good night, god bless. >> good afternoon. i am elaine forbes, ecective directive of the port of san francisco representing my staff and we are celebrating a major accomplishment today. it has been a long hard road of data and collaboration and work and today we realize it is very

successful road, and we are very proud to stand here with the army corp of engineers. the question we had in 2018 when the leadership actually right behind me came together was, how do we protect this waterfront? we have big areas of the city that the sea wall protects from flood, big public systems, regional systems like bart that has serious risk of flood from sea level rise and so the question came, how do we protect it? we put together a bond that went to the voters and in 2018 to say, we have risk, we have trouble, help us. the leadership behind me made that bond happen. with that bond, we began to work and advocate that same year, we amazingly got a new start from the army corp of engine and say said we will study this problem, we'll figure how to fix it and if we

find federal interest we'll build with you to build the project and today we are celebrating the draft plan that has come out of that process. it involves 6 years of work, very deep analysis and investigation. this is not a easy problem to solve. but now you will see and it the public will see this work lead to key answers to the puzzle of how to protect this waterfront. the remarkable leaders behind me took very very very bold steps with persistent commitment to the long game and to addressing sadly what we must address, to make this day possible. we mark this milestone as a great achievement and i want to acknowledge the people behind me. speaker emeritus nancy pelosi. thank you. mayor london breed.

lieutenant governor kounalakis. state senator scott wiener. board president aaron peskin. u.s. army corp of engineers south pacific commander, colonel james hondora, and eventually city administrator carmen chui may join us. so, thank you. so, i want to talk about what this plan is. what this draft plan is. it analyzed the flood risks and effects the sea level rise from aquatic park to [indiscernible] port jurisdiction. it shows where to build the flood defenses, how high to build the flood defenses, and how much space to take in order to have those flood defenses. it is up to us, the city, our partners to figure out what will go back on top, which to

make a beautiful waterfront. befitting of wonderful city and county of san francisco. the waterfront of the future has to be as least as majestic as the waterfront of today. the plan is expensive. it is expenses has a price tag of $13 billion at this time. when we move forward on projects the federal government will pay for 65 cents of every dollar it cost. 65 percent contribution. that is a big benefit to city and county of san francisco. because we know sea level rise is happening, but we don't know how it happen or how quickly this plan is adaptive and smart how to build to changing and unknown condition. it is also unique in terms of how it addresses the waterfront across. it is a major mile stone but there much ahead.

much that will be ahead. this plan will be implemented over many decades. many decades and the phasing and implementation strategy as will be very important because we want to leverage other public infrastructure investments, private investment and other investments that make federal interest and city interest come together in a important way. it is time for the public to engage. that's what we are announcing today, the public engaged to date. the public needs to please keep engaging on the plan to build an amazing waterfront , we need that engagement. we are working on things we may not see. all these projects but the future generation will see and paving the way for important works so they are prepared. the projects are prepared to implement. i mention i'm surrounded by the leadings who made this happen. both through the larger army corp study we are sharing and

through proposition a, the earthquake safety bond so i like to first introduce speaker emeritus pelosi who served san francisco and county with such distinction. she is in fact a national treasure as we know. she and senator feinstein are the reason we got the new start army corp in 2018. without this new start we would not have this discussion in any way shape or form because it began the flood study in the deep partnership with the army corp of engineers. with the passage of infrastructure investment jobs act and inflation reduction act there is no one who has worked harder to address climate change then speaker emeritus pelosi. also, in 2020 and again in 2022, the army corp looks at cost versus benefit. the san francisco cost include seismic cost which are substantial when you build

anything, in particular on the utwaer front. we have terrible seismic conditions. those cost will drag down any hope of us having federal interest and it was speaker pelosi's team that saw through many technical and legislative amendments so we can compete and in fact there was a finding of federal interest. without this finding we would not have this conversation. it was with great honor that i introduce her and thank her for sharing in this milestone. >> thank you, thank you so much very. san francisco port director elaine forbes. to you and your staff congratulation what is happening today and thank you. as you could tell from the prezen taiz of the director this is complicated initiative. when she talks about new starts, we had to fight a initiative of a previous

occupant of the white house who didn't want anymore new starts and if there were new starts we had to be one of them. again, attribute to senator feinstein in the senate was such a important part of this. we are here because of a vision of the people of san francisco. i'm honored to be here with the family, mayor, senator wiener, kounalakis, aaron peskin, carmen chui and the big homa here today is united states army corp engineers colonel james hondura. this is the moment because i can't tell how many times in the years in congress where people all over the country come to me and say, can you influence the army corp of engineers to certify, to put-to give [indiscernible] no. they have a independent process

that they use. it isn't political, it is factual and determined. for us to have--elaine, director forbes, very clearly described everything so i won't go into it so you enable us to respond time on other remarks and i appreciate that, but this from the army corp of engineers to this extent is remarkable, and we should be proud of that and this period of public comment is really a model to the country as well, because again, we want to be factual and thoughtful and practical about what we can get done. it is really a honor to be here. the century old embarcadero sea wall provides a crucial foundation for our city protecting families, businesses, you know all that and streets from flooding.

flooding. we face intensifying climate crisis and possibility of earthquake risk, the draft today, the release of the draft plans brings us a step closer to shoring up our sea wall. the climate crisis-rising sea levels is a consequence of climate crisis is a existential threat of our time and our first future depends on taking action now. this is why the draft plan is so critical to protecting the city sea wall from earthquake and flooding risk. it has been my privilege to fight in congress along the way to help investigate how to strengthen our sea wall including in the president infrastructure law $5 million to continue these studies. it is one step at a time. when we talk about $13 billion, 2/3 will be federal. 1/3 state and local. but, in order to get that we have to demonstrate as we always do in san francisco that

we are a model to the country, that our decisions are scientific and databased and that we reach a-have in sight the goal and time table to get the job done. as the director said, this will take a long time. i was thinking in some ways we are like we are planting a tree. future generations will enjoy, but we owe it to them, we owe it to them to make sure, to make sure we do this right. that's why i'm so excited to be here with everyone here and all of you, but current handora, he is making all the difference in all this. but he couldn't do it without the foundation laid by our port, our mayor, port director, to the staff, thank you for making this day possible. thank you all so much. [applause] >> so, in this journey it is

very important for leaders to be willing to invest in something that takes a long time and the benefit occurs to future generations. it takes a lot of dedication. a lot of commitment to being prepared and being safe. and mayor london breed has been that leader and steadfast champion of this work since she became mayor and in 2018 it was her first bond, the sea wall bond and she was willing to go forward to look at a foundation trouble earthquake problem and flood risk and convinced voters 83 percent to support moving forward on studying this problem and being prepared. since proposition a passed, she lead her departments to work together. i see director tumlin from the sfmta here and so glad to see him because we department heads had to work together to figure

out how these projects will come into fruition in a successful way and she urged her departments public works, planning, rezil silience. brian strong, capital planning sfpuc engaged and deeply impacted by these proposed project. she is guiding departments to strateging alignment so we have this plan for 7 and a half miles of waterfront to protect our shoreline. it is great honor to present our mayor, mayor london breed. [applause] >> thank you so much elaine for your visionary leadership and for getting us to this extraordinary place that we are celebrating today. you know what is easy especially for elected leaders is when there is things that they bring forward, including myself, often times we want the

grat fiication. it is easy to look at something like the sea wall and say well, i won't be here so why should i care. i won't be alive potentially, so why should it matter. and the fact is, people like the ones sitting behind me today, they are not choosing easy. they are choosing hard. they are choosing to think about future generations and climate change and global warming and sea level rise and choosing to do the hard thing and that is bring people together in order to talk about the challenges that exist, the real impacts and the next century by the end of this century, 3 to 7 percent of the waterfront will be covered in water here in san francisco if we don't act now. if we don't talk about it. if we don't accept the opportunity that we have before us to put forth a visionary

plan to address sea level rise in one of the most constructive ways possible, because when we pass this bond in 2018, we were putting everyone in the city and in the country on notice that we are putting this on the top of our list as a priority. we truly appreciate the army corp of engineers for making the hard decision to choose to work with san francisco to draft this plan, and to one of the first times ever, to use exwuty equity and talk about communities disproportionately impacted by the harms of climate in the past, by the harms and injustices of bad decisions in the past and how we need to insure that this comprehensive plan includes all communities and that it doesn't negatively impact and that's why we are talking about 7.5

miles of waterfront which goes all the way into the bayview hunters point community as well. so, i'm excited about what we are doing here. this is extraordinary. again, when you start talking about water, pipes, all these infrastructure things that you are asking people to support and pay attention, this is going to be better for future generations, folks are like, what is better for me now, but the thing about san franciscans is they care about climate change and care what is happening in the city and this is why the voters overwhelming supported the bond in 2018, it is why so many here today who have been responsible for helping us to draft this plan are with us and we couldn't have a better fearless leader in the house of representatives then our speaker emeritus nancy

pelosi. not only does she help bring home resources for our park open space, transportation. san francisco has been the beneficiaries of extraordinary federal leadership and this is exactly the type of example the work she has done and will continue to do to insure san francisco is at the for front of addressing so many issues we face and climate change with our climate action plan and with the work we did to focus on the waterfront, we are opening up the doors to the public to provide input but more importantly open the opportunity for the funding necessary to not only talk about the plan, but to actually implement the plan and i'm looking forward to seeing the work and at least get started in my lifetime so we can get the job done and we can all feel confident that we did something to impact future generations and we have set the

seed for them to also think about how we take care of the planet and leave it in better condition then we found it. thank you all so much. [applause] >> we hope to get projects in in your lifetime, mayor. we'll try hard won't we team? okay. so, in a program like this you definitely need federal state and local investment. it is too much to bare on any particular entity. we would eclipse the go bond program if we lean on the local source. i is a wonderful leader to introduce who knows about leverage and worked very hard to see ports get investment. i want to introduce lieutenant governor of the state of california kounalakis. prior to being the first woman elected to the officer she was

our port commissioner. [laughter] that was a important job because she was here when we were just getting started with resilience and she pushed, she saw what we needed to do so it was wonderful to have her there. she also oversees the state land commission which is one of the most collaborative and transparent agencies. it is a wonderful agency and she is always assuring ports have resources and it was our lieutenant governor who got us rescue funds when we lost 40 percent of our revenue and we were in terrible terrible shape. without her leadership we would not be here today. our operations would have gone down as our tenants and we really thank you for driving economic recovery and wellbeing and with no further ado, i like to introduce lieutenant

governor kounalakis. >> thank you director. thank you so much director forbes. it really is a honor to be here with all these great leaders to recognize the work that has gone on over the last 5 years to deliver this very important plan for the future of the san francisco waterfront. as director forbes mentioned, i am a former port commissioner for san francisco and we would regularly push back against the authority of the state lands commission, so it is somewhat ironic that i head that body today, but what it is, it is the jurisdictional authority for the land about 850 miles of california coast that is held in the public trust of all the people of this state of california. and we know that our coast line from the very top of our state to the bottom is fou extremely

vulnerable to the rising pacific ocean that is brought on by a warming climate. the fact that san francisco is so far ahead of the game in creating this plan is really lotable for everyone involved and i also want to recognize the presence of you commander because it was essential the army corp be very close-closely working with the board to develop this plan and that we know that there are infrastructure tools and solutions available to protect the city of san francisco, the jewel of california and the west from the rising waters, which we know are going to happen. finally, i would just like to also recognize, because elaine forbes gave me credit for the

rescue funds, yet again that was speaker pelosi who made sure it was written into the relief funds during covid that the port of san francisco would be able to access those funds so that the many businesses here that were struggling would be able to stay solvent through that time. so, the people who are here represent a team has been able to deliver a plan. what is ahead of us is the construction of that plan and i'm very confident as the mayor said that we will see the projects come out of the ground to protect what we know is the most beautiful city in the state and the world. thank you. [applause] >> thank you so much. now i have the great distinction to introduce our representative from the army corp of engineers but before i do, i want to tell how great the team has been to work with.

there has been several members of leadership that have come out to san francisco to really understand this problem. this hard urban edge that provides flood protection to so many assets and resources. it really really understanding the situation. willing to add things not just cost and benefits, but comprehensive benefits for community that hits on some items the mayor spoke of related to equity and also just to design in unknown conditions so we couldn't ask for oo better group of engineers to lead this process, and so with that, i would like to introduce the south pacific division commander, colonel james hondura. [applause] >> good morning good morning. beautiful day to be out here. i want to just thank the port

director for coordinating for this beautiful weather. once again, round of applause. [applause] special day today and one on sunday. there is a little game sunday. >> go 9ers! >> right. should be a good weekend. thank you director forbes and your team at the port here for setting up today's event. i want to acknowledge and thank senator wiener board peskin, city administrator chui. great to have participation and support. the corp of engineers is grateful to speaker pelosi. mayor breed it is honor to be here today as we announce this important milestone. our partnership with the port of san francisco and work on this study spans many years across multiple corp engineer entities. i'm excited to be here representing a well integrated team of professionals from across the corp engineers. partnered closely with port

team to form a integrating task force to deliver this complex and pace-setting project. today's release signifies the next step in our partnership with the port, city and public building coastal resiliency. 2022, the corp engineers and the port released draft water strategies for public review. the draft feasibility report we are relaesing today includes a tentatively plan or draft plan developed using elements of the alternatives. provides analysis of cost benefits and environmental social impacts and tailored to the unique conditions and different risks at the port. this draft plan considered climate rezil yans as a goal for the san francisco waterfront, establishes approximately where the corp of engineers and the city to build coastal resiliency and

mitigation features structural and nature based and how much future sea level rises before they need to be adapted to higher water levels. this is not only a step forward for san francisco, it is step forward for corp of engineers and what we are doing here in the bay will be a model for other project s. the plan account for social and environmental benefit and impact and more traditional economic analysis. this means environmental justice, social and economic equity, impact of vulnerable populations, and environmental benefits are factored into decision making and evaluation for coastal flood risk management alternatives. the studies innovative and includes alternative and plans for future actions to address uncertainty of the rate of sea level rise and includes a range of possible future sea level rise scenarios. includes monitoring and adapgz

plan that enable the u.s. army corp of engineers the city and public to use best available science to understand when first actions should be taken and shoreline flood ringe mitigation will be needed to adapt to higher water levels. work on the draft plan included extensive collaboration with regional and federal agencies all which informed by more then 6 years of public feedback on the future of the waterfront. today's release of the draft report starts a 60 day period for public comment on the study and we want to hear from you the public. we want to hear from you so we need feedback to get this right. this will be a series of public workshops at the end of february and other outreach events to gain further insight for the community from the community. after responding to these comments received we work with the port to make changes to that draft plan based on public feedback, further technical analysis and policy review.

we expect the final report and recommended plan to go before congress for consideration by 2026. again, i like to thank director forbes and the port team for their partnership and commitment to outreach in this process. we look forward talking the next step in the long but critical journey to build coastal resiliency for san francisco. building strong, [indiscernible] be all you can be. [applause] >> alright. now i have the honor to introduce someone who is so hard working and always there to support important measures, not only to support but to get behind their approval. just recently, this wonderful leader brought a piece of legislation to the state that will allow us to build on piers 30, 32 and get up to $450

million of private investment in resilience and flood protection. senator scott wiener, has always been a supporter of climate adaptation. he is recognized in times magazine actually as one of the country's top hundred climate leaders. in 2023, he passed the climate corporate data accountability act, which requires businesses annual revenues over $1 billion working within california to publicly disclose their carbon emissions. he's championed lots of climate initiatives through his legislative career with focus on housing and transit. he worked tirelessly in 2018 on the prop a bond and he also as i said just moved legislation through that is absolutely critical to and not only a seismically safe and earthquake safe waterfront, but an

exciting vibrant waterfront and with that, senator scott wiener. [applause] >> thank you director forbes. i just want to say i am so proud of a lot of things about san francisco, but i'm so proud of the port of san francisco and it leadership. when you look at the transformation of our waterfront in san francisco, i think sometimes we get used to things and take it for granted but you can look at photos not that long ago and this is just been a rebirth and it is very very exciting so thank you to elaine and the entire port team for your amazing work. so, we know that sea level rise is not some future theoretical problem, it is here, it could have been here today. we lucked out with the tides, but it is here and it is only going to get worse, given the

larger failures and reliance on fossil fuels and the continuing heating of our planet. we cannot allow a situation where the embarcadero is flooding and muni and bart tunnels are flooded regularly. parts of downtown are being flooded regularly. this isn't just about having some waves coming up periodically at the embarcadero this is discussion of the city transit and downtown. we cannot let that happen and that is what this is about. we know that the environmental movement was some may dispute but i'll say it, born here in san francisco and always grown here and in the bay area. just like john muir and sierra

club were founded here and all the folks who created that movement, we are responding to the environmental crisis of that time, we need to respond to the environmental crisis of our time. the climate disaster and that means the bigger picture ending reliance on fossil fuels and moving towards hundred percent clean energy and making the physical changes needed so we can keep going on and being strong even in the face of rising sea levels. i know we'll be able to do that here. we know that madam speaker is so fantastic at delivering for this community and we'll continue to have such a strong local, state, federal partnership to get the funding done here, and i'm so thrilled the army corp of engineers is so engaged and so supportive of

this project and i just want to thank the corp for doing that. i also just want to acknowledge, i think anyone probably when the chronicle article came out this morning, a lot of people probably saw it for the first time. there is going to be a disruption. there will be periods of time when our waterfront when the em barcadero is closed down and that is jarring and disruptive, but i also know people of san francisco think in the long-term and the people of san francisco understand that we have to get this done and we will make the sacrifices needed to do so. thank you. [applause] >> thank you so much senator wiener. no i have the honor to introduce a absolute champion for the waterfront. really involved in every

project initiative with a hand toward insuring our historic fabric is here, insuring vibrancy and insuring we really really produce a quality public waterfront. president of the board aaron peskin is a defender of the waterfront as i said. before he was elected he was part of a broad coalition to convince the port and bcdc, to nominate the embarcadero historic district to national register of historic places. he's been on the bay area consurivation commission many years and helped shepherd shifts on the focus on the organization effort towards sea level rise adaptation. how do we adapt these important resources for the sea level rises that is surely coming. he absolutely drove the 2018

bond. he and the mayor and senator wiener, but specifically board president aaron peskin put a lot of time and energy into seeing that bond through, and he's been helping us figure out the sea level rise challenges. we do not have answers yet for that embarcadero historic district but we will find them. with that, board presidents aaron peskin. [applause] >> thank you. i'll bring the micro down further from scott wiener to elaine forbes to myself. i was go ing to say, you were saving the best for last, but actually we are saving the best for last with our city administrator carmen chui next. director forbes chose this moment i think because a hour and 23 minutes ago we had our maximize high tide for the day at 5.99 feet, which you can see

has already been spilling on to the embarcadero, and if you think about that relative to conservative midcentury sea rise projections of about 2 feet, that means the embarcadero in 25 years is under water. this is nothing short of the imperative of our time, and i think speaker pelosi got it just right, this is a seed we are planting for future generations for ribbons that none of us will cut, but that future generations will celebrate. very much like senator wiener said about the bay area being the home of the birth of the environmental movement. it was here that three women in the mid-1960's, a half century

ago fought back against the filling in of the bay. the bay that now is going to expand because of global warming. it was those three women sylvia mclaughlin, [indiscernible] that lead to the passage of the mack tear petrous act for the conservation of the shoreline of the 9 bay area counties. we are continuing their legacy under bcdc state jurisdiction. under the jurisdiction of the army corp of engineers who have become a incredible 2/3 financial partner in solving this imperative. with a state of california and their money and the people of the city and county of san francisco who put their money where their mouth is, who got it to the tune of all most a

half a billion dollars up front. it is the people of san francisco who are able to show the state and the federal government that we mean business, and to them i want to say, this is your plan and this is your opportunity to comment on that plan. our plans become better because the people of this city are smart, they are involved and they help us perfect our plans, so use the next 60 days, comment on this plan, help the very very smart people who i met with who are under the jurisdiction of colonel hondura. meet with the planners who spent the last 6 years, yes i am looking at you brad benson who have brought us to this moment and help us make that plan better. thank you director forbes. thank you mayor breed. thank you to lieutenant governor and thank you most of all to speaker nancy pelosi.

[applause] >> thank you president peskin. yes, it was the voters who first put the money on the down payment. without that move, we wouldn't be here and it was a amazing investment. so, i think the best is saved for last. i am going to introduce a wonderful leader who has the incredible responsibility of balancing all of these capital planning needs across the city and figuring out how to phase and implement these needed improvements. she has been on the capital planning committee for some time. she has a incredible financial background and great mind and is an amazing thought leader and pushing us forward and also helping with the interdepartmental coordination which is complex now and only will become more complex. it is great distinction i introduce to you city

administrator carmen chui. >> hello,b good afternoon. my name is carmen chui san francisco city administrator. i think you must be very happy and excited i'm the last speaker. but i got to bring your expectations down because i will talk about the numbers, which is really important here. i really just want to underscore how important this effort is. san francisco is no stranger to preparing and thinking ahead. we were the home to the 1906 earthquake to the loma earthquake and understand how important it to make sure we are build ing a resilient city that withstand natural disaster. all the climate change we see happening in the world also able to deal with sea level rise. to give you a perspective of what this means and why this is such a important day to be able to announce the federal interest and this partnership going forered with, this represent $13 billion in federal interest and billions

dollars that come to san francisco from the federal government. to give perspective how much we have been able to fund locally in the last decade, we spent about $4 billion in our local bond funding to be able to deal with all of the infrastructure needs in the city, not just what is here in the waterfront. that means all our roads, all our different buildings with seismic needs, hospitals systems, fire houses, water systems. but, our upcoming 10 years we only have $3 billion so take a look at the math. over the last 10 years and future 10 years we plan about $7 billion oof investment in local funding. there is no possible way we can match what the federal government is going to give us and so i want to say thank you to not only our state partners and to our federal partners here. we couldn't make this investment this seismic investment this huge huge investment without your support. our local dollars only go so far. we mean business by putting our dollars into it, but we

couldn't accomplish all we are doing here without your help, so i want to thank our federal partners again for the federal interest and working collaboratively with us on this plan, but also ask our state partners to work with us as we make the plans to fill the gap so thank you so much for being here and excited to get going on the next phase of this plan. [applause] >> excellent. before i conclude i want to recognize carla short, the director of public works who is here and also commissioner gilman. a commissioner leading us through the effort. alright. thank you so much. we are going to take media questions over here and we appreciate everyone for coming.

>> as a woman of color who grew up in san francisco i understand how institutions can have an impact on communities of color. i think having my voice was important. that is where my passion lies when the opportunity to lead an office in such a new space came up. i couldn't turn it down. i was with the district

attorney's office for a little over nine years, if you include the time as an intern as well as volunteer da, all most 13 years. during the time with the da's office i had an opportunity to serve the community not only as the assistant district attorney but as director of community relations. that afforded the opportunity to have impact on the community in an immediate way. it is one thing to work to serve the rights of those without rights, victims. it is really rewarding to work to to further the goals of our office and the commitment we have as city employees and advocates for people who don't have a voice. i don't know of anyone surprised to see me in this role. maybe people have an impression what the director of the office of cannabis should be like, what their beliefs should be.

i smash all of that. you grew up in the inner city of san francisco. my career path is not traditional. i don't think a person should limit themselves to reach full potential. i say that to young women and girls. that is important. you want to see leadership that looks diverse because your path is not predetermined. i didn't wake up thinking i was going to be a prosecutor in my life. the city administrator reached out and wanted to have a conversation and gave me interest in the new role. i thought you must not know what i do for a living. it was the opposite. she had foresight in realizing it would be helpful for somebody not only a former prosecutor but interested in shaping criminal justice reform for the city would be the right person for the space. i appreciate the foresight of the mayor to be open how we can be leaders in san francisco. i was able to transition to the

policy space. here i was able to work on legislation, community relations, communication and start to shape the ways our office was going to reform the criminal justice system. it is fulfilling for me. i could create programs and see those impact people's lives. i am the change. it took truants youth to meet with civil rights movement leaders who fought to have access to education. being a young person to understand that helped the young people realize this was an important thing to give up. what we find is that young people who are truanted have a really high homicide rate in our city, which is a sad statistic. we want to change that. >> coming from a community we are black and brown. i don't reach out to other people. i don't think they feel the same

way. >> i had the great opportunity to work on prison reform issues and criminal justice reform issues. we created a program at san quentin where we brought district opportunities to lifers and talk about how we are all impacted by the criminal justice system. we brought over 40 elected das to san quentin for the situation. now we are inviting the police department. our formerly incarcerated group born out of this programming asked for the opportunity to work on a project where we could bring the men in blue on the outside to come speak to the men on blue inside to start the healing dialogue around how the criminal justice system specifically in san francisco impacts the community. i was attracted to the role. there was a component of equity that was part of this process.

the equity community here in san francisco is a community that i had already worked with. before i took steps to visit cannabis businesses i thought it was important my team have a chance to go inside and speak to men who had been impacted. that conversation needed to happen so we know how we are making an impact with the work that we are doing. the da's office as we were leading up to the legalization of marijuana in the state we started having conversations on the policy team what that could look like. the district attorney was really focused on the right side of history for this. we realized it would be quite a heavy lift for individuals who have been negatively impacted by the war on drugs to expunge the record. it was important to figure out the framework to make it seamless and easy. they put their minds to it after

some time and many conversations the data analysts and other policy walk throughs on the team came up with the idea to engage the tech community in this process. code for america helped us developed the rhythm to be used for any jurisdiction across the state that was important to create a solution to be used to assist all jurisdictions dealing with this matter. the office of cannabis is the first office to have a completely digital application process. we worked with the digital team to develop the online application. there are going to be hiccups. we are first to do it. it is one of the most rewarding parts to offer a seamless -- to offer a seamless approach. that is how they can find solutions to solve many of the community challenges. the best way to respond to prop

64 was to retroactively expunge 9,000 cannabis related records for san francisco. it feels like justice full circle for my personal experience. in the past i was furthering the war on drugs just as my directive. really coming from a place of public safety. that was the mandate and understanding. it is nice to see that pass a society we are able to look at some of our laws and say, you know what? we got it wrong. let's get this right. i had the privilege of being in the existing framework. my predecessor nicole elliott did an incredible job bringing together the individuals super-passionate about cannabis. >> the office was created in july of 2017. i came in early 2018.

i have been able to see the office's development over time which is nice. it is exciting to be in the space, stickily in thinking about her leadership. >> looking for the office it is always we might be before my time when i was working for the forboard of supervisors. i learn new things every day it is challenging and rewarding for me. >> we get the privilege to work in an office that is innovating. we get to spearhead the robust exprogram. >> i am excited she came on board to leverage experience as a prosecutor 10 years as we contemplate enforcements but approaching it without replicating the war on drugs. >> i was hired by cam laharris. i haven't seen a district

attorney that looked kind of like me. that could be a path in my life. i might not have considered it. it is important that women and certainly women of color and spaces of leadership really do their part to bring on and mentor as many young people as they can. it is superimportant to take advantage of as many opportunities as they can when they can intern because the doors are wide open. plans change and that is okay. the way this was shaped because i took a risk to try something new and explore something and show that i was capable. you are capable, right? it was about leaning in and being at the table to say my voice matters. you find your passion, the sky >> # ind your passion, the sky

>> >> >> >> you are watching san francisco rising. >> hi, you are watching san francisco rising. reimagining our city. he's with us to talk about how our library's economic recover. mr. lambert, welcome to the show. >> thank you. i'm glad to be here. >> i know it's been difficult to have books going virtual. have we recovered? >> yes, we are on our way. our staff stepped up big time during the pandemic to respond to the health emergency. since last may, we have been able to

steadily increase in person access to library facilities. currently we are at 95% of our precovid hours of operation. in the coming weeks we are going to fully restore all of our hours. we have four branches that we are going to bring back to seven day service. they are currently operating at 5 days a week and we are going to go to every tag line and i know all the foot traffic has not returned to san francisco, but our library is seeing a resurgence coming back. >> can we talk about programs after covid? >> absolutely, that is part and parcel of our mission. we were doing that work precovid and certainly the library stepped up during the pandemic. we doubled our level of programming for personal finance, small business help, jobs and careers. we have

a dedicated small business center here at the library. there is a wide suite of programs that our librarian led. we have a financial planning day coming up in october and we have financial coaches that members of the community can come to the main library and take advantage of their expertise. >> i understand the mission is in the middle of a renovation. how is that going and are there other construction projects in the horizon? >> yes, we have major projects in the pipeline. the historic mission branch library, carnegie library over 100 years old and we are investing $25 million to restore that facility. we are going to restore the original entrance on 24th street, the staircase from the lower level up to the grand reading room. we are going to push out on the

orange alley side of the library and expand space for teens and children, we are going to create a robust community room, a multipurpose space. we are also investing $30 million in the chinatown branch, we are going to upgrade the mechanical systems to the highest level of filtration as we increasingly respond as cooling centers and air respite centers and open access to the roof. it has some unique views of chinatown to create the inspiring space it is. >> i believe you have programs for families that have free and low cost entries for museum and zoos, is that correct? >> yes. it's a fabulous resource. go to our website. with your library cart, patrons, our residents can go to the

public library and get passes to the museums, all of the incredible cultural institutions that we have in san francisco all for free with your library card. >> how are these great free services paid for? how is the library system funded? >> we are so fortunate in san francisco. we are funded for by the library fund and those that taxed themselves just for library services. we also get a dedicated portion of the general fund. that together allows us to be one of the most well supported libraries in the nation. we have the third most library outlets per square mile of any municipality. all of our branch

libraries have professionally trained librarians on-site. service that we are able to provide, the collection, we are a leading library in our country. >> that lead know ask about your biggest annual event in the city. how does the event work and what's happening this year? >> we are excited for this year's one city one book. this is our signature annual literature event. we have everybody in the community reading the same book. this year's title is "this is your hustle" named after the pulitzer prize nominated and pod taste. this is about the population. one nice thing about this selection is that they are both

local. we are going to have several weeks of programming, kicking off next month. it will culminate here in the auditorium november 3rd. so our library patrons will get to meet the authors, hear from them directly, and one other important aspect about this year's selection, we have our own jail and reentry services department. recently the foundation awarded the san francisco public library $2 million to work with the american library association to shine a light on our best practices here in san francisco, and really help our peers in the industry learn how they can replicate the service model that we are doing here in san francisco. >> that's great. well, thank you so much. i really appreciate you coming on the show, mr. lambert. thank you very much for your time. >> thank you, chris. that's it for this episode, we will be back shortly. you are watching san francisco rising.

thanks for watching. okay. good afternoon and welcome to the san francisco planning commission hearing for thursday, february 29th, 2024. when we reach the item you're interested in speaking to, we ask that you line up on the screen side of the room or to your right. each speaker will be allowed up to three minutes, and when you have 30s remaining, you will hear a chime indicating your time is almost up. when your allotted time is reached, i will announce that your time is up and take the next person queued to speak. please speak clearly and slowly and if you care to state your name for the record, i will remind members of the publ