and actually see santana perform. those kinds of iconic artists performed or got their start in places like this. and when i think about the fact that that pandemic, we have had to all sacrifice and we've had to sacrifice because we've not been able to not only be around 1 another, but we weren't able to enjoy live music. from performing artists, those who dj, those who entertain, play musical instruments, those who sing, it was very hard. can you imagine it being hard on us not being able to see it, but being hard on the artists who weren't getting paid. hard on the venues who weren't making money and had to lay off staff. it was a tough almost two years we've experienced this pandemic and although we're in a much better place, we still know that many of these venues continue to have challenges.

so in san francisco, what we've been able to do which i'm very proud of is our entertainment fund which i work with supervisor haney to establish, we actually invested over $3 million to help night life businesses and i want to thank a lot of folks here from the entertainment industry to make sure we carve out resources specifically for night life entertainment businesses in san francisco. our jams permits, providing opportunities for restaurants in places that normally don't have live entertainment to have live entertainment for their customers especially with all the new park lites and open space and the outdoor dining. san franciscans know how to adapt. it was challenging, but we adapted, we opened up a lot of great open spaces and provided opportunities for artists. in addition to that waiving over $15 million in fees for light bottom of the hill and

other places. and we know there are a lot of state and federal programs and our office of economic workforce development. they have been working hard to make sure everyone who qualifies for any of those resources helping them through the application process to make sure no money is left on the table. because what we don't want is to see more businesses close in san francisco. before this pandemic, it was already challenging and since this pandemic we know it has been extremely brutal. and that's why having resources and programs and things like what we're announcing today are so important. and everyone is probably wondering, why is the city attorney at a press conference? well, the city attorney just became our city attorney and normally, you probably won't see it at a press conference. but former city attorney david

chiu and many of those things were finally starting to feel in some cases the fruits of his labor. a $2.5 million investment from the state thanks to our city attorney former assembly member david chiu that will invest in entertainment venues and parks and plazas and open spaces all over san francisco to support not just paying our artists, our local artists to perform, but also the production costs and all of the things that go into setting up these venues to entertain you cost a lot of money. and we want to make sure we're supporting this industry and keeping night life and entertainment alive in san francisco. that we're all when you think about it, the city starts to re-open and all of a sudden,

you hear music, there's something about that that makes you smile. all of a sudden, you see someone dancing in the streets. but, it's something about seeing people out in the public performing and entertaining the public. the shakespeares in the parks and all the things that we know make san francisco such a great place not just for the people who live here but also who visit here. i remember one of my first concerts as a kid, it was at the fill more and ice cube was performing. i'll be honest, i snuck in. i didn't have money to buy a ticket and i was probably under age at the time because i was still in junior high. but the fact is, it was like nothing i've ever seen before. but having someone live on stage going to a concert and having a good time and listening to music and feeling good and everyone feeling good

and everyone singing the words, there's just nothing like that feeling. it brings people together. it is apart of the fabric of what makes san francisco such a wonderful city it's about our health and well being because entertainment, music, fun, night life is the heart beat of why san francisco is so special. i'm grateful to be here today and at this time, i'd like to introduce city attorney david chiu who is really the champion of this program and the reason why we're here today. >> thank you so much, madam mayor. thank you for your leadership. do we have any fans of live music here. thank you, madam mayor and reminding me while i am the city attorney, i'm here really as a former assembly member who

has been a bit obsessed by live music. i've been asked by a couple folks this morning how i got involved in all this. it started for me when i was in junior high school. and i wrote my first paper on the festival known as wood stock. i am a musician in a past life and the violin is actually what got me through high school and college. it's what allowed me to make some pocket money in orchestras and weddings. and some of you may know that i carry that on here in san francisco. if you google apparently david chiu and electric violin, i might have been known but let's fast forward. when i first moved to san francisco, i fell in love with the live music scene in our

city. and it's not just about the music and the arts and the culture. but it's about what this scene means for our city when it comes to our economic vitality. when it comes to attracting tourists and the rest of the world that wants to come here and have a good time and enjoy the scene that we have. and the men and women behind me have been responsible for that scene represent literally thousands of folks would are part of what makes san francisco great. and we're here in part because the last couple of years, the pandemic and the recession have been catastrophic to this world, to this community. and so a few years ago when a number of folks, when kc from the san francisco venue coalition, when some of our small business commissioners, i know when ben blyman and sharky laguana and others came. and representing the

independent venue association. they came to us and said what more can the state do to assist this. that was when mayor came and said can you help us and figure out how to get some state support for this struggling industry that needs to continue and that is where this idea for sf live was born. what we're talking about is being able to support outdoor performances in and around these incredible live music venues to really remind folks of the magic of music and to ensure that we are keeping folks employed and bringing people back to these incredible establishments like the one that we're in front of right now which rolling stone said is one of the very best live music venues in the united states. i'm just so delighted to have an opportunity to work with everyone here. i'm looking forward to coming to all these performances. i'll tell you this, my five-year-old son took his first tap dancing class on

saturday. when he moves. as the mayor said, he won't be caught dancing on the streets. he likely will be found dancing in front of these venues when we get these performances going and because of that, i'm just so grateful to all the work by everyone here to make this happen. with that, i want to invite up someone who's going to make sure that it all happens. the woman who is now the new head of oewd building on the good work of our former ahead joaquin torres. take it away. >> well, it seems we all have a personal story about music and the arts, so i'll share mine. i'm the daughter of two professional musicians. from day one until the day they passed four years ago. in classical music. and, for me, that's really informed so much of what i have done in my life and my professional life because i

remember how much they struggled and as i carried that forward in my life and my previous incarnation which is about makers and artisans and helping them grow and sustain themselves here in the city to now in my role here at oewd a lot of what drives me is wanting to make sure that musicians and artists and performers and really the cultural trusts of our city have a way to make it for themselves, for their families and to earn a decent respectable life-sustaining living. so, from that, and you look at what is the infrastructure you need to make that happen? so there are the musicians themselves are artists. there are these cherished venues. when i came here to san francisco 30 plus years ago, i actually was amazed at the new wave and the punk scene and

that was what i was personally into and so some of the clubs i started at were more about electronica and this whole mash-up of what has flourished into live music and house and hip hop. we have it all here. but it needs tending like a flower so when i look at something like this investment, thank you as some former assembly member chiu and my team ben laurel for helping really bring this to culmination these wonderful precious jewels will grow here in the city. at the highest level of economic recovery. this is also i believe the way that we get our city back.

we get to reimagine and reinfuse san francisco with what makes us special, what makes us only here in san francisco and i fully believe that our arts and music and cultural assets need to lead the economic recovery front and center. they are the reason people move here. they are the reason people are starting to return back to their offices in downtown and they are certainly the reason why our visitors international and domestic are going to continue to come back here to san francisco. so with that, enough of us government folks. let's hear from somebody who actually knows how to do this, please. [ applause ] >> wow. we feel really supported. oh, my gosh, i need notes. i'm not good at this. for our venue, bottom of the hill, we were closed for 17

silent months. it seems pretty excruciating and that was the first time that we ever considered the possibility that we might not open again. we prided ourselves on being scrappy and resourceful and survivors, but i think everyone here and across the country and the world realized for the first time that live music venues are fragile and need to be supported. that created change though which is good. we were pushed to forge friendships and alliances and the san francisco venue coalition which were and still are working hard for positive change and adaptation. and adaptation is definitely needed because there's a lot of continuing hardships in this field. we have a lot of band camp cancellations. people are not showing up because they're so afraid.

supply chain issues, rising costs. somehow it's a rebirth and it's been completely joyful and we've had seven sell-outs in the past two weeks. so that's fantastic. and other days, it kind of seems like we're never going to be out of the grip of covid and its continuing challenges. so this initiative is incredibly exciting for me and many venues. it allows a venue like ours that's very intimate to go to larger arenas and reach the people that don't feel safe going inside to a live show and without all the red tape and the prohibitive price tags that putting on a live music outside once entailed and it allows us to bring our individual venue styles to different spaces

across the city to show visitors and locals what we're all about. i think most importantly, in marks a historic time where our leaders are taking music seriously and making a choice to invest in it. there's no reason why cities like norlz, nashville, and austin get to be a music city. music drives tourism and music runs through our veins in san francisco. it's the best city in the world. we need to show it off and now we can. but i want to thank a few people. everyone here, i want to thank -- he didn't want to be thanked, but ben van houghton. this guy actually listens to

people in venues and since well before covid and makes change happen. he didn't want to be thanked, but i had to. and city attorney david chiu and mayor london breed, you all are amazing. thank you for stepping up to the plate for us. and we really look forward to partnering with you on this, for innovative initiative. it's the right move. it's very san francisco and we hope not only to survive but to thrive in the near future. that's it. now i have the distinct pleasure of introducing casey who has worked hard for the music industry and he's fabulous and he works for the san francisco alliance as well as many other hats.

take it away. [ applause ] >> thank you city attorney chiu and mayor breed for your support and engagement throughout the pandemic. i'm the assistant general manager at bill graham civic auditorium as well as the co-founder of the san francisco coalition. and during the pandemic provided an opportunity for over 40 independent venues in san francisco to share ideas, commiserate together and most importantly to engage our elected officials. we are thrilled to see this effort and look forward to developing these plans along with the office of economic work force and development. live music in san francisco is

synonymous. thank you >> thank you casey and thank you to everyone that's joining here today and i just want to take an opportunity to recognize our entertainment commissioners. ben blyman and starkey are all here. can you guys do a little wave. these are true night life and entertainment advocates in san francisco and just to be clear. i'm not just doing this because i like to party. i also think that it is needed at a time like this. nothing has made me more happy than to be out and about watching live performances, plays, and sees events. some of you also know that i

used to run a nonprofit organization and just to see kids from not even looking you in the eye. like who is that kid, like who is that person. the arts and entertainment in san francisco, it does so much and i remember when i served as a member of the board of supervisors and there were a number of new housing developments going up and there was some threats of places like even bottom of the hill being closed because of complaints from neighbors who had just moved here in some of the new developments. and so i remember some of the legislation to say you basically have to sign and know that a night life exists within a certain range because i just think that it's sad and unfortunate and unfair for a place like this that's been around for 30 years to be able

to be sued or to be closed or to be, you know, taken away from our city in that way and so i think i want people to know in general, you know, san francisco's a major city. it's a great city. there's a lot of noise everywhere and what we are going to continue to do is make sure that we protect our venues like bottom of the hill. they've been around for 30 years. it's a great venue. there's just something about being in an intimate space and listening to live music and also walking into a place where people know who you are. where you feel like you're connected to the bartenders and the staff. it just makes you feel good and so part of what i wanted to do today to recognize bottom of the hill for their resiliency, for staying here, for working with us, for providing the input in the changes to policies and resources that we needed to provide as a city, i

wanted to take this opportunity and recognize you and bottom of the hill on your 30th anniversary and come on up. and just present you with a certificate of honor because we know that bottom of the hill is now eligible to be a legacy business. so we need to be well on our way to protecting this institution in san francisco because we want to see the next santanas and other incredible musicians continue to come out of here. this is a real jewel. you're a real jewel for doing all the hard work to make it happen and continuing this great work. i know you started working in the kitchen at this location and now you're in charge of it and running the show. it's pretty remarkable and it is truly what makes san francisco a wonderful place. congratulations on 30 years. >> thank you. [ applause ] >> and, i noticed your lovely

vintage attire as well. you can tell she's very artsy. i love that about san francisco. with that, without further adieu before i open it up to questions, valley brown is joining us as well as our assessor recorder and i've mentioned the other commissioners and others. so, you know, this is really a team effort. it's something that we all care about and something we're going to continue to push and as you know, grants for the arts presents a lot of funding for the festivals and the parades and the other activities that we do. and so we're going to beef it up because we want our streets to be fun and live with entertainment. so thank you all so much for joining us. and then i'll just hope it up for a few quick questions. >> in addition to the $2.5 million in state money, are there any rule changes coming with this initiative to make it easier to do these live

performances? and if i could ask a second question. talk about that old mcdonald site. i'm wondering if you can give an explanation about your administration would not move forward. what was the first one? >> those are two questions. >> anything to make it change. >> so i think what we tried to do specifically the jams permit during the closure was to make it easier for not just night life venues to have entertainment, but also for some of our restaurants and other places that traditionally don't have that. we are definitely looking at ways to make it easier to get permits and to have these things occur in san francisco. i think we did that during the pandemic and i'm hoping that it will continue and, clearly, ben is doing his job. so, ben, you get to stay at oewd because, you know, that's an indication that he is doing his job. the office of economic and work

force development. we are of the business of getting to yes to support our businesses in san francisco, to make sure they have the resources and support they need to cut the bureaucracy. so whatever we can do policy wise or resource wise, we're going to do it. before i move on to your next question, i need to answer any other questions related to this. >> i'm just confused as to how this is going to work. how is it going to work? >> yeah. the way it's going to work.' there's a lot of people also who may not own brick and mortars, but promoters who are going to use a lot of our plazas, like downtown holiday plaza, u.n. plaza, various plazas and parks and open space, civic center. all over san francisco and various neighborhoods i forget what this new location is

called over here. we also need to look at geographic equity. we can't just have it in the center of the city or the downtown area, we want to have it in neighborhood activities, festivals and other events and so the plan is to work with the entertainment community. many have already expressed interest, but concern because of the cost related to it. there's definitely a market to do this and the goal is to make sure it's spread throughout the city and ultimately, we want to make sure that local artists are prioritized and paid for this program as well. >> [inaudible] >> i don't know. i just showed up here. does anybody know why we came here? why not here? >> yeah. why not here? i'm like, i don't know why did we hold it here?

>> okay. you can quote me on that. >> [inaudible] >> and, i'm sorry, are we finished with the questions related to this night life venue related stuff? okay. >> reporter: okay. so members are calling on the city to donate to the if fillmore area nonprofit for reparations. what do you think of that? >> we haven't made a decision about that. it's a lot more complicated because the property is under redevelopment disposition laws so it's not as if it's as simple l as donating without making sure there's some financial -- i don't know how to explain it exactly, but there's things that we are obligated to do as a city which

will require money and so until we have a clear understanding of what that would entail and what it would mean, we don't know if that's going to be possible. so we're going to do everything we can to work with the community which we have from the very beginning, but at this point, the state law will super cede what we're able to do here locally. >> i've not made a decision on that yet. >> going back to the same -- >> i'm sorry. i'm going to go back to him. >> i think your administration's going to be asked again the rationale for not going forward. >> i think i made my answer clear when i talked at the board of supervisors meeting. the supervisors put money in the budget to pay for a drop-in center. it went out to bid and the only organization that bid on it basically asked for a lot more money in order to do it and we were not willing to provide any additional resources to do it nor were we willing to use the amount of money just to cover

their staff expenses. so how is that going to work? part of it was money. the other challenge is, you know, just the challenges of what has existed in the hate ashbury community and needing to make sure that we have an organization or group or program that's going to help to eliminate some of the problems that have existed with this population for a very long time. clearly, what's happening there now is not working and i'm not 100% certain that adding this additional resource is going to make a difference. >> [inaudible] >> i don't know yet. because again we have an obligation under state redevelopment disposition law and that's what's made it way more complicated. we would have done something already, but there's certain obligations that we have to meet under state law. and so i'm not sure if the ability to provide it to the

community is even an option without financial support being attached to it in some capacity. so i don't know. we are working on it and it's more complicated than that and as a member myself of the black community, not everyone is in agreement. at the end of the day, you know, the work that we do with the city is going to be responsible and ultimately hopefully be of benefit to the community and we're going to try to work on that and we'll see what happens. >> would you like to see this happen? i would like to see the venue open. i would like to see the venue become a huge success. i don't want to see the venue continue to be a financial drain on the city. and so that's one of the things that we need to work towards, but ultimately, a lot of the guiden principles for how we make decisions with that venue have everything to do with state law. thank you.

>> hello. how are you. >> very well. >> your helpers are here. >> you are looking wonderful. >> my goodness. you know what is so funny? we are anxious to get started with christmas. we haven't had thanksgiving. that is okay. in san francisco, we are celebrating this holiday cheer. we are going to enjoy the season because last year during this pandemic it was so hard for us to come together. santa, are you going to deliver those toys this year? >> a lot of toys. we will brick through at the

port of oakland and get all of the toys. >> mayor breed: thank you, santa. santa is going to do what he needs to do to get toys to the kids all over the city. hi, everybody. i am mayor london breed. it is good to be here on chestnut street in the heart of the marina. i was here this weekend, and the area was buzzing. people were everywhere, shopping, dining, hanging out. it is good to see you all here today. i hope that is not covid. [laughter]. i got my mask, don't worry. anyway, it is great to be here at one of my favorite praises to shop. ei candle. i buy all of my candles here. i am glad to have the owner,

eric, with us today. if you want any kind of candle that smells like anything, including christmas, this is the place to come. i have been shopping here for a long time. there are unique businesses like ei all over san francisco. in fact, they are gifts, candles, things unique to san francisco. part of the launch of today's campaign has everything to do with reminding you how special san francisco is. how unique san francisco is. how when you shop at a place like this, you find something that you may not find at any other store anywhere. today as we kickoff shop and dine in the 49, we are asking san franciscans and those who visit our city to shop locally. shop on hate and chestnut and

union street and hayes valley and the inner sun sept where you see these incredible stores. because not only do we help to ensure trees storefronts remain open and available in these thriving neighborhoods we make sure we support our economy. with just a small increase in shopping locally, that can increase our support and revenues to the city by millions of dollars pouring into our economy to help businesses, to help employees and to help continue to make sure we are making the kinds of investments that we know will continue to support san francisco. it is great to be here with so many people to shop and dine in the 49. since i knew i was coming today i know which candles i need today. one of my friends have a baby. they have baby clothes, pet toys

and other really cute unique gifts. lastly, let me say this because i know that it has been challenging not just with the pandemic but what we have seen with a number of the things we see on the news around the burglaries and robberies and other things that happen in san francisco. i want to be clear. we are not going to let what others try to do to our city define who we are as a city. we are better than this. the reason why you see now especially during the holiday season a significant increase in police and ambassadors and other things because we are going to make sure we do everything we can to keep our city safe. the people, employees, merchants and residents alike. i want to thank the san

francisco police department for being here with us today. i saw them late hours on chestnut street on saturday night. they were working. they weren't out hanging out afternoon drinking. they were working. we are grateful for their service and grateful for everything that they have done to serve and protect the city. with that i want to take the opportunity to just again thank all of you for being here. happy thanksgiving. with that please help me welcome our executive director of the san francisco chamber of commerce, rodney fong. >> don't go too far. a little bird told me one of your favorite candles is in here. it is a tough year for you. i want to thank you for all of the work you have done. i believe it is one of your favorite candles.

petite louise. >> mayor breed: thank you. >> on chestnut street. the chamber has been around for 171 years. 53% of the members are small businesses, familiar many on the street. they have been here for a long time. the fireside camera. patronize them and shop locally as we celebrate shop and dine in the 49. i will mention san francisco is unique from retail perspective. it is difficult but there are fine things that are handmade in san francisco. they are manufactured locally. enjoy shop and dine in the 49. i am going to pass it to someone who is important for commerce. mcgill from master card. [applause] >> thank you very much. i will be brief. this is a fantastic occasion to

be back. not just with you but to help small business come back here in san francisco. we all know in our communities that we live in that small businesses are a key component of that community. not only for the commerce and economy, but frankly for the community and society that surrounds them. at master card we see that in every community we serve and are engaged in how important the small business community is. we have been investing heavily in helping the small business through the pandemic to compete in the new reality. as we focus on recovery helping them come back stronger and better than before. partnerships like this with mayor breed and the shop and dine in the 49 has been around since when i lived here. it was an opportunity to come back and invest in san francisco to help the small business

community thrive and grow and demonstrate leadership around the world. thank you, rodney. thank you for hosting us. it is a pleasure to be here. we look forward to continuing our engagement partnership here in san francisco. [applause] >> thank you very much for coming today. don't forget to shop local with us this season. thank you so much. [applause] >> mayor breed: thank you, eric. eric owns ei home. thank mcgill and master card for providing resources to advertise shop and dine in the 49 to remind people to shop locally. usually on black friday the day after christmas most of the time -- hello -- i am first one at

the door at 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning. i decided i am not going to do that because i am going to make sure i am able to get up on friday and go out in the neighborhoods and become a new plant mom since this pandemic. i will be shopping for plants at various locations and shopping for gifts and toys. toys are hard to find. i am hopeful to get some toys and other great things all over san francisco. i want to thank each and every one of you for being here. i think santa's elfs are passing out bags. fill those with local gifts on chestnut street. thank you for coming here today. [applause]

>> shopping in san francisco with what is happening, what are you telling people to make sure they turn-out and shop? >> mayor breed: one announcement through the end of the city all city-owned parking garages will be two hours free parking. that is almost unheard of in san francisco. i think how we get the word out is what is happening and what happened this past weekends is people have noticed increased presence of police officers. they have noticed ambassadors, changes. we are hoping that not only will the media help us get the word out but our advertisement through shop and dine social media and word of mouth. i have been getting a lot of great responses from people about experiences in shopping downtown this past week end. i was down there myself to see

how people feel. i know that people feel a certain kind of way because there is a number of stores boarded up. they are still showing up and shopping. we have police officers in those garages as well. we have an escort program, a number of ambassadors. we are keeping the streets clean. we are going to work at this every single day. we are hopeful people will come back. i think this past weekends when you saw all of the folks out aye skating, shopping, going to restaurants. the city was jumping. people were going to plays at golden gate theater. there was a performance at the war field. san francisco was jam-packed on saturday and sunday. we hope those experiences will lead to others knowing that we are going to do everything we can to keep the city safe and open for business.

we hope to turn the image around. >> how are you going to hold people accountable to show that this is not going to happen again in san francisco? >> mayor breed: part of what we are doing to hold people accountable is within my ability to do so. number one, make sure we have officers on the streets and on the ground. once the arrests are made, we are hopeful that our da will prosecute. it is my understanding today he already made an announcement or will be making announcement about felony charges on the eight people that we were able to arrest during what happened this past friday. i think there is a lot of tough talk. talk doesn't mean anything unless we can demonstrate we followed through on what we say we are going to do and people

are held accountable for the crimes they commit in our city. >> concerns about covid in the holidays? >> mayor breed: that is why we ask people to get vaccinated and get your flu shot. i got the booster shot and flu shot on the same day. so far i am okay. that was about two weeks ago. >> the surveillance cameras. >> part of what we need to do there are privacy laws and we don't want to violate anybody's rights. at the end of the day we have to be strategic how we provide safety. being able to access cameras to deal with the most violent of

crimes in our city is important. we dealt with this issue many, many years ago in public housing sites where the number of homicides that occurred weren't being solved. people would witness this but concerned about their own safety. having cameras were significant in helping solve these crimes and prosecute people. definitely it is a conversation that needs to be had and a change we need to make. we will work with our chief on trying to make some changes to that. [ inaudible ] >> mayor breed: i think a couple of things we have been doing and resources allocated. we have had small businesses that had windows broken not

necessarily for theft but random acts. we have a broken windows fund we provided for small businesses and provided resources in the budget. through our department of office of economic and work force development. working with merchants to install more cameras. we can't put a camera on somebody's property. we try to work with the businesses. we have provided funding for hundreds of cameras all over the city. the latest one we did was sf safe in chinatown, in particular. the outreach we are doing with the office of eewd and talking to and working with small businesses we are try to help when they do experience those particular problems with either grants or no interest loans. we have had to do a lot of that with discussions with business

associations. they have been hard-hit and we provided support in some instances, not every single instance. [ inaudible ] >> we have not finalized the plans to close any streets to through traffic. right now what is happens is the main points of entry in the evening time to union square have been cut off. we are cutting off from what time, chief? 7:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. we are looking at permanent street closures. the goal is, of course, to make it difficult for cars to commit the acts that they have where they have basically rushed the stores, taken a lot of items and jumped in vehicles and taken off. we are looking at ways to make

downtown shopping more safe for pedestrians. this is not just about stolen goods. this is in the process of getting away how someone can get hurt. having the ability to shop without concern about a vehicle hitting you is really important. we are currently working with m.t.a. to have those discussions. thank you all. after you have finished wrapping up your cameras. go eat at one of the restaurants on chest nut street. what a beautiful san francisco. thank you for being here.

>> 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

>> i went through a lot of struggles in my life, and i am blessed to be part of this. i am familiar with what people are going through to relate and empathy and compassion to their struggle so they can see i came out of the struggle, it gives them hope to come up and do something positive. ♪ ♪ i am a community ambassador.

we work a lot with homeless, visitors, a lot of people in the area. >> what i like doing is posting up at hotspots to let people see visibility. they ask you questions, ask you directions, they might have a question about what services are available. checking in, you guys.

>> wellness check. we walk by to see any individual, you know may be sitting on the sidewalk, we make sure they are okay, alive. you never know. somebody might walk by and they are laying there for hours. you never know if they are alive. we let them know we are in the area and we are here to promote safety, and if they have somebody that is, you know, hanging around that they don't want to call the police on, they don't have to call the police. they can call us. we can direct them to the services they might need. >> we do the three one one to keep the city neighborhoods clean. there are people dumping, waste on the ground and needles on the ground. it is unsafe for children and adults to commute through the streets. when we see them we take a

picture dispatch to 311. they give us a tracking number and they come later on to pick it up. we take pride. when we come back later in the day and we see the loose trash or debris is picked up it makes you feel good about what you are doing. >> it makes you feel did about escorting kids and having them feel safe walking to the play area and back. the stuff we do as ambassadors makes us feel proud to help keep the city clean, helping the residents. >> you can see the community ambassadors. i used to be on the streets. i didn't think i could become a community ambassador. it was too far out there for me to grab, you know. doing this job makes me feel good. because i came from where a lot

of them are, homeless and on the street, i feel like i can give them hope because i was once there. i am not afraid to tell them i used to be here. i used to be like this, you know. i have compassion for people that are on the streets like the homeless and people that are caught up with their addiction because now, i feel like i can give them hope. it reminds you every day of where i used to be and where i am at now.

>> president bleiman: public comment will be available on every agenda item on the agenda. both channel 26 and sfgovtv.org are streaming the number across the screen. each member will be