and then also around nutrition and support for people with chronic health conditions, and also our department works with veterans and how are we making sure that we're meeting the needs of veterans as well. and as we all saw during the pandemic, isolation is -- is a real problem that i'm sure that we all knew about prior to the pandemic, but it became really visible during the pandemic so how are we combating that. and the programs for our transgender and gender non-conforming people. and, lastly, how do we ensure that we're doing enough outreach to strengthen our awareness of our existing services. and one of the things that we will be doing is coming out with an online service directory, and we've been talking about this

for several years but it's really happening finally. and we understand that not everyone can reach us or has the ability to get online as we just heard. that that will be one additional way that people can find out about our services. in addition to the fact that we are going to be doing more training for our providers as well as internally for our staff to make sure that we are -- that everybody is clear on all of the different services that are operating throughout the city, so that we're not just acting in our own little silo. next slide, please. and i thought that i'd tell you a little bit about the needs assessment and how that went. so we kicked it off in september, between september and december, there was a fair amount of research and stakeholder engagement that was done.

we also -- there's a big focus on equity and so we wanted to make sure that we are reaching out to the populations who -- who need us most, we had a community survey. we did community forums, and we had focus groups and key informant interviews. we understand that obviously we did not reach everyone. it's a really short time frame and, of course, there were peaks and valleys happening with the pandemic. and -- but i think that with it all we worked with a consultant and we did our best to reach as many people as we could to find out what people were thinking about and what issues were coming up. so we are just finishing the phase of completing the draft report, which offers findings and recommendations. and i know that there will be a meeting on monday to discuss the

draft report and that's with the oversight and the advisory committee on monday. next slide, please. so we have already shared the report with the dignity fund service provider working group, and as i mentioned on monday we'll be sharing it with the oversight and the advisory committee. in april, we'll share the final report with stakeholders and that will be through a joint hearing of the commission and the advisory committee on april 6th. in may, the doss commission will be voting on this report and then in june we'll present it to the board of supervisors for their approval as well. and i think that is about all i have for now and i am happy to take questions.

so if there are any questions, fire away. >> co-chair sassouni: , i have one, this is orkid. >> hi. >> co-chair sassouni: hi. so i am orkid here. and a great presentation. and a timeline. i am curious -- the dignity fund, does that include housing too? that's my first question. or is that separate for providing services? >> okay. so the answer to that first question is -- no. it does not include housing. my department of disability and aging services provides services

and not housing. we recognize that housing is a key barrier for many people. and what we do is that we are working with other departments and trying to find out what is happening, we are in a severe housing crisis, among other things. but what we try to do is to make sure that once -- if people are housed, they're getting the proper supports they need to stay housed. >> co-chair sassouni: okay, so thank you for that, that's really good to know. i know that it's not -- it's not easy. part of the problem with this is that there is a gap in those services. so i'm hoping that the city can really work on collaborating on

not fixing, but working and revamping the access, i should say, to all of that. and i know that it's a huge process for people with disabilities who are experiencing homelessness, obviously, there's a large population. so i hope that you can give them support and services, social workers, case managers, access to folks and they need to provide access as well. so hopefully you're setting up that type of program and i realize that is quite a problem and we will be able to collaborate with the other departments because we do need access, obviously. so there's another place maybe where you can bridge that gap, so people who are really, really

familiar with access issues and people that aren't. so maybe they could bridge the gap in that area. >> yes, i so appreciate your comments. and i wanted to just mention that our department did just finish -- we completed a housing assessment -- which is a snapshot of where we are today in terms of older adults and people with disabilities. and it is -- it is upsetting as you can imagine. and from there there will be a full -- there's going to be a full assessment done that i think that just recently got kicked off and it will take the next several months, like -- so we know what the picture is, but what are we going to do to improve this dismal picture? and that's where we are now. and that is a collaboration with multiple departments. but the board of supervisors

passed das to, you know, to hold everybody's hand and to get this -- get this project going. so i'm hoping that i will be able to come back in a few months and to let you know the results of that report as well. >> co-chair sassouni: that would be great. >> yeah. and i just want to add that it's not just that there are gaps in services, but there are gaps in what people know and what services are available. and that is something that we are really working on hard right now, because, you know, you don't know what you don't know. and it's not -- >> co-chair sassouni: right. >> right? and it's not just the users of the services who don't know, there are many people who are out there providing services that don't know what the person down the street who is also providing services -- what those services are. and through our online directory, through these

trainings that we'll be doing, both internally and externally, we're hoping to list everybody up, so we can all see what everyone is doing and hopefully that will help a little bit. >> co-chair madrid: thank you. are there any other questions? don't be shy. all right. nicole, do you have a question? >> yes, i do. thank you so much, kelly, for coming today. and for presenting about the cultural center and the dignity fund. regarding the cultural center, thanks for outlining where we are with our rfp and i know that

kelsey has just begun their ground breaking. do you have a sense that you're able to share around when we might be targeting a launch or an opening? so that's one question. and to what degree do you think that virtual connections will be a part of the cultural center? i'm wondering if you're able to speak to that at all. and the second question is if you could answer those first, that would be great. >> i'll answer the second question first. the idea of the cultural center is to be both in-person and virtual and the idea, and whoever is chosen as the vendor,

is that people need to, yes, to meet in person. but also need to be able to meet in the virtual world because we understand that for many people that's the only way and the best way for them to meet. so, yes, to that. so there will be a lot of virtual opportunities as well. i cannot give you, unfortunately, an idea of -- i don't have a time frame yet and i will have that when the rfp is actually released. and then we'll get an idea as to how long it will take to actually open things up. so, i'm sorry, that i can't be more specific on that. >> thank you for clarifying the timeline. we appreciate it. and then towards the -- towards the das commission and the mayor's disability council, and have you been collaborating and working together on future projects or elevating concerns, what would you suggest that would be a good mechanism for that? what would be most helpful

for -- in the way that the mayor's disability council might be able to support the das commission and vice versa? >> so, thank you for that question. so, you know, initially what is happening is that director bohn and i meet very regularly to make sure that we're on the same page about things that are happening. i also think that there is confusion and probably some concern around what the mayor's office on disability does, versus what das does. so i can see that in the future that a joint meeting would be really great for us all to know who is doing what. and i also think that it would be helpful for me or someone on my staff to come here on a quarterly basis to let you know what we are doing.

and vice versa. someone from this council to come to ours. i do think that there is a lot of room for us to be doing things together and having each other's back, and that -- and these two departments have been working long before i got here, and that continues, but i do think it's a great idea for us to, you know, to put it more out in the open and to have some joint meetings so we can all be on the same page. >> we definitely support that and i hope that council would consider that level of participation as well. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> co-chair madrid: thank you. before i open up to the public, i have a question to you. kelly, i would love to have a

session [indiscernible]. >> yes. >> co-chair madrid: so my question [indiscernible] (please stand by)

>> just for clarification for the council and for the public about the r.s.p. process, part of the reason that the director isn't able to speak on the proposals because m.c.s or individuals are going to be applying to be the entity that runs the cultural center because that process hasn't begun yet because it's in contracts. that's the reason we can't be specific about dates yet, but as soon as they request a proposal is out and ready and

has been approved by contracts for public desemination, we'll be able to provide more information. >> exactly. >> chairman: thank you. now i'm going to open it up to the public comment. clerk, please open public comment. >> clerk: okay. as a reminder to the public, if you are using zoom, you can press the raise hand icon to raise your hand and you can also write your comment in the q&a box to be read by the clerk. you can dial star nine to raise your hand and be prompted when it's your turn to comment. our first commenter, we have

anon, you've been permitted to unmute. >> caller: hi, yes. i'm a civil rights and disability activist and i post youtube -- videos on youtube under 'disability and activism' in san francisco. of it's great to hear the disability cultural center ground is being broken and we're going to have a cultural center. that's a breath of fresh air because it was looking like it was in jeopardy for awhile. i'm hardened by the presentation that was given, but i'm a little concerned by who was giving it. kelly dearman used to be the executive director of the in-home support services. while she was there, she was incredibly oppressive to the disabled people that needed home service and needed care providers to help us. kelly dearman told me specifically, directly that she would refuse to have a community space for disabled people to organize and solve

our own problems and own issues we are struggling with in the in-home support services system so the idea to lower the burden on staff and to give more agency to disabled people. kelly dearman told me this was not appropriate because the disabled people would not be able to be monitored. i repeat, kelly dearman said we could not have a community space because we would not be able to be monitored. i don't know what she meant by that, but it concerned me. additionally kelly dearman also refused to let me meet with the deputy director of the in-home support services department and i don't know why she refused that. i actually had an appointment and she blocked me from interacting with public officials. this really concerns me because the idea of a community space and a cultural center is exactly that, right. that disabled people can meet,

share concerns, share ideas, have community, have culture. right. and if kelly dearman is still operating from that space as monitoring and sensorship and trying to make sure there's no criticism or any sort of analysis that doesn't fit in line with her world view, then that could be incredibly oppressive and could actually sabotage this cultural center. so i'm hoping in the years that have passed that kelly dearman has had a change of heart and maybe views this a little bit differently. i ask and encourage that this new space have community space for disabled people to not just be limited to organizations representing their own world view and their own services, but to actually have a space where people can get to know each other and have criticism. criticism is okay and part of being a good public official is being able to accept criticism

with grace. i hope you're all willing to do that and i ask these things be added to the cultural center. thank you. >> chairman: thank you for your public comment. are there any other public comments at this time? >> clerk: yes. our next public commenter, caller ending in '4284' you've been permitted to unmute. >> caller: it's very important to know that this is san francisco. and here in san francisco, the disability movement is very strong. so it hurts me to hear from the

previous caller that as he was trying to do something positive for the challenged community or the disability community, he was prevented and [ indiscernible ] put in his way. let me remind everybody that the federal government and we did have a president f.d.r. who put it in writing. so challenge people of that by federal laws, ordinances that have them. so we do not want people saying one thing in the presentation, talking about needs assessment, but failing to have in their heart, the right type of intention to have the challenge

population. if your heart is not in the right place and if your heart is not in the right place, you cannot take anybody to a better place. now, my name is francisco de costa. i often go to city hall to fight for those who need help and i'm challenged and i do what i can. so i'm happy we have a disability cultural center through the dignity fund. whatever's happening within the dignity fund is taking a long time. we need more transparency and accountability and in the previous agenda, we spoke about communication, another needs assessment was done, but now we have two needs assessments. it's time for action.

and the way you get action is by outreach, getting the disabled community together so that they can voice their opinion. they can tell you what they do need and what they do not need. also, we know we cannot address all the issues, but these are fact that many of the challenged people in san francisco are treated with disdain. many have no place to live. thank you very much. >> chairman: thank you for your comments. are there any other public commentors at this time? >> clerk: there are no other public commentors at this time. >> chairman: thank you. kelly, again, thank you for coming. it's good to see you.

i hope that we will see you again and i'm looking forward to working with the commission in your department and we involve the community in san francisco. >> thank you so much. i really look forward to working with you all and i will definitely keep you informed on what is happening specifically around the disability cultural center and we'll figure out how soon we can get a joint meeting with your commission and the d.a.s. commission. >> chairman: thank you. >> thank you so much. take care everybody. >> chairman: bye. have a good weekend. >> you too. >> chairman: with that, we are going to item number seven.

information item: report from the mayor's office on disability. >> i'm sorry, alex. go ahead. >> chairman: i think i heard recording stopped. do we need to hit record again? >> it's broadcast and recorded through sfgov tv. >> chairman: okay. >> okay. so hi everyone. so today i'm going to focus primarily on legislation that is is current and pending and some recommendations for what the mayor's disability council

may want to consider at future meetings. for members of the public who are wishing to engage with aspects of this report, please contact m.o.d. by phone at (415) 554-6789 or m.o.d. via our e-mail address, our general e-mail address which is mod@sfgov.org. also, you may join our distribution list or find this report following the meeting at our web page which is sfgov.org/mod. so the legislative items i want to focus on today, there's several, one is j.f.k. drive which as you know we heard about in the last meeting. i wanted to announce the referral number for you and for members of the public who want

to follow along with the proceeding. that referral number for j.f.k. drive park code golden gate park access and safety program, slow streets closures is 220261. that referral number is going to track the proceeding if you would choose to follow it. the proceeding is currently in referral status. it's been referred under the board of supervisors 30-day rule to the land use and transportation committee. as you know, from the last meeting, this legislation forwards the recommendations of sfmta and recreation and parks to the board of supervisors for a consideration. last thursday, the staff report was accepted unanimously by the

sfmta board with recommendation to revisit taxi provisions and paratransit access and the recreation and parks commission also forwarded with a positive recommendation by a majority vote although it's not unanimous. the mayor's office on disability continues to advise sfmta, recreation and parks, and the mayor's office on architectural and programatic accessibility improvements. we continue to encourage all involved to provide improvements that exceed requirements and disability equity. and in addition, m.o.d. continues to elevate the individual concerns from the disability community from members who are both opposed to the continued closure to private vehicles and members of the disability community who support the closure. as the council knows, your resolution that you drafted is

a conditional one. conditional upon additional accessibility improvements. so i really strongly urge you to help advance and keep monitoring the resolution and when you do have offers to consult and share your opinion and the opinions of the disability community that you continue to do so. thank you so much for that. i really appreciate your help. it's critically important. supervisor chan has also requested a consult as you know with both the mayor's office of disability and the council as was mentioned in the co-chair report earlier in this meeting. the next legislative referral item i want to address once more is the shared spaces referral number which is

211301, limits on fines for shared spaces violations. it is at the board of supervisors for a final consideration and it will maintain the ability to issue fines for access violations and it is expected to pass with full adoption. ment i do want to encourage the council to consider hearing an enforcement update at an up coming public meeting, however, so that i know that the disability community is concerned about the ability for the city to enforce the shared spaces program, access violations, so i would encourage you to keep that on your agenda. the next thing i wanted to mention is moving to some covid resources and there's one

that's on a deadline, so i want to mention that and then finally, i'm going to move to some recommendations for future topics. so i just wanted to remind folks that the state covid rent hope and eviction program, the eviction protection program information is available at sf.gov/renthelp. the deadline to apply for eviction protection is march 31st. we have mentioned this in previous reports, but it's time that we mention it again. so march 31st if you're interested in looking at state covid rent help and eviction protection information for yourself. again, that is posted at sf.gov/renthelp. also, there is information

available regarding the availability of the covid-19 vaccine and including the home vaccination program that's posted online and available by calling the covid resource center.' the covid resource center number once again is (628) 652-2700 and the home program vaccination program is at sf.gov/getvaccinated your home or work event. the link will be posted as part of the report, but you can also go to get vaccinated sf and there are links that provide more information. or, again, you can call

(628) 652-2700. finally, i'm going to move to some items that you may want to consider for future agenda items along with a few other updates. i mentioned in detail, the proceeding around j.f.k. drive. i did want to elevate for the council that there is a concern also that we have heard through m.o.d. around the great highway and continuation of slow streets in general and so the council may want to consider this as a broader item for a future meeting. i have already mentioned shared spaces enforcement, we heard that in public comment also today. hybrid meetings -- hybrid public meeting participation has now begun and you may recall last fall the community

alliance of disability advocates sent a letter to the mayor's office and the city administrator around maintaining access for public meetings. and now that they have launched, it would be good timing to consider hearing about how it's going so that we're making sure that we're ensuring disability access and appropriate civic participation for all. next, someone should recommend that the council should think about our city wide web accessibility policy which is currently just beginning a dissemination phase so they can learn about electronic policy and how to track the effort especially pertaining to accessibility remediation plans, training and city wide compliance. we've had, are the next topic i

want to mention is the summer together program and summer camp programs in san francisco for kids and families of kids with disabilities. we have had a productive year in that regard in really being able to advance in partnership with the department of children, youth, and families. the san francisco school district and some of our colleagues and recreation and parks. a training program that helps summer camp providers understand how to provide access for kids with disabilities so that they can participate in summer camp is a series of trainings at which m.o.d. help to coordinate. one of them that was very well

attended by all camp providers and we're hoping that this education and awareness although it needs to continue makes for a better camp to experience. finally, i just want to mention a few more things to keep an eye on and to consider the council previously tracked. you may want to and finally the better market street accessibility improvement update is something that we've heard interest from the public and wanting to know more about as well. and circling back to the very beginning of this meeting, i

just wanted to support orchid's comments and urge the commission to reconsider the mayor's disability council speak in award for the member of a disability public. that concludes my report for today. >> chairman: thank you nicole. thank you. >> thank you. >> chairman: we are moving on to item number eight. correspondence. are there any correspondence? >> this is deborah caplan.

there have been several letters received that we have forwarded to you regarding the closure of jfk drive. we're not going to read them verbatim because several of them are very long. they are consistent with many of the comments that you heard from members of the disability community at the last meeting and to some extent at this meeting. and they are all expressing concerns with the proposal for the permanent closure of jfk drive mostly focusing on parking issues and inadequacy of some of the measures that have been taken or discussed.

and that's the correspondence that's been receiveded. >> chairman: thank you. >> through the chair, debbie has the correspondence been forwarded to the council co-chairs? >> yes. >> for a full review? >> yes. >> thank you. >> chairman: thank you for that. now we will go on to item number nine, general public comment. clerk, can you please open it up for general public comment. >> clerk: okay. at this time, members of the public may address the council on items of interest to the public that are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the council that are not on this meeting agenda. each member of the public may

address the council for up to three minutes. as mentioned before, the brown act forbids the council from taking action or discussing any items not appearing on the posted agenda, including those items raised at public comment. and to make public comment within the zoom webinar platform, can you click on the raise hand button to raise your hand. you can also raise your hand on the phone by dialling star nine and if you want to write your comment, you could type it into the q&a box and it will be read by the clerk.

i do see one member of the public who would like to make public comment. alita, you've been permitted to unmute. >> caller: thank you very much. my name is alita fischer. i'm the advocacy assure chair for the san francisco community advisory and i would just like to commend the work of the mayor's office disability, rec and park, and san francisco unified school district to raise the issue of families of children with disabilities and finding a summer program. i cannot thank you enough for all the work that's being done to ensure we have inclusive camps. there's nothing more demoralizing than to sign your child up for a camp along with their nondisabled peers only to get that call midway through day one asking you to come pick them up because we're sorry, we just can't support your kid here and it's devastating for our children. so thank you for all the work that you are doing and obviously it continues. we've got plenty of private camps who still do this. we're excited that the commitment of rec and park is there to make all camps inclusive. and also there are many of our

students who qualify for extended school year which is five to six weeks over the summer and that only runs until 1:00 p.m. so there are many families who still struggle with providing options for their students after extended school year programming ends at noon or 1:00. [please stand by]

and i would like very briefly to comment on director bohn's presentation, on potential future agenda items. i'm very impressed with the list. it really underscores how much is going on at any given time in the city and county that affects accessibility and people with disabilities in general. and it's really -- i guess what they call a target rich environment for you, you know, these would all be great agenda items to consider. but it's also really great that director bohn gives you an

update on pending legislation and including the reference numbers. i think that's also very -- that information isn't always so easy to find. so it's very helpful for all of us to get that as well. so i just wanted to speak in support of that item and i'm not exactly clear how you actually decide as a group what items you will hear and when, but, again, it's just a great list of really important agenda items. so i hope that you can get to as many of them as possible. thank you. >> co-chair madrid: thank you for your comment. are there other public comments at this time? >> clerk: there are no other public commenters at this time. >> co-chair madrid: thank you.

and we are now on discussion item. >> co-chair sassouni: this is orkid. i have no announcements or comments. >> co-chair madrid: if i could thank for planning of this meeting, to discuss a virtual public meeting items.

and decide which items for the next public meeting. i want to have the last public comment before i adjourn the meeting. with that i want to just say thank you, bye, orkid. >> co-chair sassouni: yes, this is orkid. yes, one very, very brief item just generally. i want -- really want to acknowledge the film "coda" that received some awards, really beautiful representation of the deaf community. so very thrilled that that has happened. and we hope that this win will

help hollywood see that the disability community can be well represented in media and -- interpreter is asking for clarification -- and we are hoping they'll win an additional award this month little so clap your fingers, the movie is called "coda" and it's about a deaf family. so i wish you all a wonderful week and weekend. >> co-chair madrid: i will watch it, that's the next movie. before i adjourn i just want to give thanks, a big huge thanks to the staff, for speaking again

and to the members, and the interpreters and sf-gov tv. i hope that i'm not missing anyone else. but with that, i call this adjournment of this. and the next meeting will be on april 15th at 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. so now we can finally adjourn the meeting. thank you, guys.

>> once i got the hang of it a little bit, you know, like the first time, i never left the court. i just fell in love with it and any opportunity i had to get out there, you know, they didn't have to ask twice. you can always find me on the court. [♪♪♪]

>> we have been able to participate in 12 athletics wheelchairs. they provide what is an expensive tool to facilitate basketball specifically. behind me are the amazing golden state road warriors, which are one of the most competitive adaptive basketball teams in the state led by its captain, chuck hill, who was a national paralympic and, and is now an assistant coach on the national big team. >> it is great to have this opportunity here in san francisco. we are the main hub of the bay area, which, you know, we should definitely have resources here. now that that is happening, you know, i i'm looking forward to that growing and spreading and

helping spread the word that needs -- that these people are here for everyone. i think it is important for people with disabilities, as well as able-bodied, to be able to see and to try different sports, and to appreciate trying different things. >> people can come and check out this chairs and use them. but then also friday evening, from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m., it will be wheelchair basketball we will make sure it is available, and that way people can no that people will be coming to play at the same time. >> we offer a wide variety of adaptive and inclusion programming, but this is the first time we have had our own equipment.

>> shop and dine in the 49 promotes local businesses and challenges residents to do their business in the 49 square files of san francisco. we help san francisco remain unique, successful and right vi. so where will you shop and dine in the 49? >> i'm one of three owners here in san francisco and we provide mostly live music entertainment and we have food, the type of food that we have a mexican food and it's not a big menu, but we did it with love. like ribeye tacos and quesadillas and fries. for latinos, it brings families together and if we can bring

that family to your business, you're gold. tonight we have russelling for e community. >> we have a ten-person limb elimination match. we have a full-size ring with barside food and drink. we ended up getting wrestling here with puoillo del mar. we're hope og get families to join us. we've done a drag queen bingo and we're trying to be a diverse kind of club, trying different things. this is a great part of town and there's a bunch of shops, a variety of stores and ethnic restaurants. there's a popular little shop that all of the kids like to hang out at. we have a great breakfast spot

call brick fast at tiffanies. some of the older businesses are refurbished and newer businesses are coming in and it's exciting. >> we even have our own brewery for fdr, ferment, drink repeat. it's in the san francisco garden district and four beautiful murals. >> it's important to shop local because it's kind of like a circle of life, if you will. we hire local people. local people spend their money at our businesses and those local people will spend their money as well. i hope people shop locally. [ ♪♪♪ ]

>> good afternoon, everyone. thank you for joining us today. we're happy to host this event with mayor breed and our iconic downtown partners to show our support and commitment to the economic recovery of the city. we are committed to this effort and are thrilled to welcome back people to downtown. i'm honored to introduce our steadfast leader during a challenging time, but we're turning the corner. mayor breed, we look forward to the continued partnership of the downtown recovery plan, and welcome back to s.f. [applause]

>> the hon. london breed: thank you, neela, and it's great to be here at selhurst park in the city, let me tell you, if you don't live here, you would want to. this is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and it's great because the weather is nice, but there's been something missing for sometime, and that's the people. yes, the diversity, the folks from all over are what make san francisco so amazing. so when i reached out to members of the business community and asked them to work with me and join us in returning to work from march, so many businesses stepped up and said yes.

so part of what we know is businesses don't just open up, and restaurants open up, and people move about, we've been cooped up for two years. a global pandemic has kept us apart like never about, and now that we're emerging, we have so much to do. we were the first country to shutdown, san francisco, and we saved thousands of lives because of it. and now, 83% of san franciscans are vaccinated and counting. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: so we have something to be proud of, but no one likes to have a good time more than san francisco. no one takes fun more seriously than san francisco, and so part

of the fun means when we come back, we need to see some amazing gatherings. i welcome our salesforce and c.b.d.s and others who came together with places like the flower mart to say basically that not only are we coming back, but we're going to come back. if you have not been to club fugazi and have seen the show, boy, are you missing out.

that show is extraordinary, and so we're bringing a little sneak peek out for everyone to see and enjoy. make sure you go and see the bigger show because boy, it makes you feel good about san francisco. it makes you feel good being a part of this extraordinary city. thanks to lyft -- to lyft who are providing free bikes and scooters to get around the city, and make sure you visit places in the city that are going to host some of these activities because we are back. we are back, and now, it's time to appreciate life like never

before. thank you to so many of our partners, and now, i want to introduce kip to make some remarks. he has put a lot of this together, and we welcome his advocacy and his leadership and answering the call when we needed it. before i do that, i just want to give a shoutout because i know what's been on the top of everybody's mind. our community ambassadors in the orange jackets all over the city, we have retired police officers who are working as ambassadors, and so we are going to do everything we can to make sure that san francisco continues to be this extraordinary place that keeps a smile on your face, and thank you all so much for coming here

today. and with that, i want to introduce kip from east cut. >> thank you, mayor breed, and thank you to you and your team for your tireless efforts in trying to bring people and businesses back to the city. so what i thought i'd do is just share a few remarks about how our group came together and why we came together, and it's really no secret that covid has been a huge challenge cities. there's not a lot more that can be done to encourage people to come back to downtown, and if you recall, we started the process at the end of last year

before omicron, and the chronicle had an interview with a small business owner, and he said it's great that restrictions are being lifted, but we need to show that things are different, and it was that concept, that don't just tell me, show me, that things were different to bring this s.f., this bloomsf at the end of march. and so in conjunction with the mayor's recovery team, we sat down and said what can we do to help? and the decision was let's put together a celebration, let's give people a reason to come back downtown. and a vibrant downtown is not only critical for our recovery but for the long-term health of this city.

this is where serendipity happens. these things happen unscripted and unplanned when we're down here, and this is where we come to eat, to shop, to be entertained. we know that precovid, technology can serve to isolate us, and covid has exacerbated that, so these events are so critical for us to be together. so bloomsf at the end of this month will be a celebration. our group determined that that event would be more compelling. we'll see a wine walk, outdoor deejays. we'll have the launch of the outdoor cinema at the crossing.

that'll be complemented by art installations at b.a.r.t. and muni stations. it's going to be a really fun weekend, so if you're a business, don't just encourage employees to come back, encourage them to come out. if you're a worker who's hesitant, come back and rediscover what it is you love about your co-workers and what you love about downtown. we hope you all come back this weekend and help in getting downtown back on its feet. with that, i want to introduce robert tibbetts with an architecture firm, one of the businesses that's committed to bring people back in the month of march.

rob? [applause] >> thank you. i do just want to take a moment to thank the mayor for her leadership. two years ago, you made a difficult decision in the face of fierce opposition from other levels of government, and steered us through this, and i don't know that we've said we appreciate you for that. all right. coming back to work, we're all going to wear pants and shoes. we have 200 people coming back to work, and we're a design firm, so we need to work together. we need to see each other. there's a certain magic and collective creativity that just isn't possible on zoom, and that's just real exciting. on the way to work, we'll stop and get coffee and doughnuts, and on the way home, we'll stop

and get our shoes repaired, get soup and salad for dinner, and we'll start to gather. we are going to be making our community a better place, and we are committed to doing that. we have a great city, let's make it even greater. thank you. [applause] >> all right. next up, going to recognize and introduce -- just say as a san francisco native, i'm proud to introduce denise tran, owner and founder of a small business

eatery in san francisco. [applause] >> hi, everyone. i just want to thank mayor breed for this opportunity to speak on small businesses in downtown. i am the founder of a bhan-mi sandwich eatery, two locations, one at the airport, and one on market stleet, just a few weeks from here. i have to -- street, just a few weeks from here. i have to say three of my locations have reopened, except for the one on market street.

the small mom-and-pop businesses in downtown san francisco that make san francisco so unique desperately need folks to come back to work. my shop, my little sandwich shop, relies on catering and office business and office lunches, and unfortunately, we're still closed, so i'm so excited for this opportunity today, for the mayor to call businesses back to work because this gives us an opportunity to open our shop again and do what we love best. san francisco, we're all, under the leadership of mayor breed, have done such an amazing job of keeping everyone safe during such a hard time. let's continue to work together to bring back tourism to our

city, to bring back conferences and businesses. let's bring back all the great things that we love about this city again, so thank you for this opportunity, and i look forward to what's coming our way. thank you so much. [applause] >> all right. next up, we're going to have the mayor come back and introduce one of her favorite groups. >> the hon. london breed: i am? >> yeah. >> the hon. london breed: okay. well, just to top it off and give you a bit of a little bit of a taste of what you can expect from all of the great activities that we're going to be adding to san francisco, right now, we have a performance from seven finger circus. they perform at club fugazi,

and here's just a tidbit of here's san francisco. [♪♪♪]

[applause] >> the hon. london breed: big round of applaud for seven finger circus. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: whoa! goodness, doesn't that make you nervous? do i clap?

i don't want to mess them up, right? well, this is what you're going to be seeing all over san francisco, and we want to thank all of you for coming, all the businesses who committed to bringing their employees back during the month of march. i've already seen some of the lines at some of the businesses downtown, so we want our businesses reopened, we want our economy going again, we want to be out and about, enjoying our beautiful city, so again, it is not too late. it is still the month of march, so bring your folks back two, three, four, five days a week or bring them back for dinner, bring them back to see san francisco at club fugazi, bring them back to the flower mart. it is time to takeoff those pajama pants and go down. we are open for business, san

francisco. thank you all so much for coming today. [♪♪♪] [applause]

the tenderloin is home to families, immigrants, seniors, merchants, workers and the housed and unhoused who all deserve a thriving neighborhood to call home. the tenderloin initiative was launched to improve safety, reduce crime, connect people to services and increase investments in the neighborhood. as city and community-based partners, we work daily to make these changes a reality. we invite you to the tenderloin history, inclusivity make this neighborhood special. >> we're all citizens of san francisco and we deserve food, water, shelter, all of those

things that any system would. >> what i find the most fulfilling about being in the tenderloin is that it's really basically a big family here and i love working and living here. >> [speaking foreign language] >> my hopes and dreams for the tenderloin are what any other community organizer would want for their community, safe, clean streets for everyone and good operating conditions for small businesses. >> everything in the tenderloin is very good. the food is very good. if you go to any restaurant in san francisco, you will feel like oh, wow, the food is great. the people are nice. >> it is a place where it

embraces all walks of life and different cultures. so this is the soul of the tenderloin. it's really welcoming. the. >> the tenderloin is so full of color and so full of people. so with all of us being together and making it feel very safe is challenging, but we are working on it and we are getting there. >> there is a lot of unique characteristics about visitation valley. it is a unique part of the city. >> we are off in a corner of the

city against the san francisco county line 101 on one side. vis station valley is still one of the last blue color neighborhoods in san francisco. a lot of working class families out here. it is unusual. not a lot of apartment buildings. a lot of single family homes. >> great business corridor. so much traffic coming through here and stopping off to grab coffee or sandwich or pick up food before going home. >> a lot of customers are from the neighborhood. they are painters or mechanics. they are like blue color workers, a lot of them. >> the community is lovely. multi-racial and hopefully we can look out for each other. >> there is a variety of businesses on the block. you think of buffalo kitchen, chinese food, pork buns,

sandwich. library, bank of america with a parking lot. the market where you can grab anything. amazing food choices, nail salons. basically everything you need is here. >> a lot of these businesses up and down leland are family owned. people running them are family. when you come here and you have an uncle and nephew and go across the street and have the guy and his dad. lisa and her daughter in the dog parlor and pam. it is very cool. >> is small businesses make the neighborhood unique. >> new businesses coming. in mission blue, gourmet chocolate manufacturing. the corridor has changed and is continuing to change. we hope to see more businesses coming in the near future.

>> this is what is needed. first, stay home. unless it is absoluteliness scary. social distancing is the most important step right now to limit spread of virus. cancel all nonessential gather everythings. >> when the pandemic litly land avenue suffered like other corridors. a few nail salons couldn't operate. they shut down. restaurants that had to adapt to more of a take out model. they haven't totally brought back indoor seating. >> it is heartbreaking to see the businesses that have closed down and shut because of the pandemic. >> when the pandemic first hit it got really slow. we had to change our hours. we never had to close, which is

a blessing. thank god. we stayed open the whole time. >> we were kind of nervous and anxious to see what was going to come next hoping we will not have to close down. >> during covid we would go outside and look on both sides of the street. it looked like old western town. nobody on the street. no cars. >> it was a hard eight or nine months. when they opened up half the people couldn't afford a haircut. >> during that time we kept saying the coffee shop was the living room of the valley. people would come to make sure they were okay. >> we checked on each other and patronized each other. i would get a cup of coffee, shirt, they would get a haircut. >> this is a generous and kind community. people would be like i am getting the toffee for the guy

behind me and some days it went on and on. it was amazing to watch. we saw a perfect picture of community. we are all in this together. >> since we began to reopen one year later, we will emerge stronger. we will emerge better as a city because we are still here and we stand in solidarity with one another. >> when we opened up august 1st. i will not say it was all good. we are still struggling due to covid. it affected a lot of people. >> we are still in the pandemic right now. things are opening up a little bit. it is great to have space to come together. i did a three painting series of visitation valley and the businesses on leland. it felt good to drop off the paintings and hung them.

>> my business is picking up. the city is opening up. we have mask requirements. i check temperatures. i ask for vaccination card and/or recent test. the older folks they want to feel safe here. >> i feel like there is a sense of unity happening. >> what got us through the pandemic was our customers. their dogs needed groomed, we have to cut their nails so they don't over grow. >> this is only going to push us forward. i sense a spirit of community and just belief in one another. >> we are trying to see if we can help all small businesses around here. there is a cannabis club lounge next to the dog parlor to bring foot traffic. my business is not going to work if the business across the street is not getting help. >> in hit us hard. i see a bright future to get the

storefronts full. >> once people come here i think they really like it. >> if you are from san francisco visit visitation valley to see how this side of the city is the same but different.

>> good morning. welcome to the rules committee of the san francisco board of supervisors for today monday