>> 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] >> i don't want to be involved in the process after it happens. i want to be there at the front

end to help people with something in my mind from a very early age. our community is the important way to look at things, even now. george floyd was huge. it opened up wounds and a discussion on something festering for a long time. before rodney king. you can look at all the instances where there are calls for change. i think we are involved in change right now in this moment that is going to be long lasting. it is very challenging. i was the victim of a crime when i was in middle school. some kids at recess came around at pe class and came to the locker room and tried to steal my watch and physically assaulted me. the officer that helped afterwards went out of his way to check the time to see how i

was. that is the kind of work, the kind of perspective i like to have in our sheriff's office regardless of circumstance. that influenced me a lot. some of the storefronts have changed. what is mys is that i still see some things that trigger memories. the barbershop and the shoe store is another one that i remember buying shoestrings and getting my dad's old army boots fixed. we would see movies after the first run. my brother and i would go there. it is nice. if you keep walking down sacramento. the nice think about the city it takes you to japan town. that is where my grandparents were brought up. that is the traditional foods or movies. they were able to celebrate the

culture in that community. my family also had a dry-cleaning business. very hard work. the family grew up with apartments above the business. we have a built-in work force. 19 had 1 as -- 1941 as soon as that happened the entire community was fixed. >> determined to do the job as democracy should with real consideration for the people involved. >> the decision to take every one of japan niece american o japanese from their homes. my family went to the mountains and experienced winter and summer and springs. they tried to make their home a home.

the community came together to share. they tried to infuse each home are little things. they created things. i remember my grand mother saying they were very scared. they were worried. they also felt the great sense of pride. >> japanese americans. >> my granduncle joined the 442nd. when the opportunity came when the time that was not right. they were in the campaign in italy. they were there every step of the way. >> president truman pays tribute. >> that was the most decorated unit in the history of the united states army. commitment and loyal to to the

country despite that their families were in the camp at that time. they chose to come back to san francisco even after all of that. my father was a civil servant as well and served the state of california workers' compensation attorney and judge and appellate board. my parents influenced me to look at civil service s.i applied to police, and sheriff's department at the same time. the sheriff's department grabbed me first. it was unique. it was not just me in that moment it was everyone. it wasn't me looking at the crowd. it was all of us being together. i was standing there alone. i felt everyone standing next to me. the only way to describe it. it is not about me. it is from my father. my father couldn't be there.

he was sick. the first person i saw was him. i still sometimes am surprised by the fact i see my name as the sheriff. i am happy to be in the position i am in to honor their memory doing what i am doing now to help the larger comment. when i say that we want to be especially focused on marginalized communities that have been wronged. coming from my background and my family experienced what they did. that didn't happen in a vacuum. it was a decision made by the government. nobody raised their voice. now, i think we are in a better place as country and community. when we see something wrong we have change agents step up to help the community affected.

that is a important thing to continue to do. you talk about change and being a leader in change and not knowing whether you have successes or results. the fact of the matter is by choosing to push for change you have already changed things. through inspiration for others, take up the matter or whether it is through actual functional change as a result of your voice being heard. i think you have already started on a path to change by choosing that path. in doing that in april of itself creates change. i continue in that type of service for my family. something i hope to see in my children. i have a pretty good chance with five children one will go into some sort of civil service. i hope that happens to continue that legacy.

>> i am paul, sheriff of san francisco. [ music ]

>> van ness avenue runs from market street to bay street in san francisco. south vanness runs from south of market to cesar chavez street. originally residential after the 1906 earthquake it was used as a fire break. many car dealerships and businesses exist on vanness today with expansion of bus lanes. originally marlet street was named after james vanness, seventh mayor of san francisco from 1855 to 1856. vanness heavy are streets in santa cruz, los angeles and fresno in his honor. in 1915 streetcars started the opening of the expo. in 1950s it was removed and replaced by a tree-lined median. it was part of the central

freeway from bayshore to hayes valley. it is part of uses 101. it was damaged during the 1989 earthquake. in 1992 the elevator part of the roadway was removed. it was developed into a surface boulevard. today the vanness bus rapid transit project is to have designated bus lanes service from mission. it will display the history of the city. van ness avenue. >> everything we do in the tenderloin, we urban outfit. here, this gives us an opportunity to collaborate with other agencies and we become familiar with how other agencies operate and allow us to be more flexible and get

better at what we depo in the line of work in this task. >> sometimes you go down and it's hard to get up. so we see ourselves as providing an opportunity for the unhoused to get up. and so i really believe that when they come here and they've said it, this right here is absolutely needed. you can't ask for nothing better. >> the tenderloin is the stuff that ain't on the list of remedies, liked the spiritual connection to recovery and why would i? why would i recover? what have i got to live for? things like that. and sharing the stories. like i was homeless and just the team. and some people need that extra connection on why they can change their life or how they could. >> we have a lot of guests that will come in and say i would like -- you know, i need help with shelter, food, and primary care doctor. and so here, that's three rooms down the hall.

so if you book them, they get all of their needs taken care of in one go. this is an opportunity for us here in the tenderloin to come together, try out these ideas to see if we can put -- get -- connect people to services in a >> chair mandelman: welcome to the meeting of the transportation authority. i'm mandelman, i chair this board and our vice chair is aaron peskin and our clerk is angela tsao. madam clerk, will you call the roll. >> clerk: yes. [roll call]