. >> chair peskin: and welcome to the special rules committee meeting 2-22-22. i am chair aaron peskin, joined by supervisor connie chan and supervisor raphael mandelman. our clerk is mr. victor young.

mr. young, do you have any announcements? >> clerk: yes. the board recognizes that public access to city services is essential and will be available in the following ways: public comment will be available on each item on the agenda. sfgovtv cable channel 26, 78, and 99 are streaming the meeting live. opportunities to speak in public comment are available by calling 415-655-0001. the meeting i.d. is 2692-457-6123. then press pound and pound again. when your item of interest comes up, press star, three to enter the speaker line.

best practices are to speak slowly and clearly, call from a quiet location, and turn down your speakers. if you submit public comment via e-mail, it will be forwarded to the supervisors and included as part of the file. written comment may be sent via u.s. mail to city hall, 1 dr. carlton b. goodlett place, san francisco, california, 94102. >> chair peskin: thank you, mr. young. can you please read the first

item. >> clerk: yes. initiative ordinance, police code, public health emergency leave. members of the public who wish to make public comment press star, three to enter the queue. . >> chair peskin: supervisor mar, the floor is yours. >> supervisor mar: thank you, chair peskin. i want to thank supervisor chan for your strong support of this measure. this is the third time this item has been before this committee, but i would like to briefly recap the importance of

the measure and hope we find the right balance in the measures. public emergency leave is a commonsense policy to protect public workers and workplaces. in the past, public health emergency leave will make a material difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of san francisco workers. paid leave is essential for economic security and for public health. it protects everyone because if this pandemic has taught us anything, it has taught us that we are closely connected, and we're stronger than our neighbor, our grocer, our teacher. covid-19 has shown too many

gaps in the rise in benefits for social workers, and also, climate change continues to drive worse and worse fire seasons, so let's continue to take some lessons from this pandemic, to be more prepared for the next emergency, and the public health emergency reflects the important of these measures. when a local statewide health emergency is declared, it would automatically become available to use. if you're sick, need to quarantine, need to take care of a family member due to an emergency or if you can't work due to the emergency, and protect health care workers and hospital staff, they can use

public health emergency leave when the need strikes. i think today, we have reached the right balance, and over the past few years, we have seen the pandemic hit some of the racial injustices we face, as it disproportionately affects people of color. health care injustice as barriers to matters of inconvenience become matters of life and death.

one of the most important public policy interventions has been the expansion of paid public leave. no parent should have to choose between a paycheck and sending their sick child to school, so i really want to, again, thank you, colleagues, for this opportunity to consider public health emergency leave for the third time this morning, and again, we prepared it as an initiative ordinance to keep

this crucial safeguard in place for this and future emergencies because covid-19 isn't the only emergency we face. and especially as climate change presents a direct and immediate health threat to worsening fire seasons and health quality. emergency paid leave will provide two weeks of paid emergency leave during times. thanks again to my cosponsor, supervisors chan, ronen, and preston, and i also want to thank city attorney lisa powell, and my legislative aide, edward wright, for their work on this policy, and all i ask for this committee is for you to -- thank you for accepting the amendments at the

last two meetings, and i would request that you support this item moving forward to the full board with a positive recommendation. thank you. >> chair peskin: thank you, supervisor mar. are there any comments from committee members? if not, why don't we open this up for public comment? >> clerk: mr. chair, operations is checking to see if there are any callers in the queue. if you have not already done so, please press star, three to enter the queue. for those who have already done so, please wait until the system indicates you have been unmuted before you begin your comment. it appears we have two listeners but no one in the queue for public comment. >> chair peskin: okay. seeing no public comment, public comment is closed. supervisor chan, would you like

to make a motion? >> supervisor chan: yes. i make a motion to accept the ordinance and move the item to the full board with a positive recommendation. >> chair peskin: thank you. roll call vote, please. [roll call] >> clerk: the motion passes without action. >> chair peskin: thank you. mr. clerk, can you please call items 2 and 3 together? >> clerk: [indiscernible] and appear before the refuse rate board to determine rate adjustments. item 3 is a motion ordering submitted to the voters at an election to be held on june 7, 2022, an ordinance amending the

refuse collection and disposal ordinance to restructure the refuse rate setting process to replace hearing before the department of public works. >> chair peskin: thank you. mr. young. we've also had a robust discussion by the individuals who placed this on the calendar from the board. why don't we open this up for public comment on items 2 and 3? >> clerk: yes. members of the public wishing to provide public comment should call 415-655-0001, enter meeting i.d. 2492-457-6123, then press pound and pound again. press star, three to enter the

queue and wait until the system indicates your line has been unmuted. and it appears there are no callers in the queue. >> chair peskin: thank you. i would like to make a motion to send these two items to the full board with a positive recommendation. mr. young, a roll call vote, please. >> clerk: on the motion to send item number 2 -- [roll call] >> clerk: the motion passes without objection. >> chair peskin: and then, colleagues, on the next item, which i suspect will have no

objection after march 1, i'd like to make a motion to send item 3 to the full board with a recommendation. mr. young, on that motion, a roll call, please. >> clerk: yes. on that motion -- [roll call] >> clerk: the motion passes without objection. >> chair peskin: next item, please. >> clerk: item 4 is a hearing

to consider appointing one member, term ending january 6, 2026, to the small business commission. we have one set and one applicant. >> chair peskin: thank you, mr. young. i just want to thank the member who has sat in this seat a dozen years. that would be commissioner kathleen dooley, thank you her for her service and wish her well. we have one applicant, tiffany walker-carter. miss carter-walker, the floor is yours. tiffany, turn your camera on. >> okay. sorry about that. hi, everyone. i am tiffany walker-carter, a san francisco native, and a

small business owner of [indiscernible] i'm sorry. i'm in my restaurant right now. we have locations in the first women led location of la cocina. i help to champion and serve what businesses will look like in the future of san francisco, and some of my goals had to cut the barriers and red tape to start and grow small businesses in san francisco. thank you. >> chair peskin: thank you, miss carter-walker. are there any questions or comments from committee members? are there any members of the public who would like to comment on this item? >> clerk: yes. members of the public who would like to comment on this item

call 415-655-0001, meeting i.d. 2492-457-6123, then press pound and pound again. press star, three to lineup to speak. please wait until the system indicates you have been unmuted and then you may begin your comment. we have lost our caller in the queue. there are no callers in the queue. >> chair peskin: okay. i would like to make a motion to -- supervisor chan. >> supervisor chan: thank you, chair peskin.

i would like to thank commissioner kathleen dooley for all of her years of service. it's critical to serve our city and speaks to the diversity of our city. i want to thank her for her years of work and commend miss walker-carter, as well. you're already busy with your restaurant, but you've made the time to serve on this commission, so we thank you for your service, and thank you, chair peskin. >> chair peskin: thank you, supervisor chan. with that, why don't we take the motion to approve the

motion of supervisor chan. [roll call] >> clerk: the motion passes without objection. >> chair peskin: next item, please. >> clerk: yes. item number 5, hearing to consider appointing one member, term ending july 1, 2025, to the entertainment commission. we have two applicants. >> chair peskin: thank you, mr. young. good morning, miss thomas. >> good morning. >> chair peskin: we thank you for your interest in a seat on the entertainment commission, which would help protect the community as set forth in your

application. we have two applicants, so we will take them in the order they appear on the agenda, so we will start with miss thomas. >> thank you. i've been serving in this seat on the entertainment commission. i'm really proud of the work that the commission has been able to do. as supervisor peskin said, my background is in public health. both my academic credentials, my work at the department of public health, and currently, i serve as the director of public health at the san francisco aids foundation, and i'm proud to bring a public health and

pandemic reduction lens to the entertainment commission. i'm very happy to answer any questions you may have. >> chair peskin: are there any questions for commissioner thomas? seeing none, let's move onto the next applicant, antrina crawford. good morning. i'm so sorry. you're on mute. >> can you hear me now? >> chair peskin: yes, we can. >> okay. thank you, and good morning. first, i would like to give thanks and recognition to the body of the city and county of san francisco. we're all doing the best i can. for myself, this was rather new to me. i am a native of san francisco.

i was born at san francisco general. my mother was, and my grandmother, as well, who just passed away at the age of 97. growing up, i always wondered why there was no one with my face on the commission. i'm glad to see them now, but i would like to see more. music has always been a soothing element in my life. the joy and expression of gratitude i receive is indescribable. music is the universal language. it bonds and it heals, if i would love to be on a team of working with intelligent people, and everyone is my mentor right now, all of you guys. i would love to be working with

you guys. how can i insert myself and be a good person in the community. i'm a mom of six and lost my husband six years ago to a heart attack. we're a family, and we just want to do the right thing and represent people that look like ourselves in a decent world of light. [indiscernible] you know, maybe a vegan outdoor event, but i just want to be part of a team where i can make sure that everyone is happy at the end of the day, and that's just simply it for me. >> chair peskin: thank you, ms. crawford, and i very much appreciate your interest in the entertainment commission.

this particular seat, as i indicated earlier, is a seat that has a requirement for a public health background, and looking at your application, there are other seats that are more general in nature, but i didn't see a public health background relative to your application, but there may be other good fits out there for you to get involved. >> okay. when you say public health, is care taking a public health? >> chair peskin: that could be. public health, like in-home care taking, is that what you're saying? >> yes, i was providing those services, and i was also working at laguna rehab center. i've been doing it at the age of 18, and i'm 50 years old

now. >> chair peskin: i didn't see that in your application, but i very much appreciate that. why don't we open this up to public comment who would like to speak to item 5. >> clerk: members of the public who would like to speak to this call should call 415-655-0001, meeting i.d. 2492-457-6123. then press pound and pound again. press star, three to lineup to speak. for those already on hold, you should wait until the system indicates your line has been unmuted. it appears we have two listeners but no one wishing to comment. >> chair peskin: okay. public comment is closed. given miss thomas' experience and her role in public health,

particularly at the san francisco aids foundation, i would suggest that we continue her in this seat, and i would further suggest that, miss crawford -- and the clerk can point you to something called the maddie act. i see supervisor mandelman nodding his head. supervisor chan? >> supervisor chan: thank you, miss crawford, for your interest in volunteering for

public service. i am in agreement with chair peskin, that there are other opportunities that you can help us on other commissions, with your life experience and your life stories and your passion for music that perhaps we can find a good fit along the long list of commissions that we're actually in seat. there are many seats that are vacant that we hope that someone like you to serve on, so i really just want to thank you for your -- you submitting the application, and i thank you for your interest at this time, and just thinking about the night life and just so many things that are happening in this city, that i do look forward to having commissioner thomas continue on the entertainment commission to bring a very specific opinion

with her expertise on events and making sure that we continue on with the aspect of public health and bring that expertise to the table once we talk about, you know, recovery during this economy but also planning for different types of events and entertainment venues. so thank you, and i thank chair peskin for your suggestion on this. >> chair peskin: thank you, supervisor chan. and just -- i am just -- my staff just informed me that there may be commissions that support in-home service work. so i'm going to ask you to reach out to my staff, calvin yan,

c-a-l-v-i-n y-a-n@sfgov.org. so with that, let me make a motion to move the name of -- to approve the name of laura thomas with a full recommendation to the board to fill the seat. roll call vote, please. >> clerk: on that motion -- [roll call] >> clerk: the motion passes unanimously. >> chair peskin: thank you. next item, please.

>> clerk: thank you. item 5 is a hearing to consider appointing three members, terms ending october 21, 2022, and two members, terms ending october 21, 2023, to the local homeless coordinating board. >> chair peskin: the current incumbent in seat 8, eric brown, informed us this morning that he is not seeking reappointment. i want to thank him for his many years of service on the local homeless coordinating board. and then, i also need to tell you that as to seat number 9, that is an appointee of the controller which has to be confirmed by the board of supervisors. i believe that the controller is getting ready to make that appointment but has not done so yet, so we will be continuing

seat number 9 to the call of the chair until controller rosenfield has made that appointment, and then, we will take that up. so we have actually four seats and eight applicants. i want to start out -- i did some research over the weekend about how the local homeless coordinating board came to be in the late 90s, and then looked at the 2016 ordinance that was our current operating code provision that was created by mayor lee when he was creating the department of homelessness and supportive housing, and i thought we could start with emily cohen from that department who could give us a little bit of background about the local homeless coordinating board and the role it plays, and specifically the qualifications for membership,

which, as you see, to all of these seats, represent homeless subpopulations as set forth on the documents we have, families with children, single adults, veterans, chronically homeless, t.a.y. youth, persons with hiv/aids, persons with substance use disorders, mentally ill, and domestic violence. so miss cohen, the floor is yours. thank you for joining us this morning, and thank you for taking time over the weekend to give a little guidance in this area. >> thank you, chair peskin and supervisors. thank you for having me, emily cohen from the department of homelessness and housing. this board is the oversight body to our continuum of care which is the federal funding

and federal care to support solutions to homelessness locally. last year, we received about $60 million in continuous funds, and the lhcb is responsible for outlining those funds. this is an opportunity to engage the public, it's an opportunity to engage with people experiencing homelessness, and enhance public transparency from the department. the lhcb meet monthly. our director and many staff attend. it is an important and informational component of our work. it's where we do a great deal of our public engagement at the

lhcb, so grateful to all members of the public and members of the public who have indicated an interest to serve on the commission. >> chair peskin: thank you, miss cohen. are there any questions from committee members? okay. why don't we go to the

applicants in the order that they appear for statements for a couple of minutes each, starting with kelley cutler for seat 5, and kelley is the incumbent member of that seat. good morning. >> good morning. i am hope that my chiweenie stays under control this morning. i am applying for this seat again. i qualify for a number of things under that category. experiencing homelessness [indiscernible] as well as a single adult, and -- compounding trauma when it comes to homelessness, and so ptsd that figures into the ball

game. so my -- the things that i am really focused on is coordination with homeless people and lifting up those voices and making sure that at the table [indiscernible]. the other folks on the board have been amazing, and it's very diverse, and loads of experience being brought to the table. i actually want to continue to learn so that we can actually do more, and we can be utilized more than we have been. part of the challenge is we have covid.

that turned everything upside down, but we're still plugging along -- oh, and my experience. i didn't even -- oh, for the past few decades, i've been living and working in the community here. i worked in direct service, i worked with larkin street youth services, i've been doing street outreach throughout this, and then, for the past decade, i've been involved with the coalition on homelessness. i'm an [indiscernible] organizer there, and i made it there through way of the hope office [indiscernible] and so i was actually in that role

collaborating [indiscernible] and i saw how great it was when everyone came together because during this time we created this real shelter access which has been great, and i'm really hoping that it gets back on-line because it's not currently there. >> chair peskin: thank you so much. why don't we move on, if there are no questions, to nicolas staton. i'm sorry, supervisor mandelman, and my apologies. >> supervisor mandelman: i think i know kelley's answer on this, but i'm going to ask all of the candidates. i'm asking about the balance of shelter versus permanent housing and the different types of investments that san

francisco should be making. i am someone that thinks that we are dramatically undersheltered and ought to have many more access on the street for people who want to come off the street now, not when we have a permanent supportive housing unit for them in the future. that is not a position with which kelley is affiliated, but i wanted to ask her about the allocation of scarce funds now and the investments we should be making, your thoughts on permanent supportive housing and shelter and the relationship between the two? >> yeah, i think there needs to be a balance because we look at

[indiscernible], and you're stuck. a shelter, it's not a home, so there's a real, you know, balance. right now, we need a lot of homes, so i don't think -- i think we need to be smart about it, and being focused on actual housing solutions because that's going to end homelessness. i don't believe that we should accept that this is how it is, because frankly, this is not normal, but we've been dealing with homelessness when it doesn't have to be this way, but the answer is balanced.

i still believe that we need to be looking at the final goal of housing for persons experiencing homelessness, but also what the researchers are saying on this, and it's all directed in the direction of housing. >> supervisor mandelman: i would just respond that many of the cities, at least on the east coast, make a commitment to shelter anyone who asks for it, and i think that we can do

both. >> chair peskin: thank you, miss cutler. why don't we hear from nicolas staton. >> clerk: i'm checking the list to see if they logged in. i'm not seeing a log-in for mr. staton at this time. >> chair peskin: okay. why don't we go to josh steinberger. >> great. can everyone hear me? >> chair peskin: yep. >> okay. great. my name is josh steinberger, and i am a san francisco native. i'm currently the director at the [indiscernible] foundation. at e.c.f., i was the manager of the problem solving services program.

for those who don't know it, it's kind of the tip of the spear for entry into the adult coordinated entry system. i have a master's degree from the university of san francisco in urban and public affairs. i completed my thesis on unconditional cal transfers for people that are homeless, specifically those deserving in our welfare systems and how this concept of deserving this makes these types of resources inaccessible for homeless. so now that i'm working in oakland, i want to stay connected to the homeless life in san francisco. i think the homeless coordinating board is at an intersection which kind of makes it the perfect format

where i want to apply myself. my value to the board will be my intimate knowledge of homeless service networks, down to the day-to-day operations but also while not losing sight of the big picture of the change that's needed. my personal goal is always to increase the quality of living for people that are homeless and unsheltered. as a point of support, my first goal will be increasing people receiving services into the san francisco e.o.c. >> chair peskin: thank you, mr. steinberger. i want to make sure that

anybody we support is able to vote on all the funding matters and does not have to recuse themselves. >> we have a -- many funding sources that go into all of our programs in eocc, but they're all funneled through alameda county. >> chair peskin: gotcha. because eocc receives a lot of their funding from the city. i know that supervisor mandelman has a question for you. supervisor mandelman? >> supervisor mandelman: yeah. i don't know if you heard the question for the previous applicant, but i asked the question about the unsheltered and the need for investment in various types of exits from homelessness, from immediate

shelter to permanent housing and lots of other steps in between. you've worked on lots of the other steps including problem solving, but i was curious about your thoughts on what i perceive to be a significant under sheltering and how to think about permanent supportive housing and other types of exits? >> yeah, right, i think my position starts off in the position of a lot of other people, which is we need more of both, and we need to do a lot more on both. one thing that i give alameda a lot of credit for is that piece between completely unsheltered and unhoused and being in a

permanent housing, which is where we want everyone to be. the process of how we get there, i think there needs to be a lot more emphasis on. alameda is doing a lot with tiny homes, and i think there needs to be a lot more coordination on transition. the housing stabilizers, those working with those who have gone from the streets to the navigation centers and then moved onto housing settings, those are the ones who have the greatest problem, and the touch of resources that they have can

really follow up. i think the answer is to have more options in between people going from unhoused and unsheltered to housing, that can kind of prepare for more stability. i also think that there's a difference between unhoused and unshelteredness, just from supervising a team of housing workers. when we went into a neighborhood, we would see people that are in situations that we know can be improved with just a little bit more. like i said, my personal goal is to improve the quality of living for people that are homeless, and that, for me, means people that are in situations that are dangerous, living on the treats, to another shelter, whether that's

a navigation center, but taking that person into permanent housing might not always be the most hopeful. >> chair peskin: thank you, mr. steinberger. and then, the policy representations question, there may be many answers to that, what subpopulations do you think you would be representing? >> well, i can take where i am now with the east oakland community project. i supervise a contract that helps people with hiv and aids. there's a majority of our unit that's for d.v. survivors, behavioral health contracts, we have programs to support people

who are recently released from jails, and people that are housing houses services in the field, so i think that there are a lot of kind of populations, subpopulations that are served by my work. >> chair peskin: thank you for that very thorough response. if there are no other questions, why don't we go onto mark nagel. >> supervisors, my name is mark nagel, and i'm a cofounder of rescue s.f. to bring about the bold action to end the homelessness crisis, san franciscans must get off the sidelines and make their voices heard. i'm plying to join -- applying

to the board to do just that. [indiscernible] the city will this month open a shelter at [indiscernible] the city will begin visiting some of these sites this week. we've advocated to improve data management practices and [indiscernible] on the city response to the crisis. we'll work closely with the department of emergency management and [indiscernible] i believe that i can be a productive member of the lhcb. the skills that i developed in my business career before founding rescue s.f. [indiscernible] my work in the financial sector is in

investment banking and capital [indiscernible] as a trained lawyer, i can assess the legal frameworks and constraints underlying programs and institutions. i appreciate the responsibility of serving lhcb. thank you for your consideration. >> chair peskin: thank you, mr. nagel, and i will ask the same question that i asked the last speaker, and i'm sure supervisor mandelman will ask the same question that he's asked the last several applicants, and that is with regard to what subpopulations, as we are required to consider, you would be representing? >> yes, i asked the same question myself. so i actually started with the bylaws for the lhcb, and i found article 3, section 2,

that lays out the constituents of the members that the board should come from, and members of boards and local organizations are eligible to be on the board [indiscernible] with respect to your question, supervisor, i would explain my focus the last few years have been [indiscernible] people unsheltered are by and large homeless adults. 36% of people who are chronically homeless or unsheltered, the vast majority are veterans and [indiscernible] so we are advocating for more shelter to [indiscernible] and certain adults. >> chair peskin: thank you. great response. supervisor mandelman?

>> supervisor mandelman: thank you, chair peskin. i don't think your answer is going to be a surprise given where rescue s.f. has been the last couple of years. but going back to the newsom administration which closed many shelter beds, we've never recovered from that, and i would ask you how you would go about solving that? >> it's clear the solution to

homelessness is permanent housing. [indiscernible] it's obvious to us the answer must be something real, some interim shelter. there can be others, using emerging practices in the bay area and other parts of the country. it is cost effective, and it is a solution that people, we think, would very much value. not a dorm-type shelter, but a shelter where everyone would get their own unit, a bed, storage unit, table, chair, with air and heating, something that they haven't had for years.

it should be accompanied by services that would be right there on the site. [indiscernible] it's also important because with these service intervention, we can open up the sort of shelters to a wide range of subpopulations that we traditionally serve. traditionally, san francisco has been operating with scarce resources, and it's been focusing on [indiscernible] and when you become unhoused and you aren't sick, you become sick and finally qualify for housing. [indiscernible] short-term housing to get to quickly then we can get tailored services,

like some job or workforce development to get them back on their feet, leading productive lives and in independent living. they should not be forced into government supported housing to live their lives. thank to prop c, we can have a flow of money coming into this city so we can get people out of shelters and into permanent housing. >> chair peskin: okay. seeing no other questions from committee members, thank you, mr. nagel, and why don't we go to the next applicant, the incumbent for seat 6, del

seymour. >> okay. i can't turn my camera on. can you hear me? >> chair peskin: yes, we can hear you but we can't see you. >> okay. i can't turn my camera on, but i'll go ahead and get started. >> chair peskin: we know what you look like, mr. seymour. >> okay. thank you. my name is del seymour, and i've been in the san francisco area approximately 30 years, and 18 of those years were homeless. i'm been out of the homeless community 12 years, but i was given opportunities to get out. a lot of help from my veterans organization, swords to

plowshares. i'm a disabled viet nam veteran, and i'm proud to have served our country. so what i do now is i spend a lot of time with the local homeless coordinating board, and i'm the cochair. i probably am working for the board 20 hours a week. i'm calling mary ellen from the department of emergency management or shireen from h.s.h., or emily, who just got off the floor, i was on the phone with her this weekend. so i don't hesitate to call the community partners when there's an issue or a problem or someone needing somebody. it's a seven day a week thing because homelessness is a seven days a week 24 hours a day problem. i actually was looking forward to -- i'm 75 years old. i was actually looking forward

to stepping down somewhere around this year, but with the new management at h.s.h., shireen and her fantastic team, i'm just so excited and giggly about this department now moving forward so quickly, and real estate acquisition, setting up a decent housing and respectable sheltering. and the sky's the limit, and i just can't see leaving right now. i'm so involved in all the new acquisitions, i'm helping to get those navigation centers. i hear yourself, supervisor peskin, stepped in for some of our nob hill housing that was in jeopardy. i really appreciate the stance that you took, and supervisor mandelman, i appreciate your stance on some of the issues

that we deal with. as far as my residency situation, because i have a situation with residency, i moved out of the tenderloin two years ago because i got economically forced out. after being homeless 12 years ago, i was able to buy my family a home in another part of the city on the g.i. bill. i do not live in san francisco, i live in another area of the city. i'm here seven days a week, probably 16 or 17 hours a day. i barely know what color my house is because i'm hardly there in the daytime. i want to put a community group together -- i can answer your question right now, supervisor

mandelman. we need more high capacity sheltering. i've been to san diego, baltimore, l.a., and they shelter more. i would love more permanent supportive housing, but what about tyrone and sheela tonight? yeah, we can wait on housing, but we can't. we need to have shelter for everyone who needs housing. i will never stop yelling and screaming about it until we get in agreement on that. i was just facilitating a planning board equity meeting, and i'm also on several of the boards of san francisco, so i give a lot of my time to this city, and i'm done. >> chair peskin: thank you, mr. seymour, and it sounds like you answered my question, and it sounds like you answered supervisor mandelman's

question, so why don't we go to ansel romero, the incumbent for seat 7, also on a residency waiver. >> thank you for the opportunity to join and serve the lhcb. [indiscernible] which is an off shot of three fairly large nonprofits that have come together over a number of years. in that role, i served over 7,000 low-income individuals, housing over 8,000 low-income individuals. we were managing and operating and had developed over 7,000 low-income units. i'm a certified property manager.

in 2019, i had the distinction of being awarded the grassroots advocate for the year by leading age california, which is the largest senior advocacy group in the state. with regards to the city that i've really grown to love, i had a really significant role in the preservation of the fed -- frederick douglas haines gardens, so i've been involved in housing and supportive services, specifically in san francisco, over 400 low-income individuals. in january of last year, i've created my own consulting

company, and in that role, i have served a number of other housing organizations and advocacy organizations. just been a desire to further broaden my scope. in that role, i was asked by the state of california through the california department of aging for a project on the s.c.a.n. foundation to create a project that was the first of its kind. it was identifying all the agencies in the state of california that serves all individuals, both seniors and people with disabilities and cross-referencing these agencies to identify the different scopes of the services that they provided, their funding, along with providing recommendations. what i hope to do if fortunate enough to join the boards is really leverage my experience in not just leveraging the

development of housing but also services and equate that into the realization of the lhcbs strategic plan. measuring is really important. what doesn't get measured doesn'tet get done. when looking at the materials, it was heartening to note the targets, and i would like to see that done in the future. but i think in closing, in addition to metrics, what's really important is really looking into what have we done as a board working with our partners and really making a difference in a person's life individual by individual, and that's something that i would really look forward to participating in if fortunate enough to be appointed to this

board. thank you for your consideration. >> chair peskin: thank you, mr. romero, and i know that supervisor mandelman has his question that you've heard before, but let me just ask the question that i've had before, which is which subpopulations do you think that you would be representing if appointed? >> well, given my experience, chair peskin, i'd look forward to serving single adults. i've also served veterans chronically homeless and people with hiv/aids and certainly look forward to serving these folks on the board. >> chair peskin: thank you, and then, my second question is relative to conflicts or potential conflicts relative to your new business; if any of

your clients are recipients to grants or contracts with the city or county of san francisco that might preclude you under certainly conflicts from casting a vote. >> not at the time, chair peskin, but i would be mindful of that moving forward. >> chair peskin: thank you. supervisor mandelman? >> supervisor mandelman: yes. i would think about investing in shelters and other ways to immediately move from the street and potentially into

permanent supportive housing, and i think we have overbalanced that, the permanent supportive housing in favor of the shorter term and more immediate exits, and wonder what your thought right side -- thoughts are about that and how to think about that? >> thank you, supervisor mandelman. in 2019, the homeless population, over 8,000 individuals in the city and the county, i was just struck by the fact, and i shouldn't have been, but over half, over 65% have been homeless for over a year. given my experience and how long it takes to develop low-income housing, anywhere from six to seven years, there's got to be a balance. we just look around, and we see that there's a problem with undersheltering at this time. so i'm all for -- it's just -- that's got to be addressed, and there has to be a balance, and there's got to be -- for as long as the shelters have the necessary services that we were talking about before -- in my

opinion, the worst thing you can do, whether it's permanent supportive housing or temporary shelters, if there's not enough housing to support that, it would be a disaster. just looking around this, over half the population, the homeless population has been unsheltered for over a year. that really needs to be addressed. understanding that lhcb is really looking at permanent solutions to housing, it may be counter intuitive that if there's a huge, huge focus on sheltering -- sheltering is a huge part of moving to permanent supportive housing. as long as the services are aligned with that, then that's certainly something i will be -- continue to be behind. >> chair peskin: thank you. all right.

seeing no further questions, why don't we move onto nikon jeanell guffey for seat 7. good morning. >> hi, good morning. thank you for having me, chair peskin and supervisor chan and vice chair mandelman. just really quickly, simply i'm a resident of san francisco county. i'm currently -- am a product of a child who faced housing insecurity in san francisco. i currently am employed as an employee with family and children services. i've been there almost 22 years. my role currently is director with family and children services, and with my experience and background, i have a masters in social work,

and i'm a licensed clinical social workers, and i am an advocate for foster youth and [indiscernible] youth, and it's my job to make sure that their voices are being heard. currently, [indiscernible] under the age of 25 are foster youth, and i believe and ensure that we can and will do better. i believe that the voices of the families and voices of the children that are impacted with all of the trauma that they experience is very crucial and critical, to kind of bring that knowledge, and to housing security to t.a.y. youth. to answer the question of supervisor mandelman with permanent and supportive housing, i work with both, so i value the importance of temporary shelter. what's important for the youth

that i serve is ensuring that there are safe environments and space for their belongings, so they kind of feel a place where they're valued. and the other piece is ensuring that there are appropriate services in place, even in shelter structure. i think with my experience and what we currently have in the foster system, i would able to add a voice on things that have worked for us, areas of growth, and looking how we can transfer some of this to our housing population. so with that, i thank you for your time and consideration, and i look forward to your questions. >> chair peskin: thank you, ms. guffey. i think you've answered all of our questions. very much appreciate it. last, but not least, why don't we move onto gary mccoy. >> good morning, supervisors.

i've been very active in advocacy the last ten years, having experienced homelessness, substance use disorder, and hiv and aids as a member of the lgbtq community. i would love an opportunity to serve san francisco in this capacity. previously served on the san francisco shelter monitoring committee from 2015 to 2018 as vice chair and chair of its policy subcommittee and served on the california homeless committee and finance coordinating council from 2017 to this past january, when it transitioned to the california interagency council on homelessness. i would love your support for a seat on the local homeless coordinating board. i'm also happy to talk to you

about any issues that come up. in terms of supervisor mandelman's question, i do support increased shelter capacity, but there needs to be permanent housing. i'm a fan of the housing ladder. it worked for me, so any time we have an opportunity to support housing opportunities would work, whether it's moving onto families or friends, anything to sort of clear the bottle neck that we do have in our housing system that's right now. >> chair peskin: thank you, mr. mccoy, and relative to my

question, i believe that health right does not have any contract with h.s.h. is that correct? >> yes. as far as i'm aware, we have no h.s.h. related contracts, but always happy to recuse myself if any conflicts happen to come up. >> chair peskin: perfect. and i'll turn it over to supervisor mandelman? >> supervisor mandelman: i think mr. mccoy answered. he's a believer in permanent supportive housing and recognizes that we need more shelter. >> chair peskin: there you go. >> supervisor mandelman: there you go. >> chair peskin: okay. why don't we open this item up to public comment? are there any members of the public who would like to speak to item number 6? >> clerk: yes, if you have not already done so, please press star, three to enter the queue. if you have already done so,

please wait until the system indicates you have been unmuted before you begin your comment. it looks like we have three callers lined up to speak. >> chair peskin: thank you. may we have the first caller, please. >> yes. i'm calling in support of kelley cutler for the homeless coordinating board. it's absolutely critical that the coalition on homelessness retain a seat on the local homeless coordinating board. it's vital for us bringing up questions and having a dialogue in a public forum with the department of homelessness and supportive housing. additionally, i wanted to just support gary mccoy, who's done amazing advocacy and been part

of standing up with the linkage center, and finally, i wanted to comment on mr. nagel. appreciate with great respect that he is coming to us with a goal of creating solutions for homeless individuals. i don't believe he represents homeless individuals, i believe he represents neighborhood groups, and so i feel like it's important to acknowledge that. rescue s.f. is not made up of homeless individuals or people that have experienced homelessness, so i feel that that might be a disqualifying aspect of his application, and thank you. appreciate your time to build a group of people that will help us navigate through the challenges of creating real solutions for our homeless neighbors. >> chair peskin: thank you. next speaker, please.

>> hi. my name is fred winegrad, and i'm calling in support of mark nagel. i totally disagree with the last caller. rescue s.f. is looking for solutions, and their solutions are driven by alternatives. what i like about mark is his ability to bring people together. in a federal sense, it's like crossing the aisle. rescue s.f. has had advocates from the homeless coalition on their seminars. they've also had feedback in the tiny houses that will be implemented on 33 gough, so i think we need really new and supportive programs that will help the homeless, not keep them out there as a shelter.

it's inhumane, so i'd really advocate for mark to be a member. thank you. >> chair peskin: thank you. are there any other speakers? >> clerk: yes, we have two additional callers. >> chair peskin: next speaker, please. >> hi. my name is jennifer laska. i'm the president of the [indiscernible] foundation. i'm calling in support of mark nagel. he's done a tremendous job over the years educating the public on the complexity of issues facing homelessness. he's been instrumental in getting homelessness opportunities launched in the city, and i think he would be amazing. >> chair peskin: thank you. next speaker?

>> good morning, chair peskin and members. my name is carolyn kennedy. i'm a core team member of rescue s.f. i've read all the applications, and i support the candidacy of mark nagel, gary mccoy, kelley cutler, and josh steinberger. mr. nagel has tremendous skill and experience that would benefit a wide range of san francisco homeless community. most recently, he met with stakeholders in the tenderloin and the department of emergency management to redefine the

dashboard that he developed. i also want to say a little bit about mark as a human being. he's caring and committed and thinks objectively before making decisions. he works with others well, works constructively is well. mark is a tremendous advocate for both housed and unhoused, so i want to just add that because i've observed this over the last two years. thank you for the opportunity to give public comment. >> chair peskin: thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. >> hi. this is jennifer friedenbach, and i am calling on the coalition of homelessness, and thank you, rules committee, for your consideration today. i wanted to call in support of kelley cutler to be reappointed

to the local homeless coordinating board? you have a number of incumbents here that are very -- have been really -- putting a lot of work into this and have a lot more work to do and have been very -- you know, this -- this body is not an easy body to manage, but what kelley brings is she is doing -- spending her days doing outreach on the street and is bringing direct representation of folks and what they bring. she has experienced homelessness and knows this system really well. she has a knowledge of what's working and not working in the homeless system and is able to engage actively with people who are experiencing crises and

undergoing homelessness. i feel like it's incredibly important to preserve that seat. thank you so much. >> chair peskin: thank you. are there any other members of the public for public comment on this item? >> clerk: i believe we have one additional speaker. >> chair peskin: yes, please. >> hi. my name is carolyn thomas. i've been involved in trying to forge homeless relations in the neighborhood for oh, at least the last seven years. i've also been an attendee of the lhcb meetings. i'm here to support mark nagel's appointment to the lhcb board.

i believe has the ability to serve all segments of the population. he's not beholden to a specific idealogical point of view. i'd ad -- advocated for many of the homeless solutions that are being implemented for many years, and he's encouraged people to show up and support different solutions. he brings to an analytical and data driven mind. i'd like to support del seymour for his experience in

organizing and collaboration in several different organizations, including the lhcb board. i believe his appointment should be reupped. >> chair peskin: thank you for your comments. are there any other speakers in public comment? >> clerk: i believe there's one more who jumped on. >> hi. my name is olivia growacki. i am a resident of the outer sunset, and i am calling to support kelley cutler on this board. she has the experience of homelessness and has been working in the homeless response system for over a decade, so it's really important that we have people

who know what it's like, that have been homeless, that aren't just seeing homelessness from an angle where they haven't lived it or experienced it. i think it's important that kelley has a background where she's walked in direct services. you can't walk around this city without someone stopping kelley and saying hey, i know you or don't you work for the homeless coalition? i think it's imperative that kelley continues to serve on this committee, and i ask that you support her reappointment, and i just can't speak enough about what she's done for our communities here in san francisco. so thank you so much, and i ask that you reappoint kelley

cutler to the homeless local coordinating board. >> chair peskin: mr. young, do we have any other callers wishing to make public comment? >> clerk: that was the last caller. >> chair peskin: okay. colleagues, i just wanted to point out that there are actually a number of vacancies. mayor has one vacancy that has yet to be filled, and as i mentioned earlier, the controller has yet to fill his vacancy, which of course would still have to come before this committee and the board of supervisors, and then, [indiscernible] that are before us today, seats 5, 6, 7, and 8,

wherein we have two incumbents applying for reappointment and two that are vacant. so i just wanted to say that because when we are done today or when the board is done next week, there will still be two vacant seats, and we have quite a number of qualified applicants here who may be able to be appointed by the controller to his vacancy or by the mayor to her vacancy, so i just wanted to [indiscernible]. my inclination, but i very much want to hear from you, colleagues, is for continuity and for the qualifications to reappoint the two incumbents who are seeking reappointment, and that gets us to the very difficult work of sorting through the balance. i will make a couple of observations, and i really want

to thank all the applicants, all of whom are clearly committed and qualified. the couple of observations that i would like to make for our commission is seat 1, sophia isom, who is not seeking reappointment, was an h.s.a. representative, the human services agency. i say that because miss guffey also works for the human services agency. it does not constrain us, but i think there's some value in having a human services agency member on that body. and second, i will note that we have many, many san franciscans here. i know that we have two individuals who are seeking residency waivers. one of them is, of course, del seymour, the incumbent, and

another, ancel romero. i would be inclined to be sparing with our residency waivers. i would be inclined to not do two of them, but one perhaps, but let's hear from you, colleagues, as to what your thoughts are. don't all speak at once. supervisor mandelman? >> supervisor mandelman: yep, thank you, chair peskin, and as is usually the case, we have -- or not usually, but as is sometimes the case, we have an abundance of riches and too

many good people for us to appoint to this body. i think i share your inclination to reappointment del seymour and also share your inclination that nikon guffey should be on this body. as to the other choices, i have several thoughts about several of them. i guess i have thoughts about three of them. josh steinberger has abundant experience, i think, you know, in the city working for city agencies as well as nonprofits. seeing this from his vantage point on the other side of the bay and as a san franciscan i think would be very good to have on there, and a good person. i think it would be good to

have him on there. gary mccoy, i also know him and respect his work, and while i may have some difference with him on the shelter versus housing debate, i, you know, still think he would be great on this board, as well. mark nagel's application raises questions about what the role of the local coordinating homeless board is and should be. i think for many people and the public, this is not just a body -- and i think for the members of the board itself, i don't think they see their role or that the broader public sees their role as simply overseeing $60 million in federal contracts. they seem to, at the very

least, [indiscernible] and they also sometimes go beyond that to weighing into broader questions like encampment resolutions, the role of hsoc, and to the extent that they are going there, i would be strongly inclined to have mark nagel on there. so i guess i've put put three names out there for two spots. >> chair peskin: yes, and whether anybody is on this body or not on this body, supervisor chan, thoughts from you?

>> supervisor chan: thank you, chair peskin. i would be inclined to support incumbents. during my public service career, i have actually worked with gary mccoy, and knowing his experience in my professional and personal life, i am inclined to support gary, as well. i think it's important to think about having the mayor and the controller to articulate their appointment and thoughts, but those are my thoughts on these appointments today, thank you.

>> chair peskin: yeah, i wish the controller had made our job easier. i did suggest, on friday afternoon, that he make our job easier by supporting and appointing someone from this list, which he mentioned he might do but has not yet done. i think we've got a couple of choices. one is we can continue this to our meeting of monday and see if the controller makes our job easier. the other is we can continue seat number 9, which is, of course, subject to confirmation by this committee and the board to whenever the controller makes his decision. but in terms of hazarding a

motion that would be simpatico, i'm inclined to support kelley cutler -- maybe what we should do is take this piece by piece. do three and continue 8 and 9 to the call of the chair and see what mr. rosenfield does for us. how is that for a proposal? all right. mr. clerk, i will make a motion to nominate -- or to recommend to the full board kelley cutler for seat 5, del seymour with a residency waiver for seat 6,

nikon guffey for seat 7, and continue seats 8 and 9 to the call of the chair. on that motion, a roll call, please. >> clerk: on that motion -- [roll call] >> clerk: the motion passes without objection. >> chair peskin: and as soon as we hear from the controller, i will schedule this at the next available agenda, and we are adjourned. -

>> shop & dine in the 49 promotes local businesses and challenges resident to do their showing up and dining within the 49 square miles of san francisco by supporting local services within the neighborhood we help san francisco remain unique successful and vibrant so where will you shop & dine in the 49 san francisco owes must of the charm to the unique characterization of each corridor has a distinction permanent our neighbors are the economic engine of the city. >> if we could a afford the lot by these we'll not to have the kind of store in the future the kids will eat from some restaurants chinatown has phobia one of the best the most unique neighborhood shopping areas of

san francisco. >> chinatown is one of the oldest chinatown in the state we need to be able allergies the people and that's the reason chinatown is showing more of the people will the traditional thepg. >> north beach is i know one of the last little italian community. >> one of the last neighborhood that hadn't changed a whole lot and san francisco community so strong and the sense of partnership with businesses as well and i just love north beach community old school italian comfort and love that is what

italians are all about we need people to come here and shop here so we can keep this going not only us but, of course, everything else in the community i think local businesses the small ones and coffee shops are unique in their own way that is the characteristic of the neighborhood i peace officer prefer it is local character you have to support them. >> really notice the port this community we really need to kind of really shop locally and support the communityly live in it is more economic for people to survive here. >> i came down to treasure island to look for a we've got a

long ways to go. ring i just got married and didn't want something on line i've met artists and local business owners they need money to go out and shop this is important to short them i think you get better things. >> definitely supporting the local community always good is it interesting to find things i never knew existed or see that that way. >> i think that is really great that san francisco seize the vails of small business and creates the shop & dine in the 49 to support businesses make people all the residents and visitors realize had cool things are made and produced in san

>> what we're trying to approach is bringing more diversity to our food. it's not just the old european style food. we are seeing a lot of

influences, and all of this is because of our students. all we ask is make it flavorful. [♪♪♪] >> we are the first two-year culinary hospitality school in the united states. the first year was 1936, and it was started by two graduates from cornell. i'm a graduate of this program, and very proud of that. so students can expect to learn under the three degrees. culinary arts management degree, food service management degree, and hotel management degree. we're not a cooking school. even though we're not teaching you how to cook, we're teaching you how to manage, how to

supervise employees, how to manage a hotel, and plus you're getting an associate of science degree. >> my name is vince, and i'm a faculty member of the hospitality arts and culinary school here in san francisco. this is my 11th year. the program is very, very rich in what this industry demands. cooking, health, safety, and sanitation issues are included in it. it's quite a complete program to prepare them for what's happening out in the real world. >> the first time i heard about this program, i was working in a restaurant, and the sous chef had graduated from this program. he was very young to be a sous chef, and i want to be like

him, basically, in the future. this program, it's awesome. >> it's another world when you're here. it's another world. you get to be who you are, a person get to be who they are. you get to explore different things, and then, you get to explore and they encourage you to bring your background to the kitchen, too. >> i've been in the program for about a year. two-year program, and i'm about halfway through. before, i was studying behavioral genetics and dance. i had few injuries, and i couldn't pursue the things that i needed to to dance, so i pursued my other passion, cooking. when i stopped dance, i was deprived of my creative outlet, and cooking has been that for me, specifically pastry.

>> the good thing is we have students everywhere from places like the ritz to -- >> we have kids from every area. >> facebook and google. >> kids from everywhere. >> they are all over the bay area, and they're thriving. >> my name is jeff, and i'm a coowner of nopa restaurant, nopalito restaurant in san francisco. i attended city college of san francisco, the culinary arts program, where it was called hotel and restaurant back then in the early 90's. nopalito on broderick street, it's based on no specific region in mexico. all our masa is hand made. we cook our own corn in house.

everything is pretty much hand made on a daily basis, so day and night, we're making hand made tortillas, carnitas, salsas. a lot of love put into this. [♪♪♪] >> used to be very easy to define casual dining, fine dining, quick service. now, it's shades of gray, and we're trying to define that experience through that spectrum of service. fine dining calls into white table cloths. the cafeteria is large production kitchen, understanding vast production kitchens, the googles and the facebooks of the world that have those types of kitchens. and the ideas that change every year, again, it's the notion and the venue. >> one of the things i love

about vince is one of our outlets is a concept restaurant, and he changes the concept every year to show students how to do a startup restaurant. it's been a pizzeria, a taco bar. it's been a mediterranean bar, it's been a noodle bar. people choose ccsf over other hospitality programs because the industry recognizes that we instill the work ethic. we, again, serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner. other culinary hospitality programs may open two days a week for breakfast service. we're open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner five days a week. >> the menu's always

interesting. they change it every semester, maybe more. there's always a good variety of foods. the preparation is always beautiful. the students are really sincere, and they work so hard here, and they're so proud of their work. >> i've had people coming in to town, and i, like, bring them here for a special treat, so it's more, like, not so much every day, but as often as i can for a special treat. >> when i have my interns in their final semester of the program go out in the industry, 80 to 90% of t students get hired in the industry, well above the culinary program. >> we do have internals continually coming into our restaurants from city college of san francisco, and most of the time that people doing internships with us realize this is what they want to do

for a living. we hired many interns into employees from our restaurants. my partner is also a graduate of city college. >> so my goal is actually to travel and try to do some pastry in maybe italy or france, along those lines. i actually have developed a few connections through this program in italy, which i am excited to support. >> i'm thinking about going to go work on a cruise ship for about two, three year so i can save some money and then hopefully venture out on my own. >> yeah, i want to go back to china. i want to bring something that i learned here, the french cooking, the western system, back to china. >> so we want them to have a

full toolkit. we're trying to make them ready

>> the bicycle coalition was giving away 33 bicycles so i applied. i was happy to receive one of them.

>> the community bike build program is the san francisco coalition's way of spreading the joy of biking and freedom of biking to residents who may not have access to affordable transportation. the city has an ordinance that we worked with them on back in 2014 that requires city agency goes to give organizations like the san francisco bicycle organization a chance to take bicycles abandoned and put them to good use or find new homes for them. the partnerships with organizations generally with organizations that are working with low income individuals or families or people who are transportation dependent. we ask them to identify

individuals who would greatly benefit from a bicycle. we make a list of people and their heights to match them to a bicycle that would suit their lifestyle and age and height. >> bicycle i received has impacted my life so greatly. it is not only a form of recreation. it is also a means of getting connected with the community through bike rides and it is also just a feeling of freedom. i really appreciate it. i am very thankful. >> we teach a class. they have to attend a one hour class. things like how to change lanes, how to make a left turn, right turn, how to ride around cars. after that class, then we would give everyone a test chance --

chance to test ride. >> we are giving them as a way to get around the city. >> just the joy of like seeing people test drive the bicycles in the small area, there is no real word. i guess enjoyable is a word i could use. that doesn't describe the kind of warm feelings you feel in your heart giving someone that sense of freedom and maybe they haven't ridden a bike in years. these folks are older than the normal crowd of people we give bicycles away to. take my picture on my bike. that was a great experience. there were smiles all around. the recipients, myself, supervisor, everyone was happy to be a part of this joyous occasion. at the end we normally do a

group ride to see people ride off with these huge smiles on their faces is a great experience. >> if someone is interested in volunteering, we have a special section on the website sf bike.org/volunteer you can sign up for both events. we have given away 855 bicycles, 376 last year. we are growing each and every year. i hope to top that 376 this year. we frequently do events in bayview. the spaces are for people to come and work on their own bikes or learn skills and give them access to something that they may not have had access to. >> for me this is a fun way to get outside and be active. most of the time the kids will be in the house.

this is a fun way to do something. >> you get fresh air and you don't just stay in the house all day. it is a good way to exercise. >> the bicycle coalition has a bicycle program for every community in san francisco. it is connecting the young, older community. it is a wonderful outlet for the community to come together to have some good clean fun. it has opened to many doors to the young people that will usually might not have a bicycle. i have seen them and they are thankful and i am thankful for thankful and i am thankful for

>> if i could have your attention.

thank you. the look around the room, it is wonderful to see your faces. it is really a pleasure to see wisdom, strength, bravery and leadership. all of the great attributes for the year of the tiger. [applause] >> thank you for being here. on behalf of the heritage foundation, thank you so much for coming to this afternoon's lunar celebration. i am the board chair of the foundation. the foundation's mission is to promote awareness of the asian pacific cultural heritage and great opportunities for community collaboration. the main event is a celebration

of the apa heritage month in may. you will learn more about that later this afternoon. this seven's event will not be possible without all committee members and volunteers. we also are thank full to the reception sponsor amazon. let's give them all a warm round of applause. thank you so much. [applause] now to start our program i have the great pleasure to introduce san francisco's city administrator carmen chu. i really don't have to say more than that, right? carmen chu. how much more do i need to say? i have a list. a career in public service. mayor's office of public policy

finance. elected to serve as district 4 supervisor for two terms. following which she was elected to serve as city assessor. last february carmen was appointed by may or london breed to be the san francisco city administrator overseeing 25 city agendas. please welcome carmen chu. [applause] >> good evening everybody. i am carmen chu, san francisco city administrator. as you can tell from the buzz of conversation the happy faces that we have here that we are so excited to be back in person to celebrate the lunar new year. [applause] on behalf of the city and county, on behalf of mayor london breed, board of supervisors and elected officials and department heads

today we want to wish all of you a very, very happy year of the tiger. (applause). cheers. come on. [cheers and applause.] i want to give a shout out and thank you to jj and claudine who have worked tirelessly to organize this event to make sure we start the year of the tiger off right. claudine, please come on up. yes, you. [applause] here is the certificate of honor on behalf of the san francisco city administrator's office. thank you. [applause] >> i saw on your script it was five more minutes. co-chairs, please join me.

we need to welcome former mayor. thank you for being here. let's start with celebrating lunar new year. trying to connect everybody with this celebration. this is february 7th. it is a prize if you can explain why we chose that day and what is special about this date february 7th. anyone? what? i can't hear you. it is right. commissioner louie. in the lunar calendar, the seventh day of the new year as long as everybody's birthday.

happy birthday everyone. [applause] lunar new year is about gathering of families. we have all done that. looking around the room a number of you are not asian pacific americans. today you are because we appreciate you being here to celebrate with us. in the last year or year and a half in the asian communities we have been encouraging each other to speak up, stand up because of anti-asian hate at the san francisco human rights commission. we also have talked a lot about standing together. we shouldn't stand together and support each other, connect this event today. not only as we kickoff the whole year of cultural celebrations in the city, but we want all of you to have an opportunity to connect a number of you just

told me earlier this afternoon this was the first time you were in city hall in two years. isn't that great? i want to thank you mayor for allowing us to do this. this afternoon is about celebrating families, celebrating communities by first communities coming together. we are thinking this is part of every year in may we have the celebration of asian pacific heritage month. we were thinking what is our theme this year. anti-asian hate, standing together. what we need is to continue to create opportunities for more community bonding. i think what we need is keep on having those opportunities that we can meet each other, learn a lot more about each other and be

friends. it is true. if you know somebody, we are all different. we all come from different places. we get to spend some time together. get to know each other. that can how we appreciate differences. the celebration of apa heritage month in may we are going to be talking about community bonds. that is what we are about. that is what this afternoon is about. i want to thank all of you for taking time to be here. i want be to specifically thank former mayor willie brown for being here. he hasn't missed too many occasions in our community. [applause]. we are a small organization but

very, very blessed with a large community that consists of representatives of from over 10 to 12 different ethnic groups. at the head of it we have very, very fortunate to have three co-chairs working together. thomas lee and everyone bringing a lot. [applause]. to make it all work. this is by invitation only. the reason we invited you because we appreciate you and we want to thank you. unfortunately so many have done so much we cannot introduce every one of you. we have special acknowledgments to make. when i say your name, please stand. the president of the board of

supervisors. supervisor walton for district 10. district 1 connie chan. district three peskin representing chinatown. district four gordon mar. district five preston filmore. >> haney soma. melgar. district eight mandelman representing castro. district nine ronen thenition. district 11 supervisor safai. >> thank you. in paddition to the board of supervisors we would like to welcome the city-wide elected officials. no particular order. city attorney david chu.

[indiscernable] district attorney, public defender har. board member lee and city college trustee allen wong. thank you all for joining us this afternoon. >> last but not least i would like to acknowledge the members of the heritage foundation board. different directors today. the foundation is a small nonprofit with individuals from diverse backgrounds. jj laura. [indiscernable] steve wilson.

irene riley. [indiscernable] scott adams. in the audience are members of the apa heritage celebration committee. in the interest of time we cannot introduce all of you. please note we are so very much appreciative of your participation and service on the committee. thank you so much. [applause] >> really we appreciate the support of the city's family. at this time i would like to introduce our mayor. i don't know how many of you were at chinatown when we kicked off a week ago.

lunar new year is a new beginning, reset for communities, and we are so proud of being in the city where it is one of the safest cities in the country. the mayor has taken tough measures to make sure we are safe and healthy. mayor london breed. [applause]. >> mayor breed: thank you. let me say i can't believe that we are all able to get together again like this. it is absolutely amazing. claudine, the people who work in city hall and our elected officials come to the event because we love coming to the event. not just because the food is so amazing. i don't know if we have food this year. i remember the days on the board of supervisors. this was a good meal after a long day's work.

we are here to support the apa heritage foundation for all of the work they continue to do. not just during lunar new year but year around. to really highlight the importance of the api community in san francisco. one of the things claudine mentioned that is really impactful to me is, sadly, when we started to experience a lot of the hate and the deviciveness and the attacks on the community. the heritage foundation started to build bridges with a number of cross cultural events. they have embedded the work around cross-cultural relationships in their programming year around. i want to thank claudine for leadership and work and advocacy of bringing our communities together to understand one another, to learn about one another's culture and uplift and

appreciate one another. i remember when i was in high school. we always had all kinds of assemblies about the taiwan or chinese or black community just to understand and see just our cultures on full display sparked interest and discussion and understanding. it also sparked togetherness. today we are joined by some of our asian countries. council generals. i want you all to stand when i announce the council general from korea, japan, philippines, indonesia, singapore, mongolia and vietnam. .applause.

and china. building relationships with not just the communities in san francisco but all over the world is very important to us. we are grateful for the partnership with the various council generals who continue to work with us every day. today as we unveil this new stand. it is not about a collector's item. will say to our postmaster general in almost every instance they are so beautiful and fascinating you can't help but want to collect them. we know it is about signifying a new day, new opportunity, every lunar new year is about an opportunity for us to reset and to come together and to just really appreciate life as we know it, especially after dealing with a very challenging time during this global

pandemic. we are grateful to celebrate the year of the tiger, which signifies courage and strength. i know as a tiger myself where i get it from. [laughter] but the truth is i couldn't wait until we got to the year of the tiger. i couldn't wait to this year where we could see all that it will entail, the various events, lunches, performances, gatherings, parade in person for the first time in over two years. [applause]. i want to thank each and every one of you for coming to the celebration, helping to uplift our community. all of the things you have done that have been seen and unseen to have an impact. by just being here today it demonstrates your commitment and support for the api community in

san francisco and this stamp is really another incredible thing that we are able to really show and support and as a matter of fact in honor of lunar new year, maybe we can start writing physical letters and using stamps to mail them other than just mailing bills with those stamps. with that i want to thank you all for coming and looking forward to seeing this incredible stamp. we will hear from our postmaster general before we move to the unveiling so we can get on with the festivities. thank you all so much. [applause] >> thank you, mayor breed. before we go into that i want to acknowledge our reception sponsor amazon. i would like to invite sally to

say happy new year to everyone. >> thank you. you know what they say never stand before a party when there is stamp unveiling. based on what we learn tonight. thank you for coming to my birthday celebration. it is all of our birthdays. thank you for the apa heritage foundation for including amazon and inviting us to sponsor this event. over the last two years amazon is investing in san francisco. looking around the room so many partners we have worked with and to be inspired by. thank you for that. i am told the water tiger is a symbol of courage and action. i want to let you know as amazon continues to invest in the city we will serve the needs of the community and celebration. thank you for being here

tonight. thank you for allowing amazon to be part of it. thank you. >> every year we have been unveiling stamps in san francisco since 1992. i was reminded by my good friends this is the 13th anniversary of the historic announcement of the issue of set of stamps honoring chinese and asian-american cultural heritage in december of 1992. this year's unveiling has special meaning. we hope next year that the national birthday of issue will be in san francisco. it is 30 years of history. something we are proud of. it is a very tiny stamp. a stamp is an instrument of communication. it represents so many more

people to learn about the lunar calendar, what it means, whether they agree or don't agree, what to do on a particular day. there is a lot of history on the lunar calendar. we are happy to have the second postmaster with us today. the acting postmaster of san francisco starting in postal service as letter carrier. over the years he has been operational managers and customer service. after that the postmaster of oakland. now we are happy to have you as the acting postmaster of san francisco. we are having stamp sales outside. after the event feel free to go and if you haven't purchased your stamps, please do to so. let's welcome the acting postmaster.

[applause]. good evening, everyone. thank you for the kind introduction. i am postmaster of san francisco. i am happy to be here on behalf of the post office for the year of the tiger stamp. i would like to thank our speakers, mayor breed, commissioner chang. board president walton and customers and leaders for joining us today. i want to take this opportunity to thank the national organization oca and several local organizations for continued support. in china the tradition of celebrating new year's began thousands of years ago. the crops and livestock the villages were on the night before the new year.

in some versions of the story the brave old man decided to put up red paper around the village and fireworks. frightened by the loud noise and red peeper left without eating the crops. i love this. it symbolizes the human experience and fighting spirit in protecting and caring for our families. since that time the lunar year evolved and the customs are loved throughout the world. the celebration is squarely within the cultural traditions. time to prepare for a fresh start while honoring the past. families come together for delicious food an occasion for good luck and prosperity. this year more than 1.5 billion people around the world mark the

beginning of the year of the tiger. strong, gave, confident and well liked. we could all benefit from the tiger's qualities in the year ahead. let's work together across the globe with confidence better days lie ahead. to the stamp. year of the tiger is created by chu after the director. the lunar year stamp. you will agree the result of the coloration and design that captures the beauty and strength of the tiger and fresh. the design is comtemporarily take and. [indiscernable] lion or dragon dances performed during the new year parades.

it is symbolic meanings of blue, orange and gray. the tiger's head purple to reflect the chinese zodiac. this is from the third series of new years. 1993-2004 and 2020 to present. this event is for celebrating the 30th anniversary announcement of the stamps honoring the chinese asian contribution to this country. announcement was first made at the national convention in august of 1992. former and vailing of year of the rooster in the same year. add to your collection or mail your new year's greetings. it is our hope it brings you

pros pair be, peace, -- prosperity, peace, good luck and much joy. the mayor will join me in unveiling the stamp. (applause). [ music ]

>> we broke ground in december of last year. we broke ground the day after sandy hook connecticut and had a moment of silence here. it's really great to see the silence that we experienced then and we've experienced over the years in this playground is now filled with these voices.

>> 321, okay. [ applause ] >> the park was kind of bleak. it was scary and over grown. we started to help maclaren park when we found there wasn't any money in the bond for this park maclaren. we spent time for funding. it was expensive to raise money for this and there were a lot of delays. a lot of it was just the mural, the sprinklers and we didn't have any grass. it was that bad. we worked on sprinkler heads and grass and we fixed everything. we worked hard collecting everything. we had about 400 group members. every a little bit helped and now the park is busy all week. there is people with kids

using the park and using strollers and now it's safer by utilizing it. >> maclaren park being the largest second park one of the best kept secrets. what's exciting about this activation in particular is that it's the first of many. it's also representation of our city coming together but not only on the bureaucratic side of things. but also our neighbors, neighbors helped this happen. we are thrilled that today we are seeing the fruition of all that work in this city's open space. >> when we got involved with this park there was a broken swing set and half of -- for me, one thing i really like to point out to other groups is that when you are competing for funding in a hole on the

ground, you need to articulate what you need for your park. i always point as this sight as a model for other communities. >> i hope we continue to work on the other empty pits that are here. there are still a lot of areas that need help at maclaren park. we hope grants and money will be available to continue to improve this park to make it shine. it's a really hidden jewel. a lot of people don't know it's here.

dev mission's goal is aiming to train young adults, youth so we can be a wealth and disparity in underserved communities like where we are today. my name is leo sosa. i'm the founder and executive director for devmission. we're sitting inside a computer lab where residents come and get support when they give help about how to set up an e-mail account. how to order prescriptions online. create a résumé. we are also now paying attention to provide tech support.

we have collaborated with the san francisco mayor's office and the department of technology to implement a broad band network for the residents here so they can have free internet access. we have partnered with community technology networks to provide computer classes to the seniors and the residents. so this computer lab becomes a hub for the community to learn how to use technology, but that's the parents and the adults. we have been able to identify what we call a stem date. the acronym is science technology engineering and math. kids should be exposed no matter what type of background or ethnicity or income status. that's where we actually create magic. >> something that the kids are really excited about is science and so the way that we execute that is through making slime. and as fun as it is, it's still a chemical reaction and you start to understand that with

the materials that you need to make the slime. >> they love adding their little twists to everything. it's just a place for them to experiment and that's really what we want. >> i see. >> really what the excitement behind that is that you're making something. >> logs, legos, sumo box, art, drawing, computers, mine craft, and really it's just awaking opportunity. >> keeping their attention is like one of the biggest challenges that we do have because, you know, they're kids. they always want to be doing something, be helping with something. so we just let them be themselves. we have our set of rules in place that we have that we want them to follow and live up to. and we also have our set of expectations that we want them to achieve. this is like my first year officially working with kids. and definitely i've had moments where they're not getting something. they don't really understand it and you're trying to just talk

to them in a way that they can make it work teaching them in different ways how they can get the light bulb to go off and i've seen it first-hand and it makes me so happy when it does go off because it's like, wow, i helped them understand this concept. >> i love playing games and i love having fun with my friends playing dodge ball and a lot of things that i like. it's really cool. >> they don't give you a lot of cheese to put on there, do they? you've got like a little bit left. >> we learn programming to make them work. we do computers and programming. at the bottom here, we talk to

them and we press these buttons to make it go. and this is to turn it off. and this is to make it control on its own. if you press this twice, it can do any type of tricks. like you can move it like this and it moves. it actually can go like this. >> like, wow, they're just absorbing everything. so it definitely is a wholehearted moment that i love experiencing. >> the realities right now, 5.3 latinos working in tech and about 6.7 african americans working in tech. and, of course, those tech companies are funders. so i continue to work really hard with them to close that

gap and work with the san francisco unified school district so juniors and seniors come to our program, so kids come to our stem hub and be exposed to all those things. it's a big challenge. >> we have a couple of other providers here on site, but we've all just been trying to work together and let the kids move around from each department. some kids are comfortable with their admission, but if they want to jump in with city of dreams or hunter's point, we just try to collaborate to provide the best opportunity in the community. >> devmission has provided services on westbrook. they teach you how to code. how to build their own mini robot to providing access for the youth to partnerships with adobe and sony and google and twitter. and so devmission has

definitely brought access for our families to resources that our residents may or may not have been able to access in the past. >> the san francisco house and development corporation gave us the grant to implement this program. it hasn't been easy, but we have been able to see now some of the success stories of some of those kids that have been able to take the opportunity and continue to grow within their education and eventually become a very successful citizen. >> so the computer lab, they're doing the backpacks. i don't know if you're going to be able to do the class. you still want to try? . yeah. go for it. >> we have a young man by the name of ivan mello. he came here two and a half years ago to be part of our digital arts music lab. graduating with natural, fruity

loops, rhymes. all of our music lyrics are clean. he came as an intern, and now he's running the program. that just tells you, we are only creating opportunities and there's a young man by the name of eduardo ramirez. he tells the barber, what's that flyer? and he says it's a program that teaches you computers and art. and i still remember the day he walked in there with a baseball cap, full of tattoos. nice clean hair cut. i want to learn how to use computers. graduated from the program and he wanted to work in i.t.. well, eduardo is a dreamer. right. so trying to find him a job in the tech industry was very challenging, but that didn't stop him. through the effort of the office of economic work force

and the grant i reached out to a few folks i know. post mates decided to bring him on board regardless of his legal status. he ended his internship at post mates and now is at hudacity. that is the power of what technology does for young people that want to become part of the tech industry. what we've been doing, it's very innovative. helping kids k-12, transitional age youth, families, parents, communities, understand and to be exposed to stem subjects. imagine if that mission one day can be in every affordable housing community. the opportunities that we would create and that's what i'm trying to do with this

>> tuesday february 15th, 2022 and would you please call the roll. [roll call] >> thank you. now it's my privilege to read the ramaytush oholone land acknowledgment. the san francisco health commission acknowledges we're unceded ancestorial homeland of the ramaytush oholone who are the original inhabitants of the san francisco peninsula and the indigenous stewards of the land and in accordance of their traditiohe