believe it and it sinks in, yeah, it happened. >> some of our buildings are pretty spectacular. they have key less entry now. they have a court yard where they play movies during the weekends, they have another master kitchen and space where people can throw parties. >> mayor breed has a plan for over 10,000 new units between now and 2025. we will start construction on about 2,000 new units just in 2020. >> we also have a very big portfolio like over 25,000 units across the city. and life happens to people. people move. so we have a very large number of rerentals and resales of
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units every year. >> best thing about working for the affordable housing program is that we know that we're making a difference and we actually see that difference on a day-to-day basis. >> being back in the neighborhood i grew up in, it's a wonderful experience. >> it's a long process to get through. well worth it when you get to the other side. i could not be happier. [♪♪♪]
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>> september 14th, 2021. court commission president calls the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. item one is roll call. (roll call)